UPDATE: Louie Giglio removed Himself from the Inauguration

This is from his spokesperson:

January 10, 2014

I am honored to be invited by the President to give the benediction at the upcoming inaugural on January 21. Though the President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably, ending slavery in all its forms.

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

Neither I, nor our team, feel it best serves the core message and goals we are seeking to accomplish to be in a fight on an issue not of our choosing, thus I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the President, and urge the nation to do so.

I will most certainly pray for him on Inauguration Day.

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever need God’s grace and mercy in our time of need.

I wished he apologized for his statements and possibly explain where he stands today. Louie should have known these issues would've popped up, but I guess he knows now.

I'm not giving this Pastor Louie Giglio Drama any Power

Pastor Louie Giglio will be speaking at President Obama’s inauguration soon. However, this guy has an anti-gay past. Somewhere in the mid-90s, he preached a sermon about gays being sinful, y'know the usual church talk.

Now, folks are up at arms about him giving the benediction, but to be honest I'm not completely ready to take over city hall about this.

While there are some valid questions about Louie, should we be losing our minds over this? Not completely. Yes, Louie said some hurtful, messy stuff about us, but that was almost 20 years ago. At this time, no one knows where he stands now. For all we know, he could've changed his mind. Hell, 20 years ago, I told folks I was straight.

Also, Louie should know where Obama stands on gays and gay marriage. I'm sure when he accepted this offer, Louie knew he was representing a man that supports gay rights. By accepting this task, Louie is accepting Obama's stance.

And this is not the end-all-be-all main event. There are other important pieces about the inauguration; Richard Blanco, a gay man, will reciting a poem to the President, Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, will deliver the invocation and Beyonce is performing. Okay the Bey part is not that serious, but hopefully you get the point.

I'm not excusing Louie, he is a mess, but I'm not giving this issue any power. In fact, I'm over it.