Comments on: LOST FAITH… AND THE JOURNEY BACK http://thelesbianlifestyle.com/2009/12/10/lost-faith-and-the-journey-back/ Mon, 21 May 2012 19:48:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sappho http://thelesbianlifestyle.com/2009/12/10/lost-faith-and-the-journey-back/comment-page-1/#comment-5752 Sappho Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:14:10 +0000 http://thelesbianlifestyle.com/?p=5195#comment-5752 To CrazyBitch... I know exactly the fellowship and transformation that can happen and that is the long journey back that I said I would be blogging about in the future. This blog was more on how vulnerable and tentative faith is when you are a child and to lose it and then regain it again takes work. I will be writing on this topic soon.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('5752','Sappho'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('5752','Sappho','To CrazyBitch...\r\n\r\nI know exactly the fellowship and transformation that can happen and that is the long journey back that I said I would be blogging about in the future. This blog was more on how vulnerable and tentative faith is when you are a child and to lose it and then regain it again takes work. I will be writing on this topic soon.'); return false;">Quote</a></div> To CrazyBitch…

I know exactly the fellowship and transformation that can happen and that is the long journey back that I said I would be blogging about in the future. This blog was more on how vulnerable and tentative faith is when you are a child and to lose it and then regain it again takes work. I will be writing on this topic soon.

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]]> By: CrazyBitch http://thelesbianlifestyle.com/2009/12/10/lost-faith-and-the-journey-back/comment-page-1/#comment-5689 CrazyBitch Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:59:04 +0000 http://thelesbianlifestyle.com/?p=5195#comment-5689 I agree with parts of your post. I grew up southern baptist...and not conventional southern baptist with a requirement that a pastor attend seminary and governing laws, etc. I grew up in a small town, country, southern baptist church where the pastor hadn't even gone to college and was merely following the line of succession in his family. His daddy was a preacher, and so he had to be a preacher, too. Southern Baptists are of the mindset that if you don't go to their church, you are going to hell. Catholics are an especially evil bunch, according to country southern baptist congregations. It's a sin to drink, to dance, to fornicate, to be gay, and for women to hold positions of power in the church. So that is how I grew up. I grew up thinking I was wrong and I was going to hell. And my mom did not try to dispel that rumor either. When I came out, she told me flat out that I was going to hell. After that, I decided that God had abandoned me, so I stopped believing. Fast forward to 2006. I met my partner. I was a self-proclaimed agnostic and she was hardcore Methodist. I told her I'd go to church with her if it would make her happy. Instead of church, I started attending Wesley Fellowship (a college Methodist ministry) with her. At first, I went for my partner. Then I made friends. I began to talk about God again. The campus minister was a woman! I was amazed! (The campus minister is now Senior Associate Pastor at my church.) After two years of just going through the motions, I started to feel again. I learned that the take home message that Jesus preached was love. God loves all of us, just the way we are. Just because we are sinners, that does not mean that God hates us. Everyone...EVERYONE is a sinner. And that's okay. So I didn't mean to preach to you. I agree that street preachers and right wing Christians use the Bible against everyone else. Using the Bible to suit your means is wrong. You can't take verses out of context. The Bible is a story and it is meant to be read that way. It is a book of lessons to be learned. And the most important message is that God LOVES us! I was baptised in May of 2009 and my partner and I joined a church. The congregation was open and welcoming to me. When we were introduced to the congregation, we were introduced as partners who have been together for three years. The entire congregation was glad to have us. They set up a booth every year at Atlanta Pride. While the Methodist church does not allow openly gay clergy to serve, and does not allow gay marriage, the important thing is, they are open and discussing it. Many churches are against even mentioning gay rights. The Methodist church, for the most part, is in constant conversation about it. Openly gay clergy will be able to serve in the Methodist church in my lifetime, I can feel it. And they will change their mind about allowing their clergy to perform gay marriages. You just have to have faith.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('5689','CrazyBitch'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('5689','CrazyBitch','I agree with parts of your post. I grew up southern baptist...and not conventional southern baptist with a requirement that a pastor attend seminary and governing laws, etc. I grew up in a small town, country, southern baptist church where the pastor hadn\'t even gone to college and was merely following the line of succession in his family. His daddy was a preacher, and so he had to be a preacher, too. Southern Baptists are of the mindset that if you don\'t go to their church, you are going to hell. Catholics are an especially evil bunch, according to country southern baptist congregations. It\'s a sin to drink, to dance, to fornicate, to be gay, and for women to hold positions of power in the church. So that is how I grew up. I grew up thinking I was wrong and I was going to hell. And my mom did not try to dispel that rumor either. When I came out, she told me flat out that I was going to hell. After that, I decided that God had abandoned me, so I stopped believing. \r\n\r\nFast forward to 2006. I met my partner. I was a self-proclaimed agnostic and she was hardcore Methodist. I told her I\'d go to church with her if it would make her happy. Instead of church, I started attending Wesley Fellowship (a college Methodist ministry) with her. At first, I went for my partner. Then I made friends. I began to talk about God again. The campus minister was a woman! I was amazed! (The campus minister is now Senior Associate Pastor at my church.) After two years of just going through the motions, I started to feel again. I learned that the take home message that Jesus preached was love. God loves all of us, just the way we are. Just because we are sinners, that does not mean that God hates us. Everyone...EVERYONE is a sinner. And that\'s okay. \r\n\r\nSo I didn\'t mean to preach to you. I agree that street preachers and right wing Christians use the Bible against everyone else. Using the Bible to suit your means is wrong. You can\'t take verses out of context. The Bible is a story and it is meant to be read that way. It is a book of lessons to be learned. And the most important message is that God LOVES us! \r\n\r\nI was baptised in May of 2009 and my partner and I joined a church. The congregation was open and welcoming to me. When we were introduced to the congregation, we were introduced as partners who have been together for three years. The entire congregation was glad to have us. They set up a booth every year at Atlanta Pride. While the Methodist church does not allow openly gay clergy to serve, and does not allow gay marriage, the important thing is, they are open and discussing it. Many churches are against even mentioning gay rights. The Methodist church, for the most part, is in constant conversation about it. Openly gay clergy will be able to serve in the Methodist church in my lifetime, I can feel it. And they will change their mind about allowing their clergy to perform gay marriages. You just have to have faith.'); return false;">Quote</a></div> I agree with parts of your post. I grew up southern baptist…and not conventional southern baptist with a requirement that a pastor attend seminary and governing laws, etc. I grew up in a small town, country, southern baptist church where the pastor hadn’t even gone to college and was merely following the line of succession in his family. His daddy was a preacher, and so he had to be a preacher, too. Southern Baptists are of the mindset that if you don’t go to their church, you are going to hell. Catholics are an especially evil bunch, according to country southern baptist congregations. It’s a sin to drink, to dance, to fornicate, to be gay, and for women to hold positions of power in the church. So that is how I grew up. I grew up thinking I was wrong and I was going to hell. And my mom did not try to dispel that rumor either. When I came out, she told me flat out that I was going to hell. After that, I decided that God had abandoned me, so I stopped believing.

Fast forward to 2006. I met my partner. I was a self-proclaimed agnostic and she was hardcore Methodist. I told her I’d go to church with her if it would make her happy. Instead of church, I started attending Wesley Fellowship (a college Methodist ministry) with her. At first, I went for my partner. Then I made friends. I began to talk about God again. The campus minister was a woman! I was amazed! (The campus minister is now Senior Associate Pastor at my church.) After two years of just going through the motions, I started to feel again. I learned that the take home message that Jesus preached was love. God loves all of us, just the way we are. Just because we are sinners, that does not mean that God hates us. Everyone…EVERYONE is a sinner. And that’s okay.

So I didn’t mean to preach to you. I agree that street preachers and right wing Christians use the Bible against everyone else. Using the Bible to suit your means is wrong. You can’t take verses out of context. The Bible is a story and it is meant to be read that way. It is a book of lessons to be learned. And the most important message is that God LOVES us!

I was baptised in May of 2009 and my partner and I joined a church. The congregation was open and welcoming to me. When we were introduced to the congregation, we were introduced as partners who have been together for three years. The entire congregation was glad to have us. They set up a booth every year at Atlanta Pride. While the Methodist church does not allow openly gay clergy to serve, and does not allow gay marriage, the important thing is, they are open and discussing it. Many churches are against even mentioning gay rights. The Methodist church, for the most part, is in constant conversation about it. Openly gay clergy will be able to serve in the Methodist church in my lifetime, I can feel it. And they will change their mind about allowing their clergy to perform gay marriages. You just have to have faith.

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]]> By: ChaoticGRRL http://thelesbianlifestyle.com/2009/12/10/lost-faith-and-the-journey-back/comment-page-1/#comment-5681 ChaoticGRRL Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:56:48 +0000 http://thelesbianlifestyle.com/?p=5195#comment-5681 I completely agree, but of the 3 major religions in the western world, Islam, Judaism and Christianity have stringent "laws" against homosexuality. I know you're writing based on your perspective, but just to cut anyone whining, it is each of the previously mentioned religions. Not just Christianity, but you're absolutely right.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('5681','ChaoticGRRL'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('5681','ChaoticGRRL','I completely agree, but of the 3 major religions in the western world, Islam, Judaism and Christianity have stringent \"laws\" against homosexuality. I know you\'re writing based on your perspective, but just to cut anyone whining, it is each of the previously mentioned religions. Not just Christianity, but you\'re absolutely right.'); return false;">Quote</a></div> I completely agree, but of the 3 major religions in the western world, Islam, Judaism and Christianity have stringent “laws” against homosexuality. I know you’re writing based on your perspective, but just to cut anyone whining, it is each of the previously mentioned religions. Not just Christianity, but you’re absolutely right.
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