The Importance of Motivation: Fourth in a Series

From the Inside-Out

I’ve written about this before on this blog, but it may well be worth repeating. For anyone who is seeking to learn more about their attractions to the same gender, or if they are having questions about their gender identity, the key factor for benefiting from any kind of counseling is their own motivation. If you go to counseling to appease someone else – a parent or guardian or someone else you look up to, or if you go because you want to be “normal,” or to find some kind of trick that will instantly make these feelings or desires or questions go away – you will likely not find counseling helpful.

Every reputable individual offering counseling – whether they are a professional counselor or spiritual leader – will know and understand this. It is a basic truth which applies to all kinds of therapy for all kinds of reasons – if an individual does not want to be there, counseling is not likely to succeed. We cannot force someone into making decisions about their spirituality or sexuality or gender, nor should we attempt to. A good counselor will ask someone about their motivations or reasons for coming to them and start there.

So what are some examples of good motivations? Curiosity – honestly wanting to learn more about yourself, what you’re experiencing, and how that relates to your faith. Or, perhaps if you already have a good understanding of your faith, wanting to learn about how to navigate life with these desires and feelings in a way that is consistent with your beliefs. Seeking contentment, peace, understanding, practical help for building good relationships with others – these are all excellent motivations.

From the Outside-In

Years ago I wrote to a network ministry organization about what outreach to young people who were struggling with same-gender attractions could look like. I suggested that counseling for parents who come with concerns about their children be mandatory, and optional for the youth. The reason was due to the primary importance of one’s own internal motivation in benefitting from any kind of counseling. It is far too common for parents to want to try to do something to get their child through or past this experience before their child really has a grasp of what it is they are experiencing. And parents will need support over the long haul in learning how to wrestle with their own temptations to control others, over their own fears and grief, and in coming to a place where they can love their child right where they are, instead of always pushing them to be someone they want them to be.

We cannot force someone to want to seek to reconcile their faith and their attractions or view of gender. Although God can give us the will to want to do so…we read about this in Ezekiel chapter 36, verses 25-27:

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them.”

It has always blown me away that the Lord will stoop so low as to move us to love Him and to follow Him. But He will do even this, and we can pray for ourselves and for those around us to be so moved by Him. Recently, I read an article by Francis Chan about his concern for his high school friend who did not know the Lord. Every time his friend would come to mind, Francis would pray for him.

Apart from God’s working, our begging someone to see the beauty of Christ is as pointless as begging a blind man to enjoy the beauty of a sunset. Do we direct our begging, first and foremost, to God?

Jesus tells us the parable about a persistent widow to remind us that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). There is tremendous power in perseverant prayer. God is not like us; he is not bothered by his children asking for the same thing over and over. He is pleased by the faith demonstrated when we pray and pray for someone to be saved.

When I love particular people deeply, it’s natural to persistently pray for them. I think it would actually require more effort to refrain from praying for them. My best friend in college decided that he didn’t want to follow Jesus. It broke my heart. Ken and I went our separate ways, and our lives went in opposite directions. I never stopped praying for him though — I couldn’t. Whenever Ken’s name would pop into my mind, prayer was my natural reflex.*

God can and does pull people to Him who are in the midst of living in same-gendered relationships in all kinds of circumstances…

A self-identified gay activist in a random conversation at a coffee shop.

A tenured Professor of English with a specialization in queer theory at Syracuse Univ., researching for her book critiquing the Religious Right who was invited to dinner at a pastor’s home.

A woman in a lesbian relationship while watching TV on her sofa at home.

A woman who identified as a lesbian playing softball on a church team.**

I know of examples of people whose lives were falling apart, caught up in alcohol or drug abuse or heartbroken after their same-gendered relationships had broken up – and of people whose lives seemed to have all come together in the gay relationship of their dreams, yet who felt empty inside. It doesn’t matter what your life is like…it’s possible for God to reach in and move you to leave everything behind as a result of the love of Christ.

We can walk alongside another person as they learn and make decisions about their own lives. We can be encouraging, supportive and loving, but we cannot make those decisions for them. External factors can impact our internal motivation – having someone willing to listen and be there with you in friendship and love can mean a great deal. Let us learn to reflexively pray and ask God to move our own hearts and the hearts of those around us toward Him.

 

* https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/no-soul-is-too-far-gone

** Respectively:

David Bennett: https://www.eternitynews.com.au/good-news/a-gay-rights-activist-leaves-his-old-life-behind/

Rosaria Butterfield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KbOAXxz77w

Jackie Hill Perry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=ZLAe_JBvVwg

Christine Sneeringer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPmeR28UfWY

 

Keeping Sin in Perspective

This post by Matt Moore was timely in the wake of Kim Burrell’s statements earlier this week. Matt shares his thoughts on feeling that homosexuality was somehow different than any other sin, and how that mindset can undermine the potential for growth in one’s relationship to Jesus:

http://www.moorematt.org/not-an-anomaly/

Single and Secure

http://www.moorematt.org/a-healthy-independence/

Another insightful post by Matt Moore, this time on living as a single follower of Christ.  It reminded me of several times when the Lord made His love for me and His understanding of me as an individual known as I was living as a single person.  (He’s done the same after I’ve been married, actually, in different ways…)  God will always meet us where we are, and investing in our relationship with Him always pays off.

 

10 Truths

Matt Moore writes an encouraging post on his blog, sharing 10 truths that those struggling with same-sex attraction would do well to keep in mind:

http://www.moorematt.org/10-empowering-truths-for-the-same-sex-attracted-christian/

These truths actually apply to anyone struggling with chronic temptations, so feel free to pass his post along!

A Good Word from Across the Sea

We all know that just about anything spoken in English sounds better when spoken with a British accent.  Especially when it’s a good word from a brother in Christ.  Actually quite a few good words.

Living Out is an outreach listed on the resources tab, and I’ve appreciated the work that they are doing across the sea.  Here is a talk worth listening to:

You Are Not Your Sexuality

Letter from Jackie Hill Perry

My thanks to Jackie Hill Perry for her honest and open letter…

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/love-letter-to-a-lesbian

“The struggle with homosexuality is a battle of faith. Is God my joy? Is he good enough? Or am I still looking to broken cisterns to quench a thirst only he can satisfy? That is the battle. It is for me, and it is for you.” ~ Jackie Hill Perry

 

What is Reparative Therapy?

There is a great deal of misunderstanding of what Reparative Therapy is. For some, it means any attempt to counsel someone who is seeking a path away from same-sex attraction, whether that may lead to celibacy or a change in orientation with the potential for marriage. Others understand that it is actually a specific theory of the causation of homosexuality and a way to repair what is thought to be a mis-directed drive of sexual attraction.

The following is an article that gives a good description of this particular type of counseling:

http://www.biblicalcounseling.com/blog/what-wrong-with-reparative-therapy

As you can read elsewhere on my blog, (https://sswh.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/elements-of-change-solid-counseling-part-1/ & https://sswh.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/elements-of-change-solid-counseling-part-2/), I am thankful that in the counseling I received, there was not an attempt to pigeon-hole me into one particular type of counseling theory. I agree with Heath Lambert when he points out that not everyone’s life fits into the model that RT uses.

Someone recently asked me what I thought was the “cause” of homosexuality. There may be genetic and hormonal influences, but none which are definitive. (See the research which has been done on the sexual orientation of identical twins, as one example.) And there are influences in our environment, and none of those are definitive, either. (Not everyone who has been through sexual abuse as a child goes on to have same-sex attractions, for example.)

I believe that our sexuality and our sexual orientation is complex, and currently remains a mystery. In answer to the question of what is the “cause” of homosexuality, my reply is to point to the stars, and say that the factors are as numerous as they are.

I do find that Mr. Lambert’s critique falls short in that it is not too difficult to apply Biblical principals to the track that RT takes. I am glad that he does remember to mention that RT may well be helpful for some who have had the kind of upbringing that fits into this particular model.

There has been a movement to make any type of counseling for those seeking to leave homosexuality behind illegal. That is such an absurd idea to me – until I remember that so many people have bought into the line of thought that this kind of counseling is always damaging to individuals with same-sex attractions. This is part of the reason why it is important for those of us who have experienced a fluidity in our orientation – who have noted significant, sustainable change – to speak up and let our stories be known.

Inside the Outside

“I write to discover what I know.”

~ Flannery O’Conner

 

Body Image

We were warming up before practice, and I was in the layup line…”Catch the ball, dribble with two steps and shoot….Good!” I swung around under the basket to catch my teammate’s shot and tossed it back over to the next girl in line.

“Hey! Come over here!”

“Sure coach.”

“Your form is good…your aim is fine…but…why are you taking off for your layup at the top of the key?”

“Uh, um, uh…”

“Yeah – try dribbling a bit closer to the basket next time – take off at one of the last hashmarks. Got it?”

“Yeah – sure coach.”

I didn’t have the nerve to tell her that the reason why I was taking off at the top of the key was because I thought I was Dr. J….I thought I could fly.

Body image – it is the way that one thinks about / sees one’s own body. For many years, mine was a bit off. I didn’t look a lick like Dr. J., but I just went off into pilot mode on the basketball court, and, as my coach noticed, it looked rather comical. Earlier in life, it was my dream to be the first female pitcher in the majors…and then I stopped growing. Obviously, my body image was quite tied up with my love of sports. When someone mistook me for a boy, I would think it was so cool because I took it as a compliment to my fine soccer skills. The fact that I was simply standing still at an airport or restaurant with no reference to my participation in any athletic activity somehow escaped my pre-teen mind.

I also liked to wear clothing that was large – I would wear things in a size 8 or 10, when in reality, I was a petite size 4. Many women would kill to be in a petite size 4. It never even dawned on me to try shopping in the petite section until about five years after I’d finished graduate school – I’d always thought that those clothes were for girls far smaller than I was.

Envy / Admiration

“Well the other side of the world

Is not so far away as I thought that it was

As I thought that it was so far away”

~ Rich Mullins, The Other Side of the World

Along with this inaccurate image of my own body came matters of personal style and taste. Basically, I loved men’s clothes, and couldn’t stand women’s…I had a very hard time finding things to suit my preference in the girl’s department. No frills, lace or glittery fabric, no pink, no low collars, sleeves had to be wide enough to cover a bra strap, and I couldn’t bear wearing dresses, hose or shoes with heels. It drove my mother up the wall, and as she was the one buying my clothes, I had to search to find things that passed her own style and taste tests. Shopping for clothes was always a hassle.

I would find myself longingly going over the latest L.L. Bean offerings – wishing I could get into the flannels, chamois, heather sweaters and vests the men were wearing by beautiful mountains and rivers, and flipping past the weak pink-checked patterns in the women’s section of their catalogs.

Earlier this year, I came across this quote by Jeanette Howard on her blog:

In order to address my Gender Dysphoria I had to, irrespective of how I felt, create a framework based on what God says such as God chose me to be female and He says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139). By creating a framework of truth and choosing to remain in that structure I could address my false beliefs and broken responses. This painful process has taken years and even now I can find myself envying a fit male body rather than appreciating it or being attracted to it.

~ Jeanette Howard http://bethanylifeministries.org.uk/50-shades-gender-identity-part-2/

That last sentence jumped out at me – “…envying a fit male body rather than appreciating it or being attracted to it.” That was my mindset for many, many years. About a month ago I was watching a video of Alice Von Hildebrand* being interviewed by Eric Metaxas, as she was talking about men and women. At one point she said that the proper response of a man to a woman is enchantment, and that of a woman, “when seeing a man worthy of being called a man” is admiration. (Video link is at the end of this post.**)

When I heard that, the thought struck me – how there is such a subtle difference between envy of men and that potentially God-driven, femininely instinctive admiration of them. That is a much more subtle line to be crossed than the large gap which I used to feel existed between my reactions to men and the reactions of ever-straight / gender-identity conforming women around me to the men they knew. I was envious of the strength and freedom that I thought masculinity had cornered the market on.

I had not as yet discovered the strength that exists in mercy (see this described in my post on this blog entitled “Gender Identity III”***). I was taking a narrow-minded view of what it meant to be a woman – that girlishness was weakness – and applied that to who I saw in the mirror, and that carried over into my choice of clothing.

Clothes

Tirian suddenly felt awkward about coming among these people with the blood and dust and sweat of battle still on him. Next moment he realized that he was not in that state at all. He was fresh and cool and clean, and dressed in such clothes as he would have worn for a great feast at Cir Paravel. (But in Narnia your good clothes were never your uncomfortable ones. They knew how to make things that felt beautiful as well as looking good in Narnia: and there was no such thing as starch or flannel or elastic to be found from one end of the country to the other.)

~ C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Reading this paragraph reminds me of how well Lewis remembered his youth, and was able to take those memories and deftly weave them into his series of children’s books. It also seems like a bit of heaven – to have your “good clothes” feel as beautiful as they look. (I’ve found that to be a great measure of quality now when I’m trying something on – if I’m tugging, scratching, or compromising my posture in order to feel comfortable in it in a dressing room, it goes back on the rack.)

I started this post with a quote by Flannery O’Conner: “I write to discover what I know.” And that is certainly true in this attempt to look back on why and how I changed my personal dress code. It’s been hard to piece together exactly what I was thinking when – I’m mostly sorting through impressions, with a few specific memories. Again, I’d like to emphasize that these posts are more reflective than any type of attempt to be instructive. There was a lot of internal work that the Lord was subtly doing in my life which no one could see, and some of which I can only trace by looking back over the years.

Returning to clothing – I had been thinking through all the musings that were mentioned in the first three posts in this series on Gender Identity, and at some point things came together and started making sense. I remember one day getting ready for church – I knew the sermon was going to be on Ephesians 5:21-33, and I was preparing for what I thought was going to be a condescending teaching towards women. I put on a blazer (with huge shoulder pads), and also consciously recognized the attitude of defensiveness that I put on with it. I shrugged off the sense that something was askew, and carried my tough-girl mindset all the way to the service.

But the sermon that day wasn’t in any way condescending. It was the best treatment of the passage I’d ever heard. Our pastor truly had a servant’s heart, and loved his wife dearly. I learned more about how a man who is enchanted by the woman he cares about thinks and acts. As I remembered my mindset when I’d put on my blazer that morning, I realized it was totally unnecessary – there was nothing here to fight or defend myself against. The real, true love that the Lord has for me was breaking through, and I found it was a good and solid place to stand.

So I started paying attention to the attitude I was carrying when I wore certain clothes – and started phasing them out of my wardrobe, because I didn’t need them anymore.

Eventually I started to see (I can’t remember exactly how) that I was a petite young lady, and the clothes in smaller sizes actually fit me. This led me to look around at my friends who were the same size and make comparisons – in a good way.

I was actually in the REI store in Atlanta one day and saw a cute skirt and vest on display. I thought, “Hey, that outfit would look great on my friend, E.” And I breezed on past to the camping gear. About 20 steps later it hit me – and I turned back to the display to check out my new hypothesis – “You know, E. is about the same height and weight that I am, and that outfit might actually look OK on me.”

I tried it on, and I thought it looked right smart. I walked out of there with several hundred dollars worth of new clothes – mostly items I would never had dreamed of even trying on before that day. (For those who don’t know, REI stands for “Recreational Equipment Inc.” – it’s very much like L.L. Bean. Outdoor retailers had finally caught up with the fact that women enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, climbing and such, and most brands had a good selection of women’s clothing at that point. It was an accessible place for me to shop!)

So having the right image of my actual shape and size, and some friends around me who dressed in a sporty-feminine way, made a big difference. I couldn’t find any famous fashion icons whom I could follow, so I created my own style – I called it “Semi-Fru” – not “Fru-Fru,” nor “Un-Fru,” but somewhere in between. I tried new things – usually a few years behind whatever had been trendy, but it took time for me to get my courage up, and to see myself in a new way. I looked for classic pieces that I could mix and match with other things – suddenly, shopping became more fun. I still did not go for frills, lace, glitter, or pink, and to this day won’t wear anything higher than a kitten heel. But it was an adventure finding things that fit my new mindset.

Colors

One other thing that made a difference for me in choosing clothing was learning about what colors worked for my skin tone. I didn’t learn about this until after I had spent that huge amount on clothes at the REI, that were actually not in the best shades for me. (Argh!)

For some time it was hard for me to get what people were talking about. “ having your colors done” was all the buzz for a while, and I didn’t know what they meant. At some point I stumbled across this web site, and it really helped me make sense of it all:

http://www.truth-is-beauty.com/

I remembered getting compliments while wearing clothes with “jewel tones” – a royal blue shirt, or emerald green sweater – regardless of the style, it was a “that color looks good on you” scenario. Looking at the photos of various familiar famous faces on this web site and comparing the written notes to the colors of their skin tones was a great help. (They also have a great FAQ page: http://www.truth-is-beauty.com/faq.html.)

Now, when I’m looking through catalogs I gravitate towards the women’s clothing, thinking through what colors would work best on me, and what looks most comfortable and what fabrics are easiest to care for. I don’t always stick by the “jewel tones” rule, if there is something that looks fun and feels great when I put it on, I’ll get it, even if it’s not the best shade. I’m no longer a petite 4, by any means, but I don’t wear things several sizes too large any more. It’s also been very helpful to have some friends who are twin sisters in the same size I am share their hand-me-downs! They have different styles – one I would say is more sporty and the other more urban. It’s given me a chance to experiment with some great things (i.e. – a beautiful short-sleeved angora sweater and a kickin’ pair of patterned capris) for free.

A few years ago I was in a women’s bicycling club that would get together once or twice a year for a “clothing swap.” It was a fantastic idea – we were all into a variety of sports, and had pieces of performance wear or just plain shirts or jeans that we wanted to rotate out of our closets. So we gathered at someone’s home and laid everything out for the rest of the group to sort through and try on. It was a blast! Everyone was looking out for one another – someone would pick up a shirt and catch the attention of another girl across the room, “Hey, J. – this looks like it would be perfect on you!” I snagged a couple of things for friends who I knew were smaller than me who would get a lot of use out of them. One girl in particular, R., for some reason was able to fit into every pair of jeans she tried on – and they looked great. By the time the night was over she took home 12 pairs. We all hated her. (Just kidding! It was really funny that she hit the “jeans jackpot.”)

It was another fun way to have a clothing adventure. And such a healthy atmosphere for women who wanted to see someone else enjoying what they were wearing. Some of my favorite pieces that I have now came from those swaps.

I hope that some of these reflections and thoughts will spur you on to pray and think through your own clothing adventures!

*http://www.socratesinthecity.com/speakers/alice-von-hildebrand

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKFvvufS8lo&feature=em-subs_digest

*** https://sswh.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/gender-identity-iii/

Change in Orientation in Australia

Just heard this story of a couple in Australia that I think is worth listening to:

http://focusonthefamilyaustralia.sermon.tv/main/main/9575636

Did God Really Say?

I think I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post that I was fortunate to not attend a church that preached abusively regarding homosexuality.  In fact, I had never heard the subject brought up in church at all.  And it was a good thing, in a way – I’d still prefer to hear nothing over some of the horrible teachings that I’ve heard others had to sit under.  But better yet would have been hearing the truth taught in love…

As it was, when I became more aware of my same-sex attractions, and wondered what the Lord thought about it, I had to learn on my own.

This will be the introduction in a series of posts on what the Lord tells us in His Word.  This is what I have learned – I encourage you – implore you – to take some time to read more on your own!

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  Acts 17:11

I attended a small home church called Berea, which took it’s name from the verse above.  Everyone there was encouraged to ask questions at the end of each sermon about what was being taught.  (Really, you could approach the pastor at any time, but he made a point of opening up the floor for questions, as it were, at the end of each service.)  I thought it was a bold and humble approach to teaching.  God wants us to be real with Him, and it’s a good thing to have an investigative mindset regarding what we may be listening to.  It is good to own your faith – to know why you believe what you believe.

One other point before we go further…  When I was looking through the Scriptures on my own, I came at it knowing that it was possible that I would not like at all what I would find there.  I wanted to come across re-assurances that everything would be OK, that I could just find a new way of working out my desires without having to make any major changes…but I also wanted to know the truth.

I had to ask myself:  Am I willing to put all my earthly loves at His feet, and ask Him what He would have me do with them?  If the Lord says it’s not OK to move in this direction, am I willing to press on with Him leading, or am I going to choose to drop God on the curb and do my own thing?

“Do I have the courage to face the truth, either way?”

~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert

What are you looking for in your own investigation of the Scriptures?  Do you want to know what God really says, or are you looking for support for the answers you’ve already settled on for yourself?  It’s hard to be open to things we might not really want to hear, to learn what we might not really want to know.  But for those who would like to live a life of integrity, it can make all the difference.

Starting Point

First, let’s step back and look at what the Scriptures are, and what I mean when I’m writing about the Word of God.

After hearing her speak at a banquet last month, I picked up a copy of Rosaria Champagne Butterfield’s book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert.   Although short (148 pages), I’ve been struck by it’s density.  It’s the story of her life as a tenured professor at Syracuse University English Department, where she and her female partner did a great deal for the GLBT community.  Early in the first chapter she writes, “I believed then and I believe now that where everybody thinks the same nobody thinks very much.”  (A concept I just saw repeated this morning when I read an essay by CS Lewis that will be in next week’s blog post.)

Rosaria had “drafted and lobbied for the university’s first successful domestic partnership policy,” and was the faculty advisor for the campus GLBT undergrad student group.  She was in the midst of writing a book “on the rise of the Religious Right in America, and the hermeneutic of hatred that the Religious Right uses against their favorite target…people like me.”  She had written an article critical of the Promise Keepers that was posted in the local newspaper when she received a letter from a pastor:

He didn’t argue with my article; he asked me to explore and defend the presuppositions that undergirded it.

…Ken’s letter made me confront the presuppositional problem of my research:  as an intellectual, I was working from a historical materialist worldview, but Christianity was essentially a supernatural worldview.

…I had never thought about presuppositional questions that were supernatural or spiritual in nature, and yet here I was embarking in a writing project that made me confront this worldview-divide.  Pastor Ken’s letter punctured the integrity of my research project without him even knowing it!

…It takes spiritual eyes to discern spiritual matters.”

~ Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert

I’m hoping in this post to invite you to look at questions of faith from a spiritual point of view.  To pick up and read the Bible in a different way – as Pastor Ken did in writing that letter to Rosaria, asking her questions about what she had assumed to be true.

The Bible is the Book of Books – Genesis to Revelation, Old and New Testaments.  It was written by many different people, but has only one Author.  The words in it are inspired, “God-breathed”(II Timothy 3:16-17), and contain what the Lord wants us to know about Himself and who we are. It contains poetry, narrative, history, letters and lists.  You’ll rarely if ever see or hear me use the phrase, “the Bible says…”  The Bible doesn’t “say” anything – the Lord, however, does teach us through His Word.  You can engage the Author and ask God to help you understand what you’re reading.

I’ve been involved in extended debates on my Facebook page and elsewhere regarding the question of the reliability of Scripture, as well as questions regarding authorship, how the canon came to be, etc.  I’ve done hours of research from a variety of resources with as open a mind as I could muster, and have found my peace with the authority that comes through these written words.

If you have questions concerning any of these issues regarding what Scripture is and how it came to be, I do ask you to take some time to look into these matters further.  I’m not planning to get involved in debating these things on this blog, as I’d rather spend time on what has been written in the content of the Bible itself.

There is a very good compilation of information on a website which I’ve mentioned under the “Resources” tab of this blog, which a librarian named J.P. Holding has put together.  These are the links for questions about the NT and OT:

New Testament http://www.tektonics.org/nthub.html

Old Testament http://www.tektonics.org/othub.html

Of course there is a ton of other information that you can look into on the internet, and in your local or university system library.  Feel free to dig in and learn as you wish.  I’ve just found that there is a wide variety of issues covered on the Tektonics website and I appreciate the convenience of at least getting started there.

In the next post I hope to start getting into the actual content of Scripture as it relates to our sexuality.