Gay praying
A “pray the gay away” survivor tells his story
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“Telling someone who is already psychologically struggling that they are “holding onto sin” is horrifying. Saying to that person that the reason they are not changing is that they don’t have enough faith or don’t really need to change can be life-threatening. I attempted suicide numerous times during that period of my experience. I ended up in the hospital emergency department several times, and they prescribed me a cocktail of anti-depressant medications and underwent years of psychotherapy.”
I am a 53-year-old lgbtq+ Christian male, and this is my story:
I first realised that I was gay at twelve or thirteen years of age. I was horrified at this discovery. Up until that point, homosexuality was something I knew nothing about. I was abused during my primary college years, which only compounded my struggles. I blamed myself, if I wasn’t gay, I never would have been abused, I thought.
Coming from a traditional European and Catholic background, it set my role as a man from an early age, my father often reminded me what a “real man” looked like. “Real men” were Cat
The following blog is written by Dr. Greg Coles. Greg is part of The Center's collaboration team and has a Ph.D. in English from Penn State. He's also the author of the recently released: Single, Gay, Christian.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a good conservative Christian boy who realizes he’s gay will spend years in agonized and fervent prayer asking God to make him straight.
At least, that’s what I did.
Beginning at the age of twelve, I measured my spiritual life according to my progress towards heterosexuality. I tried to notice girls. I tried not to notice guys. I invented “crushes” and told people about romantic desires I didn’t actually have for my female friends. I even tried to lust after a picture of a scantily clad miss once, just to see if I could do it. (In retrospect, not my best notion. Cut me a break. I was twelve.) But by the grace of God, I never did manage any lust over that picture. I might as well possess been staring at an office supplies poster.
I tried and prayed and tried and prayed, and I failed on all counts. If loving Jesus was supposed to be turning me vertical, I obviously didn’t love Jesus very much. But I was determined to keep
An independent Baptist church in Indianapolis has defended a sermon in which church members called for the deaths of people in the LGBTQ+ community.
On July 3, preacher Justin Zhong said in a post on the Sure Foundation Baptist Church's Facebook page that the church would not apologize for the sermon.
"The Bible is crystal clear that sodomites (homosexuals) deserve the death penalty carried out by a government that actually cares about the law of God," Zhong wrote.
In an emailed statement to Newsweek, the Sure Foundation Baptist Church said: "The Bible puts the death penalty on the LGBTQ people. We as Christians must believe and preach what the Bible says. The reason people are so shocked about all this is not many 'Christians' and even 'pastors' actually accept the Bible. To be distinct, we only called for the government to execute those people. We are against vigilantes."
Why It Matters
The church's unapologetic endorsement of violent anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric reflects a worrying rise of open homophobia in the United States.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, citing FBI data, there were 2,402 reported hate crime incidents targeting individuals based on their sexual orien
In a workshop for parents with children involved in homosexuality, I was asked, “How do I pray for my same-sex attracted son/daughter?”
Since the roots of same-sex attraction are complex, it would be a mistake to suppose that a one-method prayer approach would be universally successful. First and foremost, if we want to get results in prayer, we must be convinced of one basic fact: God wants to answer our prayers. In other words, expect wonderful things to happen.
Luke 18:1 says, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.”
It is not the beauty or the eloquence of our prayer that gets God’s ear, He responds to faith. Praying in faith is merely having confidence in God’s willingness to use His force to answer your prayer. Faith causes your prayers to bring results.
For most same-sex attracted men and women, the sexual aspect is surface in comparison to the complex roots of queer orientation. Therefore, ordinarily, expect that changes will occur in his or her life gradually and over time. That said; do not rule out relatively instant changes.
Today, “Does the individual with same-sex attraction desire to be restored?” is an vital, if not paramount question. Be prepa