This bothered me…
“So, if two people who practiced witchcraft turned up at the Church of England church and wanted to get married, would you have to do it?”
“Yes, provided they met all the legal requirements, but they would not be able to change the official wording”.
“…and if two people who were gay wanted to make a lifelong commitment to each other, these two have served in the church for 25 years, they would not be able to”
“Yes, that’s right”
…. need I say more.
I grew up believing that you chose to be gay. Ofcourse, I wanted so much to obey God and I thought that God wanted me to be straight. But despite my best efforts I was unable to change my sexuality.
This is, an incredibly important question. Because by it’s nature it brings us to a point where we say, it is natural, I am naturally gay, you may be naturally straight, and my responsibility before God, and before you, is to live an honest, truthful life as I am.
If I meet someone who I love and want to be with, then I will live truthfully, and honestly, before God in that relationship.
The father seeks worshippers that worship him in spirit and in truth. Being in truth means being in the Light, Light shows up darkness, it bathes it, it pushes it away, darkness cannot fight it. So, this question is more about living in truth than making a life decision.
Last night I got to speak on the Christian Faith and LGBT at fantastic Youth organisation called Mosaic Youth, their website is www.mosaicyouth.org.uk , they are based in Kilburn and Ealing (United Kingdom). The group was quite lively! With very differing opinions on Faith, but the questions were intelligent and to be honest, a lot more intelligent than some Christian groups I have spoken for on these topics!
Anyway – I’ve added a link so if you know any LGBT teens in the London area who need help or would benefit from an LGBT youth group, please put them in touch.
Normally I write serious stuff here. But I just had to tell you about the Australian Cat Ladies, two Lesbians and a straight friend have bought a domain name…http://australianchristianlobby.org and turned it into an equal rights website.
Some of the news stories have been incredibly funny, including one who outed on of the ladies involved (who is straight) as a lesbian, which was a surprise to her boyfriend, I have to add the site doesn’t say if it was a pleasant surprise.
Anyway Good job girls! 
Love and Purring from the UK!
clicky (new window)
I think for me this summarises what happens when God touches someone who is caught in the Evangelical mistake of making people into something they are not.
Jesus said that he sought worshippers that worship him in spirit and in truth. You can’t worship God in truth if, in fact, you are lying. Our sexuality is part of who we are and you know, God can cope with it, he can cope with the fact that not all of us are straight, or comfortable with our gender identity. Because we are free to be ourselves before God, in his presence, because, that is how he sees us. As we are. Just as I am, without one plea.
As I reflect on the people who over the years tried to help me “be straight”, with advice that if I got married I would become straight, are sadly mistaken, but ofcourse, PaulK will tell you, this is their journey. Sadly I expect PaulK and myself share the regrets of not living our lives to the full before God because we were caught up in a strange kind of legalism that takes odd verses out of the Bible and creates a false theology.
A simple application of logic shows that you cannot expect everyone to conform to the straight sexuality model often put out by churches and other religions, some people are simply not straight.
I often had many unanswered questions as I grew up as a Christian. I didn’t understand why we ignored one part of the Bible, but majored on another like it was more important.
I hope that Paulk does manage to find a partner and not spend his life alone. Being alone is hard. I know why God said “it is not good for a man to be alone” in Genesis. But we all need the best helper for us.
An open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Firstly let me congratulate you on your appointment.
I was not surprised that the Church of England still does not recognise relationships that gay people have as relationships. I as an anglican who attends church every Sunday and does a lot of work for my local church, I “enjoy” an incredibly lonely life, your condemnation of me as a gay man being in any kind of relationship is a hard one to bear. Especially, as every weekend up and down the country the same church that condemns me to a life of loneliness, marry’s people and blesses people who are not even Christians, who do not attend church, and frankly have no clue where the book of Ezra is for instance in the Bible.
These people, who’s marriages you will bless because they are straight include, Pagans, Witches, the Divorced (didn’t Jesus have something to say about that. although I think actually he was making a different point to the one normally made?), in fact anyone who is in a heterosexual relationship, even if it is abusive receives the unmerited blessing from the Church of England.
Along with this hypocrisy goes the ignoring of other commands from the Bible, women, as Paul said, should be silent in church, that eating shellfish is a terrible sin, and in fact, if you marry a women who is not a virgin she must be put to death. I think that putting people to death for sin has kind of been given up. I have, for instance not found one Christian who is keen to put me to death.
Arguments from history, as well leave a lot to be desired. Marriage has not always been between ONE man and ONE woman, take for instance quite a few of the Bible marriages, these included concubines, servants, polygamy, incest (Adam and Eve had two sons, who did they have sex with to produce more children?). Sir, I would remind you that our church was formed so Henry the 8th, hardly the best example for marriage, could get a divorce!.
If God was so concerned about marriage, why did he not even bother to give us a marriage service in the Bible? Surely he would have commanded it. Perhaps in fact, as Jesus said “You do not understand the power of God because there is no marriage in heaven” (Matthew 22:29). Marriage, is not a Christian institution it existed in many forms before the Council of Trent got a hold of it and made into a “Christian institution”, ofcourse, sir, then you could only have sex once a week.
You do only have sex once a week, don’t you?
Sir, you are a shepherd of a varied flock. I know that if you blessed people like me if we ever found someone to be with, you would lose a lot of money from the Africans especially. But sometimes, Sir, can I say there is a matter of conscience at stake and after all, the love of money is the root of all evil.
As for me, if I do meet someone Sir, I will I hope attend church with him and together we will serve God in whatever ways we can. Trusting in the blood and grace of Christ to cover us, as according to 2 Cor 5:21 he is our righteousness and hope.
I do understand Sir, that you have a difficult balancing act to do, and that sometimes you have to bear with the weaker brother as in the example of eating meat sacrificed to idols in the book of Romans. But please know that all over the world there are Anglican people, for whom you Sir, are the shepherd, who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, who do not need rejection any longer, but acceptance and love, unconditionally, just as I hope you would seek to give to anyone who walks into the stately doors of any church building in the Anglican Communion.
May I suggest that the solution is to make a ruling that the decision to bless Gay marriages should be passed to the local churches. Thus you keep everyone happy. The local churches can then advertise if they would bless those who are of the LGBT persuasion. Then you can keep the Africans happy (you keep your money), and allow the LGBT community to be properly ministered to.
I do not take communion, I will not until Sir, the Church of England recognises me as a human being made equal by the sacrifice of Christ, upon whose death the curtain in the Temple was torn in two.
Your humble servant,
Paul.
Matthew 27:31 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split
Surely then those who would separate those who are in Christ and say that we are less because of our sexuality, or perhaps a disability are in grave error, because when that curtain was ripped in two in the temple there was no one excluded from the presence of God.
There are over 100 verses in the bible that support slavery, but only 6 to do with homosexual acts, even then most of them are to do with the worship of false gods and idols.
(All scripture quotes from NIV)
