Rev Says

Colleagues,

I hope you have been having a good week so far. May God continue to bless your day and weekend.


Reflections on The Prodigal Son
St. Luke 15: 11-32

Christmas is coming; it is just around the corner and for many of us this will be a period of great delight. For others it will be a time of sadness and loneliness. What can you do to minimize the sadness of the other?

There is an opportunity to offer service to others and to touch the lives of the other in wonderful ways. Some lessons come to us as we reflect on the parable of the Prodigal son. I believe we all know this story. In this parable, we see a young man dying from hunger, dying from shame and dying for home. He could not bear the shame, consequences of his actions or his choices. He was ashamed that he was feeding the swine. Further he longed for home, a place of sanctuary; he was dying for home, dying to belong to community. He was isolated from community. He was dying to belong to community.

Many persons are dying from hunger, shamefulness and are in need of community. Can we offer friendship in the spirit of Christian love to those who are ashamed, hungry, sad and lonely? We can offer community through our church and homes. Community might mean restoration, offering refuge or refreshing company. We need to hear from God the call to build community this Christmas.

We at SCJ can build this church community into a haven of rest, a sanctuary of caring, concern, a true community of Faith, Hope and Love. The challenge we face is to show others the light. This must be done through our individual and collective witness. There are persons who have gone astray just like the Prodigal son. As we offer them friendship and fellowship, we might help them to experience a sense of restored dignity.

Blessings,
Rev

Vatican's anti-gay witch-hunt continues

The Pope's plan for psychological tests to purge gay men from the priesthood is a new low

By Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner
The Guardian - Comment is Free - London - 20 November 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2008/nov/20/comment-vatican-gay-testing-priests


The Vatican has announced the "psychological screening" of all new applicants for the priesthood, in a bid to weed out men who are deemed to be psychologically flawed. It has taken this initiative following the widespread sexual abuse of children by its clerics.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/vatican-moves-to-bar-gay-priests-14046126.html

In a diversionary tactic to deflect attention from the child sex abuse scandal, one of the main aims of these psychological tests is to weed out gay men, not paedophiles.

The Vatican identifies homosexuality as a deep-seated personality disorder and psychological flaw; condemning same-sex acts as "grave sins," "objectively disordered", "intrinsically immoral" and "contrary to natural law." Even men who have a gay orientation but abstain totally from sex are condemned by the Pope as possessing a "tendency towards an intrinsic moral evil."

Accordingly, the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education has issued a new document, Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood.

It proposes psychological tests to root out men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" from seminaries.

Estimates of the number of gay men in Catholic seminaries and the priesthood typically range from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research in the US by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood. A similar proportion of priests is thought to be gay in the UK and Europe, including a number of bishops and cardinals.
http://catholicexchange.com/2002/03/21/95251/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_rcc.html

The new Vatican document states that seminary candidates should undergo psychological evaluations whenever there is a suspicion of personality disturbances or doubts about their ability to live a celibate life, such as any manifestation of masculine weakness or a homosexual orientation.

When assessing a candidate's ability to be celibate, the Vatican document insists that "it is not enough to be sure that he is capable of abstaining from genital activity" but that it is also necessary "to evaluate his sexual orientation".

It advises that would-be priests must have "a positive and stable sense of their own masculine identity."

Surely all this makes Pope Benedict himself a prime candidate for psychological testing and exclusion? After all, he wears a dress, loads of jewellery, Prada shoes and has a penchant for high church, high camp ritual and theatrics. While I don't want to indulge in stereotypes, Benedict is not exactly macho. In fact, he's quite effeminate. He is also surrounded exclusively by men, has an unusually young and handsome
male private secretary and has no known close friendships with women.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/04/21/amd_pope-gaenswein.jpg

He would not be the first gay Pope. There have been several others, most scandalously
Pope Julius III (1487 to 1555), who was more a pederast than a homosexual. He took a 13 year old boy as his lover and made him a cardinal at the age of 17, showering him with such wealth that he became one of the richest men in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Julius_III
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/julius_III.html

Anyway, I digress.

Commenting on the new Vatican document, Cardinal Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, advises:

"The candidate does not necessarily have to practice homosexuality. He can even be without sin. But if he has this deeply seated tendency, he cannot be admitted to priestly ministry precisely because of the nature of the priesthood, in which a spiritual paternity is carried out. Here we are not talking about whether he commits sins, but whether this deeply rooted tendency remains...It's not simply a question of observing celibacy as such. In this case, it would be (required for him to have) a heterosexual tendency, a normal tendency."
www.catholicherald.co.uk/articles/a0000409.shtml

This indicates a serious hardening of Vatican homophobia. It reverses the previous Catholic stance that only same sex acts are wrong, not the homosexual condition itself.

Cardinal Grocholewski elaborated:
"In a certain sense, when we ask why Christ reserved the priesthood to men, we speak of this spiritual paternity, and maintain that homosexuality is a type of deviation, a type of irregularity, as explained in two documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith....Therefore it (same-sex love) is a type of wound in the exercise of the priesthood, in forming relations with others. And precisely for this reason we say that something isn't right in the psyche of such a man. We don't simply talk about the ability to abstain from these kinds of relations."

The Vatican is recommending that the people who do the testing should have "solid human and spiritual maturity", and a "Christian concept of the human person, sexuality, the priestly vocation and celibacy". In other words, conformity to homophobic Catholic doctrine takes precedence over professional qualifications.

It is now revealed that the Catholic Church in England and Wales has jumped the gun. They have already introduced psychological tests for candidate priests.

Who conducts these tests? What are their qualifications? Have the tests been vetted and approved by a professional psychological authority? What is their scientific validity and reliability? Do they operate within a professional code of conduct? Is there sufficient protection for vulnerable applicants exposed to these procedures? Even if candidates consent to being tested, is that sufficient? These are questions the Catholic Church has not answered.

The Vatican's new policy aimed at excluding gay men from the priesthood is bigoted and hypocritical. It will encourage dishonesty, fuel homophobia and lead to Vatican sex spies snooping on trainee priests.

If these rules had existed in the past, many existing archbishops and cardinals would have never been allowed to enter the priesthood. Given the high proportion of gay clergy in senior positions in the Vatican, this new policy is rank hypocrisy.

Instead of paving the way for witch-hunts and purges of gay seminarians, the Pope should concentrate on rooting out child sex abusers. Sadly, the fundamentalists in the Vatican have often chosen to protect paedophile priests, while hounding gay clergy. Shame!

Donations are requested to help Peter Tatchell's campaigns promotinghuman rights, democracy and global justice. Peter is unpaid and receives no grants. He depends on donations from friends and supporters.

Please make cheques payable to: "Peter Tatchell Human Rights Fund".
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More Reflection by Rev. Durrell Watkins

Seicho-No-Ie founder, Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote, "Praise yourself the same way you would praise others… [and thus] bring out the God who dwells within you."

Within the Christian tradition there are examples of scripture being used to uphold class privilege, keep races divided, subjugate women, justify the brutality of war, demonize same-gender loving people, and insist that only people who agree with certain constructed religious beliefs are acceptable to God. These examples have contributed to violence, pain, and suffering in our world.

I believe the reason we have used religion to condemn, control, exclude, or vilify others is because we have not learned to affirm, accept, and celebrate ourselves. When we feel small, wounded, or separate from the Whole, then we become afraid and even desperate. To feel less insignificant, we look for an "Other" to judge harshly so that in comparison we will feel better. And if we can persuade ourselves that judging the "Other" is actually being true to a divine plan, then we are less likely to be bothered by the emotional violence we're committing. We convince ourselves that we are doing God's will by opposing, rejecting, or trying to assimilate the "Other." We now not only feel superior to the Other, we also have the added pride of doing so for the sake of a Higher Power!

Obviously, such an attitude will create resistance and resentment. There has to be a better way!

The better way is to accept our own sacred value and innate dignity. If we can truly accept who we are, then we have no need to condemn, belittle, or reject others. Religion then ceases to be an "insurance" card protecting us from after life torments, and it stops being a status symbol to be used against those who are non-religious or who are differently religious. Religion is one of the ways that we find community, express hope, and celebrate life; and we're free to allow others to find community, express hope, and celebrate life in whatever way is meaningful to them.

The salvation (wholeness, sense of security, feeling truly "OK") we are looking for isn't to be found in being "right" (while believing everyone who disagrees with us is "wrong"). Salvation is trusting our sacred value. Once we can see the innate holiness within ourselves, the divine presence some might say, then we can see that same holiness in others…in ALL others. Our job isn't to convert others, but to awaken to our own divine potential. When we truly trust our divine potential, we are far more likely to trust the divine potential in others. This is how we can love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22.39; Leviticus 19.18).

Ephebophilia vs Paedophilia & Male Homosexuality

In light of the increase in cases of child molestation and alleged buggery of young boys here in Jamaica it begs the question of what is it are we faced with really? Is it predatory actions by adult gay males to boys or is it ephebophilia? which is separate from paedophilia and male homosexuality.

Ephebophilia or hebephilia refers to the sexual preference for adolescents around 15-19 years of age. Experts use specific terms for age preferences: ephebophilia to refer to the sexual preference for late adolescents, hebephilia to refer the sexual preference for pubescent persons, and pedophilia to refer to the sexual preference for prepubescent persons. The term pedophilia, however, has also been used colloquially to refer broadly to sexual interest in minors, regardless of their level of physical development.

Ephebophilia is not listed as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), unlike pedophilia, which is categorized as a disorder in the manual.

Pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in psychology, law enforcement, and the popular vernacular. As a medical diagnosis, it is defined as a psychological disorder in which an adult experiences a sexual preference for prepubescent children.According to the DSM, pedophilia is specified as a form of paraphilia in which a person either has acted on intense sexual urges towards children, or experiences recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about children that cause distress or interpersonal difficulty. The disorder is frequently a feature of persons who commit child sexual abuse.

Nicholas Groth is a pioneer in the scientific study of sexual offenders against women and children, who has treated over 3000 child molesters over the course of two decades. A former director of the Sex Offender Program at the Connecticut Department of Corrections, Groth is the author of Men Who Rape: Psychology of the Offender, a work widely regarded as a classic textbook on the psychology of sexual violence.

He concurred in a recent debate on homosexuality vs paedophilia that Homosexuality and homosexual pedophilia are not synonymous. In fact, it may be that these two orientations are mutually exclusive, the reason being that the homosexual male is sexually attracted to masculine qualities whereas the heterosexual male is sexually attracted to feminine characteristics, and the sexually immature child’s qualities are more feminine than masculine. . . . The child offender who is attracted to and engaged in adult sexual relationships is heterosexual. It appears, therefore, that the adult heterosexual male constitutes a greater sexual risk to underage children than does the adult homosexual male.

The general belief in the stereotype that "Homosexuals are dangerous as teachers or youth leaders because they try to get sexually involved with children" or that "Homosexuals try to play sexually with children if they cannot get an adult partner." is very real in our scenario.
Let's hear your views.

Please follow up on this on Homosexuality versus Pedophilia article.

More reading
PAEDOPHILIA AND HOMOSEXUALITY,
Child Molestation by homosexuals and heterosexuals HOMILETIC & PASTORAL REVIEW
The Debate Link's Blog

(some excerpts taken from Andrew Sullivan's post on The Debate Link)

Legislation, Crime, Abortion, Gay rights; and Jesus - the end of the law

by Lucien Jones

Where are you in the debate on hanging, abortion, and gay rights? The first two are raging in my country. The other is a major issue in the USA ever since California voted to overturn gay marriages on the day Obama won the presidential elections. Jamaicans are overwhelmingly in favor of retaining the the death penalty on our statutes, and our Parliamentarians are currently debating the issue. And with good reason. Just this week, one of our daily newspapers, in reporting on the murder and sodomising of a young boy, the gang rape of a woman and the murder of three women describes the situation as something, " Out of Hell". Lately citizens, seemingly tired of the security forces inability to curb the crime wave, have taken to " chopping up", gunmen whenever they can. Fighting back, while many others cower in deep fear of being the next abduction, rape, or murder victim. This is not a good place for a nation to be in, and our leaders have no answer to these brazen, wicked and apparently unstoppable gunmen. Therefore, in the view of some, legislation is at least one answer.

On another front, some public health professionals have been seeking to amend the Abortion Act, so that it is no longer a crime to perform such a procedure. They argue that this action would prevent the many deaths now resulting from unsafe abortions. Others also in favor, argue that, this should be a matter of an individual choice by the pregnant mother, especially in cases of rape and where carrying the pregnancy would constitute a grave threat to the mother's life. A position accepted by at least one church denomination. Those in opposition argue that life begins at conception, and therefore, any act to terminate the pregnancy, at any stage, is tantamount to murder. Both sides see the passage of legislation as very significant in going forward on this issue.
Gay marriage would never see the light of day in this " not in my cabinet" country. So it is not an issue. What is definitely an issue here is the retention of the buggery act as one way of ensuring that homosexuals do not " pass their place" in this society. Again legislation is seen as one way, and a significant method, of curbing the unseemly behaviour of these group.

So what did the Lord , who is in front of us, beside us, and behind us, say this week about these " hot button" issues.
The first was a still small voice from within. "Be careful you do not place too much focus on solving the problem of murder and violence that you get distracted and forget to seek to know Me better". I am dead serious. That's what I heard. And so about crime, so about road safety and even this Internet Ministry. "Be careful, lest you get distracted". When? Today. This evening. I went to the 7:30 am service but had to leave early - caught the wonderful sermon by one of our young people -to attend a service at another church on World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims. So I missed participating in the Eucharist -Holy Communion. Very badly. Thank God that the evening service, on the third Sunday of the month, is a Communion service. So as I prepared to leave and on my way down the Lord spoke to me about distractions. You would not believe also that my cell phone began vibrating, just at the start of the service. In keeping with God's message of distraction - I should have turned it off anyhow - I ignored it, arguing that any emergency would have to wait until the end of the service. Turned out that the person's phone had triggered the call by 'accident'.

Follow the rest on Luciens Blog (fairly extensive post)

About Lucien: Member of the congregation of the St.Andrew Parish Church ( Anglican)in Kingston Jamaica.Invited to a Haggai International Evangelistic Training Seminar in Singapore, and began writing home to a Christian friend about how the colleagues I had met, really loved the Lord Jesus. And thus began this Internet Ministry some three years ago, and which comes out weekly on a Sunday night, and which has expanded tremendously with God's help.

No communion for Obama supporters

By MEG KINNARD

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."
The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.
"Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president," Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.
"Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."
During the 2008 presidential campaign, many bishops spoke out on abortion more boldly than four years earlier, telling Catholic politicians and voters that the issue should be the most important consideration in setting policy and deciding which candidate to back. A few church leaders said parishioners risked their immortal soul by voting for candidates who support abortion rights.
But bishops differ on whether Catholic lawmakers - and voters - should refrain from receiving Communion if they diverge from church teaching on abortion. Each bishop sets policy in his own diocese. In their annual fall meeting, the nation's Catholic bishops vowed Tuesday to forcefully confront the Obama administration over its support for abortion rights.
According to national exit polls, 54 percent of Catholics chose Obama, who is Protestant. In South Carolina, which McCain carried, voters in Greenville County - traditionally seen as among the state's most conservative areas - went 61 percent for the Republican, and 37 percent for Obama.
"It was not an attempt to make a partisan point," Newman said in a telephone interview Thursday. "In fact, in this election, for the sake of argument, if the Republican candidate had been pro-abortion, and the Democratic candidate had been pro-life, everything that I wrote would have been exactly the same."
Conservative Catholics criticized Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004 for supporting abortion rights, with a few Catholic bishops saying Kerry should refrain from receiving Holy Communion because his views were contrary to church teachings.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said she had not heard of other churches taking this position in reaction to Obama's win. A Boston-based group that supports Catholic Democrats questioned the move, saying it was too extreme.
"Father Newman is off base," said Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats. "He is acting beyond the authority of a parish priest to say what he did. ... Unfortunately, he is doing so in a manner that will be of great cost to those parishioners who did vote for Sens. Obama and Biden. There will be a spiritual cost to them for his words."
A man who has attended St. Mary's for 18 years said he welcomed Newman's message and anticipated it would inspire further discussion at the church.
"I don't understand anyone who would call themselves a Christian, let alone a Catholic, and could vote for someone who's a pro-abortion candidate," said Ted Kelly, 64, who volunteers his time as lector for the church. "You're talking about the murder of innocent beings."
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On the Net:
St. Mary's Catholic Church: http://www.stmarysgvl.org/
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org/

Keith Olbermann speaks out against Proposition 8

Capital punishment and Christianity (Letter to the Observer Editor)

Originally Published Sunday, November 09, 2008

Dear Editor,

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the most celebrated capital punishment throughout human history. Roughly one-third of the current world population, or 2.04 billion persons, see the death of Christ as the central element of
their faith.

It is essential to note that Christians generally believe that Jesus was an innocent victim of an unjust judicial system. It would seem logical therefore, that Christians would at least preface any support for capital punishment with a call for a reasonably equitable and efficient judicial system.

Jesus was also asked for his opinion on capital punishment. 'Bright', religious fanatics 'caught' a woman committing adultery and brought her to Jesus to test his loyalty to the Law. Instead of speaking to the Law, Jesus spoke to justice. Many 'bright' theologians often ask, how is it that you can catch a woman in adultery by herself? Where was the man? If capital punishment is good for the goose, isn't it good for the gander as well?

Today, 'dunce' people ask, how can poor people afford to import so many guns? Where are the financiers? What is to prevent them from giving more guns to other poor people to continue the cycle of murderous mayhem? And who created the context that has made so many persons so susceptible to the urge to kill? Will these conditions still exist after the hangings and will more people be murdered?

Marcus Garvey has said that religion is the greatest civilising agency. When we juxtapose the density of churches in this country with the frequency of murders we experience, then perhaps we should all revisit Jesus' indictment of the fundamentalist legal and religious zealots of his day and hear him say once again, since you are so innocent, fling nuh!

Stanley Redwood
stanley_redwood@yahoo.com

Some MPs still battling with 'conscience'

How will they vote on the death penalty?
THE Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party Administration has indicated that a resolution calling for a conscience vote on the death penalty is soon to be put before the Jamaican Parliament.

The motion, which was drafted by the Attorney General's Department, is now ready for presentation to the House. It is however not certain when it will be laid.
Hanging remains on the law books although no one has gone to the gallows since 1988. Chapter 3 section 14 of the constitution, addressing the issue of capital punishment, says "No person shall intentionally be deprived of his life save in execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been convicted".

One of the most common responses to any upsurge in crime is usually a call for the resumption of hanging, which international and local rights groups have urged the Government to resist.

Senator AJ Nicholson, the former attorney general and minister of justice, has said that the time is ripe for both the Government and the Opposition to decide whether or not capital punishment should resume. The Government has indicated its willingness to take a conscience vote on the matter in Parliament.
In a 'free conscience vote', the House of Representatives on January 30, 1979 voted for the retention of the death penalty, but the Senate later voted for a limited suspension.

PNP Maxine Henry-Wilson: MP, St Andrew South Eastern"I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm undecided."

PNP Dr Omar Davies: MP, St Andrew Southern "I'm for the law."
PNP Roger Clarke: MP, Westmoreland Central "I am still consulting with my constituents."

JLP Derrick Smith: MP, St Andrew North Western "My position hasn't changed; once you find them guilty, accelerate the appeal and put them away 'effectively'.

JLP Pearnel Charles: MP, Clarendon North Central "I follow the law until it is changed."

JLP Edmund Bartlett: MP, St Andrew Eastern "I support the death penalty for crime. Whatever issues I may have are with regard to the means of executing it."

BOOK REVIEW: BULLETPROOF FAITH: A Spiritual Survival Guide For Gay And Lesbian Christians

If you are a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender Christian, how do you feel when someone calls you a fag, a dyke, a sissy, a pansy, or any other hateful, derogatory name? How do you feel when others, such as family members, and even professing Christians, seek to deprive you of civil rights and call you an abomination in the eyes of God? How do you feel when clergy preach against you and what they call your “homosexual lifestyle” and demand that you give up “the sin of homosexuality” in order to become “right with God” or else you’re going to hell? How do you feel when even family members discriminate against you, and make it very clear that they don’t accept you for who you are?

Now, how do you handle those feelings, and what do you think about the person hurling one or more of those epithets at you? I guarantee that after you read Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide For Gay And Lesbian Christians, by the erudite and eclectic Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge, you will finally understand the psychological and spiritual strategies that you may employ to not only neutralize the effects of the hurt that you understandably feel, but translate those insults and that hurt into further psychological and spiritual growth, as well as help move the struggle for full and equal civil and sacramental rights for GLBT people forward.

As Rev. Chellew-Hodge writes: “Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are in exile—cast out from our homes, our churches, our jobs, and our society. We are ostracized and oppressed by dogma, tradition, and legislation. We are a wounded and outcast people, desperate for a word of hope from the one who loves us most.” (Pp. 151-152)

Fortunately, this book that is one of a kind gives concrete methods by which GLBT people can both contend with personal and institutionalized homophobia and also lead happy lives while so doing! Rev. Chellew-Hodge uses her own considerable experiences, other eclectic sources, and her keen insights that puts into a healthy perspective essential psychological and spiritual coping mechanisms that is a breath of fresh air in dealing with the sufferings, heartbreaks, and anxieties attendant upon attacks by those who seek to both demean and distort both the Bible and the reality of GLBT people’s sexuality and very lives.

When one is castigated by virtually all institutions within society, as well as by one’s family, neighbors, pastors, and strangers for who he or she is, and is threatened with being rejected at a moment’s notice for the same reason, one is understandably defensive, angry, and afraid. Indeed, the psychological damage such exclusion and oppression engenders can be overwhelming, and cause much emotional turmoil, often resulting in disengagement from others, self-destructive behaviors, assorted emotional illnesses, and even self-loathing.

The GLBT Christian is likely to suffer from such oppression at least as much as the GLBT non-Christian, as he or she has long been exposed to spiritual vilification with hateful messages that tell him or her that God can’t possibly love that person; that person is going to hell if he or she doesn’t repent of “the sin of homosexuality”; the “homosexual lifestyle” is an abomination before God; that person is an abomination before God; the destruction of society is largely due to his or her very existence. How is the GLBT Christian to deal with such vilification, oppression, discrimination, and hate and the emotional feelings that they engender?

This excellent book fills a much-needed gap in the literature! It shows the seamless reconciliation between being a Christian and being a GLBT person; provides down to earth practical advice and coping strategies for the GLBT Christian. Other books that seek to show that reconciliation deal with assorted Scripture verses that are erroneously used by many professing Christians seeking to prove that homosexuality is a sin, and there are many such excellent books available to all Christians, Gay and Straight (A list of many of them can be found in the Appendix of her book.), that finally lays to rest any such erroneous contention.

It is this one book, however, which meets a need that no other book of which I’m aware even addresses. That is, it provides down to earth, concrete, ways of thinking and interacting with one’s oppressor whereby the GLBT Christian can neutralize the devastating effects of homophobia on the one hand and on the other hand also improve the quality of his or her psychological and spiritual life.

Rev. Chellew-Hodge shows an easy familiarity with the Bible, learning and rejoicing at least as much in the questions it poses as in the answers it gives, and highlights its essence as it applies to GLBT Christians without either torturing certain seemingly offending passages or relegating the Bible to some idolatrous embodiment of God, Who is best and most confidently seen in one’s very own life experience that, she affirms, is the only viable means by which to sustain and reinforce our faith.

This very well written, easily readable book delivers on its promise that it: “…empowers readers to withstand even the most aggressive assaults without fear, doubt, or anger by providing a useful working knowledge of biblical history; solid, proven tactics that can be used successfully when faced with an attack; spiritual practices…that enhance and strengthen faith; practical tools to discover one’s ‘authentic self’... [and] guidance on how to turn attacks into opportunities for spiritual growth.”

Indeed, I feel confident in saying that every GLBT Christian who reads this book will approach his or her spiritual life, the world, and those perceived as his or her “enemies,” in a new, refreshing way that will most assuredly redound to the benefit of his or her emotional and spiritual health.

Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide For Gay And Lesbian Christians is truly a life-changing book! It provides psychological and “Spiritual Survival Tips” that will open the eyes of the reader to productive ways of experiencing, processing and handling homophobic attacks, virtually guaranteeing that his or her life will be immeasurably improved.

If you read only one book this year, Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide For Gay And Lesbian Christians, should be that book!

Click This Link To Purchase The Book.