Comments on: loving the other part of the flock, part TWO http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/ Seeking our Living Orthodoxy Mon, 14 May 2012 20:38:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: kellie http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/#comment-848 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:47:10 +0000 http://ellenharoutunian.com/?p=1823#comment-848 Happened upon this website searching for a reason I found myself in an primarily emotional affair which led to a physical one. I’ve been happily married 25 yrs but have spent the past 3 months in an affair with a young girl from church. She is 24 and I 46. We are both Christians. Reading the home page on how to have an emotional affair was exactly what we lived out this year. The church elders found out, I am being considered a sexual predator, I have confessed my sin to my husband who is toggles back & forth with anger and mercy. I have been dealing with intense pain. Likening the pain & difficulty of the emotional addiction to someone coming off cocaine rings true for me. But I’ve cried out to God and he has heard me. For the very first time in 3 weeks of intense pain and emptiness, I sense a tremendous breakthrough. Calling this lie by name has given me tremendous power over it. It’s as if the Light has shown in the darkness of my mind. “Pseudo-intimacy. Addicted. You have a human drug to ease your anxiety and discomfort in a fallen world”
Thank you so much for this website and posting. I am free, Jesus has set me free!

]]> By: ellenharoutunian http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/#comment-838 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:46:01 +0000 http://ellenharoutunian.com/?p=1823#comment-838 You are absolutely right, Mark. May God forgive us for failing to love our brothers and sisters. There is no excuse for it as people who follow Christ. Thank you for the book recommendation (and for writing it)! I will add it to my list. Blessings!

]]> By: Mark Zamen http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/#comment-834 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:10:10 +0000 http://ellenharoutunian.com/?p=1823#comment-834 “Lila” has learned much on her long and obviously difficult journey, and her loving, forgiving attitude is to be lauded. There is considerable controversy as to the origins and alterability of sexual orientation; human beings are indeed psychologically and physiologically complex and we have much to learn about what makes us “tick.” In any case, one thing is perfectly clear: A large segment of society, frequently because of religious beliefs, still regards gay men and women (among various minorities) as second-class citizens – or worse. That this wide-spread attitude exists even in this day and age is the salient point of my recently released biographical novel, Broken Saint. It is based on my forty-year friendship with a gay Mormon man, and chronicles his internal and external struggles as he battles for acceptance (of himself and by others, including co-religionists). More information is available at http://www.eloquentbooks.com/BrokenSaint.html.

Mark Zamen, author

]]> By: Jen http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/#comment-827 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:06:21 +0000 http://ellenharoutunian.com/?p=1823#comment-827 Thanks so much for this. I have a sister who is gay and is having lots of problems and i am praying for her daily.. I do feel that it is a long process and my heart hurts for her. I do belive the only way for true healing is Jesus. Thanks so much for this and u being true…
Jen

]]> By: Exalted Son of the Resurrection http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/#comment-771 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:44:13 +0000 http://ellenharoutunian.com/?p=1823#comment-771 I came across this in my lectionary devotional this morning. I think it beautifully illustrates the difference between a preoccupation with a small version of truth with our need for the Greater Truth – Jesus, Love Incarnate:

“When Jesus encountered the hemorrhaging woman, He set aside the levitical cleanliness laws (small truth with a small t) that had kept this woman separated from the larger community for twelve long years (Matt. 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48) . . . Choosing love and healing to meet human need, Jesus restored the woman’s rightful place into the fellowship of the Israelites by calling her “daughter” . . .”

]]> By: Kimberly McCormack http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/#comment-770 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:11:52 +0000 http://ellenharoutunian.com/?p=1823#comment-770 Thank you. We have a son who is living in the homosexual lifestyle. Your words and Lila’s story encourage me and shores me up!

]]> By: Skip http://ellenharoutunian.com/2009/09/18/loving-the-other-part-of-the-flock-part-two/#comment-769 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:35:11 +0000 http://ellenharoutunian.com/?p=1823#comment-769 Ellen,
this must be a day that the Spirit is moving us to write of love and inclusion. I’m starting something right now based on Jesus’ words to religious people, “depart from me, I never knew you,” and what some of that means. I also think what I say will anger some folks, but I can’t take anymore dis-couragement from pharisaical statements without speaking up. Thanks for this, it was en-couraging.

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