I want to address a topic that is as difficult as any topic we could address today…. that of sexual identity and homosexuality.
It’s a subject that has become the most politically and personally polarized as any in our lifetimes.
As the homosexual movement has developed a strong political voice, the response from traditional conservatives has become equally impassioned. A deep animosity has grown between portions of the homosexual community and many who represent a Christian understanding of human sexuality.
As with other issues like this, the rhetoric has become so demeaning and dismissive of ‘the other side’… that there is a total loss of real dialogue and discussion.
With so many strong feelings surrounding this topic… it may seem dangerous to address it… certain to cause division between us. I appreciate the concern. I’ve watched how the issue so often plays out… plenty of intensity but little interaction… plenty of compulsion but little compassion… plenty of heat but little light.
It only draws me more into the calling for us to engage this topic well. I want to address it as honestly as I know how. But I want to begin by making a few foundational statements.
First, if you don’t hear anything else I say, I want you to hear this: if you live with homosexual desires… perhaps even in gay or lesbian relationships… you matter to God. He loves you, cares about you, and has a plan for your life.
I know that pastors and other Christians haven’t always made that clear. In fact, those with homosexual desires have often been cast as an enemy, which you’re not. You may have been ridiculed and rejected by Christians and the church all your life, and I want you to hear me say I’m sorry. Many of us need to repent and ask for forgiveness for the hate they’ve expressed toward the homosexual community.
Secondly, we don’t all have to initially agree in order to gather. I believe that our weekend gatherings should be as wide open as the hillsides and crowds where Jesus first taught. But like those first settings, he is at the center… and ultimately it is a place of engaging and entering the life he has for us.
The only boundary we place on are gatherings is that they be a fundamentally respectful place to seek God and grow.
I can’t abdicate my responsibility as the pastor… shepherd… teacher for this spiritual community… that of seeking God’s mind and heart for our lives.
Let me just say up front… some may disagree with the perspective I share today… so I know some of us may need to begin with respectfully agreeing to disagree… and to listen and learn from one another… but ultimately with openness towards God. (As noted at the end of your notes, I welcome you to email me to discuss this further.)
Thirdly, the ability to engage beyond the rhetoric may be directly related to the degree by which you personally know people who live with homosexual desires.
We can’t forget that homosexuality isn’t just an “issue,” it’s about people.
Some of those people whom I know, though I’ll change their names, include…
• Jeff - Jeff never had a lot in the way of parental involvement. He tried a lot of things in life to try to find out who he was…. including experimenting with homosexual encounters which left him confused about his own nature well into adulthood.
• Laura - Laura was made to be her father’s wife… never allowed to just have a mom, she had to be one. Later she would spend years in a lesbian relationship looking for love.
• Hank - So demeaned by his father that he was always like a child longing for love… from men and from Jesus whom he loved… until he died of AIDS.
• Julie - Julie was recently helping me at a store I was shopping at. As I was checking out… she asked if I was Brad Bailey. As she asked I immediately connected her familiarity. By her look I thought she must be the sister of a guy named Roger I knew in high school. What she said next I could never had imagined. She was Roger. “She” was really “he.” He knew I now pastored the Vineyard Christian Fellowship because he had been here before and he asked if we could step into a back room where he proceeded to tell me his story; a story he had told few … a story he wanted to share with me as a pastor … a story of never fitting in as a guy… of always feeling intimidated in his masculinity and deciding to change his gender to find a better fit in life.
What we must realize is that behind all such stories is a longing for love… that even if confused… is not entirely different than our own.
What’s often lost in all the politics are real people….not so different from ourselves… confused and trying to sort out their souls.
PRAY
One of the primary reasons why homosexuality is such a difficult issue to engage and discuss… is because I believe there are a few different issues becoming mixed and muddled together…. and often all under the simple banner of ‘acceptance.’ It can be helpful to recognize that often there are a few issues that are worth considering in their own light…
• Divine Good – What is God’s design and directive for sexual intimacy? (I believe the Scriptures do offer clarity on this.)
• Love – What does love free of self-righteousness and full of compassion look like in our posture towards those who have same sex attraction? (I believe that Jesus has a lot to say and show as to this issue.)
• Justice – How are we to consider the issues of human and civil rights… of discrimination? (This may become a little more difficult to be sort through… but is very significant.)
I believe that too often we begin with the last of these in such a way that the others get lost… and muddled in what some would call ‘the politics of sexuality.’ I want to offer a brief consideration of the first two. (I have written some thoughts on the third …. particularly regarding the issue of gay marriage… which I s posted on our website.)
Let’s begin by looking at…
I. The Created Order
In Genesis, chapters one and two, we are given a summation of the original creation. Even in it’s poetic literary form, it declares fundamental truths about God’s design and intentions.
“So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." ….
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." ….
Then the man said,
"This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken."
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.”
(Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18, 23-24)
Here we find the completion of what God declares is “good,” literally “complete,” that is, everything that God intended. There are several basic truths which are revealed as part of this good and completed order:
1. Human beings were created to reflect the image of God.
2. God created sexual identity in our unique complimentary nature as male and female. (Scripture says the suitable helper for Adam was a woman.)
3. Our ability to create (reproduce) life is a part of this created order.
4. Becoming “one flesh” as husband and wife in the covenant of marriage is the context given for sexual intimacy.
Since homosexuality is a departure from this design, it should come as no surprise that when the Bible speaks about homosexuality it suggests that the homosexual expression is a departure from God’s design and will. Some Scriptural language is very clear about this.
Leviticus 18:22 (ESV)
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
This is notably strong language. It might be worth noting that there are a lot of other behaviors that are referred to as an ‘abomination’ that level the field regarding sins. (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Paul sets out in the Book of Romans, chapter one, to describe the condition of our fallen world, referring to the Gentiles who were living apart from God’s created order:
Romans 1:18, 21-22, 25-27, 29-32 (ESV)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. …21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools… 25 they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator… 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
These are certainly strong words. I want to help us grasp what is most significant.
First of all, Paul is not presuming to fully understand God’s sovereign plan. He is simply describing what the history of God’s people declares…. that they had been warned to remain distinct from the prevailing ways of the pagan cultures they were entering. As one who is now sobered by what has become of many of his own people… he sees that they have become lost to God’s warnings… and he is declaring the state they have entered.
What Paul describes in regards to all such behavior is first of all that…
Sexual immorality is rooted in turning away from the natural order of creation.
Sexual morality is based upon the sanctity of the marital covenant between husband and wife. Some have recently suggested that what the Bible says about homosexuality is only about some cultural circumstances that we haven’t seen… such as rape or adults with children or heterosexuals involved in homosexual behavior. But the statement is rooted in the simply giving ourselves over to desires that do not reflect the created order of male and female.
What might be notable… is that such an understanding… which became a part of western civilization over recent centuries… was not the case in either the Roman or Greek world of the time. Homosexual behavior was a significant part of both cultures… and as such, what Paul was bringing home is the call to something countercultural.
Secondly, it should be clear that it is not sexual desires themselves that reflect turning from God’s order, but rather choosing to enact and embrace the actual behavior. This doesn’t refer to those who struggle to manage their desires, but those who give themselves over to them. The point is that if we worship self gratification we will be given over to the consequences.
Thirdly, we see that homosexual behavior is only part of the broader desires that depart from God’s design.
Some have begun to argue that such ideas about our meaning and make-up as human beings are outdated and misguided. Even with further prohibitions against homosexuality found in the Old and New Testaments, some would argue that they aren’t relevant for today based on one of a couple general lines of reasoning:
1) The actions condemned were of a different nature than monogamous homosexual relationships between consenting adults. In other words, what was being condemned was some other factor in the actions than simply homosexual sexual activity itself. While there were certainly various patterns by which homosexual practice was expressed... the statements make no reference to such nuances… and really tie back to the most fundamental departure from God’s design.
2) That though such condemnation of homosexuality might have been understood as part of the Old Testament Law, Christ came to liberate us from such laws. In other words, such laws were nullified and have no meaning for those who are now received by God on the basis of one’s relationship to Christ. The New Testament is about love, inclusiveness, and acceptance.
This is simply too simplistic an understanding of what Jesus ushered in. Jesus did fulfill the ceremonial and civil laws… and we no longer live according to those… but he kept and calls us to the moral law. (Note… in John 8 we read of a woman caught in adultery and she is about to be stoned…which the civil law allowed… but Jesus says ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Truly a rising above the civil laws. However, he goes on to say to her… “Go and sin no more.’)
While this is a very simple overview of the arguments, and worthy of a much more detailed response, the most fundamental response to such arguments is simply that of recognizing that these foundations for sexual morality are clearly based in the created order given in Genesis. Both Jesus and the apostle Paul refer to the created order as the plumb line for living rightly before God. (Jesus – Matthew 19:3-8; Paul - 1 Cor. 6:12-20.)
(For a further dealing with Old and New Testament passages which speak against homosexual activity, see Genesis 19:4-8, Judges 19:22-24; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Peter 2:6-7; Jude 7 and Schmidt, chapter 5, in recommended reading. It should be noted that some of the Old Testament passages involve added circumstances of force and rape and should not be applied with the same intensity to same-sex attraction as a whole. However, neither can the sexual nature of these circumstances be ignored.)
If the created order seems clear enough, it may only make the contemporary question of homosexuality more difficult to sort out.
II. The Contemporary Challenge
I want to engage what I sense to be the real underlying tensions that make the issue so difficult…
The most fundamental tension faced with such an understanding… generally surrounds the unfairness of rejecting or condemning someone for what may be their natural desires.
How could God condemn someone for how he made them?
Much of what is so confusing about this issue involves some of the ways in which the issue is framed. Let me address three ways in which I believe we need to think clearly about the issue of desires and identity.
1. The Nature of “Cause” – Recognizing the distinction between disposition and determination
Much of what compels people to feel they should agree to not simply accept those who practice homosexuality, but to accept homosexuality as normal and morally right, is the idea that people are born as such. Many of us today feel that to not accept homosexuality as normal is to deny biology and nature itself. And if one is trying to honor God’s view, it’s difficult not to think He must accept what He has created. This is where our thinking may be the most misguided.
A biological disposition of same sex attraction has not yet been established in any clear and consistent way.
The actual evidence suggests than any biological disposition is likely only involved in some cases and even then only as one factor. There has been a tendency to turn away from other factors. Yet there is much to be said about the significance of attachments to parents… that while never a simple cause in themselves… can play a large part… as does one’s whole social environment in formation of identifying with and embracing their own gender. We all have a deep longing to be loved. It shouldn’t surprise us that such longings become sexualized as adult longings for love naturally do
A disposition towards homosexual feelings in no ways speaks to whether it should be considered a normal, good, or right desire. There is more evidence that depression, alcoholism and violence have biological dispositions involved. What is notable is that no one is suggesting that just because some of us might be predisposed toward such tendencies… that such tendencies must be deemed as natural and therefore good. A disposition is just that. We all have dispositions. Simply put…
A disposition is not the same as determination. In general, if our dispositions aren’t towards positive traits, we hope that others are gracious with us as we seek to rise above them.
Similarly….
2. The Nature of “Authenticity” – Recognizing the distinction between acknowledging feelings and acting on feelings
Regardless of the causes, many consider homosexuality to be their nature and one can find it difficult to invalidate what someone else truly feels. If someone says, “This is just the way I am,” what can anyone else say? Should they deny their nature? Should they deny their feelings and no longer be an authentic person?
To be authentic people however, is to be free to acknowledge such feelings. It does not require that I act on them. Otherwise we should legitimate and encourage every feeling of greed, hunger, anger and sexual attraction to be lived out.
All of us have certain aspects of our biological and experiential make up that shape who we are and make us prone to certain temptations and activities. There may be an area I struggle with all my life that’s not a big deal for you.
When I look out into a group like our Fellowship, I see an entire group of people who recognize their “nature” involves many broken elements and destructive tendencies. I see numbers of single adults who have desires to go enjoy sexual encounters that they choose everyday to refrain from as they counsel their soul in what is ultimately good and wise. I see numbers of married lives that have desires for sexual pleasure outside their marriages but choose not to. I see people who can feel rage at times yet choose not to act on their desires to hurt others. Authenticity involves acknowledging feelings, not acting upon them.
Again, the idea that my desires are my truest nature and must be fulfilled, may be a popular idea in our current culture… but it’s simply not true.
The studies of social and psychological development show that who we are is a combination of nature plus nurture.
Philosophically it simply doesn’t hold up. What if my desire is for murder or stealing? Even more notably, many make the argument that we (at least men in particular) are not really designed for monogamy… the simple fact that sexual attraction outside marriage is so prevalent… is argued that it must mean we are being unnatural to be faithful to one partner. The point is that either desire legitimates behavior, or it doesn’t. You can’t pick and choose where you want to apply your philosophy. Either it’s true or it’s not. And I don’t believe there are many who really believe that such a philosophy is true.
Again, when Jesus protects the woman caught in adultery from being stoned, his final words to her weren’t “go and do what you feel like doing.” Rather He said, “Go and sin no more.” He silenced the shame that likely drove her life, and then he called her out into a life where her longings for love could truly be met.
3. The Nature of “Tolerance” and “Love” – Recognizing the distinction between being open-minded vs. openhearted
Within our lifetime there has been a huge shift in sorting out our moral senses… a shift from truth to tolerance. The more militant homosexual movement is riding on this wave of “tolerance” that so many look to as the hope of our current culture. The problem with tolerance is that the idea of it draws us in with little thought as to the meaning of it – that is, what we believe tolerance should really imply. The true meaning of tolerance is that of embracing a level of basic respect for those I may be different from or disagree with. Here’s where the more militant homosexual movement has ushered in an unspoken shift in our cultural thinking. I’m no longer being asked to accept as fellow human beings those who practice homosexuality, but to approve of their practice as normal and morally right. I’m no longer asked to love them as people but to legitimate their actions; and in doing so, to legitimate a new understanding of what it means to be male and female.
It shouldn’t take much thought to realize that while the call to be tolerant is being used… what is lost is toleration for anyone who disagrees. The simple truth is that any position about what one believes to be true excludes it’s opposite position. Every so called ‘inclusive’ position is ultimately exclusive.
As a culture we’ve lost the great value of true tolerance… as we’ve been forced to approve in order to accept… and to legitimate in order to love.
I simply want to recognize that tolerance has nothing to do with granting moral approval.
We need to wake up and recognize the distinction between loving people and legitimating their behavior. Is not the greater love that which calls me to care about those I disagree with? Don’t we sense that to simply placate someone because it’s easier and more popular is a very low idea of real love?
As "open-mindedness" is raised as the virtue of our day, we cannot mistake this for resigning ourselves from having moral senses or positions. I believe if we think more deeply, we’ll realize what we value most than is open-heartedness. This is what Jesus taught us; not so much the virtue of being open-minded but of being openhearted. For truth does exist. But we all fall short of living in the light of truth. That’s why along with truth we need grace.
III. The Christian Calling
What then is our response to homosexuality? We may do well to hear the Apostle Paul’s challenging words to Jewish believers who looked down upon Gentiles for their unclean life:
Romans 2:1-2, 21-24
“You may be saying, "What terrible people you have been talking about!" But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.
….Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you do it? You condemn idolatry, but do you steal from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, ‘The world blasphemes the name of God because of you.’”
In humility and conviction, we can share in….
1. Our Common Confession – Sexual Brokenness
In responding to homosexuality it’s helpful to remember that I speak as a part of that group responsible for the vast majority of sexual wrongdoing in the world today – male heterosexuals.
On the surface of things it may appear as if there is a great divide between heterosexuals and homosexuals (or more accurately, those with heterosexually oriented attractions and those with homosexually oriented attractions.) There are certainly many characteristics that can distinguish our lives outwardly. However, if we look within our souls, all of us will find some degree of confusion and misguided love involved in our sexuality. Our sense of masculinity and femininity is fallen and often fragile. We have all tried to find security in our sexuality in ways that were influenced by family, friends, and popular culture. Apart from the light of God’s love we have experienced various degrees of darkness and brokenness in our sexuality. This may manifest itself in the subtleness of resentments and oppression between genders, overcompensation of cultural expectations (i.e. as a “macho” man or passive woman), inhibitions, or simply sexual activity that we know will never satisfy. Or it may manifest itself in more striking ways such as sexual addictions or abuse.
For those with homosexual tendencies there have often been unique experiences of alienation or attachment with parental figures. As Andy Comiskey describes,
“This leaves him or her with tremendous needs for affirmation and affection. In most instances, the attraction for the same sex begins before the age of ten; it is emotional, non-sexual, and involuntary. With sexual maturity, these needs become eroticized; sexual intimacy becomes a primary means for feeling loved and affirmed.
Hence, sexual activity offers some sense of being truly accepted. What seems to be love is received, the person extending this love is idolized, and as the pain becomes covered over with pleasure, a momentary sense of self-esteem emerges, a temporary relief from the confusion of identity.”
This bears truth in all of us. And as such, those with heterosexual feelings and those with homosexual feelings are able to come to Christ together to be restored in God’s love. If we are able to share in a common confession of flawed and fragile sexuality… of false “idols” we have put our hope in and bowed to… we are able to come together as a common community to find healing and wholeness as we allow the light of God’s love to enter our souls.
2. Our Common Need – Divine Affirmation of our True Selves
As we come to Christ by grace, we are restored as “children of God” (John 1:12). Our identities, including that of being created male and female, are brought under the light of God whose image we bear. It shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus touched the lives of many men and women as he enlightened their true nature. He challenged the competitiveness and lack of appreciation for children among his male disciples. To the woman at the well of Jericho he spoke into her false dependency on men to find meaning. Similarly to his friend Martha he spoke of her serving. To each he offered an alternative meaning to their lives in his presence.
We too can find our common confirmation as men and women in Christ. And as his living body, through whom he ministers, we can be a part of that process as we relate to one another in the light of God rather than simply that of common culture. Where lives were raised in the confusion of parental absence, animosity of gender, or even abuse, we can be a part of bestowing the true blessing of being male and female.
As Comiskey declares,
“Jesus Christ is the alternative. He addresses the problem - man limited to self -and provides the way through which we can find fulfillment in God and His people. By releasing us from the dictates of the past, Jesus frees us to live as new creatures. The Holy Spirit carries on that process of change in our lives.
His grace is sufficient, for His strength is made perfect in weakness. He provides the mooring point for a new identity, the center out of which a true sense of well-being can be enjoyed. As we draw close to Him, we are enabled to reflect His image in our humanity more and more fully.
The goal of our growth is the freedom to love aright, to relate intimately but non-erotically to the same-sex, and to be able to address the opposite sex as a needed counterpart without fear or disinterest. Such love is Christ’s intent for us. We affirm His capacity to carry it out in our lives, and in the lives of those who seek to be free from homosexuality.”
I believe in real hope for those who find themselves with same-sex attractions and desire to discover change. Many consider the very notion of such change to be misguided because it offends the position that we are to accept our desires as “natural.”
In 1 Corinthians, Paul talks specifically about former homosexuals in the church. (I Corinthians 6:9-11). I not only believe in such change… I have seen it. I share life with people who have chosen the process of allowing the Spirit of God to enlighten their masculinity or femininity. Like those trying to change other areas of desire in their lives (i.e. alcoholism, etc.), such a process is challenging and ongoing.
There is no place here to be simplistic… our sexual desires are NOT simply a reflection of a choice that we turn on or off… or redirect without discipline. Recovering and developing our true complimentary identity is a deep process… yet ultimately always toward true freedom.
We shouldn’t be surprised that it will likely be a challenge throughout our lives in these bodies. Does the fact that it may be an ongoing process mean that it should just be embraced as the truest nature? I have no more reason to encourage those I know who face a long process of dealing with alcoholism or depression or any number of issues… to simply accept that their desires must be lived out just because they are longstanding. Those who choose to walk in the light of God can find real peace and pleasure. There is real hope.
And in that process we must uphold…
3. Our Common Calling - Response-Ability
None of us are completely whole in our inclinations and as a result we’ll face various temptations. We must stand up against the confusion between disposition and determination. Our modern culture says the answer to teenage sexual drives is condoms and the answer to homosexual feelings is to pursue the sexualizing of same sex relationships. The underlying assumption is that we’re merely animals whose lives are wholly determined by our instincts and impulses. But we’re human beings and our dignity involves our ability to choose how we respond to our various impulses.
James 1:13-14 (NLT)
“And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.”
Conclusion – True Love and Compassion
In the face of the cultural confusion that surrounds homosexuality, we are called to follow Jesus in sharing the Father’s heart of true love and compassion. If we are to really love those who experience sexual attraction towards their own gender, we need to search our own hearts.
Do those with homosexual desires cause me to feel threatened, awkward, or afraid of my own sexuality…. and in need of rising above feelings of resentment or rejection towards them?
Do I need to rise above tendencies to want to placate the issue in order to avoid being personally misunderstood or rejected? Do I need to model the higher love for those I may not agree with?
Only when truth and grace are nurtured in my heart together can I love as Christ does. A few years ago as I felt the challenge of Christ’s compassion for those seeking to find true meaning and love out of their homosexual attractions, He reminded me of the tragic immaturity of my past response.
I grew up here near the main local beach where all the local kids came to surf, play volleyball, and hang out. It was also the beach that adjoined what was becoming a gay beach way before there was much public sentiment for any openly gay expression. And the animosity towards those on the neighboring beach was high. I remember plenty of intense exchanges of words and some of force.
A nearby focus of attention was the infamous gay bar just across the road. The Lord reminded me of how one night, after drinking away with my co hoards, we were driving by and I jumped out of the car, kicked open the door to this bar and threw in a lit smoke bomb. I jumped back in the car as we drove off … never to think of it again.
As the Holy Spirit brought this to the forefront of my mind, I was gripped. I had hatred in my background. Ten years later God had brought me back to this area and through the Vineyard, many of my closest friends were those dealing with homosexual feelings. By this time I could deeply appreciate our common bond of faith and finding deeper wholeness in God. But this past represented a sin towards not only individuals but also a whole part of those God loves.
That Friday night after an evening ministry gathering…. 15 years after that particular incident… I drove back to that bar so infamously disdained by every kid raised near the beach. I went in and asked for the owner. Little did I know that the owner of the bar owned the primarily gay restaurant nearby… was there that night… and was the same man who operated them 15 years earlier. There I told him of what I had done and asked his forgiveness… even while keeping clear my convictions. He told me no one had ever come to him like this and he spoke graciously about understanding the ways people can act when they’re young. Then he simply invited me to come bring my family for dinner.
To any who experience same sex attraction… I want to stop and confess the sins that my heart bore… of a self-righteous and callousness.
I don’t expect the coming years to be easy in regards to the issue of homosexuality. But I know Christ is not afraid of those who find themselves drawn to same sex intimacy. He will speak grace and truth into the wounds beneath every soul. Many will turn away from the very idea that such wounds and misguided longings are involved in their same sex attraction. It may be hard for them to enter the Kingdom of God’s grace that Christ offers. But as those who know such grace to wounded souls, we must let the light of his grace and truth shine.
Some further resources:
Patrick Vukovich, a member of the Westside Vineyard, is a local coordinator for Desert Stream Ministries, which offers Christ-centered programs for those seeking healing for sexual or relational brokenness. Patrick is happy to answer questions about the programs offered including Living Waters. Patrick can be reached at typhoidpat@yahoo.com or 323-493-0692.
I would welcome any who would like to discuss the issue further to email me (Brad Bailey) at pastorbrad@vcfwestside.org
Recommended Reading:
God’s Grace and the Homosexual Next Door by Alan Chamber, Harvest House, 2006
The Kingdom of God & The Homosexual (24-page booklet), Pursuing Sexual Wholeness by Andrew Comiskey available through Desert Stream Ministries at www.desertstream.org
Straight & Narrow? , by Thomas E. Schmidt, IVP, 1995
The Broken Image, by Leanne Payne, Baker Books (Available through - 800-877-2665)
Setting Love In Order, by Mario Bergner, Baker Books, 1995
Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth, by Jeffrey Satinover, M.D., Baker Books, 1996
