Risking Grace, Loving Our Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus

Risking Grace, Loving Our Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus PDF Author: Dave Jackson
Publisher: Castle Rock Creative, Incorporated
ISBN: 9781939445018
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
RISKING GRACE, Loving Out Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus by Dave Jackson As someone who helped write a book advocating reparative therapy for gay people back in 1987, it was with gut-wrenching love that my wife and I did not let our daughter go when she came out 16 years ago. We fi rst prayed that God would change her, then that he would work out his purpose in her life, and fi nally, "Lord, what are you trying to teach us?" God answered with insights that led me to write RISKING GRACE, Loving Our Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus. It's a father's story about my agonizing personal journey of coming to realize that we evangelicals have lost our way when it comes to gay people by substituting a works/righteousness requirement for the clear Gospel message that salvation comes by grace through faith alone. I explore alternative interpretations to the "prohibitive texts," but the main foundation for my change of heart is the life and ministry of Jesus, how he embraced marginalized people, and the way he and the early church dealt with diffi cult issues. I share our story with you, our church family, because many of us have family members or friends who are gay, and we all need help learning how to love like Jesus. I've written with as much transparent vulnerability as I can, wrestling with the questions and presuppositions of the average straight dad (or mom) . . . who loves his daughter and his church but discovers that we have been driving gay people away from Jesus.

Risking Grace, Loving Our Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus

Risking Grace, Loving Our Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus PDF Author: Dave Jackson
Publisher: Castle Rock Creative, Incorporated
ISBN: 9781939445018
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book

Book Description
RISKING GRACE, Loving Out Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus by Dave Jackson As someone who helped write a book advocating reparative therapy for gay people back in 1987, it was with gut-wrenching love that my wife and I did not let our daughter go when she came out 16 years ago. We fi rst prayed that God would change her, then that he would work out his purpose in her life, and fi nally, "Lord, what are you trying to teach us?" God answered with insights that led me to write RISKING GRACE, Loving Our Gay Family and Friends Like Jesus. It's a father's story about my agonizing personal journey of coming to realize that we evangelicals have lost our way when it comes to gay people by substituting a works/righteousness requirement for the clear Gospel message that salvation comes by grace through faith alone. I explore alternative interpretations to the "prohibitive texts," but the main foundation for my change of heart is the life and ministry of Jesus, how he embraced marginalized people, and the way he and the early church dealt with diffi cult issues. I share our story with you, our church family, because many of us have family members or friends who are gay, and we all need help learning how to love like Jesus. I've written with as much transparent vulnerability as I can, wrestling with the questions and presuppositions of the average straight dad (or mom) . . . who loves his daughter and his church but discovers that we have been driving gay people away from Jesus.

Messy Grace

Messy Grace PDF Author: Caleb Kaltenbach
Publisher: WaterBrook
ISBN: 1601427379
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Sometimes, grace gets messy. Caleb Kaltenbach was raised by LGBT parents, marched in gay pride parades as a youngster, and experienced firsthand the hatred and bitterness of some Christians toward his family. But then Caleb surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a Christian…and a pastor. Very few issues in Christianity are as divisive as the acceptance of the LGBT community in the church. As a pastor and as a person with beloved family members living a gay lifestyle, Caleb had to face this issue with courage and grace. Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay “neighbor”—or for that matter, any other “neighbor” we might find it hard to relate to. Jesus was able to love these people and yet still hold on to his beliefs. So can you. Even when it’s messy. “Messy Grace is an important contribution to the conversation about sexual identity for churches and leaders. Caleb's story is surprising and unique, and he weaves it together compellingly. He states his views clearly, leaves room for disagreement, and champions love no matter where you are in this conversation.” —Jud Wilhite, Sr. Pastor, Central Christian Church

Embracing the Journey

Embracing the Journey PDF Author: Greg McDonald
Publisher: Howard Books
ISBN: 1982102349
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A sympathetic, compassionate, and inspiring guide for parents—from the founders of one of the first Christian ministries for parents of LGBTQ children. Greg and Lynn McDonald had never interacted with members of the LGBTQ community until they discovered that their son was gay. Without resources or support, they had no idea how to come to terms with this discovery. At first they tried to “fix” him, to no avail. But even in the earliest days of their journey, the McDonalds clung to two absolutes: they would love God, and they would love their son. “An essential resource for Christian parents of LGBTQ kids,” (Matthew Vines, Executive Director of The Reformation Project) this book follows the McDonald family’s journey over the next twenty years, from a place of grief to a place of gratitude and acceptance that led the McDonalds to start one of the first Christian ministries for parents of LGBTQ children. Based on their experience from counseling and coaching hundreds of struggling Christian parents, they offer tools for understanding your own emotional patterns and spiritual challenges. They also help you experience a deeper relationship with God while handling difficult or unexpected situations that are out of your control. You will discover tested principles, patterns, and spiritual lessons that can change the way we all see our families, and help Christians at large think through Christ-like ways to respond to the LGBTQ community. Written in an unvarnished, honest, reassuring, and relatable voice, this is a practical guide for parents and a roadmap to learning to love God, the people He created, and the church, even when they seem to be at odds.

Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would

Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would PDF Author: Chad W. Thompson
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 9781441201492
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Chances are you know someone who is gay--a coworker, family member, or friend. And chances are, as a Christian, you're not exactly sure how to relate to this person. While the church has been pretty good at "hating the sin," it hasn't really known how to "love the sinner" without fear of condoning a homosexual lifestyle. Chad Thompson, a man who has struggled with homosexual feelings, argues that "homosexuality needs to be solved through relationships." Drawing from the life and words of Jesus, Thompson gives readers permission to love and befriend homosexuals before they change--and radically, even if they never change--their sexual orientation. This candid book includes an appendix of additional resources. It will be a valuable tool for pastors, teachers, counselors, and any Christian who knows someone who is gay.

Taking a Chance on God

Taking a Chance on God PDF Author: John J. McNeill
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 0807079006
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Taking a Chance on God explores how lesbians and gay men can claim both a positive gay identity and a fulfilling life of Christian faith. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Gay? Love Like Jesus

Gay? Love Like Jesus PDF Author: Carol A. Ranney
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN: 9781479135202
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
“Christians, love like Jesus?? According to the gay community, we're mostly a far cry from that. And why should we care? Because Jesus, whom we claim to follow, told us that loving God and loving our neighbors, in all their diversity, is what He wants us to do. Something is wrong when 'following scripture' leads us to reject the people next door instead of loving them. It's time we re-examine what the Bible says, and look again at how we, as individuals and as the church, relate to LGBT persons. There is an epidemic of suicides going on right now that the church has yet to address. Every day, 11 children, teens and young adults take their own lives. Too frequently, it is because they are bullied because they are, or are thought to be gay. Unwittingly, Christians can fuel the negative power of 'gay' by rhetoric and rejection unsupported by the Bible.Surprisingly, evangelical Christians and LGBT advocates have something very important in common ~ their love for and concern about children and teens, at a time when children are desperate for all the support they can find. But the shouting matches between opposing views can obliterate the commonality that we, along with our children, so badly need. As Christians, we must take the first steps toward bringing about reconciliation. 'Loving our neighbors' requires it, and the daily deaths of our children demands it. What does 'being gay' mean, and what does the Bible actually have to say about it? Knee-jerk reactions and cliché answers no longer work. As Christians, we are driving our own children from our families and gays from the doors of our churches. Together, as parents, as advocates for all our children, and as responsible adults, we can find acceptable compromises and workable programs to stop bullying and hate. United, we can offer all our children the support, hope and love they so need. It's time for us to break the silence about 'gay.'https://www.createspace.com/3967748 $7.95 or on KIndle, $2.99.

Single, Gay, Christian

Single, Gay, Christian PDF Author: Gregory Coles
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830890939
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
Foreword INDIES Award Finalist IVP Readers' Choice Award In an age where neither society nor the church knows what to do with gay Christians, Greg Coles tells his own story. Let's make a deal, you and me. Let's make promises to each other. I promise to tell you my story. The whole story. I'll tell you about a boy in love with Jesus who, at the fateful onset of puberty, realized his sexual attractions were persistently and exclusively for other guys. I'll tell you how I lay on my bed in the middle of the night and whispered to myself the words I've whispered a thousand times since: "I'm gay." I'll show you the world through my eyes. I'll tell you what it's like to belong nowhere. To know that much of my Christian family will forever consider me unnatural, dangerous, because of something that feels as involuntary as my eye color. And to know that much of the LGBTQ community that shares my experience as a sexual minority will disagree with the way I've chosen to interpret the call of Jesus, believing I've bought into a tragic, archaic ritual of self-hatred. But I promise my story won't all be sadness and loneliness and struggle. I'll tell you good things too, hopeful things, funny things, like the time I accidentally came out to my best friend during his bachelor party. I'll tell you what it felt like the first time someone looked me in the eyes and said, "You are not a mistake." I'll tell you that joy and sorrow are not opposites, that my life has never been more beautiful than when it was most brokenhearted. If you'll listen, I promise I'll tell you everything, and you can decide for yourself what you want to believe about me.

Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor

Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor PDF Author: Glenn T. Stanton
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780802412140
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"To love our neighbor as ourselves is the second great command that our Savior gave us, eclipsing all others, but one. Curiously, the question of "who is my neighbor?" came up the very moment Jesus gave us this command. And it comes up today. Jesus was colorfully clear; our neighbor includes the person who lives on the far end of our ideological or sociological spectrum. In light of and despite the divisive issue that homosexuality has become in both culture and the church, Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor is conceived and thoughtfully written--from the author's decade-plus years of engaging this issue at all levels--for the Christian layperson or clergy who want to learn how to receive and interact with their gay or lesbian neighbors in a substantively Christ-honoring way"--

The Gaying of America & The Love of God

The Gaying of America & The Love of God PDF Author: M.A.R.
Publisher: WestBow Press
ISBN: 1490820876
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
What does God say about homosexuality? How does this differ from what society says? Is homosexuality wrong? Does God hate gays? Rarely will you encounter a book which speaks both of the love of God and homosexuality. Homosexuality usually elicits blasts of judgment from the religious community, and not love. The Gaying of America and the Love of God reconciles these three seemingly opposing topics explaining how God views the behaviors of His most precious creation, humanity. Jesus' response when confronted with sexual misgivings is telling of what the religious community's attitude should be on this exploding topic. An examination of Abraham also reveals a surprising reaction from the patriarch of three of the world's largest religions. What influence will gay marriage have on the fate of the United States of America? This book brings God's perspective to this conversation, in an attempt to bring all communities together, including those in the LGBT community. A truly prophetic call to the church and to the modern world.

God and the Gay Christian

God and the Gay Christian PDF Author: Matthew Vines
Publisher: Convergent Books
ISBN: 160142518X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
“God and the Gay Christian is a game changer. Winsome, accessible, and carefully researched, every page is brought to life by the author’s clear love for Scripture and deep, persistent faith. With this book, Matthew Vines emerges as one of my generation’s most important Christian leaders, not only on matters of sexuality but also on what it means to follow Jesus with wisdom, humility, and grace. Prepare to be challenged and enlightened, provoked and inspired. Read with an open heart and mind, and you are bound to be changed.” — Rachel Held Evans, author of A Year of Biblical Womanhood and Faith Unraveled As a young Christian man, Matthew Vines harbored the same basic hopes of most young people: to someday share his life with someone, to build a family of his own, to give and receive love. But when he realized he was gay, those hopes were called into question. The Bible, he’d been taught, condemned gay relationships. Feeling the tension between his understanding of the Bible and the reality of his same-sex orientation, Vines devoted years of intensive research into what the Bible says about homosexuality. With care and precision, Vines asked questions such as: • Do biblical teachings on the marriage covenant preclude same-sex marriage or not? • How should we apply the teachings of Jesus to the gay debate? • What does the story of Sodom and Gomorrah really say about human relationships? • Can celibacy be a calling when it is mandated, not chosen? • What did Paul have in mind when he warned against same-sex relations? Unique in its affirmation of both an orthodox faith and sexual diversity, God and the Gay Christian is likely to spark heated debate, sincere soul search­ing, even widespread cultural change. Not only is it a compelling interpretation of key biblical texts about same-sex relations, it is also the story of a young man navigating relationships with his family, his hometown church, and the Christian church at large as he expresses what it means to be a faithful gay Christian.