six11ministries

I received this message from Exodus Youth:

Exodus Youth Analyst Mike Ensley will be interviewed on The Alan Colmes Show at 11:00 p.m. EST. He will be discussing his recent article, What To Do If Your Child is Gay, which was published in this month’s edition of Charisma magazine and will be debating gay activist Wayne Besen. You can call in to the show and ask the guests questions at: 1-877-367-2526 and you can get more information on the show at: http://www.foxnews.com/radio/alancolmes/. Please pray that the Truth will go forward!

Below I posted a link about the Day of Silence that’s coming up on the 25.  Also added to that post is a link about the Golden Rule, which comes along side of the Day of Silence, asking Christians alike to help end the senseless attacks on homosexuals teens by carrying out the words of JESUS - love your neighbor.

The Golden Rule isn’t asking to embrace the lifestyle of homosexuality, rather to embrace the person - just as JESUS would.  It’s simple.  Profound.  Greatly needed.  Affirmative.

While I was google-ing around the net, I came accross another Christian campaign, called the Day of Truth, which will be hosted on April 28.  The entire premise of this campaign is to expose the lies of the Day of Silence:

The Day of Truth was established to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective.

The Day of Truth is scheduled for April 28, 2008. This is three days after GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) will sponsor the “Day of Silence.” GLSEN’s Day of Silence encourages students to remain silent throughout the day. It is part of their overall strategy to change how our society perceives homosexual behavior. But the Day of Silence is a misnomer, because what is truly being silenced is the Truth

Something is wrong.  I don’t understand.

I think every campaign - Christian or non-Christian - has an agenda.  And yes, I am sure that many will participate in the Day of Silence and come away thinking some kosher thoughts about homosexuality.  Will the day be slanted?  Maybe.  But does that mean our Christian society has to blacklist the main point of this day?  All agenda’s aside, I think one of the main points of the Day of Silence is to bring awareness that students are getting killed, attacked, threatened in school because of their sexual orientation.  This campaign is asking for action to stop the negative/costly reaction against homosexual teens.

As a former teen who was ‘out and about’ in my high school, and as one who has received death threats from other students, I applaud this action.  I know what it feels like to be harassed at school - especially by ‘Bible-thumping-Christians’ who sooner condemn me to hell than speak about GOD’S salvation.  I know what it feels like to be called ‘Faggot’ instead of using your real name.  I know what it feels like to be the blunt of jokes, to have things be thrown at you because you walk weird, to have people imitate you’re ‘gayish-voice’ so dramatically that you’re afraid to speak in front of the class some days.  I know what students go through … and I’m sick of it.  I missed too many school days because of ignorance, and I experienced too many suicide attempts because of the suppressed pain.  ‘Safe places’ are hard to find when you’re a gay teenager - if home and school are dangerous places, where else can they go to be safe … the streets?

As I’m writing this, the question that keeps coming up within me is this: where’s the churches ‘day of silence’?  Where’s the churches response to the hate going on in schools, especially towards gay students?  Granite there’s the Golden Rule … but why has it taken so long for the Golden Rule of CHRIST to peek it’s head?  Why weren’t Christians the first to respond to this crisis … why are we always the last ones to show up?

For a day, can we look past our differences and respond in love?  Can we, for one day, be the church that upholds the identity of CHRIST, and not a people that hold up protest signs?

Here’s another article about gay teens within a youth ministry. Below is just me summary of the article that I had to write for a college class. As one who works within youth ministry, I struggle with students and their reactions to those who are ‘different’ - especially teens who struggle with homosexuality. As you may tell, I’m quite passionate about reaching out to gay teens and youth ministry in general. What can I say, it’s been laid on my heart … ignore it not.

Anyways, here’s my sum of the article:

Whether we want to admit it or not, by now our students have faced homosexuality in three ways: they know someone who is gay, they’re ‘out of the closet’, or peers have called them gay. Regardless which situation best fits our students, as youth pastors we need to accept the truth that within our youth ministries homosexuality is an issue – one that is most often overlooked and/or ignored by us as ministers. Kelli Trujillo calls us all out on the carpet how we are and how we’re not ministering to the issue of homosexuality within our youth ministries. She states, “Christian teens are battered by messages about sexuality every day … that any sexual lifestyle is okay”, yet on the opposite end “they hear that homosexuality is a sin … they also hear jokes [about gays] from their Christian friends, families”. It’s no wonder that our students have a mixed message about this issue.

While we promote the truth that “the grace of JESUS can change any life … gays and lesbians are the church’s modern-day lepers” hearing a different message being communicated through words and actions: “GOD’S love is unconditional … but not for you”. I know what that message feels like, because I’ve had that message ‘spoken’ to me over and over again throughout my years of struggling with homosexuality. It sucks; and it’s a message that drives a deep wedge between a Father and HIS child.

Trujillo calls us to a higher standard of youth ministry by asking us to mimic how JESUS responded to the sinful woman in John 8, and applying HIS approach to how we approach gay teens in our youth ministries: preventing the attack of others, granting the student dignity and respect, and provide hope of new life. Likewise, Trujillo calls us to re-evaluate our ministries by revamping student’s vocabulary, downsizing the sin spectrum, and modeling radical love.

Youth Specialties received an anonymous letter on their message boards one day, and instead of responding with a single reply, they opened it up to others. Below is a summary of how other youth pastors responded.

One youth pastor stated that he knows exactly how the boy feels, as he himself was one who came out of the homosexual lifestyle. He notes that, “After coming to CHRIST, I thought my homosexual feelings would take care of themselves. They didn’t”. He goes on to say, “After a few years of suffering in silence … real healing didn’t start until I received pastoral counseling, and GOD began to reveal the roots of homosexuality in my life”. These roots, he explains, may be different for everyone but nonetheless they deal with rejection from parents and peers, sexual abuse, and unhealthy ‘same-sex’ relationships. I agree with the writer when he says, “GOD did not create you gay. It only feels that way”. He urges the teen that while GOD will heal him, he is going to need support. He then goes on to list some areas of support to contact.

Another youth pastor states that while we have questions about life “we don’t always get to figure out the whys in this life”. Where another pastor affirms the truth, “You can’t be a Christian and live a gay lifestyle. It’s like saying to a friend, ‘Yeah, I’m married – but I have a girlfriend, too’”. Going off of that, another youth pastor comments, “But whether you believe you were born with homosexual desires or not, it doesn’t change the fact that GOD gives us the ability, through HIS power and grace, to choose the right way”.

All the responses were great to read and affirming to the teen. Though, as in every ‘debate’, there was one who made a push for the pro-gay agenda, stating that we don’t really know what the Bible says about homosexuality.

The teen never responded back as far as I know.