In the climactic scene in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Indiana Jones and his girlfriend are tied to a pole to watch as the Nazis open the ancient Ark of the Covenant. This holy symbol of Israel’s religion has been captured and is
Recently I received e-mail from a 14-year-old lesbian who is struggling with rejection from her parents and her fundamentalist church. Where do GLBT teenagers turn for spiritual help when their own parents and churches turn against them? Where do you turn for spiritual resources that
You have to move out of the past and into the present before you can move into the future with confidence and hope. You might be feeling the hurts and pain of past holiday seasons. Let go of it and live today. You may regret
“Be Still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) is one of my favorites. It reminds me to let go and trust God to do God’s will. The word “be still” in Hebrew literally means “let go”. The New American Standard Version says, “Cease
Mel White and the GLBT Christians who traveled to Lynchburg to demonstrate their love and faith accomplished their mission. They went, they listened, and they told personal stories of their experiences with God. Special thanks to Steve Schalchlin, Lawrence Reh, and other friends who have
The Bible is a mixed blessing of great spiritual information and power along with perplexing inconsistencies and a tumultuous history of distortions and abusive use against powerless people. The Bible holds out hope in the truth about God’s unconditional love and acceptance of all people,
A famous British general once told John Wesley, “I never forgive!” To which Wesley replied, “Then, Sir, you had better never sin.” The only comment that Jesus made about his own “model prayer’ in Matthew 6:14-15 concerned forgiveness: “If you forgive others of their transgressions,
Homophobic attacks on language abound in our culture. The use of the words sodomy, sodomite, and sodomize in news stories falls into the same category as the use of demeaning slang expressions based on race, gender, and religion. Recent news accounts of the brutal beating
Legalism is an idolatrous religion. Legalistic judgmental religion is based on absolute commitment to biblical literalism, which is the conviction that every word of the Bible is literally true and every statement in the Bible has equal authority as the word of God. This approach
The Bible is a dominant force in our culture today. It is a source of comfort and encouragement for millions and a source of abuse and pain for millions of others. As a former Southern Baptist pastor and university Bible professor and now since 1981,