I’ve Moved

 

 

I have officially moved my blog site!  You can find me at www.jeffbuchanan.org.  Please make sure you update your feeds and links as I will no longer be posting to the jeffbuchanan.wordpress.com site.  Take a look and let me know your thoughts!

“The Trials of Ted Haggard”

Ted Haggard

Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has recently directed “The Trials of Ted Haggard” set to air on HBO January 29th. This is not just a media montage of the 2006 scandal involving Mike Jones but a reality-based documentary in which Ted and Gayle Haggard are active participants. According to recent news releases, Haggard states in the film that he experienced same-sex play in the second grade and currently continues to struggle with same-sex attraction. He also states that it was therapists and not the church that helped him to understand his sexuality.

 

Already the media is slanting the story to their various perspectives.

“A Martha Stewart Thanksgiving” – The Lies and Carnage

 

It’s that time of year again where gluttony is considered vice chic and everyone expects the day to be reminiscent of the front cover of the 1953 Thanksgiving issue of “The Saturday Evening Post.”  Hosts and Hostess have spent days preparing the menu, decorating, and coordinating guests lists and responsibilities for this most significant of days.  We seek out the perfect recipes for the most important menu item; the turkey.  The turkey has become iconic with this festive holiday and therefore it is crucial that the host/hostess must ensure it’s perfection.  For days we have envisioned carrying this majestic bird on a elegant platter worthy enough to serve royalty.  Guests are overcome with emotion as they realize they are in a moment in time that will be captured in their hearts and likely become a keepsake in their portfolio of memories.  For that moment, the world becomes a better place.  All thanks to the expertise of world-renowned mentors of cooking that coach us, encourage us, and give us delightful visual aids, such as the one above, that serve as the finish line to an exhausting culinary journey.  With this inspired confidence, we know that we can’t fail.   

However . . . .

Emergent church leader says gay can be biblical lifestyle

Tony Jones

Once again another leader who has the influence to shape the minds and theology of this next generation has drastically compromised the truth of the Gospel.  Tony Jones is an author and leader in the Emergent Village movement, which in my opinion, is one of the most dangerous movements facing the church today.  Tony has finally stated that he believes “‘gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and queer’ individuals can and should live out their sexuality in – and blessed by – the Christian church.”  Emergent authors such as Tony have been saturating the publishing world with books that are marketed to the teenage to twenty-something demographic.  Their message is clear, today’s Christianity needs to be redefined for a more relevant generation and its theology reframed for current culture.   

In this article, Jones states “all the time I could feel myself drifting toward acceptance that gay persons are fully human persons and should be afforded all of the cultural and ecclesial benefits that I am.”  Here is the key; of course homosexuals are fully human people that should be treated with the basic respect that is afforded to everyone.  The Church, unfortunately, has missed this mark dramatically in the past and we are now reaping the consequences of our actions.  However, this is not an excuse to throw away 2 millennia of sound church doctrine and the unmistakably clear statements of scripture on this issue because of the Church’s irresponsibility to display the love of Christ in all situations.  The point is that the perception of homosexuals being anything less than fully human is tragically false and this is where Jones made his first mistake.  Had he initially seen them as creations of the Heavenly Father who are intended for a divine purpose and loved unconditionally, he would have been able to navigate and interpret Scripture without the compromise of “his experiences and feelings leading him toward a different conclusion.”  

Many have made the mistake of seeing those impacted by homosexuality as something less.  This perception instantly removes us from a Biblical foundation and misrepresents the heart of God.  We are, therefore, left with no alternative than to be led by experience and emotion in order to find our way.  If we initially see each person as a divinely created being intended for relationship with the Father, then we have our compass to guide us in the correct interpretation of Scripture that leads to a Biblical response of mercy and truth to all who will hear.  

 

via Emergent church leader says gay can be biblical lifestyle

Biased False Reporting and The London Times

 

It appears that this year we had an undercover reporter at that Exodus Freedom Conference which is not unusual.  In the normalcy of mainstream media, the reporter presented her own personal bias and perception as fact.  There are so many errors in this article that I don’t have the time to dissect and address each one.  Neither did she attempt to communicate with anyone on Exodus staff but rather consulted gay activists for an interpretive opinion.  I find it interesting that I’ve posted two comments on the article respectfully challenging the veracity of this reporter and her article and they have yet to post the comments on the site.  There are however over a hundred comments supporting the article and its point of view.  Oh well . . . just another day in post-gay paradise. 

 

 The camp that cures homosexuality -Times Online

Michael Guglielmucci – “Healer”

I been away for a couple of days so I just found out about Michael Guglielmucci’s deception surrounding his terminal illness.  This, to me, is a devastating situation.  This not only affects Micheal, his family, his church, but also the entire Body of Christ at large.  While Ted Haggard’s fall significantly impacted Christians around the world, there is something about this that cuts deeper.  His actions were incredibly intentional, planned, methodically deceptive, and predatory.  Having lost a brother and a father to terminal cancer, I can sympathize with the thousands of people who found hope in Michael’s circumstances and now feel incredibly betrayed.  I must confess, I am angry.  Not in a way that wishes vengeance or is void of compassion for Michael and his family.  Rather, it is a righteous anger that is appropriate for this degree of violation.  Forgiveness is given.  However, the Body of Christ must handle this with integrity and consistency.  I’m encouraged by what I’ve read so far regarding how his church is holding him accountable for his actions and exercising compassionate discipline.  

Indiana Wesleyan

 

Indiana Wesleyan University

Eight hours of solid talking and I am tuckered out!  I had the opportunity to train and speak with the Residential Directors and Advisors at Indiana Wesleyan today.  I gave a one hour lecture at the beginning of the day and followed up with seven hours of Q&A with individual small groups.  I always love connecting with university students and the college environment.  IWU staff has been so friendly and accommodating and it’s always encouraging to see a university willing to address the issue with students.  A couple of students even made a Starbucks run for me during the afternoon sessions!  They will have a special place in heaven sitting just a little closer to Jesus.

I am Activator! I am Command! I am . . . what?!

 

Strengths Finder 2.0

I’m usually not big on personality or assessment tests.  But I have to say I’m impressed with this one.  I love the premise of this book as it states that you can’t be whatever you want to be.  Rather, you are supposed to become the best that you were created to be.  We are always working on our weaknesses rather than capitalizing on our strengths.  While this concept is not new to me, I sure wish I had learned about it before I spent 10 years pursuing a classical music career.  I spent so many years developing and training a skill that had significant limitations.  Had I realized earlier what my true strengths were, I could have saved a whole lot of money and been a little further down the road doing what I was supposed to be doing.  But God has a way of redeeming the time and correcting our course when we take our little trips down crackpipe lane.  

The premise of the book is there are 34 themes; patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that can be usefully utilized.  Out of these themes, there are five that surface as being the strongest and most dominant.  Our pastoral team is in the process of taking the test to see how we compliment each other and better work together.  This should be interesting.  Apparently, mine turned out to be:  

1.  Responsibility

2.  Command

3.  Competition

4.  Activator

5.  Strategic

Now I must confess that I enjoy the hyper-masculine overtones of this list.  However No. 3 was a little bit of a surprise.  I never really considered myself competitive.  The only thing I’ve ever asked is for the slow and incompetent to do what I tell them and get out of my way.  The fact that this is on my list is a little concerning since I’m on pastoral team and categorically this is considered sin!  I’m sure this is just eluding to my commitment to compete against and defeat the forces of darkness.  That makes sense . . . right?

Ravi Zacharias Response to Gay Christianity

 

Ravi Zacharias is one of my favorite teachers.  While his response did not directly address the question “is it possible for a man or a woman to live a sincere Christian life as a homosexual?”, he makes several excellent points.   I would love to hear him present an extended teaching on the issue.  In his remarks about Henry Nouwen, he stated that in his final book, Nouwen revealed that he was dispositionally homosexual.  While I understand the intent behind the term “dispositionally homosexual,” I’m not comfortable with the inferred label.  I appreciated his turn on the question by asking “Can a person live a sincere Christian life as a polygamist?”  Websters defines “sincere” as “free from dissumulation or free from adulteration.”  The question is; can a person live a sincere Christian life practicing (actively engaged in a specified way of life) anything that is contrary to the heart of God and the obedience to His Word?

J.I. Packer on Homosexuality | TheResurgence

I found this post on Mark Driscoll’s blog talking about his meeting with J.I. Packer.  Packer speaks to the current Anglican crisis and his view of gay Christianity as a heresy.  I thought some of his comments were insightful.  

 

J.I. Packer on Homosexuality
Author: Mark Driscoll
POSTED ON: 07.18.08

Sitting Down with J.I. Packer
Perhaps my favorite time in Orlando was spent in a small group with Dr. J. I. Packer. It is hard to overestimate Packer’s impact on evangelical Christianity. The graciousness he afforded me to sit on a couch and ask him questions for more than an hour was humbling and helpful. He is very clear minded at age eighty-two and he remains incredibly conversant, insightful, and witty. Impressively, his words are impeccably precise.

On Homosexuality
As we sat on the couch together, he explained that Anglicanism is patterned after the ancient Roman governmental system so that a bishop has jurisdiction over a geographic area. However, this long-established ecclesiological pattern has been breached because Anglicanism is suffering from “heretical bishops.” By “heretical bishops,” Packer was referring to those bishops who sanction homosexual activity. He explained that the “heretical bishops” won support for their position following much lobbying. This sadly required Bible-believing Anglican churches to come under the authority of other orthodox bishops outside of their geographic area rather than remain under “heretical bishops.”