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Category: Common Interests Description: Christianity is all about Love! Type: public Created By: franksic
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...Love God... Love People... Christianity is all about Love!...
Perhaps you believe that you cannot be Christian and gay. This is a lie. The "Christian right" have it all wrong. They say they believe in Christ, but they persecute us. They judge us. They consider us ungodly, and rather than attempt to know us better, to know our hearts, they condemn us because of our "labels". I did not choose to be gay. I did not choose this label. I am gay because I like boys and I want to fall in love with a boy... a Christian boy no less. Join if you want the same! Check out some really awesome links: Revolution | Free Jesus | Whosoever | Soulforce | Rainbow Christians
Perhaps you believe that you cannot be Christian and gay. This is a lie. The "Christian right" have it all wrong. They say they believe in Christ, but they persecute us. They judge us. They consider us ungodly, and rather than attempt to know us better, to know our hearts, they condemn us because of our "labels". I did not choose to be gay. I did not choose this label. I am gay because I like boys and I want to fall in love with a boy... a Christian boy no less. Join if you want the same! Check out some really awesome links: Revolution | Free Jesus | Whosoever | Soulforce | Rainbow Christians
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Discussion (8)
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a friend in need |
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Posted By: mockingbird on: 11/8/09 7:08 PM |
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To my fellow Christians listening:
My roommate and I recently welcomed a pair of Mormon missionaries into our home. As expected, they have returned week by week, speaking to us about their church and its beliefs. I am not interested in joining their church for obvious reasons, but my roommate is touched by what they have to say and is considering converting to their church. Could anyone listening please provide me with some scripture/advice on the issue. Thanks, Andy |
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The Mormon Proposition |
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Posted By: interraver on: 10/21/09 5:06 AM |
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just saying hi.. |
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Posted By: afl33 on: 1/17/09 8:46 PM |
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its great to know there are others like me.. who believe in the same things :) awesome | |
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RE: just saying hi.. |
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Replied By: afl33 on: 1/5/09 9:23 PM |
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anyone from the bay area? | |
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RE: just saying hi.. |
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Replied By: philthedude3 on: 1/17/09 8:46 PM |
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This is indeed a very awesome group! =D I find it extremely unfortunate that our fellow gays have fled the confines of organized religion just because of the incorrect and rigid interpretations of the fundamentalist right.
I first started thinking about these issues in light of my own Catholic Faith. I converted to the Roman Catholic Church because after reading Matthew Chapter 16 I realized that Jesus built the Church upon the foundation of St. Peter. If St. Peter is the foundation, at least in my opinion, without him and the papacy the Church cannot adequately stand. But now that I've been a devoted, practicing Catholic for nearly two years there are many things that I disagree with that happen to be the "official" teaching of the Church. Firstly, I've personally come to the conclusion hat homosexuality cannot be sinful. The Catholic Church teaches that the homosexual orientation itself is not a sin but is rather a "disordered condition." Homosexuality becomes sinful in any instance which it is "acted" upon. I tried to wrestle with a grasp these teachings ever since I realized I was gay. I tried to comprehend living a life without love and tried to rationalize it by saying that Jesus did ask us all to pick our crosses and follow Him. The Catholic Church said that this was just a unique "cross" that I had to carry and not waver in. But recently, near the end of last year I thought about an old poster I had seen in one of my former high school teacher's classrooms. It said "GOD DON'T MAKE NO JUNK" I finally understood that God made me the way I am for whatever reasons He deigned as fit. Also, Jesus never in the Gospels mentions homosexuality, it's only mentioned within several different contexts in Scriptural that can be easily dismissed as cultural. So in short, that's my story! Even though many in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church don't agree with me I'm hopeful that by the grace of God more Cardinals and Bishops will remain open to this progressive, compassionate understanding of Our Lord's call to love all as He loved us, and maybe even in the near future a more liberal Pope will be elected who understands that homosexual love is not a sin. I also hope that being Christ's witness I can do whatever I can to advance the equality of my fellow gays, especially within the Catholic Church. So I think it's great that we gay Christians wherever we are stick together and build each other up as members of the Mystical Body of Christ! |
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What Exactly is a Christian? |
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Posted By: OOcloud36 on: 1/3/09 5:55 PM |
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So many people seem to be unable to understand what actually is God's Word.
Please watch this video from the 1:35 mark to the 3:00 mark, and you'll know which one of those people making their statements to the man who murdered their loved ones is a true Christian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgSI37_8wRw&feature=related There's only one type of love on this earth, and it's unconditional love. There is NEVER a reason to not love someone. And when I find the people who murdered my brother, I too will forgive them with God's beautiful grace. With unconditional love, Dex |
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RE: What Exactly is a Christian? |
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Replied By: franksic on: 1/3/09 5:55 PM |
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Thank you for posting this. It is easy, so easy, to hate, but so difficult to love and to forgive. As I wrote in response to a post above, I harbor a deep love-hate relationship with my family, because they refuse to accept and love me for who I am. I have not lost a loved one to murder. What I deal with, this, this is so much less severe than that, and yet, this man, this man in the (ironically) rainbow suspenders, HE FORGIVES and LOVES his daughter's murderer. I cannot even imagine... | |
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What is Love? |
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Posted By: lambert on: 1/3/09 5:44 PM |
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It sounds simple at first. Jesus said to his disciples, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you..." (John 13:34). There are four main words for love in the Greek of the New Testament. C.S. Lewis discusses each word in his book, "The Four Loves." (In addition there are quite a few words for lust the Bible).
Philia is the ordinary Greek New Testament word for "brotherly love" --tender affection for friends and family (hence "philadelphia"). The word Jesus used most for love is "agape." It means self-giving love. True love seeks what is best for the beloved no matter the cost to the giver. Agape does not insist on being paid back and it is unconditional. Loving one's enemies is next to impossible for any of us, yet Jesus expects that from us. Agape love liberates us, and the other person and works for our long-term wholeness and fulfillment. This kind of love is rare and costly. It originates in God. Much of what we call love today is "need-love" -- that is, it is co-dependent and even parasitic. But "God is love," "We love Him because He first loved us..." Jesus gives Himself away continuously, and He pours Himself into every open heart. His love is what we need to be able to love one another. Learning to love as Jesus loves us requires a painful dying to self but the end result is perfect peace and wholeness. I am much older than the rest of you. I'd be glad to write any of you of course. --Lambert |
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RE: What is Love? |
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Replied By: franksic on: 1/3/09 5:44 PM |
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Thank you so much for what you've written, Lambert. When I read this, I thought about the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So (trailer posted above), where one man said, "There's nothing wrong with a fifth-grade understanding of God, as long as you're in the fifth grade."
The Bible cannot be separated from its cultural context, firstly, and secondly, it cannot be read at face value. It cannot be read literally. While I don't presume to put words in your mouth, Lambert, you've shown through your words that this is true. The New Testament is Greek, not English, and these four loves are lost in translation, because English does not have four separate words for these four kinds of love. One of these kinds of love is the love that Jesus expects us to give to our enemies, as you've already said, and yes, the description of this group could certainly use some revision. I was somewhat harsh in writing it, and yes, I did generalize an entire group of people to think about this issue all in the same way, and they don't. I know that they don't because I have friends who may consider themselves to be on the "other side", and yet, they do not judge me for my choice to accept this. Not my lifestyle choice. My choice to accept my sexuality. However, my love-hate relationship with my own family is very deeply held, which may also be cause for the somewhat harsh language above. I do realize that none of this is simple. None of this is cut-and-dry. None of this is black-and-white. Just as the Bible is not at all simple, either. So again, I thank you for your insightful, and for me, sobering comments. I would also like to ask you all for your prayers and support as I attempt to make my family understand, yet again, my position. P.S. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors. I've read The Chronicles, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce... A Grief Observed... Hrm... I have others on my shelf right now, among them The Four Loves. I'll have to pick that one up next. I highly recommend C. S. Lewis to anyone and everyone! |
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