When I study the Bible I read it cover to cover, starting in Genesis 1 and end in Revelation 22:21. The Bible is a Story, and there are many stories within the Story that compile the larger message(s) on trying to learn and understand what it means to live a life loving Christ—more to come on this later on a post I will do about Scot McKnight’s book, The Blue Parakeet, which has been extremely influential to me.
Anyway, I hit the Book of Psalms. I love biblical historical context. I love reading historical commentaries and books that help me read the Bible so I can better understand the culture it was not only written in, but also the audience in that culture that it was meant to communicate through. All of this to say that whenever I arrive at a new book in the Bible I take out all of my other commentary books and read all of their introductions to the corresponding book in the Bible I’m at, so I’ll be in the right mind frame to read that particular book.
One of my favorite commentary books is the New Bible Dictionary (Third Edition) by InterVarsity Press. Here is part of what it said about Psalms. I hope this blesses you as much as it blessed me—a not so subtle reminder of who God is and why we work so diligently for His Kingdom:
"The marrow of the religious life of the psalmists was undoubtedly their knowledge of God. They never tire of singing his majesty in creation. In all his works in the heavens, the earth and the sea he has made himself known as the all-powerful, the all-knowing, the everywhere-present God. He is also the God of all history who guides everything towards the final goal which he has purposed to fulfill. But this Ruler of the world, this King of kings, is also Lawgiver and Judge, the Vindicator of all who are oppressed and their Savior. He is therefore merciful and faithful, just and righteous, the Holy One whom men and angels adore. But the God of the psalmists is also, and uniquely, the God of Israel. The God who revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who through Moses delivered Israel from Egypt, entered into covenant with them and gave them the promised land, is the God of Israel still, the Lord and Defender of the chosen people.
With such a high conception of God it is not surprising that the psalmists found their chief delight and privilege in prayer to God. There is a directness, a spontaneity and an immediacy in the prayers of the psalmists that convince us of the reality of prayer for them. The believe in his providence, trust in his presence, rejoice in his righteousness, rest in his faithfulness, confide in this nearness. In their prayers they praise, petition and commune with their God, and find refuge from sickness, want, pestilence and slander, and humble themselves under his might hand. In the progressive life of the community their behavior is marked by fidelity to God, reverent obedience to the law, kindness to the oppressed and joy in the worship of God’s people (pp. 983-984)."
Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
OUTNight Board Picture 1
The Marin Foundation has an event we call OUTNights, where we recreate my original immersion experience by taking straight Christians into Boystown to listen, learn and try to understand people's stories of faith and sexuality. There is no debating, no arguing and no proselytizing ... just a couple straight Christians going out at night into the various GLBT clubs in Boystown, trying to learn to live and love. One such evening we asked gay and lesbian passer-bys to write on a board to answer some questions. This picture is for the question:
What do you think of the Church?
Just take a moment to read their responses, some of which include:
Why Me?
God loves me and I know it
God loves all of us equally, we are all working on ourselves
He is my Lord and Savior
Hatred
The Church is [supposed] to rejuvenate our mind, body and souls
These are real words by real GLBT people talking about the entity that I, and most of you reading this blog, represent. Let these words sink into our hearts, and let us pray that we can do everything we can to build this bridge to make sure no more people feel hated or betrayed. Once a week for the next couple months I will be posting a new picture with a new question ... let's see what happens?
Much love.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Marin Foundation Informational Video
This video is from the "extra" footage from the Promo Video to my book, Love Is An Orientation, which you can buy here from Borders or here from InterVarsity Press or here from Amazon.
Much love.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Finally, a Worthwhile Email Forward
I don't know how many of you have gotten this email forward, but I just got it today. I thought it was quite profound. Here you go:
IT IS STRANGE ISN'T IT....
Isn't it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?
Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you're at church, and how short they seem when you're watching a good movie?
Isn't it strange that you can't find a word to say when you're praying but.. you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?
Isn't it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel or ZANE GREY book?
Isn't it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?
Isn't it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events in the last minute?
Isn't it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others; but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?
Isn't it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say but.. we question the words in the Bible?
Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven but... they don't want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?
Isn't it strange how we send jokes in e-mails and they are forwarded right away but when we are going to send messages about God, we think about it twice before we share it with others?
IT'S STRANGE ISN'T IT?
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
IT IS STRANGE ISN'T IT....
Isn't it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?
Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you're at church, and how short they seem when you're watching a good movie?
Isn't it strange that you can't find a word to say when you're praying but.. you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?
Isn't it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel or ZANE GREY book?
Isn't it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?
Isn't it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events in the last minute?
Isn't it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others; but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?
Isn't it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say but.. we question the words in the Bible?
Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven but... they don't want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?
Isn't it strange how we send jokes in e-mails and they are forwarded right away but when we are going to send messages about God, we think about it twice before we share it with others?
IT'S STRANGE ISN'T IT?
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Friday, January 30, 2009
Gay Scientists Isolate a Christian Gene?
I really can't decide if this is funny, or so very sad. Either way it sure puts perspective on where our culture is at regarding the GLBT and Christian worldview of each other.
What do you think about it - funny or sad?
Much love.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Hard Lessons of Forgiveness
Forgiveness can be a tricky thing. Many people, including myself, are able to talk about forgiveness as an important task in order to move on. Some people, not-so-much including myself, are also able to actually do it in their mind, heart and Spirit instead of just vocally forgiving the person(s) who have wronged them. A friend of mine, Margaret Feinberg, recently wrote a book titled The Sacred Echo. In it she so eloquently talks about how God communicates to us anyway he can—directly or indirectly. Hence the title, Margaret’s thesis is that God continually uses the ‘echoes’ in our lives (the reoccurring smaller, more indirect occurrences in our everyday lives) to reiterate the big idea he is trying to communicate. Such a thing has happened to me recently:
Forgiveness = Freedom
Two different ‘echoes’ have convicted me to this post. First, Mike Foster recently gave me a copy of his book, Deadly Viper Character Assassins. From p. 51-57 he (and co-writer Jud Wilhite) talks about the Precedent of Grace. Here is the portion that I couldn’t shake from my head for the last week:
“A new model of belonging, respect, and grace is needed to move from a culture of concealment at work to a culture of honesty. We must hold high the values of forgiveness and second chances. What are your secrets that you are afraid might come out? Is it better to live in fear or freedom?”
If there is one thing that I really make a concerted effort on, it’s being totally transparent at all times—if anything, pretty much every single person closest to me continues to tell me that I’m too transparent and need to stop pouring my guts out to every stranger or media person I come in contact with. Good or bad, that’s just not me because no matter who I talk to, no matter what the other person’s intentions are, I roll with full disclosure. But the part of Mike’s words that really hit me was the last question: “is it better to live in fear or freedom.” Over the past week “Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. Freedom.” has been echoing throughout my Spirit.
Then as I was getting ready for work this morning a song by the Casting Crows came on, Here I Go Again. This song talks about a person whose best friend is dying and the person feels convicted because he/she always dodges talking about the God stuff, and now it might be too late. Here is the portion that I couldn’t shake from my head:
“Lord you love him so; you gave your only son. If he will just believe, he will never die. How then will he know what he has never heard—Lord he has never seen mirrored in my life. Maybe this time, I’ll speak the words of life with your fire in my eyes. But that old familiar fear, it’s tearing at my words. What am I so afraid of, because here I go again talking about the rain; mulling over things that don’t live past today. As I dance around the truth, time is not his friend—this might be my last chance to tell him that you love him…but here I go again.”
And at that moment I felt like a fraud. I stand in public and talk about Christ’s unconditional love, as we are all his children made in his image, and yet I am still harboring a special place of hate and resentment in my heart for a select few people. Then the final association hit—I loathe, fear, and I am crippled by these few people like many of my brothers and sisters in Christ feel about gays and lesbians who are, or were, close to them at one time. No longer will I do that. So here is my freedom through truth, freedom through forgiveness not spoken, but contently given to God. It’s taken many years for me to get here, but if I’m to publically move forward for what the Lord has asked of me, then I can have no place for secret hate—even if no one knows but me. Here is my secret list of people I am forgiving once and for all:
For the past four years there has been a man who just won’t leave me alone—not The Marin Foundation, not anything I do, say or write. He runs to any newspaper or magazine that will listen to him and he spews hate against me and what the Lord has asked me to do. He lies about me—he blatantly makes up things I’ve said, things I do or things I’ve done, and he just won’t stop. One day, with vengeance in mind, I Googled his full birth name (that I found out from one of his relatives that I so happened to meet). And wouldn’t you know that the very first thing that popped up was his mug shot and home address because he is a registered sex offender for molesting a young boy in the late 90s. He’s covered everything up really well because he has a new identity. He is a very successful businessman, heavily involved with child advocacy rights in his community, and he donates A LOT of money. No one knows the truth—but now I did. I printed his sex offender page off the internet and I’ve hid that page in my cabinet for the past 3 years, waiting, for just the right moment to publically hold it up in front of TV cameras, reporters and a huge group of people—finally exposing this man, his lies and false motives. But I’m not going to hide it anymore. I burned it today. It’s gone, it’s given up and committed to the Lord an no more will I feel like I have to defend myself against this man and the media outlets that love to listen to his garbage. I forgive you. And I am now going to be intentional about learning to love you because you are no less of a child of God than me. I am free from your traps; I have released myself for carrying you as a secret burden and thank you for being the one to bring this all to light.
I also forgive two people who used to be very, very close to me. They have decided to go in another direction and say negative things about me and tell some media gossip folks partial truths to very personal things that we all experienced together. I forgive you. I will no longer deny what you two meant to me, and how you two set me on the path the Lord destined me to be on. You two still mean the world to me, and that is why I resented you and what you did so very much. I have released myself for carrying you as a secret burden. Thank you for letting me love you, and one day I pray we can all connect again and restore what we had years ago.
Overall, the media has not been my friend. People always tell me, “no media is bad media.” Well, I don’t agree. But from now on I am releasing my secret burden, resentment and hate, to control what others say, twist or write about me. I can only be me, transparent and honest, and how others use that for their story line is up to them. I forgive them, and I am looking forward to the next opportunity I will have to be honest and transparent all over again—no matter what.
A benediction in closing:
Thank you Lord for allowing me to be free to forgive and free to live my life the absolute fullest I can through your unrelenting grace. Allow me to never change my transparency because I’m scared of what might happen with it. Thank you Lord for this opportunity to release these secret burdens that no longer will haunt my Spirit. In Jesus’ holy name—Amen.
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Forgiveness = Freedom
Two different ‘echoes’ have convicted me to this post. First, Mike Foster recently gave me a copy of his book, Deadly Viper Character Assassins. From p. 51-57 he (and co-writer Jud Wilhite) talks about the Precedent of Grace. Here is the portion that I couldn’t shake from my head for the last week:
“A new model of belonging, respect, and grace is needed to move from a culture of concealment at work to a culture of honesty. We must hold high the values of forgiveness and second chances. What are your secrets that you are afraid might come out? Is it better to live in fear or freedom?”
If there is one thing that I really make a concerted effort on, it’s being totally transparent at all times—if anything, pretty much every single person closest to me continues to tell me that I’m too transparent and need to stop pouring my guts out to every stranger or media person I come in contact with. Good or bad, that’s just not me because no matter who I talk to, no matter what the other person’s intentions are, I roll with full disclosure. But the part of Mike’s words that really hit me was the last question: “is it better to live in fear or freedom.” Over the past week “Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. Freedom.” has been echoing throughout my Spirit.
Then as I was getting ready for work this morning a song by the Casting Crows came on, Here I Go Again. This song talks about a person whose best friend is dying and the person feels convicted because he/she always dodges talking about the God stuff, and now it might be too late. Here is the portion that I couldn’t shake from my head:
“Lord you love him so; you gave your only son. If he will just believe, he will never die. How then will he know what he has never heard—Lord he has never seen mirrored in my life. Maybe this time, I’ll speak the words of life with your fire in my eyes. But that old familiar fear, it’s tearing at my words. What am I so afraid of, because here I go again talking about the rain; mulling over things that don’t live past today. As I dance around the truth, time is not his friend—this might be my last chance to tell him that you love him…but here I go again.”
And at that moment I felt like a fraud. I stand in public and talk about Christ’s unconditional love, as we are all his children made in his image, and yet I am still harboring a special place of hate and resentment in my heart for a select few people. Then the final association hit—I loathe, fear, and I am crippled by these few people like many of my brothers and sisters in Christ feel about gays and lesbians who are, or were, close to them at one time. No longer will I do that. So here is my freedom through truth, freedom through forgiveness not spoken, but contently given to God. It’s taken many years for me to get here, but if I’m to publically move forward for what the Lord has asked of me, then I can have no place for secret hate—even if no one knows but me. Here is my secret list of people I am forgiving once and for all:
For the past four years there has been a man who just won’t leave me alone—not The Marin Foundation, not anything I do, say or write. He runs to any newspaper or magazine that will listen to him and he spews hate against me and what the Lord has asked me to do. He lies about me—he blatantly makes up things I’ve said, things I do or things I’ve done, and he just won’t stop. One day, with vengeance in mind, I Googled his full birth name (that I found out from one of his relatives that I so happened to meet). And wouldn’t you know that the very first thing that popped up was his mug shot and home address because he is a registered sex offender for molesting a young boy in the late 90s. He’s covered everything up really well because he has a new identity. He is a very successful businessman, heavily involved with child advocacy rights in his community, and he donates A LOT of money. No one knows the truth—but now I did. I printed his sex offender page off the internet and I’ve hid that page in my cabinet for the past 3 years, waiting, for just the right moment to publically hold it up in front of TV cameras, reporters and a huge group of people—finally exposing this man, his lies and false motives. But I’m not going to hide it anymore. I burned it today. It’s gone, it’s given up and committed to the Lord an no more will I feel like I have to defend myself against this man and the media outlets that love to listen to his garbage. I forgive you. And I am now going to be intentional about learning to love you because you are no less of a child of God than me. I am free from your traps; I have released myself for carrying you as a secret burden and thank you for being the one to bring this all to light.
I also forgive two people who used to be very, very close to me. They have decided to go in another direction and say negative things about me and tell some media gossip folks partial truths to very personal things that we all experienced together. I forgive you. I will no longer deny what you two meant to me, and how you two set me on the path the Lord destined me to be on. You two still mean the world to me, and that is why I resented you and what you did so very much. I have released myself for carrying you as a secret burden. Thank you for letting me love you, and one day I pray we can all connect again and restore what we had years ago.
Overall, the media has not been my friend. People always tell me, “no media is bad media.” Well, I don’t agree. But from now on I am releasing my secret burden, resentment and hate, to control what others say, twist or write about me. I can only be me, transparent and honest, and how others use that for their story line is up to them. I forgive them, and I am looking forward to the next opportunity I will have to be honest and transparent all over again—no matter what.
A benediction in closing:
Thank you Lord for allowing me to be free to forgive and free to live my life the absolute fullest I can through your unrelenting grace. Allow me to never change my transparency because I’m scared of what might happen with it. Thank you Lord for this opportunity to release these secret burdens that no longer will haunt my Spirit. In Jesus’ holy name—Amen.
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Weigh-in #2
Today is January 28th and it's time for weigh-in #2 for My Own Biggest Loser competition with myself.
Current Weight: 252.7 lbs.
Weight lost since last weigh-in: 3.3 lbs.
Total weight loss thus far: 6.8 lbs!
My next weigh-in will be in three more weeks on February 18th.
Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org
Current Weight: 252.7 lbs.
Weight lost since last weigh-in: 3.3 lbs.
Total weight loss thus far: 6.8 lbs!
My next weigh-in will be in three more weeks on February 18th.
Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Best Advice I Have Ever Been Given
I love reading interviews, especially when the person being interviewed is asked, “What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?” because I’m fascinated by the words that stick with a person for a lifetime. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never been able to answer that question because no clever words of wisdom have ever really indwelt themselves within me (except of course for certain Scripture, but that was not told to me—I read it).
That is until today my friends!!!
I was talking on the phone with my Dad this morning, and he gave me the following advice:
“Haters are like kidneys—it’s all about filtering through the junk to release the good.”
Let us all then be like kidneys:
Filtering through the haters, doubters, naysayers and skeptics by continuing to pursue the miraculous works that our Holy Father has placed upon our lives—a vision that is only grand enough for the Lord Himself to believe in. “This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
That is until today my friends!!!
I was talking on the phone with my Dad this morning, and he gave me the following advice:
“Haters are like kidneys—it’s all about filtering through the junk to release the good.”
Let us all then be like kidneys:
Filtering through the haters, doubters, naysayers and skeptics by continuing to pursue the miraculous works that our Holy Father has placed upon our lives—a vision that is only grand enough for the Lord Himself to believe in. “This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Monday, January 26, 2009
Reflections of Speaking in DC during the Inauguration—Part 4
And what did happen next was one of the greatest honors of my life to date:
A lady came up to me and gave me a big hug, thanked me for my words and life’s experiences, and said she felt very challenged and yet encouraged that things can change in this culture war. As it turns out she then revealed to me that she was a representative from the Smithsonian Institution Museum in Washington DC! She then expanded and told me that my sermon touched her heart, and wanted to place and archive a copy of my speech in the museum.
Wow! Ok, an archived copy of my sermon in the Smithsonian? That sounds just fine with me!!!
So we talked a little more and she pulled out an official Smithsonian release sheet, which I signed. She then told me that she would be in touch with me soon to give me the full details of it’s placement in the museum. And here we are today—my sermon: Homophobia and Bridging from within the Evangelical Church will be placed in the Smithsonian! As soon as I’m given more info of when it will be in there and where it will be placed, I’ll be sure to let you all know.
I’m so humbled and truly blown away by all of these things in how the Lord has been blessing our bridge building vision (which is His vision). Look at what He’s doing, and we’re all in this thing together!
And then the rest of my night, and my trip to DC were over. I went back to my room (after hanging out with Rick Ufford-Chase—the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church—and his lovely family), and I contently passed out.
The next morning, Inauguration morning, I took my time and headed to Reagan National Airport once again to catch my 12:45pm flight. As if in another parallel universe, I felt like I was in a ghost town from the moment I stepped into the cab until the moment I walked onto that plane. There were no cars or people on the streets, nobody in the airport (in fact, from my first step into the airport to boarding my plane, I counted a grand total of 53 people!), and I didn’t wonder where any of them were. All I had to do was peer at any TV screen—which were all tuned to CNN—to see for myself how an entire city, nation and world had gathered live in Washington DC (whether physically or virtually) to celebrate the Inauguration of a man many thought would never have a chance.
And for the rest of my life I can say that for just a little bit, I got to be there, experience, and participate in some small way in history. What a trip!
On my flight out the pilot took us right over the Capitol Building as the Inauguration was still commencing. Below is the picture I took from my seat.
History has been made, and now let’s see were the future will take us.
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
A lady came up to me and gave me a big hug, thanked me for my words and life’s experiences, and said she felt very challenged and yet encouraged that things can change in this culture war. As it turns out she then revealed to me that she was a representative from the Smithsonian Institution Museum in Washington DC! She then expanded and told me that my sermon touched her heart, and wanted to place and archive a copy of my speech in the museum.
Wow! Ok, an archived copy of my sermon in the Smithsonian? That sounds just fine with me!!!
So we talked a little more and she pulled out an official Smithsonian release sheet, which I signed. She then told me that she would be in touch with me soon to give me the full details of it’s placement in the museum. And here we are today—my sermon: Homophobia and Bridging from within the Evangelical Church will be placed in the Smithsonian! As soon as I’m given more info of when it will be in there and where it will be placed, I’ll be sure to let you all know.
I’m so humbled and truly blown away by all of these things in how the Lord has been blessing our bridge building vision (which is His vision). Look at what He’s doing, and we’re all in this thing together!
And then the rest of my night, and my trip to DC were over. I went back to my room (after hanging out with Rick Ufford-Chase—the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church—and his lovely family), and I contently passed out.
The next morning, Inauguration morning, I took my time and headed to Reagan National Airport once again to catch my 12:45pm flight. As if in another parallel universe, I felt like I was in a ghost town from the moment I stepped into the cab until the moment I walked onto that plane. There were no cars or people on the streets, nobody in the airport (in fact, from my first step into the airport to boarding my plane, I counted a grand total of 53 people!), and I didn’t wonder where any of them were. All I had to do was peer at any TV screen—which were all tuned to CNN—to see for myself how an entire city, nation and world had gathered live in Washington DC (whether physically or virtually) to celebrate the Inauguration of a man many thought would never have a chance.
And for the rest of my life I can say that for just a little bit, I got to be there, experience, and participate in some small way in history. What a trip!
On my flight out the pilot took us right over the Capitol Building as the Inauguration was still commencing. Below is the picture I took from my seat.
History has been made, and now let’s see were the future will take us.Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Friday, January 23, 2009
Reflections of Speaking in DC during the Inauguration—Part 3
When I walked up to the All Souls Church I just took in the site—it was beautiful and looked like a tradition-steeped colonial church built in the 1800s. Later that evening I came to find out that (here is their blurb about themselves):
All Souls has a long tradition of promoting social justice issues [within religious views]. In the first half of the 1800s it was known for its opposition to slavery, and counts among its past ministers the prominent abolitionist William Clay Channing. The Revere Bell at All Souls was stripped of its status as “Washington’s Town Bell” after the congregation tolled it to commemorate the death of John Brown. It was thereafter called the “Abolition Bell”.
As I walked into the speakers lounge I was greeted by:
Rita Nakashima Brock (her book, Saving Paradise, was named by Publishers Weekly as one of the “Best Books of 2008”),
Bob Edgar (now CEO of Common Cause, he served 12 years in Congress, and a part of the congressional class nicknamed “the Watergate babies” who were elected in the wake of the Watergate scandal and led to sweeping Congressional reforms),
and
Dr. Vincent Harding (close colleague of MLK Jr.—Dr. Harding wrote speeches for MLK, including the famous “A Time to Break Silence”. Since MLK’s death Dr. Harding and Coretta Scott King co-established the King Center in Atlanta and they speak around the country on racial reconciliation).
That set the tone right then and there.
When the time came for us to head towards the sanctuary we had a difficult time due to the overflow of people who gathered outside to try and somehow squeeze into the main seating area. After a little detour we finally made it into the back of the sanctuary. And when I walked in, my eyes popped wide open.
I saw TV cameras all over the floor and the balcony, and sitting in the periphery were a gob of reporters, videographers and cameramen from various papers, journals and magazines. This is not to mention the 1,200-1,300 people absolutely packed into the pews, the balcony and sitting in folding chairs and on the floor—anywhere they could fit. This church might have been a historic church on the Hill, but it sure was not sized to hold so many eager people.
The first few rows on the main floor were sectioned off for us to sit and, and in classic Washington fashion, we (the speakers) were introduced and paraded down the middle isle to our seats in the front—walking between various politicians, Washington elite, and those who were able to get a seat. For one fleeting moment I felt like the President being introduced at the State of the Union walking down the middle isle as everyone stands up and claps. That was quite a moment for me (and then I started getting really nervous!).
I was the third person to speak—and I have to tell you about their stage and podium:
It wasn’t what you would think of as average. The stage was actually just the podium, as I had to walk up about 15 steps to get to the 14 ft. podium that towered over the attendees. It felt like an “old school excitable preacher” setting, as I could just image back in the 1800s preachers standing up there getting all riled up about the abolition of slavery. That thought pumped me up! So when I got up there to speak I peered around the sanctuary, looking at all of the TV cameras, photographers and people, just taking it in for one brief second—and I prayed in my Spirit:
“Lord, thank you for this opportunity to stand up here and communicate your message in front of the most unlikely of audiences. Send your Holy Spirit to indwell in this place and come upon me. Let your words clearly flow through me with enthusiasm and grace—and let’s give them something they’ve never seen! In Jesus’ Holy Name.”
The event planners asked me to speak on homophobia, so my sermon was titled:
Homophobia and Bridging from within the Evangelical Church
For the next 10 minutes I laid it down with all the passion and enthusiasm—totally everything—I had (if you’ve ever heard me speak you know what I’m talking about).
I ended my sermon with:
“So this is my call for all of us here today, as well as to all of my fellow straight evangelical brothers and sisters around the world: It’s time to stop running in fear—fear of what might happen, fear of what other people might think and fear of what is right or wrong! Only with that countercultural commitment can true, sustainable and systemic growth actually happen! Faith in our Holy God is not about sexual orientation; because it should always be that love is our orientation!”
And with that (and for some added dramatic effect) I immediately walked off the podium!
I then received one of the two standing ovations that were given throughout the night.
But what happened next was one of the biggest honors of my life to-date…..
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
All Souls has a long tradition of promoting social justice issues [within religious views]. In the first half of the 1800s it was known for its opposition to slavery, and counts among its past ministers the prominent abolitionist William Clay Channing. The Revere Bell at All Souls was stripped of its status as “Washington’s Town Bell” after the congregation tolled it to commemorate the death of John Brown. It was thereafter called the “Abolition Bell”.
As I walked into the speakers lounge I was greeted by:
Rita Nakashima Brock (her book, Saving Paradise, was named by Publishers Weekly as one of the “Best Books of 2008”),
Bob Edgar (now CEO of Common Cause, he served 12 years in Congress, and a part of the congressional class nicknamed “the Watergate babies” who were elected in the wake of the Watergate scandal and led to sweeping Congressional reforms),
and
Dr. Vincent Harding (close colleague of MLK Jr.—Dr. Harding wrote speeches for MLK, including the famous “A Time to Break Silence”. Since MLK’s death Dr. Harding and Coretta Scott King co-established the King Center in Atlanta and they speak around the country on racial reconciliation).
That set the tone right then and there.
When the time came for us to head towards the sanctuary we had a difficult time due to the overflow of people who gathered outside to try and somehow squeeze into the main seating area. After a little detour we finally made it into the back of the sanctuary. And when I walked in, my eyes popped wide open.
I saw TV cameras all over the floor and the balcony, and sitting in the periphery were a gob of reporters, videographers and cameramen from various papers, journals and magazines. This is not to mention the 1,200-1,300 people absolutely packed into the pews, the balcony and sitting in folding chairs and on the floor—anywhere they could fit. This church might have been a historic church on the Hill, but it sure was not sized to hold so many eager people.
The first few rows on the main floor were sectioned off for us to sit and, and in classic Washington fashion, we (the speakers) were introduced and paraded down the middle isle to our seats in the front—walking between various politicians, Washington elite, and those who were able to get a seat. For one fleeting moment I felt like the President being introduced at the State of the Union walking down the middle isle as everyone stands up and claps. That was quite a moment for me (and then I started getting really nervous!).
I was the third person to speak—and I have to tell you about their stage and podium:
It wasn’t what you would think of as average. The stage was actually just the podium, as I had to walk up about 15 steps to get to the 14 ft. podium that towered over the attendees. It felt like an “old school excitable preacher” setting, as I could just image back in the 1800s preachers standing up there getting all riled up about the abolition of slavery. That thought pumped me up! So when I got up there to speak I peered around the sanctuary, looking at all of the TV cameras, photographers and people, just taking it in for one brief second—and I prayed in my Spirit:
“Lord, thank you for this opportunity to stand up here and communicate your message in front of the most unlikely of audiences. Send your Holy Spirit to indwell in this place and come upon me. Let your words clearly flow through me with enthusiasm and grace—and let’s give them something they’ve never seen! In Jesus’ Holy Name.”
The event planners asked me to speak on homophobia, so my sermon was titled:
Homophobia and Bridging from within the Evangelical Church
For the next 10 minutes I laid it down with all the passion and enthusiasm—totally everything—I had (if you’ve ever heard me speak you know what I’m talking about).
I ended my sermon with:
“So this is my call for all of us here today, as well as to all of my fellow straight evangelical brothers and sisters around the world: It’s time to stop running in fear—fear of what might happen, fear of what other people might think and fear of what is right or wrong! Only with that countercultural commitment can true, sustainable and systemic growth actually happen! Faith in our Holy God is not about sexual orientation; because it should always be that love is our orientation!”
And with that (and for some added dramatic effect) I immediately walked off the podium!
I then received one of the two standing ovations that were given throughout the night.
But what happened next was one of the biggest honors of my life to-date…..
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Reflections of Speaking in DC during the Inauguration—Part 2
Monday January 19th came quickly as I didn’t end up getting to my room until about 1am. Even then I was still so excited for what I was about to experience that I couldn’t fall asleep until about 2am. When I woke up it was 10 or so, and I had scheduled to meet a good friend of mine, Brad Ogilvie, who founded the Mosaic Initiative and now lives in DC and works for the Quaker William Penn House on Capitol Hill as their Program Coordinator.
I love getting together with Brad because he is one of the growing number of gay men that I know who look at homosexuality, politics and religion in quite a unique, countercultural way from the overwhelming majority of the rest of the GLBT community. As Brad says:
“The most close-minded people in Washington DC seem to be the GLBT community and liberals who say they’re open minded.”
and
“Do you ever wonder why Gene Robinson is always reduced to—including GLBT organizations—being called “the gay bishop” instead of Bishop Gene Robinson? That’s not helping our cause because our own organizations even still focus solely on sexual behavior as the identifying characteristic.”
Here is an example of an AWESOME article that Brad sent around to our conservative Christian friends (coincidentally, the article was written by a mutual friend of Brad and I).
Since I had never been to DC before, Brad took me around and gave me the quick tour of what is called the “Mall”.
Here is a picture of me in front of the Capitol Building a few hours before I was to go and speak (taken with my cell phone).
I love getting together with Brad because he is one of the growing number of gay men that I know who look at homosexuality, politics and religion in quite a unique, countercultural way from the overwhelming majority of the rest of the GLBT community. As Brad says:
“The most close-minded people in Washington DC seem to be the GLBT community and liberals who say they’re open minded.”
and
“Do you ever wonder why Gene Robinson is always reduced to—including GLBT organizations—being called “the gay bishop” instead of Bishop Gene Robinson? That’s not helping our cause because our own organizations even still focus solely on sexual behavior as the identifying characteristic.”
Here is an example of an AWESOME article that Brad sent around to our conservative Christian friends (coincidentally, the article was written by a mutual friend of Brad and I).
Since I had never been to DC before, Brad took me around and gave me the quick tour of what is called the “Mall”.
Here is a picture of me in front of the Capitol Building a few hours before I was to go and speak (taken with my cell phone).
The excitement in the air permeated every inch of Capitol Hill. People were packed everywhere—in the restaurants, on the sidewalks, in the streets, and packed in and around any legally walk-able area, museum or building. I found myself getting easily swept up in the excitement as well. I bought a shirt that had all the former President’s white faces in a circle around Barack Obama’s face which was placed in the middle. I usually see those types of shirts and automatically think, “Cheesy”. But this time it wasn’t so cheesy to see 43 faces of white men, and then 1 face of a black man—which one of these doesn’t look like the other?
My time with Brad quickly flew by and then it was off to the event where I was speaking at on Capitol Hill.
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
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