DISQUS

Randy Alex, because of the way you manipulate people into futile arguments and you obviously hate me and this blog, I have not been approving your comments for two weeks (three maybe?) now. Most people would get the hint but you have had the direct luxury of "no." Assume that I am not going to approve your comments and I do not have to make any deals with you as your statement of "I'll be happy to explain why I feel this way, if you let me post of course" implies.

You want to explain why you are against gay marriage ... fine but I don't have to assure you a soapbox here.

B.T.Carolus Actually, dear, the answer is yes. But you're beyond seeing why that answer would stand. I would think that, based on the sarcasm in my previous reply to you, you would be able to tell that I'm not particularly interested in actually explaining all of this to your deaf ears. Pearls before swine, and all that. Randy's answer does a pretty good job of explaining what I would say, anyway.

If you really do want to figure all this out, you'd be much better off reading CS Lewis's The Great Divorce, a very good book about why people choose to go to Hell. And yes, there is a murderer in Lewis's Heaven.

Randy Alex, you know what the problem is. Life is more than just escaping hell. We feel that divorce and grieving God by embracing something outside of His desires for us is sorrowful.

Pianomankugie What's sorrowful is that apparently he did not feel safe enough in church to share his real self so that people could be praying for him; he must have feared that they might have disowned him and given him the left foot of fellowship, even though he was apparently being faithful to his wife for all those years. What's sorrowful is that he didn't feel safe revealing his temptations, fearing that the fact that he was tempted would seem to some to be tantamount to sinning. What's sorrowful is that the judgmental church members who would disown him merely for being tempted would also have to disown Christ, for Christ was also tempted. And now, instead of receiving support to continue in holiness, he has temporarily turned to walk another way. So I see what there is to pray for is this: that the very people he was afraid of for 30 years will reach out to him; and that if they do not, that his current direction will fail and he will turn back and reach out to the church that will not condemn him for what his temptations are. Sorry, I feel strongly about this, nothing personal. Who knows, perhaps this current situation for him is part of God's plan of redemption for him; it doesn't make sense to me, but then God's ways are far above and better than my ways.

Randy Ellie will of course answer for herself but yes, people are people.

However, Alan's statement is in complete context with 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (you know...the verse after 10) that states

9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Alex, this along with the other comments I haven't allowed through only prove that you are parsing and misconstruing comments to pick a fight. The insults and slander don't help much either. You are welcome to read my blog but at this point I am thinking you aren't really here for dialog ... just fighting. That is not what this blog is for so get control of your hostility or go somewhere else.

Randy Those who said that about falling for a lie can speak for themselves but I do know that plenty of saved Christians (myself) included are susceptible to believing false information and it not be a danger to our eternal salvation. Only God knows the true condition of anyone's heart with regard to that.

Also, I agree with Alan that the question of sexual orientation is not the determining factor of whether a person goes to heaven or hell. What determines that is whether a person has truly put their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

B.T.Carolus Wow, Alex, way to pull a quote out of context. You must be so proud of yourself.

Randy Hey Alex, thanks for the apology. On a moderating note... if you hit reply underneath a comment it will help with the flow of the different conversations if you are specifically replying to a specific comment.

1. I would love to know which Exodus leader says that. I have never heard that and I know pretty much all of them.

2. Bi-sexual? Clinically that might be appropriate but before you go there with "maybe you were always bi" let me just say I was 100% homosexual sixteen years ago and that was the only thing I was confident about in my messed up life. Today I would say my sexual orientation is on the opposite end of the spectrum and almost exclusively heterosexual (aside from the stray memory or fleeting temptation.) That's just one of the many major changes in my life.

3. Exodus isn't vague with our message. It's clear enough that our phones are ringing off the hook day in and day out, we have over 200 Member Agencies across Canada and the United States and are known throughout the world with people who understand what we are trying to do very well.

Regardless of the confusion gay activists try to spin into what we do.

4. I actually learned those lessons about identity a long time ago in Narcotics Anonymous and again later with a Secular humanist psychologist. I have found they do not conflict with scripture. If you find them Orwellian, i don't think you can just pin that on those "groupthinking Exodizers." (the quotation marks are me just wrapping my head around what you seem to be saying ::: grin :::.) Those are very basic concepts of personal and sexual identity.

5. You are right I should have said, "you can keep your sexual labels because I don't want the entirety of who I am pigeonholed into one of three politically correct sexually based categories."

Randy Alex, who are you quoting when you place quotation marks around "straigh-identified but still homosexual?' I never said such a thing. Stop making up dialog for me.

I am not gay, ex-gay or straight. You can keep your labels. I am a Christian named Randy Thomas. You can find my testimony in several different places. There are many things in my life that are much more important to me than my sexuality but suffice it to say that I was 100% homosexual sixteen years ago. Today my sexuality is strongly heterosexual but that does not mean I am somehow above temptation. Even so, those temptations are rare and don't determine who I am, how I behave, or what my goals in life are.

Thanks for asking.

I don't see anything extreme, Orwellian or unsure about that.