 |
|
|
|
 Anderson Cooper's coming out provoked the author to send a tweet that triggered some strong reaction.
July 5th, 2012
01:11 PM ET
My Take: Will there be gays in heaven? Will there be fat people?Editor's Note: Craig Gross is the pastor and founder of XXXchurch.com and is the author of seven books. He just turned 36 and is no longer a hip 20-something pastor from California. By Craig Gross, Special to CNN After Anderson Cooper came out this week, I posted a link on Twitter to a story that included this quote from Cooper: “I love and am loved.” As I said in my tweet, Cooper is one of my favorite journalists. I was honored to once be on his show. After I tweeted I got e-mails and a direct message asking the same question: "You still like him now?" I was saddened by that reaction and started thinking: What would happen if we read the Bible and, instead of highlighting certain passages, we took it all for what it is - truth. In 1 Corinthians, the Bible says don't indulge your body with food or sex: “‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,’ and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” My Take: The Christian case for gay marriage I deal with people who indulge their bodies with sex. I’ve done it for 10 years with XXXchurch.com, helping people caught up in porn addiction. If you indulge your body with sex via pornography, affairs, strippers or hookers, and your secrets are exposed, you will not be preaching on Sunday. Sexual sin is not tolerated in our churches. If clergy are caught in these things, they’re disqualified. What if you indulge your body with food? Well, then you can pastor some of the largest churches on the planet and have the most successful broadcasts on the religious channels and sell a lot of books. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories Same biblical passage, same sin. Why is one accepted and one rejected? Why is it that religious folks want to camp out on a few things rather then all things? Why do they believe that the gay guy goes to hell but the fat preacher who builds some of the largest churches in the world makes it to heaven? I have no problem bringing my fat friends to church; they fit right in. Our Los Angeles church has doughnuts to eat during worship service, which makes the hymns we sing sound so much better. My Take: Why many Christians focus on homosexuality I coached my son's soccer team last year. My assistant coach is a lesbian. My son became great friends with her son, and my wife and I have become good friends with his mom and her partner. We played on three teams this year with them and have spent time in each others’ homes. Could I bring them to church? Absolutely not. Most evangelical Christians don't have gay friends. We just have gay stereotypes and we base our beliefs on a few biblical passages, ignoring passages about things that people in the church really struggle with, like food and other addictions. The problem is that the church has only one answer for homosexuality: Don't be gay. Come as you are, but you'd better not be gay. But you can be fat. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Most Christians believe you should just help your friends to not be gay when, in all honesty, only Christ can do that. I love my lesbian friends. Let’s say I share Christ with them and they accept Jesus - or maybe they already have. Where do they go to church? There is no way I would send them to an evangelical church, because not everyone would treat them the way they should be treated. But if they attend a gay church many Christians look at them as crazy. People will push you to take a stand one way or the other on homosexuality, but no one has ever asked me to take a stand when it comes to fat people. The goal shouldn’t be to change anyone's sexuality. Ultimately, I believe homosexuality gets blown way out of proportion in our churches. If we would all see gays as fellow sinners instead of “others,” there wouldn't be a need for gay outreach, because they would already be incorporated into our community based on a shared need for Christ. God loves gays and Jesus is for them. God loves the fat preacher. Homosexual activity and overeating are both sins - just like speeding, gossip, lying and cheating. I think I did all of those just today. All are forgivable in Christ and, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, can be changed. Just remember that change does not happen overnight. Have you ever seen someone lose 100 pounds overnight? The process takes time. When it comes to the Lord, it’s nothing less than a journey of sanctification. And wherever you are at on that journey, I think there should be a place for you at church. Because there’s probably one in heaven. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Craig Gross. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
IF:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z4iaUFSkME
Anderson Cooper, I am Black and need a Job, Can I be your House Boy or Valet!
"I was saddened by that reaction and started thinking: What would happen if we read the Bible and, instead of highlighting certain passages, we took it all for what it is – truth."
The Egyptians thought the same of the Book of Life/Dead.
Even when you read the bible front to back, it literally preaches intolerance to anyone different than you are. Those guys dont worship me? Burn the whole damn country and take the land by force. Satan kills like 10 people in the bible, god kills millions. he nukes two cities because they are deviant to his/hers/its/their senses.
The Truth is the bible and Qur'an are the two most destructive books in history.
What about the billions that religious and Atheists killed? Are you going to blame God too?
But the communist manifesto, which has allowed the largest human rights violators in history to persecute people of faith are so much more enlightened. Atheist nations like the Soviet Union and China are known for their amazing intolerance for any view that doesn't match their own. So when I hear how a lack of God is supposed to end war or something. Really, when you think about it, had the Cold War turned hot we could have blamed atheism for at least half the worlds destruction. There are two nations we really want to keep the A-bomb away from one is Islamic(Iran) the other, Atheist(North Korea). Sorry, still have found a link between atheist and peace yet. Maybe if atheist could get a country going that doesn't suppress rights, execute large numbers of "dissidents", or generally become a pain in the ass for the international community they might have a leg to stand on with the whole, religion causes wars thing.
Atheist for Christ,
Perhaps @Chris could have been more explicit and said, "the "God" character portrayed in the Bible". I can't speak for @Chris, but non-believers don't blame "God" for anything... anymore than they blame Pele for exploding Krakatoa or Thor for hurricane Katrina or Poseidon for the sinking of the T'itanic. The fantasy "God" portrayed in the Bible is not worthy of worship.
There is no verified evidence for the supernatural beings and events in the Bible.
Author wrote "Could I bring them to church? Absolutely not." Wow – how sad is that?
Author's question: "I love my lesbian friends.... Where do they go to church?"
Here's an answer for ya – THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
I bet you can find a welcoming congregation near you. It'll be the one with the sign that reads "The Episcopal Church Welcomes YOU*" (* no exceptions)
The could also talk to any atheist and they probably wouldn't be shunned at all. it amazing what can happen when dont have to adhere to a intolerant doctrine 🙂
The only ones forbidden to enter the kingdom of Heaven are sinners, for obvious reasons, and blacks, because just being a black in and of itself is a sin.
My Pastor is Black and guess what, we are on our way to heaven, how about you?
"My Pastor is Black and guess what, we are on our way to heaven, how about you?"
Hilarious. Say it again .. one more time.. and another 1000.
Answer – Oh, no dear, I don't need to say it a million times to be convinced, as you have to say it a million times to convince yourself that there is no God. Btw, I gave you an answer on your last comment.
Apparently you're still on the losing side of that one.
You vouching on that John 3:16 to give yourself the standard "I'll go to heaven".. that is hilarious.
@Atheist for Christ
Tell me the difference between the statement that I have proposed to that of John 3:16? If you can.
I did, go back and read it.
Yep and scientist say we came first and you came later so you're our sinning offspring, smoke kush come to the light
So you're going to play on the standard routine of "anger & bitter". You people are so typical.
How you people love projecting your own feelings is just uncanny. So on your lovable jeebus.. was he evident and really divine? Or just a man who has his name in the books? Can you distinguish?
Answer – Hahaha, who is this Jeebus you crazy ignorant Atheists claim, is it like the god particle you found?
The author's questions:
Could I bring them to church? I love my lesbian friends... Where do they go to church?
The answer:
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Makes me wonder if the author actually went to seminary!
Wow, what do your "good friends" the lesbian couple and their son think of you now?
Wonder what his "good friends" the lesbian couple and their son think of him now.
This article is pointless. Christianity teaches that if you willingly defy God, then you’re sinning… I don’t see too many Fat Pride Parades... so, fat people can go to Heaven, and no, Christians are not hypocrites.
Well said, except as a Christian myself, I have dealt with hypocrite Christians at work.
Sorry, let me rephrase… The teachings of reputable Christian religions should not be considered hypocritical because they don’t denounce fat people. Many churches including Catholics will accepts gays, if they are truly try to not be active.
Christians aren't hypocrites? That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. You don't spend a lot of time on this blog, do you?
tallulah13 – Unbelievers are any different from the hypocrite Christians in ever blog. Most unbelievers were at one time Christians themselves!
tallulah13 *aren't any different*
I am aware that humans are not perfect. However, I am only addressing your initial statement: that christians are not hypocrites. This is plainly false, and actually quite hypocritical, when you think about it.
"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."
-Thomas Jefferson
There is no heaven, there is no hell. So ultimately no, there will be no gays or fat people in heaven, because there will be no one in heaven.
What? Speeding is a sin? So god advocates municipal greed by them arbitrarily setting speed limits too low and lying in wait to issue tickets?
Christians are funny. Everything is based on greed. Greed pays your bills. It bought you your car. It bought you your computer. It gives you a paycheck. It's destroying this planet. We have an entire economic system based on greed and aquisition of wealth. We made it a game.
Our greed is justified buy lying. We lie to everyone. Some people make entire careers out of lying. In fact, we actually pay money to put these boxes in our homes for the people to lie to us. We know they're lying, and we don't care.
That's all fine and a-ok. Don't speed though – that's a sin. Don't you dare you dare utter these culturally unacceptable swear words in public. Sin. And above all, don't love the wrong person. That's a huge sin.
It depends on how you're speeding. If you're driving in a reckless hurry and wreck in not just in trouble with God, but the courts as well. Police speed traps are another thing.
The rest I agree about though when talking about America in general, it's based on capitalism, which harnesses greed. It's guaranteed that our level of consumption is going to result in some nasty surprises down the road(climate change, peak oil, water/food shortages). In the old testament, you'll find the Israelite had a tendency to stop following Gods dictates from time to time. They also weren't beyond getting conquered or otherwise subjugated. The greedy people in this country are all contributing to ultimate consequences that the nation will have to face at some point.
Mike – It is interesting to note that Jesus does not state or imply that born eunuchs exit the womb with genital deformities. Instead, Jesus makes a distinction between born eunuchs and eunuchs who have been physically castrated, whether by illness or by men.
Jesus makes a further distinction between born eunuchs and eunuchs who make a personal choice to voluntarily abstain from s-e-x-u-a-l relationships for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.
Jesus imply that born eunuchs are not required to abstain from s-e-x-u-a-l relationships such as a committed, same s-e-x marriage. Some Christians believe that born eunuchs were often h-o-m-o-s-e-x-u-a-l eunuchs. Abstinence from s-e-x-u-a-l relationships particularly describes the third class of eunuchs and possibly the second class but not the first class, whom Jesus referred to as born eunuchs.
Jesus Recognized Three Kinds
Of Eunuchs – Matthew 19:11-12
1. Eunuchs so born from their mother’s womb. These eunuchs, according to Jesus, were born that way. They did not make a personal choice to be eunuchs and they were not physically castrated by men. Some Christians believe these men were h-o-m-o-s-e-x-u-a-l eunuchs.
2. Eunuchs made so by men via physical castration. These eunuchs were physically castrated and could not consummate marriage.
3. Eunuchs who made a personal choice to be eunuchs, by abstaining from marriage, for the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus distinguishes the third class of eunuchs, who made a choice to be eunuchs, from the first class, who did not make a choice to be eunuchs.
What bull. You can scramble all you want but the fact is kings used born this way eunuchs to hairs their harems because.these men were not.interested in women.
Okay, Mike, I've given you plenty of information from "google" as you advise me to do so and yet you are in denial.
Oh good grief. Will the utterly preposterous stupidity ever cease? I swear to Zeus there's got to be some mind eating virus infecting a large portion of humanity. I really wish there was a god to save us from this insanity.
Come to the kush.Moses did
I watch Anderson Cooper, but there is no heaven sheeple.
Only you have convinced yourself that there is no heave, Jesus Christ wannabe. 🙂
i been to heaven it felt like wall mart so i left,.. not the beast place in the world,...it was missing people and fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWuck0hwcwg
@Atheist for Christ
Do you know for sure that you are going to be saved?
Then sign this statement to yourself: "I guarantee that I ________, will be absolutely saved."
Do that for yourself.
Haha, why do I need to sign your statement when it's already been written in John 3:16? I don't do contracts with unbelievers, thanks for trying, though. 😉
Change it to kushed out and I'll sign it
well i believe tell you what contract me your soul,.. im hungry... and ill give you a one way ticket to heaven
@Atheist for Christ
Now that is funny. "why do I need to sign your statement."
And the statement that another man put into a book you vouch will grant you salvation.
Here is how your words sound : "I have John 3:16 to save me". Laughable.
Answer – Oh, you little ignorant man! LOL, I never signed any kind of contract to be saved. Christ died for me to release me from any contract that has to do with people like you, got it?
Atheism = Religion and is for angry people.....come out from among these religions, dear, you sound so bitter.
There may be angry atheists, but their lack of belief is not what made them angry. Perhaps they're angry because christians keep calling the lack of belief in any god a "religion." It gets a little frustrating when people continue to be so foolishly obtuse.
Those who become atheists generally do so because there is no rational reason to believe in a god for which there is no proof. If you think that's a religion, then you probably think that my not stamp collecting is a hobby.
Will there be limping iguana-jugglers in Valhalla?
Yes three legged ones
Fat people will get into Heaven. Liberals won't.
I'd be so offended... If A I believed in Heaven and B I cared about what some random stupid person thinks.
Huh? The gluttons get in but the people who want to give to the poor, like Christ was doing up to the day he got arrested, don't? Only if there is a bizarro heaven.
You giving kush?
I'm a fat liberal who gives to charities. I'm assuming there must be more than one heaven and I'll be on a shared custody arrangement.
youtube.com/watch?v=1BPoMIQHwpo&feature=related
We aint watching no videos unless.it's about burning bushes(rolled up)
It's Alison Krauss. =>
BamaDaniel, you are hilarious, thanks for the laugh. 😉
youtube.com/watch?v=1BPoMIQHwpo
your welcome,... look a Pagan just did something nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BPoMIQHwpo
Thank you Sam 🙂
Hang on a minute; I think everyone here needs to differentiate between believing in God and even following Jesus Christ with what is printed in the Bible. Evangelicals claim it is the word of God but in actuality it is not, it is the creed of Rome. They chose what was placed into the Holy Bible NOT God. God did not put pen to paper, Rome was responsible for what was allowed to be put into the Bible, and all of the other submitted books of the Bible are locked away in the Vatican Archives. I believe in creationism and I believe in God and Jesus Christ but I am afraid that the Bible is not what it appears to be. It is a guide book for Rome to give rules for how people to live their lives and what is and what is not acceptable behavior and what will get you into Heaven. I mean think about it people, in Rome in 100AD you could be executed for being a Christian, by 200AD you could be executed for not. Obviously Jesus Christ actually existed because of the existence of the calendar we all use (i.e. BC and AD) but we should all search for answers within ourselves and not out of an ancient text written for the purpose of controlling the mob. I don't mean to offend anyone with this opinion, we go to Church, not all the time, but when we do I feel better. I see hypocrisy and vitriol from both Christians, Agnostics, and Atheists so it just proves that people are still people, being gay or fat or devoutly Christian or not has nothing to do what kind of person you are and my wife and I have gay and straight friends, agnostic friends, evangelical friends, we don't discriminate, which is what Jesus Christ would have done in the first place.
If the bible is wrong that how do you know why Jesus would have done in the first place?
I meant to say: "If the bible is wrong *then*..." Sorry, my phone likes to auto-correct me a lot.
*what Jesus would have done in the first place*
Oh right, the calendar! Obviously Jesus existed.
*facepalm*
People who quote the bible drive me crazy. It's a book of fiction people!!! But if you insist on believing every word in it, the bible does say that FAT people will have a difficult time getting to heaven (no, I'm not gay.) Fat people eat more than their fair share & that is greed. There are starving people all over this world. Step away from the whole pie and bag of chips and stop worrying about gay people, and worry about all of the food you're keeping from starving kids. Fat "Christains" are the worst type of hypocrites EVER!!!!
It is NOT fiction, as you will see soon enough.
They said that 2000yrs.ago ,I dont have all millennia to wait
If we drive you crazy, what are you doing here? Were you forced to click on this article that's on the religious blog?
The link was on the HOME PAGE of CNN. I guarantee you are obese! Stop eating more than your fair share. Sinner!!!!
I think a lot of believers do not give consideration to the lack of understanding to how mental illness was viewed back when the bible was written. There has been some speculation (read speculation) that many or some of the prophets were experiencing psychological disorders such as hallucinations, speaking in tongues, etc...and being ignorant of mental illness these disorders were viewed as spiritual encounters. If you put this into perspective one could conceive that this very well could have been a possibility. Something to consider anyway.
Fire a s s Kush baby I'm telling you it's all about the burning bush
@BamaDaniel
That will just make you fat and lazy. Try the real mind expander, LSD.
No chemicals all natural. Work mon _Fri. Skinny as a bean pole
@BamaDaniel
Unless you're growing it how do you know there are no chemicals in your kush?
@BamaDaniel
"No chemicals all natural."
What do you think gets you high? It's called a chemical.
Faith in the highest of highs
@BamaDaniel
Faith is a chemical reaction.
Some chemicals exist in nature (thc) .join my church Vor it'll change how you see things,or how you smell maybe both
I questioned this as well. I pondered what if they just hallucinated that God talked to them. But then you'd have to realize no one with mental illness today (that I know of) claims such things or writes books about what God actually says. And then there's the hard truth of God. What I mean is that belief and faith in God is completely counter to the way we want to live. Living for God goes against what our most natural desires are. Also, there's a lot of things claimed in the Bible that if they did not happen, there's no way they would even be written about. And if things didn't go as the Bible says, then the Bible as we know it would not be here today. Lastly, the fact that Jesus fulfilled 600+ prophecies (I believe that's the right number :/) kinda shows that these prophets new what they were talking about.
According the Higgs theory, it might take them a while, but yes they can get to heaven. For those who don't it will be hotter that the 4th July this year.
Hahaha, you are hilarious, Higgs.....did I make you squirm again, honey?
Sorry, Higgs, my bad, I mis-read your comment. I also go by HeIsGod and someone always calls me Higgy and I thought you were mocking my comments. 😉