From the Christian Post: “We’ve reached a point where human dignity and mutual respect is so important,” Haggard said in a recent online debate with Rabbi Benjamin Hecht, director of Orthodox Jewish think tank Nishma. Responding to the question, “Should same-sex marriage be allowed by the state?” he went on to say, “If someone is dealing with same-sex attraction or homosexuality, and they want someone to be their life partner of the same gender, though we would oppose that in our churches, it should be allowed by the state.” So… what do YOU think…...

Oral Roberts’ gay grandson Randy Roberts Potts says he has been shocked on occasion by how his family has treated him, but that has just inspired him to help other young gay people deal with their own issues of sexuality and religion. Potts will talk about growing up gay in an evangelical world Sunday at All Souls Unitarian Church. It is the first time he has told his story publicly in Tulsa. Potts was born in Tulsa, spent his first nine years in Colorado, and then lived in the Roberts family compound just north of Oral Roberts University until he graduated in 1992 from Jenks High School, where...

A United Methodist minister acquitted Wednesday on a church charge of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual,”was sentenced Thursday to a 20-day suspension for presiding at a holy union ceremony for a lesbian couple in 2009. As part of the penalty, the Rev. Amy DeLong must work with Wisconsin church officials to craft a document that will help resolve future disputes in a more collaborative way in an effort to avoid trials. Both sides heralded the penalty and split verdict as just. “I feel good about what the church has done. I think we’ve sent a message that the United...

Jonathan Dudley writes, Growing up in the evangelical community, I learned the Bible’s stance on homosexuality is clear-cut. God condemns it, I was taught, and those who disagree just haven’t read their Bibles closely enough. Having recently graduated from Yale Divinity School, I can say that my childhood community’s approach to gay rights—though well intentioned—is riddled with self-serving double standards. I don’t doubt that the one New Testament author who wrote on the subject of male-male intercourse thought it a sin. In Romans 1, the only passage in the...

A small marquee on a Tarrant County highway is causing a big stir. The sign in front of Airport Freeway Church of Christ on Highway 183 reads: “Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom.” via wfaa.com YOUR THOUGHTS?  Is either way a good way to go?  No wonder people who need Christ think we’re morons. Share   Sign up for our Weekly Email for Church...

The church’s call to exclusion is ‘killing its soul’.  Those are the words of Dr. Joretta Marshall of Brite Divinity School talking about the upcoming trial of lesbian pastor Rev. Amy DeLong in the United Methodist Church. Watch this: The soul of the church is what’s at stake, according to Marshall. The soul of the church deserves to be set free. Thoughts? Share Sign up for our Weekly Email for Church...

I’ve long said that the way the church responds to homosexuality will be one of the biggest tests of the next years.  Recently, two things have occurred that have spoken to where some parts of the church are heading.  The first was a statement by emergent church leader Tony Jones; the second by ‘out of the closet’ megachurch pastor, Jim Swilley. The first is a comment by Tony Jones: One of the key leaders of today’s most cutting-edge church movement has opened an Internet discussion on the issue of same-sex marriage with the bold proclamation that he believes “gay,...

Many people don’t know it, but one of Oral Roberts sons was a homosexual and eventually took his own life.  Now, his nephew, Oral Robert’s grandson, who is also gay, has made a video about his uncle and his current view on life. Take a look here.  [profanity alert] I’ve said for a long time that homosexuality will be one of the (if not THE) major social issue the church will deal with in the next decade.  Just in the past few weeks, I’ve heard new allegations of bullying by the church of homosexuals (bullying is the new politically correct buzzword, I guess). If you...

With special thanks to Frank Lockwood (The Bible Belt Blogger), take a look at this pastoral letter from Episcopal Church presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the Anglican Communion… A pastoral letter to The Episcopal Church Pentecost continues! Pentecost is most fundamentally a continuing gift of the Spirit, rather than a limitation or quenching of that Spirit. The recent statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury about the struggles within the Anglican Communion seems to equate Pentecost with a single understanding of gospel realities. Those who received the gift of the Spirit on...

Remember Ray Boltz? It’s been nearly seven years since Ray ‘came out of the closet’ and took a hiatus from Christian Music… But now Boltz is back with a new album, and a new belief.  And a call for Christians to not discriminate against homosexuals. Here is one of the lyrics to a song called “Who Would Jesus Love?” Would He only love the ones Who looked the same as me Would He only offer hope When He saw similarity Would He leave the others waiting Like a stranger at the gate Would He discriminate. Or, part of the lyrics of his song “Don’t Tell Me Who...