Volume 3: Issue 6
May/June 1999
Love
Table Of Contents
Cover Story: Love:
Love is the very nature of God. And since His love is spread abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit we should also have the same love nature
of God in us to love others. When we submit to God he gives us the
grace we need to allow his love to flow out to others.
I want you to assume that cross-dressing is sinful. Given that assumption, how should a Christian, a follower of Christ, respond to a cross-dresser such as myself? Are you to condemn me or love me?
Every time we challenge injustice on any level, we are acting in love, and every time we let stand the hundred thousand ways that people are demeaned or unduly privileged, we are not taking up the work that is before us. If this is love, it will be the toughest demand that is ever made on us. But if God is love, God will be present in our actions, supporting us every step of the way.
My most difficult journey has been as a lesbian Christian. It has been, at times, like leaping off a cliff in hopes that somehow, some way, God will catch me.
Gay people are not about to disappear from the face of the earth. We
have always been here and will always be here. God loves us as he
loves everyone who believes in him.
Jesus spelt out very clearly the demands of discipleship: that we love
God, and that we love each other with the same love we nurture
ourselves. There are no clauses denoting "special circumstances" which
allow us to avoid these commandments.
I suppose that one can become so focused on God's love, compassion, and mercy that one can totally forget about the many displays of God's wrath depicted in the Bible. However, the reverse is also true.
Christ has promised to walk with us in our times of trouble and sorrow. He is our family, yet He will never turn His back or cast us out for being gay. He is our closest friend, yet will not tell our secrets, dreams and fears to another.
Love is how I am able to discern that something is from God. Every time
I have been somewhere where I felt God's Presence more intensely or profoundly
than others such as my church, my support group, or around a positive friend it
never fails that I see the words, "Unconditional Love" somewhere.
Homospirituality
I have to learn to be careful when I ask
questions. The answers do come.
Legalism is a mental disorder that masquerades as religion. Suspicion
and fear are the chief characteristics of paranoid delusions and
legalism.
No matter
how bleak the single scene may seem to be, don't give up on finding someone
special. Perhaps it's better to say don't give up on someone finding you.
 Two Poems
--By: Mary Warejcka
Transgendered Spirituality:
Some people turn away from us and refuse any attempts from us to bless them. This is hard to take, but I would suggest that those are the very people who need God's blessings most of all.
So what are some ways we can be a Transgendered Blessing in our daily lives?
Over the years I have been fortunate to have many conversations with my
F2M Brothers and have found another new world so similar to mine, with the
same depth but opposite orientation. What a wonderful gift!
Features:
Rev. Dell joins Rev. Jimmy Creech as the first refugees exiled by the United Methodist Church.
In his new book Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair, he recounts the 30 years he's spent in ministry to gays and lesbians, and the struggles he had to face to even get his words out to the community.
P-FOX was started in 1996 by Religious Right activists from
Transformation Ministries, an affiliate of the ministry for ex-gays,
Exodus International and Gary Bauer's Family Research Council.
Recently, one of our bishops who is gay-friendly
appointed a priest who is a lesbian openly living in a partnership.
The Church's learned men are now debating the issue but as before
they cannot agree and have postponed judgement.
Readers sound off on what they like and dislike about Whosoever.
Readers share their praises.
From The Pulpit:
To love those who cannot help themselves means to take
seriously the understanding that the home
is a place where we not only teach values, but live the values we
teach. It also means that we understand that the
home is where we teach the Christian heritage, so that everyone within
the home can have a first-hand
knowledge of the love of God.
Be Still
--By: Rev. Paul Tellstrom At times, it does seem that we are climbing in place. And when we are at that place of doubt on the
road, we can do one of two things; cave in to our doubts and fears about our purpose in life, or hear "Be
Still and know that I am God", and we can feel that the ground is firm under our feet, and we can know that
we are not alone on our respective journeys.
Bible Study and Inspiration:
Truth is like gravity. We can defy it, but we can't escape it!
Holy Humor!
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