267. 5 Church Responses to LGBTQ+

Ricky and Bonnie discuss one of the most frequently asked questions of Living Hope Ministries: Is being gay a choice? They discuss more recent ideology in the secular world that promotes the LGBTQ+ lifestyle as a choice and how believers might look at their own sinful tendencies and how biblically we are all to approach our sin and temptations.

Ricky and Bonnie discuss doubt and how it is normal and necessary to the Christian walk, but how we should engage our doubts and respond to them. They talk about how God knows that we have doubts and struggle with understanding and believing, but that, ultimately, he is bigger than even our doubts.

Ricky and Bonnie talk about what to do after sexual boundaries have been crossed in a same-sex friendship. They discuss the hope and forgiveness found in repentance, but also talk about the importance of determining what preceded the boundaries being crossed and the need for accountability in general. They also talk about how to proceed with that friendship after those boundaries have been crossed.

Ricky and Bonnie discuss some beneficial ways that the church can respond to people within the church who may be struggling with sexual brokenness or temptations. They explain some of the perspective of people who struggle, as well as some actionable responses.

Ricky and Bonnie discuss the Supreme Court agreeing on March 10th to hear a free-speech challenge to Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy,” counseling that seeks to dissuade people from identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. California has a similar law.You can view more information on the case here: https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/us-supreme-court-hear-conversion-therapy-case-could-overturn-californias-ban#:~:text=NewsLink-,%5BU.S.%5D%20Supreme%20Court%20to%20hear%20conversion%20therapy%20case,that%20could%20overturn%20California's%20ban&text=The%20Supreme%20Court%20agreed%20Monday,%2C%20gay%2C%20bisexual%20or%20transgender

Ricky and Bonnie discuss the importance of honest and genuine confession within a community of believers. They mention some of the more common fears associated with real confession, but also talk about the incredible freedom and redemption that follow honest confession.

In this episode, Ricky and Bonnie discuss the importance of vulnerability for children of God, and how true vulnerability, although hard to find, can encourage others to practice vulnerability as well. They also discuss how to approach vulnerability without overwhelming the people receiving the information.

In this episode, Ricky and Bonnie talk about setting perfectly acceptable boundaries with coworkers at work with regards to topics of conversation and involvement in celebrations. They talk about how to love coworkers well while still holding to personal convictions and protecting the witness of Jesus Christ.

In this episode, Ricky and Bonnie discuss the lie that is often believed that people that "feel different" will never fit in in a community. They encourage listeners to continue to do the work it takes to find commonalities in a community of believers and to not believe that their different expression of their God-given gender means that they are not meant to belong to that gender.

In this episode, continuing in a series for parents, friends and family, Ricky, Bonnie and Marsha discuss what to do while waiting for God to do redemptive work in a loved one. Marsha mentions that God is also doing a work in you during this season as He is also doing a work in your loved one who is identifying as LGBTQ+, and the three discuss how to hope in our powerful God who loves our loved ones more than we do.