'Walking' Beats 'Talking' in Dealing with Homosexuality, Says Pastor
by Jim Brown
July 7, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A former homosexual is teaching Christian audiences how to evangelize and disciple those caught in the destructive and sinful lifestyle of homosexuality.
North Carolina pastor Tim Wilkins is taking his one-day "More Than Words" conference to Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday (July 8). Next month (August 12), the conference goes to Raleigh, North Carolina. The conference is designed to help Christians understand homosexuality and learn how to help friends and family members dealing with the sin. Wilkins, who says he left homosexuality more than two decades ago, notes the focus is "walking versus talking people out of homosexuality.
"If talking changed things, everything would be changed. So our emphasis here is emphasizing that love -- compassion grounded in the truth of God's Word -- is what sets people free," says the founder of Cross Ministry. "And, as I say in many of the venues where I speak, no one has ever been argued out of homosexuality -- and for that matter, no one has ever been argued into the kingdom of God."
The pastor explains that he challenges "gay theology," which he says is a reinterpretation of scripture to condone homosexuality. According to Wilkins, claiming that the Bible advocates homosexuality is equivalent to claiming that Tolstoy's War and Peace is a musical comedy.
"The fact is that the Bible is very straightforward, very direct in prohibiting homosexuality," Wilkins notes. "But the Bible is also direct in saying that 'such were some of you.'"
In addition, says Wilkins, the Bible speaks clearly about freedom from homosexuality. "All across the country I am finding evangelical churches that are becoming much more receptive to and proactive in reaching men and women for Christ who are dealing with this," he shares.
Wilkins says he tells Christian audiences that in just about every church there is a member -- whether married or single, teenager or senior adult -- who is struggling with same-sex attraction.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
