GoodnewsEverybody.com Social Issues-Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Homosexual, Sodomy, Transexual, etc.. Outreach
Are you gay, homosexual,lesbian, bisexual, transexual etc...? Well, I want to welcome you to my personal website from my personal experiences and friendship with people that have a similar background. I honestly never been homosexual, but I have had thoughts about it. They were basically "stuff" that runs in your mind coming out of nowhere. As a Christian (see personal testimony), I want to show my love towards homosexuals through this website. Please let me know how I could be a resource to you through prayer, needs, or just someone to talk with.
Of all my homosexual friends, I've found a common trend. It happened in the past when they were young and was sexually abused by someone they knew. It's very sad that this had to happen. Feel free to share me your stories or what you think about this?
Below is a case study sent to me by e-mail from a christian brother in the Twin Cities with my response:
Case Study 1:
Your longtime friend, Darnell, comes to you one day and wants to talk. He is not a Christian, and has shown little interest in matters of faith. Recently, however, he has begun to ask searching questions about the meaning of his life. He respects your faith, and is willing to listen to you.
�I just heard some preacher on the radio,� he says, �going on about homosexuality. What is it with Christians and homosexuality? Doesn�t the Bible prohibit all sorts of things that we do everyday? I seem to remember that the Bible says you can�t wear clothes made out of two kinds of fabric, or eat shellfish or pork. And doesn�t the Bible also say women can�t wear gold or pearls? Why is homosexuality such a big deal then? You know I�m not a homosexual, but I don�t see why it has to be such a big issue. What�s the difference between that and the other things that are prohibited?�
What would you say to Darnell?
Send your answers to goodnewsumm@hotmail.com
Response #1:
The Bible is more than what is or what isn't prohibited. The Old Testament (before Jesus' time) was a book of laws-on what you can or you can't do. That is why Jesus came, to take place of the law. Below is an argument between Paul and Peter over the Jewish custom/law on "circumsision" that is similar to the list of "prohibition" mentioned in the Old Testament:
11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15"We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' 16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
17"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. 19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"-Galatians 2
As mentioned in verse 14 and 17, we are not entitled to obey what the law says. However, our faith and relationship (see personal relationship) in Jesus Christ is what it all brings down to. From our faith in Him, the "meaning of life" is to totally trust and depend in Him glorifying-worshipping Jesus with all our heart (Romans 12). Our actions is the fruit of all this, and what we do (lifestyle) is the result of all this (see purpose in life).
The Bible (see bible testimony) was written more than as a law, but a "love letter" from our Heavenly Father. He is a "justified" and "loving" God, who just wants to best for us-like how a real father treats his son or children.
The difference between "homosexuality" and the others the Bible prohibits can be answered through Scriptures-what God says is more than what man, religion, or even any particular church (man can't judge, which many Christians tend to do) says. Ask Him yourself (Matthew 7:7)! Below are some Scripture verses that you search for "key words-homosexuality" (other issues in life):
Genesis 19 Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed "..4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old-surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." ..
Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry [a] his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [b] please! 19 Your [c] servant has found favor in your [d] eyes, and you [e] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [f] )
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived."
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Liberal Arts: Law, Justice, etc..
"God's Wrath Against Mankind
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
1 Corinthians 6:9
God loves the "sinner", but he hates the "sin"
Galatians 5
"...that's all of us"
Below are some Scripture verses, but you need the whole context of the Bible instead of taking verse by verse literally. God's greatest commandments is to "love God" and "love neighbor" (sex, gender, race, class, etc...), which if we do just both of these-life issues like homosexuality woldn't be such a big deal.
I went to high school with folks that I had a feeling were "gay", but I really never had the chance to interact with them as I was in my own "clique". Then when I went to school at UMM, I started to meet more and more of them. Over my 4 years, I learned how to be "open" and "compassionate" towards them. One time I was with a friend and he told me "out of the blue" that he was "gay". I was at first shocked, but then I started to absorb the reality as I reflected on some past times of hanging out and notice some "clues". I kind of lied that "I knew that". I'm still friends with him and trying to just be the same friend I was before he told me he was gay.
I have another friend of mine that moved out of state for personal growth with God that was "bisexual". He told me this after a week living with me. I was shocked at first too, but just kept loving him as a friend. He would later leave his bisexual lifestyle as he grew in his loving personal relationship with Jesus.
I'm not sure if he completely left, but it's between him and God as I still keep him in my prayers.
Just recently, I met a lesbian couple, which I've met in the past. However, I'm getting to know them more than the others I've met in the past. I'm just going to "keep loving them" as I was reminded by a Christian brother in mind that left that lifestyle. He is part of Exodus Ministries (see down below), which I was referred to this website after chatting with him during a break at City Hills' Regional Leadership Conference awhile back. I'll probably give an update on this story down the road. Till then, I'm just going to keep growing in my personal relationship with God to shine more of Jesus' light to the people He puts in my path day to day!
Below are some links to some resources that might help better understand and love homosexuals, like any other human being.
When Your Father Wasn't There
by Stephen Strang (charismamag.com) October 2000 "...Dad was always working to support our family of five children. Unfortunately, his constant worries about money left him short-tempered and critical. He had little time to spend with us, and as I grew older, I began to resent him," wrote one recovering homosexual (The Exodus Update, November 1999).
"The inner pain started early in my life. At the age of 5, I promised my mother that I would care for her, in light of the abuse we all suffered from my father...But I craved attention from [other boys] to replace what was missing from my father," wrote another [Exodus Update, September 1999].
Of course, many other factors caused these men to veer into homosexuality; but what if the strong presence of a father had been there? Surely, many of them would have been spared their own bad choices had they received proper direction at critical times.
Being a father is very important. Fathering my two sons, Cameron and Chandler, is very high on my list of priorities--over everything except my relationships with my God and my wife, Joy. I don't want to make any mistakes in my relationship with them that could create a father wound in their lives. .....
Finding Healing in Christ
...There's no getting around it. God created fathers to be with their children. Children thrive under a father's loving care, just as we thrive as God's children under His loving care. But most of us have to deal with at least some of our fathers' shortcomings....
The bottom line is this: All of us have been stunted by the limitations placed on us by our dads--simply because none of us had perfect fathers. Some of us may have been stunted more because our fathers were more imperfect than others.
But none of us are doomed to failure and powerless to rise above the limitations of imperfection in our fathers. We have access to our perfect heavenly Father and His power to succeed. We have the Word of God, which is powerful to the breaking down of strongholds.
We have a new destiny--because we can be new men in Christ. *
*see GoodnewsEverybody: "Heavenly" Father
Gay Pride, Tuesday, January 19, 2010 from john1135jesuswept.blogspot.com
"
The homosexual flag to the right is set up in someone's yard in the town I live in now. There was also a homosexual flag just like it in the town in which I used to live thirty miles east.
The rainbow is a sign of the covenant the Lord made with the world in Genesis to not ever destroy the whole world with a flood again. Genesis9:13. However, it has become a symbol of pride for homosexuality in our society today. It is really sad to see how blind mankind is now. I will just give some Bible scriptures below to show how the Lord in fact does not tolerate homosexuality..."
Recently I became a father for the second time. My wife and I went from the doctor’s giving us little to no chance of being able to conceive naturally, to having an 18-month old son and a two-month old daughter. Our ability to bear children is truly a testament to God’s faithfulness. The Lord spoke to me during prayer one evening and told me that it was going to happen in his timing. Matter of fact, he gave me specific numbers to go along with his promise. And then as confirmation, he led my pastor to tell my wife that she was going to conceive in 2007. God gave us the word, confirmed it, but still required us to have faith and the patience to wait on His divine timing. Sure enough, we had our first child October 2007.
Fast forward to the present, I feel like a veteran to this parenting game, yet, I realize I have a lot to learn. Day by day my son learns to say and do something new, leaving us baffled about where he picked up his new skills. Then at times, when I look at him, it’s like looking into a mirror. Not only does the child resemble me, but he has my gestures and mannerisms down to a T. Just turn the TV to the Bulls or Cubs and he will yell and clap instantaneously. This is nothing he was taught, just something he observed from his father. Which leads me to my point... children need fathers, not “baby-daddies” or a child-support check!
My short stint as a father has reaffirmed what I already knew, but now I see it in practice. The Bible commissions men to be the head of the household. Meaning, we are held responsible for the well-being of the family. It is our job to be the protector, provider, disciplinarian, and the one who makes tough decisions when necessary. All of these things should be done in consultation and consideration of the spouse, but the onus is not on her, God holds the man responsible. Got issues with that statement?
Children need fathers because they need to see theory in action. Lip service is not enough - the best example is the one you live. Children need fathers because baby-daddies are not there to get up in the middle of the night to rock baby back to sleep. Baby-daddies are not there to put Orajel on sore gums. Baby-daddies are not there to give the toddler a bath while mama is nursing the infant to sleep. Children need fathers because a child-support check cannot teach a child how to throw or catch and how to read or write. Children need fathers because young boys need to see how a woman is supposed to be treated; and young girls need to know they do not have to settle for less. Children need fathers because a woman can do her very best, but she can never teach a young boy how to be a man.
God designed a mother and father to raise children together to bring about balance and to share the responsibility. It’s time out for part-time fathers and baby-daddies. And if you are functioning in your role as a father, God bless you, but you do not get a gold star. It’s mighty funny how some men want to brag and boast for doing what they are supposed to be doing in the first place – evidence of low societal standards.
To those men who are no longer with their children’s mother, do not allow this barrier to cause you to abort your God-given responsibility. If both parents have the children’s best interest at heart, the kids will still be able to receive the balance needed from both parents, and that special element that only a father can provide.
Posted by Mr. Fair at Thursday, May 14, 2009
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com LA: Men, dad, father, "Heavenly Father", etc....
"MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
The Minnesota AIDS Project took the opportunity to remind Minnesotans of their concerns.
The Minnesota Department of Health reports that the state's number of HIV infections continues to creep upward after 326 new cases were diagnosed in 2008.
Of the cases found in 2008, 238 were males and 88 were females and there was a particular spike in infections among males ages 13 to 34.
The Minnesota AIDS Project took the opportunity to remind Minnesotans of their concerns: that an estimated 2,500 Minnesotans may be unaware they are infected, that women are a fast emerging population for new infections, and that the virus is proliferating rapidly among gay or bisexual men under 25 years of age.
The report also said that infection rates are higher among men and women of color than whites.
The organization did note cases of HIV being spread through intravenous drug use were minimized.
"When compared against national prevalence rates, Minnesota continues to rate better than many other states," said Minnesota AIDS Project's executive director Lorraine Teel. "However, the rising trend in young gay/bisexual men and the high rate of HIV in the African American community needs to be addressed aggressively to prevent rapid increases of HIV in these very much at-risk communities."
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 27 percent of the new infections recorded were from women. Ten years ago, only 18 percent were accountable to women.
"The rise of incidence in women of all races is also extremely troubling and illustrates the ongoing importance of funding education, prevention, and an open discussion to reduce the stigma associated with this disease so all communities can address the issue openly to meet the challenges in our state," said Teel. "We need to be able to discuss sexual transmission and other sensitive topics in a forthright manner to stop this virus."
The department also noted 42 new cases from men under the age of 25. The Minnesota AIDS Project reported that the statistic clearly indicates a lack of education to young gay or bisexual males about the risks of AIDS.
The department said Wednesday that 8,819 cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported since it started tracking AIDS in 1982 and HIV in 1985. Nearly 3,000 of those diagnosed have died.
The Minnesota AIDS Project suggested anyone with questions about HIV contact AIDSLine at 612-373-AIDS in the Twin Cities metro area and 1-800-248-AIDS statewide."
Outppost Ministry, Minneapolis based-helping people with homosexuality
Testimonies
Former lesbian says her life was changed by love
by Bryan Malley
"TWIN CITIES - "Christians need to know what draws a person into the gay lifestyle and what they can do to help people break free of it," Janet Boynes, a former lesbian and founder of Janet Boynes Ministries, said.
Boynes experienced and witnessed abuse at the hands of four men who fathered seven children with her mother.
"Determined to avoid the same fate for myself, I became a tom-boy," Boynes said. "I hung out with guys and became known as a bully."
Boynes moved from Philadelphia, Penn., to St. Paul to attend college and became a Christian. She later became engaged to a Christian man and the couple enrolled in pre-marital counseling at their church. Boynes' fianc� traveled a lot so she spent a lot of time with her girlfriends.
"When a girl I'd met at work initiated a sexual relationship one night, I was caught off guard and went along with it," Boynes said. "Immediately I knew how Eve must have felt. Condemned."
When Boynes revealed her experience to her pastor, he told her the wedding would have to be canceled. She then told her fianc� everything, the couple split up and Boynes embraced the gay lifestyle.
"I never found the satisfaction I was looking for in the gay lifestyle," she said. "Instead, I went from relationship to relationship to relationship and became totally confused."
Boynes and her partner sought the advice of a priest and he assured them her lesbian lifestyle was OK, but Boynes continued to wrestle with her conscience and her past Christian life. Fourteen years passed, and Boynes eventually moved to Maple Grove. Whenever she drove past the Maple Grove Assembly of God church, Boynes claims an inner voice would tell her that someday she'd be going to that church.
"The idea stayed with me even though I was doing drugs, cheating on my steady girlfriend, suffering from an eating disorder and extremely unhappy," she said.
One night, Boynes ran to the grocery store and noticed a woman in the parking lot with her groceries at 3 a.m. The woman had been helping her son move into the dorms at North Central Bible College so Boynes knew she was a Christian.
"We talked and talked, and then she invited me to come to her church-Maple Grove Assembly of God," Boynes explained.
Boynes accepted the invitation and later attended a Bible study at the church with nine "feminine women" who showed her love and gave her pointers on how to dress and apply makeup.
"They educated me about spiritual warfare and helped me break the stronghold the devil had erected over my life," Boynes said.
She sold her home and moved in with a Christian family for a year.
"Gradually my mess became the message of salvation," Boynes said. "It was a real struggle, but I wanted God more than I wanted the lesbian lifestyle."
Six years later, Boynes still has to pray daily and seek accountability so that she won't slip back into her former lifestyle. She explained that many gays and lesbians "hate" Christians because they feel condemned.
Recently, she founded Janet Boynes Ministries to share her testimony with those who want and need to hear it.
"Through Janet Boynes Ministries, we hope to minister to the homosexual community by sharing the love of Christ and the power of the testimony of a life changed by that love," Boynes said.
The new organization will also "help churches learn how to reach those struggling with homosexuality and to increase societal awareness on the fact that sexual orientation is a choice."
Boynes will be hosting the first ex-gay booth at the National Education Association convention in Orlando, Fla. on June 29.
"I know God wants me to speak out about these things," Boynes said. "After all, everybody wants the same things: love and acceptance. When God calls us out of darkness and into light (1 Peter 2:9), He calls us in love."
ACTION POINT
For more information about the newly formed Janet Boynes Ministries, contact Janet at janet_boynes@yahoo.com. The Web site www.janetboynesministries.com will launch near the end of June.
"-Minnesota Chrisitan Chronicle
"MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
The Minnesota AIDS Project took the opportunity to remind Minnesotans of their concerns.
The Minnesota Department of Health reports that the state's number of HIV infections continues to creep upward after 326 new cases were diagnosed in 2008.
Of the cases found in 2008, 238 were males and 88 were females and there was a particular spike in infections among males ages 13 to 34.
The Minnesota AIDS Project took the opportunity to remind Minnesotans of their concerns: that an estimated 2,500 Minnesotans may be unaware they are infected, that women are a fast emerging population for new infections, and that the virus is proliferating rapidly among gay or bisexual men under 25 years of age.
The report also said that infection rates are higher among men and women of color than whites.
The organization did note cases of HIV being spread through intravenous drug use were minimized.
"When compared against national prevalence rates, Minnesota continues to rate better than many other states," said Minnesota AIDS Project's executive director Lorraine Teel. "However, the rising trend in young gay/bisexual men and the high rate of HIV in the African American community needs to be addressed aggressively to prevent rapid increases of HIV in these very much at-risk communities."
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 27 percent of the new infections recorded were from women. Ten years ago, only 18 percent were accountable to women.
"The rise of incidence in women of all races is also extremely troubling and illustrates the ongoing importance of funding education, prevention, and an open discussion to reduce the stigma associated with this disease so all communities can address the issue openly to meet the challenges in our state," said Teel. "We need to be able to discuss sexual transmission and other sensitive topics in a forthright manner to stop this virus."
The department also noted 42 new cases from men under the age of 25. The Minnesota AIDS Project reported that the statistic clearly indicates a lack of education to young gay or bisexual males about the risks of AIDS.
The department said Wednesday that 8,819 cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported since it started tracking AIDS in 1982 and HIV in 1985. Nearly 3,000 of those diagnosed have died.
The Minnesota AIDS Project suggested anyone with questions about HIV contact AIDSLine at 612-373-AIDS in the Twin Cities metro area and 1-800-248-AIDS statewide."
Related: Ellen DeGeneres' abuse nightmare, from female first (United Kingdom) "
US comedienne Ellen DeGeneres has revealed she was sexually abused by her stepfather as a teenager
Ellen says she was around 16 when the terrifying ordeal began - which started with her abuser fondling her under the guise of a breast examination, before developing into more serious abuse
She said: "It started, then a few weeks later he tried to do it again And I kept saying, 'No! No! You can't keep doing this ' But, it escalated into other things"
Ellen also claims her late stepfather once tried to break into her bedroom so he could molest again - forcing her to run away in a bid to escape
She added in an interview with America's Allure magazine: "He tried to break down the door to my bedroom
"I had to kick a window out and escape and sleep in a hospital all night"
Ellen DeGeneres can be seen in her chat show 'Ellen' weekdays 10.00am and 4.00pm
"
From Homosexuality to Holiness --- Living with HIV and Hope (homosexual ex-gay gay lesbian HIV AIDS sexuality hol
"Can homosexuals change? Many believe it's not, by minimizing a limitless God. But through the blood of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and for the glory of Almighty God, CHANGE IS POSSIBLE! In this video, Christopher Yuan gives his testimony with his father, Leon at a Thanksgiving service. Christopher tells his story of God bringing him out of the homosexual lifestyle into a life of purity and obedience. In addition, although living with HIV, Christopher has realized that his true hope is found in Jesus Christ and lives each day to please His Lord and Savior. Visit his website at www.christopheryuan.com. (homosexual ex-gay gay lesbian HIV AIDS sexuality holiness purity change redemption transformation addiction drugs)"
*see GoodnewsEverybody: Issues-Drugs
"In this undated photo released by the Cobb County police, Paul Patrick Serdula, is seen. Police say an Atlanta area nurse anesthetist has been charged with molesting and sodomizing anesthetized patients in dental and medical offices, and they say the videotaped abuses could involve 100 or more victims. Serdula, who worked in dental and medical offices across the Atlanta area, was arrested Monday night on child molestation and sodomy charges. (AP Photo/Cobb County Police) (AP / November 25, 2009)..
"...Relationship experts say Lohan may actually be confused about her sexual identity and may just need some time to work out who she is and what she wants from an intimate relationship..."
"The attack
Shepard's murderers, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, awaiting testimony in court (1998)
Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Shepard met McKinney and Henderson in a bar. McKinney and Henderson offered Shepard a ride in their car.[4] Subsequently, Shepard was robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence in a remote, rural area, and left to die. McKinney and Henderson also found out his address and intended to rob his home. Still tied to the fence, Shepard was discovered eighteen hours later by Aaron Kreifels, who at first thought that Shepard was a scarecrow. At the time of discovery, Shepard was still alive, but in a coma.
Shepard suffered a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital signs. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. As he lay in intensive care, candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie.[5]
He was pronounced dead at 12:53 A.M. on October 12, 1998 at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins.[6][7][8][9] Police arrested McKinney and Henderson shortly thereafter, finding the bloody gun as well as the victim's shoes and wallet in their truck.[3]...
The trial
In court the defendants used varying rationales to defend their actions. They attempted to use the "gay panic defense", arguing that they were driven to temporary insanity by alleged sexual advances by Shepard. At another point they stated that they had only wanted to rob Shepard and never intended to kill him.[3]...
ABC's 20/20 report
In late 2004, ABC's Elizabeth Vargas reported on an investigation into the murder for the television program 20/20. Though Vargas primarily relied on personal interviews with people involved with the matter, the report was billed as exploring "New Details Emerging in the Matthew Shepard Murder."[3] At the forefront was the possibility that the murder had in fact been motivated by drugs rather than Shepard's sexual orientation. McKinney, Henderson and Kristen Price (McKinney's girlfriend) claimed in these interviews that the attack was a result of heavy drug use, a robbery and a beating gone awry.[3] Price, in her interview with Vargas, ultimately openly remarked: "I do not think it was a hate crime at all. I never did."[3] This statement contradicted Price's first interview with 20/20 in 1998, in which she said (of McKinney and Henderson's attack): "They just wanted to beat him bad enough to teach him a lesson, not to come on to straight people, and don’t be aggressive about it anymore.”[17] In the report, Price and McKinney's long-time friend Tom O'Connor, on whose property McKinney and Price once lived, both stated their belief that McKinney was bisexual. O'Connor stated that he and McKinney had sex in the past. However, when Vargas asked McKinney whether he had ever had a sexual experience with another male, he said that he had not.[3]
The 20/20 report also mentioned a statement by O'Connor that Shepard told him he was HIV-positive.[3]
Retired Police Chief of Laramie, Commander Dave O'Malley — who was also interviewed by ABC and criticized the 20/20 report — pointed out that the drug motive does not necessarily disqualify the anti-gay motive: "My feelings have been that the initial contact was probably motivated by robbery because they needed money. What they got was $20 and a pair of shoes ... then something changed and changed profoundly... But, we will never, ever know because Matt’s dead and I don’t trust what [McKinney and Henderson] said."...
" LARAMIE, Wyo. - A decade after a gay college student was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead, many in this small college town are still struggling with the aftermath of a crime that triggered nationwide sympathy and brought a re-examination of attitudes toward gays.
Ten years ago, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard died after being beaten and left in the cold by two men he met in a bar. Residents were shaken by the brutality of the crime, and the media descended on the town trying to explain why it happened.
Today, residents lament Shepard's death but insist it doesn't define Laramie or its people.
"It's not representative of Laramie, of Wyoming or the West," said Melodie Edwards, who owns a downtown bookstore.
"We have the same problems here that exist everywhere in the country — racism, sexism, homophobia all exist," said Jim Osborn, a University of Wyoming employee who is gay. "But I think that most people in Laramie are decent, friendly people who understand that while you might not like somebody, and you even have the right to hate somebody, you don't have the right to hurt somebody because of that."
Nestled in a valley between two mountain ranges, Laramie has a population of about 27,000, including roughly 10,000 students at the university.
"It's as close to small-town, rural America as you can get and still have a comprehensive university," said University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan, who grew up in New York and moved to Wyoming more than 30 years ago.
There was a gay community here in the fall of 1998 when Shepard enrolled at the university. He joined its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Association, a student group with about 50 members.
Shepard died Oct. 12, five days after his 5-foot-2, 105-pound body was found lashed to the lonely fence outside town. He was beaten so severely — his skull was fractured in six places — that the bicyclist who saw him initially thought he was a scarecrow lying on the ground.
The two men who killed him are serving life sentences in prison.
Residents disagree whether Shepard's death was a hate crime, a drug-induced robbery that went too far or both. Prosecutors' cases included evidence with elements of robbery, drugs and hate against gays, but the court only determined that the men were guilty of murder and not why they killed Shepard.
Whatever the case, life in Laramie changed.
"One of the things that the Matthew Shepard murder did was it reminded all of us, and it continues to remind all of us, that there is no place that is immune from random acts of senseless violence that plague our country, our society," Buchanan said.
Laramie was thrust into the national spotlight by media attracted by the murder of a young gay college student in a small Western town. It also produced an outpouring of films, books and plays.
"A lot of the coverage I believe really capitalized on the mythos of the West," said Osborn, who was chairman of the student gay group when Shepard joined and now works for the university's diversity and equal employment opportunity office. "It was phrases like `He was a different kind of cowboy.' Matt wasn't a cowboy!"
Some of the coverage attempted to blame Laramie for somehow creating the murderers. Osborn recalled seeing one TV report quoting a local man at a bar as saying gay people should expect to be attacked in Wyoming.
"The crime of two people was presented as a crime of the city," Mayor Klaus Hanson said.
Residents say prejudice against gays in Laramie is no different from anywhere else.
"I think people are pretty laissez-faire out here, pretty independent, a pretty accepting state," said Jeff Figg, a retired businessman who moved here six years ago. "This is a much more enlightened area, the exact opposite of what the press portrayed it."
Beth Loffreda, a UW English professor who wrote a book about residents' response to the murder, said that even though Wyoming lawmakers have declined to pass a hate crime law she has noticed a change in how residents treat gays.
"I think it's a little better here for gay and lesbian people than it was 10 years ago," she said.
There wasn't much in the way of publicly marking the 10-year anniversary of Shepard's death. A week ago, the university dedicated a bench that had been donated by a foundation set up by Shepard's parents to help support gay youths.
Osborn, Buchanan and others say the best way to honor Shepard is by treating gays as they would heterosexual people.
"We have realized in the most painful way that we cannot take tolerance and respect for granted," Buchanan said at the bench dedication ceremony. "Instead we must make it an explicit part of our mission even when this posture exposes students, parents, community members and our leaders to ideas and concepts that challenge ingrained ways of thinking.""
"..I have mentioned on numerous occasions that most of the American public--including Christians are clueless as to the diabolical, systematic agenda the gay community has meticulously carried out over the past thirty years.
For example, the removal of homosexuality as a psychological disorder from the American Psychiatric Association's DSM (Diagnostic Statical Manual) in the early 1970's was not the result of convincing, newly discovered evidence which clearly established the theory that this sexual orientation and expression was genetic (in-born). ...
Have you watched TV lately? Do you realize there are over two dozen sit-coms and series (not to mention made for TV movies) that have one or more gay or lesbian characters? Have you noticed how they are presented? Christians are often portrayed as ignorant, intolerant, bigots. Well, it's all part of the strategy...
"But doesn't science tell us that homosexuals are 'born that way'?" "..."Gay gene" researcher Dr. Dean Hamer (himself a gay man) was asked by Scientific American if homosexuality was rooted solely in biology. He replied: "Absolutely not. From twin studies, we already know that half or more of the variability in sexual orientation is not inherited.[4]
Brain researcher and gay activist Dr. Simon LeVay--whose study of the hypothalamus in homosexuals made international headlines--now admits: "At this point, the most widely held opinion [on causation of homosexuality] is that multiple factors play a role."[5]
Concludes psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover: "There is no evidence that shows that homosexuality is genetic--and none of the research itself claims there is. Only the press and certain researchers do, when speaking in sound bites to the public."[6]..."
*see Goodnews Everybody: Issues-Self Image
" COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Disgraced evangelical pastor Ted Haggard says he was sexually abused as a child and that the experience "started to rage in my mind and in my heart" when he was caught up in a sex scandal involving a male prostitute. Haggard made the remarks in two recent sermons in Morrison, Ill., ABC's "Good Morning America" reported Wednesday....
Haggard said one of his father's employees "had a sexual experience with me" when Haggard was 7, according to audio recordings of the sermons posted on the ABC News Web site.
Haggard said he later became "a conservative Republican, loving the word of God, an evangelical, born-again, spirit-filled, charismatic, all those things."But some of the things that were buried in the depths of the sea from when I was in the second grade started to rage in my mind and in my heart," he said.
In 2006, Haggard was fired as pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs when a former male prostitute alleged they had a cash-for-sex relationship. The man also said he saw Haggard use methamphetamine. Haggard also stepped down as president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
He has said some of the allegations were exaggerated but he has never offered specifics.
Haggard, who is starting an insurance agency in Colorado Springs, did not immediately return a phone message left by The Associated Press.
Haggard previously had confessed to undisclosed "sexual immorality," and on the new audio he said: "I really did sin."
Haggard said his family suffered severely for his actions.
"My wife — all my sin and shame fell on her. People treated her as if she had fallen," he said. "And my children — they all went through carrying my shame. And I am so sorry that I did that to my family."
Haggard said he became suicidal but eventually emerged with a stronger Christian faith and marriage than he'd ever had.
Haggard said church leaders missed an opportunity to use his scandal to "communicate the gospel worldwide through secular media."
"We consistently blow it" when those opportunities arise, he said.
"A congressman in trouble, that's the time. A family member gets himself in horrible trouble, that's the time. A preacher gets himself in awful trouble, that's the time," he said, his voice rising to a near-shout.
Audio of Haggard's Illinois sermons were posted on http://tedhaggard.com, but the Web site was unavailable late Wednesday, carrying only the message, "Website Is Being Rebuilt."
___
On the Net:
Good Morning America: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA"
*Note: I have friends (one of them I met at UMM), relatives, and other people that I interact now and then who are "openly gay", which that doesn't change my relationship with either of them. God loves them and I love them, which what they do is between them and God themselves.
Glenn Beck Exposes Government Eugenics Program 4/24/09-Profiling Your Kids As "Potential" Killers
"..The "interventions" advocated and practiced by eugenicists involved prominently the identification and classification of individuals and their families, including the poor, mentally ill, blind, 'promiscuous women', homosexuals and entire "racial" groups such as the Roma and Jews as "degenerate" or "unfit"; the segregation or institutionalization of such individuals and groups, their sterilization, their "euthanasia", and in the worst case of Nazi Germany, their mass extermination.... "
"..While in the second section Ordover "call[s] for queers to opt out of nature versus nurture argument altogether," many would interpret this as simply 'making do' with social prejudices that shape American society's explanations of their existence. For example, castration, testicular tissue transplants, psychiatry treatment, and hormone inundation have been suggested as potential cures for homosexuality. According to Ordover, eugenicists have termed homosexuality as a sexual perversion, warning that homosexuality can be caused by prenatal stress, germ, gene, and hormone imbalance. With AIDS, initially viewed as "gay cancer," identification with homosexuals caused it to be ignored and underfunded for "decades of death and debilitation and loss." In her words, ...
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com LA: Clinic, Doctors, Hospital, Medical, Physicians, Pre-Med, etc... Eugenics, Population Control, Poverty, Homosexuality.,from youtube.com
-Nature/Nurture
Case studies of sexual orientation in twins
"Scientists now believe that there is a physiological basis for homosexuality, although this is not entirely genetic, as these twin studies show. "
Monday, September 12, 2005 (CBN)
Paul King, a musician that was molested by his music teacher. He was looking for a �father�, but wasn�t able to get it in from his dad. His dad practice the occult and opened doors to the spiritual realm in his house. He gave his life to Christ at a special church service. Then he came home and did the �Lords� Prayer�, which closed the doors to the spiritual realm. He was delivered from homosexuality!...more
Jesus set me Free from Homosexuality
"I was gay for 20 years until I invited Jesus Christ into my life and completely surrendered to Him. I didn't stop being gay and then accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I CAME JUST LIKE I was and received Jesus and He changed the desires of my heart. "
Testimony of A Former Homosexual
"The Day of Truth shows the testimony of someone that has come out of a life with homosexuality."
"
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard says a well-attended prayer meeting at his home wasn't the start of a new church, but a sign of his resurrection three years after he was forced to resign amid a sex scandal.
"For the people who come tonight, that means they believe in the resurrection in me," he told reporters before the start of the meeting Thursday night. "Because I died. I was buried."
Many of those who attended carried cookies, pies, and brownies along with their Bibles. By the time prayers began, more than 50 cars were parked outside the home. Reporters weren't allowed inside.
The one-time evangelical superstar insisted that his intent is not to start a new church, but he isn't ruling out the possibility. He said the reason for starting prayer meetings after three years of exile was a simple one.
"We were getting lonely," he said.
Haggard, 53, began his journey to becoming one of the nation's best-known evangelists in 1985 at his home, where he led people in worship. Out of those meetings grew New Life Church, which had about 14,000 members in 2006 and a $50 million prayer campus.
As head of the National Association of Evangelicals, Haggard had the ear of White House staffers, participating in conference calls with them and lobbying Congress for conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices.
In late 2006, Haggard's life began to unravel when a male prostitute revealed the pastor had paid him for sex over three years. Haggard, who is married and has five children, said the sexual allegations were false, and admitted only to receiving a massage from his accuser and buying drugs from him.
"The essence of our faith as Christians is to forgive," said Alan Hawkins, a pastor from Albuquerque, N.M., who traveled to Colorado Springs to be in Haggard's living room Thursday. "When this thing happened, I said, 'Ted, nobody is defined by their worst moments.'"
New Life Church pastor Brady Boyd issued a short statement on the eve of Haggard's prayer meeting.
"New Life Church will always be grateful for the many years of dedicated leadership from Ted Haggard and we wish him and his family only the best," Boyd said. The church said it would not comment further.
Haggard later confessed to "sexual immorality" and resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals. He also was forced out at the church he founded.
As part of a severance package with New Life Church, Haggard agreed to leave Colorado Springs for a period and not speak publicly about the scandal. The family moved back to their $700,000 home down the road from New Life Church in 2007.
Earlier this year, Haggard admitted he had an "inappropriate" relationship with a church volunteer a few years ago. Haggard said the relationship with the man, who was 22 at the time, did not involve physical contact.
Haggard, who developed an anti-gay reputation over the years, told KMGH-TV in an interview Wednesday that he has more compassion for gays because of his trials in recent years. Haggard has also said that when he was 7, a co-worker of his father's molested him.
"People find it hard to stomach me," Haggard admitted Thursday, before the steady stream of people started arriving at his home.
"I understand," he said, a slight grimace on his face.
Even so, the people who showed up at his home were willing to give him a second chance.
"People love a good comeback story," Haggard said.
"
-Sports
Football
From the NFL to hell and back...Jesus set him free
Related Sites: Gay Ex-NFL Player Public Again
Lineman Roy Simmons Breaks His 12-Year Silence
(2006 Update: Simmons on which NFL player he would "do," kill and marry)
Also: Simmons accuses NFL of discrimination)
By Jim Buzinski
Outsports.com "The article also weaves in the difficulty of being black and gay--the �Down Low� concept where black men live a deeply closeted gay or bisexual life. It also delves into the familiar territory of how hard it is to be a gay professional athlete. "The N.F.L. has a reputation," Simmons said, "and it's not even a verbal thing--it's just known. You are gladiators; you are male; you kick butt." NFL's Simmons Speaks of Former Gay Lifestyle and New Faith in Christ
By Andrew Knox
The 700 Club "Roy believed God wouldn�t accept him as he was.
"When you�re out in sin," Simmons explains, "you really feel like you cut yourself off. You�re ashamed that 'oh, look what I�m doing. I can�t go to Him like this. I can�t go to God in prayer.' "
He surfaced briefly, making his appearance on Donahue. A few years later, a doctor gave Roy a grim diagnosis.
"He called me in, and he gave me the results," he remembers. "My knees buckled. He told me that my tests came back positive. I guess the initial thought was I�m going to die. I�ve known people, some of them a month, and then they�re gone."
Upon learning that he was HIV positive, Roy felt hopeless, like he was just waiting around to die. That's when he made a desperate call to best friend Jimmy Hester and decided to move to Martha�s Vineyard. There a remarkable physical and spiritual cleansing took place.
Jimmy Hester is also HIV positive. He went to the Martha�s Vineyard Holistic Retreat because of his HIV. He has made great strides with his physical health, but he also found something he never expected � a relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship started soon after a Bible study invitation by his doctor, Roni Deluz.
Now Roy is also meeting with Dr. Deluz, and he�s feeling great. He was recently baptized.
Roy's pastor, Marcia Buckley, who quickly notes Roy's hunger for God, says, "One thing that he appreciates is the fact that he�s alive in the Lord and that God has given him a chance to live."
Roy has learned much from his pastor about his former lifestyle.
"We spoke on and learned about homosexuality and the connotations and everything that go along with it. It's really against God�s will," Roy states.
says bluntly.
Roy devotes himself to the Lord and to purity. He has not been sexually active in more than three years.
says bluntly.
"All that lying and cheating and all that backbiting and all that deceitfulness � I don�t practice that," he says bluntly.
Roy is eager to study the Word of God and to grow closer to the Lord."
Homosexual Transformed by the Gospel!!
"Testimony by a former homosexual transformed by the power of God.
4-2-2008
The Search for a 'Gay Gene' Continues
'We hear hundreds of testimonies from Christians about God's power that has changed them.'
For years, scientists have been trying to find a gay gene. Over the weekend, ABC's 20/20 continued the effort.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Stanton Jones appeared on the program but wasn't given much time to make his case that homosexuality is not genetic.
"There's no evidence for the kind of simple, powerful genetic causation that so many people in the public believe in," he said on the program.
Jones said science has proven there is no genetic component. He pointed to a study of identical twins.
"What they found in studying (the) Australian twin registry, of 27 identical twin pairs where at least one person was gay, in only three of the 27 was the second twin gay as well," he said.
Jeff Johnston, gender issues analyst for Focus on the Family, said the search for a gay gene has covered more than 30 years.
"They've studied fruit flies, and finger length, and hair whirls and ears," he said. "And what they found instead is that other factors tend to be more important —experiences, relationships, learned behaviors, thinking and choice."
Furthermore, Johnston said, studies show people can change.
"We hear hundreds of testimonies from Christians about God's power that has changed them," he said.
This gospel can set anyone free from ANY type of sin!
Jesus can change any person and this gospel is for WHOSOEVER that is willing to humble him or herself and call on Him and be saved!
Isaiah chapter 55 says:
v6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
v7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Are you in bondage to sin? JESUS still sets the captives free! Call on Jesus TODAY! "
Moral Barometer "
Children and adults are bombarded with advertising, television, and social issues that simply did not exist a few generations ago. Each year, the standard of what is considered acceptable entertainment drastically degrades. Hollywood pushes immoral concepts through movies. And the fashion industry and magazines take up the baton in offering clothing to suit these roles...
The Intolerance of Tolerance "...
Educators have gone beyond simply teaching that we should tolerate—accept—someone because they are African, Chinese, short, tall, thin, etc. We have reached a point where society and its schools are teaching that we should be tolerant of every action one would encounter...
Gender “Blending” "
A major part of the problem comes from people not understanding or knowing what their roles should be. When you show that there are differences between men and women, many angry and loud voices enter the fray. They usually overpower the one speaking. But understand! Men and women were NOT created equal. We are not the same. This is not to say that men are better or vice-versa, but the simple fact is: Males and females are different...
Education Revisited "
Be it at home or at school, education is the core component of any child’s development. Whether a child becomes a stable adult is largely based on how that child is raised and what he is taught. The following are actual courses taught in schools nationwide: .."
The Source of Confusion "A core concept he wishes to destroy is that of marriage. In a perverse and immoral society, the concept of marriage becomes irrelevant—and the devil has achieved his goal. (To learn more about how marriage represents an important part of God’s Plan, read our free booklet The Purpose of MARRIAGE—Ever Obsolete?) Also, as an angel, Satan has no gender, and therefore does not understand sex. And as god of this world (II Cor. 4:4), this distorted, genderless fallen angel has created a distortion of genders and perversions of sex...."
“Lying with Mankind” "...
The concept of homosexuality is neither new nor original. It has existed since ancient times. Near the fall of any dominant society, homosexuality flourished. Be it in Sodom and Gomorra, or ancient Greece, the proliferation of homosexuality has become the great indicator that a society’s days were numbered..."
The Nation of Israel Changed the World "..From ancient Mexico, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome to the Far East, homosexuality and pedophilia were so common that sociology professor Dr. David E. Greenberg writes that such action “seems to have been universal among male citizens” (Why Judaism Rejected Homosexuality, Dennis Prager)...
Many other biblical examples show that immorality was put out from among the people of Israel. Using their example, the modern nations of Israel—United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia—should do the same. If a nation does not turn and follow proper morality, it is assured the same fate that has befallen ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Mesopotamia and others. "
The Amorality Explosion "The purpose of this article is to help the world see their sins, and that happiness, prosperity and fulfillment will not result from immoral and perverse lifestyles. The world must awaken to its sins and turn from the slippery slope that is taking it from an immoral society to an amoral one—a society that has gone from decaying morals to one without morals, without rules, and without rule!.."
*see GoodnewsEverybody: Life-Forgiveness-Repentance!
Music
-Choir
Gay Choir Carol Singing - Copenhagen 2007
"Copenhagen's Gay and Lesbian Choir invited friends, family and parishioners to carol singing at the Church of the Sacred Cross (Lutheran) and wished everyone a Happy New Year 2008!!! "
" BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Six gay men were shot dead by members of their tribe in two separate incidents in the past 10 days, an official with Iraq's Interior ministry said.
In the most recent attack, two men were killed Thursday in Sadr City area of Baghdad after they were disowned by relatives, the official said.
The shootings came after a tribal meeting was held and the members decided to go after the victims.
On March 26, four additional men were fatally shot in the same city, the official said, adding that the victims had also been disowned by their relatives.
The official declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Witnesses told CNN that a Sadr City cafe, which was a popular gathering spot for gays, was also set on fire"
"In Islam, homosexuals (called qaum Lut, the "people of Lot") are condemned in the story of Lot's people in the Qur'an (15:73; 26:165) and in the last address of the Prophet Muhammad. However, attraction of men to beautiful male youths has been a part of the culture of some Islamic societies and the attraction is not generally condemned in itself...
Shari'a (Islamic law) is most concerned with public behavior and outwards, so there is no strong condemnation of homosexuality if it is not displayed in publicM..
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