LGBT Christianity goes against ‘the DNA of Jesus,’ says ex-gay leader to ‘God’s Voice’ conference
The idea that there can be an LGBT Christianity contradicts “the DNA of Jesus Christ,” according to a former homosexual who ministers to sexually broken people.
Stephen Black, head of First Stone Ministries explained this to a conference of a few hundred people aimed at combating the “queering of the church.”
Known as “God’s Voice: A Biblical Response to the Queering of the Church,” the conference was held Feb. 22-23 at Fairview Baptist Church of Edmond, Oklahoma.
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The event came in response to a gathering known as Revoice, which was held July 26-28, 2018 at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
Revoice sought to encourage and support “gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality."
While Revoice's participants affirmed a traditional position on human sexuality, critics argued that they were trying to advance a pro-LGBT agenda into evangelical churches.
Black preached on Matthew 13 and specifically the parable of the sower, the story in which Jesus speaks of the seeds being sown in different environments and how many of the seeds fail to produce a harvest.
Black, who also helped organize the conference, explained to those gathered on Friday evening that the seed of the parable represented “the DNA of Jesus Christ.”
“A lot of well-meaning people get some seed sown on them and they think they have a little bit of a belief system and then they do not bear forth fruit. Persecution, trial, and tribulation comes and it gets snatched up,” said Black.
Black said that the Bible tells Christians to be “enduring” and “overcoming,” but that “now we have people coming in and telling you that you can have another way, another voice.”
“One of the scariest things,” said Black, “is to have people that propagate a message that says you can have another voice and they’re leaders.”
“And they’re actually gathering other people to say, ‘you can believe another message. An LGBTQ one.’ You’re going to put this sin construct of a broken sexual identity and merge it with Jesus. ‘And we all get to go to Heaven together, because we’ve prayed prayers and go to church.’”
Black stressed the need for “transformation” when a person becomes a Christian, adding that with LGBT Christianity, “there’s no internal world of repentance.”
“The seed of God. The DNA of Jesus has not transformed their inner world of thinking. That to me, friends, is one of the scariest things,” added Black.
“You’re supposed to be putting away the deeds of the flesh. And you’re supposed to embrace the fruit of the Holy Spirit.”
Widely-syndicated Christian talk show host Janet Mefferd also spoke at the conference and was critical of the mission of Revoice.
During her remarks, Mefferd stated that she believed the Revoice conference was “launched in the Garden of Eden,” tying it to the Serpent’s question in Genesis 3 of “Did God really say …”
“Why would the conversation about traditional Christian teaching on marriage and sexuality ever need to be overhauled? How can there be error in God’s inerrant word?” stated Mefferd.
“And also, why do we suddenly need such a conversation on this when it never occurred to any other orthodox Christian body to have this conversation? We just now thought of it? Did marriage and sexuality suddenly change?”
Thomas Littleton, a Southern Baptist minister and evangelist credited with first breaking the story about Revoice last year, told those gathered that he believed that Revoice was “a movement” and warned that it “is not going to go away.”
“So we’re wanting to equip the church, equip you as believers with resources so you can stand firm on God’s Voice and against this movement,” said Littleton.
“Even if Revoice fails after this second year, if we’ve sort of tainted the brand in a way, by telling too much truth about it, it’s going to reconstitute, it’s going to come back at you in some way.”
Littleton explained to the audience that “it is your job to leave this event resolved to stay true to God’s voice” and stressing that they “have to be resolved.”
Other scheduled speakers for God’s Voice included Peter LaBarbera, founder and president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality; David H. Pickup, a licensed therapist and board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality; and Rev. Al Baker, ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America, among others.
Defenders of Revoice, among them Memorial Presbyterian lead pastor Greg Johnson, have argued that there is a lot of “fear and misinformation out there” about Revoice.
“Admittedly, the conference organizers have chosen to use some language that has left some folks confused. If you've never met a celibate gay Christian, you have to read closely. They may not mean what you think they mean,” said Johnson in an interview with The Christian Post last year.
“I think the big pushback has come from people who confuse the orientation and the action. Someone can experience homosexual attraction or orientation without engaging in homosexual behaviors.”
