Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Transgendered Caitlyn Jenner

Would you welcome the former Bruce, now Caitlyn Jenner, into your church family?

We all have that option, because within each of our communities are struggling souls trapped in bodies they deem to be wrong for any variety of reasons. And now we are able to medically alter ourselves—but does that transformation doom us in the eyes of God?
I’m not a theologian, but I am a woman who has helped teens and adults struggling through many addiction issues and various challenges brought upon them by life. God asks me to love. So, I need to love. While it’s much easier to distance myself and even point fingers, Jesus would probably sit down with Caitlyn Jenner and ask questions, delve into the complexities of the former Olympiad, and offer love, concern, and compassion.
The world will have more Bruce-Caitlyn Jenners—just as we will have more gay marriages, live-in lovers, and a smorgasbord of other sins. I have to remind myself to hold off on the judgment, respond with love, and then perhaps, only then, will they welcome the truth of God’s Word.

Hundreds of Jewish Protesters Block Christians From Visiting King David's Tomb, Site of Jesus' Last Supper

Hundreds of Jewish protesters blocked a group of Greek Orthodox Christians from entering the site in Old Jerusalem that Jewish tradition believes is where King David is buried and where Christians believe Jesus held his infamous Last Supper on Sunday.

The protesters held a mass prayer service and study while attempting to block access to the building. Israeli Police managed to ensure the Christians' access to the site where they held a religious ceremony to celebrate Pentecost, according to a spokesman for the department.

Should God Be Called 'She?' Anglican Women Priests Say God Is 'Both Male and Female,' but Church Only Speaks of the Creator as Male

A group of female priests within the Church of England is calling for more gender-neutral language to be used when referring to God in church services, in what it says is a campaign for equality between men and women in the church.
"Orthodox theology says all human beings are made in the image of God, that God does not have a gender. He encompasses gender — He is both male and female and beyond male and female. So when we only speak of God in the male form, that's actually giving us a deficient understanding of who God is," said Rev. Jody Stowell, a member of Women and the Church group
The Rev. Emma Percy, chaplain of Trinity College Oxford and a member of WATCH, added that both male and female language should be used in church services, in order to distance the church from "the notion that God is some kind of old man in the sky."

Abercrombie & Fitch Guilty of Religious Discrimination, Supreme Court Decides in Muslim Head Scarf Case



Muslim woman Samantha Elauf (R), who was denied a sales job at an Abercrombie Kids store in Tulsa in 2008, stands with U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lead attorney Barbara Seely (C) at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, February 25, 2015. The Court on Wednesday considered whether Elauf, who wears a head scarf, or hijab, was required to specifically request a religious accommodation at her job interview at the store in Tulsa in 2008 when she was 17. The company denied Elauf the job on the grounds that wearing the scarf violated its "look policy" for members of the sales staff.

Bishop T.D. Jakes: 'I'm Much More Concerned About Being a Good Person Than Being a Good Preacher'

NEW YORK — Bishop T.D. Jakes, founder and lead pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, recently revealed what he thinks is his greatest accomplishment in life so far and said he's "more concerned about being a good person" than he is about being a good preacher.

"The things that are most dear to me are the things that are most personal to me," Jakes, 57, told The Christian Post in an interview last month.
The megachurch pastor, who leads a 30,000-member church, has come a long way since he first began ministering to a congregation of just 10 people at Greater Emanuel Temple of Faith in 1980. In addition to founding one of the largest megachurches in the United States, Jakes has won numerous accolades over the years for notable books, films and music he has produced. None of these accomplishments, he says, compares to family.
"It is not the outward accolades in success of men because I find that to be so fickle, but there are moments I have had with my children and watching them grow," he said, before touching on his 34-year marriage to his wife, Serita Jakes.
"It is the fact that our relationship has survived and flourished for 34 years between my wife and I. It is the fact that I took care of my mother until the day she died of Alzheimer's and I got to be a good son. I'm much more concerned about being a good person than I am about being a good preacher."