"prayers for bobby" - is homosexuality a sin?

OK, i am not sure where i am going with this post, but i have to get it out. and sorry, i know I'm not much of a writer, my thoughts tend to be unorganized, i hope you can follow...

do you watch lifetime? i never used to until college, i had a room mate who watched lifetime non-stop! she got me hooked.
Anway, there was a movie on lifetime recently, you may have heard of it, its called "prayers for bobby" If you don't already know, the movie is about this family in the 1970s, and they seem to be the perfect, close, christian family. Bobby opens up to his older brother and admits that he thinks he is gay, and he doesn't want to be because they have been taught all their life that it is wrong. The brother, concerned, goes to their mother and father about it. the mother doesn't believe it, she has a very hard time with it. at first she does all the research she can and tries to help her son to not act on what he feels. eventually, bobby gives in the the urges that he is feeling, moves away from home and gets into a relationship with another guy. Feeling a lot of pressure about many things, Bobby commits suicide. it devastates his family, and it causes his mother to question her faith. eventually she finds this church that welcomes homosexuality, and claims that it isn't wrong in the eyes of God, and she changes what she had believed in.

I feel very torn about this movie. yes, it is very unfortunate that bobby felt he needed to end his life. But, i don't agree with the homosexual lifestyle, nor do i believe that is how God intended humans to live. Let me get this out here right now, i don't dislike people who are homosexual, i dislike the act of homosexuality.
OK, again, i do not believe that God intended men to be with men and women to be with women, if that was the case the first people would have been Adam and Steve or Angela and Eve...not Adam and Eve. second, men parts don't fit with men parts, women parts don't fit with women parts... men parts fit with women parts.... isn't it pretty obvious that God intended men to be with women and women to be with men?
In the movie, they talk about the Bible being outdated and misinterpreted when it talks about homosexuality being a sin. First, i would like to say that i believe in every word of the Bible, i believe that it was written by inspiration of God, i believe that it is as relevant today as it was when it was written. next, there are people out there that say its just old Jewish law, and when Jesus came that changed. well, in doing some of my own research, most of those people have only looked at the old testament, not the new. Paul mentions the issue of homosexuality a few times in his letters. like in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul says "Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God." Later in that chapter he says "You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. "(verse 13)
and He goes on to say that our "bodies are the temple of the Lord!"(verse 19)
and there are plenty more verse on the subject...
So, i believe that THE BIBLE IS TRUTH, THE WORD OF GOD, and its clear that acting upon homosexual desires is a sin. from the beginning, God made male and female (Genesis 1:27).
I am pretty sure that He didn't do that by accident!
and when people say that they are born that way, they cant help it. or they say, if God wanted men to be with women why did he make me homosexual. first, i know that they say they can prove it, but i have a really hard time believing that you can be born gay, I'm sorry, i just don't really believe that. Second, you have to remember that we live in a fallen world, a world of sin, lies and deception. don't be fooled by what the world says is OK, the truth is in God's word, read it, it is still relevant to today's world, you might be surprised.


I'm not too sure where I'm going with this post, its just something that has been on my mind for a while now. its hard to talk to my youth group about it, especially living in a world, and an extremely liberal town, that has become so accepting of this lifestyle that i and other people believe is a sin. and i truly do believe that acting upon homosexual desires is a sin... The girls i work with in my youth group have been taught that its OK to be bisexual, its OK to be with another girl... but its not, its not OK.

Its hard for me, because as a christian that believes it is a sin, i get people telling me that i am closed minded, that i discriminate, that i cant accept change, that i need to get with the program, that I'm not accepting, that i condemn people...and so on...

anyway, back to the movie, i have noticed a lot of people are being deceived by this movie's message...and it makes me feel uncomfortable to think about all the lies people are believing..
am i the only one struggling with this movie? i wonder, what do other Christians think about this movie? better yet, what do other Christians believe about the topic of homosexuality being a sin? I'm curious to know what others think.

"40 Developmental Assests"

Internal Assets
Positive Identity:Self-Esteem
"Young person reports that "my life has purpose"


i believe that it is very important for a young person to recognize that they have purpose in their life, its important for them to have a good self-esteem. if a young person has low self-esteem they are constantly beating themselves up about stupid things, they feel like they are worthless and they shouldnt bother because they arent important and think nobody cares. but they need to realize that they are of worth, they are important and people do care about them. once they have good self-esteem, they will feel better, and want to try to be succesful in all that they do.

"40 Developmental Assests"

External Assest
Boundaries and Expectations: Family Boundaries


"Family Boundaries- Family has clear rules and consequences and monitores the young person's whereabouts." (40 Developmental Assets for adolecents. Search Institute)

i believe that boundaries are very important for adolecents to have. expecially family boundaries.
i know i hated boundaries that my parents set for me at that age, but looking back i am very thankful for all the rules that they made us follow. my parents had to know where i was, how late ill be and who was going to be there and how i was going to get there. they also gave me a curfew that i had to follow. if i broke curfew there were consequences.

it is important for parents to set healthy limits and consequences for their children.
there needs to be punishment for when a boundary is broken, but it needs to be a set punishment that the adolecent knows and agrees to way ahead of time like when the boundaries are first set.

when kumbya is not enough; a practical theology for youth ministry.( Dean Borgman)

"toward a theology of culture"

in this chapter Borgman lists a bunch of cultural questions in youth ministry. there are a lot that made me think, like : Can a christian join the military and kill? should christians buy music from only christian producers? what kind of music do you let them listen to in the van? how do you decide what music is played in the van?
but the one that sticks out the most is: is there a place for rap or rock music in worship?
my answer to that question is YES, there is most definitly room for rock or rap music in worship!
i hate it when i hear people saying that there is too much brass band in the salvation army, there needs to be more contemporary music. on the other hand i also hate it when people say there is too much comtemporary music in the salvation army, there needs to be more brass band.
the reason i hate it so much is because music is music. it is a GIFT given to us by GOD so that we can worship HIM. when i hear people arguing over what kind of music needs to be in the church (not just the Salvataion army) it make me mad because that is the point where worship becomes more about the music than about God.
i love all kinds of music: i love brass band just as much as i love rock. i like country as much as i can stand rap. and when it comes down to it, if it is glorifying the Name of the LORD, it shouldnt matter what style of music it is.
now, someone may be blessed by brass band and get to know the LORD in that way, but brass band isnt going to speak to everyone, so if a rock piece speaks to someones heart and they get to know the LORD through that, then praise God!!!
what i am just trying to say is no matter what style of music it is, as long as you are praising the Lord with it, and glorifying His name in it, then it is worshiping God, which is what music is meant to be for.

"When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. " Ephesians 5:19-20 (cev)

postmodernism in the marketplace ( Craig Detweiler and taylor barry)

" the very commonness of everyday things harbors the eternal marvel and silent mystery of God." -Karl Rahner, quoted in virtual faith.



it is important to study popular culture because as youth workers we need to understand the world that our youth live in and God created culture, so why not study it?

"modern mass culture, aimed at the 'consumer,' the civilization of prosthetics, is crippling peoples souls, setting up barriers between man and the crucial questions of his existence, his consciousness of himself as a spiritual being." -Andrei Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time

popular culture shapes who we are and what we do. It is what makes up the newest fads and fashions of today's world. in class we were asked, "why do you wear jeans? Is it because they are comfortable? Are they nice looking? Are they really what we choose to wear or do we wear them becuase they are the 'cool' thing to wear? Is not a pair of sweat pants more comfortable than a pair of jeans?"
then we were asked if we wear jeans because someone famous wears jeans. ok, so lets say that someone famous wears jeans and thats why we wear them. ok, now why does that famous person wear jeans? who told them to wear jeans? is it their manager? is it their agent? you see, we are all influenced by somethingor someone to do something or to wear a certian kind of clothes. and that is all part of the popular culture.
you see something on tv, or on the internet, if influences you to buy or be like whatever is being seen by you.
it is very important to understand this because as a youth worker i need to be able to know why my youth are doing something or wearing something. i have to be able to connect with them. its my job, and every christians job, to get the Truth out into the world, and that Truth is Jesus, not the world.

"greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4 (kjv)

postmodernism (tony jones)

"there are three umpires hanging out after a baseball game. the premodern umpire says, 'there are balls, and there are strikes, and i call 'em what they are.' the modern umpire says, ' there are balls and there are strkies, and i call 'em as i see 'em.' the postmodern umpire says, ' there are balls, and there are strikes, and they ain't nothing until i call 'em.' " (adapted, J. Richard Middleton and Brain J. walsh, thrusth is stranger than it used to be:biblical faith in a postmodern age)

"the premis of postmodernism is to question all premises. all assumptions are out the window for a postmodern philosopher, who's on a quest to show that all is relative and nothing can be taken for granted. skeptixism and cynicism rule the day." - Tony Jones

Post modernsim is the beleif that we all have a story, but no one has the same story. in postmodernism there is no place for religion and that everything is absolutley subjective. Everyone has a individual beleif and there is no one who has the exact same beleif.

so if there is not room for religion, how do we as christians minister to the postmodern world we live in?

people in this postmodern world would tell you to not tell them how to apply a Bible passage to their life, because you don’t know anything about their life. Just tell them what it really means so that they can decided how to apply it to their life.

i think its is important for us as christians to first pray. pray pray pray and never stop. prayer is the most powerful weapon that we have in this world today. next would be to build relationships with people. most of Jesus' ministry was building relationships with people.

once we build relationships we can start to communicate the gospel to them, and they will listen because building relationships results in building trust.

"Thirteen"

“I want to run the halls of my High School, I want to scream at the top of my lungs.....”

(unknown student)

i remeber being a thirteen year old girl, it sucked! the key word for being a thirteen year old girl is STRESS STRESS STRESS and STRESS!

in the movie the girl was just entering Jr. High, she was entering the 7th grade. there is nothing more nerve recking at that point in time and it usually seems to get worse from there.

at that age you struggle to find your identity, the friends you once had arent cool anymore, so you hurt them by leaving them and finding "cooler" friends. and those new friends arent always the best for you. like in the movie, the girl started hanging out with the popular girl, who got her into drugs, and drinking, and all kinds of stuff she wasnt doing before. but she did it so she could be accepted by the people who were made out to be popular. things at home for the girl in the movie werent great either. her mom is a single mom, with a boy friend coming in and out of the picture, and who isnt mature as she should be for a mother, and their financial situation is not great.
a lot of things in this world create stress, especially peer presure, and ultimatly, stress is what caused the girl in the movie to cut herself, to continue doing drugs and drinking.

as a youth worker, it is my job to take these new teenagers and create a stress free place for them. talk about the issues they are facing, because i was once a 13 year old girl too, and i know that its hard. i have to show the girls that they dont have to give into peer pressure. its not going to be easy, todays world is cruel and tends to show no mercy. the world tells you that you have to do certian things or dress a certian way to be accepted. its my job to let the girls know that they dont need to do what the world wants them to do to be accepted, its my job to help them discover themselves and their idendity. its my job to get into their world, tell them the gospel in a way they can understand, and let them know that they are perfect the way that God made them to be, and they do not need to be like the world.