From inclusive worship to how to counter anti-gay religious arguments, our new print edition spotlights spirituality
Congregation Bet Haverim remembers the Shabbat Shirah tonight at CCUCC
I want to share this obvious observation: Even if there were some remote chance I could become pope... they would never let me. The reason is simple and it is not because of my progressive views of Christian theology, or the fact that I am unapologetically gay or even the fact that I do not believe the bible is the inerrant word of God.
Nope, it's because I believe December 25th is one of the biggest frauds ever pulled on humanity.
Those who are pastors know that what I am suggesting is very true. Y’all went to seminary and know saying Jesus was born on December 25th is like saying there is a real living breathing Santa Claus. This fraudulent claim has made our jobs and life during this time of the year a living nightmare of endless days of no sleep and one crisis on top of another.
Well, this is just rich. An anti-gay group wants Christians to reclaim the rainbow from the queers because the rainbow symbolizes God's covenant with man. And we all know God doesn't like the gays, especially if we fly a rainbow flag on our front stoop.
In an interview with One News Now, a division of the American Family Network, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, founder and president of the Ruth Institute — a project of the National Organization for Marriage, which was recently named a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — says supporters of Prop 8, the ones who voted to make gay marriage illegal in California in 2008, are the original "rainbow coalition."
"Proposition 8 was passed by a great grassroots coalition that included people from all across the religious traditions, and also people of every race and color," Morse said in the interview. "We are the real rainbow coalition. The gay lobby does not own the rainbow."
Last week I really found out just how difficult the world has become. How a couple of bad choices can change one’s life forever. How being in the wrong place at the wrong time can make it damn near impossible to get a job or find housing.
We had a young man show up at the church looking for help. For the sake of privacy we will call him Tad. At the time he came to the church I was out on a hospital call and the church secretary was the one who heard his story first.
Now under normal circumstances the secretary would have given Tad some food, maybe a MARTA pass and let him use the phone to make whatever contacts he needed to make and sent him on his way.
Our coverage of Bishop Jim Swilley’s recent decision to come out, with the support of his wife and family, touched off vigorous debate in comments on our website.
Re: “Swilley’s story: A gay pastor, his wife, and a deeper ministry” (Nov. 12)
"This article is articulate, sensitive and wonderful. Thank you for writing it with the Spirit it deserves. These people are my friends, my church family and leaders and I love them. God bless you."
"Thank you. I miss my church family and my work in youth ministry so much. Since I came out I have felt abandoned by a faith that I proclaimed my whole life. I needed this today. I never doubted that God loved me until a Christian told me that he didn’t anymore."
"Since Jim has memorized scriptures, he thinks that he is ready to “take on” anyone. Sound familiar? The devil quoted “it is written” to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. Problem is, he twisted scripture to obtain his own desire, which was to have Jesus Christ bow the knee to him. The devil hasn’t changed: still doing the same thing today, leading people to twist scripture to justify the desires of the flesh."
Bishop Jim Swilley founded Church in the Now, the massive, non-denominational congregation in Conyers, in 1985. But as the church grew over 25 years, and throughout his almost four decades of ministry, Swilley struggled with a secret that he hid from his congregation.
“I am approaching my 39th year in ministry — All I have ever done is preach the gospel,” Swilley told his congregation in an emotional sermon last month, noting that his parents tell stories of him preaching while still in diapers.
“There are two things in my life that are an absolute: I did not ask for either one of them, both of them were imposed upon me, I had no control over either of them,” Swilley said.
I have got to say there is nothing worse than finding one’s self on the wrong end of a gospel story. A few days ago, when the news of Bishop Jim Swilley the founding pastor of “The Church in the Now” got out that he had come out, I was not particularly kind.
One my Facebook page I made the following comment: “is thinking Rev. Swilley is NO gay hero. He finally comes out after he has fathered 4 kids, was in a sham of a marriage...and how many young folks took his hypocritical teachings to heart and ended their life? I am sorry there are those of us who have stood in the line of fire for a long time and took the hits while he was...Thank you Rev. for getting a conscience, lets see what you do now that you are out.”
Then as I am preparing to write this blog I re-read the story of the “Prodigal Son.” One can find the complete story at Luke 15:11-32 (The Message). Needless to say I found myself on the wrong end of this Gospel story.
I wrote a blog post on Tuesday entitled “Gainesville, Ga., billboard demeans same-sex marriage” that highlights a billboard on display just off Georgia 53 and the Atlanta Highway between Flowery Branch and Gainesville.
Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis (organizers of the campaign), responded to the article yesterday by posting a blog of his own, “Intolerant People Opposing an AiG-backed Billboard.” In the post, Ham calls out my journalistic integrity over my choice of wording in the article.
“It’s all in the way you say things, isn’t it?” Ham writes. “How about a headline that states, “Billboard quotes Bible on Marriage” or “Billboard quotes Jesus on Marriage.”
“No, a ‘gay activist’ newspaper wouldn’t want a positive message like that. Because of the obvious anti-Christian agenda, they show their intolerance for the Bible even in the headline.”
Dr. Creflo Dollar of Atlanta's World Changers Church spoke out during his Oct. 31 sermon against Bishop Jim Swilley of Church in the Now, after Swilley came out to his congregation in mid October.
Dollar, who didn’t use Swilley’s name specifically, said during his sermon that Swilley’s address to his congregation about his homosexuality would do more harm than good for struggling youth contemplating suicide.
“The Bible says that even the very elect will be deceived. Unfortunately ladies and gentlemen, it seems like we’re almost there. Especially when you have preachers getting up in their pulpit saying, ‘I’m gay, and there’s nothing wrong with it.’
A billboard featuring an anti-gay message went up last month just off Georgia 53 and the Atlanta Highway between Flowery Branch and Gainesville, Ga.
GA Voice reader Emily Perkins-Henderson spotted the billboard late last month and sent us several photos of the anti-gay advertisement.
The billboard reads: “The Bible speaks for itself on marriage. God made them male and female – Mark 10:6.”
The billboard goes onto say that it was “sponsored by joyous and generous people.”