Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

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Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write from the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Friday, November 20, 2015

A Christian Perspective of Evolution, Human Survival, and the Bible


SocioBiologist E.O. Wilson

What is eusociality? Sociobiologist and biodiversity scientist E.O. Wilson's evolutionary epigenetic law is second only to Darwin's law of species adaptation to survive. It says that successful species will work together and even sacrifice itself to ensure the larger group's survival. This genetic trait is known as eusociality and was evidenced again in the terrorist attacks in Paris: "Chris Cocking says that most people are likely to try to help each other even in extreme situations. 'There's an assumption that it's everybody for themselves but that just doesn't happen,' he says."

Pointedly, the Christian faith is centered around one God-man who redeems, Jesus. That the Christian church as an institution in its best traditions sacrifices for the spiritual and physical survival of humanity. That the bible's best passages preach a narrative of like group cooperation to survive. And that even the Christian story of origins is built upon the eusocial narrative that humanity is part of something greater than itself. That the way to achieve our epic constitution unites human spirituality, instead of cleaving it, so that it is composed of the best of the human nature, filled with potentiality, finitude, and loss.

As a Christian, though these ideas are part of evolutionary observation and corroborated in the bible as epic narratives composed from an ancient mythological mindset using poetic language, I find comfort in knowing our God wisely placed these evolutionary instincts into the construct of life both by decree as well as by sovereign guidance. This observation then would describe the teleology of evolution - that at a deep level of procreation there are genetic principles of nurture driven to a concerted end of species survival against all environmental outcomes. At Relevancy22 this has been written and restated in dozens of articles for further evaluation.

So then, horrific events like the one witnessed earlier this week in Paris detail both the evil of a committed nihilistic society believing it must sacrifice itself by ridding the world of non-groups of unbelievers based on an errant religious myth of purity/divine acceptance. While at the same time other religious and non-religious groups work together against this threat to their own eusocial society's survival. Each evidencing epigenetic characteristics of survival. This is what is meant as studying humanity from an anthropologic social behaviorist or biodiversity mode of perspective both from a humanist and/or a religious viewpoint.

And, I might add, in an odd way, but completely understandable view, the reason non-group refugees are either rejected or accepted to be aided. I like to think its consciously based but it must allow for unconscious choices as well driven either by species survival or species expansion as a postmodern reaction against past urges. Which is a discussion best left for another time (ReneGirard, mimetic theory, scapegoating & victimization).

R.E. Slater
November 20, 2015


Related Topics

Wikipedia Bio - E.O. Wilson

WikipediaEpigenetics

Wikipedia - Eusociality - Eusocial animals express complex behaviors, like group decision-making. Evolutionary biologists have asked how and why eusociality has evolved, and what we can learn from eusocial organisms.

Knowledge ProjectAn Introduction to Eusociality

Wikipedia - Evolution


Figure 4: Diagram illustrating factors contributing to the evolution of primitive
eusociality and that advanced eusociality is a social state that is not reversible
(past the point of "no return," individual workers have lost the capacity
to reproduce independently)

© 2010 Nature Education All rights reserved.


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Attacks of the magnitude of those that took place in Paris, killing 129 people and injuring more
than 400, are extremely rare. The authorities do prepare for these emergencies but what advice
is there for ordinary people?



Wednesday, November 18, 2015

A Christian Apocalypse and End-Time Judgment of Care and Love For One's Fellow Human




Lately the Christian message of xenophobia, Islamaphobia, and "marching to war" has dominated the headlines and is the answer to all things different from and unlike the "westernized American version" of church civilization. This dire message is in the news media, preached on the political dias, and can be found throughout social media networks.

As a bystander observing the crazies of my Christian faith and the rashness of America's governmental leaders I might suggest that the Jesus of the Bible is one of "victim, and sufferer, and minister" to all the wrongs of society. And because of Jesus' apocalyptic vision of love and peace He was unjustly scapegoated and horribly crucified for his religious views and acts of ministry (sic, Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory of Scapegoating and Victimization).

Might I also suggest that this same Jesus is the one whose beloved disciple John looks forward to in the book of Revelation as the world is shown blowing itself up in the rage and turmoils of its economic, ecologic, and societal wars. That John envisions this "helpless God" once crucified as the "Lamb of God" to return as the "Lion of Judah" to end sin's judgment of evil behavior and acts of injustice. That in His coming Jesus will resurrect what He had begun before dying at the hands of His "religious" countrymen and secular governments.

And lastly, might I also suggest that rather than purposely hastening the "Coming of the Day of the Lord" through prayerful glee and unholy vindictiveness we might step back and consider the spiritual importance of the church's role as God's peacemaker, mediator, and arbitrator of sanity, to an insane world locked in its many apocalyptic versions of end-time religious battles, economic/ecologic woe, and civilization's collapse?

That perhaps the biblical future we tell ourselves, or imagine, is not the one we think we read  and rant about. That those popular imaginings might be an incorrect view playing out our own hatred, fears, and racisms. That the conquering "Jesus of War" we envision striding through the bloody fields of our slain enemies might actually be a Jesus marching through the aftermath of what we have done to ourselves. A Jesus terribly angry, whose wroth would smite any refusing to relent of their hatred and anger to one another.

Now that would be a Jesus I think many of us may not wish to welcome. A Jesus who comes to judge all mankind and not just the ones we think He should judge. And isn't it written that Jesus will judge both the sheep and the goats? That He will open up "the books of deeds and of life" to find all those who acted - or didn't act - according to His Holy Will? And if so, then this is a truer picture of an end-time apocalypse than the one I hear so popularly preached defending our actions of economic usary, enslavement, greed, inhospitality, and callousness to the suffering and oppression of other society members, cultures, genders, and races. This is the kind of stuff we find in the books of James and 2 Peter judging our words and behavior with eternal consequences.

So then, my plea is that the church learns to hate war; seeks to make stronger efforts at waging peace with her enemies; and immediately forsake all sinful idols of self-righteousness and unholy anger. That we be in our own selves God's worthy lambs and emissaries speaking His words and acts of peace, love, mercy, and forgiveness. For without these holy jewels we are all the more impoverished and destined to self-destruction, perhaps eternally. And if this happens, then yes, all has been lost... even the eternal life which "the Prince of Life" had promised.

Peace,

R.E. Slater
November 18, 2015


Tony Campolo - Religious Alternatives: Choosing Love Over Power




Tony Campolo - "Red Lettered Christians"









Syrian Refugees In Crisis - Why, How to Give, What to Do


The European Refugee Crisis and Syria Explained





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Syrian Refugee Project - Do More - https://www.frontiersusa.org/churchproject


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Refugees in Crisis

The Scary Thing About Immigrants
http://alwaysloved.net/2015/09/11/the-scary-thing-about-immigrants/

by Andre Rabe
September 11, 2015

Why are we secretly afraid of people who are different – whether it’s their culture, race or language? Yes, differences might make us uncomfortable, unsure how to speak or act in their company … but I think what scares us most is not their difference, but the possibility that they might be more like us than what we are willing to admit.

When we are insecure in ourselves, the differences between us and others becomes essential in giving us a sense of identity. It is the differences that makes us unique. And so while we openly draw attention to the differences and consequently the superiority of our own culture and way of life, while we attempt to stir fear by emphasizing the unknown … what we actually fear more is that others might be too much like us. For if my identity is based on my superior difference, then the discovery of likeness will make me, well, … ordinary, even unnecessary.

Only when we find a way out of our own insecurities, our sense of lack and deficiency, will we no longer perceive likeness as rivalry. When we find peace within ourselves, the likeness of others becomes an opportunity for friendship, and their differences an intriguing opportunity to discover even more about ourselves. We find our most authentic selves not in desperately protecting the boundaries of our self-made identities … but in giving ourselves for the benefit of others. Mother Teresa once diagnosed the world’s ills in this way: we’ve just “forgotten that we belong to each other.”

For me this was one of the reasons why the image of the drowned little migrant boy was so powerfully disturbing. The innocence of this child reminded us that we are not just dealing with scary ’different’ people … but with people who might be very much like us. What beautiful courage has been shown by Germany and a few others, to rise above their own fears and insecurities and welcome others as their own.






Comments

Lee Schwartzrock on September 13th, 2015 - 9:19pm

I find it sad to see how immigrants are denied friendship, and fellowship in the first world countries today. We see them as a source of our economic troubles. We fail to see the real causes of our poverty. We forget that we, or our recent forefathers, were similar immigrants.

The cause of economic weakness, is due to the failure to give a fair wage to anyone, for a fair day’s work. If you have ample room to house more citizens, welcome immigrants, and pay them well. They will strengthen your economy. Seeing them as a source of inexpensive labor, and paying them less than what we would be willing to do the same work for, is asking for economic weakness. People with income, spend that income, and empower the demand for goods and services. The newcomer isn’t the culprit; he is the victim along with all the existing citizens who are displaced when employers seek to gain at the expense of the newcomer.

Anyone who gives less in a transaction, than he is receiving, is cutting his own throat. True, he won’t feel the effects for some time, but they will eventually catch up with him. Capitalism can work, but only when the players learn this important rule: If anyone is cheated, all will eventually suffer.

The current trend of seeking the cheapest labor market, in which to manufacture goods, is foolish beyond words. We seek low prices, but look for a high price for our goods. Low priced goods are the surest way to import our own poverty. The high market is sought as the place to sell the underpriced goods, but this soon destroys the high wage jobs in that marketplace, which created the high market in the first place. You cannot steal from your brother without impoverishing yourself.

The first-world’s lust for cheap products, and our use of China to get them, lead to a one-way flow of money out of the first-world nations, which could only be supported by borrowing. As the manufacturing jobs were outsourced, they were replaced by construction jobs, as lenders sought to cash in on the ballooning prices in real estate. When you loan money to individuals who do not have good jobs, chances are you are not going to be repaid. It wasn’t long before the housing bubble burst, and the huge debt hanging on the deflating real estate market began to show itself for what it was, a source of wealth that never existed.

The reality that wealth is simply the production of raw materials times price, is something that few understand. Today we believe a myth that wealth is created by central banks. Well, the central banks have worked their magic, creating wealth out of thin air, and have bought up most of the bad debt. So now we find ourselves atop an unsustainable house of cards that must constantly be propped up every time a new crack shows. When will we learn that you cannot funnel most of the world’s wealth into the coffers of the few, and expect things to motor along smoothly?

Yes things are going to go south, and it’s all to be blamed on the immigrants. Nope, I place the blame squarely on laissez faire economics. Greed does motivate, but it cannot stop until everything built is also torn down.


Andre Rabe - Questions About the Bible In A Postmodern Era, Parts 1-12


Swallowed Whole, No Questions Asked?Part 12 In The Scriptures Series. (by Dave Griffiths)

In the 1999 film ‘Fight Club’, Edward Norton’s character has an epiphany. Sobbing into Meat Loaf’s weirdly ample bosom, he confesses ‘I let go… I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom’. Watch the clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtIEquOkDpo I have had a similar experience dawn on me. I didn’t mean to find it. I was pretty… Swallowed Whole, No Questions Asked?Part 12 In The Scriptures Series. (by Dave Griffiths)“>read more »

Church: An Anthropological RevolutionPart 10 of The Sriptures Series (by Anthony Bartlett)

We should really forget the popular distinction of spirituality and religion, it is anthropology which is making the difference. What does that mean? It means that the basic way humans relate to their world shapes their core understanding of God. But the God of the Hebrew and Christian bible is remaking the human way of… Church: An Anthropological RevolutionPart 10 of The Sriptures Series (by Anthony Bartlett)“>read more »

Under Reconstruction: Crazy Characters, Unreliable Narrators and the Divine ArchitectPart 8 in The Scriptures Series by Brad Jersak

After Deconstruction The last years have seen a grand deconstruction of Scripture reading and interpretation—some would say of Scripture itself. Of course, this has been an ongoing centuries-long project, but two unique elements dominate the past decade: first, the ‘New Atheists’ are actually reading the Bible—carefully and, unlike liberal scholars, they have read it literally… Under Reconstruction: Crazy Characters, Unreliable Narrators and the Divine ArchitectPart 8 in The Scriptures Series by Brad Jersak“>read more »

What Would Jesus Deconstruct?Part 7 in The Scripture Series

WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) – became a popular christian slogan. I enjoyed the similarly titled book, namely, What Would Jesus Deconstruct. It is so much safer to leave these saying as popular slogans and not give them any serious thought … for one of the things Jesus would surely do today, is deconstruct our… What Would Jesus Deconstruct?Part 7 in The Scripture Series“>read more »

Caleb’s Journey With The TextPart 6 in The Scriptures Series by Caleb Miler

My father was a man who continually studied the Bible. He’s currently a 35-year veteran of pastoring local churches. During that time, I’ve watched him pour over the scriptures, all in an effort to “get to know” this God. Much of what I believe today was fundamentally influenced by his wrestling with the scriptures and… Caleb’s Journey With The TextPart 6 in The Scriptures Series by Caleb Miler“>read more »

Andre Rabe - Select Videos


Icons of Beauty
by Andre Rabe


Beauty is not something we simply behold … its something we enter into.
It disrupts our indifference and draws us to what is worth pursuing.



Does God Have A Clue ...?!
by Andre Rabe




Does God Have a Clue What It's Like to Be You?
by Andre Rabe


Monday, November 16, 2015

Thomas Jay Oord - Did God Allow the Paris Attacks?

Did God Allow the Paris Attacks?
http://thomasjayoord.com/index.php/blog/archives/did-god-allow-the-paris-attacks

by Thomas Jay Oord
November 16, 2015

Most theologians would say “yes.” I say “no.”

If current reports are correct, ISIS planned various attacks in Paris that killed more than 100 people and injured about 500. An attack occurred in Beirut, and other acts of terror have been committed. The death, pain, and suffering are immense.

Those like me who believe in God are wondering how we ought to think theologically about this. We’re wondering what we should do. We’re wondering what love asks of us now.

I join those believers who offer heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of victims. These are dark days. Our hearts rightly go out to those in pain and grief.  And I’m pondering what more I can do to help.

But I’m also thinking about God.

Many believers will rightfully say God is present with all people in times of horror and tragedy. God suffers with victims and survivors. The Christian God consoles and suffers with those in pain.

I agree. But I don’t think that goes far enough.

Other believers will say God is angry when people choose violence in this way. They will say God opposes such terror-oriented activity. God hates injustice and evil.

I agree that God hates sin. But I don’t think that goes far enough.

Some believers will ask what proactive steps can be taken to prevent further attacks. A number of proposals will surface, I’m sure. Some may be wise; others not.

I agree with those who say that we must find a way to respond in love to prevent more suffering. But I don’t think that goes far enough.

Too few believers will go so far as to ask themselves this question: “Could God have stopped the Paris attacks?”

Perhaps many who believe in God will not ask this question, because the answer they have likely been told is not comforting. Most theologians in the past and present, after all, would say God allowed the Paris tragedies. They believe God has the kind of power to prevent this death and suffering. But according to most theologians, God permitted this pointless pain in Paris and elsewhere.

I disagree.

According to most theologians, God permitted
the attacks in Paris and elsewhere. I disagree.

It is true that a few theologians may say it is logically impossible for God to both give free will and not give free will. So in choosing to give free will to the ISIS terrorists, God was self-constrained.

But these same theologians will say that if God wanted to do so, God could interrupt the entities, agencies, molecules, and atoms involved in these events. These aspects of reality do not have full-blown freedom.

These theologians would also say God could interrupt natural laws, if God saw fit. They believe God could intervene among entities and atoms in ways that would not involve overriding the free will of those who perpetrate evil.

For instance, this view of God’s power among entities and atoms says God could have jammed the rifles the terrorists used. It says God could have made the bombs fail to detonate. Or God could have controlled the weather or environment to thwart the attacks. In the minds of these theologians, God can control all parts of creation that don’t involve free will, if God so chose.

But if God can control non-free agents and entities, why didn’t God do so to prevent the Paris attacks?

The uncomfortable truth is that most theologians and Christians today and throughout history have said God permits genuine evil. God allows pointless suffering. And they appeal to mystery when asked questions like, “Did God allow the Paris attacks?” They say, “Don’t ask me, I’m not God!”

By contrast, I think theologians and Christians in general need to rethink God’s power. This means rethinking what it means to say God can control creatures and creation, whether these existing things have freedom or not.

In my new book, I’ve carefully laid out an argument that says God’s uncontrolling love prevents God from being able to prevent genuine evil unilaterally. God is still almighty, I argue. God is omnipresent and loving too. God knows everything that can be known. But the uncontrolling God I describe should not be blamed for tragedies like those in Paris, because God cannot stop them acting alone.

The key to my answer is my claim that God’s self-giving, others-empowering love comes first in God’s nature. This means God must give freedom, agency, self-organization, being, or law-like regularities to creation.

The Paris attacks were awful. While we ponder how we ought to act, how to console those in grief, and how to affirm that God is with all who suffer, let us also take a moment to consider the possibility that God’s power is not controlling.

A God who cannot control others entirely is not culpable
for failing to prevent the Paris attacks. I believe in that God.

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To read more of The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence go to the Amazon link here - http://www.amazon.com/The-Uncontrolling-Love-God-Relational/dp/0830840842.


Building Bridges of Understanding Between the Traditional Church and Gay Community



A year and a half ago, before the enactment of the civil rights law permitting marriage between gay couples the Washington Post noted of progressive evangelical Tony Campolo:

"Campolo, who ran for Congress in 1976 as a Democrat, considers himself to be
theologically conservative but socially progressive. He is against legalized abortion
and  gay marriage while being progressive on issues related to poverty, race and
American diplomacy.

"While not embracing same-sex marriage, Campolo has said the two sides could find
a detente if the government would “get out of the business of marrying people and,
instead, only give legal status to civil unions."

                                                             Washington Post Report, January 14, 2014

Then, in early June of 2015 before the civil rights law was passed later in the month, Tony Campolo, along with retired editor David Neff of Christianity Today, reversed their positions on heterosexual marriage to recognize the civil rights of gay couples to wed. When they did this Christianity Today was quick to note their change from the traditional views of the evangelical church:

'When a prominent evangelical leader, like Tony Campolo, announces his support for gay
marriage, it’s likely to get reporters’ attention. It is indeed news, in that it is still unusual
to hear an otherwise orthodox Christian announce heterodox views on sexuality. But in the
case of Campolo, it may not be the kind of news that garners much attention. (One reason:
His organization Red Letter Christians has argued for same-sex marriage several times.)

"But we were surprised when former CT editor David Neff on Facebook praised Campolo’s
move. As he put it in an email to me clarifying his comment, “I think the ethically responsible
thing for gay and lesbian Christians to do is to form lasting, covenanted partnerships. I also
believe that the church should help them in those partnerships in the same way the church
should fortify traditional marriages.”

"At CT, we’re saddened that David has come to this conclusion. Saddened because we firmly
believe that the Bible teaches that God intends the most intimate of covenant relationships to
be enjoyed exclusively by a man and a woman. We’ve stated this view explicitly in many
editorials, and it is implicit but clear in many of our feature stories."

                                                                                         - Christianity Today, June 9, 2015


From Wikipedia it is noted:

Tony Campolo and his wife Peggy have participated in very public debates and discussions
about the place of lesbians and gays within church and society. Tony Campolo contended
that homosexuality was a sin in practice, though not in orientation. His wife, Peggy Campolo,
disagreed, holding that committed, monogamous homosexual practice was not a sin; she
supports full equality for homosexual, bisexual and transsexual persons. Regarding marriage,
Tony Campolo states that all couples should have the right to a civil union with all the legal
rights that are associated with such a contract:

"I propose that the government should get out of the business of marrying people and, instead,
only give legal status to civil unions. The government should do this for both gay couples and
straight couples and, leave marriage in the hands of the Church and other religious entities."

On June 8, 2015, Tony Campolo released a statement changing his position on the issue of gay
relationships, and stating that he now supported full acceptance of Christian gay couples into
the Church. He cited several reasons including the institution of marriage primarily being
about spiritual growth instead of procreation, what he had learned through his friendships
with gay Christian couples, and past examples of exclusionary church traditions practiced
"by sincere believers, but most of us now agree that they were wrong."

                                                                        - Wikipedia section on LGBT Sexual Debates



This past weekend my wife and I attended Tony and Peggy's Campolo's discussion of gay marriage originally to be presented as a soft-debate between Tony, as a progressive traditionalist, and his wife Peggy, who speaks the progressive non-traditionalist viewpoint. No less were we attracted to the discussion because we too carry the same soft-division between one another in our own household as a married couple.

However, after scheduling the Campolo's public speaking engagement Tony later declared his support for the gay community around the same time that the U.S. civil law permitted same sex marriage. He therefore spoke apologetically of his reasons for making this personal change from traditional non-acceptance to non-traditional acceptance of gay marriage, rights, fellowship, ministry, and community.

From the audience's perspective one could tell Tony had come to this momentous conclusion in his overwrought spirit thoughtfully and compellingly. That with heavy heart and prayerful spirit he had taken pains to search out his past attitudes towards the gay community and found them to be inaccurate in assessment, and unworthy of the gospel of Christ, as a minister to the redemptive power of Jesus.

It was a courageous act and one requiring public declaration as a former traditional evangelic. As a result one of the first things Tony needed to do was to shutter the very ministry he had founded for "at-risk youth" - the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education. Primarily because it was supported by traditional Christians and churches holding to doctrines against homosexuality. He also quickly discovered public denouncement by former collegial institutions such as the stalwart evangelical magazine Christianity Today which dutifully informed their readers of Tony's change of attitude - even as he shared his great burden of spirit, searching prayers, and multitudinous biblical studies for direction and counsel from the Spirit of God.

Using the recent example of Alan Chamber's own "conversion" as the former director of Exodus International (quoted immediately below), a ministry once committed to "helping homosexual men and women become straight" (to politely quote them), Tony likewise apologized for the deep hurt and misunderstanding he had committed over the many years of his ministry to the gay community. To use the years remaining to him to learn to accept and love all his brothers and sisters in Christ, and not just some, who are to be of one spirit in the unity of the body of Christ.

So when comparing Alan Chamber's own assessments of his ministries with Tony's we may note how difficult these very personal decisions were made - and are being made - by other progressives within the body of Christ. Especially when brought home by the personal identity crisis seen and experienced in the lives of sons and daughters, spouses and friends, and perhaps even one's self.

And when recognizing this reality within humanity, to be very careful not to commit the sins of bullying, gossip, evil, and abuse, within the body of the church. But to be wise in one's words, thoughts, and behavior. And if necessary, to read and understand the latest literature written in psychology, psychiatry, gender studies, and health documents, on homosexuality. That it is more than a derogatory name, or specist condition, but a living and breathing human being standing before God and the world seeking fellowship, care, reflection, and love.

What then can we say in the aftermath of heartache, tears, guilt, and denunciation? But to encourage to err on the side of love. To do no harm. To search out the Spirit of God and seek His peace between our gay brothers and sisters, loving each unconditionally whether we agree with this or not. To be make peace with our fellow gay Christians knowing of their differences but who are likewise actively seeking the same God of love and peace as their non-gay heterosexual brothers and sisters.

For Tony, as for many progressive Christians, this is the right thing to do, and must be encouraged, given the struggle of the traditional church to honor God and His Word in all things. And especially in a day-and-age where politics and brutality would push the hot buttons of our sinful beings advocating intolerance, injustice, and merciless judgment.

To be Christ-like is to chose the harder path. The path of misunderstanding. The path of social criticism. The path which chooses to stand with those suffering injustices from both the world and the unressurected church. To seek the Spirit of God in surrendering pride so as to embrace the loveless, the despised, the reviled, and the broken.

"What would Jesus do?" He would do what should be done. He would chose the narrower path. The hard path of hatred and be found where the self-righteous dare to tread but where the godly go fearlessly to the defense and aide of the afflicted. Peace.

R.E. Slater
November 16, 2015

For a full replay of the event we listened to at Mars Hill Church go to this link here.
We thought Tony and Peggy Campolo explained their position kindly, graciously, and
positively, for the questioning church seeking reconciliation to the gay community.

Click here for video link



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Group apologizes to gay community,
shuts down 'cure' ministry

by Ed Payne, CNN
Updated 2:04 PM ET, Mon July 8, 2013

After 37 years, Exodus International, an organization whose mission was to "help" gay Christians become straight, is shutting down. But not before issuing an apology.

"We're not negating the ways God used Exodus to positively affect thousands of people, but a new generation of Christians is looking for change -- and they want to be heard," Tony Moore, an Exodus board member, said Wednesday.

The announcement comes less than a day after Exodus issued a wide-ranging apology to the gay community for "years of undue judgment by the organization and the Christian Church as a whole," a statement from the group says.

"Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we've ceased to be a living, breathing organism," said Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus. "For quite some time, we've been imprisoned in a worldview that's neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical."

Chambers, who has a wife and children and previously identified as gay, has acknowledged that he has "ongoing same-sex attractions."

"It is strange to be someone who has both been hurt by the Church's treatment of the LGBTQ community, and also to be someone who must apologize for being part of the very system of ignorance that perpetuated that hurt," Chambers said. "Today it is as if I've just woken up to a greater sense of how painful it is to be a sinner in the hands of an angry church."

New focus on a therapy

Exodus, which has promoted "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ," has de-emphasized conversion therapy in recent years as more of the counselors in its network have abandoned the practice.

The American Psychological Association defines conversion therapy as aimed at changing sexual orientation, but adopted a resolution in 2009 condemning the practice.

In it, the organization said "mental health professionals should avoid telling clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments."

But the same resolution also encouraged therapists to consider the religious beliefs of clients who say such beliefs are important to their views of homosexuality.

The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1975.

But yet with the apology, some things have not changed, according to Chambers.

"I cannot apologize for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex, but I will exercise my beliefs with great care and respect for those who do not share them," he said. "I cannot apologize for my beliefs about marriage. But I do not have any desire to fight you on your beliefs or the rights that you seek."

A new ministry

With the closing of Exodus International, the board of directors voted to begin a new and separate ministry called Reduce Fear.

"This is a new season of ministry, to a new generation," Chambers said. "Our goals are to reduce fear, and come alongside churches to become safe, welcoming and mutually transforming communities."

It's meant to align with Jesus' New Testament message found in John 13:34 -- "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

"From a Judeo-Christian perspective, gay, straight or otherwise, we're all prodigal sons and daughters," Chambers said. "Exodus International is the prodigal's older brother, trying to impose its will on God's promises, and make judgments on who's worthy of His Kingdom.

"God is calling us to be the Father -- to welcome everyone, to love unhindered."


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Building Bridges of Understanding:
Tony and Peggy Campolo on Homosexuality

The Gay Christian Community



Dr. Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern College in suburban Philadelphia, is a well-known and highly respected voice in evangelical Christianity today. Dr. Campolo is an ordained Baptist minister, a popular speaker, author of numerous books, and founder of a ministry which reaches out to poor and hurting people worldwide in the name of Jesus.

Dr. Campolo's position on homosexuality is conservative: he believes that the Bible forbids all homosexual activity. However, he does not support attempts to "convert" gays into straights; rather, he advises gay people to pursue celibacy. His position is what some refer to as "Side B."

Peggy Campolo, Dr. Campolo's wife, takes a different view. She supports monogamous, same-sex relationships, and believes that marriages should be recognized in the church for both heterosexual and homosexual couples. Peggy's position is what some refer to as "Side A."

Two committed Christians with two different views - yet they are able to share the same bed each night and respect each other's faith. How do they do it?

Tony and Peggy Campolo have spoken about their divergent opinions on homosexuality to churches and other Christian organizations. In 2003 they addressed a gathering of gay and supportive Christians on this topic. We've been given permission to make this entertaining and enlightening presentation available via the web, so just use the links below to download and listen to Tony and Peggy speak!

Part 1 - Tony (2.86 MB)

Part 2 - Peggy (2.35 MB)

Part 3 - Tony (2.08 MB)

Part 4 - Peggy (0.95 MB)

If you were impressed by this presentation, please consider visiting Tony Campolo's website to learn about supporting his ministry.


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Evangelical Progressive Tony Campolo of Red Letter Christians


From Franklin Graham to Tony Campolo, some evangelical leaders are splitting over gay marriage


June 9, 2015

Ahead of a highly anticipated Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, many evangelicals are wrestling with the question of whether you can support the issue and remain an evangelical.

Evangelicals are America’s least likely religious group to support same-sex marriage, but a handful of leaders and churches within the movement have divided publicly on the issue in recent years. Some are wondering whether the shifts are a signal of what’s to come, whether evangelicalism could fracture or whether divided evangelicals can continue to happily live under the same umbrella.

Just in the past few days, Tony Campolo announced his support for same-sex couples’ inclusion in the church, while Franklin Graham announced that he would pull Billy Graham Evangelistic Association accounts from LGBT-friendly Wells Fargo bank. On top of that, retired editor of Christianity Today David Neff announced his support for gay marriage.

The three recent cases represent different approaches within an older generation of evangelicals, a group that tends to hold financial and theological influence among other religious leaders and institutions.

“This issue will eventually break relationships: personally, congregationally and institutionally,” said Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who called today a “crucial moment.” “There’s not going to be any way around it.”

White evangelicals remain deeply opposed to same-sex marriage. Just 27 percent favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry, while 70 percent oppose it, according to the most recent survey research from the Pew Research Center. The support among evangelicals has still jumped 13 percentage points since 2005.


A shift among older evangelical leaders

Campolo, a progressive evangelical leader who counseled President Bill Clinton through the Monica Lewinsky scandal and is a sociology professor at Eastern University in Pennsylvania, announced on his Web site Monday his support for same-sex couples in the church. Most evangelical churches tend to exclude same-sex couples from membership and within leadership.

“It has taken countless hours of prayer, study, conversation and emotional turmoil to bring me to the place where I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church,” Campolo wrote in a statement.

After years of publicly taking the opposite stance of his wife, Campolo wrote that he changed his position by interacting with gay couples and studying the Bible. Ultimately, it was through his own marriage that he concluded that “marriage should always be primarily about spiritual growth” and that Christian gay couples can reflect that goal.

Campolo, who declined to be interviewed on the topic, announced in 2014 that the organization he founded nearly 40 years ago would close [sic, the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education]. At that time, he remained opposed to same-sex marriage. Campolo’s shift at 80 years old was not a surprise to some, as he stands on the progressive spectrum anyway.

“The less surprising it is, the more mainstream it’s become,” said Matthew Vines, an author and speaker working for evangelicals to become more LGBT inclusive. “Even if you knew it was coming, the fact that it came and it’s not surprising is itself a sign of changes that are happening.”

But Campolo joins a handful of Baby Boomer evangelical leaders who have shifted into supporting same-sex marriage. Just 21 percent of evangelicals who are above the age of 50 favor gays and lesbians marrying legally, compared to 37 percent of evangelicals between 18 and 49, according to Pew.

A domino effect?

After Campolo’s announcement, David Neff, retired editor in chief of Christianity Today who still writes a column for the magazine, indicated his similar support on his private Facebook account, drawing notice from some observers.

Neff confirmed his support for same-sex marriage in a statement. Neff says that he still holds a high view of biblical authority, but that he has learned to read the relevant biblical passages in a different way than he used to.

“I think the ethically responsible thing for gay and lesbian Christians to do is to form lasting, covenanted partnerships,” Neff said in a statement to CT. “I also believe that the church should help them in those partnerships in the same way the church should fortify traditional marriages.”

CT issued an editorial Tuesday, writing that “we’re saddened that David has come to this conclusion,” and “yes, another couple of prominent evangelicals have come out in support of gay sexual ethics.” The magazine that Billy Graham founded reaffirmed their position that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

“We at CT are sorry when fellow evangelicals modify their views to accord with the current secular thinking on this matter,” CT’s current editor Mark Galli wrote. “And we’ll continue to be sorry, because over the next many years, there will be other evangelicals who similarly reverse themselves on sexual ethics.”

While a small number of evangelicals appear to be shifting, including Sojourners’ Jim Wallis (who announced his support in 2013) and ethicist David Gushee (who announced his support in 2014), many evangelicals remain steadfast in their opposition to same-sex marriage.

“Evangelicals are like dominoes,” said Randall Balmer, a historian at Dartmouth University. “We’re seeing one more indication that evangelicals are moving on this issue rather dramatically, as is the rest of the culture.”

Holding the line on gay marriage

On June 5, Franklin Graham urged Christians to pull their financial support from LGBT-friendly companies like Tiffany’s, which advertises wedding bands for gay couples, and Wells Fargo bank, which has used a same-sex couple in its advertising. Graham said he will move accounts from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association out of Wells Fargo.

“This is one way we as Christians can speak out — we have the power of choice,” he posted on Facebook. “Let’s just stop doing business with those who promote sin and stand against Almighty God’s laws and His standards. Maybe if enough of us do this, it will get their attention.”

Graham ended up putting the organization’s money into a bank that that has sponsored a Gay Pride festival fundraiser. Graham’s publicist did not return requests for comment on Tuesday.

One question will be is whether evangelicals who support same-sex marriage will continue to call themselves evangelical or whether they might find a home in more progressive mainline Protestant traditions. With no official doctrine or pope, evangelicals often debate simply who gets to call themselves an evangelical.


There is no universally shared definition of “evangelical,” but one of the ways evangelicals tend to define themselves is by their regard for the Bible as the ultimate authority. For a majority of evangelicals, the concept of LGBT inclusion collides with the authority and proper interpretation of the Bible. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of white evangelicals see “a lot” of conflict between homosexuality and religious beliefs, the highest religious group to see a conflict between the two.

Overall, the percentage of Americans who support gay marriage is much higher among those who see “a little conflict” between homosexuality and their faith is much higher than those who say they see “a lot” of conflict between the two (54 percent compared to 27 percent).

A small number of evangelical churches have announced their shift on same-sex relationships in church. For instance, a prominent evangelical Christian church in San Francisco announced in March it will no longer ask members who are LGBT to remain celibate. And earlier this year, GracePointe Church in Nashville, Tenn., and Seattle’s EastLake Community Church reversed their celibacy policies.

Evangelicals in the pews don’t always follow what national leaders say publicly. Many of them do not follow what many leaders have said on support for climate change or immigration reform, for instance.

The issue reared its head in 2014 when World Vision announced it would allow its employees to be in same-sex marriages. The policy was short-lived; the $1 billion relief group reversed it within 48 hours after supporters threatened to pull donations.

Mohler also noted the number of evangelical pastors and leaders who don’t speak about same-sex marriage from the pulpit or otherwise.

“Every one of us is going to have to give an answer in short order,” Mohler said. “There are good number of evangelicals who have been trying to fly under the radar. It isn’t going to work.”