What If Queer Christians Need More Than Affirmation? (at Berry College)
These responses were prepared for a public dialogue at Berry College in February 2026 about Christian faith, human sexuality, Scripture, and the life of the Church. They reflect my personal story, theological convictions, and hopes for how Christians can approach difficult disagreements. My goal was not to minimize our differences, but to speak with honesty, humility, and love while treating one another as people made in the image of God.
Is gay sex really a salvation issue?
A season ago I posted a video sharing why I believe God’s wisdom for our sexualities is worth following. I anchored that reflection in Proverbs 4 and Matthew 7. Proverbs 4 tells us to seek wisdom, love wisdom, and hold onto wisdom because wisdom guards us. It portrays wisdom not merely as information but as a protective gift—something that keeps us from harm and guides us into life.
Compassionate and Biblically Faithful Care for Trans People (in The Living Church)
Church potluck table conversations increasingly include the latest cable news story about trans athletes or drag story times. Christians find it difficult to avoid political arguments about trans topics. The U.S. Supreme Court heard a trans case in 2025, deliberating whether states can prohibit minors from medical transition.
Revisiting 1st Century Solutions & Celibate Partnerships
Back in early 2023, I wrote an article for Equip calling celibate partnerships (committed non-sexual, sometimes-romantic companionship between two Christians) unnecessarily risky.
Let’s Be Yearny (my latest in Christ & Pop Culture)
Asking a celibate guy for advice on intimacy feels, to many, like asking a vegetarian to judge a barbecue competition. But that assumption says more about our cultural scripts than it does about celibacy.
Did the Bible really get “edited” in 1946 to target gay people?
A widely debunked documentary called “1946” has been making the rounds claiming that translators added a prohibition against gay sex to the Bible during a 1946 round of English translation updates. Here’s the truth: nothing changed about the original text or its translated meaning in 1946.
“Discernment, Angst, and Vocational Celibacy” in Mere Orthodoxy
Gen Z is anxious and lonely. What if God already knows your people and purpose?
“A Better Trans Conversation” in Christianity Today
As the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on youth gender medicine, Christians must prepare to speak with love while holding fast to biblical truth.
Coming Out as Celibate (to my Gay Hairstylist)
Nervous about sharing your beliefs on sex ethics outside of church?! I was, and then a TikTok notification made it unavoidable. This is how I faced my fears. 😬
“A year ago when I downloaded Tiktok, I enabled a feature that allows you to see who's viewed your Tiktok profile (and vice versa)…”
Recovery (including mine) is messy
In college and post-grad when Christian leaders shared testimonies about what they used to struggle with and celebrated God's provision, it was often implied (if not directly stated) that they no longer struggled. I remember internally asking, "At all? All of the temptation is gone? You never slip up ever? Even a little?" I never believed it. Do you? Sometimes I worry that I unintentionally send the same signals.
“When Heavyweights Change their Minds” in Firebrand Magazine
A blurb recently appeared on the Yale University Press website for a new book by Dr. Richard Hays and his son (out Sept 2024) in which it seems he'll reveal his change to a revisionist sexual ethic. Like me, many Christians over the past few decades have read Hays's 1996 "Moral Vision of the New Testament" and referred back to his earlier work to justify our commitment to historic sexual ethics. When theological heavyweights like Hays change their minds, it's disorienting for many. For me, it led to a now all-too-familiar cycle of fear, disappointment, betrayal, and hop
“Is God’s wisdom for gay people good and beautiful?” at Asbury Theological Seminary
Checkout this chapel offered at Asbury Theological Seminary exploring God's true, good, and beautiful for gay people. Many Christians are theologically convinced of historic sexual ethics, but what we believe to be true doesn’t seem to be leading to good and beautiful in the lives of the LGBT+ people we know. As Christians, we have an inherent sense that what’s true should also be good and beautiful. So how do we make that a reality for the LGBT+ people we love?
I'm a disagreeable person, and that’s been a problem.
Classic personality tests like the Big Five OCEAN assessment identify a person’s level of agreeableness. There are both constructive and destructive ways disagreeable people can show up in their families and workplaces. For better and for worse, I'm a disagreeable person.
Alistair Begg & Gay Weddings Controversy on the Church Politics Podcast with Justin Giboney of the AND Campaign
I recently went on the Church Politics Podcast with Justin Giboney of the AND Campaign to talk about faith and sexuality, including the recent controversy around Pastor Alistair Begg and whether Christians should attend gay weddings.
Christ’s Invitation to Discern Vocational Singleness
What is the vocational singleness that Jesus and Paul invited every Christian to consider? Is it still a call to family? How does one discern whether they’re called to vocational singleness?
Vocational Singleness is a Gospel Cornerstone
Some who know Jesus experience crippling doubt. Others who don’t yet know Jesus see a Creation in chaos. Christ’s promises seem to ring hollow, the kingdom is coming too slowly, the gospel feels feeble. Thankfully a potent vehicle of kingdom work and kingdom hope for the early Church is available to God’s people today, if we will only embrace and nourish it. Amid Christ’s ministry on earth, he instituted a vocation meant to give us hope for the kingdom to come and to bring forth that kingdom with undivided attention: the vocation of singleness.
The Ascetic Fetish
Christian celibacy is a tragically misunderstood concept. Depictions of kingdom singleness, from Renaissance paintings to modern television shows, often misrepresent Christ's invitation and early Church practices, tempting some ordinary Christians to ignore their calling and others to indulge in a caricature of the vocation of Jesus. These thoughts swirled through my mind as I took up an invitation to spend a holiday weekend at a friend’s house in the land of 1000 lakes…
Building Committed Christian Community
My hope for the Church is that gay celibate Christians would find real family. What kind of family are we all made for? How can vocational singles, regardless of sexual orientation, build the permanent family they need?
Reframing Our Sermons on Sexuality
What if sexuality sermons centered how God made all of us for intimacy in the context of family instead of focusing on marriage and sex? I recently had the opportunity to write for Outreach Magazine about framing conversation in terms of "sexual stewardship".
Faithful Christian Marriages Evangelize
As we celebrate Valentine’s Day nears, I reflect on the meaning of Christian marriage by recalling my toast at my brother’s recent wedding. The toast begins with some personal notes and focuses on the hope-giving nature of Christian marriage at 3:05 in the video.