Comment on Alan Chambers

"I have been asked by several people to comment on Alan Chambers', president of Exodus International, recent announcement of the closing of the ministry and his apology to homosexuals who have been hurt by the ministry.

I've read Chambers' apology in its entirety (http://exodusinternational.org/2013/06/i-am-sorry/) without reading any commentaries written by others.

Time precludes me from writing a detailed evaluation. In a matter of hours I will board a plane to London (UK) for a two-week mission trip to that great and desperately, spiritually dark city.

In brief, here's what stood out to me.

1. Chambers seems very sincere in his apology.

2. Chambers made his decision, in part, as a result of conversation with and counsel received by two unsaved women who applaud the sin of homosexuality.

3. Chambers is influenced by and comforted in his decision to apologize by the life of a Roman Catholic Archbishop who heads the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.

4. Chambers apology exemplifies a "free grace" (no repentance necessary) view of salvation (for more regarding "free grace" theology - http://www.gotquestions.org/free-grace.html).

5. Exodus International is an example of what happens when the Gospel is secondary in ministry.

6. Exodus International is an example of the dangers of para-church ministry--when leaders, leadership models, and mission statements are determined by men and women who seek to do ministry apart from and out from under the leadership and authority of the local church.

7. There's nothing new, here. Time to refocus my attention on the trip to London."-Tony Miano

http://www.freedomrequireswings.com/2013/06/exodus-international-shuts-down-leader.html#read

Come And Rest in Me

By Tyrell L. Samuels

Why doth thou despair? 

Dost thou loveth thy life too much? 

Why hast thou not found Me sweeter than all life hast to offer? 

Why hast thou not called it dung in light of knowing Me? 

Come and rest in Me, and find your hunger safe at ease. 

What are these tears you drip so well? 

Why have you fallen to your knees? 

Have thou not found Me sweet? 

Sweeter than all your treats. 

Have I not made that too? 

That which you took to be so great...is it lovlier than I? 

How long wilt thou wait, till thou come and rest in Me?

What is it that anguishes you?

By Tyrell L. Samuels

What is it that anguishes you? What keeps you down? 

If I could scarcely please the Lord, 

all would be right with me. 

Alas, Christ has did it, 

He has lived the perfect life. 

And He has granted His life to me, 

and now I can please the Lord. 

What else matters in this otherwise vain life 

other than pleasing the Lord? 

He is God and He is Creator 

and if all is right with Him and I, 

then all is right with me. 

All that caused me ill and gloom has been expunged on the cross. 

This is Joy, this is joy...but joy awaits me still,

For joy I now live, for all is right with me.

More Than An Object

"The whole idea of Rape in a culture that slaughters the concept of Modesty intrigues me I have to say. I mean really, how many women out there are actually opposed to being raped? Is that a silly question? No, think about it with me...It's enough that men are immensely prone to undressing women with their eyes and fantasizing about them Regardless of what a woman wears. But that women would intentionally wear clothes that either are too tight or bear too much skin is all puzzling to say the least. So hear we have two sinners. One, the man who can scarcely bridle his desire to rape the woman with his eyes...even with the power of God, and the woman who Begs to be raped by the message her clothing gives. Are they both merely products of innate or learned folly?

So we have the man who rapes, and the woman who begs to be raped (And yes, she begs this whether she is conscious of it or not)...and yet this is a scandal to them both...

That makes no sense...what has sin wrought on mankind, but utter insanity!!! If Christ have not mercy, then Damn that man for rape and violating that woman and her husband. And Damn that woman too for soliciting her body to be violated. She has no respect for herself and has thus provoked her own rape. Do this, lest Christ have mercy on them both."

What shall we say about women in bikinis? They hide their shame at the beach, and flaunt their husband's glory to all the world. She does so in splendor and pomp. She is delighted to have all men (and women) delight in the parts of her body that are the most vain. Now, take that same woman and put her in a girl's locker room. Give her a bra and panties and then enter a man in that locker room. What do you think she will do? She will cover up in Embarrassment. Why does she have shame in the locker room and not on the beach or at the pool? In that locker room, she would feel all the horror of being Violated. But on the beach she glories in her shame. This should not be so. It is good for a woman to wear what is proper in public, something that is modest and does not shame her honor. All women have honor, because they are created in the image of God. You think my message is hateful? No, I share these things because I LOVE WOMEN! I love them so much that it breaks my heart every single time I see a woman slanders her own character by dressing like a WHORE. And I must certainly say that this summer...most American women will be dressing like whores. This is a message of love. Ladies, cover up and loosen your clothing. I think you're precious and no one deserves to see you in such a manner except your husband. You might stick out like a sore thumb, but at least you will have dignity and honor...which is worth far more than popular and fleeting opinion. Most men can't help but violate you with their thoughts as you walk by...it's not love, or good attention (though you may have been seeking this by your dress) it's just plain violation. We men, most of us can't help but see you as objects without you provoking us to do so. Don't give us a reason. Carry as your crown your good character, not a butt some breasts and thighs. If you esteem these things, men will have little excuse but to see you as nothing but those objects. I suspect that you want to be more than an object in a man's mind...right?

God is Sufficient

If I was stripped of everything, and this fallen world gave me its worst, the Holy One of Israel would shout atop the highest mountain declaring "I AM SUFFICIENT!" In the worst times God is still sufficient to be your joy and your treasure. May He be exceedingly sweet in all your trials.

Beautiful

Do Not be Deceived!

Do you make much of Christ, or much of gaining wealth?  Many deceive themselves into thinking it is God's will that they pursue wealth. They justify it with good intentions and advancing the kingdom. If God is about His glory, I can say with much peace that God indeed uses some of His people to gain wealth to advance His Gospel but chances are, it's not you who spends the greater part of his thoughts thinking up new ways to get cash.

Don't be deceived, how much time and purpose have you wasted trying to get wealth? Be honest, you want it for yourself. God is no fool. You can't want cash and Christ. Cash for the kingdom usually comes to those who aren't pursuing it so that they would use it all for His glory. If you're really pursuing wealth and new schemes to get rich please examine your heart. Don't waste your life. I've never met a man that said "I want to think of a new way to make a million dollars so I can send missionaries to foreign countries." But I've heard of many men who've said, I want to glorify God, to live is Christ, to die is gain... now Lord please provide for your glory, use my gifts and resources to provide for Your mission. YES, I'M TALKING TO YOU!

Look at your news feed on facebook. Is there an outpour over the majesty of Christ, and His Gospel? Are you weeping over your sins? Are you coming to the Cross? Or is your timeline filled with marketing schemes and new business ventures every month?

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning gaining wealth, this is a heart issue. There are alot of rich young rulers out there (and some rich old rulers). Oh, and feel free to insert "Success" for wealth in my status. This applies to you too.

Are You Performing Or Pretending?

Notes from Book/study The Gospel-Centered life

Pretending minimizes sin by making ourselves out to be something we are not.
Performing minimizes God's holiness by reducing His standard to something we can meet, thereby meriting His favor.
Both are rooted in an inadequate view of God's holiness and our identity.

Because of indwelling sin, we are prone to forget the Gospel. When we are not anchored in the truth of the Gospel, our love for Jesus and our experience of His goodness become very small. We end up "shrinking the cross" by either pretending or performing.

If we are not resting in Jesus' righteousness, this growing awareness of our sin becomes a crushing weight. We buckle under it's load and compensate by pretending that we're better than we really are. Pretending can take many forms : dishonesty ("I'm not that bad"), comparison ("I'm not as bad as those people"), excuse making ("I'm not really that way"), and false righteousness ("Here are all the good things I've done"). Because we don't want to admit how sinful we really are, we spin the truth in our favor.

If we are not rooted in God's acceptance of us through Jesus, we compensate by trying to earn God's approval through our performance. We live a life on a treadmill, trying to gain God's favor by living up to his expectations (or our mistaken view of them).

To discern your subtle tendencies toward pretending, ask yourself this question: what do you count on to give you a sense of "personal credibility" (validity, acceptance, good standing)? Your answer to that question will often reveal something (besides Jesus) in which you find righteousness.

When we are not firmly rooted in the gospel, we rely on these false sources of righteousness to build our reputation and give us a sense of worth and value. (Think of anything that gives you a sense of being "good enough" or better than others.) These sources of functional righteousness disconnect us from the power of the gospel. They allow us to find righteousness in what we do instead of honestly confronting the depth of our sin and brokenness. Furthermore, each of these sources of righteousness is also a way of judging and excluding others! We use them to elevate ourselves and condemn those who aren't as "righteous" as we are. In other words, finding righteousness in these things leads us into more sin, not less.

Do you picture God as disappointed? Angry? Indifferent? Does his face say "Get your act together!" or "If only you could do a little more of me!" If you imagined God as anything but overjoyed with you, you have fallen into a performance mindset. Because the Gospel truth is that in Christ, God is deeply satisfied with you. In fact based on Jesus' work, God has adopted you as his own son or daughter (Gal 4:7)! But when we fail to root our identity in what Jesus has done for us, we slip into performance driven Christianity.

Performance-driven Christianity is actually a minimizing of God's holiness. Thinking we can impress God with our "right living" shows that we've reduced his standards far below what they actually are. Rather than being awed by the infinite measure of His holy perfection, we have convinced ourselves that if we just try hard enough, we can merit God's love and approval.

Our subtle tendencies toward pretending and performing show that failing to believe the gospel is the root of all our more observable sins. As we learn to apply the gospel to our unbelief to "preach the gospel  to ourselves" we will find ourselves freed from the false security of pretending and performing. Instead we will live in the true joy and freedom promised to us by Jesus.