Last Minute Radio Interview Tonight

I just got a last minute call about being a guest tonight on the Direct Line radio show with Wayne Kent. It’s a live call-in show, and I’ll be on talking about gay marriage from 5:15-5:45pm. This show is broadcast in a rural market, so pray for my time tonight as I get asked questions about such a divisive topic in the Christian world.

I haven’t yet been able to find a direct website for them so you can listen live this evening, but I’ll keep looking and keep you posted on any new developments I scrape up (or find if it's archived somewhere).

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

On Wed, April 29th at 8am CST I will be interview on the UK's largest Christian radio station. The 20 minute interview will be taped, and then rebroadcasted on the show Premier Drive. It looks as though after it airs, they will put a podcast of it on their website. Please pray that the Lord lifts up this time and the word of our bridge building work spreads across the UK as well.

Much love.

www.themarinfoundation.org

My New Painting

This is a painting that I commissioned Scott Erickson, an artist friend of mine, to paint. Scott has painted in some huge venues to some really big time people, so this is a big honor for me. This painting is a deconstructed cross with the following words overlaid:

Love
Bridge Building
Unconditional
Faith
Sexuality
Culture
Tension
Immersion
GLBT
Listen
James 2:10
Matthew 7:1-2
Romans 5:3-4

This paining is so very special to me because of how profoundly personal it is to what the Lord has given me. It's now proudly displayed in my office for all to see. Scott's a great guy, a special talent, and a wonderful person. If you're interested in Scott and his work (especially if you'd like to commission him to paint a one-of-a-kind piece for you too), hit him up on Facebook, Twitter or his website.

Much love.

http://www.themarinfoundation.org/

Pictures of the new The Marin Foundation Offices

There have been some very new and very humbling things happening recently. One of which has been the full donation to The Marin Foundation of a substantial amount of office/class space! We just moved in a week and a half ago (and when you look at the pictures you'll see we haven't decorated yet), and it's been unreal to have an actual private space that is ours! Here are some pictures, with descriptions below each picture:

(This is our private entrance. A sign is coming soon...)

(This is our conference/class space)

(Standing at my personal office door looking in)

(My desk...and if you've read my book you'll understand what the picutre frame on top of the desk is all about...)

The Marin Foundation

5241 N. Ashland Ave. 1st Floor

Chicago, IL 60640

:)

Much love.

http://www.themarinfoundation.org/

Recent Mentions of Love is an Orientation

Here are some recent mentions of Love is an Orientation:

1. It was brought to my attention yesterday that on Jim Wallis’ blog, God’s Politics, Brian McLaren wrote a post mentioning myself and Love is an Orientation (the same post also later showed up on Brian’s blog as well). I am much appreciative, but then in reading the comments section below the post on God’s Politics, I come to realize how much a bridge building ethic is actually needed.

Let’s keep plugging away.

2. Here is a blog post by Danielle Strickland—who is the head of the Salvation Army in Australia. Who knew someone in Australia was reading my book, let alone the head of the Salvation Army on the other side of the world? Praise the Lord.

3. Here is an email The Marin Foundation just received about the book:

“I Have spent the past three days reading the new book: twice! Excellent, thoughtful & thought-provoking, inspiring, frustrating, at times overwhelming, exhilarating, scary, hopeful. And I need a third reading to take notes before I can digest it more! For now, thank you for all the possibilities that you are bringing to this subject. I saw myself throughout the pages of the book: 54 years old, Christian believer, gay, graduated from a Christian college, attended groups for many years in many different places, and I still feel caught in some kind of limbo land between worlds. I have read all the other books on this subject. Your book is a bridge, yes.
Thank you Sincerely!”


This is such a humbling experience. Thanks for sharing it with me through my blog!

If you have any thoughts or know of people reviewing or talking about Love is an Orientation, please feel free to let me know!

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

3 Very Special Moments

There are a few times in life where your heart is truly touched—and here are three of them that have happened recently that not only brought me to tears, but gave me some encouraging perspective on what I’m actually doing through The Marin Foundation.

1. A year and a half ago a guy wrote a really nasty blog post about me—he didn’t know me, he never talked to me and never came to anything I’ve ever done. And then yesterday I saw these words posted by him on the Neue Podcast comment section:

Andrew Marin has a very non-judgmental spirit and I appreciate what he is doing to reach out to what the church often wrongly considers “untouchables”.

I wrote a blog post a couple years ago on Marin’s ministry and had negative things to say. He commented on it, and after prayer and research, I apologize for slandering his ministry. God Bless.

Kurt

2. I recently received a Facebook message from a person who is a Campus Pastor in Philadelphia that said:

Just thought I would let you know...some of our students from the Christian fellowship on campus are reaching out to the GLBT Pride group this week. It is a first step hang out game night. It is a direct result of them coming to your talk at Jubilee Conference about how to build bridges on college campuses. Thank you.

3. There is a team of pastors from North Carolina who have flown in for three days to learn from what The Marin Foundation is doing in hopes they can better build bridges to their own local community in Raleigh. They came to the Living in the Tension Community Gathering last night, I will meet with them all day today and then they are all going to my speaking event tonight at Willow Creek (which is open to the public and starts at 8pm - at the Barrington campus).

This is the first time anything like this has happened, and it’s such a humbling thing to realize that what you’re doing, other people see important enough to take time to fly out and be a part of it themselves. This is an honor that will stick with me for a long, long time.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

Tonight's Living in the Tension Gathering

Tonight is our forth Living in the Tension Community Gathering. In remembrance of last Friday’s Day of Silence, we will be discussing the topic of:

Shame in the Closet and its Impact in All Our Lives

Feel free to join us tonight at 5249 N. Ashland Ave, Room 120 at 7pm.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

Review Love Is An Orientation on Amazon

I was told by my publicists that one of the next important steps for my book is for people to start reviewing Love Is An Orientation on my book’s Amazon page (scroll down towards the bottom of the page and click, Create Your Own Review). The first thing that came to my mind was,

Why?

The next thing that came to my mind was,

And who cares anyway?

Since I sometimes have no filter from brain to mouth I immediately asked those two things. And I loved their explanations:

Because your book is so different, many people who don’t know you will assume it’s the same old stuff repackaged with a new name and cover. The easiest and most efficient way for people who don’t know you to start understanding your uniqueness is to read other’s words and thoughts who have already read your book.

That makes total sense to me. So if you’ve read my book, please go to Amazon.com and write a review. There are already 3 people who have done so—and the wonderful thing is that I don’t know any of them!!!

Thanks for the help in spreading the word.

Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/

Relevant Magazine’s Neue Quarterly

I was recently interviewed for Neue’s podcast, and you can listen to it here. Also, feel free to join in on the on-going discussion on the podcast’s webpage.

Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/

Twitter

Last night I signed up for Twitter in the midst of my sapping around because Brenda and I had Cubs tickets for last night's game (Cubs vs. Cards!) and not only did the game get rained out, but it got rescheduled for a date when I’m speaking out of town. How miserable! And to top it off, today I get to trudge around in the rain on the CTA for meetings all day.

Note to self—praise the Lord that I have a job and am doing what I’m doing…stop complaining!

Now that I’ve gotten that out:

For those who don’t know, Twitter is like a Facebook status except it is its own website. I’m not too sure how I feel about it. Maybe it’s just because I’m a loyal Facebook fan, but I don’t necessarily see the point. I thought I’d give it a try anyway. Just so you know, Twitter is in no way, nor will it ever, replace my beloved Facebook.

My Twitter name is:

lovesmesomeyou

Yes, you read that right. Broken up it says that I “loves me some you”. Which I actually do…

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

Day of Silence

Today is the National Day of Silence, where GLBT youth and their allies vow to not talk today at school to bring awareness to the name-calling, bullying and harassment of them in schools. In response to this day there are many Christians out there who decide to pull their kids out of school in protest.

I think that is the biggest mistake a Christian parent could possibly make.

Why?

1. It breeds in our Christian youth the idea that if we don’t agree with something we protest and walk in the other direction. And in my opinion, there is no worse way to represent our Christian faith on such a day.

2. From my perspective, what a better way to bring the GLBT topic to the forefront in our Christian homes then to use this day as a springboard in how to peacefully and productively engage what has always been nothing more than a very divisive topic. And in doing such a thing with middle and high schoolers, it gives us a wonderful opportunity to start our youth down the right path in how to bridge within the GLBT community. It's our chance to do something different in showing our faith rather than just talking about it in regards to homosexuality, which is what most of us tend to do.

I was on a Christian radio program recently and off the air the host told me about how his daughter wanted to go to school that day because she knew all of her other Christian friends were going to protest and not be in school. The host went on to tell me that she was the only Christian kid left in many of her classes, and at the end of the day everyone in one of her classes was being silent. Since she was the only one not being silent, and since she was the only Christian, for 20 minutes the teacher allowed her to talk about her faith and her love, and all of the reasons why she decided to come to school that day in opposition to all of the other Christian who didn’t!

Just think what would happen around the country if our Christian kids did as she did…

I could only imagine.

A colleague of mine, Dr. Warren Throckmorton, has started what he calls the Golden Rule Pledge to be done on the Day of Silence. Take a look, and next year feel free to join in—keeping our kids in school and using this day as the Kingdom opportunity it should be.

What do you think...right or wrong?

Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/