Volume 3, Issue 4

Hope

Cover Stories

Esqueertology: Gay Christians’ Right To Hope
By Candace Chellew
The most powerful word ever used by Jesus was “whosoever” and that means gay believers have a place in the ultimate plan of God. Despite all the despair and seeming hopelessness faced by gay Christians, we still have a right to hope, that ultimately, we too, will be part of the kingdom of God.

When Hope Is Hard To Find
By John H. Campbell
Being a bisexual male, the last place I ever expected to find hope was in God, but it was only through my faith in God and in the accepting and liberating teachings about what God is really all about that Jesus died to give us that I eventually did find hope, affirmation, self-acceptance, inner peace, and harmony.

Truth That Restores Hope
By Dr. Rembert S. Truluck
The freedom to live in the hope that Jesus gives is being denied to many homosexuals by homophobic religious demands and promises that are based on abusive use of the Bible and on flawed and discredited psychology. The truth, however, will set you free.

All Other Ground Is Sinking Sand
By Caroline Mason
Our hope is still where it always has been. It is found in Jesus Christ.

A Healing Hope
By Jeff Hostetler
I gave up on God and gave up on myself. I was tired of being sick and tired and gave in to HIV. I actually wanted to die.

A Hope Tested
By Katherine Cecilia-Louise Henne
As Gays, Lesbians, Transsexuals and Bisexuals our hope is put to the test as we are victimized and discriminated against every day.

Hope Beyond Hope
By Marcus D. Gilliland
We as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians strive to answer the call to love and worship the eternal and supernatural Creator of the universe, we must hold onto the hope that there is something better than this world.

My Hope
By Cindy Davis
I will listen to God. I have put my hope in Him. I do not belong to this world. I have to live in it but I am not a part of it.

Gifts of Hope
By Maggie Canaday
My hope had been whittled away by years of mistreatment and what I perceived as wasted prayers, I was down to just one last hope. Hope of a new life, of being loved, safe, and well nourished.

Why I Have Hope
By Dave Reid

More Thoughts on Hope
By Brian Croft and Robert de los Santos

Homospirituality

Life After Exodus
By Thom Cooper
During my involvement with the group, I did everything I was instructed to do in order to change what was in my head–fasting, prayer therapy, confession, crying into my pillow, guilt, seeking to find the cause of my gayness.

The Intelligent God
By L. Louise
Don’t make me work or think about God. Just tell me who God is and tell me what is O.K. to do and what isn’t. That’s where many of our Christian brothers and sisters are, in their walk with Christ.

Will You Go Out Without Knowing?
By David Pettitt
I received a Calling of the Holy Spirit on November 11, 1996, to plant an MCC Church in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. I had left an exceptionally great job after 8 years, and couldn’t really understand WHY.

Room To Grow
By Laura Gantt
A nagging realization began to grow within me. I liked women. In fact, I was very much attracted to women. I vacillated between feeling shameful, and hopeful.

Features

John Paulk in Wonderland: A Review of “Not Afraid to Change”
By Dr. Rembert S. Truluck
John Paulk along with his “former lesbian” wife Anne have become symbols of the “Ex-Gay” push for acceptance and approval of “reparative therapy” and religious transformation of homosexuals into heterosexuals.

The Ex-Gay Fraud: A Review of “A Strong Delusion”
By Dr. Rembert S. Truluck
The statistics that Joe Dallas uses in his book to equate homosexuality with child molesting and the destruction of family values are ludicrous and without validity. I found it very difficult to read the book because of the clutter of unsubstantiated “facts” and “evidence” that could not hold up under any objective examination.

A Letter of Love to The Rev. Fred Phelps
By Rev. Tim Collier
As I reflect on your crusades I find myself asking whether your consuming hatred is really a public cry for help. By this I mean are you telling us that you have lost your relationship with God?

Letters to the Editor

Readers Give Praise!

From the Pulpit

A Laughing Hope
By Patricia de Jong
When the improbable is mistaken for the impossible, at that moment when we actually believe that our spirits are wasting away, as our bodies are, and God couldn’t possibly have any more surprises in store for us, at that moment when we have settled in to things the way they are, instead of things the way they can be through the hope of God.

When God Loves the World
By Russell L. Bennett
But what is it that is strong enough to bind together the warring opposites inside us? What is it that is great enough to embrace all our pain and all our fears? What is it that can stop the biting serpents? The answer of the text, and the answer of the Gospel, is the love of God, a love greater than which, and stronger than which, nothing can be conceived.

Bible Study and Inspiration

Religious Legalism Meets Cross-Dressing
By Rachel Miller
The ridicule and rejection of cross-dressers as expressed by mainstream society is so strong that the most consistent advice I have received from others was to never tell anyone! There is an incredible fear that we will lose our wives, our children, our jobs; everything of importance. That fear becomes even more palpable for those who wish to have a personal relationship with God.

Meditating on Creation: A New Interpretation of Romans
By Murdoch Matthew
To understand the relation of this passage to our present-day lives, I don’t think it is necessary to go on and on about how the first century understood sexuality or the sorts of perversions that may have put Paul off. The overriding question is, Is Paul correct in his main point?

Leviticus and the Law
By David Mundy
On first reading, the text appears to be unequivocal in its condemnation of physical relations between members of the same sex, and the prescribed penalty for such behavior is death. Such an extreme reaction merits close attention to context.

Holy Humor

Why God Never Received Tenure

Did Jesus Use a Modem?