Why is it that people believe what the Bible teaches, right up until the time that it applies to themselves or their children?

Patti and Jeff Ellis are like thousands of other parents. They were conservative, Bible-believing parents and they understood that the Bible clearly teaches that homosexuality is sin. They believed it until their teenage son announced he was homosexual.

Now the Ellises have abandoned the Word of God in order to condone their confused boy’s destructive sexual choices and they have embarked on a quest to “reinterpret” Scripture. They cite the story of the adulterous woman as evidence of Jesus’ forgiveness toward sexual sin and Jeff Ellis asks:

“If the story were to be exchanged with a gay man, would Jesus have responded differently? Would he have said, ‘You have my blessing in stoning this man to death?’ I don’t think so.”

Now, of course, Jeff Ellis knows that no serious Christian advocates stoning homosexuals to death. And he mysteriously elects to ignore Jesus’ closing admonition to the adulterous woman:

So our response to Mr. Ellis is: Would Jesus have responded differently to your son? We don’t think so. A father who understood the earthly and eternal consequences of homosexuality would, with tears of love in his eyes, tell his precious son the Truth. —Sonja Dalton

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Apparently, Dr. Albert Mohler was contemplating the same principle, as it relates to the Cheneys, when he composed his Dec 12, 2006, blog entry:

…In order to keep family peace, show love to a loved one, or avoid awkward conversations, major moral issues are simply overlooked. Some even change their position on questions of grave moral significance, only because a relative is involved.

This happens with reference to divorce, cohabitation, homosexuality, adultery, and any number of other issues. It is a habit we must break.

Moral integrity demands clear and convictional moral thinking, based in the infallible wisdom of God’s perfect Word. Love demands that we love persons, no matter what their sin may be. Honesty demands that we admit the difficulty of knowing how to combine moral integrity and love with perfect pitch. The Gospel demands that we tell the truth with love.

No one ever said this was going to be easy. But becoming a moral relativist when a relative is involved is a path the faithful Christian cannot take. We must resist moral relativism — even with relatives.

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The following is excerpted from Evangelicals and Same-Sex Marriage, by Lis Wiehl, published by FOX News:

…Patti and Jeff Ellis, a conservative Christian couple from Atlanta, GA, experienced a similar shock when their 16-year-old son Adam announced he was gay.”Patti and I were devastated,” writes Jeff on his family’s website, Familyacceptance.com. “Our response was typical. We prayed for a miracle. We pleaded, ‘God, please remove this burden from our son and our whole family. If Adam is truly gay, then please change him.'”

Patti and Jeff now say their prayers have been answered, but not in the way you might think; in fact, not only have they come to accept Adam’s homosexuality, they both now favor laws which permit gays to marry.

“This is the same as civil rights,” says Patti. “More parents need to stand up for their children.” …

The key to the Ellis’ “conversion,” they say, was being able to put a face on the otherwise abstract issue of homosexuality. “It’s not about the gays,” says Patti, “It’s about the Ellises.” Or as Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, puts it, people like the Ellises “go from an abstract idea to a real person with a real name and a real story,” and come to understand “there’s no negative impact on their own lives to have gays and lesbians living out in the open.” …

For Jeff Ellis, the Bible was clear that being gay, much less being gay and married, was a sin in the highest order. Rev. Bob Hudak, of the Church of Nativity in Fayetteville, Georgia, puts it even more bluntly. “If I were to take the Bible literally,” says Hudak, “every homosexual should be put to death because of what Leviticus says.”

Nevertheless, with some interpretation, the Ellises have found other passages in the Bible that have given them hope, such as John 8:7, in which Jesus says to a crowd criticizing an adulterous woman, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Jeff asks: “If the story were to be exchanged with a gay man, would Jesus have responded differently? Would he have said, ‘You have my blessing in stoning this man to death?’ I don’t think so.”

Ultimately, say the Ellises, coming to terms with their son’s homosexuality deepened their beliefs. “Faithful to his word, God answered our prayer,” says Jeff. “However, the changes that took place were not in Adam but in us. God…opened our eyes to the fact that he had created Adam gay for his own reasons and we, in our arrogance, viewed God’s creation as flawed.”

The Ellises now view their son’s homosexuality as a kind of blessing. “I believe God’s purpose for making Adam gay was to show Patti and I, and the rest of the world, the true meaning of unconditional love,” says Jeff.

You might recall that Tyrone Hanley was on the “sex worker” panel at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force 2006 Creating Change conference.

From the pro-transexuality Gender Public Advocacy Coalition on Dec 17, 2006:

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) today announced a grant of $125,000 from the Ford Foundation to develop new partnerships with community youth groups combating the crisis of masculinity among young men of color.

…The new effort, named “Community Partners,” is an expansion of GenderPAC’s GenderYOUTH Network, which empowers youth leaders to ensure classrooms and communities are safe for everyone – whether or not they fit stereotypes for masculinity or femininity. The Network currently supports student leaders on 55 campuses in 27 states.

Said Tyrone Hanley (pictured right), GenderYOUTH Coordinator, “These funds will enable us to better reach off-campus youth in local communities. They will also enable us to better address intersections of race and gender and the strong pressures many youth of color face when it comes to codes of masculinity and femininity.”

As an initial step in this new work, the GenderYOUTH spring campaign HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, will focus on issues of misogyny, homophobia, and violent codes of masculinity in hip-hop culture and the larger American society. It is designed to help GenderYOUTH chapters hold mainstream culture accountable for perpetuating gender stereotypes, particularly among youth of color.

The campaign is part of a national effort also named HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, after the groundbreaking documentary of the same name by filmmaker Byron Hurt. The documentary examines representations of manhood, sexism, and homophobia in hip-hop culture and will premiere February 20, 2007 on PBS. (For more information: www.itvs.org/outreach/hiphop).

A new GenderPAC human rights report documents an under-reported epidemic of murderous violence that has claimed the lives of more than 50 youth and young adults since 1995 because of their gender identity or expression – 92% of the victims were Black or Latina, and most were killed by young men their own age.

“These deaths are about young using murderous aggression to enforce standards of masculinity on other youth, and this grant will enable us to focus on underlying attitudes that foster such violence,” said Riki Wilchins, Executive Director of GenderPAC. “We thank the Ford Foundation for this amazing opportunity.”

Continue reading at GenderPAC…

Excerpted from School District Begins Unblocking Some LGBT Web Sites, published Dec 16, 2006, by the pro-homosexuality 365Gay:

Palm Beach County’s school board has begun allowing students to view some LGBT advocacy sites, but others remain blocked despite months of negotiations to end the practice.

The board first came under fire in May for blocking access to the Web sites of LGBT rights groups while allowing sites advocating the so-called ex-gay movement to go unfiltered.

Among the gay sites deemed inappropriate for students was one belonging to the local gay-straight alliance, a gay youth advocacy group. The filter was reset Thursday to allow access to the GSA site.

Other sites still banned include the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. In all more than a dozen LGBT civil rights and health information sites remain out of reach for students…

Continue reading on 365Gay…

Excerpted from Twin Teachers Accused Of Lewd Acts On Student, published Dec 16, 2006, by CBS2:

Twin sisters who teach at Lakeside High School in Lake Elsinore were arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts on a female student at the school, authorities said Friday.

Franca Munoz-Juvera, 26, and her sister, Antonia, were taken into custody Thursday after a brief investigation that started with an anonymous tip, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Carlos Gutierrez said. The sisters’ roommate, Eileen Valerio, 18, was also arrested and charged, Gutierrez said.

Franca Munoz-Juvera is charged with committing lewd acts on a minor, while all three suspects “are looking at charges of conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” Gutierrez said.

“The crime began at the high school and led back to Franca’s apartment,” Gutierrez said. “Antonia and Ms. Valerio knew what was going on, but they failed to report the illegal contact.”

Continue reading at CBS2…

This surprising news just in: God the Creator knows best.

Excerpted from Abstinence Alone Protects Fully Against HIV, Ugandan First Lady Tells Youth, by Gudrun Schultz, published Dec 6, 2006 by LifeSite News:

Janet Museveni, First Lady of Uganda, has continued her strong support for the country’s successful abstinence campaign against HIV/AIDS with a statement encouraging youth to live lives of “love, faith and purity,” New Vision reported December 2.

“I would not be caught advising you to take any shortcuts or compromise your lives by using any device invented by man, such as condoms, in order to facilitate any desire to go against God’s clear plan for your life,” Mrs. Museveni told students at the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, for World AIDS Day.

“God’s plan for your life is that you should honour your body because it is His temple.”

Warning the young people that they should not be complacent as HIV infection rates rise, Mrs. Museveni asked them to encourage other students to abstain from premarital sex.

Ugandan President Museveni and his wife introduced a program encouraging sexual abstinence before marriage and fidelity afterwards, in an attempt to combat the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

The program has been harshly condemned by international organizations promoting condom use, but in fact Ugandan HIV transmission rates dropped by as much as 75% in some regions after the program was introduced, down to 5-7% from a high of 18%.

Continue reading at LifeSite News…

Our friend James Hartline, a former homosexual, from San Diego posted this information December 10, 2006:

Starbucks Is Major Funding Source For Radical Gay Causes – Churchgoers Must Decide: A Convenient Cup Of Coffee Or A Stand For Jesus Christ

Emblem From SD Gay Pride Website
2006 San Diego Gay Pride
Proudly Sponsored By Starbucks
(http://sandiegopride.org/12/Sponsors.htm)

Millions Of Christians Buy Starbucks Coffee Everyday.

The Result: Those purchases are funding the Anti-Christian Radicalized Homosexual Movement.

JHReport Action Alert – Without question, one of the largest American corporate promoters of the anti-family, radicalized homosexual agenda, continues to be coffee giant Starbucks. While children were forced to watch degrading images of male prostitutes, pornographers and other deviant participants in this year’s 2006 San Diego Gay Pride Parade, Starbucks was sponsoring this hellish event to make sure that it was well-funded (http://sandiegopride.org/12/Sponsors.htm).

In 2006, Starbucks’ obsession with promoting the political activism of radical gay crusaders was not limited to the pornographic San Diego Gay Pride event. Indeed, this year, Starbucks extended its financial support to one of the most vehemently anti-christian homosexual media groups in America: GLAAD (The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).

From our friends at MassResistance: A letter to the editor from a Massachusetts United Church of Christ “pastor” who is responding to Tom Mountain’s article about a GLSEN activist/grade school social worker explaining “transgender” to a class of third graders, without their parents’ permission.

Likewise, here in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, “Parish Minister” Julie Denny-Hughes of Palatine’s Countryside Unitarian Universalist “Church” passionately defended the use of “Perks of Being a Wallflower“ by teachers in District 214. “Perks” is written at a third or fourth grade reading level, but was planned for a high school class. Should you find this “book” on your child’s required or recommended reading list, you might be interested to know that it offers quite an education in masturbating with a hot dog, forced oral sex, forceable sodomy, voyeurism, attempted drunken sex with a dog, and so on. (Read the excerpts for yourself.)

We’ve heard quite enough from the UCC and Unitarian leaders. Where are the Bible-believing pastors and youth ministers (the ones like Pastor Vincent Fields)? Their voices are sorely needed. — Sonja Dalton

New low in narrow-mindedness
By Reverend Richard Malmberg/ Guest column
Published Nov 15, 2006, in Newton Tab

Flaunting his biases with characteristic reliance on hearsay information, Tom Mountain accused Franklin School Principal Cindy Marchand of overreacting to an irate parent. As a Franklin parent, I know her to be a competent and knowledgeable principal. She was right to defend her staff, especially such a dedicated and professional social worker as Laura Perkins. Further, Ms. O’Shea should have been reprimanded for humiliating a Franklin family and attempting to derail a school meeting to press her own agenda. Other parents present at Curriculum Night confirm that Ms. Marchand handled an awkward situation calmly and capably. I generally try to ignore Tom Mountain’s weekly bitter tirades. They do little to edify, and nothing to enhance the civility of public discourse in Newton. At the risk of responding in kind, I have to say that his column in the Nov. 8 TAB reached a new low in mean-spirited narrow-mindedness.

I have had kids in Franklin School for more than eight years, and had numerous contacts with the family whose presence seems to so outrage Mr. Mountain and Ms. O’Shea. It might surprise them both that my first conversation with the parent who underwent gender reassignment took place at a Little League game. Our sons were on the same team. As we sat in our folding chairs, we had a friendly and stimulating conversation. When I told him I was a minister, the conversation turned to Biblical scholarship. He (then still living as a man) was obviously quite well-read and genuinely interested in the subject. I learned that he is an active lay leader in his own church.

Only after the “teachable moment” Mr. Mountain described did I learn through the Franklin grapevine that this other Little League dad was going through a gender reassignment. I confess that for a while after that, I felt a little awkward – my problem. I regret not being more openly supportive during what must have been a difficult time for their family. I admire the quiet dignity and courage they display through it all. They have not allowed the self-appointed sexuality police to harass them out of full participation in the community. Newton is fortunate to have such solid citizens, active in their congregation, supporting their kids, their school and pursuing happiness in our midst. Their modest refusal to hide makes our city safer for diversity.

I find it interesting that Mr. Mountain, champion of traditional family values, hints at snarky disbelief that this couple remained married after gender reassignment. With divorce rates what they are in our society, he should celebrate a durable commitment and intact family. Mindless devotion to a “Leave It to Beaver” mirage of “traditional family” is simply idolatry. Our fixation on an imagined norm undermines our ability to value real families whatever shape they take. We endanger the actual relationships that sustain us, while damaging our psychic and spiritual well-being. Consider the tragically self-loathing, self-destructive Rev. Ted Haggard. He crusaded against gay marriage in public, and engaged in risky gay sex and drug abuse in secret. This man of deep faith and extraordinary charisma was twisted by intolerant theology that had no room for the man God created him to be.

Excerpted from Website Aimed at ‘Tweens’ Promotes Homosexuality, by Bob Unruh, published Dec 14, 2006, by WorldNet Daily:

A website that targets its messages to ‘tweens,’ which it identifies as those ages 9-14, is promoting homosexuality to those children because the idea of one-man-and-one-woman only is “so last century.”

The website [Kidzworld] also is lobbying children to oppose the policy by the Boy Scouts of America against allowing homosexuals to lead troops of young boys, and advocates for the “rights” of homosexuals to adopt children.

…The website’s agenda is unabashed throughout its messages to the children:

• “Isn’t the most important issue to have two parents who love you? Does it really matter if a child as two mommies or two daddies?” it tells readers.
• In reference to a Florida law banning homosexuals from adopting, it says, “Steve and Roger have done more than most straight people applying for adoption. They have proven their dedication, love and ability to provide a healthy and stable home for their kids. Florida should congratulate them not punish them with outdated laws and narrowminded ‘tudes!”
• To “molly_holly,” who says her boyfriend is “gay” but “he likes me too,” the website responds: “What do you mean, he’s your boyfriend? Do ya mean he is your friend and he’s a boy? Or do ya mean he’s crushin’ on ya… like he’s your hottie? Cuz if this boy’s gay, I think you’re gonna have to get use to being his good friend. Sort of a Will and Grace set up. I hope you’re cool enough to not have any issues about his sexuality, cuz homophobia (the fear of gay peeps) is so last century.”
• In a book review, it says: “The only difference is, this book is about Paul, a 16 year-old gay boy who has fallen in love with the new boy in town, Noah. It’s really cool to have a book that portrays something other than the cliché cheerleader/football player love story…”

Regarding the Boy Scouts, whose dispute went to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that as a private organization the scouts are allowed to set moral standards for their leaders, the site provided a link for children to complain to the scouts, and then noted “a lot of pressure” is being put on the scouts to change.

Then the site provided a link for other volunteering opportunities that connected with a promotion for World AIDS Day.

Kidzworld home page shows its games and entertainment attractions

The site’s privacy disclosure notes that when children age 12 and up sign up on the website, their parents are sent an e-mail notifying them, and for children younger than 12, their parents must respond to an e-mail before they can sign up. However, signing up is not required to view any of the information, only to participate in the chat rooms and other options.

And, none of the pro-homosexual comments was found on the first page, the location most parents who actually do inspect a site would be most likely to check out, either. They were found embedded in the site as a reader follows various links.

…I clicked on ‘make a baby’ – and got All About Gay Parents,” he wrote.

…”kizzy333,” age 13, also said, “I’m not gay but I really dislike homophobic peeps. If two peeps of the same sex are in love, what’s the harm in it? My mum’s friend is a lesbian and she hasn’t changed. She’s a really loving parent too. It’s da bomb!”

The site features advertising from HarperCollins Children’s Books, the Cheetah Girls and GameBoy products, among other children’s attractions.

The site, which says it has had 4.4 million unique visitors, explains it is “the ultimate in online entertainment for kids nine to 14 (a.k.a. Tweens.)” and allows that age group of children to “interact, communicate and explore the digital world” and where they can “play, discover, voice, gather and belong.”

Continue reading at WorldNet Daily…