Episcopal Church Approves 2nd Gay Bishop

According to several sources, the Episcopal Church has approved the election of the second openly gay bishop in the Anglican fellowship. The announcement was made Wednesday that the Reverend Mary Glasspool of Baltimore would being joining the group’s collection of bishops. Gene Robinson became the church’s first openly gay bishop last year.

WWJD If Invited to a Gay Wedding?

I’ve recently been invited to a couple of gay weddings. So — what with being Christian and all — I asked myself the famous question, “What would Jesus do?” (Which I don’t too often ask myself, actually, since Jesus could, for instance, raise people from the dead and turn water into wine, whereas I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning and/or turn water into coffee. Safe to say lots of His options are none of mine.)

Wondering what Jesus would do naturally enough led me to the New Testament. And therein I found these quotes:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:23-24); and

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Matthew 23:13); and,

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” (Matthew 23:15); and, last but hardly least:

“Love your neighbor as yourself,” [said Jesus]. “There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31)

When I next went looking for anywhere in the Bible where Jesus says anything — and I mean anything — about homosexuality, I learned that Jesus spent about as much time talking about gays and/or lesbians as I spend talking about button collecting and/or sea horses: none. Of course, it’s entirely possible that Jesus did say crucial things about homosexuality, but that when he did (curse the luck!) no one around him just then happened to have handy an ostrich feather, sappy stick, or whatever it was they used for pens back then. Which would make sense, actually. If you’ve spent any time at all reading the New Testament, you know that Jesus’ disciples weren’t exactly Johnnies-on-the-spot. They were just normal, everyday guys.

Kind of the whole point! Jesus most surely did love him some everyday people.

More at: Huff Po!

Dutch Gays Communion OK Now!

Direct from Amsterdam, news reaches me that  Dutch gay rights groups,  have today called for all the recent and ongoing protests against a Catholic church southwest of Amsterdam come to an end after it said it would no longer seek to bar homosexuals from taking communion.

The Sint-Jan church in Den Bosch says it will leave it up to believers to decide whether they are ready to receive communion.  Mass at the church on Sunday was disturbed by protests.    The demonstrations were started last month when an openly gay man in a nearby village was chosen for a prominent role during Dutch carnival celebrations but was refused communion by his local priest — offending many in the village.

Most Dutch people support gay rights, it’s one of the most liberal countries in Europe,  where they have a progressive attitude and a the willingness of the majority to accept diversity.

Jason Shaw,  Brighton, England.

Gay Agenda.com’s UK correspondent.

Jason’s blog is The Seafront Diaries,  tales of English life,  a smile, a joke and a slice of lion cake!

Christian Lies About God

A seeking brother, currently being led by the Holy Spirit out of the hell-trap of legalistic and bigoted “Christianity”, wrote me last week about a Scripture being used in the “church” he’s grown up in to “prove” God hates him.

On the surface, this “church” uses Scripture to “prove” God despises Gay and Lesbian people. But there’s a far deeper message they are communicating to themselves, their families, and the world. And it has to do with God’s very character.

God, they say, is a hater.

I can’t even describe the level of anti-Christ blasphemy it is to re-make God as sharing and justifying the worst of one’s own repulsive human nature, and then imprinting that evil lie about God into the minds of one’s children, friends, neighbors, and more. It’s a sinful lifestyle they’ve chosen, one that kills and destroys – and it’s also a desperate one, wherein those caught in it rarely even recognize their sin, much less decide to repent of it (check out John 10:1-21, for example).

People living this sinful lifestyle happily make themselves enemies of anyone and everyone not like them, drawing false lines between what is “pure” and “impure” and what is “godly” and “ungodly” – and too many people (both Christian and not) go along with their assertions and definitions, rather than recognizing them for the frank delusions they actually are.

We might understand why non-Christians would believe their self-worshipping nonsense. But as Christians we have no excuse because the Bible itself describes people caught in and living out this sin as existing even in the early history of the church. Paul and others in the New Testament give us clear warnings about such people – but we’ve been taught by those with a reason to hide the truth that such Scriptures aren’t about them or those they follow, but about “the world”, or non-Christians, or someone (anyone) else they can shift blame onto.

Realizing the truth of those choosing to live this sinful lifestyle isn’t just about recognizing that their self-created version of what God thinks about Gay people is wrong.

More at: No Junk – Just Jesus!

167 Iowa Faith Leaders Back Gay Marriage

From newsok.com:

More than 160 faith leaders in Iowa have voiced their support for same-sex marriage and on Tuesday decried opponents who cite the Bible in raising objections.

The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa held a Statehouse news conference to say that 167 representatives from a cross-section of diverse faiths in the state had sent a letter to all 150 legislators outlining their position.

“As many faith traditions affirm, where there is love, the sacred is in our midst,” the letter states. “This belief is the same for couples comprised of a man and a woman, two women or two men.”

Speakers said they wanted to counter the argument by same-sex marriage opponents who try to rely on the Bible to back up their views.

“Let me be perfectly clear,” said Rev. Matt Mardis-LeCroy, chairman of the Des Moines-based alliance. “I do not support marriage equality in spite of my Christian faith. I support marriage equality because of my Christian faith. As you can see I am not alone.”

Read more: newsok.com

It’s good to see there are those religious leaders who stand for equality and aren’t afraid to voice their support.  It’s important to remember this as it has become increasingly easier to lump religious organizations together into the larger category of anti-gay groups.

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