And your welcome. Looking forward to more discussion.

i am glad you are a lurker and now a commenter at Queermergent! Glad you like the space.

Glad to hear you are not giving up on your faith. Sometimes i give up on the people who call themselves Christians because of the way they treat our community in a negative way so often, and above the LGBTQ issue, just how they think people who question, doubt, rethink things are heretics. Sometimes i want nothing to do with church and G-D’s people because it gets so tiring and i have better things to do with my time and energy. That’s why i do appreciate many in the emerging church/emergent conversation because they are open and honest.

Again, thanks!

Adele

I’ve actually been watching Queermergent since its start. I appreciate what you have started there.

I did understand your meaning. However, it is frustrating for this to be repeated as much as it has or has had to have been.

I’m going to e-mail you a link to a community of Gay Christians. I think you will find it interesting. Justin has done a great work there.

I have not given up on my faith. I worked too hard to keep it in coming out years ago. I remember sitting in my therapist office and telling him I would not say I was (the words would hang in my throat at that time) gay until God gave me the peace about every thing. He did, as only Abba can do. Anyway, thank you for your comment back.

Blessings!
Jules

Thanks for your comments and i can identify with your frustrations. Just to be clear, i was not saying our sex lives don’t matter. i was saying that like heterosexuals, that sex is not all that goes into a relationship.

i know many within the emerging church/emergent conversation who have been quite embracing of me as a queer Christian woman. There are those who do not embrace me but that is everywhere.

i have not personally experienced gay Christians who deal with Christianese you speak of. i am so sorry you have had a negative experience. i just encourage you to not give up on your faith, G-D and know that there are authentic Christians, gay and straight.

Feel free to join the conversation at Queermergent and add your voice and thoughts.

Warmest Regards,

Adele

I used to be active with in an emergent community and every conversation was around what exactly makes me “normal.” Even to most “emergents” we, the LGBT community, is one to be “reached” out to “in love.” And what is that really? Instead of, “Hey! There is (fill in blank)…..” No, it is mostly, “oh there is (fill in blank). They are (fill in blank, gay, queer, lesbian…) and how can they be Christian AND (fill in blank, gay, queer, lesbian….)

Yet when I enter feet into community with “gay Christians” I have to jump through hoops of “christianesse.” That to be Christian is being a “proper” Christian, whatever that is, and it is as though I have entered the same realm that I find in the “straight world.” So there I enter debates of should I be plan “A” or should I be plan “B” or is there another way, plan “C”. And then tie it in a neat little bow with tons of fluff that means nothing.

I’m far from “hating”, but frustrated. I have other thoughts but I’m working through them.

Blessings!

Thanks for your kind-hearted response even though you disagree with me on the issue of homosexuality. i really wish more conservative Christians could have a heart and mind similar to yours and have mature conversations. Thank you for looking at the bigger picture, which i think is key.

i personally do not see the Bible as inerrant. i see it as the story of G-D with ALL of his/her creation. Human beings, even when inspired by G-D, are still fallible humans and get things wrong. They also bring their personal, cultural, political,and other biases into their thinking and writings. The MEN who decided on the Canon were fallible humans who had political motivations. i see the Bible as important and take it very seriously. That is why i do not just read it and tske everything at face value. i read and research.

i am reading a fantastic book right now that goes into the Hebrew AND Greek of the few passages used to condemn homosexuality. The author explains in the OT it was about purity laws for that time but not outright condemnation of homogenitality. The NT was not about condemning homogenitality either, but rather about social disapproval at that time. Therefore, with the translations of the words in Hebrew and Greek, it is NOT ethically wrong. The book is called ‘What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality’ by Daniel A. Helminiak, Ph.D
http://www.amazon.com/What-Bible-Really-About-Homosexuality/dp/188636009X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238645978&sr=8-1

i do not say all this to try and persuade you to my side of thinking, but to encourage and challenge us all that NONE of us has a monopoly on interpretation. We are ALL human and need to realize more that than one view is welcome at the table of Christ. Could i be wrong? Sure i could be. Yet, i am at peace with G-D for once in my life and i trust G-D will judge me how G-D sees fit. It all boils down to what people do is their free-will choice and is between them and G-D and NO ONE ELSE>

G-D Bless and Blessings to you.

Warmest Regards,

Adele

First of all, since you said that “it really doesn’t matter to [you] where people fall on the issue of homosexuality,” I’ll go ahead and show my hand…I think it is a sinful lifestyle. You’ve heard all the arguments before, so I won’t go there. Plus, I don’t think a blog is a very good venue for a discussion as in-depth as that one.

On the other hand, I agree with you wholeheartedly that Christians in general do not show much care, grace, and love to homosexuals. I truly believe, though, that there are many who do love homosexuals but don’t know how to show it. They are uncomfortable with it, so they don’t do it. Moreover, most of what you hear aimed at homosexual Christians is from those few (relatively) who are blasting it and whose agenda it is to “get them saved.” Their rhetoric is usually against the individual rather than the lifestyle. Though this is a majority of what we hear, I think it’s a minority who are getting the press.

You say that sexuality is talked about too much among Christians. You’re probably right. I don’t sense that it is, but then you and I live in different places and among different groups of people. Plus, you are homosexual, so I would assume you hear about it more than those who are not.

As you say, the issue of identity is not sexual orientation. Our identity, rather, is “in Christ.” My son’s identity, at this point in his short 4 years, is in Daddy. Good or bad (usually), he looks like me, thinks like me, acts like me, and talks like me. Sometimes it’s cool. Sometimes very humbling.

Our job as believers is to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” in order that we may “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s]…” into HIS LIKENESS. And, as we are transformed, Christ will show in our actions toward one another and we will be able to say “it is not I, but Christ” with Paul.

Therefore, I guess what I’m saying is I believe that how we treat each other is directly affected by what we believe. And what we believe is directly affected by our view of the Bible. Is it inerrant? What method of interpretation should I use (this is the big one)? I know the EC is discussing these things now, and I’m eager to see what comes of it.

Appreciate your encouraging words!

Adele

And on another note – I am also very tired of people misusing scripture to try and intimidate others into believing as they do.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for your insight. i agree it happens on both sides. i know of those people in the LGBTQ community who have been so rejected/hurt because of their sexuality only that it does become a self-fulfilling prophecy for them to have their sexuality become their defining characteristic.

i think it behooves the Christian community to reach out to us in the LGBTQ community by showing love, acceptance, and a desire to get to know the entirety of what makes us who we are. Dejected, rejected, and hurt people need this showing of Christ’s love.

Much thanks!

Warmest Regards,

Adele