Forgive me if that question offends you, but after watching the over coverage of the Massachusetts same-sex marriage battle and the under coverage of the 50th anniversary of a true American hallmark, the Brown vs. the Board of Education victory, I believe no holiday is safe from being usurped.
Fifty years ago, on May 17, 1954, this country witnessed the end of segregation in our nation’s public schools with the renowned court case Brown vs. the Board of Education. You’d think there would have been more media fanfare of this important milestone. Black Americans, both those who led the courageous fight to see racial oppression and inequality end and those that today benefit from that liberation, deserved better. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much reported on the anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education on the nations airwaves because members of the Gay Elite hijacked a legitimate civil rights triumph with their battle for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and trumped Black Americans for coverage.
Hijacking has become commonplace for members of the Gay Elite. For instance, in the 1950’s ‘gay’ was a term commonly used to describe happiness and joy. In the late 1960’s homosexual activists stole the word from the American language and today ‘gay’ is synonymous with the word homosexual. It may seem insignificant to you, but I assure you commandeering a word meaning ‘happiness’ was extremely calculated and helped to begin the watering down process of how our society views homosexuality and those who identify as homosexual.
Another example of this hijacking involved the rainbow. Once a secular and Christian symbol for promise and hope, today the only rainbow stickers, signs and flags you’ll find are on the bumpers, porches and t-shirts of those who identify as ‘gay’. Indeed, there is no mistaking the move towards equating the rainbow’s message of hope and promise with the gayness of homosexuality. In the early 1990’s when I was living as a self-identified homosexual man, the ‘gay’ community co-opted another term; this time it was one that carried far more weight and had much greater worth: the word family. In my ‘gay’ days we began to identify our own as ‘family’.
The polls in America are clear: black, white and Hispanic, Republican and Democrat, male and female Americans overwhelmingly support marriage as the union involving one man and one woman for one lifetime. Yesterday, however, homosexuals became beneficiaries of an incredibly successful and well fought campaign to overhaul the way America views them. Fifteen short years ago homosexuality was a moral taboo, an inappropriate topic of conversation on sitcoms, in the news, at the dinner table and in public. Today, same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts and on its way to your state, town and neighborhood, like it or not. The incredibly organized, politically powerful and well-funded Gay Elite have won this battle that will redefine the foundation of what every society since the beginning of time has held dear: marriage. The amount of opposition homosexuals felt as they fought to redefine marriage felt about as powerful as a strong breeze on a warm day at Disney—you know, the home of the annual ‘Gay Days’ event that draws tens of thousands of ‘gays’ to Orlando on the first Saturday of June.
I believe we have only ourselves to blame. While a faithful few have been battling to preserve marriage by trying to rally the troops at great personal cost, unfortunately the majority of conservative Americans, politicians and even Christians have seemingly sat idly by and done nothing. Many Americans were content to watch this on the news and chose not to stand up for what they believe. Honestly, I believe that a great number of Americans are apathetic, inwardly focused, embroiled in their own perversions or so passive that it would take a catastrophe to move them. If you do not know what to do, ask those of us who are on the forefront of this battle and we will gladly put you to work!
It’s not too late. I believe that our only hope is for the Church to rise up, put its hand up to the advancement of immorality, inside and outside the Church, and its hand out for those needing to be liberated from the captivity of sexual sin. Hero Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best: “The Church is neither the master of the state nor the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.” I am praying that America’s conscience is restored and that the Church is victorious.
Hope and Possibility
This morning as I was praying with my staff I thanked the Lord for the fact that in Him we have hope and possibility. I thanked Him for that because I am a visionary, a perfectionist, for all intents and purposes, a dreamer. I don't often live in the here and now, but rather in the "what can be." And, while I think that kind of living is a gift at times, I also know that it can be one of my greatest weaknesses. Okay, I will stop writing like I am the only one who will read this so you will be able to follow....
A weakness of this particular gifting is that I can easily lose touch with reality. I can get so caught up in the big picture that I forget that it takes daily steps and hardwork and details to achieve vision and dreams. Another weakness is that on the rare occasions that visionaries come out of the clouds they can easily sink into disappointment, depression and even despair because reality sometimes bites!
Yesterday a dear friend called me and alerted me to the possibility of an enormous gift, the biggest of its kind, being given to Exodus. Though my friend was unsure, at best, and, at worst, thought the possibility to be unlikely, he called and urged my staff to pray. Pray we did.
Dream sequence begins....I envisioned amazing things. I saw Exodus having an actual savings account, began listing what ministries we would tithe 10% of the gift to, adding key staff positions, buying a building of our very own--all which would help us strategically and more effectively fulfill our Kingdom mission.
At the end of the day I received a second call from my friend and, as he had suspected, the immediate possibility would not come to fruition. BUT, there would be more opportunities to petition for grants and gifts in the near future.
Honestly, this morning I am still excited. As I prayed, the Lord reminded me that in Him hope springs eternal and that possibilities are endless. Some might say God dangled a carrot and cruelly yanked it away. I don't see it or feel that way. God showed me that in Him enormity is possible. He tested my faith and I am better for it. I believed He would be faithful, which He was and that He would answer, which He did. And, I am renewed in my faith that He has great plans, gifts and lessons in store for Exodus, my team and for Leslie and me. I pray that I am always faithful in thought and deed and that He continues refining me in His purifying fire. I also pray that I never forget what it is like to need Him, to feel desperate and incapable.
I would rather have hope and nothing else than to have everything and no hope.
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