Dems unite behind pro-’gay’ counseling bill

A California pro-family leader laments a committee’s passage of a first-ever bill in the state that would ban “gay”-to-straight counseling.

California Democrats passed SB 1172 in the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday on a 3-1 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate floor. The legislation would restrict therapists from providing sexual orientation-change counseling, even if patients are seeking such help. The bill would also ban sexual orientation-change efforts (SOCE) for minors and would require a consent form for adults. Under the measure, professionals who continue SOCE would be penalized.

Patricia Thompson, area director for Central California with Concerned Women for America, says parental rights have been violated. “We need to give our parents the freedom to minister to their children and get help for them,” she tells OneNewsnow. “It’s just a sad, sad situation.”

Adults who are seeking help from counselors in addressing sexual orientation issues must sign a release form that suggests such counseling is potentially dangerous.

“It’s not right, as far as I’m concerned,” Thompson remarks. “These people need help and want to get out of that — I don’t understand their thinking on that.”

The bill’s author, Democratic Senator Ted Lieu, argued that such treatments can cause depression and may lead to suicide. Countering that argument is Randy Thomasson with SaveCalifornia.com, who has warned that implementation of SB 1172 will “depress and harm struggling children instead of giving them a chance at freedom.”

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Calif. against pro-heterosexual counseling?
Becky Yeh – OneNewsNow California correspondent – 5/3/2012 3:40:00 AM

A legal group is calling a proposed California bill “one of the most outrageous, speech-chilling bills we have ever seen.”

Senate Bill 1172, which would remove the ability of psychologists, therapists, and counselors to aid clients with sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), has passed its first committee hearing. Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) says SB 1172 requires a new consent form for adults, which contains statements about sexual orientation that many counselors would dispute — and professionals who continue SOCE would be penalized under the measure.

“It not only gives stark penalties and liabilities against counselors and psychologists attempting to assist adults wanting or asking for therapy regarding sexual orientation issues, but it outright bans and prohibits anyone under the age of 18 to have any pro-heterosexual counseling or therapy when they are struggling with their sexual orientation,” Dacus summarizes. ”Worse yet is if parents are caught being non-supportive of their child’s perception of homosexuality in any way, then that is deemed abuse by parents under this statute and grounds for the government to permanently take that child from their parents.”

That is because sexually-confused youth who experience “family rejection … face especially serious health risks” — according to SB 1172. So the bill flatly bans SOCE for minors, despite the wishes of the parents or the patients.

But PJI points out that the measure craftily leaves out transgender people, “because backers believe gender is changeable, but sexual orientation is not.” The legal group is asking Californians to contact their state senators and voice opposition to SB 1172.

Dacus adds: “I can honestly say this is one of the most outrageous, speech-chilling bills we have ever seen in California — and that’s saying a lot.” His firm accounts that the measure blames those who believe change is possible for “gay suicides, gild, substance abuse, relationship problems, and a host of other ills.”

According to PJI, even the California Psychological Association, which normally embraces LGBT rights, is opposed to the current form of SB 1172.

No-Doubt Christians

What is a Christian? A Christian is someone who has put his or her faith in Jesus Christ, and Christ alone, as Savior and Lord and God. And according to the apostle Paul, a Christian is someone who has turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (see Acts 26:18).

I think that because we have a lot of anemic, shallow preaching today, we also have a generation of people who think they are Christians but really are not. These are people who have been told to believe, but they never have been told to repent. They have been promised heaven, but they never have been warned of hell. They have been told that God wants them to be happy, but they never have heard that God wants them to be holy. I wonder whether a lot of these people even know what the genuine gospel message is. I read recently that 7 in 10 American adults have no clue what John 3:16 means. And barely one-third of all adults know the meaning of the term, “the gospel.”

It is not for me to decide who is a Christian and who is not. That is ultimately up to God. But what we don’t need more of today are sort-of Christians. What we need are no-doubt Christians—people about whom you could say, “There is no doubt in my mind that person is a follower of Jesus Christ.” The fact is, what is considered as Christianity by many today would not even qualify as such in the first century.

That is where you come in. God wants you to share the gospel and make disciples in your own sphere of influence. This is what the early church did, and the world was a different place because of it.

Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king . . . But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.
—Daniel 1:3-5, 8-9

When things are going smoothly in your life, you might not find it hard to believe that God is good. But if life takes a bad turn and something devastating happens, you might ask, “How could a good God allow this?” If you know that kind of pain, then you can empathize with Daniel.

Across the pages of Scripture that detail Daniel’s life from teenager to old man, you can write, “Sovereignty at work.” God was directing his life whether he saw it at the time or not.

Do you know his story? One bright day in Jerusalem when Daniel was just a teenager, he was captured as a POW and was ripped away from everything warm and familiar. Daniel’s enemies were working a cruel strategy. They singled out the best young people—the all-American teenagers voted MVP and “Most Likely to Succeed” and brought them to their capital city near modern-day Kuwait. Their plan was to brainwash these kids with their culture and make them leaders. Daniel was given a foreign name, Belteshazzar, forced to learn a new language, and was given a new diet.

Had Daniel decided what God was like by looking at his circumstances, he would have become a disillusioned, confused, angry young man. Kidnapped from his homeland, forced into slavery, most likely castrated to become a eunuch in the palace, Daniel’s eyes were still on God. Don’t gloss over these facts like they’re from some made-for-TV movie. This story is true in every detail. Imagine the suffering connected with his circumstances, yet Daniel went through the fire—successfully. This certainly gives us hope that we can make it through the firestorm, too.

No doubt a situation comes to mind right now from either your past or your present. You may wonder how a God of love could have allowed some painful, wrong injustice. Yet, I would bet on the fact that you’ve not come full circle yet. There will be a day when you will look back and see how God’s sovereign hand was at work. Truth is, He is in the center of the situation that troubles your heart right now. He’s right in the middle of it.

Just because you can’t see Him, doesn’t mean He isn’t there. Look for Him, trust Him—He is at work.

James MacDonald

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” —Luke 18:9-14

Do you have any empty pews where you worship? How do you explain that? When was the last time you ordered more chairs or started another service? Why are people skipping church?

Well, it’s not because of Jesus for sure, would you agree? And it’s not because of the Bible, right? It’s because of Christians and because people’s experience with Christianity is so negative. People have turned Christianity into a religion. Jesus’ parable above is about this exact condition. Read it again and compare the two prayers. Which one do you think most resembles a prayer you might hear at your church on any given weekend? Which one represents faith and which one represents religion?

I want to share with you five decisions that will free us from religion:

1. Refuse to bind others with manmade rules. Rules beyond God’s always hurt more people than they help. Any rules pursued as a way to gain merit with God or salvation are wasted effort, sure to fail. The Pharisee was smug with his religious system; oblivious to God’s rejection.
2. Reject externals as a spiritual yardstick. The Pharisee judged a fellow sinner to make himself look better, but he actually distanced himself from God.
3. Review your walk or your relationship with God and beware of the dangers of form without function. We may fool others with external appearances, but God knows our hearts.
4. Return to the basics of examination and confession. In a world that abhors personal responsibility, God welcomes those who know themselves as sinners and entrust themselves to God’s grace and mercy.
5. Renew your pursuit of personal humility. Humility isn’t a look or appearance; it’s action. Humility chooses Christ’s way over my way. Humility says to God, “Your will, Lord, not mine.”

The Pharisee in Jesus’ parable rejected each of these wise decisions; the tax-collector practiced them. What will be your condition the next time you come home from church?

Almighty Father, I am that tax collector. And yet I confess that sometimes I’ve acted like that Pharisee. Forgive me for judging others by standards I couldn’t live up to for a moment. Forgive me for thinking I could do something to make You accept me. Thank You for reminding me again and again that only when I see myself clearly as a sinner can I then receive Your mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

James MacDonald – Senior Pastor – Harvest Bible Chapel

Do you ever feel as though you are not “worthy” enough to approach God in prayer?

If so, then read this Scripture:

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to! Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. (Ephesians 1:5-6 TLB)

What God has done for us

So often, we hear about what we are supposed to do for God. But the emphasis of the Bible is not so much on what we are supposed to do for God, but rather on what God has done for us.

If we can get hold of that in our minds and hearts, it will change our outlook and actions. The more we understand of what God has done for us, the more we will want to do for Him.

This is no small truth. In fact, it’s fundamental to our spiritual lives.

The devil would love to keep you from praying at all by reminding us how “unworthy” we are—telling us, in effect, that we have a lot of nerve to even think that we could approach a holy God. He whispers, “Do you think that God would hear your prayers after what you have done?” But the real question to ask is this: “Is Jesus Christ worthy to come into the presence of the Father whenever He wants?” Of course, He is.

“Accepted in the Beloved”

The fact is that we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). Because Christ has open access to the presence of the Father at any time, we have the same access when we come to God the Father through our relationship with Jesus. It’s not on the basis of what we have done for God. It is solely on the basis of what Christ has done for us.

Listen to the writer to the Hebrews:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. (Hebrews 10:19-21 NLT)

I just can’t imagine any better news than that.