How Do you Pick Up The Pieces After A Child “Come Out” During the Holidays? – Real Answers for January 2011 by Terri Brown

QA

This article appears in both our offline and online newsletters.  To receive articles like this along with the full newsletter online via email or offline through the postal service please sign up here. --- It is quite common for gay-identified individuals to “come out” to their family during the Christmas holidays. Many parents may now be left with a plethora of emotions and questions. How do you pick up the pieces, face the New Year and return to some kind of normalcy while reeling from what is perhaps shocking news? First, understand that while this may have taken you by … [Read more...]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Jesus Is The Reason For The Season

All of us at Exodus wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!  We pray you have a blessed time with family and friends as you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We also pray that as you consider His ministry and Atonement, you will find a deeper freedom to receive His love in greater measure.  For it is in His love that we rise above earthly constraints and find contentment regardless of our circumstances. In Jesus, joy and peace reign. May you know His joy and peace this Christmas and New Years! --- We will return to active blogging January 4th 2011 :). … [Read more...]

Telling Your Story: Sharing Your Struggle With Family at the Holidays

family

The holidays can be intense time.  Food, family, fun - and often friction.  It’s also a time when those of us who are struggling to overcome same-sex attraction may choose to “come out” to our families. I came out to my dad as gay-identified at around 15 or 16, then a post/ex-gay at 25, and then as an Exodus ministry leader probably around 29 or 30.  He raised me as a single dad from when I was an early teen, and my mom was in and out of the picture.  At one point, a family member out’ed me to my mom, but she & I never talked about it since our relationship has always been … [Read more...]

Daughter of Formerly Gay Parents Speaks Out

elisabeth

Last night I was alerted that Elisabeth Cole, daughter of long time Exodus leader Tom Cole, had made a video sharing the stories of her parents. Her decision to honor her parents, at such a young age, in this way is a blessing. I think you will find her creative attempt to communicate through video quite thought provoking. You should know, she tells it like she sees it and is quite direct.  There are parts of the video that in my previous life I would have bristled at and been angered by.  And even today I would want to clarify some of the things she says. But hello, this is a teenager … [Read more...]

2011 = Simplify, Amplify and Intensify – Letter from Alan Chambers for November 2010

Alan-Chambers

This letter from Alan Chambers appears in both our offline and online newsletters. To receive this letter along with the full newsletter online via email or offline through the postal service please sign up here. — Dear Partners, Did you notice that you have been promoted?  Those of you who are involved in Exodus, which is the majority of you reading this letter, are more than just our friends.  You are our dear partners in ministry.  As partners you are vital to the mission of Exodus: mobilizing the Body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by … [Read more...]

What’s in a Name? The Story of Brenna Kate Simonds – Part 2

My Wedding Day

Yesterday, I shared the first half of my story.  This is the second half. I had just become a Christian.  In one sense, I felt hope, but at the same time, the labels were still haunting me.  Even though at the time I could not voice what was going on, I continued to spiral out of control with my eating and relationships. I was so desperate for love that I entered into a relationship with an 18 year old woman with a drug problem (I was 24 at the time). After 3 months, this woman (having been raised in a Christian home) said to me, “Listen – the Bible says you must either be hot or … [Read more...]

What’s in a Name? The Story of Brenna Kate Simonds – Part 1

Brenna with a mohawk from having her head shaved

A Christian speaker recently reminded me that words are a container for power. The book of Proverbs says “reckless words pierce like a sword”, “the words of the wicked lie in wait for blood”, and “when words are many, sin is not absent”.  In the Bible, words & names are very important. Throughout my life, I allowed people and circumstances to label me, name me, and define who I am. I was born prematurely in May of 1975. I was given a 50% chance of survival and rode in an ambulance to a hospital 50 miles away since the hospital where I was born did not have premie … [Read more...]

A “Normal Gay Life” – Nathan Responds to Ray Boltz

rayboltz

Regular readers of this blog may remember my friend Nathan who has guest blogged here before concerning Jennifer Knapp and about his "Divine Appointments" at the Exodus Freedom Conference. At this rate I just need to create a login for you Nathan :) Today Nathan writes an eloquent response to Ray Boltz' new song "God Knows I Tried."  Here's Nathan: A “Normal Gay Life” I’m adding Ray Boltz to the list of people I’d love to meet at Starbuck’s for a chat.  Most readers of this  blog will remember Ray as the Dove Award-winning gospel singer who revealed his homosexuality two … [Read more...]

From Devastation to Beauty – Real Stories for October 2010

sun

This testimony appears in both our offline and online newsletters.  To receive testimonies like this along with the full newsletter online via email or offline through the postal service please sign up here. --- From Devastation to Beauty - Stephanie Goeke When Mike walked out on our marriage in 1996, my reality, hopes and dreams were shattered.  I had grown up in a solid Christian home and had come to believe that my joy and fulfillment would be found in being married and having children.  The past years have been spent experiencing God’s faithfulness – not faithfulness to my … [Read more...]

“Consider it Pure Joy …” – Letter From Alan Chambers for October 2010

Alan-Chambers

This letter from Alan Chambers appears in both our offline and online newsletters.  To receive this letter along with the full newsletter online via email or offline through the postal service please sign up here. --- Today I was meditating on James 1.  The whole chapter is rich, but several verses leapt out at me, due to my recent attendance at the funerals of two of Exodus International's most valued women leaders.  James 1:2-4, 12: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. … [Read more...]