Posted by giveawayboy on February 04, 2003 at 23:02:24:
In Reply to: Marcos and Bill posted by Fiiiyer on February 04, 2003 at 09:04:52:
~N~,
Once again you prove yourself to be a lovely person. I really am glad we are getting to know more and more of each other.
First off I'd like to respond to your 'nothing negative' about homosexuality statment. The plain fact is that the Body of Christ is divided over their understanding of this and many other moral issues. There are more than a few positions out there within Christendom that are not in harmony with each other. I wish I could say that we all get along on this topic, but frankly, we don't. At any rate, I don't see the need to be divisive with this issue. The main thing is to keep our focus on Jesus Christ and not lose sight of him. If we are all following him and his Word, then eventually we will learn how to approach these hard issues with compassion and wisdom. For some reason, God isn't sitting here making it evidently clear. He lets us grow into an understanding of certain things.
I personally hold the traditional view that sexuality is properly expressed in a heterosexual marriage. Does this mean that I need to go around policing everyone's sex life? Heck no! And, what do I do when I fail sexually? It does happen you know. People are human. Well, I need to give myself the same love and understanding that I would offer to others. Beyond, sex, homosexuality goes deep into the psyche. Some Christians will say that this is because God made gay people gay for a reason. Others will say that a homosexual orientation is the result of man's fallen nature (see Adam's fall). My stance on this is that I can't affirm that homosexual acts are part of god's purpose, but I also offer no condemnation to gay people, in or out of active relationships. I am not going to police them. My job is to love all people as whole people and to try and find the image of God in them. That is it. I hold these traditional views and yet I have many wonderful Christian friends who do not hold to them. Infact some of them have same sex partners and it doesn't seem to bother their conscience. So, we just agree to disagree on our sexual beliefs but we still have great friendships.
~N~, you mentioned that perhaps some people might have been helped by our posting this. I hope so. I sure hope that is the case. Remember, this goes way beyond gay too. Perhaps you have some other issue in your life that dogs you. Perhaps you are confused or unsure about a moral issue, or sorrowful over a sin that you have committed. God is here for you. It is not about perfection. It is about allowing yourself to be with God in this moment. You don't have to figure out your whole life. You only need to say YES to God in THIS MOMENT.
Back to ~N~. Thanks for the kind post. Love ya. And, thanks for covering my back girl!
Bill
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: You guys Rock so Hard-Core (wow, do I really sound like that?)
: Seriously though, there is NOTHING negative about this post, and nothing negative about homosexuality. Granted, I'm coming from a wierd background on this (we'll have to talk sometime) and walking a new path with God, so I'm still not certain where some things stand, but what I can say with all certainty is that you are both beautiful, loving, creative, wonderful people, and that I see nothing negative or sinful about either of you. And besides who the heck would I be to judge 'sin' or 'not sin'...I live in a fagile glass house, and answer only to God. That puts me out of the judgement running! Know what I mean?
: So guess what I'm getting to is this. Thank you for being so brave as to post that and possibly open yourself up to some flaming. In doing so, you've probably helped a lot of people who might not be so brave. Know that you will never receive flaming from me on this subject. I've totally got your back!
: Love ya
: ~N~