God Loves Gay People, The Church Loves Gay People, I Love Gay People

God loves gay people. The church loves gay people. I love gay people.

The things Jesus said about love and the extent of our love for others makes it clear that we are to love everyone. In fact, when Jesus told the parable which has come to be known as the story of the Good Samaritan, part of the point He was making is that we are called to love all people. Jesus specifically crafted the story to help us understand the comprehensiveness of our love for others should extend to the point that we would even love people we may not be naturally inclined to love.

Over the years I have actually been criticized a few times by people who have suggested I am over-emphasizing the concept of love in my teaching. My response is that it is my intention to speak God’s truth about love—love cannot be separated from truth—with the same emphasis it is given in the Bible; and this is a very strong emphasis.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Corinthians 13:13

However, God has designed sexuality—which is a good thing—to be expressed within a certain context. The context for sexual expression is one man and one woman in a marriage relationship.

It is, perhaps, a bit ironic with all the discussion these days regarding homosexuality that I have had more conversations—uncomfortable conversations—with Christian heterosexual couples who were not living within God’s boundaries for sexual conduct than with homosexual men and women who struggled with God’s boundaries regarding sexual conduct.

One of the issues that has made the topic of sexuality so caustic and difficult to discuss with grace, respect and love is that sex has become an idol in our culture. The fact that certain issues regarding sexuality are held to be “no longer up for scrutiny, debate or honest disagreement” is evidence that sex is an idol (i.e. a replacement for the real God).

I want you to know that before I posted this message I prayed diligently with the hopes that I would communicate truthfully, graciously and effectively. In fact, I have shared this same message on Facebook and last night I prayed by name for all my friends on Facebook. I even prayed for the families of some of my friends on Facebook who are now deceased. […And, by the way, this prayer time took a while. Lol! It was actually a very good and meaningful time of prayer.]

I know some of you will disagree with what I have written here, I respect your right to disagree. Please know I love you even if we disagree. But more importantly, Jesus loves you.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Love and blessings,

Dan

Things That Are Temporary And Things That Are Eternal

There are things that are temporary and there are things that are eternal.  It’s not that the temporary things are completely unimportant, actually, they have a measure of necessity and importance in our lives.  However, those things that are eternal are of greater value for the simple reason that they are what lasts.  “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Cor.13:13

An Emphasis On Love... Is It Too Much?

Sometimes people push back on me a little bit because they say I emphasize “love” too much. It’s true that we should speak of God’s justice and truth and other attributes, as well as His love. But I’m not the one who initiated this emphasis on love, God did. “…These three remain, faith, hope & love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Corinthians 13:13

All Other Gifts Are Meaningless In The Absence of Love

Some of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible can seem sort of impressive, so, they might seem a little bit more desirable than others. But the gift which is to be eagerly desired is love. In fact, The Apostle Paul tells us that all the other gifts become meaningless in the absence of love. “And now these 3 remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Cor.13:13

We Cannot "Love Too Much"

It is impossible to “love too much”. Sometimes people misunderstand what it really means to love, such as being overly permissive, when true love would establish boundaries. But this is not loving too much, this is avoiding what is necessary in order to be liked. REAL love reflects the character of God and is the highest good, it can’t be overdone.  “…And the greatest of these is love.” 1Cor.13:13