President Barack Obama highlighted Monday his administration's efforts to bolster the gay community at a reception celebrating LGBT Pride Month, which was attended by a Southern Baptist pastor who recently broke with his denomination on the homosexuality issue, and his gay son.

Danny Cortez, who leads New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, California, rejected his denomination's stance on homosexuality by deciding to accept the LGBT community without teaching that homosexual behavior is a sin. He and his 15-year-old son, Drew, who came out as a gay earlier this year, received an invitation to the presidential reception, which was also attended by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Obama told a crowd of attendees holding up cameras and cell phones that his administration had appointed 10 openly gay federal judges and publicly recognized his openly gay pastry chef, Bill Yosses, whom he joked had put "crack" in their pies. more >>

A Baptist congregation in Kentucky has garnered national headlines for its intention to hold a gay wedding at its facility, despite most of their fellow Baptist churches' disapproval.

Highland Baptist Church of Louisville recently announced their intention to hold a same-sex wedding for David Bannister Jr., 29, and Steven Carr, 25. It is scheduled for next May.

Joseph Phelps, pastor at Highland Baptist, told The Christian Post that the gay couple "have been active and faithful members of the congregation for over five years." more >>

Imagine being a 23-year-old mother of two, recently divorced and finding yourself holding a resume that is blank under educational background. It was a desperate situation. There was no family or friends to lean on for financial support; she needed to make money fast to feed her two young daughters. So Katie (who asked that her last name not be included for personal reasons) reluctantly resorted to the only asset she felt she had – her body – to make ends meet.

Katie's life took a dramatic turn, however, when her world collided with a Southern Baptist pastor's wife who took it upon herself to bring homemade comfort food to strip clubs throughout Nashville, Tennessee. Erin, the unassuming wife of pastor Todd Steven of Friendship Community Church in Mt. Juliet, visted the young strippers consistently, and genuinely just wanted to give them home cooked meals, thoughtful gifts, and talk about their life outside of work.

"She (Erin) was very happy and sweet, she just wanted to get to know us. She wasn't forward or trying to get in our face so I figured I'd talk to her," recalled Katie to The Christian Post. "I had talked to her for a couple months before I even knew she was from a church. She was just really nice and trying to love on us." more >>

The pastor of a Southern Baptist church in California that broke with the denomination's stance on homosexuality by deciding to accept the LGBT community without judgment and announcing that he no longer regarded it as a sin has been invited to the White House with his son.

Danny Cortez, who leads New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, California, and his 15-year-old son Drew, who came out as a gay earlier this year, received an invitation to a reception with President Barack Obama at the White House on June 30, a fundraising page for the family's trip expenses stated.

The Christian Post called New Heart Community Church to learn more of the details of the family's trip, but its office is closed on Wednesdays. more >>

BALTIMORE — Religious freedom is not only an issue for those who work in politics, it is an issue for all Christians because it is important for the mission of Christ, Russell Moore told The Christian Post.

Religious liberty "can't just be something that those of us who are working with the Congress or the courts are dealing with," said Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

"Every church, every pastor, every Sunday school teacher, every lay leader, needs to be working towards, plowing this ground, understanding why religious liberty and freedom of conscience, these are important issues, no just legally, not just politically, but in terms of the gospel, in terms of the mission of Christ." more >>

Attendees at the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution on Tuesday affirming "God's good design that gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one's self-perception," and disavowed "efforts to alter one's bodily identity."

The resolution, authored by Boyce College professor Denny Burk and Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Policy Director Andrew Walker, denounced any efforts to "refashion [one's bodily identity] to conform with one's perceived gender identity] such as "cross-sex hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery."

It also argues that God created distinct genders with distinct masculine and feminine roles and suggested that "the fall of man into sin and God's subsequent curse" were responsible for transgenderism. more >>