tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17540148.post115073851120961408..comments2023-08-23T08:45:53.071-06:00Comments on Paradoxy: Christ-likeEugenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05431724892247691165noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17540148.post-1152762165821744582006-07-12T21:42:00.000-06:002006-07-12T21:42:00.000-06:00The only problem is, the people who need to read t...<I>The only problem is, the people who need to read them never will... because they don't read the thoughts of "Godless homosexuals."</I><BR/><BR/>In many cases, true. But then again the author of much of the New Testament started out as a zealous persecutor of Christians, so there's always hope.Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05431724892247691165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17540148.post-1152693800552253262006-07-12T02:43:00.000-06:002006-07-12T02:43:00.000-06:00These are great words, brother.The only problem is...These are great words, brother.<BR/><BR/>The only problem is, the people who need to read them never will... because they don't <I>read</I> the thoughts of "Godless homosexuals."<BR/><BR/>Two years ago I wrote <A HREF="http://ragarambler.blogspot.com/2004/06/incompatible-with-christian-teaching.html" REL="nofollow">this little treatise</A> on what the United Methodist Church had declared "incompatible with Christian teaching." The hypocrisy in that little decision <I>still</I> gags me.<BR/><BR/>It's been 25 years since the authors of <I>Is The Homosexual My Neighbor</I> wrote in their preface that "The question that makes up the title of this book shouldn't be necessary." Or, as the old billboards used to say, "What part of 'love thy neighbor' didn't you understand? - God."<BR/><BR/>:::sigh:::Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13286849248756070621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17540148.post-1151508190225469362006-06-28T09:23:00.000-06:002006-06-28T09:23:00.000-06:00Peterson,Good points. I think I'll put my respons...Peterson,<BR/><BR/>Good points. I think I'll put my response to them in a separate post, since a lot of people might miss them here in the comment section.Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05431724892247691165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17540148.post-1151495728657104122006-06-28T05:55:00.000-06:002006-06-28T05:55:00.000-06:00Here's a little equation I've been working on--Per...Here's a little equation I've been working on--<BR/><BR/>Perfect Love casts out Fear<BR/><BR/>Therefore the opposite of love is not hate, but fear. <BR/><BR/>When I espoused the beliefs that gays and other "heretics" went to hell for their sins, I did so out of fear. The God of love did not compel me to picket abortion clinics, preach hell fire and brimstone on street corners (while handing out Chick tracts) and to practically destroy myself through impossible ex-gay transformation.<BR/><BR/>What motivated me was fear--fear that if we don't eradicate evil, society will unravel and we will all go to hell in a handbasket. "Tough Love" shielded me from a world that terrified me and threatened my beliefs and challenged my hidden desires. <BR/><BR/>Tough Love does save; it contains and that only for a time and at great cost. <BR/><BR/>But in spite of all the walls I set up, the weapons I hurled at family and friends, Love found me and helped me to stop the war within. "Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away."<BR/><BR/>Thank you Eugene for your insight.Peterson Toscanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18189029949905668568noreply@blogger.com