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Conservative or Progressive, You’re a CHRISTIAN (both of you)

I’ll warn you right know, I’m getting on my soapbox (but I’ll be brief for a change) …

You know… I have lots of friends who are Christians. Some would be described as conservative evangelical Christians (with evangelical often being considered a negative term these days) and also many friends who would be considered progressive Christians.

I’m also in several groups in Facebook. Some are more conservative based, who may push back against my message that being transgender isn’t a sin or some mental aberration, and others who are more progressive, that just shrug at my being a transgender Christian and don’t give it a second thought, except they’re in amazed disbelief that I’m conservative.

Not surprisingly in the more conservative groups, I see all kinds of uninformed and hurtful comments about people who are transgender. And in the progressive groups? I hear how they want NOTHING to do with “evangelical” Christians, how they HATE everybody, in fact you would think that evangelical Christians were worse than Hitler if you read what was being posted–there is no greater enemy to this world than evangelical Christians.

The very concept that being transgender is simply about your gender identity, how you’re “wired”, and has NOTHING to do with what you think about politics, religion or anything else just HASN’T occurred to anyone in these camps. WHY do you have to be transgender and progressive? Why can’t you be a totally affirming, conservative evangelical Christian to people who are transgender.?

Y’all have to STOP making this a spiritual, political or religious argument and just accept people for who they are, HOW God created them. You may not understand or like it, but it is how God created me and many others like me, we’re just another one of His kids. We are all different, and just like families, at times we don’t like or get along with our brothers or sisters, but that doesn’t change the fact that we all are brothers and sisters in Christ.

I have friends in both camps who would disagree on many things, but they all would agree on the saving grace of our Lord Christ Jesus, and they are MY friends whom I love, because Jesus loves them too!

So this is me now getting off my little soapbox. At times I feel motivated to use it, this is one of them.

-Blessings

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The Day My Future Changed

It was this day, June 5th twenty-seven years ago that I stepped into the reality of living a genuine and authentic life, the person I was created to be. It was the day I hit the RESET button, to start over, to finally navigate life while being true to myself and my Lord, in spite of the ramifications from people I love.

Twenty-seven years ago movers in Sacramento arrived to move a guy out of his apartment and to a new home across town. When they were done loading the truck, I told them I had to head into San Francisco, but that my sister would soon meet them at the house. A couple of hours later “Laurie” said hello to the movers, my new neighbors and the world.

Twenty-seven years with never a single doubt or regret. And unlike Lot’s wife, I never looked back! For me, today is better than a birthday. I would have run out of birthdays a long time ago without that June 5th, so forgive me for taking a day just to celebrate life!

Thank you Lord for steering the ship, preventing me from crashing into the rocks along the shore, and keeping me on course!
I’d have no today without you!

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“God Doesn’t Make Mistakes” now available
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What Do We Do With the Rule Breakers?

It’s taken me a while to find a way to articulate what I felt was the issue with many people who have difficulty accepting people who are transgender.

There are a couple of memes that on occasion pop up in my Facebook feed that others have shared. These are my friends who are sharing it so I tend not to take it personal or that they are thinking of me when they share it, but I KNOW that they have been used by others as a (I was about to use the phrase “passive-aggressive”, but there is nothing passive about it) means of communicating one’s displeasure with someone who is transgender. Read more “What Do We Do With the Rule Breakers?” →

Mom and Family

I’ve written about family and holidays before, and yesterday, the day before Mother’s day, I was again filled with the significance of family.

Each year I send my mom either a card or flowers for Mother’s day, and likewise on her birthday. I have her home address and as far as I know it’s still current since I’ve never received a notice that the address is wrong. It’s going on 28 years since I’ve seen my parents and just about that long since we’ve spoken, I’ve written them and they continue to choose silence toward me. The same for my brothers. In fact, for the first 30 years of their lives my two nephews didn’t even know I existed, and we live in the same state (well, one lives now on the other side of the state line in Oklahoma, but I extend grace to him since he grew up in Texas). Read more “Mom and Family” →

Who’s in Charge of the Stonings at Your Church?

A popular verse in the Bible used as a weapon against people in the church who are transgender is Deuteronomy 22:5 “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.” (NIV) Another is Genesis 1:27 “…male and female He created them”. Read more “Who’s in Charge of the Stonings at Your Church?” →

Fitting in Vs. Belonging

A couple of weeks ago I drove from Austin to Houston (about 3 hours each way) to help an older client with a new computer and with using her cell phone. The trip gave me an opportunity to listen to Brené Brown’s book “Braving the Wilderness” (I’m a big fan of audiobooks, and you can get mine, “God Doesn’t Make Mistakes”, for free if you don’t already have an Audible account, but enough of the commercial). Brené in one chapter talked about the difference between “fitting in” and “belonging”. THIS was what exactly had been on my heart for several days, so though I’ve owned the book for almost a year, it wasn’t an accident that just now I got around to listening to it. Read more “Fitting in Vs. Belonging” →

We Can Do Better Church!

Eric is transgender. He is also married and having a difficult time making sense of his gender identity, his relationship with God and his relationship with his wife. Knowing of not a single Christian leader anywhere in his area that he could talk to, he reached out to a pastor he discovered in a TED Talk that was on YouTube. As it happens, this is the same pastor who wrote the foreword to my book. The pastor was just leaving on a sabbatical for several weeks, and asked me to reach out to Eric.

Read more “We Can Do Better Church!” →

A Man at My Church Died

Most of my posts are meant for a targeted audience. They may be for Christians who are transgender because of my own experience or they may be for evangelical Christians. Often I get public or private replies from people telling me they are so sorry for “what I’ve gone through”, even though it really wasn’t about me.

But today was a day of struggle for me, and so I’ll admit—that this post is about me, or at least what I feel.

A man at my church died on Monday.

He had a wife and six kids.

Read more “A Man at My Church Died” →

I’m Crazy! I’m Giving Away My Book!

I’m so crazy I’m GIVING IT AWAY! That’s right, my book “God Doesn’t Make Mistakes” will be free (the Kindle version) today (Tuesday Feb. 5) through Saturday. You can download the digital version of my book and can read it on pretty much anything (PC, Mac, phone, tablet or Kindle). You don’t have to READ it this week, but this is the time to get it and you can read it later.

But there’s ANOTHER way to get the book free. If you’re not already an Audible customer, you can get the AUDIOBOOK for free ANYTIME by signing up for the free 30 day trial and downloading it. You can cancel after downloading if you want and pay nothing, but you get to KEEP the book forever!

And of course, if you prefer a paperback or hardback, you can always buy a physical copy of the book as well.

CLICK HERE to pick the version of the book you’d like to get!

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The Audiobook is HERE!

It’s finally here, the audiobook version of “God Doesn’t Make Mistakes”! And if you don’t have an Audible account, you can even get it for FREE!

Just CLICK THIS LINK and sign up for the free 30-day trial, and you can get the book for free. It you want to cancel the Audible membership at the end of your trial, you get to KEEP the book forever. What a deal! You might even learn to love audiobooks. You can also GIFT an audiobook to someone (just in time for Christmas).

The great thing is you can listen to it on your Apple or Android phone or tablet, your computer, even Alexa devices and Sonos speakers.

So go to Audible and check out the sample on the page. Of course, the paperback, hardback and Kindle versions are always available at Amazon.

Please click here to “LIKE” my Facebook page, help me reach the Church and Christians who are transgender.

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