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MIDNIGHT DEADLINE for Tax-Exempt, Year-End Gifts to AFTAH: All gifts to Americans For Truth are fully tax-deductible according to the IRS. To count your gift as deductible for your 2012 taxes, give online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/ by midnight Central Time today (Dec. 31st). Or postmark your regular-mail donation by today (Dec. 31st) and mail to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Please consider becoming a monthly “Truth Team” donor to AFTAH.
** AFTAH is looking forward to aggressively and non-defensively confronting the Homosexual, Bisexual and Transgender Lobbies in 2013. Thank you for making our work possible with your donations and prayers! **
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Scott Lively
Folks, being called a “pro-family hero” by Scott Lively is humbling, and a great honor. See below where Scott lists AFTAH as among his “Top 10 Pro-Family Heroes” for 2012.”
In recent years nobody has been on the receiving end of more lies, slanders and all-around wickedness at the hands of homosexual activists than Scott Lively. I don’t think the average Joe American could even comprehend what Scott has gone through — merely because he stands against the lies and myths of the Homosexual Movement. And yet he fights on undeterred because he knows that as a follower of Christ devoted to the Truth of God’s Word, he will be persecuted. I know Scott and he is nothing at all like the evil, hateful caricature that “gay” activists have made him out to be.
AFTAH presented Scott with its “American Truth Teller”award for 2011 because he exemplifies the sacrificial spirit of truthful, Christ-like resistance to the LGBT Sin Movement — which is based on one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated against mankind: that homosexuality is natural (for some people), innocuous, “who you are,” and the basis for “civil rights.” Scott Lively is a true cultural hero, and a decent, great Christian man who loves homosexuals enough to tell them the Truth.
The following is excerpted from from an article in Christian News Network, in which AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera is quoted. The original article contains video footage of the controversial Rick Warren interview with Huffington Post [or click HERE]:
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Rick Warren Uncertain if Homosexual Behavior is Sinful, Says ‘Gays’ Go to Heaven
Controversy is stirring over recent comments made by Rick Warren, author of the best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life and megachurch leader of Saddleback Church in California, who stated that homosexual behavior “might be” sinful, and that he believes homosexuals go to Heaven.
During an interview this week with the Huffington Post, Warren was asked by Marc Lamont Hill if having romantic feelings for a member of the same sex is a sin. Leading up to the question, Warren was explaining that he does not hate homosexuals, and that people should disagree politely on the subject of homosexuality.
“I have many, many gay friends, and have worked around the world with them in gay organizations to try to stop AIDS,” he said. “We’re doing ‘World AIDS Day’ this weekend at Saddleback Church. My wife and I have given millions of dollars to help people with HIV/AIDS and have worked with gay organizations on that.”
“What about the love part, though? I hear about the AIDS part,” asked Hill. “It’s not illegal to love somebody,” Warren replied.
“But you think it’s a sin,” Hill asserted. “No, it’s not a sin to love somebody,” Warren said.
“It might be a sin to have sex with them,” he added. “It might be.”
Courtesy of our good friends at PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays):
My Testimony
by Debora Barr
Radical transformation is possible! I lived 18 years of my life as a lesbian with absolutely no desire to change. Now that I have been set free from my invisible shackles, I am experiencing the most wholesome and unconditional love of my Savior, Jesus Christ and will never turn back!
I was born in 1963, to a 19-year-old mother and a twenty-one year old father who lost their first child (my older brother) to complications during child birth less than a year earlier. My parents both came from homes where their same sex parent died when they were very young. I am the oldest of three biological children of my parents and one adopted sibling. I was brought up in the Catholic Church, and early in my life, I developed a love for God and even dreamed of becoming a nun.
I was extremely insecure as a child and did not make friends easily. I never really connected with kids my own age, and my best friends were always older than me. I matured quickly, and beginning at the age of nine, I took on the role of babysitter for my younger siblings as well as the 50 foster children (infants) that my family took in over a period of seven years. I felt like an adult, even as a child.
In high school I began dating a boy who was a couple of years older than me. He lived quite a distance away, so he would come and spend the weekends at my house whenever possible. During this time, my mother started to go with us to the movies or bowling alley nearly every time we went out. She never really dated as a teen because she was raising her two younger brothers. She married my father at the age of 16 to get away from her alcoholic father and her dysfunctional family situation.
When I was 15, my boyfriend and I were away at a church camp and there he tried to have sex with me. When I returned home, I experienced deep betrayal by someone very close to me which sent me spiraling into a deep depression. I rejected God and completely turned my back on him, denying that he even existed. I struggled for the next couple of years with deep depression and attempts at suicide. I graduated from high school, my parents divorced, and I went to college in another part of the state. There, I experienced sexual abuse from three different older men and further rejected any notion that God could exist. I thought what I knew as a child was just a lie and a fairytale – there was no God! I actively rejected the existence of God, telling people who believed that they were weak and deceived.
Andrew Marin “was either trying to conceal his orthodox positions from his friends who identify as homosexual or that he was trying to conceal his unorthodox theological views from those who hold orthodox biblical views,” writes Laurie Higgins.
The following article by our friend Laurie Higgins is reprinted from fhe Illinois Family Institute website. AFTAH commends the excellent yet often unheralded work of IFI in maintaining a truth standard for the state:
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By Laurie Higgins, Nov. 9, 2012
Andrew Marin, the controversial founder and president of the Marin Foundation, is speaking next week at Park Community Church in Chicago. This is surprising in that from its website Park Community appears to be a theologically orthodox church.
Marin promotes himself as a bridge-builder between the Christian community and the homosexual community and has written a book on the subject titled Love is an Orientation. It is not Marin’s desire to reach the unsaved that is troubling. We should all seek to bring the good news of Christ’s redemptive work to those who identify as homosexual. Rather, it is his approach and his theology that generate controversy and trouble many Christians.
One of the serious problems with Marin is that when asked directly about his biblical beliefs regarding homosexuality, he is troublingly evasive. In addition, his book has received a devastating critique from Dr. Robert A. Gagnon, Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics.
Why is Alan Chambers apologizing — to unrepentant homosexuals — for Exodus International’s past slogan, “Change is possible”?
In this broadcast [click HERE to listen], recorded September 6, 2012, AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera and co-host John Kirkwood discuss several issues in the news surrounding the homosexual issue, including:
Exodus International president Alan Chambers’ embrace of “gay”-affirming Christianity and his appearance before the “Gay Christian Network” (at which Chambers apologized for Exodus’ former slogan, “Change Is Possible”);
An excellent response by Kirkwood to LaBarbera’s question: “Is ‘sexual orientation’ in the Bible?”;
Commentary on Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias’ compelling answer at an open forum to the question, “Is it possible for a man or a woman to live a sincere Christian life as a homosexual?”;
The Democrat Party versus the Republican Party platforms on homosexuality — and especially the Democrats’ formal embrace of homosexual “marriage”;
Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-IL)’s overzealous response to FOX interviewer Brett Baier’s question about why the Democrats would remove the word “God” from their 2012 Party Platform (it was later restored in a controversial floor voice vote [listen at about 46:00 on the program]). Durbin asserts that “both parties are God-fearing parties”;
The growing push within GOP circles — including this article on conservative icon Glenn Beck’s website The Blaze — to advance homosexual “marriage.”
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 or two to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.
Americans For Truth is excited to hear about the formation of this Christian “ex-gay” alternative to ExodusInternational, which has lost the trust of many pro-family advocates and Christian leaders due to the perceived unbiblical and erroneous statements by Exodus leader Alan Chambers. See this paper by Bible-and-homosexuality expert and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Prof. Robert Gagnon as the best critique of Chambers’ liberal tilt. Also see former homosexual DL Foster’s blog, Gay Christian Movement Watch. We will have more on the Exodus and Chambers controversy in future posts. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
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Announcing the Formation of Restored Hope Network and Its First Annual Conference
Contact: David Foster, 615-507-4166
FRANKLIN, Tenn., Aug. 23, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — Restored Hope Network (RHN) has recently been formed by leaders from throughout North America who seek to minister to homosexuals and other sexually broken individuals according to the historic doctrines of the Christian faith. We seek to be honest about the need for repentance in the life of believer and nonbeliever alike and we seek to communicate the many ways that God brings about real and lasting change in the life of anyone who turns to Him and allows Him to take them through a life-transforming process.
One of RHN’s founding leaders is Frank Worthen, who was the key figure in the founding of Exodus International in 1973. Of this new network, Frank writes:
“I am feeling inexpressible joy that the Lord has brought together a group of people who will not allow the message of hope and change to die in a sea of misguided social/cultural relevance. Restored Hope Network will now carry the torch of freedom from the sin and degradation of homosexuality and the transforming power of Jesus Christ.”
Restored Hope Network will be holding its inaugural conference this coming September 21 & 22 at Sunrise Community Church in Fair Oaks, CA (Sacramento area). Speakers will include Frank Worthen, Andy Comiskey (Desert Stream Ministries), Dr. Robert Gagnon (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) and others.
Mission Statement for “Restored Hope Network”: Restored Hope is a membership governed network dedicated to restoring hope to those broken by sexual and relational sin, especially those impacted by homosexuality. We proclaim that Jesus Christ has life-changing power for all who submit to Christ as Lord; we also seek to equip His church to impart that transformation.
The following is excerpted from Dana Milbank’s August 16 column in the Washington Post. Naturally, as a Post columnist, Milmank is careful to affirm his pro-homosexuality pedigree. But at least he recognizes the ludicrousness of putting the Family Research Council — and by extension other pro-family groups like AFTAH and AFA smeard by Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) “hate group” charge — in with racist fringe groups. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
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Hateful speech on hate groups
By Dana Milbank, Published in the Washington Post [full column HERE], August 16, 2012
Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization, posted an alert on its blog Tuesday: “Paul Ryan Speaking at Hate Group’s Annual Conference.”
The “hate group” that the Republicans’ vice presidential candidate would be addressing? The Family Research Council, a mainstream conservative think tank founded by James Dobson and run for many years by Gary Bauer.
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Human Rights Campaign isn’t responsible for the [FRC] shooting. Neither should the organization that deemed the FRC a “hate group,” the Southern Poverty Law Center, be blamed for a madman’s act. But both are reckless in labeling as a “hate group” a policy shop that advocates for a full range of conservative Christian positions, on issues from stem cells to euthanasia.
I disagree with the Family Research Council’s views on gays and lesbians. But it’s absurd to put the group, as the law center does, in the same category as Aryan Nations, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Stormfront and the Westboro Baptist Church. The center says the FRC “often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science.” Exhibit A in its dossier is a quote by an FRC official from 1999 (!) saying that “gaining access to children has been a long-term goal of the homosexual movement.”
Offensive, certainly. But in the same category as the KKK?
The following is Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins’ appearance on FOX News’ “America Live with Megyn Kelly” (August 16, 2012). Perkins correctly states that the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) agenda with regard to pro-family groups like FRC that oppose the homosexualist agenda is to marginalize these organizations. AFTAH, American Family Association, Mission America and a host of other pro-family organizations have been similarly smeared as “hate groups” by the SPLC:
