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…

Should Christians attend gay weddings? I recently joined Pastor David Hannah for a conversation with parents at the Church at West Franklin, a campus of Brentwood Baptist Church. We fielded lots of questions, including the perennial question about whether Christians should attend gay weddings.

What does idolatry of romance look like? How can Christians respond by right-sizing expectations of marriage, raising expectations of friendship, investing in thicker family in the body of Christ, and offering greater support for vocational singleness?

Tiger King. Schitt's Creek. Perhaps the most popular shows of covid-times tells us something about what we value. Perhaps it reveals that we've suffered from a pandemic of romance idolatry long before masks and vaccines.

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.

Many choose to "come out"—to share with others about their sexual orientation for the first time—during pride month. What does it mean for someone to come out? Why do they come out? And how can Christian respond with God's love and wisdom?

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?

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?!

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".

Why should every Christian young adult open-handedly discern between vocational singleness or Christian marriage? And what about reasonable objections?

I went on the Broken but Beautiful Podcast with JP Conway and Drue Clark to talk about how churches can better support those called to vocational singleness. First, teach what Jesus and Paul actually had to say about a lifetime calling to celibate singleness for the sake of kingdom work with undivided attention…

I went on the Pop Culture Catechism Podcast with Mike Tenney to talk about the romance idolatry in the tv show Schitt's Creek and what Christians can learn from the show.

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.

Can God's wisdom be known? What should we do when God feels absent? I'm grateful for the opportunity to write for "The Living Church" in a more extended way about my evangelical deconstruction and Anglican reconstruction.

Watch this seminar exploring the following questions: How were celibate, childless people marginalized in the Old Testament? What promises were made to childless celibates? How did Jesus fulfill those promises? How might that shape the ways we think about our sexualities today?

Max Thurian’s “Marriage and Celibacy” is my go-to recommendation if reading on Protestant theology of celibacy. Check out this post about his book and an icon recently commissioned of the theologian.

Watch this interview with Lorinda Pretorius (a Christian Sexologist in South Africa and host of the Chasing Something Podcast) where we discuss singleness and intimacy.

Here's 5 reasons why Jesus and Paul *were* particularly talking about permanent singleness. Plus how recognition of this would change our churches.

Watch this video exploring how can churches help those called to vocational singleness thrive with reasonable effort (regardless of sexual orientation).

Listen to this episode of the "Where do we go from here?" podcast where Devi Abraham. Jessica Van Der Wyngaard, and I talk about purity culture and celibacy. The problem with "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and True Love Waits wasn't traditional sexual ethics. It's that purity culture sold Christians the idol of romance.