Archive for the ‘Homosexuality’ Category

Posted on October 22, 2010 - by Stephen Murray

Exporting Africa

I’ve resisted to write this post all week but I feel it’s appropriate to share it at this stage (some might doubt if there is ever actually an appropriate time to share it). Right now, as I write, the 3rd Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization in Cape Town is celebrating the joy, contribution and potential of African Christianity. The atmosphere is lively and vibrant as the African flavour spills out across the conference hall. The gospel has made enormous inroads into this continent over the last century – to the point that people are speaking about Africa being in a position to now re-evangelize post-Christian Europe as Christian French and Portuguese speaking Africans flood into the great cities of Europe.

The general feeling is that Africa will shortly be exporting its own particular brand of Christianity to the world – and this is a good thing. For too long Africa has suffered and continues to suffer under imperialist oppression, be that political or economic. That the African Church is in a position to give back is a work of God. The rejoicing that accompanies this is definitely warranted.

What will Africa export? Vibrancy? Community? A fresh and more engaging understanding of the spiritual world? A robust and biblical theology of suffering? Ethics and values in line with the Bible? Homophobia?

You see as I’ve been sitting at this congress I’ve been convicted by the need for the church to win back credibility in order to be heard evangelistically. That message has been preached and taught throughout the week with varying degrees of passion and vigor. I just got my paws on a copy of Tim Keller’s Generous Justice – calling on us as the church to let justice roll out from our churches because of the justice we have experienced and seen displayed at the Cross and the perfect justice we will enjoy in the new heavens and the new earth. And at this point it just completely escapes me as to how we can rejoice so much about all the good in the African church (and there really is so much good) and yet not speak out against the awful injustice of homophobia taking place in christianized cultures across Central, Southern and East Africa.

I doubt anyone will speak about it tonight from up front – I even wonder if anyone is speaking about it in the corridors. For the first time in my social media career(as if I get paid) I feel like I must blog about this – I must speak against this injustice because it is NOT consistent with the gospel. But I mustn’t just speak, I must pray. Our African evangelical leaders face many difficulties on this continent and their priorities can easily be torn in two. We must pray for them – that the God of justice would cause them to speak out against injustice. I don’t know what else to say – but I thought something should be said.

Posted on March 11, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

Being the ‘Few’ for the Homosexuals in our Midst

This is one of the most moving articles I’ve read in a long time. It is highly emotive yet completely sane and sobering providing people like me with a reality check on how I’m loving for and caring for those struggling around me. We’ve been wrestling with the concepts of ‘locving each other’ as we’ve gone through the upper room discourse in our Gospel Community and it’s been both a blessed yet difficult exercise at the same time as we wrestle with the implications. Well here’s and article that speaks right into the implications. Read it, absorb it and pray that God would break our callous hearts to love as his Son has loved us.