Tag Archives: Gays

 

At 9 p.m., my studying was completed. So, I stood up and walked into the kitchen for a drink of water. Turning on the recessed ceiling lights, I stopped dead in my tracks. A grotesque creature was sitting on a stool at the island counter. If the angel was the epitome of the Kingdom of Light, then this being was the dark side’s counterpart. Its gloomy eyes glared at me and its lips formed a sneer. Oozing sores plastered the being’s face and neck. A filthy robe covered its torso. The air was charged with a stench of decay.

“Listen up Chuck,” the creature said in a raspy voice.

Fear struck my chest like a baseball bat. I had trouble breathing. Confusion settled over me like a morning fog. Two and two did not add up at that moment.

“If you go to businessmen and tell them to leave churches and no longer give money to ministries and churches, some bad things will happen to your family. Your two sons will die in an auto accident and your wife will go insane. Do you hear me?”

I could not speak.

The creature drummed its dirty two-inch long fingernails on the granite counter. The beat reminded me of a funeral march.

“I said – do you hear me?” the creature hissed out the words.

I nodded.

“And I can do it. It will be easy, just as easy as it was for me to come into your home. No one can protect you from me! Not even God!”

The creature bared its brownish-yellowish teeth with a hideous grin as it stood up. “Don’t you ever forget what I told you – okay?”

The being walked over to the door leading out to the deck. Then without opening the door, he stepped through it, and left.

I collapsed on the floor and wept. My body convulsed in fear.

“Oh God! What have I done to my family?” I screamed.

Afterward, I pulled myself together and wandered into the family room, collapsing on the sofa. What is happening? I thought. Everything is hitting me at once. What can I do? My mind raced in circles searching for answers, but I found none. Finally, I fell asleep.

As I slept, a voice visited me. Was it a dream or a vision? It was like both, but different at the same time. I was awake, but asleep.

“Chuck,” the voice said.

Looking up, I saw myself standing in front of a stage in what looked like a large auditorium. It was black. None of the spot lights were turned on. The red velvet curtains were drawn apart. The voice seemed to be flowing out of the darkness blanketing the stage. I felt no fear, but in fact, was comforted by the voice.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Do you have some questions?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead.”

“What was that being in my kitchen?”

“What do you think it was?”

“A demon.”

“Yes. That was a demon power sent to frighten you by the religious ruling spirit over America.”

“But how did that happen?” I asked. “I always pray for angelic protection over me.”

“Yes, you do,” the voice said. “For just a few moments, the angels who protect you backed off their posts. When they did that, the demon power slipped into your realm.”

It hit me like a hammer between the eyes. The Lord set me up and used me as ambush bait.

“But – ” I said, trying to put my thoughts into words.

The voice interrupted me. “You have been chosen to have insight into spiritual warfare so that you can teach others. Spiritual warfare is not played on a Game Boy. It is played out in real life scenarios where lives and destinies are at stake.”

The voice paused for a moment and then added, “Satan and his army want to kill Christians and their families, and destroy their destinies on the earth.”

I cringed. “But what can I do to protect my family?”

“What does scripture say?”

Once again, the voice bounced my question back to me.

I thought for a moment before answering. “Cast my cares on the Lord for He cares for me.”

“Yes. And don’t forget that Jesus rebuked demons. He refused to allow them to speak because they are all liars. You can do the same in Jesus’ name.”

I was silent, not wanting to ask my next question.

“Can Satan and his forces really hurt my children or Dusty?” I finally asked.

“Yes. Your rebellion and sin can open the gates for Satan’s army to come into your family’s lives. But by the same token, a causeless curse will not alight on you or your family. So, walk with God and avoid sin.” The voice was silent for a moment. “Any more questions?

“What about my problems with Dusty?”

“She is not the problem – you are. Dusty is like most women in that she desires to see her husband as a sold-out man of God, not a half-hearted pew-sitter. You obey God, follow His instructions, and she will be happy to walk by your side.”

With that answer, the voice left and I returned to my sleep.

The above scene is from my eBook novel, Deceived, Dead and Delivered.   

(Continued in Part 3…if you are interested, the full series, which was written in 2011, may be seen here.)  

 

The movie, Milk (2008), was nominated for eight Academy Award nominations and ended up winning two: Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black).

Milk tells the story of the struggles Harvey Milk endured in the last eight years of his life as a gay rights activist and politician. The high point of the film shows Milk (Sean Penn) being elected to a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, which made him the first openly gay person elected to public office in California. But sadly, the movie ends with Milk and Mayor George Moscone being assassinated by Dan White on November 27, 1978.

Rotten Tomatoes rated the movie at 94%. And even though R rated, most Christian reviewers stated the movie was well acted and well done.

The film’s release was tied to the 2008 California voter referendum on gay marriage, Proposition 8, as its premiere was held in San Francisco two weeks before election day, November 4, 2008.

Although always considered an icon by the San Francisco gay community, the movie catapulted Harvey Milk into martyrdom status. President Obama posthumously awarded Milk a Presidential Medal of Freedom (August, 2009). Desmond Tutu supported the founding of the Harvey Milk Foundation (2009).

But then, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 572 on October 11, 2009. This bill designated May 22 as Harvey Milk Day and encouraged California public schools, K-12, to commemorate the life and values of Milk.

Was Harvey Milk a martyr, someone to be admired by school children? 

If you only watch the movie and listen to politicians and gay rights activists, the answer is “yes.” But if you do a little research, a different side of Harvey Milk can be seen.

The script for the movie, Milk, was adapted from Randy Shilt’s biography of Harvey Milk, The Mayor of Castro Street (St. Martins Press, 1982). Shilts wrote the book while struggling to find full-time employment as an openly gay reporter.

Later, Randy Shilt’s explained why he chose to write on Milk’s life:

At the time, for those of us who lived in San Francisco, it felt like it was life changing, that all the eyes of the world were upon us, but in fact most of the world outside of San Francisco had no idea. It was just a really brief, provincial, localized current events story that the mayor and a city council member in San Francisco were killed. It didn’t have much reverberation.” (Quartini, Joelle (June 20, 2008). “Harvey Milk Returns”, The New York Blade, 12 (25), p. 18.)

Here’s some quotes from Randy Shilt’s book, not portrayed in the movie, Milk:

“…sixteen-year-old McKinley was looking for some kind of father figure…At 33, Milk was launching a new life, though he could hardly have imagined the unlikely direction toward which his new lover would pull him.” (pages 30-31)

“It would be to boyish-looking men in their late teens and early 20’s that Milk would be attracted for the rest of his life.” (page 24)

“Harvey always had a penchant for young waifs with substance abuse problems.” (page 180)

“As homosexuals, we can’t depend on the heterosexual model…We grow up with the heterosexual model, but we don’t have to follow it. We should be developing our own life-style. There’s no reason why you can’t love more than one person at a time. You don’t have to love them all the same. You love some less, love some more — and always be honest with everybody about where you’re at. They in turn can do the same thing and it can open up a bigger sphere.” (pages 237-238)

Why in the world would politicians and educators hang their reputations on Harvey Milk?

(Continued in Part 8…if you are interested, the full series, which was written in 2012, may be seen here.)