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I think the "clarification" could have been a little "clarificationer" than it was.
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Forgive the intrusion, but I desire to speak to this issue. The posters who have approached this with caution have a reason to do so. It has nothing to do with not praying for someone in need, nor does it indicate a lack of compassion. Apparently some have not been burned by those who claim to have a ministry toward homosexuals and state they are against "the lifestyle."
This is nothing against the original poster, but consider that what you read and hear may not at all be what is meant.
You may hear someone write strongly against a homosexual lifestyle. They will emphatically state they are against it. It may seem all so crystal clear that they are fully condemning homosexuality as sin, just as is evidenced in posts here by those who have not been burned. But what is
really meant by the statement? One cannot take the statements at face value in today's world.
An individual used to do this very thing and was active in multiple groups. He said things in a very deceptive way, knowing the Christians reading would take the statements to mean he felt homosexuality was wrong and a sin, just like them. What he meant by the lifestyle was NOT homosexuality itself, but the all too often partying, drinking and drugs, along with multiple partners, that often goes with the territory. He was by no means against a one on one homosexual lifestyle and all the time while writing everyone, he was with his gay partner from childhood days. And at least later, if not during that time, he had a Meth habit as did the partner.
This person deliberately deceived a great many people. He had a ministry toward homosexuals, too. When that ministry isn't nailed down in definition, many unsuspecting Christians are lead to believe a lie. What is said is not what they think. The gay ministry wasn't leading people from homosexuality, just the wild life side of the lifestyle. It in fact condoned a faithful homosexual relationship.
Still don't think people have the right to be cautious in this area? Read further and see just how far the deception can go.
The person claimed to be the son of a Pentecostal Holiness minister, with a sister/b-i-l who also was PH. He claimed to have repented of his lifestyle. Yes, he had AIDS. Still does. He claimed to be a minister, working with a church that ministered to gays and did not condone the lifestyle. He would fly places to be with those on their deathbed or attend their funerals.
Then he became very ill, or so he said. Things were touch and go. Nothing was heard from him for awhile. Then the emails came saying he had died. Searches for the so-called minister father/mother pulled up nothing. Even for the sister and her husband. And the brothers. No death record could be found.
Then he became even more deceptive and posed as his own sister, rejoining a board, and reminiscing about himself. People sent sympathy cards. After a little while he was silent. So many were grieved over the loss of a man they thought was someone they were not.
And time goes by.
Then posts were seen in other places by the "dead" man. Explicit gay pictures and profiles were discovered online of this dead man, being accessed and even started after his death. One who had contact with the man's partner claimed the partner stated they were the one doing it and had their reasons and that the man was truly dead. We should all just let it go. It was asked if the "church people" knew these things.
Very little happened for awhile.
Then the dead man came out with his own domain and web site late last year and announced his marriage to this partner (did it in Canada). Many pictures are on the site, indicating anything but a Pentecostal Holiness mother. Just how deep did the deception go? Perhaps only God will ever know the answer. Perhaps it was him all along, while he was "alive," sharing with us as his relatives.
Not yet convinced of what this means? Consider the following.
Someone confesses their past homosexual lifestyle, shares about their ministry to gay people, and states they are against the lifestyle and have full blown AIDS as a result of their past. What harm could be done? Wake up to things go on behind the scenes. This man was encouraging more than one individual toward one on one homosexuality. Those people knew his deception in how he portrayed himself, but remained silent (which is understandable as they would have been outed). One woman left her husband and went to live with a woman 'partner' met via the internet after contact with this man.
So you say that's just one story. Far from it. There's more, even from the Houston area. Came across another with AIDS who also had a ministry to homosexuals and a UPCI background. Claimed they were no longer gay. Yet there were explicit pictures and gay profiles found online quite easily. The man just couldn't recall everything to take them down. Yep. Sure.
Have compassion? Absolutely. Pray for the people. Definitely. Minister to them? Of course. Believe everything said when it's not nailed down what they mean? No way. Never, ever again.
Words don't always mean what they appear to say. If a person cannot come clean and explicitly state what is meant, don't condone or give God's speed to their "ministry."
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