Saturday, March 24, 2007

AN OPEN WOUND- CHRISTIANS ON THEIR HEELS- MORAL CONFUSION- MORE FROM THE ST ALBANS MESSENGER

The temptation is to appease- to retreat with apologies. Certainly scripture doesn't tell us to go around judging the behavior of non-Christians and loudly proclaiming how sinful they are or how righteous we are. That just isn't the example set forth in scripture. We are to do everything in love, live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to our Lord, and do our best to serve as a faithful ambassador for Christ in our times and in our place.

I admit the tone on both sides of this issue is unsettling. These societal trends are disturbing, and I wonder what is the best way for the body of Christ to respond to it. We must never call sin anything other than what it is, but Colossians 4:5-6 tells us, "Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one."

http://www.samessenger.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=709

Any thoughts?

3 comments:

Annie said...

I support an organization led by a brilliant man, Andy Cominski. He was a homosexual. Very blatantly so. He met our Savior, and began a journey of healing, in part through the groundbreaking work on inner healing by Leanne Payne.
I love his attitude, which is one of constantly reaching out in love to other homosexuals. He has been walking in his hetersexual identity, which he sees as his redeemed image, and restoration of the Good of the masculine that had been broken, for over 30 years now.
His ministry, a 9 month class with scripturally founded teaching on gender issues, healing of father, mother and other wounds, and confession of sin, taking it to the cross and having a holy exchange of our brokenness for His wholeness, and new identity in Christ. It's called Cleansing Streams ministry and has expanded to bring recovery to those caught up in pornography, other sexual addictions,and even emotional healing to those who have been in some way violated in the past. He is now happily married with Children.
He wrote in a recent newsletter how the temptation is to acquiesce,(speling)to say, "maybe it's not so bad, after all, look at what wonderful, loving people so many are." But his call to us is to aware that settling for this is to settle for a lie about who that person truly is, and to deprive them of the fulfillment of being image-bearers of a loving God. It's to support people in pursuing a false identity and superficial fulfillment in life.
Being politically correct isn't always the right thing to do. But being loving in whatever stance we take, is!

Annie said...

okay, I am up in the middle of the night because of what I wrote. I wanted to edit, knowing what a controversial subject it is, but can't. Funny, but one of the things I thought I needed to edit was the spelling of the word, acquiesce! It is spelled correctly,but spelling- as a comment on how I may have spelled it incorrectly, wasn't.
Also, I thought it best to give the web site for Andy Cominskey's web site and discovered that I spelled Andy Cominskey and the name of his ministry wrong. It's Desert Stream Ministries, and the component that I was refering to in the 9 month healing is actually about 6 months.
Sigh! I don't know how to edit my comment- hence this.
His website is:
http://desertstream.org/
It is extremely compassionate and powerful stuff, ministering hope and healing to sexually and relationally broken people.

Annie said...

And then, I couldn't figure out how to get this quote pasted on til now:

A Message from Andrew Comiskey

Thank you for your interest in Desert Stream Ministries. In 1980, my pastor encouraged me to start a healing/support group in the church for those seeking to come out of homosexuality. A former homosexual myself, I developed a series of teachings that helped men and women deal honestly with their brokenness and receive healing. The goal? To become life-giving members of the local church.

For both my pastor and myself, one thing became clear--this group was a part of the church, an offering to its members and to outsiders in need of healing. The one group became several, and our focus expanded to include heterosexuals who were broken in their sexuality and relationships.

In 2005, Desert Stream turned 25 years old. Our main goal is to equip lay people in local churches to run any one of a variety of small groups that minister support and healing for the broken. These groups include an 8-week open evangelical format, one for 18-25 year-olds, support for sexual addicts, and Living waters, an in-depth and inclusive discipleship program.

Whether you are a pastor seeking information or someone in need of help, we hope that our website serves you well.
http://desertstream.org/