Salvation Army said what????

Salvation Army says "Gays Need to be Put To Death"
(Click link above to read the article^)

Wow. 
No wonder Christians get a bad rap.
The above link is to an article my professor posted about the Salvation Army stating that gays need to be put to death. This article is absolutely horrible, sad, and makes me so so angry. I feel the need to defend Jesus here, because He was misrepresented. It really breaks my heart that the article portrays Christians as legalistic and judgmental toward the gay community.

This sentence really made me cringe, "Salvation Army went on record recently, stating that LGBTQ parents should be put to death as the bible instructs"

First of all, that is not Christian theology. They are really missing the heart of what Christianity is all about. As Christians, all sins are equal, so he might as well just have said all lairs should be put to death.

I would agree that sin leads to death, but this article misses the key point of Christianity-> Jesus dying on the cross to give us all eternal life. Romans 6 explains this in great detail, but this is the most important verse in my opinion:

^"23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. "

All of us sin. All of us deserve death. But because of Jesus' gift to us, we can have eternal life.

Is lying a sin? Yes.
I lie, so do I deserve death? Yes.
Is being in a homosexual relationship a sin? Yes.
Does it deserve death? Yes.
But what is so amazing about Christianity is that Jesus took that penalty for us. When we decide to surrender our life to Him, we are trading in death for eternal life. God will accept anyone who comes to him in faith, no matter what their backgrounds are, and Christians are called to love and accept others no matter what. Telling someone they should die is not a form of love.

Andrew then uses Romans 1 to attempt to defend his beliefs. I think he probably should have kept reading. Romans 2:1 is all about how we should not judge others because we too are sinners.

"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things."

I don't understand how he left out such important information. Maybe the article edited out his words? I'm not sure, but if he really said exactly what he said, then I am sorry to all who have read that article.

Genderless Baby

Parents in Canada decided that they are not giving their baby a gender. The parents claim that they do not want their child, Storm, to fit into the preexisting gender boxes that our society created. They argue that this allows Storm to grow up and be whoever it wants to be. This story came out in 2011 and caused a lot of drama, because the parents were defying and innovating the binary by rewriting it.

My question is why give a child more problems to deal with in their life time? Every child struggles to find their identity, so why give them more to question and more to be confused about? This is an extreme step to take to try and make a statement against the gender binary. I just can not help think about how the child will be made fun of all throughout growing up.

What are your thoughts?

Taylor Swift and Pitbull

This statement should not come as a surprise to anyone: popular culture promotes specific identities for men and women. 

The world says that women's identity is in attracting and marrying a prince. The world tells men that their identity is rooted in sex, power, and wealth.

These messages are found in all media, but I will be looking at the lyrics of two music sensations-
Taylor Swift and Pitbull. I honestly like both of their music. I like blasting TSwift in the car with friends and I love dancing to Pitbull, but really thinking about the meaning of the lyrics makes me doubt my love for them, especially for Pitbull.

I'll start with TSwift. She portrays the gender binary perfectly by suggesting that love is the most important concern for girls. My textbook pointed out that a lot of her videos start at school or in an education setting and then she finds her man, they disappear into a castle, thus, placing love above education. I loved how my textbook phrased this- Taylor makes a very clear message, "Dress like a princess and be beautiful so that you can be the center of attention and attract and marry a prince. The result will be a happily-ever after." Do we want to continue pushing this message to all the girls out there?

Pitbull prescribes that men will only find happiness when they have sex with whoever they want and achieve material success. His lyrics and videos specifically suggest that he is entitled to sleep with whoever he wants, single women, groups of women, women with boyfriends, and women who don't consent. In many of his videos he is wearing a fancy black suit, driving a fancy black car, and then has women dancing all around him who only focus their attention on him. This is telling men that first comes wealth, then comes ladies. In this gender story, women become the objects that represent wealth and a man's identity. The video below truly disgusts me. Really, this is how we want our men to act?

Matthew Vines: The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality

Here is a video that my professor posted. I applaud Matthew for his many hours spent studying this topic. What a hard topic. Honestly, I wish I didn't have to do this blog for my class. The subject is hard to talk about. I am trying to do it in a loving way, and I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want Jesus to be known and his love to shine through these posts. Remember that I am not a seminary graduate. I am a junior in college trying to back up what I believe for a college class.






I believe the traditional view that Matthew describes in the beginning. But I also believe some of his other statements.

I believe it is unfair that gay couples are looked at as they "just want sex". As a Christian, we are called to love, not judge.
I believe that being gay does effect every aspect of one's life.
I believe that gay couples desire love and a family just as much as straight people do.
I believe gay couples can genuinely love each other. I don't doubt the quality of their love.
I believe that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of many sins, not just sexual sins.
I agree that Jesus took the place of the old testament laws, fulfilled the law, and became the new covenant.
I agree that gay people are just as much children of God as straight people.
I agree that straight Christians are not inferior to gay Christians, or any less broken. 
I agree that Jesus does love outcasts, but Jesus loves the person, not the action.

It saddens me that Christians have played a role in the hurt and pain in gay people's lives. That is not my goal with this blog.

I understood where he was coming from when he talks about Romans 1:20-27, how they were sinning because they were heterosexual and then turned to homosexuality. I still do not understand if gays are born gay or become gay, that would effect his argument. I also don't understand - if this was the case and Jesus was okay with it than why wouldn't he of mentioned it in the bible? God is all knowing, so he would have known that this was going to be an issue. But instead he had Jesus say, "But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh." (Mark 10:6-8) Why didn't Matthew list this verse in his speech?
Why did Jesus never say that a man can be with a man and a women with a women?
  
I see Matthew's desire to have love and a family. I see how much he has been hurt that the church rejects what he desires, marriage between two men. I could never fully understand his pain. I know I desire the same things as him. I want to find love, I want to get married, and God may not have that in his plans for me. If I don't end up getting married, Jesus has to be enough for me. He has to be enough for me even if I do get married.  Some things in this world I don't think we will understand until the day we get to Heaven. But I fully believe that if a person is living for Jesus, is running to the cross with all that they can, they will want to do everything they can for Jesus. When a person realizes how much Jesus loves them, when a person realizes how much Jesus has washed them clean, restored them, redeemed them, and gave them everlasting life, how could one not want to obey his commandments. This does not mean it will be easy to obey his commands, and we will all still mess up, a lot. This person will still stumble, this person will still be tempted and have hard days, but Jesus Christ died on that cross for us. For you, for me, for every single person that has lived or ever lived. He loves Matthew, he created Matthew, but he has a better plan for Matthew than this life. We will not know until Heaven why this is true, but we can know God is way bigger than any reason we could come up with.

I recently bought the book of the professor that I posted about earlier, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield. Matthew states in the end that the only people who don't support homosexuality are straight Christians. She is a great example of someone who was so active in the gay community, met Jesus, fell in love with Jesus, and then realized she had to turn from being gay. I am excited to read her book to better understand her point of view. I will be posting my thoughts from her book as I read it.

Lesbian Professor used to hate Christians, now she is one.

A lesbian professor hated Christians, and somehow became one. She is coming to USF on Monday October 7th, at 7pm in the MSC Oval Theater. She will be sharing her story, and then opening the floor for people to ask her anything. ANYTHING.

I had always heard rumors of how others were gay, then found Jesus and changed their ways, but has anyone met a real person that this has happened to? I haven't. I have always doubted that this was possible. This women was a professor who taught women studies, and had a serious partner. Why would she want to change her life so drastically? Why would she give up a life with someone she loved so much? She must of had to fall in love with someone else. She feel in love with Jesus, and it changed her life. This story fascinates me. In the beginning of the textbook, the word story was defined as how we understand each others belief systems and ways of living. This term is different from a theory. Theories can be easily dismissed as illogical, unscientific, and immoral, while stories can not be easily discounted. Before, I only knew of the theory that a person can have a complete life change after they fall in love with Jesus. But soon I will get to hear a true story of how this really happened to a person. After October 7th, this thought will no longer be a theory in my head, but will be a real story that I get to see for myself in person. That is why I would highly suggest you all do the same. Even if you can't seem to understand how a man named Jesus could completely change the life of one women, come ask her questions. Come listen to her story. Hear her story and begin to understand her beliefs and way of living. 
 
Here is a recent article about her life: 
 
Read full article

What the Bible Says about Women

In the gender binary that we live in, most people think men are more important than women. People argue Christianity says the same thing. From hearing about what goes on in our world, this is completely understandable. Women have had a lot of abuse from the church in history, but what people fail to know is that Jesus is one of women's biggest allies.
 
In the Bible, Jesus has never brought down a women. He has down quite the opposite. Every single encounter Jesus has with a women has been a positive one, where the women are elevated.

During the time that Jesus lived, women had basically no rights. Men could divorce them for no reason,  were treated as property, and weren't even allowed to leave their house without a male escort. Jesus did just the opposite, and gave great honor to women. He taught women, he healed women, and he even saved one woman from being stoned to death.

One fact most people do not know is that women were the first missionaries sent out after Jesus' resurrection. 

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” - Mark 16:6-7

Jesus loved and respected women so much that he gave them the responsibility to be the first to go out and tell the great news! I understand how a person could say that religion does not always value women, but it would be a complete lie to say that about Jesus.

What would Jesus say to Ellen?

I love Ellen. I love her show. I spent many nights last year with my roommate watching videos on YouTube of her stuff. I loved when she brought on Sofia Grace and Rosie. I have absolutely nothing against Ellen. This is an awesome video about what Jesus would say to Ellen if he was on her show. Feel free to comment your opinions!

Living in a Gender Binary

In class we learned that our world lives in a gender binary. This means that most of the world has views that a person can either be male or female, and nothing in between. The binary also stated that certain traits can only be given to males and different ones to females. For example, guys must be strong and very masculine and girls must be cute and fragile. The world says if a person has traits of the opposite gender than something is wrong with them.

I find there are some problems with this idea. I know lots of girls who like sports and guys who like Disney Princess movies. I know guys who are more emotional than girls, and girls who never shed a tear. Also, what about those born intersex, which means they have both male and female parts. Which gender do they fall into then?  In the fallen world that we live in, the binary does not define our world. There are people who are not just male and not just female, but are somewhere in between. But I do not believe that is how God created us to be.

This topic is always hard to discuss. I don't know all the answers, so I turn to the Bible to get my answers. From the Bible I find the truths. A) God created us and has a perfect plan for us. B) God doesn't make mistakes. C) Thus, we can't be mistakes.

Psalm 139:15-16
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness


I know the argument people are now thinking. A) If God created us perfectly B) If one believes people are born gay C) Then how can in be a sin to be gay?  

There then must be a flaw in this equation. That flaw is created from the fall. I believe that God created people as man and women. I believe once sin entered the world (the fall), people were no longer perfect. Because of that, same sex attraction began to form. 

The message many gays and lesbians hear is that God hates you. See why this is 100% FALSE.

Sadly, when people think of a Christian's view of gays they think negative things. Hateful words may even be used.

But GOD and HATE and PEOPLE are never used in the same sentence. God doesn't hate people. God does just the opposite. He loves us so much that he sent His only son, Jesus, to die for us while we were still sinners. When I say sin, I am talking about anything that falls short of the glory of God, that is a lot of things. 

^"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8

So even while we were sinning, God still loved us enough to kill his son. I am a sinner. I will always be a sinner. Yet God still loves me. What makes me greater than any person who is gay or lesbian? Nothing. We are all sinners. I'm not saying the act of having sexual relations with the same sex is not a sin, but what I am saying is it is just as bad as all my sins. Yet GOD STILL LOVES ME. Thus, GOD STILL LOVES YOU.

My main goal in this blog is to make Jesus' love for all so evident. Every single person does not match up to the glory of God. I want to apologize to any person who has been hurt by the words of any church. I pray that this blog might change your mind at least a little bit. =]

Why make this blog?

This Fall semester I am taking a class called Gender and Identity. We will be studying from a text book called Gender Stories: Negotiating Identity in a Binary World by Sonja Foss, Mary Domenico, and Karen Foss. At least twice a week I will be blogging my thoughts about the text book, in class discussions, or other occurrences in my day that relate to the topic. At times this topic may be uncomfortable, but I'm excited to use it to glorify Jesus. This is quite a challenge, because when most people discuss gender and religion together negative things happen. In my opinion, both sides are portrayed inaccurately and unfairly. My goal of this blog is to bring to light how Jesus loves everyone, no matter what gender they give themselves. This class will also be exposing me to new concepts I have never heard or thought about, so I will use the blog as a way to process my thoughts on them. Feel free to post comments, because I will use them in my final paper for the class.

Thanks!
-Joy