Posted on 09/01/2021 8:21:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Author Caleb Kaltenbach once found himself saying, “I never want to be a Christian,” but a blatant attempt to try and disprove the Bible left him in the most surprising of circumstances: accepting Christianity and transforming his heart and mind in the process.
Kaltenbach’s faith journey and theological views are especially surprising considering he was raised by three gay parents in an activistic environment before his conversion.
LISTEN: HEAR KALTENBACH SHARE HIS POWERFUL CONVERSION STORY
“My parents divorced when I was 2 and they both went into same-sex relationships,” he told the “Edifi With Billy Hallowell” podcast.
That journey led Kaltenbach and his family into years of pro-LGBT activism where he often encountered hate and anger from some who called themselves Christians — people who left him feeling in his early years as though he’d never want to be part of the faith.
“I learned real quick from things that I saw in pride parades, the way how I saw Christians treat people, the way how I saw families ignore their young sons dying of AIDS in the 1980s — I saw real quick that Christians hated gay people,” he said. “And I thought to myself, ‘Man, I never want to be a Christian. If Christians are this bad, I can’t imagine how awful Jesus must be if He’s their leader.’”
But something unexpected happened during his teen years. Kaltenbach joined a Bible study when he was 16 in an effort to try and disprove Christianity. Despite his best efforts, Kaltenbach shockingly found himself captivated by Scripture — and everything changed.
“I became a Christian, changed my view on sexuality to what I hold today — that God designed sexual intimacy and affection to be expressed in a marriage between a man and a woman,” he said.
The journey from there wasn’t easy, especially when Kaltenbach’s family found out about his conversion. His parents kicked him out of the house, though they later reconciled.
“I think my parents realized eventually that I was not one of ‘those’ Christians,” he explained, referring to the angry people his family had encountered during his younger years.
Kaltenbach’s faith journey didn’t stop there; he decided to go into ministry and became a pastor. As for his parents, they, too, became Christians in their later years.
In addition to holding biblical views on marriage, Kaltenbach said he also embraces another contention: that “theological beliefs should never be catalysts to devalue others.”
He’s tackling these beliefs in his new book, Messy Truth: How to Foster Community Without Sacrificing Conviction, as he continues to help Christians find a balance between truth and love and to create "a sense of belonging for all people."
Kaltenbach told “Edifi” that he believes it’s important for Christians to show empathy for others, but differentiated between having compassion and abandoning values.
“We need to employ a lot of empathy … I don’t mean empathy as being a pushover,” he said. “To me, empathy is similar to humility … empathy is acknowledging somebody’s reality.”
It is from there that Kaltenbach believes people can be reached with the Gospel.
As for culture’s current swing away from traditional values, Kaltenbach admitted that it has been difficult to watch, but he continues on his journey to help Christians process societal changes in positive and uplifting ways.
Listen to the full interview to hear more about Kaltenbach’s views and his journey.
Above all remember this - God is truth.
People can, and WILL, live fantasies over their entire lives. But the truth is what it is.
“accepting Christianity and ...”
Does the author mean accepting Christ?
Christian Post doesn’t even know how to write about Christianity.
Praise God!
Is there going to be a sequel to help gays accept christians?
I know of a similar testimony...And from a purely pragmatic standpoint it kind of proves that some gay couples do end up raising their children well. The children still love their parents even as they go a different direction spiritually.
Some Christians are jerks. And it turns people off. You’re never going to convert anyone by screaming at them.
Homosexual narcissism DEMANDS they be "loved." If you don't love them, accept them, and let them do whatever they want, you are a "bigot."
I have as much respect for homosexuals as I do for adulterers, serial gamblers, or drug addicts. Its your life, your choices, your behavior - live with the consequences and don't demand love from others.
Athiests cannot prove that there is no God. They just take it on faith.
Assuming by "love" from others you mean respect for weird behaviors, I'm 100% with you.
And therein lies the rub. Gamblers, drug addicts, and people living heterosexual immoral lives don't run around demanding we all applaud their behaviors. Only the gays do that.
And to them “loving” them means approving of their lifestyle choices.
They do not define love correctly.
And for playin the victim, I don’t buy that either. Too many gays provoke others to get a negative response and then use them as examples opthat Christians don’t love gays.
The Bible is amazing on multiple levels I have come to admit, even grudgingly at first.
In one respect, I doubt our world today is any different than the world He walked back then, as in this from Luke 40:40-41
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.“And demons came out of many …” < < This about demonic possession. I think this is still our reality now.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.”
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.
I have to wonder sometimes what possesses the many in high and low places and others just like me that makes them do what they do to others and to themselves.
Do we, who call ourselves by His Name, have the love and compassion necessary now to heal the sick, whether it’s body, mind or soul that is sick, let alone drive out demons?
Or have we become too reprogrammed by the world’s malware and also too sick within ourselves?
Have we, too, become possessed by its critical spirits or too hypocritical in our own sins now to be helpful and aware enough and able to see clearly with no scales that block our sight?
I know I’m lost without Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Just look at how I struggle now, today, even with all the help and blessings They give me. Yikes …
Saved or not, we’re all dealing with the same inheritance we all received from the first parents … and we’re all guilty of something.
So, we gotta be nice even when we want to be not nice. Dad’s watching.
John 15:6; 1Thess 1:4; Jer 1:5; Col 3:12-13; Tit 1:1; Pro 16:4; 2 Tim 1:9; Eph 1:3; Gal 1:15-16; Eph 1:4; Matt 24:31; Lk 18:6-7; Ro 8:33; 2 Thess 2:13; Deut 7:7; John 6:44; 1 Pe 1:18-20; Eph 1:11-12; 1 Pe 1:1-2; John 6:39; Acts 2:23.
2. Every living soul knows the truth. They choose to reject it. (Romans 1:18-to the end of the chapter).
3. The testimony of history, creation, and logic screams at the unrepentant to repent (repent = change your mind; from the greek word, "metanoia"). As we find ourselves in 2021 After Death (AD), Ro 1:20, the writings of Josephus, and andrewcorbett.net is a good start.
4. If they don't recover their minds, then they go the broad way unto destruction like most. Jesus said it was narrow:
Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
To your point, I don't know why Christians scream. There is no need for it. Everything is laid bare before them.
It’s real simple and it is there in black and white in the scriptures - hate the sin, love the sinner.
And if you truly follow the latter part of that it sincerely effects your approach to the sinner.
you are pre-supposing some things there.
BTW - nobody is perfect - except God.
So don’t blame your actions on what someone else did (or did not) do. That is just giving them control over your own life.
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