A Prodigal Son Comes Home

Welcome to the "maiden voyage" of Same-Sex Attracted and a Christian. Now What? My name is Dennis Belkofer. The name of the podcast is the biography of my life, and it chronicle my journey, as a Christian, seeking to find the answer to my own: Now what?  How to do I navigate my life and deal with my attraction to men biblically - under the authority of God's word - so I live a life pleasing to my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ? I became a Christian in 1966, when the world looked at homosexuality as a "mysterious subculture" to stay away from except in jokes that painted "homosexuals" with de-humanizing and derogatory titles. The Christian world I entered - the Evangelical framework - rarely acknowledged that homosexuality existed. And when it did, it condemned it; and almost never in the context of the gospel - the saving work of Jesus Christ - as if men and women attracted to the same sex were beyond redemption and forgiveness. Oh, it wasn't what was said - but the silence that spoke louder than words. That silence carried over to me: a Christian attracted to the same sex. And I was afraid to break the silence by asking for help in understanding why I was attracted to men and dealing with it. The church was my refuge and home. I was being loved and cared for now. But would it change if I revealed that I was attracted to men? And if I did, would the church know what to do with me?  I was hearing people sharing how they came to Christ from a variety of sinful lifestyles, even as murderers, never out of homosexuality. That in itself answered the question. Keeping the attraction to myself was better than risking what I thought was inevitable: being treated as a modern-day leper to avoid. Please know that I am not excusing my sin and asking for sympathy. But I can't deny that was the Evangelical framework that greeted me with open arms, not knowing that I was attracted to men. Please know that I never once thought homosexuality to be anything but sin, which made not knowing why I was attracted to men and how to deal with it feel as if I were trapped in a prison. Today, I have found the answers, and they are in Romans 5, 6, 7 and 8: God's blueprint for "dealing" with the Christian's greatest challenge - indwelling sin - regardless of what that sin may be, including same-sex attraction. I've launched this podcast, using my life as a backdrop, to share "this blueprint" with Christians struggling with same-sex attraction and are asking: Now what? With parents whose child says they are gay, and the parents don't know what to do about it. To combat the lie that there is such a thing as a "gay" Christian; it has gained footing in the Evangelical framework as Side B Christianity. To encourage pastors, church leaders, and Christian counselors when ministering to Christians attracted to the same sex. And to "call home" Christians who gave up trying to deal with same-sex attraction, resigned themselves to it, and are prodigals living as gay men and women. I was "that" prodigal for nearly eight years. This, the podcast's first episode, "A Prodigal Son Comes Home," is my leaving the "far country" of living as a gay man (Luke 14:11-32). If you also are "that" prodigal: Your Father is calling you home, as He called me; and He is waiting to celebrate your "homecoming!" Email: [email protected]