If you don't want to miss anything posted on the Americans For Truth website, sign up for our "Feedblitz" service that gives you a daily email of every new article that we post. (This service DOES NOT replace the regular email list.) To sign up for the Feedblitz service, click here.
Christopher Doyle, founder and president of Voice of the Voiceless, came out of the homosexual lifestyle and is now happily married with children. Doyle is a professional counselor who helps others find freedom from homosexuality. Read his testimony, and a Mercator interview with Doyle. To support the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, which is defending JONAH against the well-funded SPLC, go HERE.
This article first appeared in the Christian Post, June 17, 2015
This Monday marked the second full week of testimony in the “Trial of the Century”, pitting Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a small, New Jersey-based Jewish non-profit organization, against the $340 million dollar Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
At issue are SPLC’s claims that JONAH committed consumer fraud by supposedly guaranteeing four former clients that they could go from “gay” to “straight” in 2-4 years. SPLC recruited these clients to sue JONAH in what has become another installment in the nationwide effort to prevent individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions from accessing counseling.
But SPLC’s case is unraveling at the seams, and the lies that mark this trial should be a lesson for the nation.
First, last Wednesday, under cross-examination by attorney for the defense Charles LiMandri of the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, Dr. Carol Bernstein, an expert witness for the plaintiffs and a well-known psychiatrist and Vice Chair of the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, conceded that sexual orientation is fluid and can change. She went on to state that she has not conducted any research on the effectiveness of sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) therapy or familiarized herself with any studies looking at harm from such efforts.
Additionally, when asked about the particular type of counseling, psychodrama, that JONAH uses in its practice, Dr. Bernstein replied that it was not a well-respected counseling modality, despite that fact that Columbia University, where she attended, offers a course for undergraduate students on the method, a fact of which she was unaware.
Sin Advocate: Young and winsome Matthew Vines is working hard to win Christians to the idea that committed homosexual relationships should be blessed before a holy God. Despite his apostasy, Vines was recently welcomed as a “brother in Christ” by Rev. Caleb Kaltenbach, lead pastor of Discovery Church in Simi Valley, CA. See Vines’ curiously named “Reformation Project.“
“We are to have no fellowship with darkness. We can’t ‘dialogue’ with any professing Christian who’s in open rebellion against the Word of God. We can’t ‘dialogue’ with anybody who is deceiving and misleading the Body of Christ on any sin while claiming to be a Christian!”–Janet Mefferd
______________________
I welcome my friend Janet Mefferd to the pages of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. Janet is a former longtime radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network–and, I must say, as someone who cumulatively chatted a few hours in on-air interviews with Mefferd over the years–she was one of the best in the business (Christian and secular). We look forward to seeing what’s next in Janet’s career, but until then we are delighted to publish her work.
Regarding this issue of “dialogue” or “bridging” with homosexuality advocates, I recall an article by the late Alan Medinger–a man who walked away from homosexuality with the help of the Savior he loved, Jesus Christ. Medinger, who founded Regeneration Ministries in Baltimore, wisely cautioned against an internal Church debate over homosexuality because there is nothing compelling it except outside, anti-biblical agitation. The sinfulness of same-sex behavior is a settled matter in both the Bible and thousands of years of Church/Old Testament tradition, argued Medinger, and we need not debate it now within Christendom any more than we should debate, say, adultery.
Read this beautiful tribute to Medinger by Regeneration’s Josh Glaser–then decide if the same Spirit of Christ that impelled Alan lies with Matthew Vines, who–by trying to redefine Christianity to accommodate homosexual relationships and “gay marriage”–propels the very same debate that Medinger rejected on principle. Below Mefferd ably applies what I call the “Sexual Sin Substitution Test.”— Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera
“Evangelicals Open Door to Debate on Gay Rights.” Just the kind of headline I never enjoy, but it ran June 8 in The New York Times over a story about “influential evangelicals” meeting with homosexual activist Matthew Vines at Biola University last month, complete with a Times reporter and photographer on hand.
Vines, you may recall, is author of 2014’s controversial “God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships,” which manipulates biblical terminology in an unconvincing attempt to argue against the sinfulness of homosexuality.
Worse, the book was published by Crown Publishing Group’s Convergent imprint, which shared staff and operations with and was a sister imprint of evangelical Christian publisher WaterBrook Multnomah. Among other repercussions for printing such unbiblical garbage, WaterBrook Multnomah resigned its membership from the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). (Crown later separated the two imprints.)
Vines also runs an apostate group called The Reformation Project, which claims to exist “to train Christians to support and affirm lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Through building a deep grassroots movement, we strive to create an environment in which Christian leaders will have the freedom to take the next steps toward affirming and including LGBT people in all aspects of church life.”
Calls work of faithful Christian ex-“gay” ministry Restored Hope Network “reprehensible”
Traitor to the Truth: Alan Chambers, one-time “ex-gay” leader turned apostate, now says God is “cool” with homosexual “marriage.”
Folks, I have a hard time fathoming the pride and massive ego of Alan Chambers, the man who destroyed the “ex-gay” Christian umbrella group Exodus International, using a twisted “grace” message. Now Chambers has the audacity to speak for the Creator Himself, giving the Almighty’s endorsement of a blasphemous perversion (!) by saying God is “cool” with homosexual “marriage.” [See the 11:50 mark in the video as Chambers responds to “gay Christianity” advocate Jeff Chu.]
Christians need to pray for these poor, confused souls who are practicing disobedience and rebellion against God and leading people away from righteousness and holiness. If Alan truly loves Jesus, why does he profane God’s holy Word by celebrating sin?
I agree with my friend Stephen Black–whose First Stone Ministries created this 37-minute compilation–that many faithful Christians still are unaware of Chambers’ and Exodus’ apostasy. Thank God that Restored Hope Network–whose Christ-honoring work Chambers slanders as “reprehensible” [see 7:55 mark]–rose out of the ashes of Exodus! Please support RHN and First Stone with your gifts and prayers — and show this important video to Christian leaders and pastors, so that they will not be deceived. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
Below the video is First Stone’s description of it:
This is Alan Chambers in his own words from the Level Ground interview – February 2015 and from his own words when speaking at the Glory Tabernacle, October 2014. In Alan Chambers’ Own Words Part 1 and Part 2 were created by a Scriptural mandate to correct, rebuke and expose those who are teaching false doctrines leading souls to hell. Matt. 18:17, Acts 20:29-31, Jude 1:4, Gal. 1:6-8, 1 Tim. 5:20-21, Titus1with :10-16, 2 Peter 2:1-22, 2 Peter 3:14-18. Both Parts, 1 and 2 of Alan Chambers’ in His Own Words were created to warn leaders in the Church globally of the perverse grace teachings of Clark Whitten, former Exodus Board Chairman and Alan Chambers’ pastor. Clark Whitten has mentored Alan Chambers for years. Whitten also helped Alan Chambers with closing Exodus as he was the Chairman of the Exodus Board of Directors in 2013. This video and Part 1 reveals Alan Chambers’ inconsistencies in his own words and grave heretical teaching of perverse grace. These videos were also created to call the Board of Directors with Exodus to accountability and responsibility. Exodus imploded, but… There is hope! There is the Restored Hope Network with many ministries and counselors to help! (http://www.restoredhopenetwork.org)
The following is the press conference organized by my friend, Janet Porter, of Faith2Action Ministries. It was held directly in front of the U.S. Supreme Court April 27, 2015, the day before oral arguments at the Court on legalization of homosexual “marriage.” Congratulations to Janet and Dr. Steve Hotze of Conservative Republicans of Texas for putting on this fine event. It was a privilege to stand with these awesome leaders in defense of genuine marriage. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
“I’ve not acted out homosexually in over 30 years,” says Black
[This post was modified 1-29-15]
The video below features the testimony of our friend Stephen Black, director of First Stone Ministriesand a Board Member of the ex-“gay” umbrella group Restored Hope Network(which replaced the failed “Exodus International”). It was produced by Pure Passion TV–a project of Mastering Life Ministries,founded by David Kyle Foster, himself a former homosexual. You can watch it on Vimeo HERE. Stephen’s testimony is highly relevant to the ongoing debate over ex-“gay” “Reparative Therapy” and legislative efforts to ban it for minors [see AFTAH release on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signing such legislation into law HERE].
Moreover, Stephen is a mature Christian whose life is a rebuke to those who deny that real change away from homosexuality is possible. It also stands in contrast to confused Christians like former Exodus staffer Randy Thomas—who curiously has declared himself “gay” again (“Could I see myself with a man? Yes.”)–even as he declares his enduring love for Jesus! Needless to say, the vicious homosexual activists at “Truth Wins Out” were quick to exploit Thomas’ egoistic declaration [HERE and HERE]. This is an Age of Apostasy, and we need steady voices like Black’s.
In my mind there are few things more insidious than confirming a false and deviant “gay” sexual identity in a young person who was once sexually abused by an adult homosexual predator. Yet under laws like New Jersey’s, parents of a victimized boy like Stephen Black once was would be BANNED from providing him with any therapeutic help that would “attempt to change” his “sexual orientation.” Watch this powerful video and you will understand why the Homosexual Lobby is so desperate to keep solid testimonies like his and David Kyle Foster’s from being heard in the Public Square. This runs 28 and a half minutes; it was posted in the Fall of 2014. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH.org
Embracing the “Gay” Lie and slandering God in the process: Apple CEO Tim Cook writes that he is “proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.” Cook was repeating a gay theology falsehood, labeled as “Satan’s Talking Points” by AFTAH. Homosexual activists have worked to switched the societal stigma from people practicing the sin of homosexuality to the people opposing it. Cook is giving heavily to an HRC project to promote homosexuality in the South.
“I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.” — Isaiah 28:17
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8
____________________
Help AFTAH Contend for The Truth Against Homosexual-Transgender Lies: We are David and the well-funded “Gay” Lobby is Goliath. Support AFTAH today with a year-end gift of $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50 or whatever you can give! Give online [safe credit-card form HERE] or send a check to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. All gifts postmarked by or made online midnight Dec. 31 are tax-deductible for your 2014 taxes.
I hope you had a blessed Christmas Day. Happy New Year! This is the season to dwell on Absolute Truth, lest we reduce “the holidays”—happy or otherwise–to mere sentimentality. Divine Truth. We profess it, but do we actually believe in it? The namesake of Christmas—Jesus Christ–is the most important Absolute Truth anyone can ever know: God becoming man, to solve man’s sin problem. [“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”—1 John 2:2]
The explosion of sexual sin in Western cultures–especially one like ours with a magnificent Christian heritage that still professes to be “under God”–is ultimately a manifestation of losing the Truth of Jesus. Let’s face it: many or even most Americans—secular or professing “Christians”–think they’re “smarter than God” when it comes to sex (and other issues), and the result is a society is awash in sin and its consequences: fornication, broken homes, divorce, abortion, widespread STDs and, yes, homosexualism and extreme gender rebellion.
All sins dishonor God, but there’s something especially deplorable and significant about the spread of homosexuality and related perversions in a civilization. Someone smart once said something to the effect that if homosexual sodomy—what Noah Webster in 1828 defined as “a crime against nature”–is OK, then nothing is wrong. The court-imposed spread of sodomy-based “marriage” is a cultural act of defiance for which America will be judged—or perhaps is already being judged–as a nation. [Read the AFTAH article, “Gay Marriage and Distant Consequences.”]
Following and obeying Jesus is the key to righteousness. I find this reality to be evident in my own life: the more I stray from the Savior, the less virtuous, the less “godly,” I become. The closer I get to Jesus through the Scriptures, the Word of God, the more righteous I become. So it is with nations.
Changing the standard of right and wrong
All people sin. But most of us lack the audacity and hubris to attempt to change the transcendent, eternal standard of Right and Wrong, even as we fall short, sometimes woefully short, of God’s righteous demands.
But the earthly “enemies” against which AFTAH contends are all about changing the Truth standard–in a desperate quest to rationalize their sin. They want to change God’s plumb line of righteousness, based on the authority of, well, their feelings. “LGBTQueer” forces–fueled by seemingly endless financial resources–work day and night to change the standard, but the standard does not change. The standard cannot change.
____________________
Help AFTAH Fight Against the Lies of Big ‘Gay’ Inc: We are David and the well-funded “Gay” Lobby is Goliath. Support AFTAH today with a year-end gift of $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50 or whatever you can give! Give online [safe credit-card form HERE] or send a check to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. All gifts postmarked by or made online midnight Dec. 31 are tax-deductible for your 2014 taxes.
CHANGED MAN:Former homosexual turned family man Stephen Black will be attending AFTAH’s banquet Sat., Oct. 25 at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. The keynote speaker is Dr. Michael Brown, author of “Can You Be Gay and Christian?”
** UPDATE**: Former homosexual (ex-“gay”) leader Stephen Black of First Stone Ministries, based in Oklahoma City, will be attending our banquet this Saturday, Oct. 25. Stephen will offer his observations on the downfall of the ex-“gay” umbrella group Exodus International under false teaching–and the rise of Restored Hope Network to take its place as offering the hope of change for men and women struggling with homosexuality.
Also, Linda Harvey of Columbus-based Mission America–a leading Christian expert on the homosexual-bisexual-transgender agenda in schools–will be on hand at the banquet! Harvey is author of “Maybe He’s Not Gay: Another View on Homosexuality.” There is now a Study Guide for the book available for small group discussions such as home Bible studies.
The keynote speaker at the banquet is Dr. Michael Brown, author of the new book, “Can You Be Gay and Christian?: Responding with Love & Truth to Questions About Homosexuality”; and the well-documented research work: “Something Queer Happened to America–and What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been.” [Brown will be signing copies of both books at the banquet.]
WHEN: Saturday, October 25; doors open at 5:30 PM; dinner served at 6:30
COST: Tickets are only $20/person in advance (payment received by Oct. 24) or $25 at the door. Dinner is included. Table Sponsorship: just $200 for a table of 10. Please bring young adults who are confused about homosexuality and “gay rights”! Sign up online at www.aftah.com/donate/, or mail your check to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.
THEME: Can You Be “Gay” and Christian?
Phone: 312-324-3787; E-mail to RSVP: americansfortruth[at]gmail.com; or email Brad Wallace at connops]at]yahoo.com.
NOT A GOOD ROLE MODEL: AFTAH blocks homosexual kisses because they are indecent. God never intended men to be sexual with other men, nor women with women. This fundamental reality is confirmed by Nature, which clearly discriminates against homosexual conduct (intercourse between two people of the same sex cannot produce life). Michael Sam is doing a great disservice to young people by promoting the idea that immoral and destructive homosexual behavior is natural and acceptable. Pray for Michael Sam that he will one day join the many men and women who have left homosexuality behind.
The following open letter to Michael Sam–who has gained fame as the first openly homosexual NFL draftee–is adapted from a printed version written and distributed by AFTAH Board Member John McCartney, who has devoted many years to the critical study of homosexuality. I recommend reading this CDC report on HIV and Black MSM (men who have sex with men)–though it is tinged with politically-correct bias–for more background on this aspect of HIV crisis linked to homosexual behavior.–Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
_____________________
An Open Letter to Michael Sam
Michael, do we have to tell you that, especially with your current publicity, you are a role model because of your athletic prowess, but since “coming out” you are also modeling a lifestyle that the cost for those living it, has been unpublicized but appalling—as it has for society. The troubling fact is minorities are suffering most and in growing numbers. The evidence:
Black youth–your fans among them–ages 13-24 are twice as likely to get HIV/AIDS than those of other ethnic groups.
94-95 percent of all HIV cases in 2011 among boys and young men ages 13-24 were linked to homosexual sex, the CDC reports.
Youth 13-24 incur 26 percent of new HIV/AIDS infections each year.
An estimated 60 percent of 13-24 year-olds are unaware that they’re infected with HIV; such ignorance can be a death sentence.
Black men having sex with men (MSM) accounted in 2010 for 39 percent of all HIV/AIDS diagnoses.
Secondary to the toll in pain and death among MSM is the drain on U.S. medical and financial resources; for example, anti-viral drugs, which can prolong MSM life about 20 years, cost over $24,000 per year. They do prolong life but must be taken scrupulously or the MSM becomes infectious. To treat an HIV/AIDS victim costs from $400,000 to $600,000 from infection to death. In total, the HIV/AIDS epidemic costs the country about $5 billion per year, says CDC Director Dr. Tom Freiden.
Believe it or not, no one is born “gay”; molestation, emotional deprivation, parental or peer rejection, or other traumatic factors can foster same-sex attraction–but many men and women have managed it, diminished it, or eliminated it altogether. [See these heartwarming ex-“gay” testimonies.] Many accomplished this through Reparative Therapy and counseling, despite the relentless, unwarranted condemnation of and campaign against both by self-serving “gay” activists.
What we hope for from you, Michael, is that you don’t make your feelings, well-publicized as they have been, your claim to fame. Your achievements on the football field will earn you a legacy you can be proud of; your “coming out” as one celebrating homosexuality as normative can earn you only regret, as well as notoriety among millions of us.
Peter LaBarbera
President, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH)
