tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14122718.post6313532075258366818..comments2010-08-08T10:55:01.843-05:00Jeremy D. Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15561745596768785374noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14122718.post-89353853925117981942010-08-08T10:55:01.843-05:002010-08-08T10:55:01.843-05:00I have just finished Adam&#39;s great book about Christians getting it wrong and found the section on homosexuality both informative and somewhat uncomfortable. <br /><br />He takes a political approach to the subject; says what he needs to say so as not to hurt anyone&#39;s feelings. <br /><br />I have seen both sides. I was an out and proud homosexual for 10 yrs. I was led to believe it was the way I was born and there was nothing I could do about is so why bother trying. I believe that is not God&#39;s will. <br /><br />God&#39;s will is for us to recognize the choices that lead to a sinful life and to turn away from them (repentance) and turn to Christ.<br /><br />I appreciate Adam&#39;s belief on love first, rules second. Christ cannot help sanctify you if you do not come to Him. I am reaffirming that approach in my life (please pray for me that I don&#39;t fall back into old habits).<br /><br />What I cannot accept is his assertion that the bible is outdated and God&#39;s new plan, through Jesus Christ is to dismiss His laws (it may not be exactly what he implied, but it is what I got from it).<br /><br />I agree with him that the topic of homosexuality will fragment churches. It is a result of a Church that has put the rules ahead of love and the Church has left us unprepared to deal with it effectively and not a result of getting the topic of homosexuality as a sin wrong. We may think we are so much smarter that Paul was, but we aren&#39;t. We have surrounded ourselves with a lot more toys but we are still the same broken, sad, and lost people we have always been.<br /><br />That&#39;s why the Bible will apply to us today just as effectively as it did before.<br /><br />Thank you Adam for a discussion that has changed me. God bless<br /> <br />Michael from Calgaryhumbledb4jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12917778828569575583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14122718.post-58304704820217391382009-02-12T20:11:00.000-06:002009-02-12T20:11:00.000-06:00Jeremy - I came to visit after reading your comments at Sanctifying Worship, and appreciating them. This post suggests they were not atypical.<BR/><BR/>I am a fifty-something Nazarene pastor now, but I started adult life as a musician and university music teacher. Many beloved friends were/are gay or lesbian. They were, in many ways, the most ethically mature people in my community. They acted like Jesus to the evangelicals who rejected them. It changes you when you see dear ones in your mind's eye during these discussions. <BR/><BR/>There is much about this I don't understand, but I do see that all six of the Bible's comments on homosexuality have unsettling hermeneutic problems. It is not as clear as it's been made out to be.<BR/><BR/>And I have a hard time finding exclusion in the example of Jesus, except toward the ultra-conservatives of his day; never does he show it toward those disrespected by the religious.<BR/><BR/>Questionable passages, example of Jesus - I think I'll just love GLBT people like I'd want to be loved, best as I can.Monte Asburyhttp://masbury.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14122718.post-17121691178059646292009-02-12T04:59:00.000-06:002009-02-12T04:59:00.000-06:00Jeremy,<BR/><BR/>Thanks. This is a good read, and I appreciate his articulate thoughts. I know this wasn't the "point" of the posting, but the following quote resonated with me. <BR/><BR/>"Next, after thirty years of daily Bible reading I have come to recognize that the Bible is a more complex document than most people would like to admit. It is both a book written by human beings who were shaped by their cultural and theological presuppositions, and the limitations of their knowledge, and it is a book through which God has spoken and continues to speak."<BR/><BR/>As I contemplate Divinity school, I am driven by a passion to understand these cultural and theological presuppositions and to discover how our own culture and presuppositions affect how we view God, Jesus, the Bible, each other, and finally, how we ultimately express our faith in the community in which we live. Does this make sense? I've had difficulty articulating this in the past. I feel a blog coming on!<BR/><BR/>JeffJeff and Joy Scott Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08468719127150497922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14122718.post-86296487187127130902009-02-10T16:20:00.000-06:002009-02-10T16:20:00.000-06:00Thanks for posting this, Jeremy. I have struggled over the last several years to vocalize my thoughts on homosexuality and the church. Adam Hamilton does it very well.Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00069341916939155119noreply@blogger.com