Friends

This is an interesting (albeit biased toward redefining marriage) article. My thoughts after the jump … (emphasis in quote mine)

… These are typical faces of the gay and aging—a growing population often overlooked by mainstream advocates. Gerontologists haven’t traditionally viewed sexual orientation as relevant to their work—and, according to a study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, most national health surveys of elderly citizens fail to assess sexual orientation. But gay seniors confront unique challenges: they’re twice as likely as straights to live alone, and 10 times less likely to have a caretaker should they fall ill. Older gay men are at high risk for HIV, and many suffer the psychological effects of losing friends to the AIDS crisis. (See our report on HIV and aging.) Many face discrimination in medical and social services, and on top of it all, they’re less likely to have health insurance: one survey, by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law, at UCLA, estimates that gay seniors are half as likely to have coverage as their straight counterparts. …

[From Long Invisible, Gay Seniors Seek Respect, Services | Newsweek Culture | Newsweek.com]

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Tagged as: Activism, Christianity, Church, Culture War, Ex-Gay, Exodus, Friends, Gay, God, Homosexuality, Men, People, Politics, Prayer, Public Policy, Religion, Research, Senior Citizen, Worldview, Youngin's

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“How Do I overcome my fear of telling my gay friends I am overcoming my same sex attraction and homosexuality tendencies? What can I say to them that won’t sound like I’m personally attacking them.”

I want to spend some time laying groundwork here by sharing about my gay friends before and right at the time of my initial decision to pursue Christ’s will for my relationships. I will also touch upon the fact that I do have people I consider friends who identify as gay in my life today.

I left my gay identity and started questioning my gay defined worldview at the age of 24. All my friends were gay or pro-gay, I was “out” at work, with family and neighbors. Being “gay” affected what I considered to be options for sex, romance and friendship. It also imposed some restrictions on who I thought God could be like and what He believed. I would often share with Christians that God couldn’t possibly be who they think He is because I wouldn’t be the way I am if He thought so differently. I had even met an “former homosexual” when I was twenty years old and thought he was crazy. Being gay was the focal point of who I was. Sure, there were other elements of my life but they were all somehow run through the filter of a presupposed gay defined worldview.

In other words, I gave every Christian a run for their money if they brought the subject up. I know a little bit about the above question from both sides of the fence.

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Tagged as: Alan Chambers, Bible, Ex-Gay, Exodus, Friends, Gay, God, Homosexuality, Humility, Life, People, Prayer, Worldview

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Nope… no attempt at stupid humor with this one. I have a pit in my stomach that I am using as inspiration to pray for those in the path of Gustav (not forgetting the victims already across Cuba and the Caribbean.)

I will be using this post as a hub for information. Please help me out by posting links in the comments to news stories, videos, humanitarian aid, bloggers … anything you think is interesting to note and helpful information and/or relief oriented. Also, if you click on the picture it will take you to the Weather Channel’s log of updates.

The Red Cross is all over the place too and always a sure bet to get your money where it is needed most.

• The blogosphere: Red Cross Chat, Good News Blog, Red Cross Youth * Flickr: American Red Cross photo pool * YouTube: American Red Cross channel * Facebook: American Red Cross Group, Cause , and Page * Twitter: Red Cross disaster information

May the Lord bless our neighbors with safety, peace, resilience and miraculous deliverance from devastation. I will be praying that those traumatized by Katrina will not be re-traumatized by this and will instead be blessed beyond anything they could imagine or think.

Again, add any links or information you think is useful in the comments. I will update this post as well. The updates will appear after the jump.

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Tagged as: Fox News, Friends, God, Hurricane, Hurricane Gustav, Life, Michael Moore, National Weather Service, New Orleans, People, Photography, Prayer, Red Cross, The Salvation Army, Weather

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Tagged as: Friends, Video

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When I heard the Cicadas singing and the birds chirping I knew something had changed. So, I grabbed my camera and headed outside. This video is actually a fun one because my neighbors make an appearance :).

Tagged as: Bird, Cicadas, Friends, Life, Neighbors, Tropical Storm Fay, Video

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Proverbs 16:9 (New International Version)

9 In his heart a man plans his course,

but the LORD determines his steps.

I was writing on my book today and came to a particular section that caused me to pause and pray. While I knew the angle I wanted to go for I didn’t really know what example to use to help illustrate the point being made. The section was on how there isn’t a single person on this planet who isn’t interesting and worth investing in. So, I prayed that the Lord would show me the example to write about. I have met a lot of people. But, within a minute I got a call from a friends mother who was very worried about him. He has a substance abuse problem. I met him through a mutual friend over six years ago and since then we have had a rocky friendship but I do consider him a good friend.

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Tagged as: Christianity, Friends, Life, People, Prayer

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Dear Tropical Storm Fay,

In the spirit of my ongoing efforts to talk storms out of their paths of destruction I must implore you to be reasonable and reverse course, missing all land and then head toward the North Atlantic. I have milk, eggs and chicken in the fridge. I paid good money for all that stuff! I really would like to keep the electricity on to preserve them.

::: horror ::: OMG(osh) if you knock out the power I can’t blog … ::: Iwillnotfreakout :::

Plus, Florida already has a Fay. She’s fun, cute, eloquent, cool, smart … fun. And she doesn’t scare people. Tropical Storm Fay … you scare people.

Did you know that you scare people … little Ms. Tropical Storm Fay? Well … you do.

For example, I went to the grocery store tonight and all the bread was gone. And … hello … Where are the bananas? … anyone? ::: poof ::: gone.

The water aisle was barren and D batteries are being traded in the parking lot for non-perishable luxury items. So what if I got a brand new R2D2 paper weight out of the deal!? People are scared and it’s all your fault Ms. “I wannabe Cat 1 Hurricane” Fay.

Remember the cute Fay I mentioned earlier in the letter? TS Fay … you are not her. Florida only has room for one Fay and we already claimed her. Plus, if you give her a bad name … I don’t wanna’ be you when her Mom finds out.

Just sayin’.

So, Tropical Storm Fay, go away and don’t come back another day. ::: cheesy grin ::: great alliteration huh? :::

Sincerely,

Randy

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Tagged as: art, blogging, Friends, Humor

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Greg asks …

*Should Rick Warren court Presidential Candidates and possibly support an abortion rights candidate just so he can promote social justice and Green policies?”

When I think of “courting” in political realms I think of superficial flattery and pandering. So, I might be thrown by that word. But this question, for me, points to the broader issue of the merit of Warren’s event and who should Christians support. The last I checked, neither candidate has stated, “I want to be President to glorify Jesus Christ and bring more people into relationship with Him.” It’s very complex. Both candidates could be accused of promoting sin in public policy. Both candidates could be accused of ungodly decisions. At the same time, both candidates must be very talented to be the two men being considered for President. I think Pastor Warren is doing a great thing by having this forum and I hope it is very revealing for the Body of Christ and the country at large.
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Tagged as: Abortion, Activism, Bible, blogging, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Church, Conservatives, Crazy, Culture War, Election '08, Environment, Eternity, Faith, False Prophet, Friends, God, Green, Jesus, jesus christ, Justice, Life, Love, marriage, McCain, Men, People, Politics, Prayer, President, Public Policy, Religion, Vote, Wisdom, Worldview

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“What’s that smell Mommy?” Doris Day looking lady looks down at Little Billy and says, “why honey … that’s what we call fresh air …”

… A recent conversation brought a troubling development into focus. A man told me that he had bought a home with some measure of reluctance, fearing that the location of the house so near to a neighborhood playground would mean too much noise. As it turns out, he needn’t have worried at all. Very few children visit the playground at all.

The troubling development is that many children never play outside. They prefer to play computer games, surf the Internet, or update their Facebook pages. Their parents are increasingly afraid to let them play outside, scared by the constant barrage of news stories about crimes against children. These children and teenagers are accustomed to air conditioning, sophisticated entertainments, and lack of physical activity. They are aliens in the outside world.

[From Aliens in Creation -- A Generation of Nature Know-Nothings]

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Tagged as: animals, Boy, Children, entertainment, Environment, ETC, Exercise, facebook, Friends, home, kayaking, Life, Nature, River, Rock, Running, The South, Tree, Youngin's

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