Article Link Archive

You have probably seen the term “gay conversion therapy” or “conversion therapy” mentioned in the news and wondered what it means. In all honesty, we wonder, too! It is unlikely that a Christian coined this term, because the only context in which Christians use the word conversion is in reference to becoming a Christian. There is no salvation in heterosexuality or anything else outside of Christ. It is also unlikely that a therapist coined the term, because therapists don’t use the word conversion in describing their practice. They don’t convert alcoholics or schizophrenics or depressed people.

Our best guess is that these terms were invented by activists as a means to mock and vilify any therapy with which they disagree. They throw in the word “conversion” to imply religious fanaticism, and then with a rhetorical flourish, they use quotation marks around the term or prepend “so-called” to imply it was the therapists themselves who coined the term.

We do not practice any sort of therapy at Alive in Christ, but here is an article providing some insight on the term and on the variety of real-life therapy that the term is meant to lump together and demean.(Posted 2019/03/22)

An interview with Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St Ebbes Church, Oxford, on his struggle with same-sex attraction. It is possible to read the article for free by giving their site your email address. (Posted 2018/08/27)

A new vocabulary is changing the way Christians view homosexuality. Should we adopt it? A three-part series.
Part 2: LGBTQ Language and the Church
Part 3: Side B Christians and Sexual Minorities
(Posted 2018/08/26)

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Hugenberger preached this sermon early in his tenure as senior minister of Park Street Church, Boston. It capped off a four-part series on Luke 4:1-13, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Hugenberger preached one sermon on each of the three temptations and then in the fourth sermon pulls in Hebrews 4:15 and explains how Jesus was “tempted in every way…yet without sin.” To do so, he breaks down the temptation of homosexuality and shows how it relates to the temptations Jesus faced. He reminds us that we more in common than not in the ways we are tempted. (Posted 2018/07/18)

An article on the ministry of Joe Dallas, a stalwart of ministry to those with same-sex attraction and their families. Dallas is a gifted writer and speaker with the ability to provide clear explanations of the Bible delivered with warmth and goodwill. (Posted 2018/07/03)

A single man reflects on his feelings of loneliness (Posted 2018/05/25)

Some things are said best with satire. (Posted 2018/04/01)

(Posted 2018/02/28)

“I am convinced that sin takes its most vigorous and incapacitating form as it festers in secrecy. When a Christian shields his sins from others and outwardly portrays himself to be more whole and stable than he truly is—this Christian is in the direst of predicaments.”(Posted 2018/01/27)

(Posted 2017/09/17)

This Saturday, February 11, 2017, the world lost a giant of the faith. Frank Worthen was a pioneer in modern Christian ministry to those with same-sex attraction. He influenced multiple generations of leaders who founded ministries like Alive in Christ. Read more about his story in the memoir he wrote later in life, Destiny Bridge [CBD|Amazon]. (Posted 2017/02/12)

On one purpose that feelings of loneliness might serve in our lives. It is just one example of the material to be found on Mattson’s blog Letters to Christopher: On the subject of Same Sex Attraction. Mattson also has a book due in April: Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace.

An excerpt from Tim Keller’s Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism in cartoon form. (Posted 2017/01/15)

(Posted 2016/12/11)

“If this were 1999—the year that I was converted and walked away from the woman and lesbian community I loved—instead of 2016, Jen Hatmaker’s words about the holiness of LGBT relationships would have flooded into my world like a balm of Gilead. How amazing it would have been to have someone as radiant, knowledgeable, humble, kind, and funny as Jen saying out loud what my heart was shouting: Yes, I can have Jesus and my girlfriend.” (Posted 2016/11/16)

(Posted 2016/10/09)

“As time passes I become more convinced that the wisest course of action for anyone who lives with same sex attraction is to keep this information limited to a very small number of close confidants.” (Posted 2016/10/04)

“Suffering can lead to serenity, if we respond to it with trust in a loving God who will make all things right. We must remember: Love would not allow what Love could not restore.” (Posted 2016/09/30)

Many have found themselves caught up in a false dichotomy: that homosexual attraction is either a choice or in the genes. The best science has always suggested neither is true. It is refreshing to see some of these more responsible conclusions making their way to the newstand. See also Epigenetics: How to alter your genes by Chris Bell, The Telegraph. (Posted 2016/08/13)

Matt Moore handles the thorny issue of sexual identity and labels with his usual wisdom and grace. Plenty of nuance is required to explain why modern labels are not helpful, and Moore does an excellent job. “These labels are not just words used to describe a person’s inclinations, preferences, or behaviors—these labels are loaded with ideas about who a person is.” (Posted 2016/08/06)

Some things can be said best with satire. (Posted 2016/07/14)

In recent months, U.S. politicians have made unprecedented pronouncements related to sex and gender, forcing many Christians to mull over topics they had not considered closely before. This temporary position statement walks the reader through the most recent scientific understandings of sex and gender and comes to conclusions about treatment for children. (Posted 2016/07/12)

“I don’t think Jesus is as interested in our speedy sanctification as he is in our total trust in and reliance on him.” (Posted 2016/06/26)

Dennis Jernigan, author of numerous worship songs, such as You Are My All In All, left behind a homosexual identity to experience freedom in Christ. (Posted 2016/06/25)

“Homosexuality is an issue I have grappled with my entire Christian life. It took a long time to admit to myself, longer to admit to others, and even longer to see something of God’s good purposes through it all. There have been all sorts of ups and downs. But this battle is not devoid of blessings, as Paul discovered with his own unyielding thorn in the flesh. Struggling with sexuality has been an opportunity to experience more of God’s grace, rather than less.” (Posted 2016/05/15)

A Wesleyan-Arminian perspective on God’s grace and the gravity of sin (Posted 2016/05/12)

“Thirty-three years ago I underwent gender-reassignment surgery only to discover it was a temporary reprieve, not a solution to the underlying comorbid disorders. I have written books, published articles, and spoken publicly around the world to enlighten people on the prevalence of suicide among transgender people and on the risks and regrets of changing genders.” (Posted 2016/05/11)

“Some people view Christianity as being able to have all the worldly cake you want as long as you wash it down with a tall glass of Jesus. But the Bible describes no such life. Striving to turn away from sin is not an optional aspect of faith; it is inseparable from saving faith. Denying the flesh is an inescapable reality of every true Christian’s life.” (Posted 2016/05/02)

“I looked nervously across the table, fidgeting with my coffee cup. Do you realize what you’re asking of me? he questioned.” (Posted 2016/04/28)

It is too easy for Christians to believe that marital love is the highest expression of human love and even that those who are unmarried are somehow incomplete. Piper’s sermon points out “that God promises those of you who remain single in Christ blessings that are better than the blessings of marriage and children, and he calls you to display, by the Christ-exalting devotion of your singleness, the truths about Christ and his kingdom that shine more clearly through singleness than through marriage and childrearing.” (Posted 2016/04/27)

Reflections from Breaking Free: Understanding Sexual Addiction & the Healing Power of Jesus by Russell Willingham. (Posted 2016/04/26)

“Seeds of healthy confidence in my God-given manhood began to settle into my heart. I started to believe God didn’t mess up when he was making me, and that he has actually wired into me truly masculine traits—like compassion for the marginalized, a desire to protect and care for the weak, and resilience to follow and obey Christ.” (Posted 2016/03/28)

“It’s true that temptation isn’t sin (though what you do with it may be); but that doesn’t give us biblical license to create an identity out of a temptation pattern. To do so is a recipe for disaster. …

“Yes, the Holy Spirit gives you a heart of flesh and the mind to understand and love the Lord and his Word. But without good reading practices even this redeemed heart grows flabby, weak, shaky, and ill.” (Posted 2016/03/13)

“It is often in the moment after the closed door, the darkness, the screen-light, the hidden act—after pornography indulgence—that Satan spins his most eloquent web: menacing patterns of thinking; bargaining with a disapproving and distant God; twisting us in on ourselves in self-hatred. It is in the moment after pornography indulgence that Satan does his finest work. It is in this moment that we need God to do his finest saving.” (Posted&nbsp:2016/03/08)

(Posted 2016/02/14)

(Posted 2016/02/03)

Two decades ago, hardly anyone would have expected to be confronted with an invitation to a same-sex wedding. How should Christians respond? Joe Dallas offers analysis of the issues at hand for believers. He also provides links to contrasting views, including Should a Christian with Traditional Values Attend a Same-Sex Wedding? by Stephen Arterburn. (Posted 2016/01/25)

“When … everything from the White House to corporate logos turned rainbow, I recalled that year of monumental personal decision when I was struggling with my relationships with God, women, and myself. I remember digging out my Bible, which was dusty from disuse. I dared to look at the first chapter of Romans. The words blurred through my tears as I read. … I prayed, ‘If it’s wrong, You’ll have to show me another way, because I can’t see it.’ I honestly couldn’t see the truth–it was as if there was a veil over my eyes.

These days, when I see the multitude of profile pictures on Facebook bearing a rainbow filter, I think of that veil. The rainbow veil tints reality with false hues, blurs the vision, and prevents one from seeing clearly. But what is most distressing is seeing the rainbow veil over the faces of Christian friends and family. (Posted 2015/12/25)

“I imagine what it would be like if friends, counselors, pastors, and theologians worked to convince me that my greatest struggles with sin were unnecessary. That to be prideful, lusty, and greedy is just ‘how I was made’ and that God loves me just the same. How tempting to believe such a lie!” (Posted 2015/12/04)

(Posted 2015/11/18)

A collection of peer-reviewed research articles, along with current news and opinion articles about the harms of pornography (Posted 2015/10/29)

“They’re beat down by the battle. They’re hungry for encouragement. Hungry for power. Hungry for hope. They’re tired of well meaning ministers making them false promises of developing heterosexual desires. They’re tired of cheap-grace teachers telling them God’s okay with them engaging in homosexual relationships.” (Posted 2015/10/27)

Part II: Homosexuality and Leviticus
Part III: Jesus and Homosexuality
Part IV: Paul and Romans One
Part V
Part VI: arsenokoite
Part VII (Posted 2015/10/23)

“We dare not try to cut Christ in pieces, as if we could receive him deliverer from sin’s guilt but not from its dominion, or as Savior but not as Lord. Nor can we cut ourselves in pieces, severing our body from our soul—as if we could give our heart to Jesus and keep the title deed to our body. It’s precisely because our bodies are too important to the biblical drama that they cannot be exempted from biblical discipleship.” (Posted 2015/10/20)

“The individualistic Christian life doesn’t work. Because God has purposed our pursuit of him to be a family affair.” (Posted 2015/10/14)

“Many of the most important theological issues cannot be reduced to merely finding relevant words and their corresponding verses in a concordance. Try looking up ‘transgender’ in your concordance. How about ‘lesbian’? Or ‘in vitro fertilization’? They’re certainly not in the back of my Bible.” (Posted 2015/10/13)

(Posted 2015/10/08)

(Posted 2015/09/19)

“Adam’s fall rendered my deep and primal feelings untrustworthy and untrue.” (Posted 2015/09/16)

Andreades interviewed Christian husbands with a gay background who are now happily married to women, asking why they prefer “intergendered” to “monogendered” marriage. He learned that gender distinction contributes depth and intimacy to marriages—and this sheds light on why God gave us the commands He did about heterosexual marriage. (Posted 2015/09/13)

(Posted 2015/07/18)

New neurological research reveals that porn is as potently addictive as heroin or cocaine.

“While substance abusers may cause permanent harm to their bodies or brains from drug use, the substance itself does not remain in the body after it has metabolized out of the body. But with pornography, there is no timeframe of abstinence that can erase the pornographic ‘reels’ of images in the brain that can continue to fuel the addictive cycle.” (Posted 2015/07/17)

(Posted 2015/07/15)

Confessions of an evangelical pastor, name withheld (Posted 2015/07/13)

(Posted 2015/07/13)

A young pastor, open about his same-sex attraction, discusses his journey to marriage and the difference between experiencing same-sex attraction and accepting a gay identity. “But the way they see it, people in any marriage must work to resist attractions from outside the relationship, whether from the same or the opposite gender.” (Posted 2015/01/12)

Psychology professor Mark Yarhouse discusses the best way for Christians to interpret his published study on same-sex attraction and how to apply those insights to pastoral care. (Posted 2014/12/31)

Watch Brenna Kate’s interview on the program Pure Passion that aired July 6, 2013 (Posted 2014/06/01)