But he pulled free and escaped naked...

I suspect that Mr. Giglio wouldn't still affirm privately what he used to (at least once, on record) affirm publicly: homosexuality is a sin.  As to why it hasn't 'come up' in his preaching the last fifteen years... well... he's really not so unique in that way, is he?  Especially the last 5-10?  My experience is either Reformed types pretend like it doesn't exist in their congregation (and so the mention of it is just the hollow and angry cry of a culture warrior...) OR those who coddle and soft-pedal ANY notion of repentance in their preaching... this is just the latest and greatest sin to be treated so.

And the work with those in the grip of oppressors is certainly something to commend, right? As a parent of children who would've been likely subjects of such brutality and wickedness, I'm all for rescuing the needy and the oppressed.

We'd just wish to tell Mr. Giglio that the wickedness that is "homosexuality" is something which is equally destructive, dehumanizing, and offensive to God and, as a result, a worthy subject for one's preaching and call to repentance.  No apologies needed.

It has been interesting watching John Piper's tack over the years of reaching out to less than conservative evangelicals such as Rick Warren and Louis Giglio.

I read him say that he was still not sure whether he made the right decision inviting Rick Warren to his pastor's conference.

In some ways his broader approach has been good in that thousands of young college students have been introduced to faithful teaching.

On the other hand it is unsettling that he lends credibility to men like Gigilio who seem to desire being popular with the world more than they care for the truth, and his validation of women preachers like Beth Moore.

To his credit he does not do it from a liberal bent. He has also welcomed people at the other end of the spectrum like Doug Wilson. He has also been willing to correct guys on his side like Mark Driscoll. I hope he will have a word with Mr Giglio.

John,

My wife and I met when we were living in Houston. We attended the church where Beth Moore teaches, and to be clear, this Southern Baptist Church has, in principle, bit the poison apple of feminism no less than the PCUSA. The difference between them and the PCUSA is that they are still trying to deny what they are doing is rebellion; they want to hold to the plenary inspiration of Scripture, but to have the Bible recast into a more secular form, so that more people will come to church. The attitude is one that we'll just sort out their souls after they join. Hey, if it worked for the first 10,000 members (wrap your mind around this - how can church elders manage 10K people on the church roll and know them in any meaningful way? And what drives a church to grow that big without splitting? Pride, that's what.). They derive a completely arbitrary and extra-Biblical criteria to allow sin without calling it sin. So, for example, they will have Beth preach the sermon on a Sunday morning in the main sanctuary, but they state that since she is under the authority of the male elders (which the SBC calls deacons, instead of the Biblical term "elder"), they claim they are not violating the Scriptures. This, to me, is kind of like saying if my wife tells me its alright to sleep with another woman, that its not adultery. Beth ought to not teach men, even if the deacons of the church encourage her to sin in this manner, but they appear to have a codependent relationship in this act. Even before I became Reformed in my outlook, I knew these kinds of machinations were phony. it was very uneasy for a lot of us men, and eventually, many of us left.

I've been to a meeting where Giglio and Beth and the gang spoke. To be honest with the group at this blog, its a bunch of empty fluff, a conglomerate of religious language and feminism, and like the mega churches in the south, it is a place to go and meet attractive members of the opposite sex. Could there be someone out there who had a different experience at these meetings? Sure, but just reread the statement by Giglio and ask yourself if that isn't the answer of a man who can say 100 words, and say nothing at all, simultaneously. Give me a simple, Bible educated pastor who doesn't look handsome or have trendy clothes, who can say "I am here to preach the gospel of repentance in Jesus name" over this kind of mega-church Christianity any day.

Everything I remember about this group was bothersome. The singing was particularly unsanctified. The songs were sometimes border-line blasphemous. Honestly, they had a kind of sexual undertone. You would have women singing these songs in a (pardon me) breathy, orgasmic voice where, when you really listened to the words, you couldn't tell if she was singing about a paramour or our Risen Lord. Everything is centered on you - helping you find meaning, to find your purpose. Jesus is kind of like Uncle Willy's elixir - He's what you imbibe to get those feelings and sense of purpose and such. There is no sense of fidelity to the Lord here, because there is no doctrine taught. No one can tell you what it means to love the Lord in groups like this, because they are taught that Jesus has come to save us from rules. We just kind of love God in a mushy sort of way. There is no orthodoxy. No one can exegete the Scriptures even like a little child. Everything is of grace, and by this, we mean a kind of secular version of people making up their own rules in the name of God, based on a kind of hunch that the Lord "wants me to do" or "wants me to say" approach.

Another thing - most of us, including Giglio, live in the USA. Now, let me ask you, what sins are sending this country to hell in the greatest numbers? Is it human trafficking? Is that what is a great plague to our country at this time? Or is it sexual perversion and abortion and the destruction of families and churches through men and women not understanding what those roles are according to the Scriptures? Sure, human trafficking (kidnapping) is a damnable, and capital, crime, but its also a politically correct sin to speak out against, because it doesn't affect most anyone in our country. Now, start speaking about sodomy.....and you might not get that CNN interview that the up and comers like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen landed. To focus on something like kidnapping when the pressing matters are sexual sin, lack of doctrine, weak men, feminism...its like hiding. It's kind of like having a ministry dedicated to fighting Arias. I mean, great, that's a heresy, but its not the heresy that most troubles God's people today.

Cowardice.

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace to him, if he flinches at that one point.”

A follower of Martin Luther, 2 April 1526, quoted in Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family (New York, 1865), page 321.

Before learning to be more discerning, I remember one dispensational teacher, who weaved anything and everything into his understanding of biblical texts, speaking of the young man as someone who, after Jesus said to those come to take Him, "I AM he", had been raised from the dead (the garden, apparently, being near tombs) by those words, on account of the garment, "indos", being the same word for burial linens (see Vincent's Word Studies--can be found at bible.cc at Mark 14:51). Funnily enough, check other sources and it's just a word for linen (cf. Gill, also Mark 14:51 at bible.cc). David Mathis AT desiringgod.org notes that the early fathers spoke of this young man as being Mark himself, and as you say, being in significance about that ALL who were with Jesus abandoned him, http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/whos-the-naked-guy-and-why-does-he...  I thank you for pointing this out.