ALL in

As we inch towards Season 2 of AllIn Pod, here are some insights into the stages of faith development, moving from Simplicity to Complexity, then deconstructing to Perplexity and ultimately resolving to Harmony.  Brian McLaren might have the best work on these four stages in his book, "Faith After Doubt". Listen to his discussion with Pete Enns and Jaryd Bayis on "The Bible for Normal People" here:  https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-174-brian-mclaren-the-four-stages-of-faith/ 

This is the second half of Part 2 of our series on LGBTQI inclusion. Please listen to the first half before this one - it gives important context about how I believe we should read and understand the Bible. It should be in your podcast feed just before this episode. This was recorded at the We Are Church gathering on 28 August 2022 in Waverley, Johannesburg, and focuses on what the Bible says about marriage. This second half looks at what Jesus and Paul (and the rest of the Bible) actually say about marriage. It's way less - and a little bit more - than you think. It's not as obvious as it is made out to be, and it definitely does not exclude same sex marriages. For more information about the We are Church faith community, email Jane : jane (at) codrington (dot) biz

This is the first half of Part 2 of our series on LGBTQI inclusion. Please listen the first part of this series before listening to this podcast episode - it should be the previous file in this podcast feed. That looks at the seven "anti gay" passages in the Bible, and shows clearly that we have misinterpreted them. This podcast is the audio feed of a video  that was recorded at the We Are Church gathering on 28 August 2022 in Waverley, Johannesburg, and focuses on what the Bible says about marriage. This first half looks at how we use - and misuse - the Bible, and the importance of looking at the character of God (as revealed in Jesus) for our theology. The second half of this message focuses on what the Bible says about marriage, and will come into your podcast feed next. 

I know this podcast has been quiet for a long time. Covid has taken it's toll on the amount of time I can commit to this work. We will be back at some stage with Season 2.  For now, here's a surprise bonus episode for Pride Month 2022. I was asked to speak at our faith community about the seven verses in the Bible that have been used to say that God is against gay people. For more information on 'We Are Church' faith community, contact Jane Codringon at jane at codrington.biz For more on the work I have done on this topic, see my blog at http://www.futurechurchnow.com  

A look back at the key Bible verses that talk about homosexuality and why they don't apply to loving LGBTQI relationships today, with a positive reading of the book of Romans. This ends season 1 of the ALLin Pod. Season 2 will focus on what the Bible says about marriage, and whether LGBTQI people can get married. 

For many Christians, Romans 1 is the key passage against same gender sexual activity, so we need to cover it thoroughly. In this episode of the ALLin Podcast, we look at seven additional interpretative options for Romans 1. TAKE NOTE: This is a dense episode, with lots of detailed arguments and references. You probably can't listen to this one in the background. It needs your focus.

We are spending a lot of time in Romans 1, because this is the passage that most people point to when they want to exclude LGBTQI people from the church and Christian faith. This is the fourth part of our mini-series in Romans, and looks in even more detail at the original text and specifically at Romans 1:26-27, "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error." What were the women, and men, actually doing? And what did Paul condemn in these verses? We will discover that Paul's issue is temple prostitution and pederistic relationships. And that he is not actually condemning same gender sexual activity in these verses. That's right: the verses don't say what you've been told they say. And once you see what they do say, you won't be able to unsee it.

In Romans 1, Paul says that women and men were "given over by God" to their "shameful lusts" and did what is "against nature". What did he mean by this? And does that apply to LGBTQI people today who want to get married to their lifelong, loving partner? In this episode of the ALLin Pod we do detailed word studies of what it means for something to be shameful and unnatural. Neither of them are what you might expect: they're related to things that are socially unacceptable, rather than something that is morally wrong or evil.  This changes completely how we should understand this passage. 

This is part 2 of the mini-series in the book of Romans, Paul's letter to the church at Rome. In the first chapter of this letter, Paul appears to list a whole lot of sins, including same gender sexual activity. But if you read on into Romans 2, and in fact the rest of the letter, the tone and purpose of the first chapter seems to change. So, what was the purpose of the letter, and what light does that shine on how we should understand chapter 1. Graeme Codrington explores these questions, and comes once again to the same conclusion: that Romans 1 is not addressing loving, consensual LGBTQI relationships at all. This is a long episode, and we highly recommend that you have a Bible handy to follow along the readings. In fact, we recommend you read the whole letter to the Romans before listening to this episode.

We finally get to the book of Romans in our study of the verses that have traditionally been used to oppose gay marriage and the inclusion of the LGBTQI community into churches. This is the start of a four part mini series on Paul's letter to the church at Rome, and in this episode we read through the text looking at the plain meaning of Romans 1 and 2. We'll get into more detail in the next episodes, but even on the plain reading of the text, it is clear that Paul is not talking about loving, committed, monogamous same gender relationships - he's talking about something else.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul says that those people who are "malakos" are outside of the Kingdom of God. This is a Greek word that means "soft". It is a strange choice of word for Paul to use if he meant to describe homosexuals. In the context of the passage, and with understanding of the culture of the day, this word makes a lot more sense if it is describing effeminate young men who made themselves available as "call boys". 

In his letters to Corinth and Timothy, the senior pastor at Ephesus, Paul lists a number of sins that will keep people out of the Kingdom of God. Included in these lists is a word that Paul made up. Why did he make this word up, what does it mean, and how should we understand it today?

The ALLin pod has been away for a few months because of the Covid crisis. We are coming back in a few days with a mini-series on the New Testament and what it really says about the LGBTQI community. 

A Community of Radical Inclusion is a sermon preached by Graeme Codrington at the Melrose Campus of Gracepoint Methodist church in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2016. It lays out both a Biblical and historical case for including LGBTQI in our churches, and affirming them as made in God's image. 

Sport is about finding the fastest and strongest human. Almost always, this turns out to be a man. In order to allow women to compete in elite sports, we created a category for "women", and have excluded men from competing in this category. But for over 100 years, we've battled to define who a woman is in sport. Back in 1936, for example, both the gold and silver winners of the 100m accused each other of being men. A "nude parade" was required for all elite women athletes - to literally stand naked in front of a panel of judges to prove they were women. This was changed in the 1960s and 70s to a "female passport". It then shifted to chromosome testing, and today a court has confirmed it relates to hormone levels. But none of these are adequate, and all have been flawed. This bonus episode of the ALLin podcast looks at the fascinating history of how sport has tried to define who a woman is, and what it means for us that they have essentially failed to do so in over a century. Of course, sport is merely an example. This also applies to how we might define who can go to a girls school, or who gets counted as a woman on your Board or Executive leadership team if your country requires a specific quota of women in those positions. This bonus episode concludes the mini-series on "Are there only two genders?". The answer, it is clear, is NO.

Genesis 1 and 2 tell two different creation stories, both culminating with the creation and marriage of two people. This was a Middle Eastern, black haired, brown eyed, cisgender man and woman. But does that mean all people have to Middle Eastern, black haired, brown eyed and cisgender? And does it mean all marriages must be between only a man and a woman? If not, how should we be reading Genesis 1? 

This episode looks at the science, biology and creation facts around gender, sex biology, sexual orientation and a number of other factors that determine male and female. We'll see that all of these exist on a spectrum, and between 7 and 20% of the population exhibit some mixture of genders based on these factors. In addition to our longest episode yet (at just on an 1 hour), there is a list of highly recommended readings below, and a PDF slide deck to download and follow along (see https://www.futurechurchnow.com/2020/01/31/allin-podcast-episode-09-there-are-more-than-two-genders/).

Our study of the Old Testament verses dealing with homosexuality concludes with a detailed word study of the concept of toebah ( תּוֹעֵבָה), translated as "abomination" or "detestable". This word is used 117 times in the Bible, and it is very clear what it is referring to... and it is NOT sexual sin. 

The ALLin podcast provides resources and insights for Christians who affirm the LGBTQI community. In this episode we look at the two Old Testament Laws that talk about male gay sexual activity. We look at the context, the Holiness Code and ancient Israel’s sexual ethics. Summary: The commands against gay sex in Leviticus 18 and 20 were given to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, and they were about the people who already lived there. Look at the first few verses of Lev 18 and 20 and you’ll see clearly that these Laws were about what the pagan nations did in their temples. These temple rituals included tattooing your body, shaving your head and having gay sex with teenage boys. They also included child sacrifice. And God said to the Israelites: don’t do any of these things in MY temple. These chapters in Leviticus are not meant to be a code of sexual ethics for all time, but a specific set of restrictions related to temple Worship in the pagan nations that surrounded Israel. They do NOT apply to gay people today. And they have nothing to say about gay marriage. 

Episode 6 of ALLin pod looks at how we should interpret Old Testament Laws. Do they still apply to us, as Christians today? If so, how we do distinguish between those laws that do apply and those that don't? And what does this mean for the two verses in Leviticus that prohibit "men sleeping with men as they would with a woman"? It's a longer episode than normal (44 minutes), but well worth this deep dive into how to apply Old Testaments laws in our modern world.

The Bible is not meant to be used as a legal textbook. On many issues, we are required to look for principles in the Bible, rather than direct instructions. This includes issues such as slavery, women leaders, and democracy. On these issues, we need to identify principles from the Bible that help us understand how God would have us live. In this episode of the ALLin podcast, we look at ten passages in the Bible that provide principles for affirming gay marriage and LGBTQI people. Resource and recommended reading:  * https://sojo.net/articles/10-bible-passages-teach-christian-perspective-homosexuality 

Many Christians who are against affirming gay marriage and LGBTQI people reference the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to show that God is angry with homosexuality and will judge it. But this is not what these stories are about. In this episode we get into the Bible, and look at why God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, and what these stories mean for us today.

In this episode of the ALLin podcast, Graeme Codrington gives an initial overview of the seven Bible verses most often referenced when Christians are considering issues related to LGBTQI people and gay marriage. He shows that the traditional interpretation of these verses needs to be questioned. The rest of the Bible presents a strong argument for accepting LGBTQI people into our churches and faith communities.

We understand why conservative Christians might be nervous of affirming LGBTQI people and welcoming them to church. There are seven reasons why they shouldn’t be scared, and why we should change the traditional Christian views about gay people. This episode lays out the goals for the ALLin podcast, and invites you to start changing your mind.

A podcast about Christians, the Church, the Bible, our Faith and what we need to do to affirm and include the LGTBQI community - especially those who are seeking Jesus and who want to be involved in the Church. We believe the Bible is God’s word - through the ages and for today. We should study it, understand it and apply it to our lives. Hosted by Graeme Codrington, with a masters degree in theology, who was ordained in the Baptist Union of South Africa many years ago, yet changed his conservative view that the LGBTQI community are in deed sinners in need of salvation. After 15 years of studying the scriptures, investigating this topic, speaking with people and engaging with this community, we believe that God made some people gay and that we should accept and embrace the LGTBQI community as God’s creations, loved by Him for who they are, not for who they are meant to be. In our podcast episodes We’ll take you through the evidence found in Scripture, and seen through church history and traditions. We’ll ask what this means for churches - what it looks like for churches to affirm the LGBTQI community, and what we should be saying and doing. Together with what this community should be hearing. We’ll be sharing some of the stories LGBTQI Christians who love Jesus, and who love the church - even though the church has, in the most part, been so hateful to them. These are people who are desperately seeking Jesus and we must hear their stories. We’ll also share some of the stories of people who love Jesus, but hate the church - so that we can hear what the church should be doing. And then, of course, there are those stories of people who used to love Jesus but who know hate Jesus and the Church, because of what the church has done. We need to hear those stories too.