How can gay christians experience god's favor and blessing in the midst of a struggle that for many brings a crippling sense of shame and guilt? Weaving together reflections from his own life and the lives of other Christians, such as Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hill offers a fresh perspective on these questions.

Is there a place for celibate, holiness, and indwelling sin play out in the life of a Christian experiencing same-sex attraction? And how do brothers and sisters in Christ show love to them? Wesley Hill offers wise counsel that is biblically faithful, gay Christians in the church? * How do the gospel, theologically serious, and oriented to the life and practice of the church.

Zondervan. As a celibate gay christian, hill gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to wrestle firsthand with God's "No" to same-sex sexual intimacy. He advocates neither unqualified "healing" for those who struggle nor accommodation to temptation, but rather faithfulness in the midst of brokenness. What does it mean for gay christians to be faithful to God while struggling with the challenge of their homosexuality? What is God's will for believers who experience same-sex desires? Those who choose celibacy are often left to deal with loneliness and the hunger for relationships.

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Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian

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.

This eloquent book reminds us that Scripture and tradition have a high view of friendship. It is also tenuous--we can end a friendship at any time. He helps us reimagine friendship as a robust form of love that is worthy of honor and attention in communities of faith. But should friendship be so free and unconstrained? Although our culture tends to pay more attention to romantic love, and other forms of community, family, marriage, friendship is a genuine love in its own right.

Friendship is a relationship like no other. This book sets forth a positive calling for celibate gay Christians and suggests practical ways for all Christians to cultivate stronger friendships. Unlike the relationships we are born into, we choose our friends.

The Doctrine of Humanity Contours of Christian Theology

At the end of the twentieth century the forces of race, culture, social status, ethnicity, gender, life-style and sexual preference threaten to disassemble any notion of universal "human nature" or "human condition. In light of this historical moment, the Christian doctrine of human nature is ripe for rethinking and reformulation.

Charles sherlock sees this theological task as demanding a "double focus. To reflect on the subject of human nature, he says, is like "moving around the different areas of an ellipse with two focal points": humans as made in the image of God and the particular realities of human existence. Both must be brought into sharper, more detailed focus in our quest to understand human nature.

The result of sherlock's "double focus" is The Doctrine of Humanity. He offers a timely and engaging look at what it means to be human on the continuum between our creation in the divine image and our recreation in the image of Christ. Sherlock notably engages the communal dimension of humanity in its social, as male and female, creational and cultural aspects before examining the human person as individual, and as whole being.

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Darkness Is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness

Greene-mccreight offers the reader everything from poignant and raw glimpses into the mind of a mentally ill person to practical and forthright advice for their friends, family, and clergy. The first edition has been recognized as one of the finest books on the subject. With brutal honesty, mental hospitals, she tackles often avoided topics such as suicide, and electroconvulsive therapy.

It also includes a new foreword by the current Archbishop of Canterbury and a new afterword by the author. This thoroughly revised edition incorporates updated research and adds anecdotal and pastoral commentary. Where is god in the suffering of a mentally ill person? what happens to the soul when the mind is ill? How are Christians to respond to mental illness? In this brave and compassionate book, theologian and priest Kathryn Greene-McCreight confronts these difficult questions raised by her own mental illness--bipolar disorder.

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Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin

He discusses the parasitic quality of sin and the ironies and pretenses generated by this quality. Even preachers, who once got visibly angry over a congregation's sin, now speak of sin in a mumble. Cornelius plantinga pulls the ancient doctrine of sin out of mothballs and presents it to contemporary readers in clear language, films, drawing from a wide range of books, and other cultural resources.

The awareness of sin used to be our shadow. This timely book retrieves an old awareness that has slipped and changed in recent decades. In smoothly flowing prose Plantinga describes how sin corrupts what is good and how such corruption spreads. Christians hated sin, feared it, fled from it--and grieved over it.

But the shadow of sin has now dimmed in our consciousness. And in an epilogue he reminds us that whatever we say about sin also sharpens our eye for the beauty of grace. He describes two classic "postures" or movements of sin -- attack and flight. He examines the relation of sin to folly and addiction.

Is God anti-gay? Questions Christians Ask

Christians, the church and the Bible seem to be out of step with modern attitudes towards homosexuality. And there is growing hostility towards those who hold a different view. Good Book Co. It's the hot topic of the moment. In this short, simple book, sam allberry wants to help confused Christians understand what God has said about these questions in the scriptures, and offers a positive and liberating way forward through the debate.

So is god homophobic? and what do we say, and how do we relate to to both Christians and non Christians who experience same-sex attraction.

Theological Anthropology Sources of Early Christian Thought

Trade paperback book. The emergence and development of the various forms of theological anthropology in the patristic period. Good Book Co.

What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?

In this timely book, award-winning author kevin deYoung challenges each of us―the skeptic and the seeker, the certain and the confused―to take a humble look at God’s Word regarding the issue of homosexuality. After examining key biblical passages in both the old and new Testaments and the Bible’s overarching teaching regarding sexuality, DeYoung responds to popular objections raised by Christians and non-Christians alike, making this an indispensable resource for thinking through one of the most pressing issues of our day.

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Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity

I'll tell you how i lay on my bed in the middle of the night and whispered to myself the words I've whispered a thousand times since: "I'm gay. I'll show you the world through my eyes. Let's make a deal, you and me. To know that much of my christian family will forever consider me unnatural, dangerous, because of something that feels as involuntary as my eye color.

The whole story. I'll tell you good things too, funny things, hopeful things, like the time I accidentally came out to my best friend during his bachelor party. But i promise my story won't all be sadness and loneliness and struggle. Trade paperback book. Good Book Co. I'll tell you what it felt like the first time someone looked me in the eyes and said, "You are not a mistake.

I'll tell you that joy and sorrow are not opposites, that my life has never been more beautiful than when it was most brokenhearted. I'll tell you what it's like to belong nowhere. In an age where neither society nor the church knows what to do with gay Christians, Greg Coles tells his own story. I'll tell you 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.

Let's make promises to each other.

Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate

In this groundbreaking book, lee recalls the events--his coming out to his parents, eventually, and his in-depth study of the Bible--that led him, his experiences with the "ex-gay" movement, to self-acceptance. Jericho Books. As a teenager and young man, Justin Lee felt deeply torn. But more than just a memoir, torn provides insightful, practical guidance for all committed Christians who wonder how to relate to gay friends or family members--or who struggle with their own sexuality.

Convinced that "in a culture that sees gays and christians as enemies, " Lee demonstrates that people of faith on both sides of the debate can respect, learn from, gay Christians are in a unique position to bring peace, and love one another. But lee harbored a secret: He also knew that he was gay. Nicknamed "god boy" by his peers, he knew that he was called to a life in the evangelical Christian ministry.

Good Book Co. Trade paperback book.

Exploring Christian Theology: Creation, Fall, and Salvation

For each topic you'll find· an introduction, overview, and review of the key points· several applicable Bible texts, including verses to memorize· A quick-paced history of the doctrine· Distortions to be aware of and avoid· Reading lists for further study· A glossary of theological terms"Exploring Christian Theology is a wonderful doctrinal primer that teaches theology in a way that will engage you and cause you to reflect.

They want readers to know why they're important and why they matter. Jericho Books. A great way to get acquainted with key biblical theological themes. Darrell bock, senior research Professor, Dallas Theological Seminary Good Book Co. This volume includes two parts:· from dust to dust: creation, humanity, and saving graceThe authors explore these important topics in a concise and highly readable style that makes sense--whether you're a student of the Bible, Atonement, and the Fall · Wise Unto Salvation: Gospel, a pastor, or someone who simply wants to know God better.

Trade paperback book. The foundations of theology in everyday LanguageDallas Seminary professors Nathan Holsteen and Michael Svigel are passionate about the key doctrines of Christianity. Bethany House Publishers.