Americans for Truth

Higgins says ‘bridge-building’ must not come at the expense of Biblical Truth

This is a wonderful essay by my friend Laurie Higgins, who recently joined the staff of Illinois Family Institute. Laurie is right: in today’s evangelical church we are witnessing “obfuscation” in the name of Gospel outreach, timidity and compromise in the name of “bridge-building,” and outright treachery (e.g., Peggy Campolo’s embrace of sodomy-based “marriage”) in the name of being “Christ-like.” Young Christians, especially, do not treat homosexuality like God does in the Bible; they are far too cavalier toward this sin because they grew up in a pro-”gay” popular and media culture.

Laurie’s piece below is an antidote to those Christians who may feel tempted to water down God’s Word — or to stop proclaiming it — in the name of extending love to those caught up in homosexual practice. True love — or what the world often calls “tough love” — does not run from God’s Truth but rather embraces it. Read this article, then read it again, and then pass it on to your network of family and friends. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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Do Christian Spin Doctors Heal the “LGBTQ” Community?

9/19/2008 8:17:00 AM
By Laurie Higgins, Division of School Advocacy Director -Illinois Family Institute

Despite the fact that I am neither a theologian nor a pastor, I’m going to make what I hope are not presumptuous observations about the way some individuals, church leaders, and non-profit organizations attempt to build bridges with the homosexual community. Many Christian “bridge-builders” are pursuing this noble effort by either concealing from their GLBTQ friends the true nature of their orthodox theological positions, or conversely by concealing from their orthodox Christian friends their non-traditional theological positions.

The goals of building bridges, cultivating community, and fostering relationships between the orthodox Christian community and the GLBTQ community, and spreading the Good News of Christ’s work of redemption within that community are not only noble but critical goals. And certainly different people are called to approach these goals in different ways. But the methods or strategies employed must never sacrifice, obscure, or compromise truth.

Some of these bridge builders justify their obfuscation by claiming that it is not the role of the Christian community to “convict or judge.” They argue, rightly in my view, that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts the heart of man, and God who judges. But the way they are using this correct theology muddies the waters by implying that if we state clearly that God defines homosexual behavior as sin, we are guilty of convicting and judging others. That is false. To answer direct questions with direct, clear answers on God’s view of homosexuality does not constitute either convicting or judging. And it can lead to the very redemption bridge-builders profess to desire for the GLBTQ community.

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Meanwhile, others credit God with helping them overcome homosexuality

Ray Boltz back when he was not publicly defying God’s Word. The Christian artist and father of four now says being homosexual “is the way God made me.” 

By Peter LaBarbera

Last week, I was at the Family Research Council’s “Values Voter Summit” in Washington, D.C., where I was struck by how many former homosexuals I encountered in the space of a three day visit. I had breakfast with my good friend Jim, who is happily married and has left homosexuality so far behind that he told me he can barely believe that was how he once lived.

Then there was Anthony Falzarano, a veteran former homosexual who is out with a new book about his life, And Such Were Some of You. (Anthony — who has attended the funerals of many homosexual friends from his old life — was accompanied by his beautiful daughter Mary Victoria, who is alive today because he stopped living the “gay” lie.)

And I met Anthony Glover, an African American man whose road to overcoming homosexuality was solidified by a scary experience of almost committing sodomy with a homosexual man who was HIV-positive. (Yes, some homosexual men intentionally try to infect others with HIV.)

Also stopping at our Americans For Truth booth at the FRC summit was Grace Harley, a former (female-to-male) “transgender” who is now a Christian advocating for healthy change in Maryland.

Amidst all this, I picked up a copy of The Washington Blade, D.C.’s main homosexual newspaper, only to find a long story on former Christian Gospel singer Ray Boltz, who has sold out Jesus by embracing a false “gay” identity after living a life as a married family man. (Self-styled “queer” activists will say that Boltz was living a lie, but his four children do not owe their existence to a “gay” lifestyle.) I read the entire Blade story, but all you really need to know is in the final paragraph:

“This is what it really comes down to,” [Boltz] says. “If this is the way God made me , then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”

Wow, talk about presumption! This talented man is lost and he needs our prayers. Boltz may “feel” closer to God, but if you believe the Scriptures, he’s farther than ever from Him. We understand that the radical “gay” movement exalts its collective “feelings” over the Bible’s clear teaching — and certainly they are not alone in that regard — but each of us must choose between the truth and lies every day, and homosexual behavior is egregiously sinful, according to God’s Word. (See www.robgagnon.net if you are tempted to rationalize away the Bible’s clear condemnation of homosexual practice.) You just can’t sugarcoat that verdict, although these days even many Christians try.

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Hope for Today is the radio ministry outreach of Jim Shaddix and Riverside Baptist Church in Denver, where he is senior pastor. You can reach Hope For Today via email at HFT@riversidebaptist.com.

Friday, August 01, 2008

On today’s broadcast, we’ll hear the concluding message in our series “Perversion of the Picture – Distorting God’s Design.” Over the past several broadcasts, featured speaker Dr. Jim Shaddix has been focusing on the break-through or triumph one can have in overcoming the homosexual lifestyle. Today, he brings three very important guidelines to those who desire Christ-like victory over sinful behavior; enlist the help of other believers, build safeguards into your life, and give the process plenty of time. Sermon is available to watch or listen or download as an MP3 here:

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Hope_For_Today/archives.asp?bcd=8/1/2008

See links below for more sermons in Shaddix’s series:

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Biblical love balances compassion and condemnation of sin

The following talk, “God’s Plan for the Gay Agenda,” was given by John MacArthur on his Christian radio program Grace to You (copyright 2004; all rights reserved). We will post more of MacArthur’s teachings and those of other Christian leaders in the future. This 2004 sermon — even more applicable today than it was fours years ago — was posted on the Bible Bulletin Board by Tony Capoccia. Emphasis is added below:

God’s Plan for the Gay Agenda

By John MacArthur

If you’ve been watching the headlines over the past six months, you may have noticed the incredible surge of interest in affirming homosexuality. Whether it’s at the heart of a religious scandal, political corruption, radical legislation, or the redefinition of marriage, homosexual interests have come to characterize America. That’s an indication of the success of the gay agenda. But sadly, when people refuse to acknowledge the sinfulness of homosexuality—calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20)—they do so at the expense of many souls, perhaps even their own.

How should you respond to the success of the gay agenda? Should you accept the recent trend toward tolerance? Or should you side with those who exclude homosexuals and decry the sin? The Bible calls for a balance between what some people think are two opposing reactions—condemnation and compassion. Really, the two together are essential elements of biblical love, and that’s something the homosexual desperately needs.

Homosexual advocates have been remarkably effective in selling their warped interpretations of passages in Scripture that address homosexuality. When you ask a homosexual what the Bible says about homosexuality—and many of them know—they have digested an interpretation that is not only warped, but also completely irrational. Pro-homosexual arguments from the Bible are nothing but smokescreens—as you come close, you see right through them.

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Phil Magnan of Biblical Family Advocates.

We’re just getting back from a trip that offers more evidence why homosexuality is wrong and harmful to children. Meanwhile, take a read of Phil Magnan’s report, “15 Reasons Why Homosexuality is Wrong and Hurts Society.” Phil is the founder of Biblical Family Advocates, based in San Diego. I just met him in person for the first time and came away impressed by his love for people, including those practicing homosexuality, and his love for God’s truth and His heart on this issue. Check out BFA’s report. — Peter LaBarbera

The Bible is the authoritative Word of God. There is no logical or reasonable way to interpret it as condoning homosexuality or positive “gay” identity. For more on the Bible and homosexuality, see the website of Rob Gagnon, Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Homosexual activists are consumed with a war against God and nature in a vain attempt to justify their sinful (and often destructive) lifestyle choices. They twist words and create misleading phrases such as “marriage equality” — even though it is clear that divinely-created nature discriminates in favor of male-female (i.e., normal) relationships. (Can homosexual unions produce children on their own? Why are homosexual men linked so disproportionately to HIV and other sexual diseases (this is an excellent piece by Janice Crouse)?)

So much of the “gay” activists’ effort is expended in trying to squelch divine truth on this subject or reinvent the Bible to approve of their sin. Ultimately, that translates into a crusade to censor truth-tellers: mostly Christians and other religious people who refuse to compromise on the Bible’s truth that homosexual behavior is always sinful — yet, thank God, overcomeable through Christ (see also Janet Boynes’ ex-lesbian testimony). This lawsuit may be frivolous and a publicity stunt, but it is a portent of many anti-Christian lawsuits to come. — Peter LaBarbera

Our friends at LifeSiteNews.com report:

Homosexual Man Sues Bible Publishers over Scripture Verses against Homosexuality

By Peter J. Smith

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, July 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A homosexual man upset by biblical verses condemning homosexuality as a sin has decided – in lieu of suing God or claiming damages from the Holy Spirit – instead to go after two Christian publishers for their versions of the Bible, which he says violate his constitutional rights and have caused him emotional pain and mental instability.

Bradley LaShawn Fowler of Canton, Michigan filed a suit in US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on July 7 against Zondervan Publishing House Corp. seeking $60 million. Fowler also filed another suit earlier in June seeking $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing, based in Nashville, Tennessee.

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No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (Gospel of John 3:13-18)

We pass along this item on the passing of Tony Snow (shown at right in his final televised White House briefing) from Cathi Herrod and the Center for Arizona Policy:

I woke up to the sad news this morning that Tony Snow has passed away. Perhaps one of Tony’s last public appearances was his talk at CAP’s April 29 Making Our Days Count dinner. My favorite quote from Tony rings especially true today: “God bids us to choose. Can we surrender our concern in things that don’t matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?” Tony walked what he talked — his commitment to his walk with the Lord, to his family, and to making a difference was evident. Take a few moments to pray for Tony’s wife Jill and their three children and all those who personally knew and loved Tony Snow. Take a moment also to examine whether you are choosing to devote your remaining days to things that matter.

You can listen to the podcast of Tony’s April remarks and read his memorable column from Christianity Today. Check our website on Monday to view the video of Tony’s April speech.

Yours for Arizona Families,

Cathi Herrod, Esq.
President
The Center for Arizona Policy

AFTAH reader Ron Loree of Michigan offered this response to totalitarian Brit Peter Bradley, who wrote Americans For Truth with the message that, “You are very lucky that you live in the United States as we have laws in the United Kingdom about inciting hatred based on sexual orientation… here you would be imprisoned; and justly so.” Read Bradley’s entire message HERE, and write us with your response defending American freedom and Judeo-Christian norms at americansfortruth@comcast.net.

Loree writes (web links and emphasis added):

Mr Bradley,

In a spirit of love I will strongly recommend that you focus on the disease-ridden, self-destructive TRUTH regarding homosexuality, rather than the empty, hollow homosexual rhetoric that’s been used over the past 20 years. Honestly, Mr Bradley, all of the accusations of hate, bigotry, discrimination, spiritual violence, etc. are as old as a worn out shoe, and have little if any impact on those of us who know the TRUTH. The psychological “terrorism” that was calculated and conceived back in the late 1980s is nothing more than blatant deception in an attempt to get people, through emotion, to accept this unnatural and self-destructive behavior.

It was earlier this year that the outgoing head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force admitted that “HIV is a gay disease” in the United States. If you’re honest, you’ll agree that there is an undeniable link between homosexual behavior and the HIV virus which can lead to AIDS. This is both medically valid and universally accepted. But you don’t address this side of homosexuality much, do you? The diseases that result from the homosexual lifestyle is REALITY and it is the TRUTH!

The most loving thing that a Christian can do, then, is to stand in firm opposition to the homosexual lifestyle. Real love will offer the message of hope that leaving the homosexual lifestyle is possible, and testimonies abound from both men and women who have done just that. For if there is anything that is truly innate or inborn regarding homosexuality, it is the God-given “voice of conscience” which is in all of us. If homosexuals could only silence that inner voice of conscience, then they could feel comfortable with their lifestyle without having to deal with TRUTH and REALITY. But real love, Mr Bradley, confronts with the TRUTH, with the desire that changed lives will be the result. Leaving the homosexual lifestyle may be difficult and may take time. In love, I do not propose that there is a simple 1-2-3 step “formula” or that one “method” fits all. But I do know that change can and does take place, and it is my prayer that many will yet have the courage and motivation to honestly look at the TRUTH and then seek out the help that can bring about that change. (Americans For Truth can help in giving direction to those who would contact them*.)

In Christian Love,

Ron Loree
Muskegon Michigan
E-mail address: loreebarney@msn.com

* Here are some ex-”gay” ministries: Stephen Bennett Ministries; Exodus International; Charlene Cothran’s “Victory” magazine; Stephen Black’s