A BLOG BY ALAN CHAMBERS

CNN.Com on Exodus, me and Prop 8

Check out the CNN article today on Prop 8 related to Exodus and me.  All in all it's a good article.  I am glad they ended the post with my main point.  At the end of the day the most important thing isn't whether we win or lose political battles, anyway.  What matters is people's hearts and to whom those hearts are surrendered.

Quoted in Christianity Today

Check out the latest from Christianity Today Online.  A number of Christian leaders are quoted in the article on The Gospel Response to Prop 8, including yours truly.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

God's Grace for George Rekers & Jo-Vanni Roman

Cross-Posted from Exodus International Blog

It is being reported widely throughout the media that Dr. George Rekers, husband, father, NARTH Board Member, scholar, theologian and Baptist minister (to name just a few of the highlights), confirmed that he hired a 20 year-old man to accompany him on a 10-day European mission trip and extended vacation.  As it turns out, that young man happens to be a prostitute, as well.  And while there has been no allegation of sexual misconduct, Dr. Rekers actions, at best, lacked an enormous deal of discernment.  At worst, he is guilty of leading a double life, even if just in motivation.

  Despite the familiar human desire to throw the stone in my hand at Dr. Rekers, I cannot. He is a human who seems to have made a mistake.  He is a Christian who seems to be guilty of practicing what he has preached against.  It is that fact that alone causes the deepest feelings of anger to arise no matter what side of the debate one falls. Regardless of any sexual impropriety, his actions were not above reproach and that has hurt his, until now, excellent reputation. This fiasco has also fueled speculation and doubt about the lives of others who have chosen to pursue a life in Christ above their sexuality - people like me, and those I represent at Exodus. And while Dr. Rekers may be guilty of things beyond those he has admitted, he deserves no less grace than I or any in the gay community now reveling over what must feel like a victory beyond their wildest dreams in their campaign to prove that people affected by same-sex attraction cannot and should not do anything but embrace a narrow view of their same-sex attractions by adopting and celebrating a gay identity.

 And, what about the young man, Jo-Vanni Roman, at the center of this controversy.  The carnivorous gay bloggers and their followers seem most concerned with the downfall of a man, a marriage and a movement; not to mention the titillating photos and full bodily description of this boy barely out of high school.  While I can put myself in the shoes of those who are angered by the potential hypocrisy of the Rekers’ story, I cannot understand the gay communities’ lack of regard for this 20 year-old boy who has been prostituting himself to anyone who “asks” and “pays”.  While the gay community seems hell-bent on forcing everyone to be tolerant of their “just like everyone else” lives they seem completely incapable of showing Jo-Vanni Roman any compassion or care that this kid is so desperate for love or money or care that he would stoop to dehumanizing himself with anyone who can afford to use and abuse him.  That’s no less disgusting.

  Well, it’s time for the Church to rise up and show that the counterfeit really isn’t the best kind of community.  While it has been common in the Christian community to cast stones, extend the left foot of fellowship and shoot our wounded; the tide is changing.  And, I for one am inclined to extend a hand to George Rekers, the man, and offer him help.  He is, after all, a husband and father.  We have seen other devastating situations in families turn around.  Maybe this is the crisis that will lead George Rekers to find the healing he has been looking for, but afraid to admit he needed.   

And, Jo-Vanni, if you or anyone like you is reading this, call us.  We will listen because we care.  The one thing we absolutely know is that there is a God who loves, redeems and restores completely. Whatever the damage that has been done, people whom Christ loves and gave His life for are in need. As part of the Body of Christ, Exodus International helps those in need - no matter who they are or what they've done—even those who will seek to criticize us for this very offer.

Man & Wife Take Another Wife

It has finally happened; a Belgian man and his bisexual wife found another married bisexual woman via an internet chatroom and developed a relationship.  When it was all said and done, the married woman divorced her husband and married the aforementioned man and his bisexual wife.  Confused?  Obviously, so are they and the Belgian government for allowing such chaos.

Follow the link below to this tragic real life story:

TRIO Marries in Belgium 

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

Will July 4th be the Next Anniversary Hijacked by the Gay Political Elite?

Forgive me if that question offends you, but after watching the over coverage of the Massachusetts same-sex marriage battle and the under coverage of the 50th anniversary of a true American hallmark, the Brown vs. the Board of Education victory, I believe no holiday is safe from being usurped.

Fifty years ago, on May 17, 1954, this country witnessed the end of segregation in our nation’s public schools with the renowned court case Brown vs. the Board of Education. You’d think there would have been more media fanfare of this important milestone. Black Americans, both those who led the courageous fight to see racial oppression and inequality end and those that today benefit from that liberation, deserved better. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much reported on the anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education on the nations airwaves because members of the Gay Elite hijacked a legitimate civil rights triumph with their battle for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and trumped Black Americans for coverage.

Hijacking has become commonplace for members of the Gay Elite. For instance, in the 1950’s ‘gay’ was a term commonly used to describe happiness and joy. In the late 1960’s homosexual activists stole the word from the American language and today ‘gay’ is synonymous with the word homosexual. It may seem insignificant to you, but I assure you commandeering a word meaning ‘happiness’ was extremely calculated and helped to begin the watering down process of how our society views homosexuality and those who identify as homosexual.

Another example of this hijacking involved the rainbow. Once a secular and Christian symbol for promise and hope, today the only rainbow stickers, signs and flags you’ll find are on the bumpers, porches and t-shirts of those who identify as ‘gay’. Indeed, there is no mistaking the move towards equating the rainbow’s message of hope and promise with the gayness of homosexuality. In the early 1990’s when I was living as a self-identified homosexual man, the ‘gay’ community co-opted another term; this time it was one that carried far more weight and had much greater worth: the word family. In my ‘gay’ days we began to identify our own as ‘family’.

The polls in America are clear: black, white and Hispanic, Republican and Democrat, male and female Americans overwhelmingly support marriage as the union involving one man and one woman for one lifetime. Yesterday, however, homosexuals became beneficiaries of an incredibly successful and well fought campaign to overhaul the way America views them. Fifteen short years ago homosexuality was a moral taboo, an inappropriate topic of conversation on sitcoms, in the news, at the dinner table and in public. Today, same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts and on its way to your state, town and neighborhood, like it or not. The incredibly organized, politically powerful and well-funded Gay Elite have won this battle that will redefine the foundation of what every society since the beginning of time has held dear: marriage. The amount of opposition homosexuals felt as they fought to redefine marriage felt about as powerful as a strong breeze on a warm day at Disney—you know, the home of the annual ‘Gay Days’ event that draws tens of thousands of ‘gays’ to Orlando on the first Saturday of June.

I believe we have only ourselves to blame. While a faithful few have been battling to preserve marriage by trying to rally the troops at great personal cost, unfortunately the majority of conservative Americans, politicians and even Christians have seemingly sat idly by and done nothing. Many Americans were content to watch this on the news and chose not to stand up for what they believe. Honestly, I believe that a great number of Americans are apathetic, inwardly focused, embroiled in their own perversions or so passive that it would take a catastrophe to move them. If you do not know what to do, ask those of us who are on the forefront of this battle and we will gladly put you to work!

It’s not too late. I believe that our only hope is for the Church to rise up, put its hand up to the advancement of immorality, inside and outside the Church, and its hand out for those needing to be liberated from the captivity of sexual sin. Hero Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best: “The Church is neither the master of the state nor the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.” I am praying that America’s conscience is restored and that the Church is victorious.

Exodus is Influencing

Last week I continued my work with the Marriage Amendment Project in Washington, DC. The MAP is a diverse coalition of leaders from around the nation dedicated to preserving marriage as it was intended: one man and one woman for one lifetime. For more information on the MAP: Protect Marriage and For Marriage

While in DC, Leslie and I had the incredible opportunity to attend a number of events commemorating The National Day of Prayer, including a small gathering at the White House where President Bush spoke about prayer and its importance.

Below are some fun photos with new and old friends including: Lt. Colonel Oliver North, Vonette Bright (Co-Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ), Dennis and Melinda Jernigan and one of President Bush praying.

Jesus' Word on Homosexuality

Recently Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas stated that, Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, which isn’t necessarily the truth. More accurately, the Bible doesn’t have a record of Jesus speaking out for or against homosexuality; then again, the Bible wasn’t a complete transcript of Jesus’ 33-year life.

Jesus' recorded words were originally spoken to people that already knew that homosexuality was a sin; the truths that Jesus spoke of and the laws that he lived by were reflective of both God's creative intent for humanity and the man made laws of the time. Homosexuality was not only one of eight abominable practices in God's eyes and an absolute misuse of His design for physical, emotional and sexual expression, but it was also a crime under the Jewish and Roman laws of the time. Jesus did not need to mention this act specifically as he did not mention incest, bestiality, drug abuse or domestic violence; these acts were well understood and accepted prohibitions.

Jesus did, however, make it abundantly clear what He was for. He said in Matthew 5:17 that he, did not come to destroy the law (the Old Testament) but rather to fulfill it. He also affirmed God's best for sexual and relational intimacy in Matthew 19 where he spoke of marriage in the only form that has ever been acceptable to God: between one man and one woman for one lifetime. Jesus may not have literally spoken about the issue of homosexuality, but the Bible clearly does both in the Old and New Testaments. In II Timothy 3:16 it boldly states, All scripture is God-breathed. God is clear about what He is for and about what He is against and it is clear that the Bible is His written word to His creation; God never changes His moral standards.

Suffice it to say, I do not have a problem with anyone exercising their right to believe or to speak about their beliefs, but one should not presume to speak for Jesus when the Bible does so without error.

Shame on ABC World News Tonight

My letter to ABC World News Tonight:

Dear ABC:

I was outraged that your coverage of the anarchy related to same-sex marriage in San Francisco included footage of gay men and lesbian women kissing passionately.

ABC World News Tonight isn't a Rated R show that kids can't get into, nor is it on HBO or Cinemax that one has to subscribe to; ABC World News Tonight is on during times when kids are at home, sitting in the den or at the table watching TV.

You have offended my wife and me, put parents all over the country in a compromising situation and alienated your viewers.

If ABC World News Tonight is going to be a program that exposes children to things that they don't need to know about, needs an R rating and promotes controversial (at very best) sexuality on it's show then maybe you should move it to a midnight time slot.

No wonder so many people are turning ABC off.

Alan Chambers

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. Floor Statements on Same-Sex Marriage

The Massachusetts Legislature is today wrestling with how to respond to their Supreme Court, which has made same-sex marriage the law of that state.

Even if the Massachusetts legislature is successful in passing a constitutional amendment to block same-sex marriage, it won’t come before voters for ratification for another for two years. And beginning on May 17, the state will begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Once these same-sex couples sue for recognition in their home states, the wildfire will begin. Same-sex marriage is likely to spread to all 50 states in the coming years. So regardless of what Massachusetts does today, it is becoming clear that the Congress must act, and act soon. And the Senate will begin working on the issue in the weeks ahead.

We didn’t seek this fight, and we don’t relish it. But the courts have brought it to us, and the people will respond. We will not let activist judges redefine marriage for our entire society. We reject intolerance, we reject hatred. We must treat all our fellow citizens with kindness and civility.

But marriage should remain what it has always been in our nation: the union of a man and a woman. It is my hope that Massachusetts Legislature will act today.