Questions 2016 - Part II

How do you know when God is talking to you?

First of all, don't expect a big, booming voice or a blinding light. The Apostle Paul got those, and maybe a few others throughout biblical history, but most of us have to learn to "culture" hearing God's voice. For most of us, God speaks in the quiet of our soul, in a restful, meditative moment, or in the advice or counsel of someone we love and respect. So, if you have been praying about something for which you need an answer, get yourself to a quite place more regularly, and "listen to your life." Any positive, caring "word" you hear within yourself may indeed be God's voice for you. Frankly, when I've been praying for guidance or for a specific answer to something, I find it hits me in the shower--a sudden, serendipitous thought, or "ah-HA" moment just arrives and stares me in the face as the water is "waking me up." Sometimes, when I am driving a long distance, I turn off XM radio and just do a little pondering and listening, and in the rumination of those moments, ideas occur, which I know to be God's voice, often in retrospect. If you are seeking God's guidance, go talk to a person of faith you respect. Let them know what's on your mind, or what's troubling you. In their thoughts and counsel, you may get your answer. Most of all, spend some regular time with God, through prayer, meditating on a passage of scripture, or in worship with your faith community! How better to "get to know" someone's voice than by spending time with them. This is most likely what Jesus meant when he said, "I am the Good Shepherd," and "My sheep know my voice."


As a pastor, why is working for inclusion of LGBTQ persons so important to you, when some other pastors I know say that it is our job to bring them to repentance?

LGBTQ people need to repent, but no more than any of the rest of us. And since science, medicine, and modern psychology tell us that our sexual orientation is on a "spectrum," and that persons who have same gender attraction or who believe their "true self" resides in a body that was gendered differently at birth, then this is not a "lifestyle choice," and I think faith communities must come to grips with this and include these persons without prejudice. Besides, if our sexual identity is on a continuum, and we take the Bible literally to mean "a man is a man" and "a woman is a woman," then most of us are probably guilty of being "too manly or womanly," or "not manly or womanly" enough, depending on the level of our testosterone or estrogen! Extremes are almost always bad for us. Theologically, throughout the centuries of the Judeo-Christian faith, we have reinterpreted scripture many, many times as our knowledge and experience grew. Is it fair to assume that what was written to primitive peoples centuries or even millennia ago would apply exactly the same to people in 2016? I don't think so. The basic principles are true. For example: prohibitions against "homosexuality" in the Bible historically appeared in ages when exploitive sexual practices were being carried out against children, especially young boys, and when "sex" was considered a "male rite," while the partners were just the "objects." Writers of scripture began to speak out against this in the early church, and they targeted some of the worst practices of this in the Roman and Greek cultures (exploitive homosexuality). What still works about these texts are the truths that: sex should not be exploitive; sex should not be a punishment or a weapon; sex should be an expression of love between two consenting persons who wish to have a relationship "covenant" of some sort; and sex should not just be a form of "jolly recreation," but be a wonderful creation of God designed to bond two persons together in love. Unfortunately, the "clobber passages" in the Bible have been used to exclude faithful persons who wish to live a life of love, faith, and service to God and others. I think that makes this a justice issue, and one I believe is worthy of my efforts as a pastor to help redeem.