Denominational Disclaimer
The views expressed by ourselves and other Christians on this web-site and in
our blog and / or forums (if we have them)  do not necessarily reflect the
views of our / their respective denominations.
Basic Christian Beliefs

  • God desires to have a relationship with every human being.
  • We are separated from God by something we Christians call sin.
  • Sin is anything that separates us from God
  • Another way to say this is that all of us have fallen short of what God
    desires / requires of us.
  • Jesus Christ is God's answer to the separation problem.
  • Through believing and trusting in Jesus the separation / sin problem is
    resolved because of what Jesus has done for us
  • Through believing in Jesus Christ we can have a relationship with God .
  • We come to Jesus Christ as we are and He accepts us as we are
  • All who come to faith in Christ must also grow in Christ
  • How we grow in Christ and the agenda for that growth is in the hands of
    God
  • All who are in Christ are both holy (set apart for God) and are being
    made holy.  (for more on holiness click here)
  • God alone is judge (not us) and each of us will one day stand before Him.

For those who want to dig deeper the following pages give an excellent easy to
read description of basic Christian beliefs which I have obtained with
permission from this external website.

Basic Christian Beliefs
 Basic Beliefs about God
 Basic Beliefs about the Church
 Basic Beliefs about the Holy Spirit
About me
Compassionate Christian Friends of Lesbians and Gays
About me
I am a leader in the church who is not pleased with how we have responded to
the GLBT community and is looking for a better way that values mutual
respect and compassion. I am a heterosexual Christian man with a
heterosexual wife and heterosexual children.   My theology is Wesleyan.  
Wesleyans are not bible literalists but instead employ tradition, reason, and
experience in our understanding of scripture.  For those who are curious
about my denomination's Articles of Faith you can click here.   

My original thought for this web site was to name it: "Lets Make a Bridge
Ministries."  The web site name has changed since then but the vision behind
it remains the same.  I would like to see an end to the harsh words that are
being said over the whole issue of homosexuality and instead build a bridge of
compassion, dialogue, and mutual respect.  We do not need to agree on
everything to get along.  

I will be the first to admit that some of us  who are in the church have not
always been as kind or loving as Jesus wants us to be.  We have said and done
things that I really doubt Jesus is very happy with.  As a leader in the church
it saddens me to see some parts of the church acting in ways that are
inflammatory and often in conflict with the very mission of the church and
the way of Christ.  The mission of the church (and of all who call themselves
Christian for that matter) is to reach out to others with the love of Christ
(especially to those who are poor or outcast or marginalized in society). That is
why I have put together this web site.  The philosophy of this site is based on
tolerance, mutual respect,  and understanding.  To define tolerance please see
the following answer taken from a survey at a Pridefest event:

1.  Extending friendship despite difference.

2.  Absence of judgement against the different.

3.  Support of all people's well being.

I believe that the love of God is expressed and the grace of God works best
when an atmosphere of peaceful dialogue and respect is maintained.   While
the gospel of Jesus can be an offense I don't believe that we need to be
offensive.

Is a bridge of dialogue and understanding possible?  I believe the answer to
that is: 'Yes'.  I was especially pleased to discover after six months of
research that there are groups seeking to do just that .  Web sites, both
non-Christian and Christian, such as Bridges Across the Divide and Gay
Christian Network are doing this very thing.  I have looked to their wisdom as
I voyage into these mostly uncharted waters.  See my Bridges page for more
information on how we can dialogue and get along.
I refer to a variety of web sites and resources on these pages.  If you are
GLBT you may be surprised at some of the resources I use.  If you are a
conservative Christian or just plain Christian (side A or side B)you may be
surprised at some of the resources I use as well.

My use of any resource should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the
entirety of that resource, web site, or viewpoint (unless of course I am
referring to the Bible). I do this because GLBT's and conservative Christians
often affirm very different resources.  In order to speak to everyone who
visits this website I must use a variety of resources.  This is critical if we are
to understand each other.
A Word about References Used on this Site