Grateful For Support Group
Dr. Abraham Verghese would have joyfully wept had he been here for PFLAG’s [Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays] first meeting. He might have said, "I called the Tri-Cities, God’s Country, in my book. Perhaps, it truly is. God’s children are getting the message, Jesus taught them – Love is the Only Way!"
Medical knowledge shows some children at birth, (not by choice) have three chromosomes, not two, and then also, there are the raped who never get necessary counseling. How could this not confuse both their bodies and their emotions?
Like most Christians, I was taught more about "sin" than I was ever taught about "love." Yet, Jesus was a teacher who focused on the power of love, not a list of do’s and don’ts. Jesus did not cast a stone at the prostitute, in his "divine wisdom" he saw what we could not. It was understood Jesus was not upholding her way of life; still, his wisdom was accepted as good. Not one stone was cast.
I love most of the beautiful things I have learned in my church community, but haven’t we been slow to follow Jesus’ example of love, when it comes to gays and lesbians?
My thanks goes to the new PFLAG chapter of ministers, counselors and others, who have chosen not to pick out selected Scriptures for judgment, but have chosen the example of Jesus. What a delight to see that the attendance for the first meeting was standing-room only. There were lots of tears of love that night. I’m sure Jesus wept tears of joy, as well.
The Rev. L.K. Francis
Piney Flats, Tenn.
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Citizen, you are right about that. If you do become a born again Christian then you must stop the sin, but if you do sin again, and we all do, even if we are born again, you don’t lose your salvation. Simon Peter denied Jesus in the courtyard three times and went on to become one of the writers of the New Testament. What will happen to us all is that we have to face our Heavenly Father and make an account of every sin and every good work in our earthly body, then and only then are we going to be judged. But I do believe that you are wrong about one thing….not all gay people choose that lifestyle…some do because as a people we have become desensitized to the ramifications, but there are really people who were born gay and fight it all their lives. Christians just need to be stronger and become better fighters for the Lord and maybe we can help someone realize the error of their ways and they can turn their life around. God can do anything..he can work through us to make someone see that they should not sin against the law of nature. But doing it with hatred is not how Jesus would want us to show His way….As my Dad who is a preacher said…God doesn’t look at the man, he looks at the heart of the man to see if Jesus’ blood has been applied.
MtnRaven, the key that you leave out is that if you commit one of the sins that you mention, you have to stop doing it out of respect and love for Jesus. If you are a murderer and you accept Jesus,and then you go out and keep murdering you are not being true to the faith. The act of the sin must stop. Therefore, homosexuality being a sin, if one wants to see the gates of heaven, they must accept Jesus, and stop the sinning. There is only 1 reason someone is gay…..they have chosen that lifestyle. Just as many churches pick out different scriptures to justify their beliefs, there are many different scienfitic studies that have different results when it comes to why people are gay. I for one, do believe that it is a choice. The wrong choice.
I too believe there is a scientific reason for some people being gay. In the womb, we have both sexual organs until the correct one takes over. How hard would it be to believe that in a person being gay, this prenatal process has gone awry? Not very hard for me to believe. You hear all to often stories of a child or teenager finding out that they have a sexual organ inside their body of the opposite sex as their outward appearance. Yes homosexuality is a sin, but so is stealing, murder, and adultry, to name only a few. There are three reasons someone is gay 1)genetics 2)rape/sexual abuse or molestation 3)curiosity. These are all legitimate answers to me. It shouldn’t be made harder than that. And yes, Jesus is love, and we should love, so in a loving way we should help those who are homosexual to try to understand why society and the law of nature sees it as a sin and wrong. God loves them either way, as long as they believe in Him and that he is their Savior. It’s that simple.
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