Homosexuality

Greenville, S.C.—The Soulforce Equality Riders, a gay and lesbian activist group, has informed Bob Jones University that it intends to visit BJU’s campus April 4 as part of an 18-stop tour of Christian colleges and universities that maintain a Bible-based position on homosexuality. Bob Jones University has informed Soulforce that the Equality Riders will not be granted access to the BJU campus or to the student body.

The group is seeking opportunities to challenge institutional policies relating to sexual behavior with the goal of convincing schools to change their policies and how they execute them.

Last spring the Equality Ride visited 19 schools and military academies, including Liberty University, Regent University, Oral Roberts University, Brigham Young University, Wheaton College, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Military Academy. Reception at these schools was mixed. Some schools denied the Equality Riders campus access. In some instances, the riders disregarded a particular school’s position by attempting to enter campus and were arrested. Other schools welcomed the riders and established official forums for debate and discussion.
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My Interview with H.B. London

Due to the fact that several high-profile pastors in Evangelicalism have resigned over the issue of homosexual behavior, I called H.B. London at Focus on the Family to conduct a brief interview with him for SI. He is vice president of ministry outreach/pastoral ministries at Focus. As a fourth-generation minister, he understands the heart and hurts of pastors and has been helping them for the past fifteen years.

JJ: With the latest high-profile pastoral resignations over homosexual behavior, is this a bigger problem than we may realize? Are a large number of pastors dealing with this?

HB: I guess that if you looked at it across the board, it would be a lower percentage engaged in homosexual practices than the general population. We have a crisis line for pastors, and we get 400 to 600 calls a month, many of them dealing with moral failure. I would say that about six percent of those are dealing with homosexual behavior.

JJ: Why did you start helping pastors in this way?
HB: My father was a prominent minister, and when I was 16, he had an affair that demolished our family. At that time, I had no idea that God would use me to help men and women who were going through the same thing.

JJ: It has been reported that you are helping Ted Haggard. How is that going?
HB: I am the point person on the restoration committee. We’ve been working tirelessly to come to a conclusion on a severance package, a restoration agreement, his lifestyle, further education, and continued counseling.
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