ACTS IN PRAYER
By David Thomas

As a pastor, I encounter certain questions time and again:  How do I hear the voice of God? How do I know the Lord's will for my life? How can I better understand what I read in the Bible? There are no formulas but there is a secret-get to know God more intimately and these things will begin to come into focus.

 The only way to know someone intimately is to spend time with them, quality time. Most relationships rise and fall for lack of intimacy and our relationship with God is no different. Given this fact, we must learn how to effectively spend time alone with God. One thing that has been useful to me is an acrostic developed around the word ACTS.

A          AFFIRMING GOD'S PRESENCE/ADORATION

Begin your prayer time by turning your thoughts to God's promised presence with those who seek Him like-"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. . .He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." (Psalm 91:1, 4)

As you come into His presence, greet Him will adoration. Webster's defines adoration as a feeling of profound love and admiration, the act of admiring strongly. When you worship God you want be passionate-pour out your heart, sing Him a song, read Him a love poem. The book of Psalms is filled with passages on God's faithfulness, love, compassion, beauty, mercy and kindness. As the Holy Spirit to stir a desire for God in your heart that is deeper than the first time you fell in love as a teenager and you will never be at a loss for words in speaking His praises. 

C          CONFESSION

When we begin to open our hearts to the Lord, many times we become conscious of how far we fall short from His plan for our lives. This is not the time to wallow in religiosity and self loathing but to lay our sins before Him for Jesus to cleanse and forgive.  The Greek word for confess is homologeo which literally means "to say the same thing as." We must call our sin what God calls it-sin-not a mistake or a slip. No relationship can flourish without honesty and we must be honest to God.

Simply ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the places where you have sinned and ask God to forgive you for each of them by name.  God has given us the precious promise that "if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1^st John 1:9) 

T           THANKSGIVING

Next, take a few minutes to thank God for the blessings in your life. In AA, they encourage people to have an attitude of gratitude, to thank God even for the little things (see Psalm 34:1).  When you regularly recount all that God is doing in your life, it makes it a lot harder to be depressed or resentful.  It is impossible to complain about life and praise God at the same time! 

S          SEEKING GOD FOR YOURSELF AND FOR OTHERS

The final element of a time alone with God is called supplication-asking His blessing on your life and lives of others. There is no greater blessing than to realize your powerlessness and His mightiness can combine to bring victory in every situation! After spending our time in adoration, we have strengthened our faith that He is willing to meet our needs and fulfill our desires at every turn. God's Word says of God "You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great." (Psalm 18:35) 

The one secret to having a great prayer life is having a prayer life at all.  Just like any relationship, there is work and commitment involved but the rewards are limitless.

David is Pastor of Abundant Grace Church in Hickory , North Carolina .

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Prayer a Personal Testimony
By Charlotte 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV).   Psalms 23 and The Our Father are prayers that have sustained and fulfilled me throughout my prayer life. . .here's why.

I became interested in prayer services, seminars and weekend prayer retreats as a young adult. At these weekend retreats, I learned to intercede, "lay hands" and pray all night if we had to. The results of having a deeper prayer life are a stronger commitment to the Lord, an understanding of Gods Word and a willingness to serve God and His people. Since becoming a person of daily prayer the added blessing is hearing His voice, as John 10:27 says, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me." Prayer is simply talking to God about ones situation, whatever that may be, especially when ones situation dramatically changes. 

One morning while in prayer and meditation, I heard there was something I needed to know. "You are a "lover of women"   I know that sounds strange, and  I too was shocked and surprised so I ran away from my place of prayer, rebuking the devil, and refused to accept what I heard. However, after twenty seven years of marriage and a mother of eight children my life took a dramatic turn, when I "came out" on national TV as lesbian, in 1990. Shock waves went from family member to family member.  Friends called.  Others refused to talk.

Many people who saw the show (especially church members who felt threatened and confused) knew my family to be gospel singers, teachers and preachers of Gods word, but they rejected our music and the ministry ended.

What was supposed to be a time of celebration of my new found self actually became a time of depression, rejection and a fear that God did not love or want me anymore. Prayer seemed to be the answer but I could not accept that God was still there after all I had been told about gays and lesbians. My husband witnessed my emotional roller coaster and reached out to a local gay and lesbian church, in San Francisco which recommended the MCC in Sacramento , where we were living. The pastor of MCC called and suggested I come and visit to talk about what I was experiencing. Unknown to me at one time, she was previously a member of the same organization I belonged to as a young adult in the Salvation Army. She shared her testimony about her coming out experience, and how now as pastor she is fulfilling her call to fulltime service.  As you can imagine, this inspired me. The conversation we had lifted my confidence, yet I continued to doubt whether or not I was loved by God.  I wanted to feel good about myself, as lesbian, but I couldn't because the persistent fear and anxiety. . .so much so that suicide seemed the only way out.

After sending my children to school and my husband to work one day, I planned to take my life. That morning, the fear and the thoughts of rejection by God took control of me. I sat on the kitchen floor, holding a knife in my hand ready to cut my throat. I played a song by the Beach Boys called "Turn around Look at Me" on a little record player.  The words of that song began to speak to me. . . "Turn around there is someone walking behind you, turn around, look at me. There is someone who'll love and guide you, turn around look at me."  Even though the depression and sadness was driving me to the brink of suicide I heard His voice, again in my ear, saying, "If you want to throw your life away, I am in the recycling business. Put your life in my hands and I will use it for my service".

That morning, I received His call for service, thanked Him for saving me, stood on my feet, put the knife down, and was convinced that Jesus still loved me. . .and always would. 

Psalms 23 means the world did not give him to me so the world cannot take Him away. I continue to make decisions to let God lead where His promises will keep me safe and loved. He prepares a table before me. He anoints my head with oil. . .my cup runs over. . .His goodness and mercy  follow me all the days of my life.

Since telling the world I am gay, God's Spirit calls me to unite others who have drifted afar or were driven away from His love. Today, The 'Our Father' means that God is the Father of all, whether gay, straight, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, black, white, rich or poor. . .whosoever -  Jesus loves all God's children. 

Charlotte is a member of Freedom In Christ Church in San Francisco .

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Christianity & Homosexuality. . . 

conversations with Rev. Joseph Adam Pearson, Ph.D. 

President of Christ Evangelical Bible Institute

www.cebiaz.com

"Genuine, Yet Regarded as Imposters"
(2 Corinthians 6:8 NIV)

When the Apostle Paul described his evangelistic team as co-laborers with mainstream leadership in the Lord's ever-so-great harvest field, he acknowledged that the hardships they endured included being regarded by the Church as imposters even though they were genuine.  Even though he was personally called by our Lord to be an Apostle, Paul was regarded as suspect because he had not been discipled by Jesus Christ when He was in the flesh.  He was also suspect because he was called to minister to the Gentiles, who were the "dogs" of that day.  The Apostle Paul was part of God's elite and, yet, he was often viewed by his fellow church leaders, at best, as a second class citizen of the Kingdom of God or, at worst, no citizen at all.

Today, Christians who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered can relate to how the Apostle Paul and his evangelistic team members were viewed two thousand years ago.  Today, we are:  1) rejected outright as imposters, even though we are genuine; 2) accepted by "Christian" denominations who no longer believe in the authenticity and authority of God's Holy, and only, written Word; or, 3) assigned to second class citizenship within the Kingdom of God, permitted to sit in pews and donate our financial resources, but not permitted to minister to others with our God-given, and unique, talents and spiritual gifts. 

Early in Church history, the Apostle Peter had been taught directly by God not to demean the people God chooses to save:

"Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."  Acts 10:15b (NIV)

Even though the Apostle Peter had the same vision repeated three times to him (Acts 10:16), and even though he began to associate with Gentile Christians, he eventually retreated to his old way of thinking about Gentiles as "dogs" (i.e., lawless pagans, barbarians, and idolaters).  The Apostle Peter had heard Jesus Christ Himself refer to Gentiles as "dogs," when the woman of Canaan had sought a healing from our Lord for her daughter. 

At first, Christ Jesus would not speak to her.  However, after His disciples asked him to make her shut up by sending her away (Matthew 15:23), He had told her that He had been sent to the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24) and not to the "dogs," or Gentiles.  Jesus said to her:  

"It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."  Matthew 15:26 (Revised Standard)

Students of the Bible know that after the Canaanite woman's worshipful response to Christ Jesus (Matthew 15:27), He healed the daughter based on her mother's faith in Him. 

So, too, today, Christians who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered are being healed by Christ Jesus, not of their sexual orientation or gender identification but of the pain of rejection from their fellow Christians, who (similar to what the Apostle Peter and his fellow Judaizers thought of the Gentiles) think of them as modern day "dogs" (rejected by God, incapable of receiving salvation, and unable to take a place among God's elect). 

Even though our Lord had ministered to him personally and directly when "he fell into a trance," (Acts 10:10 NIV) the Apostle Peter eventually succumbed to his old way of thinking as well as to the peer pressure from the legalists of his day.  The Apostle Peter could not resist the thinking that Christian Gentiles needed to be fixed.  The Apostle Peter's fall from spiritual enlightenment into legalism, nationalism, racism and elitism became so detrimental that the Apostle Paul "opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong."  (Galatians 2:11 NIV)

Today, Christians who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered need to oppose those who are clearly in the wrong about who they are and what they can do, or cannot do, in the body of Christ (i.e., the Church). 

When I was in Uganda delivering my seminar and workshop, entitled "Christianity and Homosexuality Reconciled," a Pastor from Kenya , who was struggling with the reconciliation of his own homosexuality with his Christian faith, wanted to unceasingly return to a discussion about Levitical Law.  Finally, the Holy Spirit spoke through me to him and asked the question, "Why would you want to remain under a curse?"  When the Kenyan Pastor replied that he did not understand, I quoted Galatians 3:10-11 to him: 

{10} All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." {11} Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."

The Pastor from Kenya understood instantly and was healed of his old way of thinking! 

Reading a bit further in the third chapter of Galatians, we find that:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."  (Galatians 3:13 NIV) 

God's Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul was trying to show the "hearers" of His written Word that Jesus Christ Himself had been cursed by the letter of the Law of Moses, since the Apostle Paul was quoting Deuteronomy 21:23:

YOU MUST NOT LEAVE HIS BODY ON THE TREE OVERNIGHT.  BE SURE TO BURY HIM THAT SAME DAY, BECAUSE ANYONE WHO IS HUNG ON A TREE IS UNDER GOD'S CURSE.  YOU MUST NOT DESECRATE THE LAND THE LORD YOUR GOD IS GIVING YOU AS AN INHERITANCE. 

So, for those Christians who say that Christians who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered are "cursed" and should be "excommunicated" (Greek, anathema), let them remember that, even if it were true that GLBT folk are cursed by the letter of the Law of Moses (although they really are not), they stand in some excellent company, since Christ Jesus Himself was cursed by the letter of the Law of Moses.

Why should all Christians read, study, and comprehend the Old Testament, including the Law of Moses?

1.       To understand the origin of the universe.

2.       To understand the origin of mankind.

3.       To learn the history of mankind since Adam and Eve as well as to learn the origin of iniquity and sin.

4.       To understand the promises of God to mankind concerning the Jewish Messiah, who is the only Savior of the world.

5.       To understand the prophecies of God that have already been fulfilled, that are being fulfilled, and that will be fulfilled at a later time.

6.       To learn from the journey of the Children of Israel and how it mirrors the personal journey of individual Christians.

7.       To learn basic spiritual principles and apply them to daily living today.

8.       To better understand Old Testament quotations and imagery used throughout the New Testament.

However, Christians should NOT read, comprehend and study the Old Testament in order for them to follow Levitical Law!

The Law of Moses was written for a different group of people at a different time in history who lived in a different place.

Does that mean that we should throw out the Ten Commandments?  No, it means that we should pay attention to what Christ Jesus said is the sum of the Law of Moses: 

{37) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  {38}  This is the first and great commandment.  {39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  Matthew 22:37-39

The Holy Spirit wrote through the Apostle John:

{14} And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

{17}  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.  John 1:14&17 KJV

Because our Lord seeks for us to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23), we can only find that truth in Holy Scripture by seeking to hold the whole Bible while simultaneously attending to its various parts!  We must not build a theological doctrine based on one verse or subset of passages alone.

In the following Article in the next TEN Newsletter, Dr. Pearson will respond to the seeming hard-line stance by God against same sex intimacy and cross-dressing in the Law of Moses. 

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