Three Vital Questions for Today: Why Are Prayers Not Answered? How Does God Guide Today? Can a Christian Be Gay?

By Geoffrey E. L. Bennett

THREE VITAL QUESTIONS FOR TODAY is a reprint of three books previously written by Geoffrey E L Bennett.
WHY DOES GOD NOT ANSWER PRAYER? The author does not shy away from questions raised about unanswered prayer. Explaining what prayer is not, he shows why God does not answer most prayers. Then he explains exactly how to pray if you want God to answer
HOW DOES GOD GUIDE? God’s guidance takes many forms. The author shows what constitutes God’s will, and how to find your marriage partner, life’s work, career or vocation,
CAN A CHRISTIAN BE GAY? This challenging book examines all the Biblical material pertinent to gay and lesbian relationships. The Old Testament is closely analysed, then the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of Paul. Current thinking about gay marriage, what is a Christian? and are gay people born such or made that way? These are some of the vital questions answered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Feb 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728398853

Geoffrey E. L. Bennett

English Graduate authored "Why Does God Not Answer Prayer?" "Can a Christian Be Gay?" "Does God Guide People in the Twentieth Century?" He served in the Royal Army Medical, was an assistant Chaplain in a UK Hospital, and taught Religious Education and History in four state schools. Married twice, has two sons and two grandsons, and enjoys reading, writing, attending the gym, and swimming.

Book preview

THREE

VITAL

QUESTIONS FOR

TODAY

WHY ARE PRAYERS NOT ANSWERED?

HOW DOES GOD GUIDE TODAY?

CAN A CHRISTIAN BE GAY?

GEOFFREY E L BENNETT

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© 2020 Geoffrey E L Bennett. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/14/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-9886-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-9885-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020901474

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, The NEW ENGLISH BIBLE: NEW TESTAMENT - Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1962. - © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press 1961.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

The Good News Translation (GNT), formerly called the Good News Bible or Today’s English Version, was first published as a full Bible in 1976 by the American Bible Society as a common language Bible. It is a clear and simple modern translation that is faithful to the original Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Aramaic texts. The GNT is a highly trusted version.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Can A Christian Be Gay?

What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?

The Sin of Sodom

Levitical Laws – Male Prostitution

David and Jonathan

Unnatural Acts

Biblical Conclusions

The Christian Ideal of Marriage

Are People Born Gay or Made Gay?

Can a Christian Be Gay?

How Does God Guide?

(A CREDO Research Folio)

Why Does God Not Answer Prayer?

The Problem of Unanswered Prayer

What True Prayer is Not

What True Prayer Is

Why Prayer is Unanswered?

We have so much to thank God for

How to Pray

CAN A CHRISTIAN

BE GAY?

(OR CAN A HOMOSEXUAL

BE CHRISTIAN?)

BY

GEOFFREY E L BENNETT

The church has been polarised by the different attitudes to homosexual relationships among not only Christian people, but also among clergy with the appointments of bishops in the USA and Canada, and the proposed appointment of a gay bishop in the UK.

There are Guys, Gals and Gays stated the American Pentecostal Evangelist, David Wilkerson. Guys are men, Gals are women and Gays are somewhere in between.

But nothing could really be further from the truth. Gays, too, are men or women. So, a Gay person is also a Guy or a Gal. There are also individuals who are bisexual or hermaphrodite whose sexual identity is unclear. Yet all these individuals are human beings created in the image of God.

Gay men and women are still viewed with suspicion in the church. Gay vicars hit the headlines, the assumption being that a Christian and a Gay cannot be the same person. Many church leaders also call for repentance, conversion and spiritual healing as the cure for the Gay affliction.

This study of Gayness and Christianity sets out the Biblical material pertinent to homosexual and lesbian relationships, seeks to examine and challenge Christian thinking on the issue, and also points to scientific research into the causes of homosexual orientation.

Before examining the Biblical material, may I first set my own credentials firmly on the table? I am an ex hospital chaplain responsible for a haematology ward that catered for blood disorders. Some of my charges included HIV patients suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), caught through having unsafe sex with a same-sex partner. For over twenty years I served as Head of Year and Sixth Form Tutor teaching Religious Education and Sociology in three different schools as well as running a County Youth Club where I advised and counselled young people between 14 and 21 on personal and sexual matters. For thirteen years I also taught sex education to adolescents in both single-sex and mixed-sex groups.

I am straight, married with two sons. My own relationship is that of a conventionally married man. My younger son is homosexual in his relationships, however, and has entered into a Gay Marriage contract with another man whom he loves. And the two people in this relationship are very much part of our family. My wife and I accept both our Gay son and his partner. We have supported them both in their relationship together, and attended their wedding service conducted by a Canon in the Church of England. Our son and his partner celebrated their marriage before both a registrar in England, and before an Anglican priest in Spain.

My eldest son is also straight. He is currently married with two sons, and they all support our youngest son. I use the word support, but that is not really the right word. We are all one in our family, and all love and respect each other.

Unfortunately, there is suspicion, distrust, fear and hostility in many other families and sectors of the church. A local minister who read a series of letters on homosexual issues that I had written for The Baptist Times, a denominational weekly, told me that he admired my courage in writing the letters and agreed with them.

Unfortunately, he did not back up his beliefs. I was asked to bless a homosexual couple, and I really wanted to do so, but it wasn’t politic. My church members would get me sacked, he laughed.

My eldest son wryly commented, The church has been saying that for almost two thousand years. He ought to have the courage of his convictions, and say otherwise.

Why is the church so against Gay relationships? Why are some churches more homophobic than others? How do people become Gay? Are they born that way? Or are they sinful? What does the Bible say?

It is the purpose of this book to examine both what the Bible really teaches about homosexuality and Gay relationships, and also to discuss some of the twenty-first century cultural and scientific aspects of homosexual issues in modern society.

WHAT DOES THE

BIBLE SAY ABOUT

HOMOSEXUALITY?

Fundamentalists think they have all the answers. Their battle cry, The Bible says, is an oft repeated slogan supposed to stop all thought and question. It is here in black and white. Read it for yourself.

If the Bible were the dictated words of God, then such declarations would certainly suffice. But the Bible is not a dictated document; in fact, it is neither a document nor a book – the Bible is really a library of sixty-six different types of books. They contain histories, parables, stories, laws, poems, songs, words of wisdom, drama, prophecies, biography, Gospels (special types of books dealing with the ministry, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ), letters to churches and groups, letters to individuals and a specialised type of Hebrew book called apocalyptic.

To understand anything in the Bible it