Jay Bakker Writes Letter to Joel Osteen: We Should be Concerned About Those Who Feel ‘Le
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, April 29, 2008
- Viewed 165
- (46) comments so far
Here’s a copy of the letter:
Rev. Joel Osteen
Lakewood Church
3700 Southwest Freeway
Houston, TX 77027
Subject: The American Family Outing
Dear Rev. Osteen and the congregation of Lakewood Church,
My name is Jay Bakker. I am pastor of Revolution Church in Brooklyn, New York. You may know me as the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
As you might have heard, I lost my mother this year after a long battle with cancer. This has led me to reflect on the importance of family, as well as the lessons my mother taught me regarding the unconditional love of God. It is in her memory that I write you this letter today.
As a child growing up, I saw a side of the church that to me did not always reflect God’s grace. This experience has led me to be concerned for our brothers and sisters in Christ who sometimes may feel rejected and left out of the church.
It is for these reasons that I have decided to be a part of a plan to bring dozens of lesbian, gay, ########, and transgender families from around the country, as well as heterosexual families that support them, to visit your congregation on Mother’s Day Weekend (Saturday May 10 and Sunday May 11th, 2008) to create meaningful dialogue about homosexuality and Christianity.
This visit is part of the American Family Outing, a collaborative project between Soulforce, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the National Black Justice Coalition, and COLAGE. It is my understanding that the Executive Director of Soulforce, Jeff Lutes, sent you an initial letter, dated December 3, 2007. I wanted to follow-up to let you know of my involvement in this important effort to bring true hope and prosperity to all God’s children.
So many look to you for leadership, and therefore you and your congregation have an exceptional opportunity to advance respectful and Christ-centered conversation on a topic that too often divides our families and our nation. As Jeff expressed in his letter, we hope that you will collaborate with us in structuring our time together at your church. I invite you to match the families I bring, with a roughly equal number of families from your congregation, and ask that we arrange to share a meal together on Saturday, May 10th or Sunday, May 11th, followed by structured and educational conversation. We are also planning to attend your worship service on Sunday, May 11th.
Together, we can make this an experience that will bless the lives of so many. Please contact me at (private number) or Jeff Lutes at (private number) so that we can work together on planning the details.
In John 13:35, Jesus said that your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. I invite you to reflect Christ’s unconditional love and participate with us in this event.
In Grace and Hope,
Jay Bakker
Pastor
Revolution NYC
cc: Victoria Osteen, Paul Osteen, M.D., Dodie Osteen, Kevin Comes, Lisa Comes, Duncan Dodds, Marcos Witt.
FOR YOUR INPUT: What do you think of this letter? What good could come out of these meetings? And if there IS any good, would it be the good/agenda that Soulforce is desiring?
Soulforce released an open letter over the weekend from Pastor Jay Bakker of Revolution NYC church to Rev. Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Originally mailed in January 2008, the letter invites Osteen and families from the Lakewood congregation to share a meal with lesbian, gay, ########, transgender (LGBT) and straight-ally families over Mother's Day weekend. According to Jay Bakker, "As a child growing up, I saw a side of the church that to me did not always reflect God's grace. This experience has led me to be concerned for our brothers and sisters in Christ who sometimes may feel rejected and left out of the church."
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Ken on Thu, August 07, 2008
I agree with the one who basically said in their post, that many in the GLBT Community just want conservatives to change their position. For too many liberals, open-mindedness is agreeing with me, not just listening and taking into careful consideration my opinion.
I believe homosexuality is a sin in God’s eyes. Just as is adultry and fornication.
Still, when we see someone in sin, we must love that person, while holding firm to our belief’s. Conviction with compassion.
Too bad Jay Bakker didn’t try contacting Fred Phelps at Westboro Baptist in Arkansas. Of course, Phelps doesn’t seem to know much about compassion.
We are all sinners. Only by the grace of God and the shed blood of Jesus Christ can we hope to be saved.
And yes, we ALL must repent of our sins. That, IMHO, is the hardest thing to do.
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