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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
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.
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.
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*.)
Homosexual activist Mel White and his group Soulforce seek to combat “religious homophobia” (read: overturn the Christian Church’s historic understanding that homosexual acts are sinful). Michael Brown argues in the Point/Counterpoint essay below that church meetings with Soulforce and other homosexual activists can be productive, partly by showing that Christians can “talk civilly with those who differ with us.”
This is a Point/Counterpoint debate on the question of whether Willow Creek Community Church (in South Barrington, Illinois) and other mega-churches should have met with the pro-homosexual activist group Soulforce, which aims to “cut off homophobia at its source – religious bigotry.” Our friend Dr. Michael Brown argues that such meetings can be used — with proper discernment — for Christian outreach and to dispel false notions that the Church harbors a “phobia” toward homosexuals. Click here for Sonja Dalton’s commentary expressing the opposite point of view: “Willow Creek Church Should Not Have Met with Soulforce.”
We will allow each writer to respond to the other’s arguments, and we welcome input from our readers, too; write us at americansfortruth@comcast.net. (Sorry, but we’re not interested in publishing pro-homosexuality pieces — there are plenty of “gay” websites for that.) You may write Brown or Dalton through the AFTAH website or by e-mailing americansfortruth@comcast.net:
There are a number of good reasons why Christian leaders have refused to meet with Soulforce delegations, including:
Soulforce leaders use these meetings for their own purposes, putting their particular spin on the meeting for the media;
Soulforce sets its own agenda, and Christian leaders are under no obligation to go along with that agenda;
Since the Soulforce leaders claim to be Christians, welcoming them could be in violation of injunctions such as 1 Cor 5:9-13 and 2 John 10-11;
Despite the ongoing requests for dialogue, it can be doubted whether Soulforce is truly interested in hearing what our side has to say;
We are damned if we do meet and damned if we don’t, since if we do meet, we are accused of softening our stance against homosexual practice; if we don’t meet, we are painted as bigots. Why then even entertain Soulforce’s request to meet?
In light of such concerns, many Christian leaders have declined to meet with Soulforce delegations, and I certainly respect their decisions. Indeed, this is often the path of wisdom. It can be argued, however, that under certain circumstances, meetings with Soulforce leaders can be biblically based as well as used for positive gospel purposes.
Willow Creek Community Church’s chief of security (the man pointing and talking to police in the photo) became belligerent as he tried to deny Americans For Truth our First Amendment freedom to stand on a public sidewalk outside the entrance to the church grounds. Police informed him that he was wrong and that indeed we could stand with our banner on a public sidewalk. Our message responding to the homosexual activist (non-) “christian” group Soulforce was: “Homosexuality Is Sin. Case Closed — God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Photo: Dan Musick.
NOTE: we’ll have more on the Willow Creek-Soulforce story in upcoming posts. The following was posted on the Chicago Tribune religion reporter Manya Brachear’s blog, “The Seeker,” which contains a report on Willow Creek’s meeting last weekend with Soulforce homosexual activists.
By Peter LaBarbera
I wonder: is transcendent truth conditional on the age of the person receiving it? Either homosexual behavior is a changeable sin or it is not — 1,000 years ago, today, and 1,000 years in the future. The Word of God is clear that it is. I have met far too many EX-gays to believe that homosexuality is some fixed identity (“orientation”) into which people are born — and most of these FORMER gay men and ex-lesbians testify to the power of Jesus Christ in setting them free from homosexuality.
Folk, there’s more common sense and wisdom in this three-minute video by country Gospel singers and songwriters Lewis and Lewis than in a thousand court briefings by Lambda Legal (the leading homosexual activist legal pressure group — you know, the group that enables men who “cruise” for anonymous sex with other men in public park and bathrooms by giving them legal tips on how to “cruise safely”).
Perhaps the reason why so many homosexual activists are so unreasonable and vicious is that they’re trying in vain to justify the unjustifiable: sex between two people of the same sex will always be wrong and unnatural, no matter how many court victories the Homosexual Lobby wins. (The good news is homosexuals can change.) And don’t forget these three words if you are tempted to allow American judges to decide your morality: Roe versus Wade. — Peter LaBarbera
Click HERE or on the YouTube video below to play the Lewis and Lewis music video “Come on Down to the Farm”:
Folks, I think the world of Coach Dave Daubenmire, who is sounding the clarion call for American pastors to get out of the stands and become powerful players in the “Culture War.” We need God-fearing men of God to be engaged in this titanic struggle for the soul of our nation. Also, have you noticed what issue never seems to surface in the presidential campaign and the media coverage of it? Yep, America’s deep moral crisis. I suppose we should expect practicing homosexuals to defend perversion and gender confusion, and (most) politicians and corporate execs to act like cowards by appeasing vocal “gay” activists and their secular media allies. But is it asking too much of our pastors — I’m talking the Bible-believing ones, not the spiritual quislings — to boldly speak the Truth to our decadent culture that denies God by advancing hedonistic “lifestyles” and ungodly, counterfeit legal “rights” that will assuredly be used to persecute … the Church? — Peter LaBarbera
“…and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
There is no law in America any more. Now, don’t take that the wrong way. There are plenty of LAWS in America, but there is no law.
Lex Rex is an old legal term which translated from the Latin means simply “the Law is King.” It is the premise upon which all natural law and our American Constitutional Republic was formed. No one is above the law and natural laws cannot be altered.
Phil Magnan of Biblical Family Advocates.
