Fears that James Loney's Iraqi captors might harm the peace activist if they knew he was gay forced his partner to remain silent as his loved ones called for an end to the hostage ordeal, Christian Peacemaker Teams co-director Doug Pritchard said Monday. During his four months of captivity, Loney's sexuality was kept out of the media spotlight at the request of his family, said Pritchard.I wonder if as many Christians would have prayed for Loney's release had they known he was a homosexual. I would like to think that out of respect for his courageous actions or even his basic humanity they would have anyway. But my hunch is that news of Loney's participation in the "sin-du-jour" has lessened him in the eyes of many believers.
I suppose if he'd slept with a woman and arranged for the death of her husband to cover his tracks, we could forgive him. But scripture unequivocally states that homosexuality is a sin. So I guess our safest bet is to pray that God's man in the White House will continue to set a moral course for our nation.
H'mmm, very sharp post. Did anyone survive? ;)
ReplyDeleteJust the 144,000. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI guess I really get going about hypocrits late at night. I just praise God I'm not like them (Luke 8:11). ;-)
I wonder how many people prayed for the salvation of his soul during the ordeal.
ReplyDeleteI guess that also begs the question:
Will anyone pray for his salvation and /or deliverance now that his sexual sin is known?
Will anyone pray for his salvation and /or deliverance now that his sexual sin is known?
ReplyDeleteGreat question, and really the ultimate one. God's salvation comes on many levels. Now we can pray for true release from captivity...
For some reason this reminds me of the Bill Clinton ordeal...I remember when I lived in the Orlando area Bill Clinton flew into Orlando for a Presidential visit during the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. At the airport many Christians held up signs that read, "What part of 'Thou Shalt Not do you not Understand?'"
ReplyDeleteImmediately the question came to my mind..."What part of 'Remember the Sabbath Day' do you not understand?"
In the final analysis for many of us there is a tendency to make other's sins the greatest sin of humanity while the sin we are guilty of is something that is not as important...
Sherman, you have sinned!?
ReplyDeleteThat's it... no more prayers for you!
just kiddin.
Kev...
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else....I have this temptation of mnimizing my own sin by either fully understanding why I did it or rationalizing it in my mind...or even making allowances for the weakness of my own flesh....
And yes...I am sorry to say...I sin....since i am a blogger...you can probably see some of my short comings on my blog...
Dave...forgive my advertisement...LOL
I've had some interesting conversation and thought lately about prayer, God's sovereign will, and our Arminian view of free will. Someone I read suggested Arminians are all Calvinist when they pray.
ReplyDeleteAre we told how God sorts our millions of prayers in terms of cupable sinners and sincere saints?
He told Jeremiah to tell the people he would not hear their prayers or accept their worship. They didn't take it well.
What do we mean when we say God "answers" prayer? Just a few thoughts I've had lately.
Good posting, Dave.