Baggage Check

Reviving the Blog - Lots More to Come!

Because of a lot of people asking me questions lately about many different things concerning homosexuality and my own journey though all of it, this blog is being revived and dedicated for the next few months to addressing the plethora of questions asked and conversations had. It’s my intention to offer a perspective that I’ve not seen much of on the web, in the media, or even in the church: the perspective of a person who has dealt with homosexuality and same-sex attraction in their own lives and is now coming out on the other side (though still definitely in the process). 

Yes, this is very personal. 

Yes, I have nothing to hide - that’s gone on too much in my life already. And for the past 6 months it has been incredible having one life and no secrets. 

Yes, I do have motives: To help anyone out there who is struggling with this or any other similar struggles - the struggles that like to make us lead double lives, keep us in fear, and make us keep dark secrets. To help anyone out there who knows those who are struggling. To provide a fear-free, Biblical perspective on this whole issue while using my own experiences…. To glorify the God who has shown his undying love, patience and care to me. 

So here is my challenge: Read this blog if you are willing to have your views challenged, if you are a compassionate person, and if you are willing to put yourself out there to help so many who are living, struggling, and hurting in secret. 

If you aren’t, reading this blog will probably be a waste of your time. 

More to come in the next few weeks and months!

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The Obituary of C.S.

This is unconfirmed as to the source, but I liked it so here it is!

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Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense , who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: 
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain; 
- Why the early bird gets the worm; 
- Life isn’t always fair; 
- and maybe it was my fault. 

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. 

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. 

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. 

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. 

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. 

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. 

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. 

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; 
I Know My Rights 
I Want It Now 
Someone Else Is To Blame 
I’m A Victim 

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on.

If not, join the majority and do nothing.

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Procedures for Handeling Biblical Difficulties

So I was reading along for Critical Intro to the Old Testament and stumbled upon a very useful chart that deserves some consideration, in my opinion:

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Procedures for Handling Biblical Difficulties

1. Be fully persuaded an explanation or reconciliation exists.
2. Trust in the inerrancy of Scripture as originally written down.
3. Carefully study the context and framework of the verse to ascertain the original intent of the author.
4. Practice careful exegesis: determine author intent, study key words, note parallel passages.
5. Harmonize parallel passages.
6. Consult Bible commentaries, dictionaries, lexical sources, encyclopedias.
7. Check for a transmission error in the original text.
8. Remember that the historical accuracy of the biblical text is unsurpassed; that the transmitted text of Scripture is supported by thousands of extant manuscripts, some of which date back to the second century B.C.

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Just some food for thought - eat it, put it in the freezer, or give it to the dog

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Not Rebuilding, but Recreating

I haven’t posted anything on here in over half a year. A big reason behind this is because of things going on in my own life. For the past 6 months of my life I’ve been trying to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild myself. And I’m now realizing what all of that was implying:

Rebuilding, when it comes to people, implies that there is a foundation to work from - or at least some remnant of what once was and is now no more. But with me the foundation was cracked, uneven, and even missing in places. So whatever I’ve tried to build on that foundation has eventually - inevitably - failed. The Christian man that I want to be was being built on a foundation that couldn’t support anything to that caliber. 

So where does that leave me now? Rethinking my whole approach.

For me, and so many others like me who are facing similar problems, it’s about creating ourselves from the foundation; it’s about building, with new materials, from the ground up. 

This concept is scary. It means letting go of all of those things that I’m used to doing (My “comfort zone” of sorts) and doing something completely out of the norm for myself. Confused? The norm for me would be sticking with maladaptive relationship skills, with negative views of myself, and so on. Doing something completely new means throwing out all that I’ve known to do and building on the right foundation. 

I know this may sound extreme; don’t think I’m going to become a completely different person because I’m not. I’m just going to become a way better me, and I encourage others (but not everyone) to do the same. 

A thought on Love…

One problem that I see in my generation is when we recognize a problem in the way that Christianity is being carried out. When a problem arises, or is brought to light, it frustrates us.

Instead of having this line of thinking: “This is a problem; it’s not the way God wants it to be. It’s hindering us from having the fullest Christian experience. Because of that, we need to start truly living up to this (fill in the blank with a current issue)”

Many now have this line of thinking: “This is a problem; it’s not the way God wants it to be. Since it’s that way, let’s throw it out and redefine it, the sense of newness will make this into a fresh and sensational start.”

Let me  illustrate what I mean, for clarity. Lately I’ve heard and read, from many different sources, that the word “love” (translated from the greek words agape and philo) has lost its meaning. That instead of using the word “love” we should use the word “like” because of its nuance in our society (e.g. “Like your neighbor in the same way you like yourself”). This is the most recent instance on my mind… 

Why? Just because we’ve broken something that should be working doesn’t mean that we have to scrap it. Just because a couple of parts on a car aren’t working because of human neglect doesn’t mean that the car gets scrapped; the car gets repaired (forgive the imperfect analogy). God created something far greater than a car, and He’s given this thing to us and has even told us how to use it: Love. The problem has come from us not loving in the way we ought to. Instead of changing something, why don’t we just challenge ourselves to live up to the Biblical and Godly definition of Love instead of redefining? 

I like comments of Facebook. I like it when I feel a cool, refreshing breeze on a scorching summer day. I like eating breakfast every morning. I even like fruitcakes! But I also find my self saying that I “love” those things as well… I’ve chosen to make the word “love” a common word. In the Bible, the words for love were used only in instances of serious relationships: God-Jesus, Jesus-sinners, God-world, world-pleasure, Jesus-world, etc. Why not take on a challenge that is harder than redefining agape? How about we give “Love” its meaning back? How about the next time we eat our favorite food we say, “I really like this food!” And the next time we hug a grandparent, comfort a friend, talk to a coworker, or pray to God, we say, “I Love you, and that Love goes beyond just an emotional feeling that changes when bad things are happening.” “I Love you with a Love that goes beyond human logic, the same Love that Christ had for us when he gave up his position in heaven to come to this world for a bunch of people who turned their backs on Him, beat Him bloody, gave Him the death of a criminal, refuse to believe in His existence, and use His name as a common, everyday expletive…”

God did not like the world when He sent Jesus down to the earth (the world when He sent Jesus at the very least, he hates what the world does); how much sense does it make to say that He likes the world when He plans on eventually destroying it? To be vivid with this comparison, we don’t like a person when they have done terrible things to us (an abusive spouse, a betraying friend, etc.), but we are still capable of loving them. The same is with God: He hasn’t liked mankind when they turn their backs on Him (just read what he did in the Old Testament), but He has still loved them by welcoming them back into His arms. God’s unconditional love is there in this fact: that he will welcome us back into His arms no matter what we have done to him but He will still put us in eternal separation from Him if we choose to separate ourselves from Him in this life. That is so hard for us to grasp isn’t it? It’s not that God won’t allow someone into heaven, it’s that he is really simply honoring a person’s decision: they’ve chosen to be separated from Him their entire lives and so He maintains their separation into eternity (Let me point out that I’m being very simplistic here).

The overall challenge here is this: Give “Love” its meaning back, and allow “Like” to take its place when we show our affection for the menial things in life.

Just a simple question…

Lately I’ve gotten the feeling that we (Christians) say things that we don’t mean. What I mean by saying this is that we are hasty to say that we will have unconditional love and extend our open arms to those who are going through deep struggles… but do we really think about what we’re saying? Do we fully grasp the gravity of saying that we will unconditionally love the sinner and hate the sin? My answer to that would be “no,” generally speaking. For many years now I’ve sat in Bible classes, devotionals, discussion groups, and prayer groups, I’ve read posts and blogs online, and I myself have talked about this: showing our unconditional love and help to those who are caught in sinful struggles… but the same people (myself included) who so adamantly proclaim this are some of the very ones I hear talking about what they think someone else has “done.” To be blunt, I’m going to use some examples that I’ve heard so far. -“Hey guys… did you hear that there’s a gay guy on second floor!?” -“There’s no telling what she’s been doing.” (I said this one, to my shame) -“That woman’s just shacked up with some guy right now. There’s no way we’re going to help her out as long as she’s still doing that.” (This “woman” is not a Christian) And these are just some that I can think of off of the top of my head. The bottom line is that you don’t know what someone is truly going through until you take the time to get to know them, to show that unconditional love to them, to extend the arms of help to them, and to, ultimately, show them the true love of Christ. So here’s the question that I’m challenging myself with: “Am I truly loving as Christ loves?”

Something New

After spending a fantastic summer around loads of wonderful Christians, it hit me: I don’t have the time or energy to waste on the previous intentions of this blog. So I’m changing the purpose of it. While it will say what’s on my mind from time to time, It’ll mostly be thoughts of mine intended to provide spiritual nourishment. I’m still approaching many things in a “leaving the baggage” sense, but I have come to the decision that there are too many hurting and lost people in this world to throw away precious time with senseless, progress-less, feuds… But how about some feedback on this? 

Something to think about…

Something that has been bothering me more and more lately is an all too popular approach on how to view the Bible. So many times in the last few years have I heard many people in denominations across the board (and now in the church) say that the Bible is “impossible to interpret” in any case. By saying impossible they mean that almost any interpretation of scripture is acceptable because there is no way to be sure.

I have a hard time stomaching this. I have a hard time because I simply cannot believe that God, with as much foresight, wisdom, and love for us as He has, would leave us floundering about, completely confused and lost on everything mentioned in the Bible. It really does make me sad when I hear people saying that nothing in scripture is easy to understand or comprehend. I’ll be the first to tell you that there are difficult concepts and things that are discussed but not everything in the Bible is that way. To say that is basically saying that God has given us something so confusing that we can’t figure it out and that he is fundamentally toying with us… I just don’t see myself serving a God like that. In fact I see in the Bible a God that was so concerned with us knowing the truth and how to serve Him and Love Him that He imbued twelve lowly men with the knowledge of His will and appointed them with the amazing task of teaching it, living it, and passing the torch on to others to then ends of the earth. It’s my hope that many of these people will take off the pair of kaleidoscope glasses and see that God loves us and has loved us so much that he wants us to be sure of what we believe in and not tossed around like a ship in a storm… I will definitely have more to say about this as time goes on… It is just something that has been heavy on my heart lately and I care too much to not say anything about it I suppose.

Eph. 5:17

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