For Freedom

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What I do:

• I DO provide confidential consultation, coaching, and teaching with LGBTQ+ adults and/or their families regarding same sex attraction.
• I DO offer confidential customized consultation, coaching, and teaching for pastors, congregations, and other Christian groups who are interested in improving their ministry to LGBTQ+ individuals.
• I DO suggest up-to-date resources and tools for effective discipleship and community.

What I DON’T do:

• I DON’T provide consultation related to reorientation (conversion) therapy.
• I DON’T provide psychotherapy or make referrals.
• I DON’T replace the pastoral work of existing churches and their ministries.
• I DON’T lobby for or against political causes.
• I DON’T debate positions on sexuality and same sex attraction.

Read my statement on conversion therapy.

What I believe:

1. God created the heavens and the earth and proclaimed them good (Genesis 1). However, all human beings have fallen short of God’s goodness for their lives and are in need of salvation through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God’s only-begotten son. There is no way to the Father except by Christ. Salvation is by faith. One of the manifestations of faith is cooperation with the work of God’s Holy Spirit, who guides us to greater love, greater compassion, and greater Christlikeness.
2. Our identity is in Jesus Christ only.
3. Scripture is breathed by God’s Holy Spirit and enlivens the hearts of believers.
4. God created two sexes, male and female, and offered a plan for both to exist in purity. Marriage is a holy union of one male and one female.
5. God desires sexual wholeness for all people. Sexual wholeness is defined as either faithfulness in heterosexual marriage or chastity in singleness. 
6. All sexual activity outside the bond of heterosexual marriage is what is referred to broadly in Scripture as “sexual immorality.” Sexual immorality is a distortion of human sexuality. It is not worse than any other sin, nor is it simply a fact of human existence. The believer is fully capable of abandoning sexual immorality, which includes things like fornication (sex before marriage), adultery (sex outside of marriage), lust (indulgent desire), and sexual activitity between persons of the same sex. Sexual activity between persons of the same sex cannot be redeemed (valued as right or holy in God’s eyes) by a covenant of marriage, since no such covenant between same-sex persons can exist.
7. Sexual immorality is forgivable. A person who struggles with sexual sin will find that sexual wholeness comes only through God’s grace through Christ, which is sufficient to bring restoration both in the short term and over the course of the believer’s life.
8. Some people experience attraction to persons of the same sex. Of these, some may seek to change their attraction through prayer or therapy. I believe that God is able and willing to work in the life of the same sex attracted believer; therefore, I do not believe that individuals should feel pressured to change their attraction. On the contrary, I find so-called reorientation therapies and interventions to be generally discouraging and even harmful.
9. For many believers, same sex attraction is a call to celibacy (abstention from sex) before God. Other believers may feel called to marry a person of the opposite sex, but such marriage may be unrealistic and should be undertaken prudently and openly. Whatever the case, sexual wholeness for the same sex attracted believer does not require conversion to heterosexuality, but rather a lifelong strengthening in sexual purity before God.
10. Homophobia, which is rejection or outright hatred directed toward persons attracted to the same sex, is contrary to Christ’s teaching about loving one’s neighbor.
11. Believers can experience full, enriching lives whether they are married or unmarried. Christian community, assembly for worship, service to family, service to the less fortunate, service to God’s creation, and mutually edifying friendships are all key to living a rich and joyful life.
12. While I accept that some Christians hold a different view on same-sex-attraction, marriage, and sexual immorality, I believe that scripture is clear on these matters and that we cannot simply “agree to disagree.” That said, I hold to this doctrinal position without judging or disparaging the walk of Christians (or unbelievers) who disagree with me.