Exodus: Live Out Loud

Church: A Safe Place for All?

Exodus Church Network Director Jeff Buchanan featured in Ministry Today:

If we're honest, the issue of homosexuality intimidates most church leaders. It makes us feel helpless. When someone pulls us aside and confides in us that he or she struggles with same-sex attractions, we diligently put on our "leader face" while we shrivel on the inside, feeling absolutely incompetent to address the situation.

Nothing could be further from the truth. If you believe God's Word to be true, then you automatically have the needed tools for effective ministry, since all Scripture is "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16, NIV). Therefore, we are equipped as the church to minister to anyone who walks through our doors—homosexual or not.

Read the entire article >>

Media Coverage of A New Day

Below are some links to media coverage of the 2008 Exodus International Freedom Conference that was held in Ridgecrest, NC July 15-20.

Asheville Citizen Times - Exodus Meeting Promotes 'Freedom From Homosexuality'

TV Coverage on WLOS (ABC) Asheville

Additional Coverage by WLOS ABC 13

CitizenLink: Exodus Conference Spreads Message of Hope

Christian Post: Exodus Offers "A New Day" for Hundreds Impacted by Homosexuality

North Carolina Baptists: Homosexuality and the Local Church

Randy Thomas on California's Gay Marriage Ruling

Exodus Executive Vice President Randy Thomas responds on his blog to the historic ruling by the California Supreme Court overturning a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage:

Exodus has been on record as opposing the redefinition of marriage, the use of hate crimes legislation to suppress freedom of conscience and religious liberty as well as ENDA­, the corporate version of hate crimes. ENDA is another example of the state forcing a state sanctioned sexual morality at the expense of religious liberty.

Exodus has only been involved in these public policy battles for the past five years and while we have very strong beliefs, I think it is a mistake for Christians to believe that Joe Solomnese, a gay identified man in charge of the HRC (largest gay lobby in the world) wants to proverbially burn Christians at the stake.  While he has been dismissive of my life and testimony, I choose not to be dismissive of his because I once believed as he does.  My only desire was to live in a homosexual relationship.

Read Randy's blog post >>

Alan Chambers in New Man Magazine

New Man: You struggled with same-sex attraction yourself. Did that experience lead you to the ministry you’re in today?

 

Alan Chambers: Definitely. When I was growing up the only thing you ever heard about from the Bible regarding homosexuals was that they don’t inherit the kingdom of God. That’s the one thing that rings in my head from childhood. So when I found out that there was a local Exodus ministry, that there was help for people like me, I jumped at it.

 

New Man: So years later you have come back to be the president of Exodus?

 

Chambers: Yes, I’m the president of Exodus. Really from the time I was 18 until now—I’m 36—I’ve never left the ministry. I started out as someone who was participating and someone who needed help and then I was a volunteer, than on staff at a local ministry and worked through the ranks and to where I am now.

 

New Man: Your ministry is inherently controversial. You have been interviewed by a number of news outlets and you’re unapologetic about trying to change homosexuals. What is your response to someone who says, “They can’t change”?

 

Chambers: Well my first response is that we don’t change people. I want to be very clear about that. We are people who simply point to the truth and Scripture, to the truth of our testimonies and to the grace of a God who promises He’ll free anyone who submits his will to His Lordship. It will be different for different people. I know a lot of people that didn’t experience a change in their feelings. They didn’t experience the same freedom I did, which is sometimes hard to understand.

Read the whole interview >>

Touch the Sexual Sinner

Mike Ensley wrote this new article for Boundless:

Nobody needs to be told about the startling statistics regarding youth and sexuality. A rant about how the media and entertainment industry push the envelope would just be stating the obvious to anyone with ears to listen.

What gets me ranting is the Church's response; all too often living in the definition of insanity in regards to responding to the crisis of our culture. Despite its monumental failure to accomplish anything in the way of personal transformation, too many Christians — worse, those in ministry — seem bent on responding with our most ineffective asset: religion.

Read the entire article >>

GSA Clubs and Social Activism

From CitizenLink:

The Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA) is doing its best to make sure high schools use next week — the so-called Freedom to Marry Week — to rally support among students for same-sex "marriage." Schools are encouraged to feature mock weddings, guest speakers, teach-ins and a movie night with gay-themed films.

Randy Thomas, executive vice president with Exodus International, said the agenda is clear.

“GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) and GSA groups are all about indoctrinating our young people to a gay worldview," he told Family News in Focus. "And now they’re not settling for just indoctrinating young people, they’re trying to turn them into activists.”

Hat tip: Randy Thomas

Teen-Targeted Books Promote Alcohol, Drugs and Sexual Experimentation

From WorldNetDaily:

Publishers Weekly calls it "A nasty, guilty pleasure." So what is this book filled with shocking profanity, characters guzzling alcohol and smoking cigarettes throughout, taking illegal drugs, glorifying hedonism and selfishness, and where sex (including homosexuality) is always on their minds? Is this book and others like it tucked away at an "adult bookstore"? No, it is a novel from the No. 1 best-selling series titled "Gossip Girl," and it is probably at your local library and bookstore in the teen section. Teen People magazine dubs these books "'Sex and the City' for the younger set."

Read the whole article >>

In addition, groups that promote homosexuality to youth also offer dangerous influence through reading materials. GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), which is the group behind the Gay-Straight Alliance club network, promotes a list of gay-affirming reading materials for students. Here are some of the selections they suggest for 7th to 12th grade readers.

Revolutionary Voices by Amy Sonnie is comprised of interviews with LGBT-identified youth from around the globe. One of the individuals showcased describes “his journey into sex work as a way of uplifting his self esteem.” The interview talks about how “doing sex work in drag” and sadomasochism can be “empowering” experiences.

Free Your Mind by Ellen Bass and Kate Kaufman is a guide-to-life for youth who think they may be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. In truth, this book is full of deceptive, dangerous advice. Teens are encouraged to find “meaningful” new “relationships” via gay and lesbian chat rooms on the internet. The book also greatly overstates the protection offered by condoms, and lists “bathing together” and mutual masturbation as “safe” sexual practices.

Find out what books are available to teens in your public schools and libraries. If the only books addressing these topics are like the ones listed above, consider donating books from the Exodus Bookstore, so they will be available to questioning teens who go browsing in the libraries for answers.

Pride and Prejudice: Montel Williams Style

By Alan Chambers:

So, Montel Williams has a temper.

While in Savannah to promote a program offering free prescriptions to those with low incomes, the talk-show host blew up at Courtney Scott, a high school intern at the Savannah Morning News, when she asked him, "Do you think pharmaceutical companies would be discouraged from research and development if their profits were restricted?" Williams terminated the interview and later said to Scott, "Do you know who I am? I'm a big star, and I can look you up, find where you live and blow you up." He has since apologized.

Some might be surprised by the Montel's irrational outburst. I'm not. I was a guest on his show this past March and witnessed the same pride as well as an ample display of his prejudice.

Read the whole column at WorldNetDaily >>

Bible/Homosexuality Film Stirs Debate

From Baptist Press:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Few issues are as controversial as the Bible and homosexuality, and a new documentary on that subject is receiving thumbs down from orthodox Christians -- and garnering its own controversy in the process.

"For the Bible Tells Me So" is a 90-minute, one-sided film focusing on five families who profess to be Christians and who have a homosexual family member. For the most part the families' stories reflect the documentary's message: The Bible has been misinterpreted over the centuries and homosexuality is not a sin.

"There's nothing wrong with a fifth-grade understanding of God, as long as you're in the fifth grade," one liberal pastor says in the movie.

Director Daniel Karslake and his film crew interviewed such notables as former Democratic House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt -- who is promoting the film and who has a lesbian daughter -- and Gene Robinson, the first openly homosexual Episcopal bishop. Not surprisingly, the documentary throws in a few scenes showing Fred Phelps' infamous church of "God Hates Fags" fame, picketing.

It has won a handful of awards, including the Audience Winner for best documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival, and it has the backing of the homosexual group Soulforce, which promotes so-called "pro-gay" interpretations of Scripture and which has posted the trailer on its website. The film is not being distributed widely, but media critics nonetheless are raving about it and essentially urging readers to support it. That has become part of the controversy, too.

The Seattle Times' Moira Macdonald called it an "inspiring" film about "acceptance" that "may well leave you blinking away a few tears." The documentary, she said in her Oct. 26 review, shows clergy and religious scholars "calmly rebutting literalist interpretations of Scripture."

Not to be outdone, The Tennessean's Bill Friskics-Warren wrote a 1,400-word review of the movie for page one of the Nov. 18 Issues section, asserting that "nowhere ... does the Bible say anything, much less condemn, loving and committed partnerships between same-sex adults." Scholars, he argued, "tell us that these passages have nothing to do with sexual orientation as we've come to understand it." Friskics-Warren even listed a few Bible verses he said are misinterpreted.

"The use of Scripture to justify discrimination began long before the current dispute about what the Bible does or doesn't say about homosexuality," he wrote.

Both reviews included information on when and where to watch the film.

The Tennessean's one-sided review received so much reaction that a week later it published three columns by Christians from the opposing viewpoint.

"While there may be a few idiots like Fred Phelps among us, most Christians oppose homosexuality with a degree of humility," wrote Kevin Shrum, pastor of Inglewood Baptist Church in Nashville. "... Someone asked me one time, 'Pastor, what would you do if you had a homosexual family member?' My answer is that I do. And when I see her, I hug her, love her, pray for her, talk to her, laugh with her, listen to her and long to see her 'come out' of a lifestyle that appears to be miserable, abnormal and destructive."

Read the rest of the article >>

Is Change Possible... for Sheep?

From Earthtimes.org:

NEW YORK: Experiments conducted by scientists to change the sexuality of homosexual sheep have drawn ire from gay and lesbian activists. They are afraid the efforts could lead to extinction of homosexuality in humans.
 
The experiments have been approved by the government as farmers complained they are financially affected when one in 10 rams, on average, is gay. After extensive studies of the brains of the homosexual rams, scientists at the Oregon State University have been able to identify the processes that influence their sexual orientation.
 
These rams were given injections so that the levels of hormones in the brains responsible for the orientation were adjusted with the result that some of the previously gay rams started interacting with ewes.

Former Wimbledon champion Martina Navaratilova, who is a self-admitted lesbian, described the efforts as "homophobic." A gay rights activist likened the experiments to Nazi research in the early 1940s which aimed at eradicating homosexuality. He described them as eugenics.
 
The scientists said their research is confined to reducing or eliminating gay sheep. Charles Roselli, a biologist leading the research team, said sexuality has been an under-studied subject because of political concerns.

"It's a touchy issue. In fact, several studies have shown that people who believe homosexuality is biologically based are less homophobic than people who think that this orientation is acquired," he said.
 
He said any possible applications of his research to humans were not a matter for him.

Gay activists say the simplicity of the process in altering the hormonal balance of the brain could become easily applicable to humans, when research can be conducted and methods devised to screen unborn children for 'gayness' and even parents resorting to treat their children to become heterosexual.

For a long time it has seemed that the gay activists' message to us was that homosexuality was biologically determined and therefore immutable. So why would they oppose research which, though it has nothing to do with human social politics, would seem to prove that homosexuality is biological, at least in animals?

It appears that the true distillation of the gay activist's platform is this: same-sex attracted people have to be gay. Whether there is a path to freedom from homosexuality through relational growth and counseling or even medical/hormonal treatment, they're against it. Why can't they accept the possibility of a choice?

It's becoming more common to hear activists say even if being gay was a choice, they would choose it because it's such a good life. This is a powerful argument, but it simply isn't true.  The fact is, nobody wants to be gay.The reason these extremists react so strongly to the discoveries of a specific cause (which they seem to have wanted) is because they know that if an easy way out was found, people would be leaving the gay lifestyle in droves; nothing would be a bigger disaster for pro-homosexual ideology and political power.

Another point this brings up is the absolute hypocrisy of these activists who, while condemning any remote possibility of "treating" homosexuality medically or psychologically, support and celebrate drug treatments and even surgery aimed at changing the gender of confused adolescents and children.