“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?

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Marriage is Not the Solution to Untamed Lust

Marriage isn't the solution to untamed lust. Some claim that "better to marry than to burn" in 1 Corinthians 7:9 means that people who find abstinence challenging are automatically called to marriage. That's a common misinterpretation that has particularly hurt mothers and children.

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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?

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How did God call me to vocational singleness?

I went on the Adventures in Theology podcast with Brayden Brookshier to talk about vocational singleness, including how God called me to vocational singleness. By the end of college I had experienced multiple long periods of singleness and studied Jesus & Paul's words about lifetime singleness for the sake of the kingdom…

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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.

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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…

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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?

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Gay Christian Victim Mentality (on the Rick Lee James Podcast)

Help protect gay Christians from victim mentality. I went on the Voices in My Head Podcast with Rick Lee James to talk about faith and sexuality, including the barriers to gay Christian face to thriving according to God's wisdom.

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HOW to discern vocational singleness & Christian marriage

In previous posts we established that Jesus and Paul are particularly commending permanent singleness in Matt 19 and 1 Cor 7. Later we explained WHY every Christian young adult should open-handedly discern between vocational singleness and Christian marriage, seeking God's preference for each of our lives. But HOW can we discern?

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Does vocational singleness reflect the Trinity?

I joined Vanderbilt Medical Christian Fellowship for a conversation about intimacy needs and vocational singleness. We recognized how Christian marriage reflects the complementary, intimate, permanent, life-promoting, sacrificial, and hospitable nature of the God's love. But what about vocational singleness?!

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