I Am Michael: The Retelling of Michael Glatze

Michael Glatze burst into the awareness of those in the ex-gay world in July 2007. He was a gay activist who in a panic turned to God. At that time, I had turned from my days supporting sexual reorientation change efforts and had established the sexual identity therapy framework as the better approach to traditionally evangelical believers who were also attracted to the same sex. I was very curious about his experience and he discussed some of it with me in an interview very shortly after the his coming out as straight with WorldnetDaily. At the time, I wrote, “I know nothing about Mr. Glatze beyond this article, although I suspect we may be hearing more about him in the coming days.”

Initially, Glatze was portrayed by the evangelical press as an orthodox Christian convert. However, he confirmed to me, albeit reluctantly, that he had converted to the Mormon church. He later left the LDS church and at one point joined a Buddhist retreat center. He gave two interviews to Joe Nicolosi (most recent in 2014) about change of orientation that somehow Nicolosi and Glatze spun into support for reparative therapy (recall that Glatze was not involved in any change therapy efforts).

Glatze resurfaced a couple years later with a series of blog posts sharply critical of President Obama. One, in particular, was featured by ExGayWatch and seemed to express racist overtones. Glatze later provided an explanation to me about the comments which seemed more like unfocused rage at Obama.
I was a little surprised when I heard that James Franco was going to do a movie about Glatze’s changes. The film, I Am Michael has been getting good reviews but may not be available widely. In any case, as a biopic, I am sure it is interesting but at some point I would like to explore what really happened to Glatze. There are clues that he might not have been exclusively gay or that he might be bisexual. Is his experience generalizable to others, or is there some infrequent alignment of circumstances that led to the dramatic change? The writing I have done previously gives me little that’s solid.
In his 2014 interview with Joe Nicolosi, Glatze denigrates the experience of LGB people in much the same way he did in 2007. However, in this video below, he seems to articulate what the American Psychological Association calls “organismic congruence” or being who you experience yourself to be. It is hard to tell what he believes now, at least from this interview, but he seems much more at ease.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/DERC4kpd5Ag[/youtube]
As I wrote before, I suspect we may be hearing more about him.
 
 

With Questions Unanswered, Mars Hill Church Keeps On Pushing Mars Hill Global

Last week, Mars Hill Church admitted that they had caused confusion regarding donations to the Mars Hill Global Fund. While answering some questions, they left some unanswered. One big question: How much money was actually spent on Ethiopian and Indian evangelists between 2012 and 2014? Mars Hill offered to direct donations made to the Global Fund to mission purposes if requested. However, I wonder how most donors will ever know they are doing that. How many former/current members who donated to Global are going to be cruising the Mars Hill website and stumble on the Global FAQs? If ever donors find out, they could trigger a windfall for Ethiopian and Indian missions if they request the money go where they thought it was going to go.
Shouldn’t Mars Hill Church alert the donors to the Global Fund about how the money was used? ECFA guidelines require it.
As if we need any more confirmation that Mars Hill portrayed Mars Hill Global as a means to help the international missions, I present this You Tube video of a former Mars Hill member who looked up a Looney Tune segment and got a Mars Hill ad before the cartoon started. The ad was for Mars Hill Global and was filmed in Ethiopia with no mention of any application to the United States. Watch:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60mm4GOwGZ8[/youtube]
In fact, the ad was this video which asked Mars Hill members to give more than their tithe to Mars Hill Global:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/XcseC6KpSBk[/youtube]
I recently learned of an older lady who donated a substantial sum to Mars Hill Global thinking it would go to Ethiopian missions who is now bewildered by the recent message from the church. She doesn’t want to give her name but she used to attend Mars Hill and sat through many of the videos filmed in Ethiopia before giving her gift. Another individual who doesn’t want to be named also gave in 2012 thinking his money was going to missions. The several donors I have spoken with are afraid to go public.
 

Nicolas Cage to remake the Left Behind series: Spoof or not?

I really can’t tell if this article is a spoof or for real.

The breathless beginning:

Once in every generation, a moment comes that is so defining, so paradigm-altering, so world-shaking, that you spend the rest of your life telling people where you were when you heard it. It goes beyond making history to shaping the future, and yes, even giving a generation a rallying point and identity. For our generation, that moment came today when Variety announced Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in the reboot of the apocalyptic Left Behind film franchise.

If I start telling people in my circle of friends where I was when I heard this, they will think I had brain surgery not heart surgery.

If true, then a sure sign of the apocalypse.

Saturday at the movies: Pink Panther Strikes Again

Probably the funniest comedic sequence I have ever seen in a film, this interrogation of suspects from Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) is my all time favorite scene from the entire Pink Panther franchise.

Clouseau is interrogating the staff of a Professor Fassbinder who has been kidnapped by Clouseau’s nemesis, the former Chief Inspector Dreyfus. He begins in the gymnasium and makes a rapid and dramatic entrance to the parlor where the staff is gathered. After the “interrogation,” he manages to shoot his British inspector counterpart with buckshot, requiring immediate “surgery.” It is well worth the 5+ minutes.