Two-day conference ‘will equip you to explain why God’s design for sexuality is the only good design’

Real Christianity vs. ‘Gay Christianity’: Sign up for the TruthXChange conference in Escondido, CA, Oct. 7-9 HERE. The theme is “Two Loves: A Biblical Response to ‘Gay Christianity.'” Among the speakers are: Dr. Michael Brown, Stephen Black, Rosaria Butterfield, Rev. Ted Hamilton, Rev. Dr. Gabriel N.E. Fluhrer and TruthXChange founder, Dr. Peter Jones.

Take Action: sign up HERE for the “Two Loves: Biblical Response to ‘Gay Christianity'” conference beginning this Friday (Oct. 7-9, 2016), in Escondido, CA. If you cannot attend, send a gift to help TruthXChange, a wonderful Christian organization, or order one of Peter Jones’ books or his worldview curriculum. More info at TruthXChange.com.

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Folks, I just can’t say enough good things about Dr. Peter Jones and his annual TruthXChange conferences–which combine intellectual rigor with a fearless commitment to upholding biblical truth — of the sort that is increasingly lacking in evangelical circles (at least on the homosexual issue). I wish I could attend this conference beginning Friday and hosted by New Life Presbyterian Church in Escondido, California.

Among the speakers are: Dr. Mike Brown, whose presentation alone would make attending worthwhile; my friend Stephen Black, who overcame homosexuality in his own life and who is one of the most godly and committed Christian men I’ve ever met; and ex-lesbian former professor Rosaria Butterfield.

Dr. Peter Jones, founder of TruthXChange.

Dr. Jones himself is a national treasure and one of the reasons I do NOT support shutting down immigration (he came here from the U.K.: Britain’s loss, America’s gain!). Peter writes ably and prolifically about the pagan roots of what the Left considers “enlightened” and “progressive” LGBTQueer sex- and gender ideology.

If you’re looking for simplistic and shallow analyses of America’s moral and spiritual crisis and the worldly descent of Christianity in the West, don’t attend this conference or follow Peter’s work. But if you are a truth-lover who fears God, not man, and wants to learn about how our once-Christian culture degenerated to this point, this is an event for you. Having attended one of Peter’s conferences a few years ago, I can assure you that you will be blessed by this gathering of Christian thinkers. –Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH.org; @PeterLaBarbera 

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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

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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

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Enough with the “Dialogue,” Already

“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.”

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.