Dr. Jonathan G. Smith

The post Embracing Suffering: Finding God’s Presence and Compassion Through the Cross appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

The post East Africa Trip Second Update appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

The post Are The Gifts of the Spirit For Today? appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

The post Born Gay? Answers to BIG Questions | GOF 99 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

The post Good News For A Worn Out World | FITC60 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

The post A Very Brief History of LGBT+ Marginalization in the Church | GOF97 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

The post Love – Grace Nation’s Core Values Part 3 | GOF96 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

Does God really like us? According to Genesis 1, the answer is yes! In this new series, Jonathan explores God's Passion for People and asks, why? The post Surprise! God Really Likes us | FITC59 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

Millennials are the justice generation. On today’s episode, Pastor Jonathan explores the theme of Justice and asks, what does the Bible really have to say about justice? Millennials look at their world through a lens of justice. So is it possible that Evangelical’s treatment of LGBT+ people has led to their exodus from the church? The answer is yes. So how should we respond? The post Justice &#821...

LGBT+ people sometimes criticize Evangelicals for lacking compassion for Queer people. To address this issue, Dr. Jonathan explores the interaction of Jesus and a leper to see how Jesus’ was motivated by compassion to cross social boundaries and love a man who was “unclean.” The post Compassion – Grace Nation’s Core Values Part 1 | GOF 94 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G....

The post John 3:16 Three Core Values of Grace Nation | GOF93 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

What is the mission of Grace Nation? To craft Side B Allies in the Church who will love LGBTQ+ people and families. So to keep you up to speed on this progress, I’m laying out some updates for the ministry of Grace Nation. There are four things we’re dong: 1) Building a Prayer Team, 2) Training Pastors, 3) Developing Seminars, and 4) Providing Life Coaching to Gay Christians. The post Crafting Sid...

There is more than one path in our journey in sanctification. Today, however, most evangelicals insist that the process of sanctification for the gay Christian leads to heterosexuality with orientation change as the inevitable conclusion. Forty years ago, a different evangelical vision was held by some of the most prominent theological thinkers. What was there vision? The post Sanctification and t...

The post Side B Ally, What I Think I Mean | GOF90 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

Many Gay people have tried to “pray the gay away" only to be left frustrated by unanswered prayers. Yet many well-meaning pastors insist that is the answer. There is a major flaw in this logic. The post Praying the Gay Away | GOF 89 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonathan G. Smith .

What is a queer Christian? For Evangelicals, the word “queer” can seem dangerous. But it doesn’t have to be. To help me understand how this word is used today, I interviewed Bridget Eileen, a Lesbian Christian. She blogs regularly at the Meditations of a Traveling Nun. Bridge describes her faith journey and helpfully reframes our understanding of the phrase queer Christian. The post A Queer Christ...

What is an LGBTQ+ Side B Ally? A Side B Ally is a Christian who holds to the historical teaching of the church and loves LGBTQ+ Christians well. In the new season of Grace On Fire, I explain how I arrived at this new focus of the ministry and the steps I’ve taken to move in this new positive direction. The post LGBTQ Side B Ally – A New Vision | GOF87 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jona...

How to form a mastermind group? What do Cliff Ravenscraft, Ray Edwards, and Pat Flynn all have in common, they belong to the same mastermind group. That's why this episode is dedicated to providing you practical steps on how to form your very own group. To help me, I asked Dr. Mario Escobedo to join me on the show. The post How To Form A Mastermind Group with Dr. Mario Escobedo | GOF86 appeared fi...

Would you consider making a career change at age 66? What if your career change required you to raise your salary? That’s exactly what Dawn Loomis is endeavoring to accomplish. She and I sat down and talked about how Wycliffe Bible Translators has inspired her to do something BIG, raise support to become a full-time missionary…at Age 66. If you want to be inspired, then take a few moments to liste...

John 316 declares that God moved by His love for people, sent His Son Jesus to this world to become the visible and tangible embodiment of Him. The most surprising truth of this verse is the observation that God moved first. So how does this apply to our ability to minister to LGBT people? The post What John 316 Teaches Us About Loving LGBT People | GOF84 appeared first on Grace Nation: Dr. Jonath...

When it comes to Gay and Christian debates, we need to return to the Gospel. Parents, teenagers, and young people are looking for hope and help from churches. But sadly, there is still much confusion and disagreement over where to start. We need to remember that the Gospel applies equally to all human beings. If the Gospel is true for Evangelicals, then it must be true for LGBT+ persons. The post...

Gender Dysphoria and Transgender People. Evangelicals have not done well in ministering to transgender persons and families. Stories of heartbreak, isolation, and fear regularly accompany testimonies of individuals with gender dysphoria. The institution best suited to help has often contributed to the problem. Christians can do a better job. The post Gender Dysphoria, Evangelicals and the Way of G...

What is Christian Life Coaching? The systematic process of discovering where you are and where you want to be. In short, three words define Life Coaching. Potential. Passion. Purpose. A Life Coach is someone who helps you move from where you are to where you believe God wants you to be. Sound to good to be true? Then find out why I’m so passionate about life coaching and the power it has to move y...

Can’t sleep?  Find yourself overly tired? Middle of the night anxiety is something I’ve struggled with often.  Whenever I feel the weight of my problems pressing down on my shoulders, I find myself struggling to sleep. Unfortunately, this pattern if left unchecked, can down the road lead to significant health problems.  So how do you solve midnight insomnia?  The answer is not as complicated as it...

The Parkland School Shooting is another vivid reminder of the sickness that pervades our society. When children murder other children, we need as a nation to slow down and ask “what’s happening”? What’s going on? What are the conditions in our families, cities, and society that are leading to this kind of outcome? We then need to listen. Questions and statements like these ultimately lead to diffe...