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Homosexual protest boomerangs as targeted Texas pastor slams Political Correctness and winsomely proclaims the Gospel
New York Jets QB and public Christian Tim Tebow backed out of a scheduled speaking engagement at a Texas mega-church following “gay” protests that falsely and maliciously labeled that church and its pastor as motivated by “hate.” Tebow missed an opportunity to defend biblical truth.
By Peter LaBarbera, Special American For Truth Report
Many Christians and pro-family advocates were disappointed to learn that New York Jets QB Tim Tebow had backed out of a scheduled speaking engagement at the First Baptist Church in Dallas – following an online lobbying blitz by homosexual activists urging him to cancel because the church’s pastor is “anti-gay.”
Last Thursday, Tebow tweeted that he was pulling out of the April 28 appearance with First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress “due to new information that has been brought to my attention.” A conflicted Tebow reportedly told the Texas pastor that he would like to speak at the Dallas mega-church at some point in the future, but “he needed to avoid controversy right now for personal and professional reasons,” the liberal Daily Beastreported.
The Daily Beast article is gratuitously headlined: “Tim Tebow’s ‘Hate’ Pastor Responds to Quarterback’s Withdrawal.”
Turns out that Jeffress not only preaches that homosexual behavior is a sin — he also opposes Mormonism and some Catholic teachings. And, because he asserts that Jews (like everyone else) also need to have faith in Christ to go to heaven, Jeffress was also slandered as “anti-Semitic.” Translation: he is squarely within the long tradition of the Southern Baptist preaching, which holds that regenerative faith in Christ alone is required for salvation.
[Watch Pastor Jeffress’ powerful response to the Tebow controversy HERE, addressing his First Baptist Church of Dallas congregation last Sunday.]
Of course, Evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons have serious theological differences (although each teaches that homosexual behavior is wrong). But let’s be clear: the instigators of the controversy that culminated in Tebow’s unfortunate cave-in were the ‘Gay Thought Police’ – my name for the powerful and well-funded homosexual activist lobby that demonizes people who speak out against homosexuality as bigots, haters and “homophobes.”
Curiously, Tebow himself attends a Southern Baptist church in Jacksonville, Florida, First Baptist Church Jacksonville, which holds the same biblical beliefs as Jeffress’ church. With the Texas pastor ably refuting the absurd “gay” polemic that his is a “hate church,” even some secular liberals opined that Tebow had blown it with his First Baptist cancellation. In a remarkable interview with Jeffress, celebrity reporter (and Jewish homosexual) Harvey Levin, founder of the Hollywood-oriented TV show TMZ – hardly a right-wing sympathizer – concluded, “It sounds like Tebow wussed out on this one to me.”
Thus Tebow joins the list of other celebrities, conservatives, and Christians leaders who have succumbed to homosexual pressure campaigns. (Recently, Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio pulled out of the President Obama’s Inaugural ceremony, for which he had been invited to give the benediction, after pro-“gay” activists uncovered one of his sermons from the mid-90s critical of homosexual activism. Under attack from homosexual activists, Giglio opted not to defend Christian teaching on homosexuality — and took pains to assert that he hasn’t made the homosexual issue a priority in his ministry work and did not wish to be part of the national debate on the topic.)
This article was not easy for me to write. As a Tebow fan, I sincerely hope he reverses course and returns to speak at First Baptist. He is young and has a lot to learn — all the while being under the liberal media’s microscope. Nevertheless, I think Tebow also owes a public apology to Pastor Jeffress, who was put in a bad situation but handled it masterfully.
Folks, our response to Tim Tebow caving in to the “Gay Thought Police” is coming soon. Here is First Baptist Church of Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress’ wonderful response to the controversy Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 at the church. It has been very encouraging to watch Jeffress (with God’s help) so effortlessly turn “lemons into lemonade” on this story. When even “TMZ Live” sides with Pastor Jeffress over Tebow on the story (a TMZ host said Tebow “wussed out on this one”), you know something interesting is afoot in the culture. My sense is that even as “gay power” grows in America — with all its accompanying intolerance and anti-Christian bigotry — there is also rising a societal disgust with speech-stifling political correctness. Maybe truly hate-filled homosexual militants like Wayne Besen (who smears Jeffress as a “hate pastor” HERE) are actually helping the pro-family movement. Let’s hope so. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth
‘Defend Marriage Lobby Day’ today in Springfield aims at stopping bill in House
This will never be a “marriage,” no matter what laws are changed.
Dear AFTAH Readers,
Today (Wed., Feb. 20th) is Defend Marriage Lobby Day in Springfield, Illinois, as pro-family citizens rally in the state capital against a homosexual “marriage” bill proposed by the Democrats for our state. Our friends at Illinois Family Institute organized this special day to help citizens express their unyielding support for real, natural marriage (one man, one woman) in the Land of Lincoln — which is already reeling from previous pro-homosexual laws. The “gay marriage” bill, SB 10, passed the state Senate on Feb. 14 with the votes of 33 Democrats and one lone Republican, Sen. Jason Barickman (Bloomington), so it is critical to stop the bill in the House. The Democrats who run Illinois — from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel to Gov. Pat Quinn — have made passing a “gay marriage” bill a TOP PRIORITY, so please get involved on the side of “Nature and Nature’s God” to thwart their efforts!
TAKE ACTION — Illinois Citizens: Please attend the Lobby Day today if you are able: there is a 10:30 AM rally outside the Capitol Building in Springfield (401 S. 2nd Street, Springfield, IL), followed by lobbying. IFI will help you lobby your representative if you’ve never done it before! See their site for more details: http://illinoisfamily.org/politics/lobby-day-instructions-what-to-expect-on-feb-20th/. For those in Chicagoland, Kathy Barnette of Truth Exchange still has room on her bus for the trip to Springfield; see the Truth Exchange site.
If you cannot make the trip, make sure to call or write your State Representative and voice your opposition to the “gay marriage” bill. Call the Springfield Capitol Switchboard at 217-782-2000. Find you elected officials HERE.
We already know the ramifications of legalized homosexual “marriage” from other states like Massachusetts:
Religious liberty and freedom of conscience (i.e., the freedom to oppose homosexuality) will be repressed by the state in the name of “gay rights”; Illinois has already experienced this under our “Civil Unions” law [see the case of the Walders’ bed-and-breakfast in Paxton, IL]. Despite the current bill being amended to protect churches and religious institutions, business owners — even devout Christians — who cater to weddings (such as banquet hall owners and photographers) could be forced to use their facilities or expertise to celebrate homosexual “marriages”;
Liberal teachers, especially in public schools, will be emboldened to promote homosexual relationships to students in the classroom; homosexual teachers will be given a platform to discuss their “marriages” and to model homosexuality as normal, natural and good to students. Parents will have a harder time stopping the promotion of homosexuality in schools;
Homosexual “sex ed” will gain ground in Illinois schools. Under the radical egalitarian idea that all relationships are morally “equal” and worthy of marriage, “safer gay sex” will be taught non-judgmentally alongside (normal) heterosexual sex. “Abstinence until marriage” (which regrettably is not the norm but only the ideal for most Illinois health classrooms) would apply to homosexual- and bisexual- as well as “straight” students — despite the reality that all homosexual sex is inherently immoral. High-risk and unnatural practices like anal sex will be mainstreamed in our schools. (Could teaching the truth that sex between men is linked disproportionately to HIV and various sexually-transmitted diseases lead to charges of “anti-gay discrimination”?) And deviant lesbian sex will be taught for girls who in the future might “marry” a woman.
Businessmen will be forced to recognize and subsidize their employees’ immoral same-sex “marriages”; a form of this is already happening under Illinois’ “Civil Unions” law;
Society will be corrupted as unequal things are treated as equal; children will be further confused as the law (which is a teacher, as the saying goes) creates a Brave New Morality that officially “weds” sinful, unnatural and changeable behavior to the noble and life-sustaining institution of marriage;
Homosexual activists will be energized to use the homosexual “marriage” law to pressure citizens to approve of their lifestyle and step up their crusade to stigmatize, demonize and discredit pro-family Christians and moral opponents of homosexuality. Groups like AFTAH that embrace wholesome, godly morality will be vilified as “hateful and bigoted.” And, as we have witnessed in Massachusetts, the push for ever more extreme “LGBT rights” would be propelled by enactment of “same-sex marriage” — including “transgender” activism in schools.
Legalized homosexual “marriage” will help “normalize” homosexual adoption, thus consigning greater numbers of innocent children to be raised in households that are motherless or fatherless by design.
See also this excellent report, “What Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Has Done to Massachusetts,” by my friends at MassResistance to learn what’s headed our way if Illinois politicians continue to pander to the state’s powerful Homosexual Lobby. Thank you for standing up for natural marriage! God bless you. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org
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AFTAH Interviews Lobbyist Ralph Rivera on Threat of Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Bill in Illinois
[NOTE: this interview occurred BEFORE the Illinois homosexual “marriage” bill, SB10, was amended prior to passage Feb. 14. The amended bill precludes churches and religious institutions from being forced to host homosexual “marriage” celebrations in their building. However, this amendment applies only to explicitly religious institutions; Christian- and other moral-minded business-owners could still be forced to host homosexual “marriage” ceremonies and related celebrations under the bill despite their deeply-felt opposition to “gay marriage.” — Peter LaBarbera]
This interview [click HERE to listen] with Illinois pro-family lobbyist Ralph Rivera was conducted on February 4, 2013. Rivera is a lobbyist for the Illinois Family Institute – which is sponsoring a Defend Marriage Lobby Day against the homosexual “marriage” bill in Springfield on Wednesday, Feb. 20th. Along with AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera and co-host John Kirkwood (of Grace Gospel Fellowship church), Rivera discusses the pro-homosexual-”marriage” bill looming in the state’s General Assembly. (The Illinois Senate is reportedly slated for a floor vote on the bill on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.)
Rivera explains the bill’s threat to religious liberty — e.g., how in its original draft (likely to be amended) it would force churches and religious institutions that rent their facilities to the public to host homosexual “weddings.” There is also a discussion of how legalized “gay marriage” effectively forces pro-homosexual ”lessons” into public schools. In addition, the three discuss the Boy Scouts of America’s proposed change allowing openly homosexual Scoutmasters and Scouts. Rivera is also a longtime pro-life lobbyist for Illinois Citizens for Life.
HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes. Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it. Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.
Help AFTAH Stand for TRUTH: Make a Tax-Exempt Gift Today!
AFTAH will never back down or be intimidated by the intolerant and hateful (and anti-Christian”) “Gay” Lobby. Your gifts help us carry out our critical mission.
All gifts to Americans For Truth are fully tax-deductible according to the IRS. To give online, go to: www.americansfortruth.com/donate/. Or send your regular-mail donation to:
AFTAH
PO Box 5522
Naperville, IL 60567-5522
Join the Monthly “Truth Team”: Please consider becoming a monthly “Truth Team” donor to AFTAH by pledging a monthly gift to AFTAH of $25, $50, $100, $250 or whatever you can. Sign up online at: www.americansfortruth.com/donate/or e-mail us and we’ll help you set up a monthly giving plan that suits your needs: americansfortruth@gmail.com.
The only thing more pathetic than Huffington Post’s “Gay Voices” website running a video compiling movie scenes with full-frontal male nudity is their excuse for running it: the paucity of such videos compared to those showing female nudity. Huffpo “Gay Voices” has become a leading site for homosexual advocates, and apparently pandering to those advocates led to gratuitously showing men’s penises on video. In the process, HuffPo takes “journalism” to a new low.
The liberal Huffington Post panders to the desires of homosexual men with its Valentine’s Day video showing full frontal male nudity. (Still shot from HuffPo video covered up by AFTAH.)
The HuffPo video reminds us of one salient point in the national debate over homosexuality: “gay” guys like to see other men nude, and lesbians like to see women nude. Thus, the perversion of homosexuality turns seemingly “safe” places like gym showers, dorms and collective military showers into potential leering zones for those beset with aberrant sexual desires. (At many colleges, students are forbidden under “nondiscrimination” codes from demanding a new roommate because they don’t want to room with a homosexual.) Thus the privacy of sexually normal people is violated. To belittle that as a concern is to belittle the need for separate restroom and gym facilities for men and women. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org
Corkins planned to smear Chick-fil-A sandwiches in faces of his victims
Potential mass-murderer and deranged LGBT activist Floyd Corkins used the Southern Poverty Law Center’s spurious “hate” list to target FRC.
“Floyd Corkins II, 28, acknowledged in a plea agreement that he intended to kill as many people as possible during the August shooting at the Family Research Council. He also planned to target other organizations that oppose gay marriage if he wasn’t stopped.“
Corkins intended to smear the sandwiches in the faces of his victims to make a statement about gay rights opponents, he acknowledged during a hearing Wednesday.” — AP report on Corkins’ plea deal
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Understandably, the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center — which outrageouly puts pro-family conservative groups opposed to homosexuality (including AFTAH) in the same “hate” category as the KKK — is laying low on this story implicating its own malicious “Hate Map.”
Here is the full Associated Press story of potential mass-murderer Floyd Corkins’ plea agreement (emphasis added). As of today (Feb. 12, 2013) — six days after AP reported on the plea agreement — you will not find it referenced on the SPLC’s list of recent “Hate Incidents” or anywhere on the SPLC site.
Notably, the SPLC maintains that it has “always oppose political violence, from the left or the right.” However, it worked hand-in-hand with — and has yet to condemn — a Chicago-based, Marxist organization (Gay Liberation Network) that expressly refused to condemn the pro-homosexual brick-attack on AFTAH’s 2011 banquet featuring Scott Lively. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
This interview [click HERE to listen] with Illinois pro-family lobbyist Ralph Rivera was conducted on February 4, 2013. Rivera is a lobbyist for the Illinois Family Institute — which is sponsoring a Defend Marriage Lobby Day against the homsoexual “marriage” bill in Sprinfield on Wednesday, Feb. 20th. Along with AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera and co-host John Kirkwood (of Grace Gospel Fellowship church), Rivera discusses the pro-homosexual-“marriage” bill looming in the state’s General Assembly. (The Illinois Senate is reportedly slated for a floor vote on the bill on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.)
Rivera explains the bill’s threat to religious liberty — e.g., how in its original draft (likely to be amended) it would force churches and religious institutions that rent their facilities to the public to host homosexual “weddings.” There is also a discussion of how legalized “gay marriage” effectively forces pro-homosexual “lessons” into public schools. In addition, the three discuss the Boy Scouts of America’s proposed change allowing openly homosexual Scoutmasters and Scouts. Rivera is also a longtime pro-life lobbyist for Illinois Citizens for Life.
HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes. Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it. Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.
“Insider” pro-homosexual CEOs Stephenson and Turley must step down
AFTAH and other pro-family groups have urged AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and Ernst & Young CEO Jim Turley to resign from the Boy Scouts’ Executive Board due to their reckless pro-homosexual advocacy.
TAKE ACTION: thank the Boy Scouts for not rushing into a reckless, politically correct decision to rescind their wholesome policy against homosexual immorality. But let them know that nothing short of a clear reaffirmation of their longstanding policy against openly homosexual Scoutmasters and Scouts will restore the good reputation of the BSA. E-mail the Scouts atpr@scouting.org.
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Folks, today we received word that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has delayed until May a decision on whether to make the radical change of allowing openly homosexual Scoutmasters and Scouts. The announced delay came after the BSA came under an avalanche of criticism for revealing to the media that the venerable boys organization would likely end its longstanding homosexual exclusion policy — under pressure from “gay” activists and pro-homosexual corporations.
While we at AFTAH welcome this delay, it would have been better if the BSA had simply announced that it was abandoning the misguided idea of opening itself up to homosexuality. But at least we know that the Scouts have gotten the message from the grassroots that allowing homosexuality in the BSA would be disastrous to the organization.
We urge citizens to continue urging the BSA to completely repudiate any policy shift on homosexuality. If the Scouts are to retain the trust of parents nationwide, they must unequivocally reaffirm the current, common-sense policy against homosexuality — which has no place in a wholesome boys organization that professes to teach boys to be “morally straight” and revere God.
Americans For Truth About Homosexuality has very busy defending the idea of keeping the Boy Scouts of America “morally straight.” In the last week, I have done national interviews on the Scouts’ potential capitulation on WVCY America and the Janet Mefferd Show — as well as a half dozen other radio shows. On the WVCY program [listen HERE], a man called in and told how, as a boy, he was molested by his Scoutmaster and “used” sexually again and again. This man was resolutely against changing the Scouts’ existing policy against homosexuality. What a heartbreaking testimony, but what a powerful example of what is at stake in this critical cultural battle.
Internal “gay” advocates must step down
Americans For Truth reiterates its call for the two corporate CEOs who reportedly are the strongest advocates for the pro-“gay” policy change — AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and Ernst & Young CEO Jim Turley — to resign from the BSA’s Executive Board immediately. Regrettably, these two advocates of homosexuality have undermined the organization they are supposed to be serving. Through their ongoing pro-LGBT advocacy, they have instigated a massive and unnecessary public controversy that has already damaged the reputation of the Scouts.
“Out and proud” homosexuality may be the current rage in the corporate world, but it is not a Scouting value.
