Watch my lifetime commitments to NFOB and vocational singleness, check out some early reflections, and read articles along my journey to lifetime commitments.

Well, it depends on what you mean by "healing."
For many gay/SSA people who directly or indirectly interacted with the pray-the-gay-away movement of the late 1900s, pastors and therapists promised that God would completely eliminate their same-sex attractions and replace them with robust general opposite-sex attractions if gay/SSA people prayed hard enough or went to enough counseling.

First, I try not to shame myself. In my experience, shaming myself for developing romantic feelings (and avoiding my crush out of shame) only leads to my attractions intensifying. The solution is healthy connection, not starvation and shame.

As I understand it, God didn't intend for me to be romantically/sexually attracted to men. Yet over the past 20 years, the journey of bringing my sexuality before God and asking Him how He wanted to use my brokenness has been the greatest blessing of my life. Not because of my brokenness, but in spite of my brokenness.

There’s a big difference between “call me in an emergency” family and everyday family. Let’s face it, any day without committed lived-in family is an emergency. While “emergency” family have good intentions, they’re only offering reactive and temporary support that ceases after the emergency.

I had the privilege of offering one of the eulogies at my grandmother's funeral. I shared many of the fond memories from an earlier tribute. But over the past few days, I've found myself wondering where, exactly, Gaga is now. What's she thinking? Feeling? Who is she with? I know these same questions have burdened others journeying through grief. So I closed the eulogy with the comforting answers to those questions found in the Scriptures:

A daily devotional on Ephesians 4:1-16 written for The Living Church

A daily devotional on Matthew 10:16-22 written for The Living Church

A daily devotional on Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 written for The Living Church

In anticipation of my lifetime commitments to vocational singleness and to the Nashville Family of Brothers, I wrote this letter…

What did God make us for as sexual beings? What best paths did God give us to enjoy sexuality to the fullest? How can we resist sexual temptation, generally?

Some people assume that my same-sex attractions are the sole reason that I am committing to vocational singleness. Not so! For me, celibacy isn’t a consolation prize or a second-class vocation. I'm confident God would have called me to vocational singleness even if I were straight.

Why discern God’s calling to vocational singleness or Christian marriage? How can we discern between vocational singleness and Christian marriage? How can pastors and parents help Christians discern well?

The short answer: whomever God gives me to love.

For 24 hrs, I thought I might leave my family. God knew this summer would include some setbacks, so He made sure I was on sabbatical to provide plenty of bandwidth. I'm grateful. One of those tough moments was 24 hours when I seriously doubted re-committing to the Nashville Family of Brothers.

When I make lifetime commitments to vocational singleness and to NFOB next month, I want some kind of physical symbol to remind me of my commitments and help me share my story with others. So I decided to get a tattoo.

When I shared about my spiritual dryness with one of the mentors at L'Abri, he encouraged me to read a section of "The Screwtape Letters". It'd been 2010 since I read the book: "God relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks...God will set [believers] off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation…

Christians need to be able to make a winsome, positive case for a historic sexual ethic. But sometimes you get an email or someone knocks on your door, and the conversation goes something like, ”Yeah, I understand your arguments for a historic sexual ethic, but what about…” and they go on to list one of the convincing arguments for a revisionist sexual ethic. How can you respond?

If bachelor parties (at their best) are celebrations of the past and preparation for a lifetime commitment in the near future, then vocational singles deserve a bachelor party as much as any groom-to-be. So in July, some of the people who've been instrumental in my journey thus far helped me celebrate and prepare, complete with...

I went into my sabbatical hoping to detox from workaholism, and in the process, God taught me even more than I expected about what over-working has cost me over the years. In the past I used work to entertain myself, distract myself, and numb myself. From what? Fear.