What you have to love and appreciate about Wesley and his writing is that he is dealing with real issues for real people. I find it is so easy for heterosexual married pastors to come up with cookie cutter sermons and treatises on what the Bible says on homosexuality that are just preaching to the choir. They are really only intended to help biblically conservative, heterosexual Christians feel good about their biblical position on a sin that they don’t struggle with at all. These teachings have little-to-no intention of actually helping gay / same-sex attracted Christians who are held in a daily chokehold by their same-sex attraction, something they have little-to-no control over. These church leaders give them very little in the way of options or action steps, which is why so many end up turning away from the Church and pursuing gay sexual relationships and/or keep things bottled up inside with no one to help them as they struggle down paths of deep depression and suicide.
Ep. 39: Interview with Mike Wittmer on the Bible, theology, and how to not leave your faith over conflicts with science and archaeology
Noah and Mike Wittmer talk through his most recent book, The Bible Explainer, a Q&A book on origins, the Old Testament, Jesus, the end times, and much more (over 250 entries). This is a fun and very helpful conversation that is sure to strengthen and encourage your faith.
Jesus is against the death penalty
When Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth,'” he is quoting Leviticus 24:20 of the Old Testament. This phrase is sandwiched in between Leviticus 24:17, “Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.” and Leviticus 24:21b, which repeats the line. This is the Old Testament command for the death penalty. Jesus then says but I tell you, and goes on to give a new command that is the exact opposite of the death penalty. You can read it for yourself above.
Ep. 38: Jesus’ Love for the Outcast & how this Grace Transforms Each of Us
Episode 38 takes us to a recent sermon Noah did on Luke 7:36-50, where a “sinful woman” anoints Jesus’ feet with her hair and tears. This interruption of an elite dinner party led a Pharisee, Jesus, and this woman to have to each make a crucial choice. Their choices are choices that each of us face as well.
Another Path for Gay Christians: Friendship as a Lost Vow
Wesley Hill is a gay, celibate Christian. While I can’t speak for all people in all places, his 2010 book Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality was groundbreaking in my corner of biblically conservative evangelicalism. In a topic that had become bifurcated into only two camps, Wesley presented a third camp: Christians […]
Ep. 37: Jesus bringing great calm to great chaos + new Flip Side book club exploring gay celibate partnerships with Wesley Hill
The topic of this episode is based around a sermon Noah preached recently on Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:35-39. In a chaotic season of COVID-19, racism, and a divisive election, let this passage of Scripture bring peace to these chaotic waters and the daily pain of living in a fallen world.