"GOD's Love and Grace is for Gay People Too"

IF YOU ARE TRULY IN CHRIST . . . not only have all your sins been forgiven . . . past, present & future . . . because SIN has been dealt a final blow of defeat once & for all (Hebrews 10) . . . but you are already seated with Jesus at the right hand of the Father: "Even when we were dead in our transgressions, [GOD] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and SEATED US WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS," (Ephesians 2:5,6).

Through the finished, completed, once for all redemptive work of Jesus, GOD immediately seated us with Jesus at His right hand! WOW! INCOMPREHENSIBLE!!!

Praise GOD for His amazing grace & work of redemption! GOD's grace NEVER motivates me to want to continue on in sinful behavior. GOD's INCOMPREHENSIBLE grace ALWAYS motivates me to walk in obedience & to walk in an intimate relationship with Him!

Sight Ministry Spring Support Group Details

The Sight Ministry spring semester support groups/classes will begin during the second week of February.  If you are interested in getting involved OR if you know someone who might be interested please reply or call me and we can talk about the details.  Please pass this information forward to your contacts.  You never know who might be interested is our ministry.

Any individual who personally battles against same-sex attraction (SSA) issues and wants to be involved in this part of Sight Ministry must first make an initial appointment with me.  A prerequisite for continuing in the group process is to go through the book study, “Lifetime Guarantee.” 

Any spouse of someone who battles against SSA issues or any family member or friend who has a loved one who battles against SSA issues must also set up an initial appointment with me before they can become eligible to participate in our group process.

The following is a brief description of our current groups:

Family & Friends:  This group is open to anyone who has a family member or friend who has a loved one who is either embracing a gay identity or is battling against SSA issues.

Women’s Group:  This group is open ONLY to women who are battling against SSA issues and who have graduated from Lifetime Guarantee.

Lifetime Guarantee:  This group is open to anyone who battles against SSA issues and is a pre-requisite for continuing participation in Sight Ministry.  Book:  “Lifetime Guarantee,” by Bill Gillham ($12.00).  Book description:  If you are exhausted in your efforts to fix your SSA issues or to fix other problems in your life this may be a great group experience for you.  It’s not your “problems” that need to be fixed—it’s your life!  The good news is that GOD doesn’t ask you to live your life for Christ, but to let Him live His life through you.  We will help you understand how you have programmed your brain with earthly techniques for satisfying your needs for love and self-esteem and help you to discover the ultimate solution through the exchanged life!  Someone has said, “Your problem is that you don’t really know what your problem is.  What you think is your problem is merely a symptom of your real problem.”  Come and discover what your problem really is and the Ultimate Solution!

Wives:  This group is open to anyone whose husband is gay identified or who battles against SSA issues.

4Streams:  This group is open ONLY to men who battle against SSA issues and who have graduated from Lifetime Guarantee.  Book:  “Not a Fan,” by Kyle Idleman – Book description:  The dictionary defines a fan as “an enthusiastic admirer.”  Fans want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires sacrifice.  Fans may be fine with repeating a prayer, attending church on the weekend, and slapping a Jesus fish on their bumpers.  But is that really the extent of the relationship Jesus wants?  Jesus was never interested in having admirers.  It’s not fans He is looking for.  “Not a Fan” will challenge you to consider what it really means to call yourself a Christian.  With a direct frankness that you’re not likely to hear in Sunday school class, Kyle invites you to take an honest look at your relationship with Jesus.  His call to follow may seem radical to us, but Jesus desires it for every believer.

If you are interested in learning more about Sight Ministry please feel free to contact me.

Richard Holloman

Sight Ministry

PO Box 140808

Nashville, TN  37214

615-509-0782

www.thesightministry.org

The Supremacy of the Gospel over Politics & Defiled Religion: Reaching the Gay Community

We strongly believe that the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST is THE absolute key in changing the lives of all people regardless of what their sin issues might be.  I’m not referring to the compromised watered down version that is popular today.  I’m talking about the complete, radical, powerful, authentic GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST that was GOD’s plan from the foundation of the world.

Paul said in Romans 1:16:  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for IT is the power of GOD for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." 

Therefore we intentionally choose not to trust in politics or man's agenda to work change from the outside in (behavior modification).  We desire to rest in and trust totally in the authentic, life impacting, power of the Gospel of Jesus that profoundly changes lives from the inside out.

We are challenged by GOD and convicted by HOLY SPIRIT to examine our own personal lives to discover our own sinfulness that falls short of GOD’s glory and that might become a stumbling block to those who are outside of GOD’s family.  We cannot continue to live a life of defiled religion, hypocrisy and compromise.

We are called to yield to the work of HOLY SPIRIT within us as He conforms us to very image of Jesus Christ.  The measure we use that shows us spiritual maturity is the fruit of the Spirit not the good works of a man (Galatians 5:22-23). 

We are so fully convinced this is GOD’s plan we feel compelled to engage the culture around us rather than being offended by it and withdrawing from it.  We believe so strongly that the authentic unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of GOD for salvation that we feel humbled and broken if we become the focus and the causation for others to stumble.  If someone stumbles may Jesus and Jesus alone be the Stone of Stumbling, not us (1 Peter 2:6-8).

Those who are unbelievers are simply living out of their unbelief.  Why would we expect them to act or to behave otherwise?  Politics, defiled religion, works of man, etc., will only divide and create barriers.  But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is GOD's power for total absolute redemption and change.

I battled against this concept for many years because I did not truly believe in the power of The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I felt I needed to assist GOD in His redemptive work to protect our society by entering into the political arena and by “fighting” to protect moral values.  Now I have found peace and rest as I continue to embrace the truth that GOD doesn’t need me to be His champion of the faith.  He is quite able to take care of that Himself.  That is why He humbled Himself to become a man and to die on a cross.  His resurrection is the proclamation to all people everywhere there is hope, life and freedom through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  What GOD has accomplished in His redemptive work is far greater & more powerful than anything else to bring radical and lasting change to any person.  And GOD accomplishes His work from the inside out by creating within the redeemed person a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19; Matthew 15:10-20).

As followers of Jesus Christ we hold on to His promise of total absolute redemption and we embrace Jesus’ bold declaration, “. . . and upon this rock (the Gospel of Jesus Christ) I will build My Church; and the very gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).  Therefore we know we have been given the “keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” and through the power of GOD Himself, “whatever [we] have bound on earth shall have been bound in Heaven, and whatever [we] loose on earth shall have been loosed in Heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

Do we dare think that politics, humanism, defiled religion, works of man and our weak, powerless programs can match the “GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST?”  “Go therefore and make disciples . . . I AM with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).  “You will receive power when HOLY SPIRIT has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Mission of Sight Ministry - "How to Change a Gay Man or Woman"

While Christ’s work on the cross, the shedding of His blood, was the only way to settle the problem of guilt, sin, and condemnation, the coming of the promised HOLY SPIRIT was GOD’s way of changing human beings from the inside out.  The law given to Moses had failed on this very point.  It was in itself holy and just, but the problem was the sinful nature within people.  Now HOLY SPIRIT dwelling in the hearts of believers would conquer the age-old dilemma of “I want to be different but can’t.  I know what’s wrong—but I keep doing it anyway.”  This empowerment by HOLY SPIRIT would be the dynamic source throughout time for all who live and labor for Jesus Christ.

[From the book, “Fresh Power,” by Jim Cymbala]

By-the-way, this is the way change comes to any man or woman, regardless of the sin issue, temptations or longings.

Choosing Rules over a Relationship

I loved this illustration that speaks about the difference between being a religious rule keeper and having an authentic intimate relationship with GOD.  It’s from the book, “Not A Fan,” by Kyle Idleman

When we learn to truly follow Jesus, we find that obedience to GOD comes from the inside out.  Submission to what GOD wants for our lives flows naturally out of that relationship.  It’s not to say that what we do or don’t do doesn’t matter, but what we do or don’t do must come from who we are as followers of Jesus.

When I got married there were some rules that I said I would live by.  These rules were written and spelled out for me.  When I said, “I Do” I understood I was committing to keeping certain rules.  Rules like:

·         Be faithful to her as long as we both live.

·         Provide for her and meet her needs.

·         Protect her with my life.

·         Be committed to her for better or for worse.

But after I got married I soon discovered that there are other rules I didn’t know about.  But these rules have since been clearly established:

·         I am to keep my closet clean.

·         I am not to make fun of her before 10 am.

·         The toilet seat is to remain down at all times.

·         I am to always have an opinion when asked about two dresses that to an untrained male eye appear to be identical.

·         Listening to her and watching SportsCenter at the same time is tantamount to an emotional affair.

·         Never grow hair on my back.

If I saw our relationship as a bunch of rules I had to keep, I would quickly become bitter and miserable.  I would likely rebel and break the rules when she wasn’t paying attention.  But I am passionately in love with my wife and that translates into a desire to please her.  So I find that cleaning my closet, putting the lid down on the toilet, or other such extravagant acts aren’t cumbersome but actually quite satisfying.  When the relationship on the inside is right, the outside will follow.

"Politics and Religion are Poor Substitutes"

The answer for solving the problems in America is not to be found in politics, or in a specific political party or in a specific political leader.  The answer is for the Church to heed 2 Chronicles 7:14 and for believers to become authentic followers of Jesus.  Let the Church be the Church . . . not political action committees.

Politics, church programs and events, become a substitute for being authentic followers of Christ Jesus . . . they become idols that we worship . . . they require less time and investment on our part . . . they are not as costly as following Jesus (Matthew 10). 

Some authentic followers of Jesus may be called into the world of politics to serve in positions of civil leadership in our communities and they should be obedient to that calling of GOD.  That may be a legitimate way to be “salt and light” in our world.  But the most effective part of their service will be as authentic followers of Jesus who are bearing Spiritual fruit where they serve.

It is the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST that is the power of GOD unto salvation (Romans 1:16), not religious institutions and certainly not political parties or platforms.  It is the onslaught of the true Church of Jesus Christ proclaiming the truth that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” that the gates of hell will be unable to stand against (Matthew 16:13-19) . . . not party platforms.

As true followers of Jesus Christ we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for GOD’s own possession” (2 Peter 2:9) aliens to this world; and yet we are “no longer strangers and aliens, but we are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of GOD’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).  America is not our home . . . we were redeemed for an eternal destiny.  Heaven is our home.  We are not primarily a citizen of the United States of America . . . we are citizens of the Kingdom of GOD first and foremost.

Out of authentic intimacy with GOD through Jesus, Holy Spirit begins "life-ing" out the life of Jesus in us and through us. Holy Spirit then begins producing Spiritual fruit through us (Galatians 5:22-23).   As a result of this spiritual redemptive work of GOD within us we become "salt & light” within the communities in which we live.  Then the people around us who are living outside of GOD’s purposes become more important to us than their sinful lifestyles or their political viewpoints.  (Matthew 5:1-16)

When we begin investing in the lives of the people all around us and they begin seeing Jesus in us they will either be drawn to the Jesus within us or they will be repelled by Him in the same way people were drawn to Jesus or repelled by Him when He walked on this earth in human form.  Our part is simply to be faithful.

Jesus is the hope of the world, not Obama or Romney and not the Democratic or Republican parties.  I think we should stop praying, “God, bless America” and we should repent in humility and brokenness in order that we (America) bless GOD.

Ultimate Purpose for Gays & Straights

This is a good word during this national presidential election season. This also speaks to the mission of Sight Ministry.

 Isaiah 55:1-2: – “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat.  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.”
"The enjoyment of GOD is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy GOD, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but GOD is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but GOD is the sun. These are but streams. But GOD is the ocean. Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives; to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for, or set our hearts on, anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness? Isn’t that what GOD asks in Isaiah 55:2: 'Why do you . . . labor for that which does not satisfy?'" --Jonathan Edwards (“The Christian Pilgrim”)

Same-sex attractions may be powerful and overwhelming but to embrace them rather than denying them will not bring a person ultimate fulfillment, happiness or contentment. We can apply this also to opposite-sex attractions. We can also apply this to putting our hopes in a presidential candidate. Obama nor Romney is the hope of America. America is not the hope of the world. Sexuality isn't our purpose. GOD is the hope of the world and only Jesus fully satisfies.

What is the most effective thing we can do to bring glory to GOD? Enjoy Him . . . delight in Him . . . find your ultimate satisfaction in Him and in Him alone!