On Life at Home

somebody to an abortion clinic?” It’s a hard question.
I sort of pictured Jesus in the neighborhood
with a 14-year-old girl. The mother is forcing her to
get an abortion and Jesus knows what’s going on.
What would Jesus do?
Of course, I can’t say that for sure, but I have the
feeling that Jesus would hop in the car with her in
this time of deep darkness and would continue to
reassure her of His love for her. But I also have a
distinct feeling something may happen on the way
to the clinic.
Now, of course the snap judgment would be, “O,
no. Jesus would never go with some girl to such a
terrible place.” But my desire with Brimstone is to
show the bigger picture. I think Jesus would enter
this girl’s life and would try to do what He could.
Of course in spite of what Jesus would say or do
on the way to the clinic, the girl may still go through
with the abortion. Would Jesus then explode? I
don’t think so. I picture Him still waiting for her in
the car.”
Interesting
“The point is that if Jesus were to remove Himself
from us every time we sin and go astray, none of
us would stand a chance. We are all sinners. “
You mentioned you feel there are definite lines.
Would you care to get into that a little deeper?
“Yes, that is very important. There are lines. In the
book I raise the question what Jesus would do if
a gay couple would ask Him to prepare a cake for
them to be used for the wedding ceremony. I think
I personally would make the cake if they would ask
me. But I have also been asked to perform several
marriage ceremonies for gay couples, and I
have respectfully declined. The way I responded
in those cases was like, “Joe, you know that I love
you and I don’t judge you. At the same time, and
because of where I am at in the processing of
this issue and my views on the sanctity of marriage,
I feel uncomfortable to sanction this union.”
I usually ask them if they are willing to respect my
views and every time they have been completely
gracious. “
I was wondering what your views are on the
more aggressive attitudes that are so prevalent
in the world today. Some Gay activists are
not so forthcoming and are pushing their liberties
on the Christians. In some cases, they
are even demanding the closure of churches
that are against their views. Any comments on
that?
“Now we are getting into those scripture issues
about persecution. The scriptures seem to indicate
we need to pray for those who persecute us.
Here in America a lot of Christians are now fighting
for their rights. We have to remember though that
Jesus gave up His rights; letting people essentially
trample over Him in order to preach the Gospel. I
think we should be honest about our views as well
as wise. There’s always going to be a few arrogant
gays who want to ride around on their bicycle
naked. If I see that happening, I would advise you
to keep your children inside. But I wouldn’t really
be afraid of persecution either. The Bible tells us
that the world will love its own, but because we are
not of the world, the world will hate us.”
Any last words about Brimstone?
“My heart is for the Christian movement. It’s my
hope that twenty years from now the Christian
movement will be seen as the most loving, least
judgmental movement around. I would like to
encourage those who read Brimstone to read it
prayerfully and just consider it.
I think it’s important to understand that I believe
judgment is necessary. However, the kind of
wrong judgment I am talking about in Brimstone is
snap judgment without feeling and regards to the
consequences. I used to do that a lot and it didn’t
get me anywhere. I hope my readers will realize I
am just human too. Chances are seven years from
now I may see things differently again. Brimstone
is written in the hope that it will give the readers
something to work with and that it can help in the
communities. What we don’t want to do is cause
fights and unfruitful arguments. We want to fight
for the unity of the spirit.”