Also says he is grateful that his mother’s story has helped women choose not to have an abortion

Leading by Example: Tim Tebow

Folks, isn’t it interesting that in our morally challenged culture “saving yourself for marriage” is about as politically incorrect as … opposing homosexual behavior? — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.com

By John Jalsevac, reprinted with permission from LifeSiteNews.com; sign up for LifeSite’s daily news e-mails HERE

July 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last week Florida Gators Quarterback Tim Tebow’s photo may have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, the same magazine that is best known for its annual “swimsuit issue,” but the contrast between the two cover stories couldn’t have been more glaring.

At 21 years of age and graced with boyish good looks, Tebow is one of the most talked about rising stars of the NCAA; but the football superstar literally left reporters speechless last week when he answered a question during a press conference about whether or not he is “saving himself” for marriage.

“Yes I am,” said Tebow briefly, who then indicated he was ready for the next question. However, in the video of the press conference, a reporter is heard stumbling over his words in the background as he tries to ask a follow-up question. Tebow then laughs, obviously reacting to the reactions of the reporters in the room.

“I think y’all were stunned by that,” he says. “Y’all can’t even ask a question. Wow. I mean, I was ready for that question. I don’t think y’all were.”

“Coalition of Conscience” crowd of more than 500 prepares to offer Gospel witness at homosexual “pride” event in Charlotte, N.C.  Their message: “God has a better way.” See www.godhasabetterway.com.

Dear Readers,

I commend to you my friend Dr. Michael Brown’s and the Coalition of Conscience’s response to the “gay pride” movement in Charlotte, N.C. In a speech last week to Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, I said that the appropriate Christian response to homosexual/”trans” activism and homosexual strugglers is a tightrope walk — balancing a witness for truth on the one side and the gracious love of Christ for sinners on the other. I too often fall off that tightrope, but Michael hangs on it as well as any pro-family leader I have observed in the last 20 years. (My only cautionary note is Brown’s use of the term “homophobia” [see this excellent NARTH analysis] — an artificial construct that is now so elastically defined that almost any rejection of homosexualist goals (including same-sex “marriage”) can be and is deemed “homophobic” by “gay” activists and the liberal media. That said, his point it correct: it is wrong to fear and hate men and women trapped in homosexuality — people who need God’s love and grace.)

So we don’t have free speech, after all? Leviticus 18:22 banned in Big Apple

Rev. Kristopher Okwedy, a Nigerian immigrant, thought he would have the freedom to proclaim Biblical truth about homosexuality in the “the land of the free and home of the brave,” but alas, New York City politicians banned his billboard (left). Judge Sonia Sotomayor joined a Second Circuit order that denied Okwedy’s free speech. The ruling was obviously hostile to religion despite the Court’s claim otherwise. 

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American Family Association Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 26, 2009

SOTOMAYOR: It’s okay for Government to ridicule Holy Bible

In 2003, Judge Sonia Sotomayor joined a Second Circuit order that excused government hostility toward religion.  In 2000, Rev. Kristopher Okwedy and Keyword Ministries, Inc. –– a Christian Church –– put up a billboard sign quoting a verse of the Holy Bible, Leviticus 18:22, that says, “Thou shall not lie with a male as with a female –– it is an abomination.”  The sign included the postscript, “I AM YOUR CREATOR.”  After three days and much public outcry, Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari called the display “mean spirited” and said the Bible verse “conveys an atmosphere of intolerance which is not welcome in our Borough.”  He then attempted to have the sign removed or covered up.

By Peter LaBarbera

Homosexual blogger Jeremy Hooper as featured in the homosexual magazine The Advocate in 2005.

Apparently AFTAH critic and New York City homosexual, “Good As You” blogger Jeremy Hooper is incapable of distinguishing between a hate letter and a heartfelt personal note. AFTAH sometimes publishes the letters we receive from very nasty homosexual activists, to highlight the true nature of a movement that routinely fails to live up to the now-obsolete definition of their chosen descriptor: “gay.” We tell people on our site: “Note: All correspondence sent to Americans for Truth becomes property of Americans For Truth.” Can you blame us for exposing the abject hatred and reverse bigotry of sexual activists who regularly accuse everyone else of being haters and bigots? (There’s something surreal about getting a tolerance lecture from some irate pro-gay fellow who spews vulgarities as he brings the message that I am Satan’s brother, a covert homosexual (of course), and I am going to burn in hell because I oppose homosexuality.)

If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin [or, a sin offering] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (the Apostle Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Corinthians; 2 Corinthians 5:13-21)

How will ‘cosmopolitan evangelicals’ handle the homosexual issue?

I stumbled upon this interesting seminar about American evangelicalism on the Ethics and Public Policy Center website. The event was put on last year by the Pew Forum. A brief excerpt is below and the full transcript is HERE. Note Michael Lindsay’s dichotomy — not “left vs. right” but “cosmopolitan vs. populist” evangelicals.

The question with regard to homosexuality is this: insofar as acceptance of homosexuality (or, in politically correct jargon, the “gay and lesbian community”) has become a defining feature of modern big-city culture, how will the “cosmopolitan evangelicals” react as they seek to retain their influence in “elite” circles? So far we have seen left-leaning evangelicals like Jim Wallis embrace a “rights” framework regarding the pro-homosexual agenda — while still claiming fealty to the Bible. (Wallis favors “civil unions” laws for homosexual couples.) Homosexual activists have applauded the leftward evangelical shift, but Christians who take the Bible’s proscription of homosexual acts seriously view the Evangelical Left’s posturing on this issue as a capitulation to worldly forces, and a violation of Scripture.

The following is a adapted from my response to “Kyle,” a self-proclaimed “gay Catholic” who wrote us through the AFTAH website. Kyle misinterprets Catholic teaching and theology on homosexuality, to be sure [see Catholic pro-family activist Gary Morella’s piece HERE, which also explains how homosexual acts violate Natural Law]. But Kyle’s rationalizations beg the question: do any of us know where our sinful inclinations — whatever they are — come from? Each of us is born into sin in this world, and the Bible teaches that our hearts are naturally “oriented” toward deception (hence young children do not need to be taught to be envious and selfish). Every one of us has done evil things, or thought evil thoughts — yes, not just wrong thoughts but evil ones (such as questioning God’s existence, or His goodness). That’s why we need Jesus Christ. Please pray for Kyle, whose letter is printed below mine. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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LaBarbera response to “Kyle”:

Kyle …

…I don’t know where my feelings of lust, etc., came from.  So should I join the Lust Pride Movement and rationalize the embrace of that sin. (I’ll call myself a “Luster,” which is analogous to you calling yourself “gay.”) Grow up, Kyle. This is the cop out of the century –– and then you go on to support “gay marriage” –– an incredible blasphemy against God, who created man and woman for each other.  You are responsible for your behavior –– period. Sodomy and all homosexual acts are deeply sinful, the Bible teaches (see Romans 1), so what does it mean to say your “orientation” is “gay”?  Repent and believe Jesus Christ as so many FORMER “gays” – now born again of God — have done. (See Steve Bennett’s wonderful story at www.sbministries.org.)  Are you born again? Do you deny Jesus Christ has the power to help you heal or at least help you remain out of homosexual sin?  There is NO way a faithful Christian can embrace homosexuality.  You are deeply deluded, but there is hope in the Lord, and He WILL forgive you if you humble yourself and seek him like a child, and repent and accept Jesus’ death on the cross as the penalty for your sin. I suggest you start by reading the Gospel of John.

Janet Boynes’ book, “Called Out: A Former Lesbian’s Discovery of Freedom,” can be ordered through her ministry’s website.

News Release; Strang Communications; www.creationhouse.com

January 8, 2009

From a heartbreaking childhood marked by anger, abuse, and abandonment, author Janet Boynes followed a destructive path that led her into homosexuality and drug addiction. Her search for the acceptance, love, and safety she craved took her into increasingly desperate situations—ultimately culminating in a series of destructive homosexual relationships, cocaine addiction, and crippling brokenness. But, as Boynes says, “When God calls, He calls in love,” and in Called Out: A Former Lesbian’s Discovery of Freedom, Boynes shares her powerful, personal story of the redemptive, reconciling power of God’s love, offering insight for those who struggle with same-sex attraction and those with loved ones who do.

With courage, candor, and compassion, Boynes shares her powerful story of a life transformed by God’s grace and delivered to a freedom framed and powered by God’s purpose. Her message is one of hope: No matter where you’ve been, what you’ve done, or what kind of situations you’ve encountered, God is calling you to a life of grace. Spoken with the passion and wisdom of one who’s been there, Boynes says, “God knows that you have been through tough places, that life hasn’t always been easy, and that things don’t always go the way they should. He knows—and He cares.”