Leadingchurch.com

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/30/lawnmower-parents-raising-generation-entitled-kids-handle-adversity

http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/09/05/book-review-surfing-uncertainty/

The key insight: the brain is a multi-layer prediction machine. All neural processing consists of two streams: a bottom-up stream of sense data, and a top-down stream of predictions. These streams interface at each level of processing, comparing themselves to each other and adjusting themselves as necessary.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/lgbt-nashville-spiritual-friendship-ron-belgau/

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/is-the-nashville-statement-a-surrender/

1. Discomfort with being called or thought of as a bigot, and with social stigma attached to it
2. A desire to offer homosexuals the blessings of marriage.
3. Belief that marriage is not intrinsically complementary, in terms of male and female, but is rather nothing more than a solemnization of the love and commitment two people feel for each other.
4. An inability to explain why gay marriage and homosexuality in general is wrong, except for “because the Bible tells us so.”
5. Love for a gay or transgendered person in one’s life, and not wanting to see that person suffer — especially if that person is one’s child
6. Belief that the struggle over sexuality within the church is not that important, and is keeping the church from focusing on more important things (e.g., “When can we stop talking about gay marriage and get back to preaching the Gospel?”)
7. Resignation over the fact that the church has compromised so much with the Sexual Revolution to this point that it makes no practical sense to draw the line here. Better to accept that reality and to work within it as best one can to preach, teach, and live the Gospel

So what might be holding them back from affirming LGBTs? One or more of these factors, I think:

1. The clear teaching of Scripture against homosexuality
2. An inchoate sense that affirming homosexuality would cross a very important line
3. The fact that the Christian church has had a clear and firm teaching against homosexual acts from the beginning, and only began moving away from that within living memory (e.g., “What makes us think that we know better than every previous generation of believers?”)
4. Fear of ostracization by fellow conservative Christians in one’s church
5. Belief that to affirm LGBT would be to ratify sliding down a very slippery slope towards polyamory and the radical break-up of the family

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/love-in-the-ruins/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-a-red-state-gets-the-blues/2017/09/05/57a5461a-9254-11e7-aace-04b862b2b3f3_story.html?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.26ef08d3da9e 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/09/05/christians-are-part-of-the-same-dating-pool-as-everyone-else-thats-bad-for-the-church/?utm_term=.0b8283ba045e