Lisa Miller and her child Isabella.

We gladly reprint the following appeal from Rena Lindevaldsen of the Liberty Counsel:

September 22, 2008

I know you are busy, but trust me when I tell you that the few minutes it will take to read this letter will be well-spent and life-changing. I’d like to tell you about Lisa Miller — my client, my friend, my sister in Christ, and mother of six-year old Isabella.

On October 27, 2008, a Vermont judge is holding a hearing to determine whether little Isabella will be stripped from her mother’s care and given to a woman, Janet Jenkins, who is openly living the homosexual lifestyle. You see, Lisa Miller is one of thousands across this nation who have left the homosexual life through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. The problem is, however, that while Lisa was involved in a same-sex relationship with Janet, in Virginia, Lisa had a child, in Virginia, by artificial insemination. Now, because Lisa has refused to comply with a court order giving Janet liberal unsupervised visitation with Isabella, Janet has asked the court to transfer custody of Isabella from her only biological parent (Lisa) to Janet, who is openly living a homosexual lifestyle.

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

____________________________

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.

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.

‘Pray away the gay’ and hope Wayne Besen gets a one-way ticket to Alaska

Homosexual gadfly Wayne Besen is begging for money to fly to Alaska to embarrass Gov. Sarah Palin and promote the lie that homosexuals cannot change. And Associated Press is happy to parrot Besen’s line ridiculing healthy change for homosexuals.

‘News’ Release
Americans For Truth
www.americansfortruth.org

September 9, 2008

Contact: Peter LaBarbera, americansfortruth@comcast.net; 630-717-7631

Secular City, USA — The alternative new media and old establishment media alike are swarming around startling revelations concerning Alaska Governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s church in Alaska.

Huff-And-Puff Post has learned that Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin worships, actually believes the Bible that Christ came to earth as a man, professed to be God Himself and forgave peoples’ sins, and performed miracles that only God could do, like raising Lazarus from the dead. Wasilla doctrine teaches that this same Jesus now sits at the right hand of His Heavenly Father and lovingly intervenes in the lives of human beings.

“We have discovered that these brainwashed Christianists who cling to their religion and their guns also cling to fairy tales about Jesus as some prayer-answering ‘savior,’” said Arianna Huff-and-Puff, publisher of the online H&P Post. “It’s one thing to believe that this unseen God-man Jesus helped create the world and performs miracles in the lives of his followers — like healing drug addicts and transforming the hearts of hardened criminals. But believing that He can help also people leave homosexuality – what are they, nuts?!”

Associated Press reports ominously that Wasilla Bible Church supports programs to help men and women overcome homosexual desires. AP, consistent with its well-earned reputation as Always Politically-correct, chose to use the homosexual pejorative “Pray Away the Gay” to describe Wasilla’s ex-“gay” ministry.

WARNING: Obscene (albeit covered-up) photos of government -tolerated San Francisco perversion

The secular website Zombietime has documented the incredibly heinous public “pig sex” perversions and nudity that were allowed to take place unfettered by police at the July 27 “Up Your Alley” street fair in San Francisco, which AFTAH also exposed. You can see the UNCENSORED photos like this one (which we covered up) at the Zombietime site and then ask yourself: what have the liberal, pro-homosexual, pro-gay-“marriage” elites and politicians done to America? Why are homosexual perverts allowed to rule the streets and defy the law in a major U.S. city — represented by the woman who is third in line to be President? We must restore public decency in California and in big cities across the nation and stop pandering to radical sexual agendas — including “same-sex marriage” — that undermine U.S. law and God’s moral code. America began to see the ugly truth of abortion through documentaries like “Silent Scream.” Perhaps we will begin facing up to the threat of government-endorsed homosexuality by viewing the horrid public depravities tolerated by pandering police and politicians in San Francisco. Go HERE to the Zombietime site; you can choose between a blurred out version or one in which the photos are NOT COVERED UP as this one is.

Dear Readers,

Occasionally we at Americans For Truth are taken to task by well-meaning but — in my view — woefully naive pro-family people for using graphic (albeit censored) photos to expose the real-life depravities associated with the homosexual movement. Just the other day, I was chided in an e-mail by an evangelical who is well-known as a commentator on GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) issues. He was irritated at AFTAH’s “picture show” — as he snidely called it — exposing the July 27 “Up Your Alley” sadistic street fair in San Francisco.

I expect to take heat from Professional Homosexuality Defenders and fanatical “gay” websites like Pam’s House Blend, Good As You and ExGayWatch — but not “pro-family” people who don’t seem to understand that homosexual activists are serious about destroying America’s Judeo-Christian and moral foundations — and our religious freedom — if we let them!

Truth is, AFTAH’s “picture show” — provided thanks to the selfless efforts of some Californian men who gave up their Sunday to document state-sanctioned sexual anarchy in the City by the Bay — hardly conveyed the full extent of Up Your Alley’s public debauchery. But a secular observer and creator of the Zombietime website has done so. Like AFTAH, Zombietime seeks to document this (in our view, scandalous) toleration of anything-goes perversion and full nudity on city streets.

Zombietime states: “The images shown in the report below have been published here because they are essential documentary components of a news story; they are not intended as titillation or pornography. … I am only publishing these images for their evidentiary and journalistic value, and have no desire to run an X-rated web site. In order to prove that what I’m reporting is really true, I must necessarily post pictures that many will perceive as pornographic.”

AFTAH’s aforementioned, holier-than-thou critic wondered why we couldn’t have just offered a single photo of the nudity-filled street fair to make our point. He implied that we weren’t being “redemptive” in our work. Had we followed his advice, our “gay” detractors surely would have charged us with distorting and exaggerating the reality of it through one measly photo! Offering a message of hope to homosexuals is critically important, but so is exposing the full, radical homosexual agenda that the “mainstream” media is cynically hiding from the public.

Incidentally, Zombietime, like AFTAH’s own eye-witnesses, contradicts homosexual activist Jeremy Hooper’s ridiculous attempt (also belied by the crowd photo above) to discredit AFTAH’s report by falsely claiming that Up Your Alley “was actually not ‘public.’ This is a paid, closed-off event. Yes it takes place in the streets; but these are blocked off streets!” In contrast, Zombietime, who was actually there, writes (emphasis his):

“And remember that this fair is completely free, and open to the public without any admission charge, and is held on public city streets.”

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.

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.