Dr Paul Allen

It’s not a matter of  if  but  when . When will students in your church—or even the child in your home—announce same-sex attractions or transgender identities? For some of you, the “when” may have been last week, coinciding with National Coming Out Day. But no matter what day kids come out, Christians need to be ready. We need to know how to demonstrate love without affirmation, kindness without capitulation. Ultimately, we need to know what the Bible says and how to respond. In her article, “ How to Respond If Your Child Comes Out Today ,” Maria Keffler offers advice for Christian parents in this very situation. And she gets practical, providing suggestions for what to say in the moment, even if it’s just, “I need some time to process.”

The Lord's Prayer (1886-1896) from the series The Life of Christ, Brooklyn Museum (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet , and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly ." ( Matthew 6:6 ) In perhaps His primary teaching on giving, prayer, and fasting , Christ used an interesting blend of singular (thee, thou) and plural (you, ye) pronouns. Since even pronouns as recorded in Scripture are inspired and profitable, there must be a lesson to be learned from them. Although Christ begins the passage using the plural pronoun --"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them" ( v. 1 ), evidently addressing the large group assembled--He switches and speaks in the singular. In the verses dealing with giving ( vv. 2-4 ), with praying ( vv. 5-6 ), and with fasting ( vv. 17-18 ), He uses the singular pronoun and singular ve...