Pastor Makes Plea to Church to Rethink Approach to Homosexuality

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Love Into LightNew Book Encourages Discussion About The Homosexual, The Church and The Gospel

For immediate release: Could God use one of the most controversial moral issues in our nation to awaken His church rather than damage it? Pastor Peter Hubbard believes He can. In his new book Love Into Light: The Gospel, The Homosexual and The Church, (Ambassador International; June 2013; $12.99, paperback) Hubbard asks “How can Christians live in a culture that promotes the gay lifestyle, yet worship in a culture that never talks about it– other than possibly to condemn it?”

According to an ABC News/Washington Post survey, Americans’ view of same-sex marriage flipped between 2006 and 2013, from 58% against to 58% for. Hubbard, who leads North Hills Community Church in Taylors, South Carolina, says he and other church leaders are under enormous pressure from opposing forces: secular culture lobbying the church for acceptance of the gay lifestyle and conservative Christians who refuse to recognize, discuss or even mention homosexuality. “The first time I counseled a man struggling with same-sex attraction (SSA), I felt awkward,” admits Hubbard at the very start of the book. “The more I listened, the more I learned, the more I realized—we are not different. We are the same. Our specific battles and sins may vary, but our hearts are the same. And our daily need for the grace of Jesus is the same.”

Love Into Light seeks to inject the cultural conversation with the same love and truth that Jesus offers. For those that see homosexuality as somehow worse than other sins, Hubbard offers clarity through his real-life counseling examples and scripture, explaining that self-righteous judgment of homosexuality is a sin just like homosexual behavior itself. “If our attitude toward a gay or lesbian person is disgust, we have forgotten the gospel,” says Hubbard. And for those who feel the Bible is an outdated resource on the topic, Hubbard argues its relevance.

The release of the book is also accompanied by the launch of LoveIntoLight.com where readers will find answers to difficult questions and situations Christians face. The site includes helpful resources and ministry suggestions for pastors and church leaders.

About the Author: Peter Hubbard is Teaching Pastor at North Hills Community Church in Taylors, SC, where he has communicated the truth of the scriptures since the church began in 1992. He has earned two masters degrees and is currently completing a doctor of ministry degree in pastoral counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

For more information about the author and his ministries go to loveintolight.com.  To connect with the author please contact publicist Alison Storm at [email protected]