Recently in Christian music and gay issues Category

This has nothing to do with Christian music, but the topic of homosexuality and Christianity comes up often on this blog when we're talking about gay Christian music, so I thought I'd share it.

It's a message for Christians - maybe you've never considered what this man has to say, or maybe you came to this same realization a long time ago and are grateful for a reminder. Either way, the questions he raises about how Christians treat homosexuals are important to consider.

And it's not a "love the sinner, hate the sin" bumper sticker mentality I'm talking about. Derek Webb said it best when he told me:

"If you are not compelled to be in a relationship - like a loving relationship, like a friend, somebody who you really care about, and I don't mean like a token, I mean somebody who you just naturally in your life you're living life in such a way that you encounter and engage with and become friends with and enter into a relationship with people who are not like you and don't believe the same things as you - if you're not doing that, you need to be doing that.

But if that's not you, and you don't even know or go near or have any idea about gays or lesbians, then I would wager that you might not be really qualified to speak too much about this.

I'm not saying it's going to change your moral conviction. That's not my concern so much. My concern is the way that moral conviction comes out of your mouth. The way your theology becomes ethics and expresses itself coming out of your mouth. I mean, that is SO much of the battle we're fighting."

RELATED POSTS:
Part 2 Of My Interview with Derek Webb: Cursing In Songs, Homosexuality
CCM veteran Ray Boltz comes out of the closet and confesses he's gay
Christian artist Brian Bates shares his thoughts on how to respond to Ray Boltz, Clay Aiken coming out of the closet

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Much has been made over the last few days about the surprise upset on season 8 of American Idol, when the aw, shucks guy next door Kris Allen beat out glam rocker Adam Lambert for the title of American Idol.

It was a surprise only if you weren't reading this blog.

I called Kris Allen the winner back in April, before anyone even thought he'd make it to the top 5. But it wasn't the faith angle - or homophobia, or gays voting against Christians and not having enough power to push their contestant to a win - that propelled him to a win. It was musical preference.

Don't get me wrong. I think Adam Lambert is wildly talented, and I noticed his big voice way back in Hollywood week. Kris Allen? Not so much, probably because he was rarely featured in the audition clips. (Was he even featured at all?)

And it was clear that the judges were gunning for an Adam Lambert win, Simon Cowell even going so far as to tell viewers to vote for Lambert.

But I'm a girl who knows a good radio hit; I grew up on bubble gum pop, from Donny Osmond to Shaun Cassidy to - well, think every hit pop song of the 70s. And while my musical tastes have grown ... a bit ... it doesn't take a masters' degree in music to recognize which of those two final contestants was likely to put out more radio friendly music.

The Abilene Reporter News reports that on April 5th CCM artist Ray Boltz will perform at the second annual "Palm Sunday at the Paramount," sponsored by Exodus Metropolitan Church. The concert is at 4 PM, and Boltz is inviting singers to join him on stage in the community choir.

At 10:30 that morning, Boltz will also perform a mini-concert before the screening of the Lifetime movie "Prayers For Bobby." The film tells the story of a "1970s religious suburban housewife and mother who struggles to accept her young son Bobby being gay." The film is based on a true story about a young gay man who commited suicide.

Brian Bates, who kindly shared some thoughts with us recently about how Christians should respond to Ray Boltz and gays, is offering fans a download of his new song, "Under."

You can listen to the song on his website, and if you like it, Brian asks that you send the link to three friends and also sign up for his mailing list. You can get the download without doing that, but he's hoping that if you like the song, you'll take a minute to tell other people about it.

Bates grew up in a Christian home, accepted Jesus as his Saviour, and then in college, walked away from God to lead a partying, gay lifestyle. Thanks to a Christian friend who loved him like Jesus, he eventually returned to the faith of his youth. You can read more about his thoughts on the how Christians should respond to the gay issue in this post.

For more about Brian Bates, visit his website.

RELATED POST
Christian artist Brian Bates shares his thoughts on how to respond to Ray Boltz, Clay Aiken coming out of the closet

I'm reading a lot lately about Ray Boltz's new song, "Don't Tell Me Who To Love" and it's gay agenda. Because I like to check things out for myself, I went to Ray's blog to read what he had to say about the song, and to listen to it myself.

OK, so the song is about gay marriage, LOL. Ray explains that the inspiration for the song was taken from the story of Mildred Jeter (a woman of color) and Richard Loving (a white male) who met during the fifties, fell in love and were married in Washington DC. When they returned to Virginia they were arrested and faced spending a year in prison, because interracial marriage was illegal in that state. In the end, though, he draws a lightly veiled comparision to gay marriage: