I’m Good BY: KB 11.16.16

Keeping it 100, like I do, let me say that I am sick and tired of folks, not just fundamentalists, I’m also addressing the profoundly ignorant and bigoted assuming that homosexuality is a choice! Now, please excuse the harsh language “profoundly ignorant” but I have to say something because there is so much information available that people choose to ignore. I don’t even have words for people who deny their own children for not living THEIR lives according to a script that the parents wrote.

Then there’s the people who use the term “lifestyle” like I’m in vogue or part of a collection.  I never hear heterosexual coming out stories or heteros being asked “when did you know that you liked the opposite sex? Or When did you choose to be hetero? That to me is asking someone when they choose to be White? I say White because it’s the majority power dynamic in this country…just as heterosexuality is prevalent.

Let’s keep it real that I have made no bones about how I feel about Christian fundamentalists who have gone above and beyond the pale in their damage and destruction of lives. So once again I will address my life and only my life. I cannot and dare not speak for others but I can I say I know of others who share my story.

Let’s address the subject of choice for a second shall we? I choose to be gay like you choose to be straight…meaning it’s just who I am. I am attracted to my same gender. I am very much female. I’m not trying to be a man… hell, I am friends with enough guys to know that they have their own unique set of problems that I can empathize with because most of the women that I have dated have a certain level of expectation for me to carry that certain counter –balance for them. Now I tend to find a bit of humor in the dynamic because many of the guys I know don’t know a damn thing about cars and car repair or any repairs for that matter and I do. My dad couldn’t fix a damn thing. I was curious about things so I paid very close attention to the people who knew how to do the repairs…but I digress. Choice…can I just say I hate that bulls---; who would choose a life of scrutiny by strangers, negative comments and threats of bodily harm because you loving someone made some ignorant person uncomfortable? Think about that for a minute…love making someone uncomfortable. Sounds silly once you read it doesn’t it?

Now let’s discuss the other thing I tend to hear?  You have daddy issues or a man must have done something to you to make you gay?  I can agree to daddy issues…my father was an abusive alcoholic but I had examples of good men in my life so I can pretty much discredit that one. I can say that I knew that I was “different” at the age of 5; my first memory of being attracted to women. I attempted to date but there was no chemistry or real attraction that I had with women. I pretty much stopped faking and trying to please other people in my life in my early 20’s.

Now, last by no means least to the fundamentalists….I’ve grown weary of people quoting Leviticus and people telling me “love the sinner, hate the sin” so I won’t continue defending myself quoting scripture back to you. I’m just going to pray for your change of heart or character as you say, often in great hostility, you’re doing for me and we’ll let God be true…I’m just going to say that I’m ok with who I am and whose I am…it’s the rest of the world that seems to think they know me and have a problem with me and my loved ones.

Consequences & Reprocussions BY: KB 11.8.16

I have been debating on whether or not to write this piece and at some point during my devotions and prayer time the word yes popped into my spirit.

Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

1 Peter 3:10 - For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

James 5:3-8     5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

6 And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

8 But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Well what does all these scriptures mean? It means that we need to have a better system of checks and balances for what we say. It means that monitoring the integrity of your word is a necessity. It means that when you speak, especially when you speak of God you need to be quite sure of the message you give.

I am prompted to write this because I recently had the experience of an overshare….that’s when you or someone gives TMI (too much information) in this instance it was me. Someone had asked about my previous relationship and I shared, heck my life is an open book so I had no qualms about sharing the story because it was actually a testimony (that’s why my life is an open book.) Well the person I shared the story with had a judgment for my story and proceeded to speak on what they would have done and what they would or wouldn’t have allowed. My first thought was to GO THERE – I didn’t ask you what you thought, you asked me a question and whatever I shared is past history so hindsight will always be 20/20….but grace prevailed and I held my tongue and simply explained that not all things are for all people to understand and my experiences will never line up with this persons experiences because we are two different people from two different backgrounds.

Now, I could have used the opportunity to share my experiences with God and how He brought me through the story that I had shared with her but she wasn’t interested in what I had to say…she was curious because she wanted to contrast, compare and judge.

 

 It is important to know and recognize spirits; failure to recognize a spirit can lead to some serious consequences

The Real BY: KB 11.5.16

You can’t be gay and a believer   I’ve heard this too many times than I care to mention. I used to get angry and go all “Bruce Banner” but that was before I really embraced what it means to have a relationship with God. I thought I had to impose my thought in power and might…but then I came to live and learn that the Lord is mighty in battle and the battle was not mine.  So, now whenever I hear the gay believer insanity I just say “you’re looking at and talking to both. “

I wait for the old Sodom and Gomorrah verses from the book of Genesis or Leviticus. I then tell them that they are going to believe what they choose to believe but I also ask them to be open enough to read, study ad challenge their faith constructs; noting that I no longer believe the same things about God that I did as a child. My faith grew up alongside my physical development and I continue to exercise my faith in hopes of development and growth

Philippians 2:12 (NIV)

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/what-does-the-bible-reall_b_990444.html

Now if you’re really opened to learning and understanding you will make note of the fact that a great deal of the hate and fear that is being spewed from the pulpit is a twisted eisegesis. We have accepted a practice of an instant “just add people and stir” theology. We embrace a theology that serves our ignorance. Listening to things taken out of context and historically inaccurate; never questioning

Read 1 Thessalonians 5: 20-21

1 John 4:1

The Bible says to study to show yourself approved…it doesn’t say let someone else study for you and feed you their beliefs…..it’s about developing an individual relationship. Some of us have not learned how to be intimate so we often allow outside forces to obstruct and we begin to embody and live out a false prophecy for our lives.

Guilt and shame are not of God, please be aware of this…if you have internalized it from various life experiences or if someone is trying to give it to you from the pulpit…