Tools of the Devil — Barbara L. Clanton

Seventeen-year-old Lisa Brown loved going to church. Oh sure, sometimes she'd rather sleep in, but she liked the calming and empowering strength of her faith. Sundays revitalized her spirit when she thanked God for the wonderful things in her life like her loving family and her amazing girlfriend, Samantha Rose. One day she hoped to marry Sam, have a house and yard, and have babies together. One day.

But then it happened. That fateful Sunday when the guest preacher stepped behind the pulpit and spoke four words that would change Lisa's world forever.

"Homosexuality is a sin," he said.

Had she heard him right? When her mother put a hand on her forearm, she knew she had. Every muscle in her body tensed, and she forgot to breathe.

What was happening?

The church she'd been baptized in, grown up in, and wanted to get married in had, in one instant, turned against her.

Still not quite believing what she'd heard, she mumbled, "Ignorance is a sin, Reverend." Never one to back down from a challenge, she scanned the congregation but didn't find a single soul who looked upset by his statement. Many were even nodding in agreement. She muttered under her breath, "Game on, people. Game on."