Hope and Grief
July 1, 2013 by 11 Comments
'Brothers, we do not want you to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again…' (1 Thess. 4: 13, 14b)
Those committed to the transformation of persons with same-gender attraction suffered a double blow this month: the advance of 'gay marriage' via the Supreme Court ruling and Exodus' dissolution. Mike Huckabee said it best by quoting John 11:35: 'Jesus wept.' Our first honest response is to weep with Him. Our beloved lead intercessor Ann Armstrong greeted me with tears upon hearing of the Court ruling. Words failed us: knowing how hard it is today to be true to Jesus in one's struggle, plus knowing how disorienting 'gay marriage' is on kids reduced us to grief.
Concerning the Court ruling, we grieve over the miscarriage of real justice. In the words of the prophet: 'Justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets and honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.' (Is. 59: 14, 15)
Obama trumpeted the victory of 'democracy' in the Court ruling. The opposite is true: the Court struck down the will of the people who voted for real marriage in CA. The Court advocated instead for state leaders who refused to defend Prop. 8 then voided the good efforts of those who (in the absence of CA's DA) defended Prop. 8 against the notoriously liberal District Court. (The District Judge who struck down Prop. 8 is a gay activist. No bias there.) Justice is driven back.
We weep for CA and her good efforts to uphold marriage in the face of such powerful, irrational opposition. She has lost her right to define marriage according to the will of her citizens. Gay-defined adults celebrate in the streets while children are stripped of another layer of moral protection. Why is the Court inclined to advocate for the sexual liberties of adults (abortion and 'gay marriage') and blind to the violence it visits on kids, the most vulnerable? Weep over the wickedness that disguises itself as 'justice.'
Weep more for those wounded by Exodus' demise. A paradox: in his desire to reach self-defined gays, Alan Chambers has betrayed the very ones God called him to serve as head of Exodus. As a former Exodus president who still stands with many faithful former Exodus leaders, I grieve for all strugglers who have been stumbled by her demise. Now, in the face of 'gay marriage' advances and an irrational, demonic favor upon all things 'queer', the saints have lost one clear expression of hope. I have heard reports from therapists and pastors alike of strugglers wondering why they should even try to be true to Jesus: 'If Exodus cannot endure the heat, how can I?' Weep and pray for scattered sheep.
We weep over these losses and their real impact of vulnerable people. But we do not grieve in vain. Our grief is shared by the Sovereign Lord Jesus who holds the future in His wounded hands and who asks us only to enfold our grief into His.
We mourn unto Mercy Himself, and become stronger in love! Let Him break our hearts in order to create more room to contain what is in His. Could He be using the rise of wickedness to refine a people who look to Him and Him alone? We do not grieve as those who have no hope. We look to Hope alone, 'sorrowful yet always rejoicing' (2 Cor. 6:10).
'You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.' (1 Thess. 5: 5-8)
- See more at: http://andrewcomiskey.com/tag/exodus-international-closure/#sthash.vGctlH1L.dpuf 
Those committed to the transformation of persons with same-gender attraction suffered a double blow this month: the advance of 'gay marriage' via the Supreme Court ruling and Exodus' dissolution. Mike Huckabee said it best by quoting John 11:35: 'Jesus wept.' Our first honest response is to weep with Him. Our beloved lead intercessor Ann Armstrong greeted me with tears upon hearing of the Court ruling. Words failed us: knowing how hard it is today to be true to Jesus in one's struggle, plus knowing how disorienting 'gay marriage' is on kids reduced us to grief.Concerning the Court ruling, we grieve over the miscarriage of real justice. In the words of the prophet: 'Justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets and honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.' (Is. 59: 14, 15)
Obama trumpeted the victory of 'democracy' in the Court ruling. The opposite is true: the Court struck down the will of the people who voted for real marriage in CA. The Court advocated instead for state leaders who refused to defend Prop. 8 then voided the good efforts of those who (in the absence of CA's DA) defended Prop. 8 against the notoriously liberal District Court. (The District Judge who struck down Prop. 8 is a gay activist. No bias there.) Justice is driven back.
We weep for CA and her good efforts to uphold marriage in the face of such powerful, irrational opposition. She has lost her right to define marriage according to the will of her citizens. Gay-defined adults celebrate in the streets while children are stripped of another layer of moral protection. Why is the Court inclined to advocate for the sexual liberties of adults (abortion and 'gay marriage') and blind to the violence it visits on kids, the most vulnerable? Weep over the wickedness that disguises itself as 'justice.'
Weep more for those wounded by Exodus' demise. A paradox: in his desire to reach self-defined gays, Alan Chambers has betrayed the very ones God called him to serve as head of Exodus. As a former Exodus president who still stands with many faithful former Exodus leaders, I grieve for all strugglers who have been stumbled by her demise. Now, in the face of 'gay marriage' advances and an irrational, demonic favor upon all things 'queer', the saints have lost one clear expression of hope. I have heard reports from therapists and pastors alike of strugglers wondering why they should even try to be true to Jesus: 'If Exodus cannot endure the heat, how can I?' Weep and pray for scattered sheep.
We weep over these losses and their real impact of vulnerable people. But we do not grieve in vain. Our grief is shared by the Sovereign Lord Jesus who holds the future in His wounded hands and who asks us only to enfold our grief into His.
We mourn unto Mercy Himself, and become stronger in love! Let Him break our hearts in order to create more room to contain what is in His. Could He be using the rise of wickedness to refine a people who look to Him and Him alone? We do not grieve as those who have no hope. We look to Hope alone, 'sorrowful yet always rejoicing' (2 Cor. 6:10).
'You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.' (1 Thess. 5: 5-8)