The APA (American Psychiatric Association) has recently changed their stance on homosexuality.  This article was posted on :

The attempt to prove that homosexuality is determined biologically has been dealt a knockout punch. An American Psychological Association publication includes an admission that there’s no homosexual “gene” — meaning it’s not likely that homosexuals are born that way.

For decades, the APA has not considered homosexuality a psychological disorder, while other professionals in the field consider it to be a “gender-identity” problem. But the new statement, which appears in a brochure called “Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality,” states the following:

“There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles….”

That contrasts with the APA’s statement in 1998: “There is considerable recent evidence to suggest that biology, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person’s sexuality.”

With this admission that their former stance was wrong, will the APA respond differently to the stories of many people who have found freedom from a homosexual identity?  Hopefully this will be an open door for dialogue and respectful conversation on this topic.  The APA’s stance, whether it be embracing the gay gene theory or offering the possibility of change from a homosexual identity, has no bearing on my own beliefs.  No institution can discredit the fact that God has done a significant change in me.  He is the bearer of change in my life.  But, this is a great step in perhaps reducing the discrediting and judgmental attitudes many in the psychiatric world have against organizations such as Exodus.

It’s good to see the APA admitting the truth of our experiences.

While you are preparing for Day of Truth and learning more about how to minister and effectively reach gay-identified peers, remember you have a resource much greater than any materials you read.  The Holy Spirit is always present and He goes before you in all endeavors.  Trust His leading and presence when you begin to share the message of freedom to your peers.  He can and will do far greater things than you alone can do!

Knowing the Holy Spirit is present and active when you share your stories, compassion, and the truth, can reduce any stress or fear you have.  This no longer is about what you can do.  Realizing the Holy Spirit is active allows you to step back and allow Him to move.  Sharing on the Day of Truth then becomes what the Holy Spirit can do in and through you.  You don’t have to change people.  You can trust the Lord to use the message of truth you share to impact your peers in His way and in His time.

There’s a familiar saying that I think is important to remember:  You must catch the fish first before you can clean it.  So many people think that homosexuals have to change before they step foot into church – Jesus never demonstrated that.  He never demanded the broken to change before coming to Him.  He knew their need – it was Christ, himself.  He invited them to come to Him and through that interaction He propelled change in their lives. That’s the way it is with our gay friends!  We bring them to Jesus, and then He sets the work of transformation in their lives in His own timing.

Our duty is to meet them right where they are, walk with them, and encourage them.  We can’t be the Holy Spirit in their lives.  But we can be friends who speak truth in love and trust Christ to do the healing work.  He’s the only one who can.  Believing the power of the Holy Spirit will greatly impact how you relate.  Knowing you don’t have to do it all on your own provides a huge relief.  You can allow the Holy Spirit to work and you will begin to see that He isn’t only changing your friend’s life, but you too are being changed in the process.

You’ll find that you aren’t the only one to be an impact in your friend’s life.  When I was in the early stages of walking free from a homosexual identity I didn’t think I could offer anything.  People could pour into me, but there wasn’t anything in me to pour out into others.  But as relationships grew and strengthened I found that my friend was being poured into as well.  We were both being blessed and changed through our friendship.  One friend even began to share his struggles more openly with another friend and me because I had been so vulnerable with my struggle with homosexuality.  So be open and willing to receive whatever the Lord has for you through any relationships that may come about.

We are all on a journey.  Some of us are just a few steps ahead of others.  Some actually have a heading, while others are still lost and wandering with no direction.  We, as Christians, have direction and we are to find the wanderers and point them to our heading – Christ. No matter if we are maturing Christians, new Christians, or ones that have not yet found Christ, God has some growing to do in all of us.  He’ll begin to transform your struggling, gay-identified friend, but don’t miss out on the change He wants to do in your life too!

Though it would be great to have a peaceful and civil Day of Truth event, many times that just isn’t the case.  You may well know that schools are becoming more and more biased when it comes to homosexual issues.  Homosexual propaganda is seeping into classroom lectures, and teachers and administrators alike are enforcing one-sided rhetoric.  By standing up for what you believe in and sharing the truth you will most likely experience some form of opposition.

I’ve heard countless stories from students who have participated in previous Day of Truth events that paint a rather harsh picture.  Students have been criticized and humiliated in front of their classmates by teachers – teachers who have fallen prey to pro-gay rhetoric and have lost understanding of what tolerance truly means.  Depending on your school atmosphere, you may very well experience the same kind of condemnation, anger, and judgment.  How will you handle the guards that may be thrown up to counteract your message, or the offensive attacks that may pop up when you participate?

Experiencing pressure and personal attack because you want to dialogue and share your own beliefs on homosexuality can be discouraging and even scary.  It can be difficult to stand up for a belief that is constantly pounded by waves of skepticism, anger, and ideology that what you believe is a load of crock.  When facing such negative feedback, it’s important to keep everything in perspective.  There are some important things to remember if and when you experience resistance to your desire to dialogue and share counter-culture truths.

Don’t take the attack personally.  This can be so hard to do.  Our emotions and identity can be hindered if we allow what other people say to have power over us.  When you speak truth, the world is not going to understand or easily swallow it.  There will always be opposition to the truth. You’ll probably even experience some hatred.  Christ tells us that if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Him first.  He has chosen you out of the world and that is why the world hates you (John 14:18-19).

By living out of the reality that we are in Christ, this separates us from the world.  We experience opposition because we walk in the Truth and the world pulls so far against the Truth.  If the world hated Christ, it certainly will hate those who proclaim Him.  So don’t take it personally.  Be confident in your identity in Christ.  He is the one who called you and He is the one who will protect you.  Know that He has your back and rejoices in the fact that you are trusting in His favor, strength, and wisdom in sharing the gospel message with students who desperately need Him!

Remember whom you are fighting for and against.  We are all guilty of being competitive sometimes in our lives.  It seems to be our natural tendency to become defensive and argue for the sake of being right when someone attacks our views.  Remember the Day of Truth is not about arguing, even if it’s tempting to prove classmates or teachers wrong who criticize you.  On DoT, and hopefully the many days after, you are fighting for the very people who may be judging you.  The reason you participate in this event is to fight for the freedom that Christ offers to those in your schools who are gay-identified or are struggling in secrecy.

Fighting for their freedom means promoting respectful dialogue and conversation.  If someone tries to argue with you, “It is honorable to refrain from strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel” (Proverbs 20:3).  Though some people may not be willing to respectfully dialogue and may become abrasive, don’t give into quarreling.  You want to reach and minister to people, not turn them away.  There may be instances where you must stand your ground and confront a person who is going too far with criticism.  But don’t fall prey to arguing just to prove your rightness. Keep persevering and fighting the good fight.  After all, you’re not trying to win an argument, but win souls.  Look past the anger and see the person that God loves very much.

While you fight for those who may be coming against you, remember you are fighting against something far greater than flesh and blood. “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11-12).  It’s hard to do sometimes, especially when you are in the midst of crossfire, but keep a Kingdom perspective.  While it seems you may be fighting against gay-identified students and those who support homosexuality, you really aren’t.  There is a dark force at work in the world, and you are bringing the Truth to combat the schemes of the true enemy.  Keeping this perspective can help you with any situation you may face when a fellow student or teacher attacks your message.

Know that it’s worth it! Hopefully the reality of what some students face on the Day of Truth is not a discouragement for you. This can be a heated topic to address with others, but it is paramount to begin these discussions with your peers.  I was a struggling teenager who desperately needed to hear the redemptive side of homosexuality.  The persecution you may face will be well worth it if only a few seeds are planted, even if you never see the final results of a life forever changed.  You may just reach that one struggling student who is starving for a better answer to his homosexual feelings.

Your perseverance and boldness in proclaiming the truth will impact your school and your witness.  Be encouraged to know that God is behind you and is rooting for you.  He will bless your courageous acts in ways that you may not ever see.  You will not only be sharing the freedom and hope in Christ, but also advancing the Kingdom – and that is huge!  Know that participating in the Day of Truth you are making a great impact for the King and the Kingdom.  Realizing that, makes it all worth it!  2 Corinthians 4:8-10 states, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.”  We are the visible representation of Christ and will make Him known through our own humiliation at times.  So, be encouraged knowing that you are sharing a life-changing, life-giving, message.

With so much misinformation in the media today about homosexuality, it’s no wonder that those seeking to leave homosexuality are faced with so much misunderstanding. A popular theory in pop culture today seems to be that a person with same gender attractions would naturally accept and live happily with their sexuality was it not for bigoted, narrow-minded homophobes who constantly make life impossible for gay men and women. That if only society would cease being so intolerant, everyone would be at peace with whatever sexuality they developed and just live without giving it any thought…like someone being left handed or preferring green over blue.

But as we know, sexuality is complicated and trying to reduce it to a neat sound bite only leaves us with more questions than answers. In actuality, the truth lies more to the middle, which should come as no surprise. It’s true that homophobia is alive and well today; groups like the Westborough Baptist church aren’t making the load easier for anybody. I imagine that there are scores of men and women living scared and lonely lives for fear of being rejected by their friends and family. But the opposite is also true, there are scores of men and women who once accepted homosexuality and have since left that behind…for reasons having nothing to do with fear of rejection.

In fact quite the opposite. Many of the people I’ve met over the years used to be openly gay, some were gay activists, and others lived with their partners for years. If they were seeking acceptance surely becoming “ex-gay” (as some have labeled us) was not the way. Those of us who have walked out of homosexuality face a double rejection as many even in the church as well as in the secular and pro-gay world question the validity of our change. So why change? (keep reading…)

Lynn Vincent of WORLD Magazine writes about Exodus:

A couple of days ago, Tony Woodlief’s WoW post, “Anti-homosexual Christianity,” stirred quite a conversation. Tony looked at a piece of the book UnChristian, whose authors observe of the church that “outsiders say our hostility toward gays – not just opposition to homosexual politics and behaviors but disdain for gay individuals – has become virtually synonymous with the Christian faith.”

The post interested me greatly because I spent quite a bit of time this week talking with former homosexuals, and with Catholic, Jewish, evangelical, and secular counselors and psychologists who help people walk away from unwanted same-sex attraction. Two trends emerged:

First, it appears that the cultural liberation of homosexuality is also liberating those seeking to escape it.

Second, the cultural mainstreaming of homosexuality is awakening some churches to more compassionate ways of dealing with homosexuality – without endorsing the behavior.

Read the whole article >>

What’s Exodus About? | Is God Mad? | What is ‘Freedom’? | What Next?

Everybody’s story is a little bit different. Whether you have never acted on your same-sex attractions, have a little bit, or you’ve spent several years proudly declaring “I’m gay,” pursuing freedom from homosexuality is a big decision–and it’s a big journey.The good news: you’re not alone.

What are you guys all about?

Maybe you saw a story about Exodus on the news or the internet. Whenever the media talks about Exodus they call us “an organization that claims it can turn gay people straight.” That’s not what we are. We have no trick or technique to offer you that will cause your same-sex attractions to vanish magically.

Maybe you think you were born gay; or you might suspect something that happened in your life somehow caused you to feel the way you do. Any way you look at it, homosexuality is simply part of human experience. It just happens. What you need to realize is that the human experience is in conflict with the way God created us. Exodus is an organization that believes that conflict is resolved in Jesus Christ, and we’re here to support those who are following him.

Is God mad at me?

It’s common for young people with same-sex attractions to feel a lot of shame–especially where God is concerned. You need to know that there’s no need to be ashamed!

First of all, just because you struggle with something doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. Unfortunately, you probably often see two drastically opposed sides fighting over this issue–and neither one is being very helpful. On the one hand you hear that homosexuality is something you are; it’s a concrete part of your being that you can never change. The other side acts like having same-sex attractions somehow makes you an evil person.

The fact is, both extremes are wrong–in different ways.

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

You don’t struggle with anything worse than what other people struggle with. In God’s eyes, this temptation is no different. He’s not mad at you. He also promises to give you a way out of temptations, so that you don’t have to obey your desires but can obey Him instead.

God doesn’t see you as different, and God doesn’t see you as stuck.

What does ‘freedom from homosexuality’ really mean?

What does it mean to be free? What kind of change is really possible?

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (Galatians 5:1)

There’s definitely no easy answer to this struggle. If there was, you would have found it already. Those of us who have discovered what freedom means aren’t immune to struggle, and we aren’t perfect. But we have found new hope, new confidence and new desires through growing in our knowledge of who God really is–and consequently, who we really are, too.

There’s more going on inside you than you realize. Homosexuality isn’t as simple as a gene or a hormone. You don’t experience those feelings just because of something your mom or dad did (or didn’t do). Human sexuality is incredibly complex, and is affected by so many different things in life. Your inborn traits can play into it, and so can your upbringing and experiences.

The reality is, human sexuality is all over the place. Our bodies and our emotions tell us to do all sorts of things we were never made to do (that’s our nature being in conflict with God’s). Even people you might think have it easier than you find it difficult to live out God’s plan for their sexuality–not to mention the rest of their life.

No matter what your struggle looks like, though, it doesn’t have to dictate your identity, actions or destiny. A big part of starting this journey is learning to stop thinking the way the crowd thinks, to stop believing everything you’re told just because it’s popular opinion.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

When you start thinking about yourself the way God thinks about you, you’ll begin to understand what freedom really means. Your same-sex attractions may not go away completely–but they don’t have to dominate your life.

Real freedom doesn’t come from just accepting your desires at face value and acting on them. There might be some temporary gratification, sure, but you probably have already experienced some level of dissatisfaction with going that way. Part of you might feel like embracing gayness isn’t giving you what you really wanted in the first place.

Freedom is about finding out who you really are, what you really need and what you really have to give. God wants to heal you where you’re wounded–not just ease the pain. Freedom is about letting Him meet your desires in His way. It’s about breaking out of the past and not letting it define you. Sometimes, finding out you were wrong is the best news a person can get.

Will you ever experience heterosexual attractions? Could be! There are certainly plenty of people who have been where you are and experienced that kind of change, and went on to get married and have kids. Others have remained single for one reason or another. But you’ll find that those who have stayed on the journey will tell you that, either way, it’s worth it.

So what now?

If you really want to start this journey, you’re going to need some help. And there is plenty of help out there!

First, you probably ought to begin educating yourself to help you understand your struggle and what the journey looks like. To help you do that, Exodus has a lot of great resources available. The main Exodus website also has and from men and women who have been walking this journey out and know the ropes.

Secondly, it’s important to get connected with people who understand what you’re going through. You can do that through Exodus Youth’s safe, online forums where you can post questions and prayer requests. You can also find out if there is an near you where you can find a counselor or support group.

The third step is the hardest, and that’s becoming real with the people in your life. Struggling in secret makes the journey a thousand times harder than it needs to be, and nobody has to live that way. Even if you can’t think of anyone you feel comfortable confiding in, we are confident that God has placed trustworthy people near each struggler for this very purpose. Pray and ask Him to show you who those people are.

You can also search to see if there’s one near you. Church Network churches are safe communities dedicated to welcoming, loving and supporting people with your struggle.

There’s a long road ahead but you aren’t alone, and you don’t have to get to the end before you feel like it’s worth walking it out. You can do it, there is hope and help, and God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6)

There are many powerful stories out there about men and women whom God has delivered from the gay lifestyle. It touches the heart and certainly glorifies God when we see these people getting married and leading godly lives free of homosexuality, but in all honesty, what about the rest of us who deal with this issue and haven’t come to our “happy ending” yet? What about those of us who continue to struggle with same-sex attraction (SSA), even after choosing to follow Christ? We’re caught in a sort of identity limbo, unsure whether we can or even should hope to experience heterosexual desire, get married and start a family someday.
(keep reading…)