Gay Christians?

[Reynolds]

There is much that is misunderstood and a HUGE stigma attached to addictive disorders. THAT is why I am passionate about educating people on what addiction is like, and that it is a disease rather than simply a choice.
While I don't believe same sex attraction is a disease, there is also much stigma and misunderstanding surrounding same sex attraction. I have literally been told that I shouldn't be working with children because I'm bi, and I'll never be able to tell my own mother about it for goodness sakes. There is TONS of issues with that, we should have a safe place we can talk about this kind of stuff sans judgement and where we receive love and compassion rather than "we're going to remove you from children's ministry now"

Education and removing the stigma is my goal. (I think that is also why the LGBT community as a whole tends to be so loud)

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Sin should have a stigma attached to it.
Abomination is now "addictive disorder"?

 

[Calminian]

I recommend Dr Wesley Hill...

By all means, tell us what Dr. Hill says on the subject.

 

[Reformed1689]

Yeah, but if you have come out of a sinful lifestyle it gives tools to relate to people.

I cant in the least bit relate to my pastor. He has always been "perfect" since he was a kid. Most of the other men cant relate to him either. Its kind of like we are from different worlds.

That's not the same thing as using that sin as your identity though.

 

[Reynolds]

Yeah, that's another thing that concerns me. Addiction generally is the result of sin, i.e. very wrong choices. Sometimes an addiction can form innocently, as in an incompetent doctor prescribing too many pain killers, but generally, it starts out as sin—bad decisions.

When the Bible discusses alcoholism, it warns about lingering too long with wine and allowing it to get a hook in your life. Sexual sin leading to addiction is no different. Taking the sin aspect out of it is a disservice to those you're trying to help.

I have struggled with both alcohol and prescription medications. I could blame it on everybody else. I just man up and say I made stupid choices. I didnt choose to get ptsd but I did choose to deal with it the wrong way. I do not struggle with either. God delivered me from them. I have a 10 year old bottle of moonshine(legal tax paid) on top of my frig and a bottle of the meds I was hooked on sitting beside my bed. No desire to use either.

 

[Calminian]

Yeah, but if you have come out of a sinful lifestyle it gives tools to relate to people.....

No one is arguing against this. Former homosexuals have much to offer the Church and the world.

 

[Reynolds]

That's not the same thing as using that sin as your identity though.

I agree.

 

[Particular]

I recommend Dr Wesley Hill

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Is there a YouTube video you recommend? Christopher Yuan's testimony "Out of a Far Country" is worth listening to or reading.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I do believe that I was sinning when I was addict. However, it is also a disease, very much out of one's control and very hard to get out of no matter how much you want to--my addiction made me suicidal, and yet I tried leaving it many hundreds of times before I succeeded.
If you haven't been dependent on a substance or on the chemicals in your brain as in psychological addiction, it's hard to understand. To say that it's "only regular old sin nature" doesn't do the thing justice. It's not the same as not being able to stop eating sugar, it's much more extreme than that.

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[evenifigoalone]

Sin should have a stigma attached to it.
Abomination is now "addictive disorder"?

It is definitely a disorder. Science backs this up. Drugs and substances make you dependent on them. Addiction also has a psychological aspect in most cases--your brain literally becomes dependent and only produces endorphins in response to the object of your addiction. It takes for-freaking-ever to recover from, and basically gives you severe clinical depression.
For the record, you can be addicted to anything that gives you some sort of high, even if that high is just enjoyment. People can be addicted to sex, video games, gambling, etc, not just drugs.

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[Calminian]

I have struggled with both alcohol and prescription medications. I could blame it on everybody else. I just man up and say I made stupid choices. God delivered me from both. I do not struggle with either. I have a 10 year old bottle of moonshine on top of my frig and a bottle of the meds I was hooked on sitting beside my bed. No desire to use either.

Fantastic. Much respect to you and others who have walked away from these things.

As Paul said, "that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

They key there is the word "were." Paul did not say that what some of you are. You are now greedy Christians, slanderer Christians, drunkard Christians, swindler Christians.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Is there a YouTube video you recommend? Christopher Yuan's testimony "Out of a Far Country" is worth listening to or reading.

He has written a couple books

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[Reformed1689]

I do believe that I was sinning when I was addict. However, it is also a disease, very much out of one's control and very hard to get out of no matter how much you want to--my addiction made me suicidal, and yet I tried leaving it many hundreds of times before I succeeded.
If you haven't been dependent on a substance or on the chemicals in your brain as in psychological addiction, it's hard to understand. To say that it's "only regular old sin nature" doesn't do the thing justice. It's not the same as not being able to stop eating sugar, it's much more extreme than that.

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That is the excuse that is used, yes.

 

[Calminian]

...Drugs and substances make you dependent on them.

Actually they don't—not if you don't try them in the first place. That's the sin part.

The irony is, many former addicts will admit this. Wondering why you won't.

 

[Reynolds]

It is definitely a disorder. Science backs this up. Drugs and substances make you dependent on them. Addiction also has a psychological aspect in most cases--your brain literally becomes dependent and only produces endorphins in response to the object of your addiction. It takes for-freaking-ever to recover from, and basically gives you severe clinical depression.
For the record, you can be addicted to anything that gives you some sort of high, even if that high is just enjoyment. People can be addicted to sex, video games, gambling, etc, not just drugs.

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Sin is addictive.
To become dependent on a substance, you have to first use it. Unless you were injected with it while unconscious, your choice. You choose sin, it gets its hooks in you.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Actually they don't. Not if you don't try them in the first place. Addition is often the result of sin.

The irony is, many former addicts will admit this. Wondering why you won't.

I wasn't addicted to drugs and substances. I had something akin to video game addiction--video games aren't evil, sand they aren't inherently addictive
My addiction left me suicidal and with severe depression that lasted for years before going away

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[Calminian]

I wasn't addicted to drugs and substances. I had something akin to video game addiction--video games aren't evil, sand they aren't inherently addictive

If your parents tell you not to play too many video games and you ignore them and get addicted, that's sin.

Are you saying you never acted out on your attractions?

 

[Reynolds]

I wasn't addicted to drugs and substances. I had something akin to video game addiction--video games aren't evil, sand they aren't inherently addictive
My addiction left me suicidal and with severe depression that lasted for years before going away

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What were you addicted to? Not following you.

 

[evenifigoalone]

If your parents tell you not to play too many video games and you ignore them and get addicted, that's sin.

Are you saying you never acted out on your attractions?

I literally said several posts above that I believe I was sinning when I was addicted and during my addiction, but sure. Let's pretend I didn't. That doesn't mean it wasn't a disease wherein my bodily and brain functions were working against me in and extreme and severe way.

And yes, I've never once acted on my same sex attractions. I've had crushes on women, but knew better.

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[evenifigoalone]

What were you addicted to? Not following you.

A tv show. I literally went through withdrawal whenever I wasn't watching the show. I would get severely depressed, increasingly so the longer I was away from it. And the moment I watched it? Euphoria, doubting I had a problem at all and feeling giddy. It was a viscous cycle that only made my mental health deteriorate more and more the longer it went on.

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[Reynolds]

A tv show. I literally went through withdrawal whenever I wasn't watching the show. I would get severely depressed, increasingly so the longer I was away from it. And the moment I watched it? Euphoria, doubting I had a problem at all and feeling giddy. It was a viscous cycle that only made my mental health deteriorate more and more the longer it went on.

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A bad show?