After a Blogging Hiatus...

After a Blogging Hiatus... I'm back!

I've been promising a write up of something potentially scary- Liberty UMC talking about Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender issues. And I have to admit, it was a lot better than I thought it would be (or could have been). The Methodist Church has a retreat center in North Carolina called Lake Junaluska (where we have taken our youth in the past for conferences). LJ allowed a pro-GLBT group (Reconciling Ministries) to host a conference on their premises. If you scan through RM's website, it sounds nice and loving. They mention things like wanting to "enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church". I have no problem with that whatsoever and I believe that Jesus welcomes all types of people into his Kingdom. But when you begin to read closely they things they talk about, they are purposefully vague. They want the support of the church and large numbers so that they can get political action taken on certain issues that are in direct violation of God's word. It seems they are using God's word for their own agenda (using what they like and not what they don't).
Anyway, there was a big hubbub among UM churches about Lake Junaluska allowing Reconciling Ministries to hold their conference. Our church members wanted to take some action to let Lake Junaluska know people were not pleased with their permissiveness. I was scared that we would open up a bunch of gay bashing, which would be clouding the real issue and un-Christlike. Thankfully, our church remained true to the issue and even stated that GLBT people are just as deserving of Christ as we are... But, we can't allow a Methodist retreat center to host conferences that promote the idea that God says it's okay to be a GLBT. While God loves them, he does not condone these lifestyles. (While we're at it, I do believe He says something about lying, anger, lust, and many other things that "normal" people do on a daily basis and we forget to mention in church).
So, Liberty is doing a writing campaign to Lake Junaluska and Bishops that stood for and against the conference. I don't know what good it will do, but I am proud to be part of a church that at least is handling a portion of a difficult topic in today's church in a Christ-like manner. By no means have we got everything solved or are we perfect, but at least we approached one small sliver of the issue.
God help us to love as you love but not cheapen Your grace.

In other news, I'm currently #1 in my fantasy football league (LaDanian Tomlinson has helped me out big time), I've got a bad cold, and am looking forward to "The Chronicles of Narnia" opening in few weeks!