Reflections on the Orlando Massacre as a Person of faith...What I must do moving forward.

The massacre at the LGBTQ Nightclub in Orlando has left most of us SPEECHLESS. We can't believe this is happening again and we can't believe someone would go to a gay nightclub (where a LOT of us go because folks still dance on the dance floor) and shoot up the place.

Now I will leave my own political thoughts and theories out of this because that's not the point I want to address.  I want to address the point of how people of Faith must address this issue.

It's so easy to pooh pooh Islam as an anti gay religion who preaches hate but we all know they aren't the only ones.  This picture tickled me because it is so on point!

I was actually pretty pleased to see on Sunday that nobody on my timeline wrote anything ignorant such as:  Sin will find you out, They should have been in church and repenting, or any of the other such things that people like to write when something like this happens.  

However then I started to grow uncomfortable at how many people wanted to minimize that this happened at a GAY NIGHTCLUB.  This is very important and not to be minimized. We can't just say:  Oh well this happened to Americans on American soil and dismiss that the majority of these people look to be People of Color and many were most likely members of the LGBTQ community.

I was pleased to see several of the Christian ministries I follow put up prayers and one was even so bold as to put up a rainbow ribbon.  I thought that was great but I still feel that there's more that we can be doing to show our solidarity with the community even if it's just acknowledging that the people who died were LGBTQ community members and we are praying for their loved ones.

Who is my Neighbor?

One of the reasons that has been given for Millennials exiting the church building is because of the church's attitude toward gay people.  People have grown tired of hearing that their friends are horrible hell bound sinners when the preacher is scamming the people out of their money and sleeping with half the congregation!  It seems like Same Sex Marriage and Bathrooms are more important issues to scream about for the Christian leaders than Poverty, Broken Families, and Gun Violence which affects many of the church members and would be ministries that deserve a lot of time.

A few years ago I came to the conclusion that I simply don't believe that gay people are going to Hell for being gay.  I remember I asked one person, "Well what are people supposed to do? Have sham marriages, be miserable, and live a lie?"  The person got quiet and said, "I guess so." They looked unconvinced as well.  I have also gotten to know Christians who are gay and they live out Jesus' words and mission  way more than many of the people I knew from church.

The biggest loudmouths for Christians these days are the wacko extremists.  Many Christians get offended that people think these characters are the main representatives for Christianity but I believe that staying in our own little Christian Bubble Worlds where we only know how to relate and to talk to people that are in our group is just as bad as these wacko loudmouths.

Are we on the scene to go and pray for people who need prayer?  What about condemning what has happened?  Are we on the front lines?  Contrary to popular belief, many LGBTQ people have faith. They believe but they've been shunned and hated for being who they are that they are distrustful (and rightfully so) of religious folks.

Well What Does the Bible Say...

Well you know The Old Testament had a lot of interesting things to say that nobody follows today (Which they shouldn't since the Law was nailed to the cross) and the Apostle Paul who wrote a large portion of the New Testament had some really interesting ideas that many churches skip over these days but people love to center on the scriptures regarding Homosexuality.  They conveniently miss the ones about marriage, divorce, remarriage, love, giving to the poor, and so forth.

I do not presume to have all of the answers but I do know Jesus gave us the Two most important commands:  Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and Love Your Neighbor as You Love Yourself.  

Who is my neighbor?  It's the person that is despised and forgotten about.

The Role of the American Church Moving Forward

If you read this blog, then you know I am on a year long break from church. I just couldn't do it anymore.  It's hard to go to church and hear about breakthroughs when you see the country on the Highway to Hell.

I firmly believe that this next election will most likely usher in another Revival/Great Awakening.  It has to.  People are fearful, they are angry, they are in despair and looking to politicians for their salvation.  We all know that's not going to happen so this is the perfect time for the spirit to move and for something to happen.

Listen, I believe we are in for some dark days ahead.  One can only look at the story that's being crafted to see this is all leading somewhere.  Where will people turn to?  It won't be to the American church in it's current state.  

Why? It's flabby and out of shape.  It's not strong.  Many of the people left in the pews are hopeless and their philosophy is: God is gonna build the ark for us.  We will just sit here and collect our brownie points.  It's not a coincidence that the people who have left church are the doers and the people with the philosophy that says, "Faith Without Works is Dead so let me get to work outside of the bubble and help my neighbors"

What am I doing moving Forward?

I just felt that I needed to get some things off of my chest regarding this issue because I consider myself a LGBTQ ally and I felt like I needed to write about it.

Moving Forward:  I want to commit myself to being more open about my support of LGBTQ rights and merging it with faith.

I want to help bridge some of the gaps because I feel that like there are a lot of people who want prayer, who want a relationship with God, and have been shunned for it.  I don't want to see more of that happening.

I just want to be able to help more people regardless of sexual orientation or whatever.  

Keeping my eyes open and being ready to be a Light in what looks to be a very dark time for our nation.