Same-Sex Attracted and a Christian. Now What?

This is the second time I've recorded this episode. I deleted the original because I was a prodigal called home, and I want to do my best in being used by the Lord to call prodigals home from their distant countries (Luke 15:13) - and I wasn't happy with the first recording.  I wanted this episode to be a better effort - although still far from perfect. Please check out "My Journey to Becoming a Prodigal" and the two episodes "A Prodigal Son Comes Home." They detail my journey. To my sister and brother in Christ living in "distant countries," come home and get your robe, ring, and sandals (Luke 15:22), the love of your Savior and Lord. From my heart to yours, DennisEmail: [email protected]

In this episode, I take you on a journey through Scripture that explains what it means to be executed, resurrected, and adopted, and that a heart that cries, "Abba," proves it.  If that is not the cry of your heart, I explain why that is - even if you believe in Jesus - and what to do about it. Also, check out the episode "Born Again: So Often Misunderstood and Maligned." From my heart to yours, Dennis Email: [email protected]

This episode will motivate you to repent or fill you with anger against me, so please let the episode speak for itself: in other words, the ball is in your corner. But remember this: I've lived through everything that you will hear. From my heart to yours. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I share how the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the fact that I was filling my mind with Scripture, a good and necessary thing (John 17:17), and at the same time falling short of what Jesus said in John 17:3 is eternal life: now! I take you on that journey, which continues to this day and will continue every day thereafter. I pray that you will join me, if you aren't already there. Email: [email protected]

On Sunday morning, May 31, 2026, I was reading Psalm 34:22 to prepare myself for the worship service at my home church, Chicago's Park Community Church South Loop, Pastor Raef Chenery (Check out his sermons on YouTube; just enter the name of the church. I've never had a pastor unpack Scripture as he does.). On that Sunday morning, it was as if I were reading the verse for the first time: "those who take refuge in Him will not suffer for their guilt." And it aligns with Isaiah 53:7, Jesus' rendering (freely surrendering Himself) as a guilt offering. I was reading in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) that I keep next to my chair in the living room. When I read the same verses in the NASB that I keep next to my computer a day later, it read, "none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned." So did the English Standard and New International Version Bibles. I returned to check the NASB beside my chair and realized it was the 2020 version. The NASB next to my computer is the 1995 version. In this episode, I take you on a journey into how the 2020 version of Psalm 34:22 impacted my life: deeply!  More like, profoundly! Eternally!  I will never suffer for my guilt, and it was deep, because Jesus gave Himself as a guilt offering for me. The same is true for you if you are a born-again believer in Jesus. Those who are not born again will suffer their guilt eternally, unless they flee to Jesus to be born again.  If that's you, please check out my episode, "Born Again: So Often Misunderstood and Maligned." Note: the original title of this episode listed Isaiah 53:7, not 53:10, the correct verse. I've made the correction. From my heart to yours, Dennis. Email: [email protected]

Regarding the question in the title of this podcast, I believe there are many reasons, which I discuss in this episode. At the top of the list is the lack of an in-depth understanding of sanctification in a born-again believer's life, and in the pastor's own life. The recent "fall" of a cadre of evangelical pastors proves that you can't pastor a church and disciple others beyond your own sanctification and continually moving forward in it. Sanctification is never static.  And neither is moving a church forward in spiritual maturity. My intent is not to condemn, but a call to unpack the core doctrines of the faith from the pulpit within the canon of Scripture - and not randomly. Because the core doctrines of the faith collectively are the rock on which we build our house, which will stand against the storms that rage against it. And I place the storm of the flesh's profane and sinful desires at the top of the list (Galatians 5:17). The house is our life in Christ. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I make it clear that if you are trying to play both ends against the middle by identifying with the rainbow flag and the cross, because you identify yourself as a gay Christian, you are sinning. Why? They are more than mutually exclusive; they are eternally exclusive. The so-called rainbow flag speaks of rebellion against God's creation ordinances of sexuality, gender, and marriage; spiritual death; God's wrath and judgment; and hell. The cross speaks of Jesus ' atonement on the cross, mercy, grace, forgiveness, love, and heaven. The rainbow flag and all it represents rob you of your true identity as a Christian. And I take you on a journey through 1 Corinthians 15:40-48 to prove it.  Email: [email protected]

I am writing this on June 6, 2026. I woke up around 3 am, signed in on YouTube, and a video popped up: "There is No Way- Israel to Host Pride City near Sodom and Gomorrah 2026." Were Sodom and Gomorrah real places that God destroyed with fire and brimstone because of their shameless acts of sexual perversion?  Read the Epistle of Jude 1: 4-7. The video contains an archaeologist proving that Sodom and Gomorrah were real places and destroyed by fire and brimstone, a drag queen in a kindergarten class, excerpts from gay pride parades, and a warning from a preacher who sounded like Dave Wilkerson.  I recorded what I've written here, if you still want to check out the audio. Email: [email protected]

This episode is a continuation of the episode "Way Too Many Christians, Including Pastors, Live Like Lot in Sodom Vexed by Modern Sodom and Like Lot Do Not Stand Against the Perversion Until It Knocks at the Front Door" (2 Peter 2:7-8). This episode is a call to "put off Lot" and put on the men described in 1 Chronicles 12:32. Email: [email protected]

Please check out this episode to see if you are a modern-day Lot living in modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, sitting at your city gate, vexed but silent (2 Peter 2:7-8). And if you are, I exhort you to do something about it: Starting now! And if modern-day Sodom found its way into your home with your children, know that it is time to trust God to make up for what seems lost but can be redeemed in Christ (Romans 8:28). Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I take you on a journey through Scripture for the answer. My finding the answer is one of the reasons I recorded this podcast. Because the answer is foundational to building your house, my house, your Christian life, my Christian life, so we will stand against the storms that want to topple YOU and ME (Matthew 7:24-27). Satan's storms. The storms of the flesh? Sickness. Suffering? Persecution. Government that is anti-Christ. The world (metaphorically Babylon) that hates God. Wolves who pass themselves off as teachers and pastors who distort the Word of God, who will bring you with them into God's wrath and judgment - if you don't discern by God's word that they are wolves. And it happens when Christians fall short in knowing the attributes of God, what it means to fear God, who they were "in Adam," what it means to be born again and all that goes with it, and how to biblically walk in sanctification - the heart and soul of this podcast! Be challenged and blessed as you listen! Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I provide examples of behaviors and attitudes that take hold of a Christian (born again) when the deceitfulness of the "so-called" little sins takes root and becomes a lifestyle that drains the vitality of their relationship with God. I apologize that a news bulletin popped up on the screen, preventing me from closing the recording as I normally would have. Email: [email protected]

I've recorded this episode using the Song of Solomon Chapter 2:13: "Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [vineyards of our love]," as a metaphor for how the deceitfulness of sin - the so-called little sins - drains and weakens our relationship with God - and the vitality of the church as a whole. Email: [email protected]

This is Part B of "Is the USA as a Nation in 2026 Included in Romans 1:16-32: God's Wrath?" In this episode, using Scripture that reveals God's wrath poured out on entire nations and cities, I ask:  If the USA is under God's wrath, will He remove it? And why? Email: [email protected]

Please check out this episode for the answer. God's word will speak for itself. Email: [email protected]

This episode is a sequel to "What Defines a Gay Affirming Church in the Context of Scripture is Frightening." And what Scripture says about so-called gay pastors who celebrate their "gayness" with their partners in the pulpit on Sunday morning is more frightening - the same is true without a partner. If you've listened to the episodes that chronicle my life, I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world if I posted this episode to point a finger and condemn. Eternity is at stake, and I don't want anyone to go to hell. What I am saying in this episode, in the vernacular is:  Wake up! Smell the coffee. Repent and run to the loving arms of Jesus. Email: [email protected]

What do I mean by a gay affirming church? It is defined in Jude 1:4 and Titus 2:11-12. Please continue to find out. And yes - it is frightening! Email: [email protected]

The verses that gave me the audacity to record this podcast are Judges 6: 25-26 and Romans 8:28-31. I pray that this episode will birth "audacity" in you. Email: [email protected]

This episode is a follow-up to Your Life on Earth is Precious to God. Realizing that Dennis Belkofer, with all my sins and desires of the flesh, is a gift to Jesus melted my heart - wanting to please Him more than ever by obeying Him. If you've been born again, you, too, are a gift to Jesus. From one gift to another gift - and from my heart (the new one in Christ) to your heart. DennisEmail: [email protected]

So far, this is the shortest episode that I've recorded - and one of the most loving. In short, this episode is about growing up to be a child. Thanks for checking it out.  Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I share why I believe, speaking from experience, that a support group for Christians struggling with same-sex attraction is not a good idea - and what I believe is the reason why a pastor would promote it. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I compare cruising, wanting to pick up someone for sex (same sex and opposite sex), to a hungry lion inside of us wanting to use us to devour someone sexually.  And I share examples from my life, now repented of, and hating the wicked and disgusting pleasure of devouring/defiling another man's body and my own. In Genesis 4:7, God told Cain, “Sin crouches at the door, and its desire is for you; but you must master it." Sin, the festering desires that defy God's moral laws and creation ordinances of sexuality, gender, and marriage, even not acted upon, is the hungry lion inside of us crouching at the door of our will and wanting to use us to sexually defile someone and ourselves. How? By engaging in sex, same-sex and opposite-sex, outside God’s covenant of marriage: one man and one woman (opposite sex only). Email: [email protected]

For some reason, the battery in my computer is low. Not sure why, because it's plugged in. Please go right to the episode. And I hope it challenges, blesses, and encourages you. DennisEmail: [email protected]

I am happy to strongly recommend purchasing the following books to help you deal with your own battle with the flesh. They can be purchased online.  In this episode, I provide excerpts from each of them: The Mortification of Sin: John Owen; The Enemy Within:  Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin: Kris Lundgaard; Hacking Agag to Pieces (a small but powerful booklet):  John MacArthur; The Lust of the Flesh: Thinking Biblically About Sexual Orientation Attraction and Temptation by Jared Moore. Jared has a number of videos on YouTube. Check out the one that exposes Preston Sprinkle's twisted theology. Also check out Michael Reeves and his YouTube videos on our identity in Christ and the Trinity: they are life-transforming. So are the YouTube videos of my pastor's sermons, Raef Chenery of Chicago's Park Community Church South Loop; simply enter the church's name. Email: [email protected]

I suggest you listen to this episode without my introduction. The episode speaks for itself. It is not my intention to throw stones at pastors and church leaders -  but to simply tell the truth for the greater good of the church. Thank you!Email: [email protected]

It's a call based on concern for him - not to hurt him. Please listen.Email: [email protected]

For years, decades, the evangelical church treated homosexuality as almost a sin not covered in the cross. And acted as if there were no born-again believers who struggled with same-sex attraction. The silence was damaging. I've lived through it. Sprinkle is exposing it, and eyes are being opened within the evangelical framework to the truth. But there's a problem: Sprinkle's remedy is making it worse. Evangelical leadership doesn't realize it because it is oblivious to what caused the problem in the first place: not understanding the core doctrine of ongoing personal sanctification, which applies to all born-again believers, including themselves as leaders. You can't teach what you don't know and don't implement yourself.  God used the writings of a man who lived more than 300 years ago to teach me: Puritan John Owen.  He would be heartsick to see the condition of today's evangelical church. Just allowing Sprinkle in the door is an example. Email: [email protected]

This episode is the fourth in a series.  I point out that Sprinkle categorizes humanity in general as gay and straight, and Christians as either gay or straight, which is non-biblical and damaging to the health of secular society and the church. Also, his defining same-sex attraction as a sexual orientation that is not sinful falls short of the Greek word that is translated into English as sin. It is hamartia, meaning to miss the mark or taking another direction. Any thought, desire, memory, or action that falls short of God's moral laws and creation ordinances of sexuality, gender, and marriage "misses the mark" and is sin - even when not carried out in behaviors. I use Romans 1:18-28 to debunk Sprinkle's idea that same sex attraction is not a sin, and to also debunk that it is an attraction. How? By quoting the verses that define sex attraction as missing-the-mark desires of lust that inflame the person. I liken same-sex attraction to a hungry lion waiting to devour another person through same-sex sex - by using body parts that God never intended to be used as sexual organs. Treating same-sex attraction as neutral leaves the door open to that "lion."  And like any hungry lion that is set to devour a human being as a meal, it has to be put to death. And with it comes putting to death the gay as a marker of identity. And it is the purpose of this podcast.  Email: [email protected]

I just finished recording Part 2. If you have not listened to the initial episode and Part 2, I recommend checking out the first one and then Part 2. However, it won't hurt to begin with this episode and backtrack; I provide a review of what I covered in preceding episodes. Email: [email protected]

In the first episode, of which this is the second of a series, I explained that the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible is packaged in the New International Version and published by Zondervan. It contains commentary from a cadre of men and women on social issues, relating them to Scripture and Scripture to them. Justin Sprinkle is the general editor and provides commentary on sexuality and gender. I believe in the importance of this series in that pastors, elders, teachers, deans of seminaries and Bible schools, presidents of denominations, and directors/staff of parachurch organizations will be responsible before God if they allow what I read to you from the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible to gain a footing in their churches, seminaries, schools, and organizations, as well as counselors and authors.  And I am speaking to parents as well: You are responsible before God to make sure your children understand God's definition of sexuality and gender. So, please take this series seriously.   Email: [email protected]

I believe this episode, the first of a series, may be the most important I record... because it speaks to the well-being of the evangelical church, or what used to be known as evangelicalism. I am committed, using my life journey knowing what it is like to be driven by evil desires that crave sex with another man (not a sexual orientation), to proclaim God's moral laws and creation ordinances of sexuality, gender, and marriage - which the idea of the gay Christian perverts and Preston Sprinkle perverts in the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible. I believe in the importance of this series in that pastors, elders, teachers, deans of seminaries and Bible schools, presidents of denominations, and directors/staff of parachurch organizations will be responsible before God for allowing what I read to you from the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible to gain a footing in their churches, seminaries, schools, and organizations, as well as counselors, authors, and  Christian publishers. And I am speaking to parents as well: You are responsible before God to make sure your children understand God's definition of sexuality and gender. So, please take this series seriously. Email: [email protected]

The verse that I couldn't find is Psalm 34:22. I was trying to locate it in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) I keep next to my computer. This morning, I checked it out in the NASB I keep next to my chair in the living room - and there it was. The NASB I keep next to my computer is the 1995 version; the one in my living room is the 2020 version, and I find it a more powerful translation of Psalm 34:22. I explain why in this episode. Email: [email protected]

Less than an hour ago, I listened to Back to Chicago My Babylon. It was one of the first episodes that I recorded for this podcast. It had been over a year since I had listened to it, and I realized that I had omitted what I had found when I returned: AIDS had claimed many of my friends, and someone I had considered more than a friend. I omitted it because I felt too guilty to face the fact that I was alive, which is the update.  Email: [email protected]

I've asked myself that question. And it's a question that every Christian needs to ask themselves. In this episode, I take you on my journey of coming to the truth that I loved my sin more than I loved God, what I did about it, and where I am today loving God. I pray it will both challenge and encourage you. Email: [email protected]

In 2013, Alan Chambers disgraced Jesus on National TV. I am recording this episode on May 25, 2026. Last week, Chambers disgraced Jesus again. I leave it up to you to listen to this episode for the details.  And I warn: Don't let his sin justify the sin in your life. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I trace the invention of the words homosexual and heterosexual, and the idea of sexual orientation, back to the middle and late 1800s and early 1900s. I also share when the word homosexual first appeared in a translation of the New Testament (1946), and that it opened the door for the present ideas of straight people and gay people as categories of humanity, and straight and gay Christians as categories of Christians. In short: heresies! Email: [email protected]

About 6 months ago, I was reading the third chapter of the Gospel of John and realized that for all my Christian life, I had taken John 3:16 out of context with the rest of the chapter. It reads, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” For the first time, I saw John 3:16 and the verses that follow as Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, a spiritual and political leader of the nation of Israel.  And it frightened me, because of the many times that I had shared John 3:16 with a non-Christian and led them in prayer to invite Jesus into their lives; I am talking about the sinner's prayer apart from Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, in which Jesus made it clear that being born again is the “ONLY” way to enter the kingdom of God. Had I led people in a false conversion? Please check out this episode, which unpacks my concern. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I turn the title into a question: Is wanting God the most important thing in your life? Using an example of a marriage of convenience, I take you on a journey through Scripture to confront you and ask: Do you want God for His gifts and favors, or do you want Him? That question was asked of me about eight years ago, and it changed my Christian life. Please know that I want what is only the best for you. And if I, a redeemed sinner, want that for you, how much more does your Savior and Lord? And what He wants is for you to desire Him more than wanting Him to meet your needs. It is foundational to dealing successfully with the desires of the flesh that, in themselves, even before being acted on, rebel against God and His moral laws and creation ordinances of sexuality, gender, and marriage. Email: [email protected]

Today is May 21, 2026. Yesterday, as I was having lunch at my favorite Chicago diner, this thought entered my mind: God did not want to spend eternity without me.  Instantly, it made me look at eternal life in a new and more personal way. God wanted me to share eternity with Him, not to merely walk heaven's streets of gold. In other words, God wanted me for me. As my tears spilled into my bowl of cabbage soup, I decided to record this episode to take you on a journey through Scripture that makes it clear that God didn't want to spend eternity without you, either. If you are born-again, He wanted you because He wanted you - so simple and yet profoundly personal. Email: [email protected]

It was a Sunday morning in 2021, and the worship team had finished leading us through a series of songs with their words on the screen above and behind the pulpit. When the pastor walked out, the lyrics to the songs became an unrecognizable blob. He told us it was an opossum dressed like a ballerina, and not to head to the nearest exit. He then explained that the dead opossum, wrapped in a tutu and with a ribbon on its head, will help us understand, in a deeper way, what it means to be born. And did it ever! I am pleased to share what he unpacked with you, because it is foundational to knowing who you are in Christ - and it "ain't" calling yourself a gay Christian - and also how to deal with the inner temptations and baiting of the flesh - the leftovers of inheriting Adam's sin nature through our physical birth. Enjoy!  Email: [email protected]

Highchair Christians attend church on Sunday, gobble up what the pastor feeds them in the sermon, go home, and do not spend time alone with God during the week: never learning how to feed themselves on God's Word, and engaging in one-to-one prayer with Him and worshipping Him.  Highchair Christians remain baby Christians, falling short of maturity in Christ. I point out that Jesus, in John 17:1-3, declared that eternal life is knowing God, and 1 John 5:11-13 tells us that if we have Jesus, received Him as Savior and Lord (are born again), we have eternal life: Now! In other words, maturing in the Christian faith is living in eternal life on earth and growing in the knowledge of God. It changes our affections, so we learn to love what God loves and hate what He hates: everything that falls short of His moral laws and creation ordinances of sexuality, gender, and marriage - and that takes spending alone time with Him and learning how to feed ourselves.  Email: [email protected]

Throughout my Christian life, I was told to fight temptation by putting on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17). I listened to people say that the first thing they did in the morning was stand in front of a mirror and imagine themselves putting on the armor, quoting the verses from Ephesians. It never worked for me when I was tempted. In this episode, I take you on a journey through the first two chapters of Ephesians, where Paul explains the armor. In John 17:17, Jesus prayed to the Father to sanctify His disciples in truth, saying, "Your word is truth." Where do we learn God's truth? It's in His written word, Scripture. And what does the written word speak to in our humanity? Our intellect and mind. And that aligns with the exhortation Paul presents in Romans 12:2 to renew the mind, so we can discern God's perfect will. I thought it meant discerning what job He wants for me, whom I should marry; in other words, my temporal life on earth.  That is true. But it means more, much more. And we find it in the first two chapters of Ephesians - God's perfect will in choosing His children, Christians, before the foundation of the world. Sanctifying that truth in our minds, and internally, by the Holy Spirit, establishes the armor of God inside of us - our will, emotions, and affections. Putting on the armor of God is putting on who we are in Christ. We start with our minds, and the Holy Spirit cements it within us. Also read, Proverbs, 2: 1-5, eight verb clauses that come with a promise (vv. 6-7). They align with this episode. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I take you to a demand that God makes of all Christians: walk in sanctification. And it's found in 1 Thessalonians 4:2-8. And the demand comes with a warning - to Christians. Sanctification is serious business! I also take you to The Song of Solomon 2:15: "The little foxes destroy the vineyard." These are the everyday practices that are benign in themselves but open the door for the devil to tempt us (Ephesians 4:27). I share the doors that I've closed and ask you to consider the doors you should close, which is part of God's demand for your sanctification. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I take you on a history lesson of how the idea that one's sexual desires define them as a person came about. I know personally what it is like to experience same-sex attraction at a young age, and that it can make you think it defines you as a person. I also understand if you have come to that acceptance of yourself – often after years of shame and bullying – to hear that you need to repent can sound like your very humanity is being threatened. You can’t repent of you.   But are you defined by your sexual desires? That question alone can stir up anger inside of you. I get that. But remember: I’ve walked where you walk. So, I appeal to you, not as an outsider, but as one “who has been there.” Please check out this episodeEmail: [email protected]

This is a continuation of Mother-Son Sexual Abuse and Creating a Capacity for Same-Sex Attraction. In this episode, I share that growing up Catholic taught me that Mary remained a virgin all of her life. The scripture that refutes this is Matthew 1:25. Scriptures that tell us that Jesus had brothers and sisters were explained away by claiming that the Hebrew word for brothers and sisters can also mean cousins. Check out these verses that confirm that Jesus had sisters and brothers: Matthew 12: 46-47 and 13:55-5; Mark 6:3; and John 7:3-5. The Madonna Complex denies Mary's sexuality as God-given, and it whispers that good women, those who model after Mary, do not enjoy sex. I saw it played out in my family and neighborhood by men having adulterous affairs with "whores," who aren't like Mary. At home, their Mary-like wives were more like "baby-making machines," instead of a human being who can enjoy sex the same as men. Not wanting to turn a woman into a whore if she was aggressive in seducing me, and there were a few, I turned to men. Email: [email protected]

The thought of mother-son sexual abuse asks: How can that be? How can a woman who gave birth to her son, provided for his daily needs, wept when she dropped him off at school when he entered the first grade, held him when she injured himself, and nurtured him back to health through the typical childhood diseases, sexually abuse him? I've experienced it. And in this episode, I share the damage that I suffered because of it. Up-front, I want you to know that I forgave my mother years ago, and before she died in 1985. Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I share that growing in what it means to fear God has become the greatest deterrent to my sinning against Him. Because to grow in the fear of God means to also grow in the knowledge of His attributes, even the ones we find hard to accept, like his wrath. In this episode, I read Proverbs 2:1-4, eight verb clauses that if we collectively make them the goal of our life, are followed by a promise: “Then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God” (v. 5). To grow in the fear and knowledge of God is to have our spiritual eyes opened by the Holy Spirit to unlock the treasure of who God is  (the promise): His holiness (hatred of sin) artistry, wisdom (genius), majesty, foreknowledge, mercy, justice, integrity, and owner of all that is, including the souls of all men, those who living outside of Christ, those in Christ, those in heaven, and those in hell. He owns Satan, demons, and hell. It produces a reverence and respect for God that bubbles over with joy in who He is and deepens how we pray and worship Him with growing awe. Growing in the fear of God deepens our relationship with Him and is the greatest deterrent to disobeying Him – not out of fear of being punished but because we love Him and want to obey Him.  Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I share that growing in the knowledge of God's attributes (all of them and not only that He is love), safeguarded me from turning what I learned about how to deal with same-sex attraction biblically into a formula that centered on how it benefited me more than pleasing God. Please check out the episodes that chronicle how I learned to deal with same-sex attraction biblically. Growing in the knowledge of God's attributes transformed me from being a consumer, horizontal Christian focused on what God will do for me, to a vertical Christian, hungry to know all of who God is. It produced in me a love for what God loves and a hatred for what he hates: same-sex attraction and all desires of the flesh. I've found that growing in the knowledge of God's attributes is a deterrent to sinning against Him. It smashes any formulated and prescriptive way of living the Christian life. Formulas are impersonal. Growing in the knowledge of God's attributes is personal, between the believer and God. It fosters a desire to obey Him for who He is, not only for what He will do for us. Jesus said it all in John 14:15: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I share that visual memories of my committing same-sex sex would stir up feelings of lust, as if I were committing the sins. I realized that I needed to deal with these memories. Also, I realized that I could be reading a magazine in a doctor’s office, and certain text and a photo could ignite a memory of past sins and arouse lust. And I began looking at Romans 12:2 – to renew the mind (the intellect) – from that perspective, and what, intellectually, made me attracted to men. So, I asked the Lord to help me think this through as I wrote down the reasons. What I experienced was an in-depth repentance and comfort from Jesus that I didn’t know was possible (Matthew 5:4). I often review what I've written, and it continues to help me say “No” to the flesh and “Yes” to the Holy Spirit. I believe it’s a practice that every Christian should engage in repeatedly, regardless of the sins they struggle with.  Email: [email protected]

In this episode, I review the highlights of episodes A, B, C, and D. I add what I learned from Kris Lundgaard's book The Enemy Within (Straight Talk About the Power of Sin) about what the deceptive heart really is, which we read about in Jeremiah 17:9. I include Lundgaard's teaching on the law of sin that resides in the desires of the flesh (Romans 7:21) that seem stronger than we are. I also include my own understanding that the law of the Spirit that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2) is stronger than the law of sin. We experience the law of the Spirit when we partner with the Holy Spirit in our obedience, and He "kills” the desires of the flesh. And I explain what “kills the flesh” means. Email: [email protected]