Category — gay christian sites

In December 2011, World Magazine named Exodus International President Alan Chambers “Daniel of the Year”. The magazine said it selects “one Christian from the millions around the world who have put their faith in God and gained the strength to stand up against ungodly trends”.

But the very next month, Chambers was smoozing and giggling at a conference of the “ungodly trends” people. Instead of standing up against them, he looked more at home than he did at an Exodus conference.

At that gay christian conference in Orlando Chambers said that 99.9% percent of the people he’s met have not changed their “sexual orientation” and other garden variety untruths. In the aftermath, the future of Exodus is being questioned.

Watch the video and share your thoughts.

There’s a new pecking order of  gay christians in town. As defined by the gay christian network (GCN), individuals who believe you can be gay, have unrestricted sex and the whole nine are called “Side A” gay christians. The ones who believe you should just call yourself gay but refrain from sex for an unspecified amount of time are labeled “Side B” gay christians. But after a visit from Alan Chambers, the public face of Exodus International to a GCN conference Jan 6th in Orlando, we are prompted to add one more class of gay christian and name it “Side C”.

The C is for compromised, confused, careless and carnal. One thing is ironically clear: statements about homosexuality by Alan Chambers rarely result in clarity.

Over a roughly two hour period, Chambers rattled off a stream of statements seemingly more in sync with trending progay theology than the biblical position Exodus claims to uphold for the last 30-odd years.  In response to a question about the Exodus slogan “change [from homosexuality] is possible”, Chambers said:

“The majority of people that I have met, and I would say the majority meaning 99.9% of them, have not experienced a change in their orientation or have gotten to a place where they could say that they could never be tempted or are not tempted in some way or experience some level of same-sex attraction. I think there is a gender issue there, there are some women who have challenged me and said that my orientation or my attractions have changed completely. Those have been few and far between. The vast majority of people that I know do still experience some level of same-sex attraction.”

Reflections, Reactions and Rebranding

The aftermath of Chamber’s appearance with the self declared homosexual christian group set off a firestorm of support, sharp criticism and everything in between.

Randy Thomas, a former Exodus official: “This isn’t shocking to me because Alan has always had a heart for those that oppose the work of Exodus and the truth of Alan’s testimony (which directly and indirectly represents thousands of us in some way shape or form.) I trust Alan and know his strength of conviction is completely wrapped up in God’s redeeming grace … I wasn’t worried for him or them. I was actually quite proud of him.”

Haydn Sennitt, a Syndey based ministry leader: “However, being outnumbered on such a huge scale would have put psychological strain on him to obfuscate, weaken his position, say things which- in hindsight- he might regret.  In the first 5-6 minutes he did exactly that: his first comments were to joke about drinking martinis and smoking cigarettes at an Exodus conference and laughed at a joke by the ‘gay Christian’ conference convenor that tacitly mocked Exodus conference attendees.  I was shocked. ”

Debbie Thurman, Christian journalist and former lesbian,  “I commend Alan for his honesty and clarity. Is that [Chamber's statement] an earth-shattering statement, as some are interpreting it to be? Not for me, and not really for Alan. “I have said similar things before. The fact of the matter is that 100 percent of humanity is fallible and we will be until death parts us from our flesh,” he told me. “I cannot speak for others who say that temptation or attraction don’t equal orientation. As a layman with regard to that issue, I tend to link them all together, and that is where that 99.9 percent, non-scientific/anecdotal/experiential statement comes from,” Alan added.

Exgaywatch, a blog that primarily criticizes Chambers and Exodus: “Playing to both sides on this issue of gay Christians is not new for Exodus International. In March last year, Chambers enthusiastically affirmed the existence of gay Christians in an interview with the Oprah network’s Lisa Ling, only to water down his statements when challenged by his conservative evangelical constituents. What is new is that some gay Christians are now taking him at his word.”

Nakisha Thomas, an Orlando based ministry leader:  “I was a supporter of Exodus in the past. I had a wonderful time when I attended the national conference and encouraged my church to join their network. However – I am severing all ties with them because as the Bible has instructed – I have gone to the group privately on several occasions. I have reached out with witnesses – but I believe now is the time to warn the church of the danger of embracing an organization that will lead people into confusion and not to the light.”

Just who’s side is he on?

Imagine the president of Pepsi going  to a meeting of Coca Cola employees and saying to them that he only knew about 3 people who really liked Pepsi.   That probably would never happen in the dog-eat-dog cola wars, but Exodus’ president  expressed the same sentiment to the GCN who are admittedly hostile to the message of change, Exodus’ signature mantra.   The meeting was reported by the antichange website Exgaywatch,  and has subsequently sparked sharp debate even among homosexual activists. Chambers reportedly requested to be a guest on a panel session with the Gay Christian Network. For more about the GCN and its founder Justin Lee read here.

The panel discussion moderated by Lee also featured former Exodus leader John Smid, former Exodus leader Wendy Gritter and former Exodus leader Jeremy Marks. All of the aforementioned  now advocate prohomosexual theological positions.

While some are attempting to spin the appearance as “bridge building” and “being light among darkness”, the discussion doesn’t confirm that. Chambers didn’t spread light, he compromised truth to gain some sort of emergent church-like unity. Can supporters of Exodus now expect some reciprocal appearance by a gay christian at the Exodus “Freedom” conference?

If you want to review the entire 3 hour discussion, feel free: part one, part two

Flipside

Aside from the appearance itself, Chambers statement is problematic for several reasons:

1. The monkey wrench in mature discussions about change from homosexuality is the  “sexual orientation” theory. You can not argue biblical truth by attempting to juxtapose it with cultural ideology.  Sexual orientation is a linguistical misnomer created by the gay community to frame homosexuality as an immutable trait.  But the bible speaks from a different perspective. It tells us without equivocation that there is nothing that cannot change by the power of God. Not even death is permanent under his supernatural power. What’s more the Gospel itself is HOPE for change from whatever binds us. That Chambers cannot follow the biblical script is a sign of spiritual immaturity. And spiritually immature people have no place attempting to lead such a critical ministry outreach.

2. Chamber’s comments are a betrayal of biblical truth namely: (a)change or deliverance is fundamental biblical truth,  (b)the process whereby a person is changed once they confess and follow Jesus Christ is sanctification and (c) the ultimate consummation of change which occurs when Christ returns is (glorification). There is no separate trajectory for those who struggle with same sex attractions. The stark difference between the bible and gay christian theology is the definition of the word sin. They believe homosexuality is not a sin, the bible says it is.

3. Change in “sexual orientation” is a false –not to mention unbiblical– goal. The bible doesn’t make “changing sexual orientation” the goal of the Christian because there is no such thing. If God required the homosexual has to change his “orientation” then the heterosexual would have to likewise change his. But this is foolish carnality on display.  Biblically, there is only one “orientation”. Man to woman and woman to man in covenant marriage. Anything else is sin. Thus, our goal is to reject sin and embrace original intent holiness. Chamber’s assertion that 99.9% of people he’s met have not changed their “sexual orientation” is either a brazen lie or its a stunning testament to the failure of Exodus.  Its my belief that our goal should be the same goal as every other believe: to be holy. Our goal should be God’s goal for us, since we are his children.

4. Sexual orientation has no bearing on temptation. Temptation is allowed by God and used a tool to sharpen, strengthen and test the believer’s devotion to God’s standards. Temptation is not a sin and never will be. If it were,  Jesus Christ himself would be a sinner. Unfortunately, in the unyeilding black-white world of gay theology, even the slightest glimmer of  homosexual temptation is viewed as proof that the individual is still homosexual.

As a recognized “leader”, Chamber’s serial inconsistency has deeply affected the quality of ministry to individuals seeking freedom from homosexuality through faith in Christ. Chambers is quoted on a NARTH website as saying “I am one of tens of thousands of people whom have successfully changed their sexual orientation.”. But now, almost no one has changed? Not even him? This type of schizophrenic commentary is damaging and a disgrace to the legacy of the great pioneers of the freedom movement.

Be it resolved: The Exodus board should relieve Alan Chambers of his duties until he has satisfactorily completed comprehensive bible study.

Good news to report. The gay christian group Evangelicals Concerned Western Region is calling it quits. It would have been even better news to report that the entire organization is disbanding but we can only hope that will come sooner than later.  A letter from the ECWR president posted on the group’s website did not say what led to the vote to disband, but its national organization will dissolve while its “local chapters” are to remain in tact.

“Following several months of prayerful discussion and reflection, 99% of members who returned a ballot approved the motion to dissolve ECWR and transfer our assets and experience to the Gay Christian Network (GCN). Despite the bitter-sweetness of the circumstances, we can take some solace in such a strong confirmation of this direction.”

The letter says the affected individuals will be funneled into several other gay christian groups like the Gay Christian Network and the Evangelical  Network, a oneness pentecostal flavored group based in California.

ECWR may sound like a sound religious name but its led by people with bizarre imagery of Jesus. In his testimony, ECWR  president Rick Hocker recalls that in a “worship service” “Jesus” kissed him in an attempt to get him to accept homosexuality.

“I remember that one time during a worship service, I saw Jesus approach me and I felt him kiss me on the lips. This incident freaked me out for days. Surely, that could not have been God. The kiss seemed so wrong, and yet, so intimate, so real. Looking back, I see that God was slowly coaxing me into being comfortable with my sexuality.”

This was not the Jesus in scripture, but a demon impersonator.  God is not the author of such confusion. Perhaps not a common occurrence among gay christians, but we’ve documented (see this for an example) beliefs and practices that are nothing less than cultic idolatry.

Irony runs deep among the leaders of the gay christian movement. Case in point: gay christian false prophet James (Mel) White.

Mel White’s theological darkness may be as black as midnight, but shining the light on it helps unsuspecting people to avoid being ensnared by his spider web of lies. Back in 2007, we told you how White had instructed his followers not to discuss the bible with people who disagree with their lies. That’s how they weasel out of having to defend themselves.

Lately, we haven’t heard much from the former conservative ghost writer, whose claim to fame included tracking the late Jerry Falwell and starting the quasi-Christianesque gay terrorist group Soulforce.  White has been absent from the scene for several years. The reason for his unannounced disappearance isn’t clear.  But  whether he’s sick, retired or involved in some scandal it is clear,  he’s turned over the reigns to a new crop of whitewashed foot soldiers.

Journal of a Battling Christian does an excellent job taking White’s blackened lies to task as well as effectively deconstructing White’s signature book “Stranger at the Gate: what it means to be gay and Christian in America”.

Under Mel’s Spell

JBC writes that Justin Lee, whose Gay Christian Network operates as a rubber stamp mouthpiece, for the movement fails repeatedly fully disclose the true lifestyles of gcm activists he promotes.

“One of the things that amazes me most about Justin Lee, founder of the Gay Christian Network, is how he can promote so many “Gay Christian” activists and their books without fully revealing what these people teach, promote and engage in. One of the most frequently referred to is Gay Theology advocate and “Soul Force” activist Mel White. In his book Stranger At The Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America he tells of his first homosexual encounter while he was still married to his wife Lyla. In doing so he describes it as an unavoidable event that he was compelled to engage in that was not due to his sinful lust, but to the years of suppressing his felt “needs.” He goes on to describe it as a religious experience, equating it with the Passion of Christ and subsequently goes onto assert that his encounter with Mark, a gay prostitute, was a “gift from God.”

You read it right. One of the most “revered” false apostles of the gay christian movement described his adulterous sex hook up with a male prostitute as a “gift from God”. Perhaps if Ted Haggard — who committed the same act— would have spun his encounter as a gift from God to release his innate gayness, he too would be a gay christian hero.

JBC asks Lee how they can justify promoting someone with such debased morals as a role model? Its doubtful they will answer. White has already seen to it that they avoid anyone who challenges them based on biblical standards.

I don’t mean to mock anyone, but this was rather humorous in a bizarre way.  A gay church in South Carolina is a little upset because apparently someone thinks its a gay church. So the church’s website made it a point to say its not a “gay church”.

“Is Freedom A Gay Church? Freedom Worship Church is a WHOSOEVER (not gay), Progressive Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ. The only difference is us and most churches we do not lie about who or what we like in the name of being delivered. We walk in the truth of God as we are honest with and about ourselves in the Kingdom of God.  “Your human condition will never change the standard of God; HOLINESS IS RIGHT”

“What we like”? Is that a reference to sexual preference or  M&Ms plain?  This gay church seems obsessed with keeping the words “gay” and “homosexual” in the closet. Even the pastor’s bio is very careful not to mention he’s gay.  Not sure what the “holiness is right” in all caps and bold is about, but it appears someone has identity issues. Holiness is right, but how can a “whosoever” church teach that homosexuality is right and holiness is right in the same breath?  One isnt right but lest we be accused of being anti-whosoever, we’ll just let the scripture speak for itself.

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7  NIV

If the Freedom Worship Church  really believed holiness was right, it would immediately cease and desist promoting (and engaging in) homosexuality as acceptable to God. It also says its doesn’t lie about who it is. If that’s true, then why is the FWC affiliated with the Atlanta based gay pentecostal denomination United Progressive Pentecostal Church? The UPPC’s leader is a homosexual who calls his gay partner the “first gentlemen”  (a parody of the first lady). How gay is that?  Instead, the church attempts to closet its homosexual affirmation in euphemisms:

We are a diverse group of people who come from varying social, economic, political, and religious backgrounds. Freedom is a “Whosoever Ministry” with all the complexities of individual situations. “The one most consistent theme of the story of Jesus in the Gospels is that Jesus included everybody [John 3:16]. The outcasts are rejected people who did not keep the details of the law, the poor, the sick, the despised – all were loved by him. Religion often takes an exclusive posture of rejection, but Jesus never did.”Through our Lord, Freedom Worship Church seeks healing for brokenness through Christian fellowship, worship, education, and prayer. We realize that a “Whosoever” ministry can not be fulfilled by word only, rather through consistent action to which we’re committed. Our doors are open and “Welcoming” to Whosoever!

There are several problem with this “outcast” analogy being used.  Jesus didn’t just accept the sick, he healed them of their sicknesses and they were no longer what they used to be. That’s called being changed. And the Apostles reinforced Jesus’ teachings per Matt 28:20. In Acts 15, they instructed the most despised of outcasts to do two things: abstain from idolatry and abstain from sexual immorality. The apostles told the despised outcasts that if they followed those two commandments, they would “do well”.

FWC should stop playing the closet game. If youre a gay church, why deceive people about who you really are? Is there something youre ashamed of?

The transmogrification powers of the gay christian movement never cease to amaze. So desperate are they to prove they are real Christians, they will do anything. Including holding a conference with the ironic spoof theme to “embrace the will of God”. Anything.  Anything that is, except what God requires to be in right relationship with him. What is that you ask? Its very simple: acknowledge that their sexual behavior is not the will of God and then repent and live according to the will of God.  The “embrace the will of God” conference is almost mocking considering the one ton elephant in the room.

The 2010 conference is designed to educate and inspire every Christian to embrace God’s will for their individual lives, relationships, and ministries. The conference workshops and sessions focus on helping better understand, develop, and further our God-given gifts for greater ministry in the body of Christ.

How can a group so opposed to the will of God teach others to embrace the will of God? For the record, The Evangelical Network (TEN)  is a quasi pentecostal/charismatic group of  religious homosexuals who (like all the other gay christian organizations) claim to believe in the whole bible, except those few obscure parts about homosexuality.  That part, they believe without question,  has been misinterpreted by so-called homophobes therefore its invalid. So, to fill the void, TEN skips around the country having self congratulatory  conferences which seem to do nothing except continue searing their consciences with hot irons.

This year’s conference is chocked full of the same false prophets and attendant entertainment we have exposed at GCM Watch before.  That’s how they do it: heaping unto themselves teachers, having itching ears.

But back to the will of God. God’s will concerning sexual expression is clear and final. But the poor Evangelical Network’s cant seem to locate it. So for their  sakes, here it is. From 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8:

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

How much more clearer, succinct and adamant could the will of God be? So go ahead TEN, you wanted to embrace the will of God, there it is. And please take note of the last verse.