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Rios to give keynote speech at AFTAH fundraising banquet Nov. 16
FOX News Contributor and stellar Christian culture warrior Sandy Rios will be the keynote speaker at AFTAH’s annual banquet Saturday, Nov. 16, at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL.
SAVE THE DATE (Nov. 16): We at AFTAH are very excited to have Chicago’s longtime and beloved talk show host, Sandy Rios, as the keynote speaker at our annual Americans For Truth banquet Saturday, Nov. 16. Our banquet host, as always, is Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Please save the date. Tickets are just $20/person in advance or $25 at the door.
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Folks, it is always a pleasure and a privilege for me to sit down with my good friend (and former boss) Sandy Rios for an interview, which I did Tuesday, as a guest on her “Sandy Rios in the Morning” show on American Family Radio (AFR Talk) network. (AFR is part of Don Wildmon’s wonderful organization, American Family Association.) In this interview [click HERE to listen] with Sandy — who is also a FOX News Contributor and the vice-president of Family-Pac Federal — we discuss media distortions of the pope’s recent comments about not judging “gay people.” I point out that the pope did not disavow but actually affirmed Catholic teaching, which proscribes ALL pro-homosexual advocacy and legislation. In fact, Pope Francis specifically stated that “the problem is lobbying by this [sexual] orientation” and compared that to lobbying on the basis of a greedy “orientation.” I tell Sandy:
The last thing that the Catholic Church needs is more homosexual priests…. The devastation that they wrought — the whole penetration of the Church [by] homosexual pederasts [who] got into the church ….by [relaxing] the rules to get in [the priesthood]… They molested boys and teenagers [which is consistent with] …the whole history of homosexuality and pederasty…Then they covered up the pederasty. They moved these priests around. And now the same homosexual activists say, “Well, you can’t believe the Catholic Church because they harbored pedophilia!” So homosexuality has done incredible devastation to this Church…But you listen to homosexual activists and it’s like they don’t acknowledge that. It’s so bizarre…Homosexual activists never take responsibility for their own behavior and the repercussions from it.
Rios agrees and notes that the “homosexual activist movement …is very narcissistic. Everything is about them….”
Next we discuss homosexual activist strategy (basically, more lawsuits) following the Supreme Court’s landmark rulings that cleared the way for recognition of homosexuality-based “marriages” by the federal government, and in California despite that state’s Prop 8 vote. Later, former homosexual Christopher Doyle, a former homosexual and director of International Healing Foundation, discusses “Ex-Gay Pride Month” and his take on why Exodus International leaders Alan Chambers and Randy Thomas brought about the downfall of that “ex-gay” umbrella organization.
Please mark your calendars for November 16 and save the date for our banquet with Sandy Rios. You will not want to miss this! As usual we are keeping the cost low — $20 per person in advance or $25 at the door — so plan on bringing some friends. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
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 to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.
“The problem is not having this orientation,” [Pope Francis] said. “We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.” — BBC report, “Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people?”
Today the media were in another spasm of homosexual promotion, as news accounts of Pope Francis’ comments on not judging “gay people” “reported” that the pope was launching a new era of welcoming homosexuals, even “gay priests.” We turn to our good friends at LifeSiteNews — a Catholic Canadian pro-family website — to clarify Pope Francis’ widely-reported remarks concerning “gay people.”
I am immediately struck by two aspects to this story:
As always we have a huge nomenclature problem on the homosexual issue: many people are still confused between the idea of people struggling against homosexual tendencies — and modernist, homosexual activist ‘Gayspeak’ that pushes the notion that a certain subset of people (in every society) “are gay” — i.e., that their natural, inborn “sexual orientation” is homosexual and nothing can be done about it. Obviously, the LGBT lobby and their liberal media allies want us to believe that the Catholic Church and indeed all institutions will move inexorably toward accepting the latter proposition, which they define as truth. However, this concept runs counter to not just Catholic doctrine but the historic teaching of Christianity on sexual sin. (See www.RobGagnon.net.)
Note the bolded passage above: despite the media hubbub, by condemning “lobbying by [homosexual] orientation,” Pope Francis essentially disqualifies ALL pro-homosexual (“gay rights”) advocacy and legislation.
You can read the full LifeSite story HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
The institutional failure of Exodus International — under the tragically unbiblical leadership of Alan Chambers (above) — has nothing to do with God not being able to help homosexuals (like all sinners) change. A new Christian umbrella group for people overcoming homosexuality, sexual sin and gender confusion — Restored Hope Network — has risen up to take Exodus’ place. Several former Exodus ministry leaders have already joined Restored Hope.
“The point is that the language of ‘sexual orientation’ is an imposition today on much of what the Bible says about sexuality.” — Rev. Mark Creech
OKLAHOMA CITY — The following is a long excerpt from an outstanding column by Rev. Mark Creech, published June 22 by Renew America. Some of my comments on Exodus International’s stunning collapse are quoted in the piece. Exodus imploded because its Executive Director, Alan Chambers, and his staff succumbed — in a very cult-like way — to bad theology (see Prof. Rob Gagnon’s report critiquing Chambers’ “cheap grace” errors HERE). Chambers was talking and acting more and more like a pro-homosexuality activist — odd behavior for a supposed Christian leader. But what Creech’s article alludes to is that the modern semantics surrounding the “homosexuality debate” — sexual orientation, gay, homophobia, gender identity, marriage equality, etc. — are built on worldly concepts that run contrary to Scripture.
In future posts I will describe my wonderful and moving experience here in the great state of Oklahoma attending the annual conference of Restored Hope Network (RHN) — which God raised up to do the noble, life changing ministry work that Exodus once did. (Several Exodus-affiliated “ex-gay” ministries already have joined Restored Hope, and others soon will follow.) Know this: Exodus’ and Chambers’ downfall — though a momentary propaganda boon for deceitful, often vicious, homosexual militants like Wayne Besen [he “applauds” Alan HERE]– is only an institutional failure, driven by foolish pride. The timely rise in its stead of Restored Hope shows that Jesus Christ isstill very much in the business of redeeming and radically transforming sinners — and of course that includes men, women and young people caught up in the sin of homosexual behavior.
May we all pray that the Lord will bless Restored Hope Network abundantly. You can find out more about them HERE and financially support RHN HERE. Rev. Creech’s full column can be found HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
It is considered a landmark announcement, proof that the cultural winds are shifting in favor of the acceptance of homosexuality by the evangelical community. Exodus International, a ministry devoted to helping people overcome same-sex attractions is shutting down. Alan Chambers, the ministry’s president, is apologizing for much of the hurt he believes the ministry has caused the LGBT community.
Chambers, who now rejects the view that sexual orientation can be changed through the Gospel, wrote that he believes there is a sense in which his apology is for the whole church. “[I]f the church is a body, with many members being connected to the whole, then I believe that when one of us does right we all do right, and when one of us does wrong we all do wrong,” he said. “We have done wrong, and I stand with many others who now recognize the need to offer apologies and make things right.” [1]
But Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention takes umbrage with Chambers’ apology, arguing: “I think there is a tendency to see Exodus folding as a parable of Christian capitulation and ethic. That is not what is happening. Instead what you have is an organization that has some confusion about its mission and purpose…What is not happening here, is an evangelical revision of a biblical sexual ethic.” [2]
Peter LaBarbera, who leads Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, would agree with Moore. When OneNewsNow recently asked LaBarbera about Exodus shutting down, he said, “I think Alan Chambers, who basically ruined the organization, had no choice because the affiliates were leaving. All the people who support the truth that homosexuals can change and overcome this perversion through Jesus Christ were leaving Exodus.” [3]
LaBarbera, who called Exodus’ closing one of the greatest tragedies he had witnessed in the pro-family movement, also shared where he believes the ministry made its fatal mistake. He said, “Homosexuality is about behavior, and behaviors can be changed with the help of God and through Christ…That’s what Exodus used to be about. But once they started talking about so called ‘gay sexual orientation,’ as if this is the inherent state of somebody’s being, they got in trouble.” [4]
LaBarbera makes a critical point that raises a fundamental question: Is the concept of “sexual orientation” biblical? It is my contention that this expression, which finds its source in modern psychology and is so easily bandied about, doesn’t have a biblical leg to stand on.
In this video Michael Voris of the Catholic online video program ChurchMilitant.TV discusses Pope Francis’ statement, made in a private meeting, that there is a homosexual activist “gay lobby” inside the Vatican. To watch this video on Voris’ YouTube channel, go HERE:
Barber calls for investigation into HRC’s role in IRS-Gate…
Folks, our press conference yesterday directly in front of the world’s most powerful homosexual lobby organization, Human Rights Campaign, was a success (despite the lack of “mainstream” media present). I was touched to see that HRC had put up a “Welcome Peter” sign on their swank headquarters building on Rhode Island Avenue in Washington, D.C. (see video below). But that was just a stunt as a spokesman for the “gay” pressure group quickly reverted to the usual HRC tactic of smearing our pro-family representatives: “Fringe is too polite a term for them.” HRC spokesman Fred Sainztold the Washington Blade, a newspaper for homosexuals. (Other homosexual websites‘ coverage was more hateful.) Perhaps truth is “fringe” to an aggressive Sin Lobby. Watch Cliff Kincaid’s video coverage of the event and decide who the real extremists are. Thanks to all who participated in this event. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
Kincaid’s footage is in three parts, which we will post separately: Part One is below, featuring Matt Barber’s and my presentations; after the jump is a non-verbatim text of my speech:
Speech by Peter LaBarbera at HRC press conference, June 4, 2013
Good morning, and thank you for coming.
The escalation of homosexual activist power is bad for America, and American liberty. Our bottom line here today at the beginning of so-called “Gay Pride” Month — as the banner says — is not about “hate” but that Homosexuality Is Nothing to Be Proud of, but overcoming it is. The deviant sexual revolution represented by the Human Rights Campaign headquarters behind us is built on a foundation of lies. Consider two of the “Founding Fathers” of the “Gay” revolution, Alfred Kinsey and Harry Hay.
After a hiatus, AFTAH is back on the air. This podcast [click HERE to listen], recorded May 16, 2013, is Part One of our interview with Mormon pro-family activist Stephen Graham, founder of Standard of Liberty, a group based in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Graham discusses the Mormon Church’s (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) retreat on the homosexualist agenda — especially after the LDS Church was hammered by the pro-“gay” Left for funding and supporting the Prop 8 constitutional amendment to protect marriage in California as one-man, one-woman. At about the 8:18 point on this audio, Graham cuts to the root of the Mormon pullback in resisting the overarching “gay” agenda (including “same-sex marriage”): a fear that bad publicity will limit the ability of its farflung missionaries to engage potential converts.
Graham describes his disappointment with Mormon Church leaders for failing to stand resolutely against the liberalization of the current Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy prohibiting openly homosexual Scouts. AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera, co-host John Kirkwood and Graham agree that had LDS leaders done so — given the Mormons’ huge sway with the Scouts — the potential for BSA capitulation on the homosexual issue would have been greatly diminished. LaBarbera references a Mother Jones article about the LDS Church cuttin back on funding anti-“homosexual marriage” state ballot measures in 2012, and Graham says the MJ article is accurate. The discussion ends with a focus on how the fear of losing corporate funding led to the Scouts’ proposed policy change — and how pro-family companies like Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby should step in and offer to make up any lost corporate grants to the BSA.
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 to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.
Exodus leader Alan Chambers works directly with “gay” activists to undermine pro-family Christians
John and Anne Paulk — on the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1998. Recently, Paulk renounced the “ex-gay” movement that he once led. Anne, however, has stayed faithful and is now involved with Restored Hope Network, which has risen up in response to Exodus International’s “gay”-affirming turn away biblical truth. See current photo of John Paulk below.
“Exodus [International] used to focus on how Jesus leads persons out of homosexuality. Now Exodus appears to celebrate those who return to it.”— Andy Comiskey
TAKE ACTION: As you can see from Andy Comiskey’s piece below, Exodus International is no longer a trustworthy “ex-gay” organization for Christians who respect the Bible’s authority. But there is now a biblically-faithful Christian alternative to Exodus: Restored Hope Network (RHN). Although AFTAH supported Exodus for two decades, it has tragically embraced a “gay”-affirming ideology that distorts the wonderful grace of God and, ironically, pushes the defeatist message that most homosexuals cannot change their “sexual orientation.”
I have publicly challenged Exodus President Alan Chambers to find “gay” “sexual orientation” in the Bible; he has not responded. Moreover, Chambers now not only eschews getting involved in “culture war” over homosexuality — Exodus no longer even takes a stand on the blasphemous notion of homosexuality-based “marriage” — but he also urges other Christians to follow suit.
Although AFTAH would rather focus its attention on the aggressive homosexualist agenda, we cannot ignore the escalating confusion and falsehoods advanced by Exodus International under Chambers’ failed leadership. Recently, Chambers called me a “viper” on Twitter (get the Pharisee allusion?) following yet another episode that exposed his newfound pro-homosexual radicalism. In a shocking development that some are calling “Chambers-gate,” the Exodus leader stunned me and other activists by secretly cc’ing homosexual activist Jeremy Hooper in an email thread that included manypro-family leaders. (Details will be forthcoming; here’s one of Hooper’s pieces on the episode; here’s the piece in left-leaning Salon.com).
At the same time, Chambers secretly cc’d evangelical renegade and Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton — another pro-family-“defector”-turned-pro-homosexual-apologist who, like Alan, is popularizing the dangerous idea that nearly all homosexuals who try cannot change. Talk about denying Jesus’ power (but more on that later).
Talking up “gay Christianity” — another Chambers shift away from truth — is unbiblical, but many believers are unaware of Exodus’ new radical worldview. Americans For Truth urges you to inform your Christian friends about Exodus’ pro-homosexual turn and ask them to support the fledgling Restored Hope Network however they can. Here’s some useful information:
Below is wonderful response to Exodus VP Randy Thomas’ fawning piece on John Paulk by former homosexual Andy Comiskey, founder of Desert Stream Ministries. We also have reprinted excerpts from the Thomas piece, “John Paulk’s Shocking Secret,” below. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth
Homosexual protest boomerangs as targeted Texas pastor slams Political Correctness and winsomely proclaims the Gospel
New York Jets QB and public Christian Tim Tebow backed out of a scheduled speaking engagement at a Texas mega-church following “gay” protests that falsely and maliciously labeled that church and its pastor as motivated by “hate.” Tebow missed an opportunity to defend biblical truth.
By Peter LaBarbera, Special American For Truth Report
Many Christians and pro-family advocates were disappointed to learn that New York Jets QB Tim Tebow had backed out of a scheduled speaking engagement at the First Baptist Church in Dallas – following an online lobbying blitz by homosexual activists urging him to cancel because the church’s pastor is “anti-gay.”
Last Thursday, Tebow tweeted that he was pulling out of the April 28 appearance with First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress “due to new information that has been brought to my attention.” A conflicted Tebow reportedly told the Texas pastor that he would like to speak at the Dallas mega-church at some point in the future, but “he needed to avoid controversy right now for personal and professional reasons,” the liberal Daily Beastreported.
The Daily Beast article is gratuitously headlined: “Tim Tebow’s ‘Hate’ Pastor Responds to Quarterback’s Withdrawal.”
Turns out that Jeffress not only preaches that homosexual behavior is a sin — he also opposes Mormonism and some Catholic teachings. And, because he asserts that Jews (like everyone else) also need to have faith in Christ to go to heaven, Jeffress was also slandered as “anti-Semitic.” Translation: he is squarely within the long tradition of the Southern Baptist preaching, which holds that regenerative faith in Christ alone is required for salvation.
[Watch Pastor Jeffress’ powerful response to the Tebow controversy HERE, addressing his First Baptist Church of Dallas congregation last Sunday.]
Of course, Evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons have serious theological differences (although each teaches that homosexual behavior is wrong). But let’s be clear: the instigators of the controversy that culminated in Tebow’s unfortunate cave-in were the ‘Gay Thought Police’ – my name for the powerful and well-funded homosexual activist lobby that demonizes people who speak out against homosexuality as bigots, haters and “homophobes.”
Curiously, Tebow himself attends a Southern Baptist church in Jacksonville, Florida, First Baptist Church Jacksonville, which holds the same biblical beliefs as Jeffress’ church. With the Texas pastor ably refuting the absurd “gay” polemic that his is a “hate church,” even some secular liberals opined that Tebow had blown it with his First Baptist cancellation. In a remarkable interview with Jeffress, celebrity reporter (and Jewish homosexual) Harvey Levin, founder of the Hollywood-oriented TV show TMZ – hardly a right-wing sympathizer – concluded, “It sounds like Tebow wussed out on this one to me.”
Thus Tebow joins the list of other celebrities, conservatives, and Christians leaders who have succumbed to homosexual pressure campaigns. (Recently, Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio pulled out of the President Obama’s Inaugural ceremony, for which he had been invited to give the benediction, after pro-“gay” activists uncovered one of his sermons from the mid-90s critical of homosexual activism. Under attack from homosexual activists, Giglio opted not to defend Christian teaching on homosexuality — and took pains to assert that he hasn’t made the homosexual issue a priority in his ministry work and did not wish to be part of the national debate on the topic.)
This article was not easy for me to write. As a Tebow fan, I sincerely hope he reverses course and returns to speak at First Baptist. He is young and has a lot to learn — all the while being under the liberal media’s microscope. Nevertheless, I think Tebow also owes a public apology to Pastor Jeffress, who was put in a bad situation but handled it masterfully.
