Homophobic God

Apparently, anyone who thinks that homosexual practices are wrong is considered homophobic, so I guess that includes me and it also includes Jesus Christ. I've had other conditions in my life so another one is not a big deal.  For God though, I'm pretty sure that this is His first. However, I doubt that He's too worried about it, especially as it's not a real "illness".

I'm writing this blog because I have grown tired of Christian Leaders remaining silent on the subject. During our silence a generation of Christian kids in our churches have emerged thinking that practicing homosexuality is ok and are saying, "what's wrong with Gay marriage?" The church has left the educating of our kids on this subject, to the media and to those pushing the gay agenda. A pastor friend told me that one survey conducted in a large evangelical church revealed that around 80% of the young people think that gay marriage is ok and should be allowed by law. 

Well I'm here to say that it's NOT ok. My voice is not a loud one and I'm tucked away in a small country town and so I probably don't have as much to lose as my city colleagues do. However, being silent is sometimes just plain wrong . 

During my ministry life, I've had quite a bit to do with gay people and I have several gay people who are life-long friends.  I love them and accept them, as they do me. That has allowed us to speak openly about the subject of homosexuality and the gay lifestyle. One of them said to me, "Gary, the gay lifestyle is anything but gay. It is awful and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying." Well, he may not be able to speak on behalf of everyone in the gay community, but I suspect that he's pretty much right although there's won't be many who'd admit it publicly. 

But back to our homophobic God...a friend recently posted on Facebook a picture from the ABC featuring an Anglican priest in NSW who was displaying a sign outside the church which read, "Dear Christians, some ppl are gay. Get over it. Love, God."  Hmm, quite something to say on behalf of God. He has obviously concluded that what the Bible says about the subject is not what God thinks about it. One of the first things we learned at Bible College is "don't go outside of the scriptures to form/build your theology." Looking deeper into the ABC article, the priest states, "What inspires me and us, as a faith community of course, is the life and teachings of Jesus. So we stand for what He stood for, what we believe he stood for, which was justice and equality, compassion and a society that looks after the edges, that doesn't just look after the powerful and the wealthy."  

Sounds great hey? Except that it seems that folk who say that are separating Jesus from God. It's like they are saying, "before Jesus came, we were shocked at how harsh God spoke and how much he judged and how inequitable he was.  But then Jesus came and he showed us another way.  Jesus showed us to just accept that there are homosexuals and to get over it. Show compassion and acceptance and we'll all get on together and live in harmony."

Well, the reality is that Jesus came to earth AS GOD. He walked on earth no less God than when he appeared to Joshua as the Captain of the Lord's host. Jesus was there and participated when speaking to Moses at the giving of God's Word (which never passes away) saying, ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.' (Lev 20:13). God says that it's detestable. Jesus says that it's detestable. It was punishable by death in those days. Why then, would he now be saying that it's ok, get over it? The passage of scripture is about all things sexual that God prohibited... incest, sex with animals ... and homosexuality. So, did God change His mind? In the day of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, did he decide that it is now ok?  That it's not detestable anymore?

The message I keep hearing from Christian proponents of gay marriage is that in Jesus, love took over and became the principle thing, over-riding all other things. I hear, "Look, if they truly love each other, why shouldn't they be able to get married?"  But it's such a flawed argument. Jesus DID give us a new commandment, that we should love one another. But he never said that love cancelled out every other thing God ever commanded. In fact he said, "I have not come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law." The Bible says that the law is the school master that leads us to Christ. If we followed the love argument through, we could have daughters and fathers wanting to get married, mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, cousins... you get my drift. So long as love becomes the deciding factor, we could do anything, so long as love is involved it will make it ok. 

Listen Christian friends, it's NOT ok. It is sin to practice homosexuality. Does saying that make me homophobic? I don't know, but if so it's a condition that I'm willing to live with. The truth is that I don't have a hating bone in my entire body.  I love people. I have traveled to almost 60 countries taking the message of the love of Jesus to all peoples whether they be black, white, poor, rich, immoral or moral, gay or straight. Incidentally, I've discovered that Jesus doesn't love a straight person anymore than he loves a gay person. We are ALL sinners in need of a saviour and straight fornicators, adulterers, porn addicts are as in as just as big trouble with a holy God as practicing homosexuals are. Jesus didn't come to leave a person in their sin but to deliver them out of it. 

So, what does a person who "feels" homosexual do about their feelings?  I've known and pastored quite a few men who've just grown up feeling effeminate and liking girl stuff more than bloke stuff. Yet, they've married, had children and lived a normal heterosexual life. They tell me, "I made a choice. I could have followed those tendencies and become homosexual, but I decided not to."  But isn't that living in denial? We're always being not to do that.  Well, in truth, as Christians we're told to do exactly that.  The entire tenor of the New Testament is about denying your carnal SELF and living for God.  Jesus Himself said,  If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9:23)  Paul talks about the warring nature within us all saying, "the thing I want to do I don't do and thing I don't want to do, I do...who will deliver me from this dilemma?  Thank God, it's Jesus!" 

Are we to love homosexuals? Emphatically, YES!  During a two year period of my ministry life, I spent most of it among an inner-city homosexual community. I loved those people. I prayed with them, wept with them and laughed with them. They were my friends. Jesus led me to them and he brought many of them to my door. Do I love homosexuality? Emphatically, NO!  I've never met anyone who does. God loves the homosexual and he has provided them with the same way of escape from the war within themselves as he has for me. 

God bless you and thanks for reading this.

Gary

Withdrawal from Oxycontin

In September 2009, I had major surgery to replace both knees. During surgery and for three days after, I had an epidural to limit pain and when the tube came out accidently, I had morphine for a day. The side effects were so bad that eventually I was put on slow release oxycodone tablets called Oxcontin, supplemented by a "breakthrough" oxycodone called Endone.

After release from hospital, I continued with both types and the slow release tablet was increased from 10mg at night to 20mg, as I kept waking with pain. I continued with the slow release variety morning and evening for 4-5 weeks before deciding that I wanted to quit.

I had no understanding of this drug and so I simply went "cold turkey" (against the advice of my wife). In hindsight I should have asked the doctor for advice and done the withdrawal in reducing doses under his care. What followed was a nightmare.

I had never "done drugs" and so I did not realise that I had become addicted to this medication and the effects of withdrawal were going to be like that of a heroine addict.

The first day was not so bad, as the drug was still working quite strongly in my body. However, by the evening of the second day, I started to experience some terrible sensations in my body and in my emotions. The first noticeable thing was that I couldn't keep my legs still. They were incredibly restless. This was followed immediately by a sensation on my skin (especially the chest) as though it were crawling or alive with movement. It was as though millions of crawling creatures were moving over me. This was accompanied by sweating and clamminess.

What really rocked me was the terrible sense of anxiety and distress. I wanted to call out to someone for help but I felt locked away in some cell of despair. I have never been a depressed person, neither have I ever suffered anxiety for no apparent reason. Yet both of these things came to visit me during my withdrawal period which lasted for 25 days.

The first two weeks were the worst. I didn't feel these symptons all of the time, but mainly at night, although not exclusively so. Unfortunately, I would usually have an episode soon after lying down to sleep for the night. I was extremely tired and so I would often try to go to bed early, around 9:30pm or so. However, after one or two episodes, it was usually around 1:30am or 2am before I fell asleep. I would often sit on the side of the bed or sit on the couch trying to distract myself by watching TV. I usually would hold my arms around myself in an attempt to alleviate the effects. I would be incredibly restless and want to move, claw my skin, shudder and shake myself. Emotionally I was often a mess during this time, crying out in despair and distress.

Everyday i would pray that it would be the day it all stopped and I would be free. At night while awake, I would search the internet for information on what was happening. I was surprised to discover that very little is written and posted about Oxycontin withdrawal. My information was garnered from blogs, bulletin boards - personal testimonies such as this. Each tells of the same horrors of the effects of this drug. Oxycontin is considered the most abused drug in the world today. It is an opiate based drug and it is akin to using heroine or opium. I was very surprised that in a country like Australia I was not educated about the drug before it was administered to me. I know that I should not have gone cold turkey, but I simply didn't know how powerful it was and how captive I was to it.

After about two weeks the episodes became less severe, but they still persisted on a daily basis. I looked forward to the 21st day, as all the information I could find indicated that withdrawal takes between 5 and 21 days. However, for me, 21 days came and went and it was day 26 before I had my first day without any episode. I slept for 7 hours straight. As I write this blog I am on day 28 and I experience only very mild tingling in my legs and feet.

The hangover for me is in my mind and emotions. It has left me feeling flat emotionally and wrung out physically. I hope that I never have to take this medication again, or anything similar.

My purpose in writing this blog is to to offer some help and comfort to some poor soul who may be sitting up in the night, searching the internet for some information to help them. If so, I hope that this helps in some way.

GL

Well, it's been fun hasn't it Dan?

Quoting the famous line from our Taigum newsreaders, sums up our epic voyage. "It sure has Mike."

This journey, "around the World in 80 days" has been the trip of a lifetime. Last night we had dinner with old friends in Singapore, Peter and Jeannie Smith and we were telling them that each place we've visited has been special for one reason or another.

Chile was wonderful... seeing old friends and colleagues and to see how well our church there is going. Then Bolivia,... it was so good to see the work Mik and kay have done there and we are so excited about the future of Casa Segura.

USA was great just to catch up with our good friends and missionary colleagues, Pat and Heather. What a joy it was to re-new our very good friendship. Paris was... well Paris is special all on its own. England was a wonderful time of rest and taking in the history and exploring our roots. We have fond memories. We also struck the only hot and fine week they experienced all summer.

Malta was a new experience - so ancient and full of history. Italy, was perhaps the holiday highlight for us. We loved our time in Italy. From the ferry ride to Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany is magical and Rome, like Paris has its own special-ness.

What a wonderful joy it was to finally meet our children in Uganda and to see the amazing job that David and Kathryn are doing there and the great work done by Phil, Quinton and Erica too.

Onto South Africa and our lovely break on a guest farm with Rod and Jan. How good it was also to re-unite ourselves with Noreen Hallam and to meet her Pastor. A connection and relationship for the future. The animal safaris were very special also.

Singapore... a time to prepare for home and re-adjust our body time clock. We have a good anticipation of home and our normal routine.

Thanks for joining us on our journey. The comments were appreciated too.

God bless

Gary and Judy

First airplane hiccup

After multitudes of airports and connections, we had our first major hiccup yesterday at Hong Kong Airport... we missed our connecting flight to Singapore by just a couple of minutes. After a 13 hour flight from South Africa, we landed and it seemed ages to taxi to the gate and disembark. We thought we'd make it ok until we encountered the queue at the security check. It was at least 50 metres long and then we dashed for our plane, but.... it was gate 62 and security is at gate 1!! Oh dear. The journey to gate 62 required that we walk several corridors, take two lifts and two escalators. Too much!

The plane was still there but the doors had closed and our bags were taken out of the hold (these security conscious days the refuse to allow your bags to travel without you). No great drama really. We convinced Cathay that it was all their fault and they put us on the next flight two and half hours later.

We arrived in Singapore after 24 hours of travel from Africa. We are staying at the apartment of our friends John and Mary Elliott who are in New Zealand. their son David is here (although rarely actually present). We'll take it easy here and enjoy the botanical gardens and one or two other things before flying home to Brisbane Friday night.

Thoughts of Home...

With just 8 days until we’re home, our thoughts are naturally beginning to turn there. Having taken the first six weeks of our trip to wind-down (I would awaken every morning with the thought, “what do I have to do today?), it will be difficult to get back into the way of routine and work.

It has been great to catch up with Rod and Jan Best, our friends and colleagues who now reside in Botswana. They have taken a week out from their busy lives to relax with us at a lovely Farm Guest House in a place called Bela Bela (formerly Warm Baths). It is about a couple hours north of Johannesburg and a very Afrikaans area. All the blokes are called Frikkie, Hansie, Bakkies or something like that. We are beginning to say “yeaaa” instead of yes or yeah.

On Weds we had a truly great day. We travelled about an hour away to a National Reserve and drove all around it for the afternoon. It was very exciting to see Giraffe, Zebra, etc all in their natural habitat. The reserve is in the Waterberg mountain range and so we reached some fairly high altitudes at times.

Yesterday, we drove to a nearby Farm which is a Cheetah and Wild Dog breeding sanctuary. While not out roaming free, it was wonderful to see the animals (all endangered). The Cheetahs are a very special creature and we got to touch and pat one. We also saw a White Rhino – a real big fella, at that sanctuary.

Unfortunately I got sick in the afternoon. First health problem for the journey. Must have eaten something questionable. Thankfully, I awoke this morning better.

Next few days we will just relax and take in a few local sights and enjoy each others company. We fly out Monday to Singapore for a few days before landing in Brisbane on Saturday 13.

T...I...A (this is Africa)

What an amazing continent is Africa. Full of beauty, diversity, pain, joy and nature’s splendour.

Saying farewell to the children at Akaniyuka was painful and emotional, both for us and for them. We had bonded so strongly with them and it is a hard to realise that by coming and leaving that we are adding to their sense of loss, some having only lost their parents in recent months. We prayed for each of the 38 individually (see pic) and it was a special time. We promised to return.

David and Kathryn are doing a wonderful job there and it is a joy for us to see how much they have grown and matured into effective ministries.

Our last two days in Uganda were spent visiting the Queen Elizabeth National Reserve, one of Africa’s largest and natural game reserves. We were blessed to be able to see so many birds and animals in their natural environment. It was a special moment when we came across a large lion with his mate. They were just relaxing about 50 metres from the road and they gave a us a great display. We saw an elephant in the distance and many other critters. On the boat, we ran over some hippos and got to see the African crocs which look quite different from our Aussie variety.

Saturday saw us fly off to South Africa and having to say farewell to Liz our daughter in Jo’Burg as she returns to her family in Brisbane. She had an experience in Uganda that she will never forget and the children loved her.

Our old friend Noreen Hallam, who is the SA director of the YWCA, picked us up and we are staying with her until Rod and Jan Best can get down from Botswana (Monday). We ministered at Petra, Noreen’s church on Sunday and had a great time over lunch with her pastor, Keith and Anna Coster……..kindred spirits.

It has turned very cold here in Jo’Burg and there is snow around on the mountains. We look forward to exploring some of South Africa and we will be especially looking out for some more animals to enjoy. The South Africans are revelling in their huge win over the Australian Wallabies on Saturday – the first rugby game we’ve been able to watch for ages.

Upon Lake Bunyonyi

8 Km from Kabale town and high above in an old volcanic crater sits serene and beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. Enormous and shaped like a star fish, the Lake has many islands and inlets and so affords the seeker of solace plenty of opportunity to “get away from it all.” It is a great blessing for our team to be able to go and do exactly that from time to time.

It was our second visit, having gone there in January last year and we never fail to be taken by the peace, quiet and stillness of the place. It is almost eerie. We took a long-boat ride out to an island that has a restaurant and together with our team here (David & Kathryn; Graeme, Lisa and Damon), we enjoyed a fine meal… all at the outrageous cost of around $5 per head.

After lunch and at David’s instigation and insistence, we walked around the the entire perimeter of the island. Phew! We were all happy to arrive at the jetty, although David was overheard to make a few snide remarks about “old geezers walking slowly.” His day will come!

Sunday was a shock to my system with having to preach at Edwards church in the morning and then again at one of the ever-happening conferences in the afternoon (at the very sleepy time of 3pm). Having been out of the way of ministry for several months, it was a bit of an effort to crank up the boilers again.

Monday saw us back to our busy social schedule – visiting various ministries, dining with the Wards, an English family out here working with street kids; and visiting a village where two of our children come from… a real eye opener. The villages are devastated by the effects of AIDS and there are children, old people and not much in between. It is estimated that there are still thousands of orphans out there. Our children know that and it makes them sad. They want them to have the same opportunity they have.

Today (Tuesday) will be our last in Kabale this trip before we head off to Queen Elizabeth Park and Game Reserve for two days. Then Saturday it’s off to South Africa where we will have a week together with Rod and Jan Best. Can’t wait.