Posts with the category “justice”

For a lot of people—especially in the LGBTQ+ community—the idea of stepping into a church feels impossible. And honestly? That reaction makes sense. The Church has hurt people. Sometimes still does. For years, LGBTQ+ individuals have been ignored, judged, or outright rejected by Christians—not because of Jesus, but because of how poorly we’ve reflected Him.So how can we say “God is love” when the ...  Read More

My morning devotional concluded with a number of questions.  One that jumped out at me asked this, “when I share the gospel, do I change the message in anyway?This is a thought provoking question, especially when barraged by many from the LGBTQ+ community who are seeking a god who accepts them, just as they are.  Is the temptation for us to try and lead them into a relationship with Jesus so great...  Read More

Your child has just told you they will no longer respond to the name you gave them at birth; they have a new name and are demanding that you must use it. Or conversely you may be the child, you now go by a new name, but your parents refuse to use it or even engage in conversation over it.This is a familiar story to many of the individuals we work with, one that’s not easy to navigate. But there ha...  Read More

This week I was told that someone who had looked at our website had complained that, “I was dogmatic about my truth.”  They were someone with more liberal views on the nature of what the Bible teaches about sexuality, and who disagreed with the more conservative views of this ministry.I don’t get upset over people who disagree with my beliefs, I see it as “job done”, when I share testimony and wha...  Read More

“Don't take your moral cues from animals.”Never a truer word than this, spoken by Christopher Yuan in a video I was watching last week, which explored yet another one of the reasons given by some Christians for the acceptance of homosexual behaviour as being from God. (Video now available on our resources page)I was honestly surprised that he felt the need to make this video, as I have not heard t...  Read More

As Christians we are aware that there is a spiritual battle, a “good v evil” if you like.  God, who is good, has made us to his own intricate and perfect design.  Satan, who is evil, is doing everything to twist that design to convince us to reject God. In the battle over our sexual identity, Satan’s thinking is surely, if they believe they were born this way, then they will either blame God for t...  Read More

I’m sure many Christians are dismayed at the amount of time spent on debating what God’s Word says about homosexuality, and how we as churches must respond to those who want equality in marriage.  This is a huge distraction for church leaders and while their focus is on this, their eyes are turned from our great commission, namely, to make disciples of all nations.  Rather, many leaders today are ...  Read More

Something struck me afresh this morning as I was reading the book of Job.  It's OK to ask “why?” questions, but all too often we turn our questions against God in an accusatory way. When you consider all the people affected by questions of sexuality and faith, you see that many have, ‘why?’ questions.  When I first came to faith, I questioned God vociferously, constantly querying why I was born ga...  Read More

I read with interest Emily Sargent’s article in the Times, 31 January 2024 titled – “Conversion therapy? It must be banned. I should know.”  Reading this article, led me to delve deeper into Emily Sargent’s work, and I discovered a series of seven podcasts called “Thinking Straight,” which explore conversion therapy, and advocates for an extensive ban. Emily is a non-Christian, lesbian reporter, a...  Read More

In the UK there is still a lot of unrest around the proposed legislation for banning conversion therapy.  The aim of those proposing this ban is “to improve the lives of LGBT people.”I am all for lives being improved and am against any form of psychological or physical abuse against anyone.  I am also very mindful that not all LGBT people are the same, there are many different views, experiences a...  Read More

The story of Nehemiah is one that has many lessons for us.  As Nehemiah heard of the devastation back home, the destruction of the city and the danger those who survived the exile were in, he wept, he fasted, and he sought God, confessing the sins of the nation and reminding God of the covenant He had made with Moses.When reading this yesterday I thought about the devastation we face in the 21st c...  Read More

This week a friend shared how she has been told by a friend of 20+ years that they can no longer be friends because of her Christian beliefs on homosexual behaviour.  To get it clear, my friend has simply responded to a request from her friend to send verses from the Bible which said that homosexual behaviour is sinful.  Having shared those verses (as requested) she now finds herself ostracised, d...  Read More

Lessons from DanielFor those unfamiliar with Daniel, it’s a great book and well worth a read as it speaks deeply into identity in a broken and unfamiliar world. Chapter 4 tells of the dream of the King, Nebuchadnezzar.  This dream shows him as a mighty tree, a tree which provided food and shelter for its people.  This tree was visible to the ends of the earth, which speaks of the magnitude of the ...  Read More

This world increasingly encourages us to wear labels, whether it’s our gender, sexuality, relationship status, career or something else.  Psychologists would say that we put ourselves in boxes, trying to define who we are.  When you introduce yourself to someone, how do you describe yourself?  This is an eye opener as to where you see your worth or how you view yourself within society.One label th...  Read More

Psalm 18:16-19He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.  He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.Oh that the church would take heed of these verses when it comes to...  Read More

Acts 5:29 (New Living Translation) tells us that when Peter and the apostles were summoned to the High Priest to answer why they had continued to teach in the name of Jesus, despite being banned, they replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.As I read today of the discussions within the Scottish parliament, and recognising that similar conversations are taking place in Wales and ...  Read More

Seeing the Church of England continue to implode this week reminded me of a recent article I wrote about how we can be welcoming to all, without affirming sinful behaviours.Sadly, living in a post Christian society we are challenged to declare our support of, and uphold the personal rights of, everyone and anyone to do life their way.  Saying that you’re an affirming, inclusive and progressive chu...  Read More

This week the Church of England has sent a very stark message to all those who have turned their back on their homosexual past to follow Jesus.  By voting to bless same sex marriage they have told us that we were mistaken, that we shouldn’t have picked up our cross and followed Him, that our sacrifice was unnecessary.However, the good news is, we don’t follow a denomination or a church body, we fo...  Read More

I was deeply saddened this week to read that St Nicholas Church in Leicester has given pride of place (excuse the pun) to the progress pride flag on its altar.  The Daily Mail online reports that “Church reverend Canon Karen Rooms claims the huge fabric Progress Pride Flag is merely a way of letting visitors know they are ‘welcome and safe”.I will come back to the ‘welcome and safe’ comment in a m...  Read More

Meeting with a group of like-minded Christians is so refreshing.  We are reminded in Proverbs 27 that “Iron sharpens iron” and that is exactly how I feel after each of the weekly TBGL zoom calls that are run by Transformed Ministries.  When you chat to a member of the group you will hear them talk about the “transformed family”, a disparate group of individuals who have found their tribe. Our comm...  Read More