Michael Bussee said today in a comment that tomorrow night a vigil is being held in honor of the memory of Jeffery Owens, Michael’s best friend, who was killed in the attack that also resulted in injury to Michael. The attack was a cowardly and viscious hate crime directed at Michael, Jeffery and two friends.

In support for Michael, I want to post the details of the vigil in hopes that readers who are close by might attend and those of us who read here can offer prayer for Michael and surviving familiy and friends.

The 6th annual memorial vigil remembering the June 6, 2002 attack and subsequent death of Jeffery Owens for whom this center is named. Begins at 7:30pm on the steps of the First Congregational Church and then we walk to the site of the attack that led to the founding of the JOCC. Call 951-683-2032 or e-mail vp@jocc.org for more information.

Let’s join Michael and the others in spirit tomorrow and use our comments on this post to share some love…

Filed under: Uncategorized by Warren - 34 Comments →

There have been a few mentions in comments on this blog and elsewhere about an Exodus radio spot suggesting “sudden, radical and complete change” of some kind.

I received the following statement in an email from David Fountain, Director of Conference Services, earlier today:

Here is an email blast that went out to everyone on our conference list on Friday:

Wow, the 2007 Exodus Freedom Conference is less than 18 days away! The Exodus staff is very excited about seeing you and what God has in store for all of us at this year’s Freedom Conference.

We are expecting Him to do nothing less than move in revolutionary ways in and through our lives. In the midst of all the noise and confusing messages from the world today, we are choosing to pursue God. We are making a decision to follow and surrender everything to Him, even our struggle with homosexuality. Our President Alan Chambers recently said, “A life of freedom doesn’t equal a life absent of struggle. As long as we live on this earth, we will continue to struggle with our own humanity. A life of freedom is actually found in the midst of the struggle, when we choose to fight. Especially, when it is difficult to do so.”

The rewards and benefits of living a revolutionary life for the ultimate revolutionary, Jesus, is worth it! In John 10:6b He says, “Anyone who goes through me will be cared for-will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” We will settle for nothing less than the life of freedom Jesus offers all of
us!

Exodus is also calling for a revolution within the church: a sudden, radical, complete change where the body of Christ begins ministering grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality. We will continue to advocate for those struggling with unwanted homosexuality, for those who are gay identified, and for those who love them.

Join us for this life-changing eye-opening week of learning and healing!

We will also be placing this statement by the promo on the website:

A Word from Our President About REVOLUTION

“Exodus International exists to mobilize the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality. As such, we are calling upon the evangelical church to undergo a sudden, radical and complete change in the way it has dealt with the issue of homosexuality in the past. “As former homosexuals, we know that the process of transformation is often a long, difficult journey towards healing and holiness. If the body of Christ will embrace and demonstrate the compassionate truth and grace of Jesus Christ-then we will witness a true revolution in our generation.”

-Alan Chambers, President, Exodus International

UPDATE - June 12, 2007: I received the following note today from Alan Chambers:

A month or so ago I took note of a comment by Timothy Kinkaid that was posted on either XGW or Warren Throckmorton’s blog regarding terminology.

Having grown up in church I understand and fluently speak Christianese. The culture at large doesn’t always understand the way we speak. This is something that we are aware of at Exodus and are making a more concerted effort to change. I struggle to find words that explain “healing” and “change” and “transformation”. Those are applicable to my life and story. However, I do recognize that they can and do unintentionally mislead people.

Our public service announcement highlighting our annual conference is being played on one Christian radio station in California. This PSA references our conference theme, Revolution, and its definition: sudden, complete and radical. We want to emphasize that we are calling for such change within the evangelical church and the way it has typically dealt with the issue of homosexuality. By no means is it our belief that change from the complexity of issues surrounding homosexuality is often sudden or complete.

In an effort to clarify our message, we have produced a statement that appears on our website and has been sent to the station running the ads.

Messaging is important as is honesty. Our intention with this ad was simply to call the church to sudden, radical and complete change regarding how we have traditionally dealt with the issue of homosexuality.

I am truly sorry for any confusion this caused.

Alan Chambers
President, Exodus International

I thank Alan for this note and clarification.

Filed under: Exodus International, Religion and sexuality, Uncategorized, sexual identity, sexual orientation by Warren - 23 Comments →

February 8, 2007 - The Leona Tyler Principle, adopted by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1973, has just been unanimously adopted by NARTH’s Governing Board on the advice of its Scientific Advisory Committee.

In essence, the principle states that when psychologists are speaking as members of their profession, any advocacy in which they engage should be based on scientific data and demonstrable professional experience. Perhaps Dr. Tyler, then APA’s president, was able to foresee the day when organized psychology would be influenced by activism, and she wanted to ensure that psychology as a profession would not be eroded.

Read the rest on the NARTH website…

Filed under: NARTH, Professional issues, Uncategorized, politics, sexual orientation by Warren - 7 Comments →

The last several days, a fuss has erupted about an AIDS conference at Rick Warren’s (Purpose Driven Life) Saddleback church hosting an AIDS conference. Pro-life groups are upset that Barack Obama is speaking (he favors partial-birth abortion) and the new AIDS Truth Coalition wants more time at the conference on gay promiscuity. Saddleback has responded and the conference goes on.

Given our discussion of gay culture, is there something to the idea that gay leaders should be more vocal about promiscuity? That sounds provocative but I mean it to be a serious question. Feel free to comment on any aspect of this controversy.

Filed under: AIDS/HIV, Cultural news, Religion and sexuality, Sexual education, Uncategorized by Warren - 7 Comments →

Let me know what you think of this format and the new digs.

Maybe I’ll have an open house after Thanksgiving…

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Fruitfly research is pretty hot stuff and this new study is sure to find its way on to late night television.

Fighting Like a Girl or Boy Determined by Gene in Fruit Flies

BOSTON, Nov. 20 /Standard Newswire/ — Fighting like a girl or fighting like a boy is hardwired into fruit fly neurons, according to a study in the Nov. 19 Nature Neuroscience advance online publication by a research team from Harvard Medical School and the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna. The results confirm that a gene known as “fruitless” is a key factor underlying sexual differences in behavior. The findings mark a milestone in an unlikely new animal model for understanding the biology of aggression and how the nervous system gives rise to different behaviors.

I’ll bet the boy fighters call each other dude and drink Gatorade between rounds.

Reality show idea combining this and the last post - Get men and women to fight and have raters decide if they are gay or not by how they fight. The raters go off the show if they are wrong. The celebrity version of the show would be huge. Anyone want to suggest a name for it?

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Michael Bailey is quoted extensively in this article regarding his research on gaydar. Social psychologists study stereotypes and the “I knew it all along” feeling (e.g., I just knew he was gay). I suppose I have furthered a few stereotypes by my support of Daryl Bem’s Exotic Becomes Erotic theory.

I had to chuckle a bit at this aspect of the article where Dr. Bailey puts his gaydar square on Haggard: “The one blip on his Ph.D.-caliber gaydar was Haggard’s broad grin.”This is total speculation, we haven’t done studies yet, but I think gay men tend to have much more expressive smiles. That’s one thing that struck me about Haggard.’”

And here I thought it was because he was the pastor of a megachurch. Silly me.

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