Heavy Burdens
Heavy Burdens

Author: Bridget Eileen Rivera

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2021-10-26

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1493432672

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Religious faith reduces the risk of suicide for virtually every American demographic except one: LGBTQ people. Generations of LGBTQ people have been alienated or condemned by Christian communities. It's past time that Christians confronted the ongoing and devastating effects of this legacy. Many LGBTQ people face overwhelming challenges in navigating faith, gender, and sexuality. Christian communities that uphold the traditional sexual ethic often unwittingly make the path more difficult through unexamined attitudes and practices. Drawing on her sociological training and her leadership in the Side B/Revoice conversation, Bridget Eileen Rivera, who founded the popular website Meditations of a Traveling Nun, speaks to the pain of LGBTQ Christians and helps churches develop a better pastoral approach. Rivera calls to mind Jesus's woe to religious leaders: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them" (Matt. 23:4). Heavy Burdens provides an honest account of seven ways LGBTQ people experience discrimination in the church, helping Christians grapple with hard realities and empowering churches across the theological spectrum to navigate better paths forward.

Life on Side B
Life on Side B

Author: Mike Haszto

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2009-05-26

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1438985517

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Life On Side B is the next adventure for co-owner Mickey Miller and V103, following their initial challenge of staving off a corporation wanting to buy radio station WVVV FM in "Radio Free Mickey". Approximately six months has gone by, and the station finds itself no longer atop the Arbitron Ratings in northeast Ohio, beset by recent staff issues and market changes. A tragedy hits the station, and obstacles present themselves as Mickey attempts to bring the station back to its old perch by sticking by what got V103 there in the first placeold time radio values and strong character. Put yourself once again on the staff of V103 as an intern, and feel involved with every detail of this second installment starring Mickey Miller as co-owner, Jimmy as his best friend and head of his own 'Pirate Radio' empire based in Marathon Florida, Stacey as Marketing and Promotions Director, and the entire staff of air personalities.

God and the Gay Christian
God and the Gay Christian

Author: Matthew Vines

Publisher: Convergent

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1601425163

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Reinterpretations of key Bible texts related to sexual orientation, written by a Harvard student, present an accessible case for a modern Christian conservative acceptance of sexual diversity.

Still Time to Care
Still Time to Care

Author: Greg Johnson

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2021-12-07

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0310116066

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Costly Obedience
Costly Obedience

Author: Mark A. Yarhouse

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2019-06-25

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0310521424

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Though we often hear about the "gay problem" today, there is an even deeper problem in the church today--one that we often overlook. The call to follow Christ is a call to costly obedience for all, not just for gay Christians. Far too often, the church has elevated homosexuality above other sins and required a costly obedience from gays that it is unwilling to demand of others. And yet, the answer is not to weaken the demands of obedience. Instead, gay Christians who make the difficult choice to align their lives with the biblical view of sexuality are a gift to the church, reminding all of us that spiritual growth and maturity is costly. There is a price to pay in following Christ and devoting our lives to the call of the gospel, and it is one that we all must pay--gay and straight Christians alike. Through the stories and struggles of gay Christians who are reorienting their lives around the costly obedience required to follow Christ, Mark Yarhouse and Olya Zaporozhets call the church to reorient as well, leaving behind the casual morality that is widespread today to pursue the path of radical discipleship. Unlike any other book on homosexuality and the church, this is a call to examine your life and consider what God is asking you to lay down to take up your cross and follow him.

A War of Loves
A War of Loves

Author: David Bennett

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2018-11-13

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0310538122

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

A Change of Affection
A Change of Affection

Author: Becket Cook

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Published: 2019-07-30

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1400212340

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The powerful, dramatic story of how a successful Hollywood set designer whose identity was deeply rooted in his homosexuality came to be suddenly and utterly transformed by the power of the gospel. When Becket Cook moved from Dallas to Los Angeles after college, he discovered a socially progressive, liberal town that embraced not only his creative side but also his homosexuality. He devoted his time to growing his career as a successful set designer and to finding "the one" man who would fill his heart. As a gay man in the entertainment industry, Cook centered his life around celebrity-filled Hollywood parties and traveled to society hot-spots around the world--until a chance encounter with a pastor at an LA coffee shop one morning changed everything. In A Change of Affection, Becket Cook shares his testimony as someone who was transformed by the power of the gospel. Cook's dramatic conversion to Christianity and subsequent seminary training inform his views on homosexuality--personally, biblically, theologically, and culturally--and in his new book he educates Christians on how to better understand this complex and controversial issue while revealing how to lovingly engage with those who disagree. A Change of Affection is a timely and indispensable resource for anyone who desires to understand more fully one of the most common and difficult stumbling blocks to faithfully following Christ today.

Faith That Lasts
Faith That Lasts

Author: Cameron McAllister

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2021-01-26

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0830848150

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In their work as Christian apologists, father and son Stuart and Cameron McAllister hear from Christian parents who worry about raising their children in the faith amid a seductive culture. Reflecting on their own very different experiences of coming to Christian faith, they share how our homes can be places of honest conversation, open-handed exploration, and lasting faith.

Spiritual Friendship
Spiritual Friendship

Author: Wesley Hill

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2015-04-14

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 1441227512

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.

Single, Gay, Christian
Single, Gay, Christian

Author: Gregory Coles

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2017-08-22

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 0830890939

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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."