Originally Posted by
26 Inf
Thanks I need all the nudges I can get.
Pretty much been trying my best since 1990, had it when I was a youth, mom thought I would be a pastor. Like so many boys, I fell away after I left home and didn't comeback until my 30's. Did a lot of damage to myself, my family and my reputation in those interim years.
I was describing how I feel we should relate to homosexuals. I don't recall anything thing that I said that could be construed as encouraging of recruiting folks to be homosexuals.
I feel you and Tom are taking sentences that standing alone can be interpreted as outside the contextual intent of my comments. Let me give you an example:
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
Sounds bad, doesn't it. Sounds even worse if you read 1 Samuel 17 (David and Goliath) and realize that Saul was talking to David shortly after he killed the Philistine, Goliath:
As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”
Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”
57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.
58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.
David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
Pretty clear from that reading that 'dude, they are gay, Jonathan had a man crush on David because he was running around with Goliath's head, kind of like when the football star nails the head cheerleader after winning the championship.'
But it becomes clearer when you read a little further:
1 Samuel 18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.
According to biblical scholars the exact same word for 'love' is used in both places. So apparently they (Jonathan and Israel) adored David because of his devotion to God, shown by his acts.
Understanding context, it is a wonderful thing.
As for Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.
I don't think 'you suck, and you're going to hell' is quite what Paul was going for when he wrote his letter of instruction to the churches of Galatia.
If you want to bring someone out of sin, the best way to do it is with your arm around them, rather than holding them at arm's length.
I go to a Church that recognizes that homosexuality is a sin. There are a couple of folks there who are gay. They are in Church hearing God's word, their children are in our Sunday school classes. My hope is that God is working in their life, because ultimately God judges, not me or you.
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