Pastor Gabe's Old Blog

Hugh Hefner died yesterday at the age of 91. He was a pornographer, most famous of course for the publication of Playboy magazine. His Wikipedia profile, and probably any other biography you'll read of Hefner's, describes him as a political activist and a philanthropist. His "charity" contributions included giving to free-speech causes that kept porn easily accessible, supporting an anti-vaccination campaign, and saving the Hollywood sign. I guess that qualifies as philanthropy. It is said Hefner also fought for civil, gay, and women's rights. But the reality is that Hefner did not free, liberate, or defend anyone. He enslaved them. Millions and millions of them. And made millions and millions of dollars in the process. The Bible says that everyone is enslaved to various passions and pleasures (Titus 3:3), most especially sexual perversion. Jesus said if a person lusts after another, they have committed adultery in their heart (Matthew 5:28). Whatever over...

Nabeel Qureshi, best-selling author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus , died of stomach cancer this past Saturday at the age of 34. I never met Nabeel, but I followed his ministry and believed him to be a dear brother in the Lord. Nabeel grew up a devout Ahmadi Muslim. His college roommate, David Wood, challenged his beliefs in the Quran, Muhammad, and Allah, and helped lead him to saving faith in the one true God, Jesus Christ (1 John 5:20). Nabeel spent the last several years as a Christian apologist, and I've enjoyed listening to him and Wood. I find their testimonies astonishing, full of the grace of God. Both Wood's and Nabeel's stories are amazing in their own right, setting aside the fact that these two men were good friends. Not only college roommates, Wood baptised Nabeel upon his confession of faith. In August a year ago, Nabeel informed viewers and readers that he had stomach cancer and needed to step away from pursuing his doctorate and the work he was do...

"Let's make a deal, you and me," writes Gregory Coles, author of the book Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity . "Let's make promises to each other. I promise to tell you my story. The whole story. I'll tell you about a boy in love with Jesus who, at the fateful onset of puberty, realized his sexual attractions were persistently and exclusively for other guys. I'll tell you how I lay on my bed in the middle of the night and whispered to myself the words I've whispered a thousand times since: 'I'm gay.'" As a pastor, this is not the first time I've listened to that confession. The first person I ever baptized used to call herself a lesbian. She sat across from my wife and me on our couch and wanted to know how she could still be a lesbian and be sure she would go to heaven when she died. I read to her 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, which says: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit...