Download or read book Hope for the Same Sex Attracted written by Ron Citlau and published by Bethany House Publishers. This book was released on 2017-03-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Helping the Same-Sex Attracted Faithfully Follow Jesus As Christians seek to be biblically faithful on the issue of homosexuality, two fundamental questions come to mind: How can a person with same-sex attraction faithfully follow Jesus in his or her sexuality? And how can we support and encourage them in this? With compassion and wisdom--on a topic rife with misunderstanding and hurt--author and pastor Ron Citlau will help you think deeply and clearly about every option the Bible offers, and what it clearly does not. Having personally dealt with same-sex attraction, walked with others still struggling, and pastored those with gay loved ones, he thoroughly examines all of the available options--heterosexual marriage, singleness, celibacy, and more--and considers them in light of the Scriptures. With clarity and grace, he helps you discover the remarkable gifts God provides to the Christian who struggles with same-sex attraction and desires to faithfully follow Jesus. Here is a message of hope and practical, loving guidance for those who are same-sex attracted--and those who love them.

Download or read book Washed and Waiting written by Wesley Hill and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2010-09-21 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book written primarily for gay Christians and those who love them. Part memoir, part pastoral-theological reflection, this book wrestles with three main areas of struggle that many gay Christians face: (1) What is God’s will for sexuality? (2) If the historic Christian tradition is right and same-sex behavior is ruled out, how should gay Christians deal with their resulting loneliness? (3) How can gay Christians come to an experience of grace that rescues them from crippling feelings of shame and guilt? Author Wesley Hill is not advocating that it is possible for every gay Christian to become straight, nor is he saying that God affirms homosexuality. Instead, Hill comes alongside gay Christians and says, “You are not alone. Here is my experience; it’s like yours. And God is with us. We can share in God’s grace.” While some authors profess a deep faith in Christ and claim a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit precisely in and through their homosexual practice, Hill’s own story, by contrast, is a story of feeling spiritually hindered, rather than helped, by his homosexuality. His story testifies that homosexuality was not God’s original creative intention for humanity—that it is, on the contrary, a tragic sign of human nature and relationships being fractured by sin—and therefore that homosexual practice goes against God’s express will for all human beings, especially those who trust in Christ. This book is written mainly for those homosexual Christians who are trying to walk the narrow path of celibacy and are convinced that their discipleship to Jesus necessarily commits them to the demanding, costly obedience of choosing not to nurture their homosexual desires. With reflections from the lives of Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Wesley Hill encourages and challenges Christians with homosexual desires to live faithful to God’s plan for human sexuality.

Download or read book Restoring Sexual Identity written by Anne Paulk and published by Harvest House Publishers. This book was released on 2003-07-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Restoring Sexual Identity" offers answers to the most commonly asked questions from both homosexuals desiring change and friends and relatives of women struggling with same-sex attraction. Is lesbianism an inherited predisposition or is it developed in childhood? Does becoming a Christian eliminate all desire for members of the same sex? What support is available for women who struggle with lesbianism? Can a woman be a lesbian and a Christian at the same time? How does childhood sexual abuse relate to the development of lesbianism? These and other important questions are answered as the author draws from her own experience and that of many other former lesbians who participated in an extensive survey on same-sex attraction.

Download or read book Hope for the Same Sex Attracted written by Ron Citlau and published by Bethany House. This book was released on 2017-03-14 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Helping the Same-Sex Attracted Faithfully Follow Jesus As Christians seek to be biblically faithful on the issue of homosexuality, two fundamental questions come to mind: How can a person with same-sex attraction faithfully follow Jesus in his or her sexuality? And how can we support and encourage them in this? With compassion and wisdom--on a topic rife with misunderstanding and hurt--author and pastor Ron Citlau will help you think deeply and clearly about every option the Bible offers, and what it clearly does not. Having personally dealt with same-sex attraction, walked with others still struggling, and pastored those with gay loved ones, he thoroughly examines all of the available options--heterosexual marriage, singleness, celibacy, and more--and considers them in light of the Scriptures. With clarity and grace, he helps you discover the remarkable gifts God provides to the Christian who struggles with same-sex attraction and desires to faithfully follow Jesus. Here is a message of hope and practical, loving guidance for those who are same-sex attracted--and those who love them.

Download or read book Spiritual Friendship written by Wesley Hill and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity Today Book Award Winner Friendship is a relationship like no other. Unlike the relationships we are born into, we choose our friends. It is also tenuous--we can end a friendship at any time. But should friendship be so free and unconstrained? Although our culture tends to pay more attention to romantic love, marriage, family, and other forms of community, friendship is a genuine love in its own right. This eloquent book reminds us that Scripture and tradition have a high view of friendship. Single Christians, particularly those who are gay and celibate, may find it is a form of love to which they are especially called. Writing with deep empathy and with fidelity to historic Christian teaching, Wesley Hill retrieves a rich understanding of friendship as a spiritual vocation and explains how the church can foster friendship as a basic component of Christian discipleship. He helps us reimagine friendship as a robust form of love that is worthy of honor and attention in communities of faith. This book sets forth a positive calling for celibate gay Christians and suggests practical ways for all Christians to cultivate stronger friendships.

Download or read book Born Again This Way written by Rachel Gilson and published by . This book was released on 2020-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addresses some of the questions raised by Christians with same-sex attraction. As a Christian who experiences same-sex attraction, is it possible to live a life that's both faithful and fulfiling? Rachel Gilson wants to show you that it is and that it's not just a case of limping to the finish line, it's possible to run the race with joy. In this powerful and personal book, she describes her own unexpected journey of coming out and coming to faith... and what came next. As she does so, she addresses many of the questions that Christians living with same-sex attraction are wrestling with: Am I consigned to a life of loneliness? How do I navigate my friendships? Will my desires ever change? Is there some greater purpose to all this? What comes next, and next, and next? Drawing on insights from the Bible and the experiences of others, Born Again This Way provides assurance and encouragement for Christians with same-sex attraction, and paints a compelling picture of discipleship for every believer. Whatever your sexuality, this book is an inspiring testimony of how a life submitted to Jesus will be fulfilling and fruitful, but not always in the ways we might expect.

Download or read book People to Be Loved written by Preston Sprinkle and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2015-12-08 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians who are confused by the homosexuality debate raging in the US are looking for resources that are based solidly on a deep study of what Scripture says about the issue. In People to Be Loved, Preston Sprinkle challenges those on all sides of the debate to consider what the Bible says and how we should approach the topic of homosexuality in light of it. In a manner that appeals to a scholarly and lay-audience alike, Preston takes on difficult questions such as how should the church treat people struggling with same-sex attraction? Is same-sex attraction a product of biological or societal factors or both? How should the church think about larger cultural issues, such as gay marriage, gay pride, and whether intolerance over LGBT amounts to racism? How (or if) Christians should do business with LGBT persons and supportive companies? Simply saying that the Bible condemns homosexuality is not accurate, nor is it enough to end the debate. Those holding a traditional view still struggle to reconcile the Bible’s prohibition of same-sex attraction with the message of radical, unconditional grace. This book meets that need.

Download or read book Compassion without Compromise written by Adam T. Barr and published by Bethany House Publishers. This book was released on 2014-10-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Loving, Biblical Answers on Homosexuality In the next year at least one of these things will happen in your life: • A family member will come out of the closet and expect you to be okay with it. • Your elementary-age child's curriculum will discuss LGBT families. • Your company will talk about building a tolerant workplace for LGBT co-workers. • Your college-age child will tell you your view on homosexuality is bigoted. Are you ready? In their role as pastors, Adam Barr and Ron Citlau have seen how this issue can tear apart families, friendships, and even churches. In this book they combine biblical answers with practical, real-world advice on how to think about and discuss this issue with those you care about. They also tell the story of Ron's personal journey from same-sex attraction and sexual brokenness to healing. Truth does not preclude kindness--and a good dose of humility is necessary to love our neighbors. With sensitivity and winsomeness, this book will offer an honest but inviting message to readers: We are all in need of the healing that can only come from the truth of the gospel.

Download or read book Washed and Waiting written by Wesley Hill and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-11-29 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yet many who sit next to us in the pew at church fit that description, says author Wesley Hill. As a celibate gay Christian, Hill gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to wrestle firsthand with God's ''No'' to same-sex relationships. What does it mean for gay Christians to live faithful to God while struggling with the challenge of their homosexuality? What is God's will for believers who experience same-sex desires? Those who choose celibacy are often left to deal with loneliness and the hunger for relationships. How can gay Christians experience God's favor and blessing in the midst of a struggle that for many brings a crippling sense of shame and guilt? Weaving together reflections from his own life and the lives of other Christians, such as Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hill offers a fresh perspective on these questions. He advocates neither unqualified ''healing'' for those who struggle, nor their accommodation to temptation, but rather faithfulness in the midst of brokenness. ''I hope this book may encourage other homosexual Christians to take the risky step of opening up their lives to others in the body of Christ,'' Hill writes. ''In so doing, they may find, as I have, by grace, that being known is spiritually healthier than remaining behind closed doors, that the light is better than the darkness.

Download or read book Still Time to Care written by Greg Johnson and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the start of the gay rights movement in 1969, evangelicalism's leading voices cast a vision for gay people who turn to Jesus. It was C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Francis Schaeffer and John Stott who were among the most respected leaders within theologically orthodox Protestantism. We see with them a positive pastoral approach toward gay people, an approach that viewed homosexuality as a fallen condition experienced by some Christians who needed care more than cure. With the birth and rise of the ex-gay movement, the focus shifted from care to cure. As a result, there are an estimated 700,000 people alive today who underwent conversion therapy in the United States alone. Many of these patients were treated by faith-based, testimony-driven parachurch ministries centered on the ex-gay script. Despite the best of intentions, the movement ended with very troubling results. Yet the ex-gay movement died not because it had the wrong sex ethic. It died because it was founded on a practice that diminished the beauty of the gospel. Yet even after the closure of the ex-gay umbrella organization Exodus International in 2013, the ex-gay script continues to walk about as the undead among us, pressuring people like me to say, "I used to be gay, but I'm not gay anymore. Now I'm just same-sex attracted." For orthodox Christians, the way forward is a path back to where we were forty years ago. It is time again to focus with our Neo-Evangelical fathers on care--not cure--for our non-straight sisters and brothers who are living lives of costly obedience to Jesus. With warmth and humor as well as original research, Still Time to Care will chart the path forward for our churches and ministries in providing care. It will provide guidance for the gay person who hears the gospel and finds themselves smitten by the life-giving call of Jesus. Woven throughout the book will be Richard Lovelace’s 1978 call for a "double repentance" in which gay Christians repent of their homosexual sins and the church repents of its homophobia--putting on display for all the power of the gospel.

Download or read book Single Gay Christian written by Gregory Coles and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2017-08-22 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an age where neither society nor the church knows what to do with gay Christians, Greg Coles shares his story—a story about a boy in love with Jesus who, at the fateful onset of puberty, realized his sexual attractions were persistently and exclusively for other guys. This honest, hopeful account shows life through one man's eyes and assures all people: "You are not a mistake."

Download or read book Made for Love written by Michael Schmitz and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2018-07-01 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Made for Love, Fr. Michael Schmitz presents the Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction and same-sex "sexual" relations. He begins by giving background information regarding the different worldviews of the human person, the philosophical ideas of nature and purpose, the differences between objective and subjective truth, the principal of non- contradiction, and the fallen human nature that resulted from Original Sin. He then discusses in great detail the nature and ends of human sexuality and the nature of true love, while, in a compassionate and non-judgmental way, explaining the flawed nature of same-sex "sexual" relations. While this book is intended primarily for those who have same-sex attraction and their family and friends, its presentation of the compassionate truth of Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction will be of great benefit to everyone in today's society.

Download or read book Girl Defined written by Kristen Clark and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a Culture of Distortions, Discover God-Defined Womanhood and Beauty In a culture where airbrushed models and career-driven women define beauty and success, it's no wonder we have a distorted view of femininity. Our impossible standards place an incredible burden of stress on the backs of women and girls of all ages, resulting in anxiety, eating disorders, and depression. One question we often forget to ask is this: What is God's design for womanhood? In Girl Defined, sisters and popular bloggers Kristen Clark and Bethany Beal offer women a countercultural view of beauty, femininity, and self-worth. Based firmly in God's design for their lives, this book helps women rethink what true success and beauty look like. It invites them on a liberating journey toward a radically better vision for femininity that ends with the discovery of the kind of hope, purpose, and fulfillment they've been yearning for. Girl Defined helps readers · discover God's design for femininity and his definition of a successful woman · uncover the secrets of lasting worth, purpose, and fulfillment · be equipped and empowered to live out a radically better vision for womanhood · gain personal insight through the chapter-by-chapter study guide

Download or read book Same Sex Attraction and the Church written by Ed Shaw and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2015-11-09 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Christians have same-sex attraction, how should the church respond? Pastor Ed Shaw experiences same-sex attraction, and yet he is committed to Scripture and the church's traditional position on sexuality. In this honest book, he shares his own experiences and shows us that obedience to Jesus is ultimately the only way to experience life to the full.

Download or read book A War of Loves written by David Bennett and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 14, David Bennett came out to his parents. At 19, he encountered Jesus Christ. At that moment, his life changed forever. As a young gay man, David Bennett saw Christianity as an enemy to freedom for LGBTQI people, and his early experiences with prejudice and homophobia led him to become a gay activist. But when Jesus came into his life in a highly unexpected way, he was led down a path he never would have predicted or imagined. In A War of Loves, David recounts his dramatic story, from his early years exploring new age religions and French existentialism to his university experiences as an activist. Following supernatural encounters with God, he embarked on a journey not only of seeking to reconcile his faith and sexuality but also of discovering the higher call of Jesus Christ. A War of Loves investigates what the Bible teaches about sexuality and demonstrates the profligate, unqualified grace of God for all people. David describes the joy and intimacy he found in following Jesus Christ and how love has taken on a radically new and far richer meaning for him.

Download or read book Gay Girl Good God written by Jackie Hill Perry and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2018-09-03 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I used to be a lesbian.” In Gay Girl, Good God, author Jackie Hill Perry shares her own story, offering practical tools that helped her in the process of finding wholeness. Jackie grew up fatherless and experienced gender confusion. She embraced masculinity and homosexuality with every fiber of her being. She knew that Christians had a lot to say about all of the above. But was she supposed to change herself? How was she supposed to stop loving women, when homosexuality felt more natural to her than heterosexuality ever could? At age nineteen, Jackie came face-to-face with what it meant to be made new. And not in a church, or through contact with Christians. God broke in and turned her heart toward Him right in her own bedroom in light of His gospel. Read in order to understand. Read in order to hope. Or read in order, like Jackie, to be made new.

Download or read book Satisfaction Guaranteed written by Jonathan Berry and published by Inter-Varsity Press. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Convinced that real satisfaction can be found only in a relationship with Jesus Christ, the author aims to encourage, inspire and equip all who struggle with same-sex temptations to resist, but ‘make him their greatest treasure and live life to the full’. He invites us to dig deep and discover great truths about our awesome God and his plans and purposes for our lives, for only then can we live bravely, boldly and counter-culturally. He writes candidly, humbly and sensitively, with fellow strugglers in mind, but also their friends, families and the church leaders who support them, interweaving deeply personal stories from real life. God is good. He can be trusted even in the most painful situation. The surprising paradox is that it is the narrow road that leads to the abundant life promised by Jesus.