I listened to a few very informative and challenging lectures during my study leave week. Due to the fact that I drove to Riverview twice, and Lakeland once, I had such time.

Anyhow, here is one of the lectures I would like to commend to you. The president of Exodus International (a ministry assisting homosexuals attempting to depart from the active gay lifestyle) spoke before Central Florida Presbytery. They get good speakers at that presbytery. We don’t get any speakers down in our parts.

I realize the word “lecture” means something less to many than it does to me. After all, I don’t have any music on my Ipod: only lectures and sermons. However I think this lecture/testimony (its more of the latter) and following Q and A session may be helpful in understanding more about the homosexual community. And of course that is one in which we know very little about-so anything more is good.

The president, who is now married with kids, openly discusses his unique struggle and story, as well as those of his dear friends. One main point in which he challenged the church was to aspire more to deep fellowship. Unless the fellowship the church offers is better than the gay bars, how can we expect gay folks to come? While what we display in the church IS POTENTIALLY better in many cases, many of us don’t embrace the freedom, honesty, grace, and love centered around Christ. And so our fellowship boils down to eating food, surface friendships, being too scared to share struggles and doubts, never challenging others when they are clearly in the wrong, and never open to challenge.

How can we expect gay folks to leave gay bars when what we have isn’t a whole lot different than what they already have? That was his challenge to the church and one that certainly convicts me and my shallow conversations and my fear to confess sins/struggles to others.