Volume 4: Issue 4
January/February 2000
Faith For The New Millennium
Table Of Contents
Cover Story: Faith For The New Millennium:
It's easy to throw up one's hands and declare the battle to be welcomed into the church as futile. It's easy to be shaken spiritually by the shaken time in which we live. ... Our resolution for the new millennium should be to discover the unshakable.
 Letting Go
--By: Rembert Truluck
Not letting go of the hurt and misery of the past is as self-centered as it is self-destructive. Make a list of all of the bad things that
happened to you this past year, give the list to God, wad it up and burn
it. Let go of the past.
As I approach Y2K, I'm not worried about a computer bug or about political activism or about my personal career advancement. No, my slogan for the next millennium (or as much of it as I will experience) is Y2J - YES TO JESUS.
What does faith in the new millennium mean? It means being part of the exciting things that our God is doing, and being part of His ultimate victory over the world and Satan.
In the midst of the unanswered questions and uncertainties
our spirits thrill to hear God's words, "I know the plans I have for
you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future." (Jeremiah 29: 11-13) This is the message we carry with
us, the torch we hold aloft, as we step from one century to the next.
I give thanks in knowing that no matter what "Y2K" brings,
that my love for God and God's Love for me will last forever, and that to me
is what we should all be celebrating as we enter a new millennium together as God's Children.
Faith in the year 2000 will be very much like faith in the year 1999.
It's a progressive walk with our God as we personally understand and
conceptualize Him or Her. One man's walk with God is worth examining as it
parallels our own complexities as gay Christians. Let's look at Joseph of
Genesis 37-45.
... where else but inside of ourselves will we ever truly
discover the affirmation of our mysterious role in the working of the earth? If anything should have become clear
over the past 150 years, it's that general society has even less of a clue to our purpose and significance than we
ourselves do.
Homospirituality
In thinking over my memories of first grade, I realize
that there was a lot of fear wrapped up in the experience. I
realize that no one intended it to be that way and I don't
know why it was so. Throughout my school years, however,
I can see a pattern of excitement followed by uncertainty. I
can't explain why that is.
Being at Lynchburg with our gay brothers and sisters and straight friends in
Christ through our comforter, the Holy Spirit, brought to us not only the
Peace of the Lord, which passes all understanding, but also a glimpse, if not
the presence, of our souls in communion in the Kingdom of God through the
Grace of God's love made manifest. For these joys, thanks be to God!
That weekend also had its sorrows.
You don't have to
understand. You don't have to approve. You don't have to "condone."
Just love your child, and be open to the possibility of growing to love
someone else who loves your child. And, next Christmas, give your son
or daughter what Jesus will give him or her for Christmas (and every
other day) -- unconditional love.
Your sincere efforts to lead God's children in matters of faith are a gift to
us all. You are undoubtedly earnest, though seemingly misguided, in your
attempts to please God, and it is with love for you all through our Lord,
Jesus Christ, that I make the proceeding declaration.
I cruised public bathrooms, and pornographic bookstores, for anonymous sex.
I am not proud of it.
I do not live my life, today, in shame of it, either.
However, facts are facts, and the facts are that I did it.
Youth:
Being a youth myself and growing up in a church, I've gone through the hardships of being a Christian who happens to be gay. The Lord has laid it on my heart to minister to the out cast GLBTQ youth of our society and bring them back to Christ
Features:
"What happened to me in terms of the penalty is not as important as the big picture," Rev. Jimmy Creech said. "The decision of the jury to withdraw my orders is another statement that says 'we are willing to remove people from the clergy who are willing to give support and affirmation to GLBT people and honor their relationships.'
Prior to the vote on expulsion both Rev. Tim Shirley and Rev. Lanny Peters addressed the November 16, 1999 Georgia Baptist Convention in Macon, Georgia, to try to explain why their congregations were welcoming GLBT Christians, but to no avail. The GBC "withdrew fellowship" from the churches ...
From The Pulpit:
We can identify the stones being hurled our way from the Georgia Baptist Convention. We probably cannot control or change that. We can stand tall while they strike us, or we can duck, but the stones will keep coming. We can, however, determine what kind of stones we will be. Figuratively speaking, we know that we are going to be killed, it is simply a matter of choosing how we will die, the kind of death we will experience. That it is a very Jesus thing to do!
Bible Study and Inspiration:
I was reading Psalm 38 and it hits me like a ton of makeup: I've lived this one before.
I offer the following meditations out
of a deeply humbling appreciation for the love and compassionate patience
Jesus has shown me. May these words on the Song of Songs, in the end, be
multiple ways of saying "I love you" to him whose passion for me, for all of
us, fragile words can scarcely convey.
Holy Humor!
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