Ethics & Moral Issues

Ethics & Moral Issues gathers Christian Standard articles that apply biblical truth to today’s hardest moral questions and cultural debates. Here you’ll find thoughtful, Scripture-shaped guidance on topics like sanctity of life, sexuality and gender, marriage and family ethics, religious liberty, justice and human dignity, bioethics, and the moral dimensions of public life. These articles aim to help Christians form convictions, speak with clarity and compassion, and live faithfully in a complex world.

March 7, 2010

Christian Standard

Balancing Grace and Truth with Homosexuals

By Darrel Rowland Read the sidebar, “How to Help,” by Darrel Rowland Heated battles over gay marriage issues rage from California to Maine. Loud people from a tiny church in Kansas tote signs saying “God Hates Fags” and protest at funerals of troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Gay activists contend that many Christians” philosophy on homosexuality, “hate the sin but love the sinner,” is akin to “keep slavery but love the slaves.” Debates multiply over hate crimes legislation, proposals to add sexual orientation to antidiscrimination laws, the implications of such concepts as “don”t ask, don”t tell” or “equal rights,

March 7, 2010

Christian Standard

How to Help

By Darrel Rowland Read the main article, “Balancing Grace and Truth with Homosexuals,” by Darrel Rowland There’s sin. There”s sexual SIN. And then there”s HOMOSEXUAL SIN. At least that”s how we Christians often act. And that”s a big reason why Christian leaders” struggles with homosexuality (1) are more prevalent than many believe and (2) go unaddressed for so long. Many times the inner battle remains secret until the all-but-inevitable blowup or crisis. That”s usually when Dr. John Walker gets a call. For more than 15 years, Walker, a licensed clinical psychologist, has run Blessing Ranch, a sprawling facility on 166

March 7, 2010

Christian Standard

Searching for Causes of Homosexuality

By Kent Paris One would think those working within the social sciences would share in common the answer to the question, “What is homosexuality?” but this is not the case. You would think the staggering volume of a century”s worth of published psychiatric literature detailing the common pathologies observed in tens of thousands of people suffering from homosexuality would convince everyone, even the skeptic, that it is a treatable disorder”“”“but that it is, indeed, a disorder. This was the case until the 1970s. In a stunning, bloodless coup, gay activists pulled off an amazing overthrow within the American Psychiatric Association

March 7, 2010

Christian Standard

Our Ministry to Gays and Lesbians

By James C. Donovan “I am so glad you are doing this Bible study. The churches who teach the Bible as God”s Word don”t want me there and the churches who welcome me don”t teach the Bible as God”s Word.” Those words will be a lasting memory from my effort in ministering to gays and lesbians. The man who uttered those words at a Bible study in a home was a delightful person who called himself a believer and openly admitted his homosexuality. He had only recently come out of the closet and was genuinely struggling with his lifestyle and

March 3, 2010

Christian Standard

Some Who Read This Are Homosexuals

By Mark A. Taylor Several years ago a friend asked me to read an opinion piece about homosexuality he had written for a Christian audience. Frankly, I don”t recall what he wrote, but I do remember his reaction after one comment I made to him. “We need to keep in mind that some who see this will be homosexuals,” I said. The look on his face told me he”d never thought of that. He”d probably react differently today. So would I, because as one writer this week indicates, homosexual may not even be the best word to use when we

December 14, 2008

Christian Standard

Reflections from a Bartender”s Son

By Chuck Sackett I”ve recently become deeply concerned over what appears to be a trend toward drinking among young church leaders.1 I hear about young leaders who have repented of the “sin of abstinence”2 and headed off to the pub. I”m concerned for the church, their congregations, and their families.3 I”m told one of the most frequently asked questions in interviews is, “Is it OK to have a beer?” As some young leaders seek potential staff members, they ask, “How do you feel about going to the pub?” The right answer used to be the wrong answer.   Early Influences

October 3, 2007

Christian Standard

Christian Teenagers and Their Sexual Behavior

By Mark A. Taylor Evangelical teenagers are as sexually active outside marriage as others. But not everybody agrees about why and what to do about it. Consider two pieces appearing in different publications this August. Gene Edward Veith, senior writer for World magazine, reviewed the findings of sociologist Mark Regnerus, published in his new book Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers. Veith”s column in the August 11 issue included this report:   Statistically, evangelical teens tend to have sex first at a younger age, 16.3, compared to liberal Protestants, who tend to lose their virginity

March 14, 2007

Christian Standard

Interview with Mike Foster

By Brad Dupray Mike Foster has charted an unusual course of ministry through addressing the issue of pornography and its impact on our culture.  In 2002, Mike founded XXXchurch.com and led the creative vision for that ministry until 2006.  Now, Mike leads a ministry to help parents talk to their kids about pornography at www.ThePornTalk.com.  Mike has appeared on CNN, FOX News, Good Morning America and has been featured in the New York Times. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife Jennifer and their two children, Jackson and Taylor. The Porn Talk.  That”s kind of a weird name.  What

December 17, 2006

Christian Standard

What a Christ-Centered Recovery Ministry Can Do

By Anonymous QUESTION: Can a Christ-centered recovery ministry accomplish something a “secular” program will not? We asked that question of one Christian with long-term recovery in a 12-step fellowship, whose answer went something like this: You have touched on a major issue with regards to recovery and the church. I would respond with this question: If an alcoholic or drug addict finds grace, freedom, and inner transformation, is it not probable that Christ was there leading the charge and the change””regardless of the location? The church labels as “secular” those programs that occur outside of our parameters of understanding God

December 17, 2006

Christian Standard

The 12-Stepping Church

By Dan C. Gilliam The 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous began when the organization”s cofounders, a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician, discovered that focusing on a Bible study group”s faith-building techniques helped curtail their desire for alcohol. Bill Wilson, the stockbroker, had been sober for a few months but was perilously close to taking a drink when he randomly called church phone numbers from a hotel lobby in search of a minister who might know of an alcoholic in need of help. A minister put him in touch with Henrietta Sieberling, a member of the Oxford Group, a

May 10, 2006

Christian Standard

What We Can Do if We Can”t Agree

By Mark A. Taylor Can we ever agree about women in ministry? Given the huge breadth of belief and practice among Christian churches, maybe not. Some Christian churches, for example, have decided to add women to their board of elders. But then there’s the church that will not ordain the women on its ministerial staff or let these ladies attend an off site overnight planning retreat with the male ministers and elders. Our major conventions welcome women speakers to their platforms. But I heard about a Christian church that hired a woman music director with the stipulation that she face

Secret Link