026: The LGBTQ and the Church with Dr. Rosaria Butterfield

Dr. Rosaria Butterfield joins me on the podcast today and provides us with just the wisdom and insight we so desperately need in the church today for how to address issues of a LGBTQ nature with both truth and love. Rosaria has an amazing testimony of having been in that community herself when the Lord drew her unto Himself and changed the course of her life forever. It was an honor to talk to Rosaria, and it is our prayer that you walk away from this episode today feeling equipped, encouraged, and inspired for how you, too, can reach out to folks in the LGBTQ community with the love of God and the good news of the gospel.   What we Chat about in This Episode ~Rosaria's journey of going from a liberal, feminist lesbian to a Christian pastor's wife and homeschooling mom ~Rosaria's first two books, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey into Christian Faith and Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ  (check out the giveaways for both of these on Instagram and Facebook!) ~The two extremes in the church today when it comes to how to respond to LGBTQ issues - either we err on the side of saying those issues are not sin issues or else we err on the side of being hateful towards people who are in that community ~What the proper Christian treatment is of folks in the LGBTQ community ~The importance of loving hospitality and the role it plays in mistering to folks who are LGBTQ ~The oxymoron that is "gay Christianity" ~What does and does not constitute as gender identity; the myth of sexual orientation as being a category of personhood ~How to get started, practically speaking, with a Biblical kind of hospitality ministry ~Unwanted homosexual desires in those in the church ~What it looks like to Biblically love someone from the LGBTQ community and the importance of doing so ~What Jesus would have us do when our son or daughter or another family member or friend comes out as gay or lesbian (and also what we should not do! Hint- don't disown them!) ~And more!