I thought I'd share this email I received from the
Rev. Johnny Lee Clary and my response to him directly below.
Scroll down to Dear Johnny to read my
response.
Johnny's email to me reads.......
I read where you were the original founder of YOUTH
ALIVE. Tell me, what do you think the youth that you led to the Lord think
about your homosexual lifestyle? Do you not read your bible? There are plenty
of New Testament scriptures that address this issue. I have read some of your
comments and you are grasping for straws to try to justify your sinful
lifestyle. Yes Jesus does love you, but He does not love the lifestyle of
perversion and sin that you have chosen. It is sad enough that you left the
calling of God to live that lifestyle, but even sadder that you promote it and
tell everyone that it is OK with God. Whose ‘god’ sir? Certainly not the God of
the Bible. In God’s eyes homosexuality is just as bad as fornication, lying,
thievery, adultery, murder or any other sin that heterosexuals commit.
The good news is there is still time for you to
repent. There is room at the cross for you. All you have to do is tell God you
are sorry for what you have done, repent and He will make you normal, forgive
you, and you will get to go to Heaven instead of where you are heading to now
if you fail to repent. God never sends any human being to Hell, but they chose
to send themselves there when they reject the truth. Imagine how many you could
help if you would tell God you are sorry and make a public statement that you
have been wrong. Jesus is waiting. I realize there are certain ‘pastors’ that
are your friends and they tell you that you were born a homosexual and that
Jesus never spoke out against homosexuality so therefore God is OK with it.
That is a lie right out of the pits of Hell. Did
Jesus say anything about homosexuality? Of course, when asked about marriage,
Jesus issued a sweeping condemnation of all sexual relationships outside of the
male/female model established in Gen 1:27, which he specifically cited. This is
found in Matthew 19:1-8.
Then in Romans
1: 18, 26, 27, 32 it says "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men . . .For even their women
exchanged the natural use for what is
against nature (lesbianism).Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of
the woman, burning in their lust for one another, men with men committing what
is shameful (homosexuality) . .. .that those who
practice these things are worthy of death (Hell), and not only those who do the
same but also those who approve of those who practice them!"
(Note: Other
offenses were also included which were not listed here.)
Here, God
clearly warns all those who simply "tolerate" or "approve of
" these things with their great "open-mindedness" will be held
just as accountable as those who actually do them. This applies to
churches and pastors/ministers/priests/rabbis as well.
Jude forcefully revealed that like the
Sodomites, certain men in the church had gone after “strange flesh.” I believed
Jude was describing contemporary "gay christians". His choice
of phraseology is a combination of two words: heteros and sarx
meaning “another flesh with the same quality.” His inclusion of the word flesh
pointed to the homosexuality (not the inhospitality) of the Sodomites. Similar
to the Apostle Paul, Jude selected strong language to convey the serious of the
charge facing the church. Allowing unrepentant homosexuals into Christian fellowship
without applying the same standards of admission applied to other sinners would
be a spiritual death nell for the church. Repentance is the major action a
sinner must take to be accepted into the family of God. Jude 1:4,7,19
Yes the church should allow a homosexual
to attend but not allow their lifestyle to be promoted. I would allow a drunk
or a grug addict to attend my church but trhey would not be allowed to promote
their sinful lifestyle because God says it is wrong, just like He said
homosexuality is wrong. Jesus said in Matthew 9:12 that it is not the healthy
who need a doctor but it is the sick who need a doctor. Jesus is the cure for
homosexuality and if you will just call upon His name and He can make you
normal.
From Genesis to Revelation, the Word of
God firmly establishes once and for all the sinfulness of homosexuality, but
also provides a wide opportunity for repentance and redemption through Jesus
Christ. Homosexuality, as seen through the eyes of scripture is a spiritual
aberration, a result of the fallen nature of man, a disease of the soul. It
produces nothing life giving, in essence opposite of the nature of God who is
life. Therefore it “worketh” or produces abomination which is death. (Rev.
21:27)
Titus 1:16 is an aggressive attack and
exposure of the psychosis of those who are “defiled” and commit
“abominations". When one accepts what God has pronounced abominable
(by God’s own definition) and rejects the created model which God has
pronounced good, a process of hardening and mental perversion begins to take
root in the mind. Such is the danger of justifying sin. Sin corrupts the mind
and conscience (the seat of individual integrity and morality) rendering
it incapable of making spiritually sound decisions.
"Do you not know that the
unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor
sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.
But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians
6:9-11)
See, this is saying that practicing homosexuals do not
go to Heaven, but repentant homosexuals do because then they are former
homosexuals.
So, who loves the homosexual more? One who tells them it's okay to continue in a sin the Bible warns
will condemn them to an eternity in Hell, or someone who is willing to endure
the anger, ridicule, and hate to warn them and to try to get them into
Heaven as a neighbor? Your ‘pastor’ buddies that tell you that your
lifestyle is OK and that I am the “right wing American hater” are not being
truthful to you. If I didn’t care I would not have taken the time to write and
send you this email. In Proverbs 27:6 God says, 'Faithful are the wounds of a
friend ... but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.' Jesus said
more about Hell than He did about Heaven ... and the true believing Christian
will try to get as many boys, girls, men, and women into the Kingdom of Heaven
as possible. If a Christian truly hated the homosexual (or anyone
willfully sinning against God's law) they would simply keep silent and let them
suffer in the eternal darkness, loneliness, and torment of Hell. Yet, all
believing Christians have had to come face-to-face with the fact we are all sinners
and desperately need a 'Savior' to save us from our sins and from
Hell. Jesus commands us to 'love our enemies' ... and you can't
love someone without warning them when they are in great and grave danger ...
Please
remember, our God is a forgiving God who will forgive any and all who have
sinned against Him. Any sinner, including those who have walked
the path of homosexuality or have had an abortion, can be lovingly forgiven and
washed clean through the blood of the Lamb. Jesus died for all
sinners. And we are all sinners. God hates sin and He
knows the consequences . . .. that is why He pleads with all of His lost
sheep to stop and repent from doing those things that are wrong, and with
tears of joy He will richly forgive and welcome all back with the open arms
of a loving Father.
I ask that you
put all pre-conceived thoughts aside, think about what has been written to you
in this email, and repent of your sin, ask Jesus to forgive you and cure you,
and make you normal. If you do that, you will affect many lives of young people
and they will see this as an example of the true power of God and will end up
in Heaven. If you repent, you will no longer be a homosexual and I will
see you in heaven.
“Ah yes, truth. Funny how everyone is always asking
for it but when they get it they don’t believe it because it’s not the truth
they want to hear.” ~Helena Cassadine
Rev. Johnny Lee Clary
P.O. Box 972
Miami, Oklahoma 74355
(918) 919-0105 Office USA
(918) 850-1560 USA Mobile
0411213232 Australian Mobile
Anthony Venn-Brown's response reads.........
Dear Johnny
Firstly I should correct your statement. I
founded Youth Alive NSW not Youth Alive in Australia. Mal Fletcher was the
first to begin Youth Alive in Melbourne. It wasn’t long after that I commence
Youth Alive in NSW.
I’ve received 1,000’s of emails since my
autobiography was released only a very small number have been negative.
Occasionally I get an unsolicited email such as yours with no indication as to
what has prompted the person to feel that they need to make me aware of bible
verses I am very familiar with, being a high profile preacher such as yourself.
What I find incredibly fascinating is that
someone who I don’t know, doesn’t know me or has read my book feels it is their
right to make judgments about me and the life I live because I’m an openly gay
man. The assumption and judgement that being gay means you are immoral and deceived.
The last person to do this was a Dr Larry Petree (http://www.larrypetree.com/) also from the US who began his email to me
with the words “I can see the demons in your eyes” and then continued with a
barrage of false assumptions mixed with numerous bible verses. His email was
not really disturbing to me but indicated that Dr Petree was probably quite
disturbed mentally to make such accusations. When I responded graciously to his
email he then accused me of attacking him and threatened to get the FBI on to
me. This is quite bizarre behaviour for a man who claims to be a follower of
Christ and preacher of the gospel.
Some of your statements have a similar vein
for example “Jesus does love you, but He does not love the
lifestyle of perversion and sin that you have chosen. All you have to do is
tell God you are sorry for what you have done, repent and He will make you
normal, forgive you, and you will get to go to Heaven instead of where you are
heading to now if you fail to repent”
A statement
I’ve made frequently has helped people to see things much more clearly
including the Assemblies of God in Australia. The statement being “my morality
is a choice, my sexual orientation however isn’t.”
I note that
you spent 17 years in the Klu Klux Klan reaching to high heights in the
organization and that you have been involved in arson, destruction of property,
threatened the lives of African Americans and possibly even murder. You were
terribly ignorant and misguided to have done such things which you now realize.
Thank God you got converted. In Australia it’s difficult to understand the
ignorance, bigotry and hatred that has come from groups like the KKK.
You tell a
wonderful story on Australian television of the impact the Rev. Wade Watts (a
Christian African-American) had on your life. The preconceived ideas and
misconceptions of him, before meeting him are difficult to understand but you
were won over by his love even though you used thuggery to intimidate, trashed
his property, threatened his life and burnt his church down. Thank God that Rev Wade Watts demonstrated
true Christianity. Now it’s your turn.
We have made many errors in the Christian
church including racism, treating others of a different colour as inferior,
rejecting people who were divorced, saying women were not allowed to preach etc,
etc. The list is endless. We have been wrong…very wrong. …and may God forgive
us for the pain and suffering the church has caused.
There is now a wonderful wave of
understanding also about homosexuality and how we have used scriptures to
justify our own ignorance and prejudices to treat same sex oriented people
different or as abnormal. Heterosexuality is not normal it’s just more common.
We are all normal and under the eyes of God are loved the same. Many have come
to understand that the verses which were assumed to be about homosexuality are
indeed about idolatry, temple prostitution, rape etc. Certainly not same sex
orientation as we know it today.
I refer to an important statement made by you
on your website when asked this question by Rosemary Connors, St. Louis, Mo. “I
live in St. Louis, Mo. and was visiting family in Tulsa when I visited the
Church where you attend a few weeks ago. As an African American person, I was
very glad to see how you seemed to treat African American people. I observed
you shaking hands as well as hugging others, in this predominantly African
American church. I could tell that you seemed to be genuine and sincere while
interacting with African American people. Was it hard to get to this point,
after what you once advocated, and what does it feel like to have friends that
are African American?”
Your response was “I will be completely
honest in saying that when I first began to attend church with Black people it
was hard to get used to the idea. The Black folks were so nice to me that
after awhile I felt very comfortable. It took awhile to renew my mind as
Romans 12:2 says, because I had spent a lifetime of being prejudice. With good
Black friends like Rev. Wade Watts and Bishop George McKinney, I was able to
see that good friends come in all colors. Today, when I see my Christian
brothers and sisters, I don't look at them as my "Black", "Brown","
Red", "Yellow" or "White" friends, I look at them as
my friends!”
Maybe one day soon you will realise that as
you were wrong for so many years about people of colour, that you will also
come to understand how wrong you have been about gay and lesbian people. When
that happens I do hope that once again you go on national television and share
your new understanding and apologise for the pain you have caused by your previous
lack of understanding. And as Rev. Wade Watts forgave you so we will also
forgive.
When you are in Australia next why don’t we
meet up and have coffee and chat? Maybe I could have the privileged position of
being a Rev. Wade Watts once again in your life. I am a person who still
believes in miracles. I think I’ve had four major ones
1.
I’m
still alive
2.
I
have no bitterness or resentment
3.
I
have no major mental health issues
4.
I
still have a faith.
I see also that you have ministered in the
churches of many of my friends. I will make them aware of the entirety of your
communication with me and also my response and leave them to decide if a person
with the attitude and views you stand by is an appropriate person to endorse or
speak in their pulpits. And I’ll respect their decision. We are all on a
journey together.
Sincerely
Anthony Venn-Brown
Anthony Venn-Brown is the co-founder and former leader of Freedom 2 b[e], Australia’s largest
network of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people from Christian
backgrounds. He is also an educator
and consultant on LGBT/faith issues and leader in deconstructing
the ‘ex-gay’ myth. Anthony’s autobiography 'A
Life of Unlearning', details his journey from married, high profile
preacher in Australia’s mega-churches to living as an openly gay man. Anthony
has been twice voted ‘One of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian
Australians’ (2007 & 2009) and this year was one of four finalists for the
ACON Community Hero Award. He is also the founder and director of Ambassadors
& Bridge Builders International ( www.gayambassador.com )
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