Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible

Author Dispels Myth that Homosexuality is Compatible with Scripture

by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor

Love Won Out speaker says.

In his new book The Gay Gospel? How Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible, Joe Dallas dissects the rhetoric of the gay Christian movement.

Dallas, a featured speaker at Focus on the Family's Love Won Out conferences since they began in 1998, spent six years on staff with a pro-gay church. He opens the book writing, “I remember clearly, and with inexpressible regret, the day I convinced myself it was acceptable to be both gay and Christian.”

CitizenLink spoke with Dallas about his book and the importance of being armed with truth.

Q. How did you come to such familiarity with this issue?

This subject is of both professional and personal interest to me.
It's a professional concern, because as a pastoral counselor, I work with people whose sexual desires are at odds with their beliefs as Christians. So what the Bible says about sexuality is critical to my work.

But on a personal level it's even more significant to me, because I spent six years as a staff member of a pro-gay church, where I promoted the idea that "gay" and "Christian" were compatible. That, of course, made me very familiar with the gay-rights movement and with most pro-gay arguments.

One of the key points you make in the book is how people with same-sex attraction seek to justify their orientation through Scripture or else seek to make Scripture irrelevant.

The goal of the gay-rights movement is twofold: To convert the culture's thinking on homosexuality, then to marginalize or silence those who won't be converted.

So far, the movement has converted the thinking of our most influential institutions. The American Psychiatric Association, the academic establishment, the media and Hollywood have all largely adopted a pro-gay viewpoint.

But the last major obstacle to the full acceptance of homosexuality is the Church, which is largely influenced by the Bible. So if the Christian population can be persuaded that the Bible doesn't condemn homosexuality, or that the Bible is irrelevant, then that would virtually ensure a pro-homosexual culture.

I was struck by your discussion of homosexuality as compared to other sins.

We routinely hear that homosexuality is inborn, therefore it must be normal. The implication is that if we're born with certain tendencies, they must have been created by God.

But can any of us say that all of our deeply ingrained tendencies should be indulged? After all, we're born with a number of sinful tendencies, many of which we have to resist daily.

I'm not saying I believe homosexuality is inborn, because I think its origins are far more complicated than that. But even if it was proven to be inborn, that wouldn't normalize it. "Inborn" and "God-ordained" are two very different things.

Your book also prepares people to dialogue with gay activists.
.
Conservative Christians are called a lot of names these days, but God forbid we should ever be called "irrelevant." To stay relevant means to understand the prevailing errors and problems of our time and to be equipped to answer them from a Biblical perspective. And believe me, any believer who holds the viewpoint that homosexuality is Biblically condemned will, at some point, be called on to defend that belief.

What would you like people to take away from the book?

Compassion for homosexual people, love for the truth, answers to erroneous teachings and a disciple's heart.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Joe Dallas is a featured speaker for Love Won Out – a Focus on the Family conference that promotes the truth that change is possible for those who are unhappy with their same-sex attractions.

Click here to obtain a copy of the book.

HT: CitizenLink.com

Related posts:

Queer Theology Exposed

The Times of the Signs: The Days of Lot

Caught Up In A Lie

Controversy Over Homosexual Behavior-affirming Churches

[Note: You may need to scroll down a bit after you click on the link.]

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On a related issue, we find that "free speech" is often squelched when certain people do not like the message!!

4-13-2007

Billboard Company Refuses Ex-Gay Ads

from staff reports

Competitor stands up for free speech.

Focus on the Family's Love Won Out Conference is in Omaha, Neb., this weekend, but one billboard company doesn’t want anyone to know about it.

Over the years, Love Won Out has traveled to 43 cities sharing the message that it's possible to break free from homosexuality. The event is regularly advertised on billboards. But when conference organizers contacted billboard company Waitt Outdoor for the Omaha conference, they were turned down. Melissa Fryrear, director of gender issues at Focus on the Family, said no explanation was offered.

"There is nothing objectionable about the billboard whatsoever. The message is, ‘I questioned homosexuality. Change is possible. Discover how,’ " she explained. " It's obviously a message of hope.”

Thankfully, Lamar Advertising Company stepped up and placed the billboards. Scott Butterfield, a spokesman for Lamar, said his company would only turn down an ad that was inaccurate, misleading or promoted illegal activity.

“We support the First Amendment rights of advertisers to promote legal products and services,” he said.

Private companies have the right to refuse services to anyone they choose, although they rarely do. Fryrear said the message of Love Won Out is something people who are unhappy with their homosexuality deserve to hear.

“I needed that in my own life, and, thankfully, I did hear that message," she said. "We want to get that message out to as many people as possible and offer the hope that, yes, homosexuality can be overcome.”

HT: Citizenlink