A BLOG BY ALAN CHAMBERS

Question from a friend: Do you think that dealing with the homosexual issues first is more comfortable for the average church goer?

As far as the comfort level of churches and pastors dealing with sexuality, I do think that condemning homosexuality is easier and more appealing to some than getting into the grey area of heterosexual sin. If you deal with heterosexuality there is a very real possibility of stepping on many toes, including ones own. I think pointing the finger is always easier than being vulnerable and transparent about the condition on our own heart and mind.

However, I also think that pointing the finger and stigmatizing homosexuality has forced many struggling with that issue into therapy and healing or the converse: a life of immorality. And, what I am seeing today is that those leading the healthy sexuality revolution in the church are former homosexuals. People who find freedom from homosexuality are no longer willing to sit idly by and let one sin be condemned while others are put on the shelf of denial and secrecy. The very thing that the church has avoided is being addressed more today than ever because those that were condemned publicly either got help and are forcing other sexual sinners to come clean or those that were condemned plunged into sin and are calling foul and screaming loudly at the church that shunned them, "HYPOCRITES."

Either way, the church is being forced to reckon with the rampant sexual immorality and double standards within its ranks.

I think we are on the heels of our finest hour in the Body of Christ----refining fire is here.

Open Letter to Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)

September 27, 2004

Honorable Marilyn Musgrave, (R-CO)
Via Email: [email protected]
Re: Marriage Protection Amendment

Dear Congresswoman Musgrave:

Good morning from Orlando, Florida and the headquarters of Exodus International. Exodus is the world’s leading outreach to men, women, youth and families affected by unwanted homosexuality. Since 1976 Exodus has ministered to hundreds of thousands of people and witnessed tens of thousands find freedom from homosexuality. In 1990 I was a same-sex attracted 18 year old that received a referral to Exodus; 14 years later I am living proof that change is possible and that homosexuality is not immutable.

Last March I publicly thanked you during the Family Research Council’s Washington Briefing for your defense of marriage via the Federal Marriage Amendment. I thanked you because I believe in marriage and know that had same-sex marriage been an option for me when I turned 18 that I would have surely chosen to partake in it. The laws that steward marriage today saved me from one, if not numerous, life-altering mistakes. I am thankful that you and many of your colleagues are fighting to save other young people from making those same mistakes.

It has been my sincere pleasure to lobby the Senate and House in defense of marriage. And, I am so incredibly grateful to you, a true leader, for standing firm in spite of great criticism and personal attacks. Please know that the vocal minority who oppose you do not equal in number or strength those who stand with you at this time.

On behalf of the 200,000 people who contact Exodus each year seeking freedom from homosexuality, thank you for your courage and bold leadership; you are making an eternally significant difference.

For the Sake of Freedom,

Alan Chambers
President
Exodus International

Swaggart’s Short Memory

You’d think that the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart’s message for those needing grace and redemption would be one of compassion and empathy mixed with the truth. After all it was Jimmy Swaggart that begged for grace and forgiveness more than a decade ago after it was revealed to the world that he had an active sexual addiction and was caught soliciting a prostitute. However, last week Rev. Swaggart made the anti-Christ statement that he would, “kill any gay man who looked at him romantically”.

It never ceases to amaze me how insecure some men are with their own manhood and masculinity that being the object of same sex attraction threatens and frightens them to the point that they would consider murder. Unnatural as same-sex attraction is, it is as repulsive to God as every other sin and just as forgivable.

As the President of the world’s leading outreach to those affected by unwanted homosexuality and a key educational resource for the church at large, I am thankful that Rev. Swaggart’s message of hate is now more the exception than the rule in Christendom. I believe that the years of irrational anger and hatred for the same-sex attracted is coming to an end within the Body of Christ. I am proud that ministries like Focus on the Family through their Love Won Out Conference and Exodus International have helped make a life changing difference in the Church.

It is my prayer that Jimmy Swaggart and all others who have been the undeserving recipients of grace will in turn offer grace to others and that the hateful rhetoric that God abhors will end. After all it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.

Mr. Swaggart, I think you should apologize for misrepresenting Christ and hurting a group of people that already hate the Church for this very reason.