A prayer and song-for our journey

May God be with each traveler as we journey to the Fellowship meeting tomorrow. May we through Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit follow Jesus the Lord of the Church. Father, draw us near to each other and provide for us a good, wholesome and holy place of ministry. May the fellowship of your adopted sons and daughters be both sweet and refreshing.

We are weary, bruised and sometimes in despair; increase our faith and courage. We are confused and unsettled; give us discernment and settle us deep in your presence. We are cranky and sometimes harsh, arrogant and to often self-serving; may we know only Jesus and him crucified.

Lamb of God the path we are following is filled with both your amazing light and the darkness of worldly seduction; keep us from evil, protect us from evil-let your righteousness be our righteousness, your peace our only power.

And give us Joy oh holy lord.

A huge protest in London against Israel? Really? Up-date

In a day I leave for the Fellowship meeting in Minneapolis, when I return I will have only five days to put my 50th wedding anniversary party together. I should stop blogging for awhile and I intend to but I did want to write about a protest parade against Israel in the streets of London. The YouTube video that the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) placed on their Facebook page stated that thousands marched. In fact the IPMN quotes the video with this:

"Thousands of people have marched through central London to denounce Israel for brutalising the Palestinian people. The marchers urged a political and economic boycott of Israel and pressed Arab countries to isolate the Zionists."

Did you hear about it?

Well, if not that is understandable, it was only in the Iranian Press TV news and sites like Shia TV.  The video comes from Iranian reporters. And there is another perspective on it. But first the video.



The other perspective is on a blog called “For a secular democratic Iran. For Peace and Prosperity in the Middle East.” And the blog is for those who would like their government to change. The posting is: We Stand Against ALL Dictators.

There is a lot of interesting information here, including:

There was something different about the Al-Quds march this year. First of all the number of participants were remarkably less than previous years. After waiting for one hour, at the Portland Place, where the marchers gathered for more busloads to arrive, the policeman I spoke to put the best estimate of their numbers at around 300 max.

And in case you don’t understand what the march is about there is this:

Most people we managed to speak to had no idea the march was organised by the Iranian regime and most of the ones who we managed to speak to, decided not to join the march, like these two Irish friends of Palestine who decided to leave after they realised the Al-Quds march was a propaganda march sponsored and organised by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

I am aware that one of the persons who places links on the IPMN is someone who was born in Iran and lived there as a child so I am surprised that she did not know that this was a government sponsored protest by a dictator and clerics who believe Israel should be obliterated. I simply do not understand why this keeps happening except of course humanity is immoral and depraved.

UP-DATE-I found this "Iranian sponsored anti-Israel march in London (updated)" at Elder of Ziyon. Please notice the signs that say "For world peace Israel must be destroyed."

See also-RichardMillett's Blog And his posting Lauren Booth: “Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt must liberate Jerusalem”.

San Francisco Theological Seminary & their "Inclusive Community Statement"

There is no ivory tower of theology on this western coast of California. We need not worry about some abstract elitism, but there is a dark foreboding tower in which future pastors will be turned into the creatures of Tolkien’s dark kingdom.

The San Francisco Theological Seminary has produced a document, “SFTS Inclusive Community Statement,” that directs students and faculty to “walk according to the course of this world” and to keep adding sin to sin. It promotes antinomianism which is heresy because it belittles the grace of God.

Not only do they now intend to advocate for the full inclusion of LGBT persons in ministry, they will persist in their use of “queer theologies, and alternative sexualities’ perspectives” in their curriculum. They will be happy for the help of all “who would join [them] in [their] celebration of God’s expansive light.” (Italics mine.) When one goes to the introduction of the document the authors write:

Due to the humble recognition that none can have the fullness of God within limited perspectives and experiences, future generations of students are invited to craft their own statements of inclusivity pertaining to an issue of their passion and append it to this statement with a dated subheading. In so doing, San Francisco Theological Seminary can craft a living testimony to its dynamic theology of hospitality.

The document was sent to Presbyterian Voices for Justice with a letter. In the letter Scott Clark, Interim Associate Dean of Student Life and Chaplain, and Elizabeth B. P. McCord, Director of Enrollment wrote:

We write to you with excitement about the new thing God is doing in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The passing of 10-A is a milestone of the Spirit’s movement in our church …

And this:

We believe that all of us must participate in living into the “new thing” God is doing by helping current and future LGBT Inquirers and Candidates have healthy, meaningful seminary experiences, advocating for their recognition and support in their home Presbyteries, and assisting them in networking to find their first calls in ministry.(Italics mine)

So with Christological heresy, heretical activism and a call for a future ringed by heresy S.F.T.S. has pushed away from Christianity and is not a fit institution for any Christian inquirer or candidate to enter. I want to define the problem with three issues.

1. Queer theologies

2. God’s expansive light & new thing

3. A call for future causes having to do with inclusivity

Queer theologies. Mary Hunt, in Dictionary of Feminist Theologies, gives an outline of the history of the development of Queer Theology, which evidently began with gay men. The troubling aspects of this theological movement is its foundation on differing experiences, its early insistence that Jesus was gay, its use of what Hunt refers to as young people’s “’sexual outlaw’ positions and its insistence that sex is a right (without qualifiers) not a privilege.

One can hardly do an analysis of this, except from a biblical perspective to say “but such were some of you and Christ washed, sanctified and justified you “in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). There is a satanic spirit working within SFTS leading the students not toward Jesus Christ but away. This is not to say that all of the students or professors there are under this influence. Our prayers should be that Jesus will keep the orthodox safe and pure among such rot.

God’s expansive light & new thing. I have already written on this subject at The "new thing," God is doing: what is it? Still, much more can be said. However, the important thought here is that Jesus Christ is the new thing. And all in Christ are new. Because of his life, death and resurrection when we are in him, we are new creations. Jesus forgives us, gives us his righteousness and begins transforming us to his image. As we submit to him, repenting of our sin, we begin to walk in obedience to God.

The use of the term ‘expansive’ is unqualified. Jesus tells us he is the light. (John 8:12) The above term is not different than saying God is doing a new thing. God has not expanded his light except in the sense that he has more clearly revealed himself in Jesus Christ. And in Jesus Christ we take on his righteousness and seek to overcome our sin. The ordination of those involved in un-repented sexual sin, of any kind, has nothing at all to do with God’s light-to insist so is to promote heresy.

A call for future causes having to do with inclusivity. The statement that, “Due to the humble recognition that none can have the fullness of God within limited perspectives and experiences, future generations of students are invited to craft their own statements of inclusivity pertaining to an issue of their passion and append it to this craft a living testimony to its dynamic theology of hospitality,” is inviting the students of SFTS to add sin upon sin. What might they add; one could envision polygamy inclusivity, perhaps pedophile inclusivity; that is a shameful way to guide students.

Rather we should turn back to Christ and his word. We are told in Colossians that in Jesus “all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form “(2:9). In the Christian’s union with Jesus and through his word, the scriptures, we have all of the knowledge that is needed. We can discern what is God’s will and what is not his will through the word of God.

The apostle Paul, when writing to the Ephesians, reminds them that before they were rescued and saved by Jesus Christ, they walked “according to the course of this world, according to the prince and power of the air, [and] of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” And then including himself among the disobedient, he adds, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

And so, too, have we all been sons and daughters of disobedience and children of wrath. But Christ has been merciful and forgiven our sins. We are seated in “heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We have a tower that is holy, pure and a haven; one which the SFTS has forgotten.

"All that thou sendest us in mercy given"

A dear friend gave my husband and me a gift today. He goes with my husband and another friend to minister to young men who are in prison. In the past it was Preston in Ione. That is closed now so they have gone on to Fire Camp and are trying to start a Bible study there.

The gift? Bill, who was once the head of Inter-varsity in Northern California, has taken the time to look up the topics the publishers of the English Standard Version Bible provided. He has written out the text in full. He had several copies made and has given them out to friends. So today I looked up the topic “discouraged/disappointed.”

Among other verses I found this:

“2 Corinthians 4: 8-9-We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”

And this:

“1 Thessalonians 3:3- That no man [or woman] should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.”

And:

“Hebrews 12:3-For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

For that one I would rather use my NASV and add the next verse:

“Hebrews 12: 3-4-For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin …”

The next line reminds us that it is God who disciplines us which is a sign that we are his sons and daughters. Our lives as they unfold belong to our God.

In the song “Nearer my God to thee” I love the line “all that thou sendest me in mercy given.” And yet I forget it so many times. All that comes to those who belong to Jesus they receive from his hand, in mercy. In the events of our life we experience a rest that lies within the sovereignty of God. What is allowed shapes us into the image of Christ.

The redeeming love of Christ & LGBT homeless youth

ChurchandWorld linked to a poignant story of children killed by their own tribe’s people in order to stave off supposed curses to the community. “Ethiopia's river of death,” reminded me of other missionary stories I have read. Lord’s of the Earth, a sequel to Peace Child, tells of children thrown into the river because they wandered into forbidden territory.

Another is Mary Slessor-Everybody’s Mother, the story of a Scottish Presbyterian missionary who began her ministry in Africa saving twins who were deemed cursed because they were twins. The transforming work of Christ ends the awfulness of such practices; it will hopefully do the same in Ethiopia.

But I am also reminded about the article Michael Adee posted on the More Light Presbyterian site, “Sojourners Enters into Fuller Conversation About LGBT Issues.” I am not finished addressing it. It too is about children at risk, homeless LGBT youth. They too are to easily pitched in the river or undone by the wolves, just in a different manner. And no one seems to care for their souls; certainly not LGBT political organizations who are now using them as pawns in a political game.

In the first posting I wrote on this subject, LGBT homeless youth & religious freedom, I explored the political issues which were pushed in the article. They were the concerns of Adee and others that faith based organizations who believe same gender sex is a sin would be harmful to LGBT homeless young people.

But now I want to address the more important issue, the ultimate needs of LGBT youth. (And in reality all homeless young people have the same basic needs.) Physically they are homeless. They are often hungry, in danger and lonely. Spiritually they are also homeless. Their lives are full of emptiness, brokenness and they are disconnected from themselves, community and God. They not only need to be loved by older responsible adults but they also need to be lead to Jesus, who will give them comfort, love, forgiveness and transformation.

Jesus did not reject the sinner, but he did not leave them in their sin either. His love was transformative.

The daughter of the synagogue official, whom Jesus raised from the dead, was hungry. Jesus told her parents to feed her. (Mark 5:35-43) On the other hand he told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and follow him. Possessions were the young man’s lust. (Mark 10:17-27) The woman caught in adultery was saved from a self-righteous community that failed to grasp the whole of the law. She was also forgiven and told to go and sin no more. (John 8:1-11) The demoniac who screamed among the tombs and was healed was sent home to tell of his transformation.(Mark 5:1-20)

Jesus gathers his lambs out of dangers; he forgives, restores, meets needs and transforms the sinner. He heals within the community and in the individual heart.

Despite any organization’s use of derogatory words such as bigotry or homophobia, the Church has an obligation to the homeless and rejected to both care for and proclaim God’s words to them. Carefully, with integrity the young people, LGBT young people, need to learn from the Scriptures of God’s grace and God’s will that the Christian, redeemed by Christ, walks in obedience to his Lord. Holiness is an out growth of discipleship.

It is not a question of government grants or subsidies, what matters are Christian care and Christian witness. Those who fail to lead the young to new life in Christ because of a misplaced allegiance to culture or political correctness should be reminded that Jesus said it would be better to have a heavy millstone hung about one’s neck and be cast into the sea then to offend the young who believe in Jesus. (Matthew 18:4-6) And to leave them in their sin without any words about the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ is sin.

LGBT homeless youth & religious freedom

Michael Adee of More Light Presbyterians has placed a news article on the MLP site entitled “Sojourners Enters into Fuller Conversation About LGBT Issues.” Beneath it he has added The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force report “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness.” The first part of Adee’s article is about Sojourners agreeing to place an ad in their magazine which speaks for LGBT homeless youth and their needs. The end part quotes from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Report. One of the quotes states:

A number of faith-based providers oppose legal and social equality for LGBT people, which raises serious questions about whether LGBT homeless youth can access services in a safe and nurturing environment. If an organization’s core belief is that homosexuality is wrong, that organization (and its committed leaders and volunteers) may not respect a client’s sexual orientation or gender identity and may expose LGBT youth to discriminatory treatment (pg. 5).

In the first part of the article, in a section, taken from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s (GLAAD) blog site, and also from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Report it is stated that 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT.

This part of the report I find a bit sketchy, that is, there is not a good statistical basis in the footnotes of the Task Force Report, to prove the point. For instance the estimate of total homeless youth, “575,000 to 1.6 million per year,” supposedly a US Department of health and Human Services estimate, is footnoted by a paper presented at a forum. In the paper this is stated about sexual orientation:

The rate of gay or bisexual orientation among homeless youth varies across studies. In several studies with shelter and street samples, 3 to 10 percent of youth have reported their sexual orientation as gay, lesbian or bisexual (Greenblatt & Robertson, 1993; Johnson, Aschkenasy, Herbers, & Gillenwater, 1993; Rotheram-Borus et al., 1992b; Toro et al., 1998; Wolfe et al., 1994). Such rates suggest that homeless youth are no more likely than non-homeless youth to report gay or bisexual orientation when compared to the national rate of about 10 percent (Dempsey, 1994). However, higher rates of gay or bisexual identity (16 to 38%) are reported in another set of studies.(5) The higher rates in these studies (16 to 38%) can be accounted for by samples that came from street or clinical sites; tended to be older; included more men (who generally have higher rates than women for gay or bisexual orientation); or came from areas with significant concentrations of gay or bisexual persons in the larger community.

The next statement in the Task Force report cites the percentage of between 20 to 40% of homeless youth identifying as LGBT. The authors write, “Our analysis of the available research suggests that between 20 percent and 40 percent of all homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).” Footnote #2 directs the reader to a more complete, and undoubtedly more recent, report but it is evidently not on line. While it is unclear, I believe it is a report researched and written by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

My belaboring this point has nothing to do with the needs of LGBT homeless youth. If there was just one LGBT homeless youth their needs should be met. They should not be harmed in any way. However, in this report, with some statistics which may or may not be correct about the magnitude of the problem, some inferences are set to work against those organizations, who because of their faith believe same gender sex to be sin. So I return to the first quote I have placed above:

A number of faith-based providers oppose legal and social equality for LGBT people, which raises serious questions about whether LGBT homeless youth can access services in a safe and nurturing environment. If an organization’s core belief is that homosexuality is wrong, that organization (and its committed leaders and volunteers) may not respect a client’s sexual orientation or gender identity and may expose LGBT youth to discriminatory treatment (pg. 5).

In the report the Salvation Army is singled out as an example:

For example, an internal Salvation Army document obtained by the Washington Post in 2001 confirmed that “…the White House had made a ‘firm commitment’ to issue a regulation protecting religious charities from state and city efforts to prevent discrimination against gays in hiring and providing benefits.”28 Public policy that exempts religious organizations providing social services from non-discrimination laws in hiring sets a dangerous precedent. If an otherwise qualified employee can be fired simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression, what guarantee is there that clients, including LGBT homeless youth, will be supported and treated fairly? More research is needed on the policies of FBOs that provide services for LGBT homeless youth.

It has been stated that religious freedom and laws that involve same gender sex are going to meet head on. In this document’s suggestions they do. And in fact, without taking a breath, after mentioning the Salvation Army and how exempting religious organizations from hiring based on sexual orientation will create abuses against LGBT young people, the paper details some horrific abuses of LGBT youth. But none of them by the Salvation Army.

The report goes on to list policy recommendations including,

1. Require all agencies that seek government funding and licensure to serve homeless youth to demonstrate awareness and cultural competency of LGBT issues and populations at the institutional level and to adopt nondiscrimination policies for LGBTyouth.

2. Mandate individual-level LGBT awareness training and demonstrated cultural competency as a part of the professional licensing process of all health and social service professions.

3. Mandate LGBT awareness training for all state agency staff who work in child welfare or juvenile justice divisions.

While these policies are not fully explained, cultural competency generally means acceptance of the cultural values of those being served. This would be unacceptable for any church or organization that holds to the word of God while serving the needs of others. The article that Adee has placed on the MLP site is filled with restrictive insinuations concerning religious freedom.

Yes, Adee is right, “The church has the power to harm or to help in making the world a safer place for LGBT youth.” But the help not only includes insisting on good care for them and all homeless youth, it above all includes telling them of the saving and transforming grace of Jesus Christ. Without that they are no help at all.

Some new links

I want to add several blogs to my links. Recently I wrote about Mary Naegeli’s new blog “Bringing the Word to Life.” I now have that with my links. An excellent blog that has been very busy lately is “the personal blog of Mateen Elass.”   If you go to his “An Evangelical Declaration” you will find a new and well thought out statement of faith to consider for the hard times we are now experiencing in the PCUSA today. A blog that is starting to get busier lately by a friend who often comments here is “A Reformed Catholic in the PCUSA.” He has a new posting that is a good read, “Severed dreams.”