I was barely a teenager when I experienced my first sexual encounter.

For many, it was like the grand finally to a fireworks display. For others, confusing signals were sent. And for some, sex was introduced through abuse. In the last few decades, sexual introduction came in the form of online pornography, by which many are enslaved.

In America, as well as around the globe, these experiences might fall under a heading of “sexual intimacy.” We have fallen victim to developing a relationship with sex, instead of its Designer.

After his fall from Heaven, Satan counterfeited all that God created and intended for good—things which would honor and glorify our King.

In my life, sexuality became a pacifier. It replaced the horrible experiences of my childhood and not fitting in. Entering the LGBT+ community first appeared to be a reward for enduring all those years of being bullied and harassed. Instantaneously, I found that men wanted to be amidst the most provocative and personal expressions we appear to possess. After all, it’s my body, isn’t it? Don’t I get to decide who I want to share it with?

I certainly wasn’t inclined to indulge eroticism with the opposite sex. And now, the gender that had oppressed and ridiculed me, wanted to “go all the way.” I sought a “relationship” that might have some form of stability and imitation of “marriage,” yet at the same time, I thought nothing of engaging with as many as would have me along the way.

Lust and Love

“Love” was more commonly lust for me. At eighteen, I dumped God and Christianity with a letter to my church asking to have my name removed from church membership. That took place in the days when people still had conscience enough to acknowledge that they were living outside of God’s design.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).

I came of age during the sexual revolution. A revolution for sure. Moral decay. It was like a slow erosion to the church, as people, whether gay, or otherwise sexually compromised, began to disappear out the church doors. Many never returned.

What was at the root of such an exodus? I mean, we were Seventh-day Adventists. We claimed so much “light and truth.” What could be missing? Why would people be willing to leave a community with such spiritual certainty?

At that time, the length to which a pastor might preach, as it related to “homosexuality,” was 1 Corinthians 6:9, confirming that such would not enter Heaven. No hope. No help. Only condemnation.

Aids

The sexual revolution would continue, and with it, came my first familiarity with a “pandemic.” AIDS. I’m HIV-negative, but for no good reason, outside of God’s mercy. I flirted with death, yet for no apparent reason, I would remain AIDS free. Or did I? I painfully witnessed scores of my friends succumbing to the disease. AIDS was a constant reminder of the consequences poor choices. Was God trying to get my attention? Oh… but the power of prayer! My parents prayed for forty years. God listened and waited for a heart that would respond. He’s always invitational, never forceful.

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

If you’re living sexually compromised, I promise that if you ask God, He will reveal His ways, His plans and solutions. They will always agree with His Word.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Culture destroys God’s definition of “intimacy,” as well as His definition of “love.” We’re living in a world of pseudo intimacy. It is estimated that the pornography empire generates twelve billion dollars annually. The impact of that figure dramatically increases with uncharted degrees of free access.

Then, there are the physical “hook-up” apps on digital devices that add another level of sexual bondage. Satan is exhorting full attack, seeking to extinguish potential residents of God’s kingdom.

His counterfeit for intimacy captivates millions of souls. A few seconds of bliss has the potential to annihilate eternity.

I’ll never forget my encounter with God one day, sitting in my bedroom and contemplating my destiny. I knew that living in agreement with my flesh, instead of agreeing with God, would have terminal consequences. I had been raised to trust God’s Holy Word. I just didn’t know what God was asking of me.

After years of searching for intimate, meaningful relationships, I was depressed and disappointed that LGBT+ culture didn’t hold the answers I once thought it did. I’d been tricked. I didn’t have peace or true joy . I certainly had what I believed to be fun times, living life without boundaries. However, the promise of a life beyond this was nonexistent in that world.

Hungry for reliable answers, I picked up a copy of The Desire of Ages and began reading. I was drawn to the presence of Jesus. His life, His challenges, sufferings, and purpose. He was living in the face of temptation, hatred, and betrayal. All on my account. Yours also.

He pressed forward to the cross, where He would bear my failures, paying for them with His life, and offering that payment to His Father. This gift and act of mercy is offered, if I would humble myself before Him, seek His forgiveness and choose to live a life of surrender.

I discovered the verse following the exclusions from Heaven,

1 Corinthians 6:11. “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” KJV.

True Intimacy

Jesus began to show me that my safety, and my eternity would be a direct result of developing intimacy with Him. A whole new world opened. Oh… Temptations didn’t suddenly disappear. And sadly and ashamedly, I have succumbed to temptation. However, God began to demonstrate His mercy, grace and strength to get back up and continue my walk with Him. Learning to live for Him, instead of caving into my well established, natural inclinations of my flesh. He is a good and mighty God.

I believe He invites all His believers to walk, encouraging one another along our journey together. Too often we abandon when we sense someone’s failings.

I have had the blessing of encountering others in my life of ministry with incredible stories. Some, heartbreaking, and others, so inspiring.

I met a young man who told me that he recognized at fifteen years old, that he had same-sex attraction. In that personal, painful realization, he told me that he made up his mind that he was going to learn everything he could about Jesus and live close to Him, rather than indulging in the deceptions of his flesh. A sacred oath to God. I had never heard a young man make such a declaration.

Later, he confided that he eventually fell in compromise. Yet his desire is still to live for Jesus rather than in the lies and traps of Satan.

Jesus paid our debt, so that we might claim His victory and become overcomers through Him.

In contrast, I recently listened to a story that breaks my heart. I met a man who lived as he believed his parents, God and society desired of him, marrying, and having three children. After many years of marriage, he said he accepted that he is gay, divorced and is now embracing his homosexuality. He made several references to his “feelings.” I can certainly attest to how “feelings” can work for and against us. “Feelings” were the fuel of deception Satan used to intrigue Eve in front of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He then gave me all the interpretations (lies) of Scripture that match up with “Queer theology.”

I understand the temptation to believe alternate theories that seem to make living in agreement with the flesh plausible. I related to many elements of his journey; however, I am reminded how Jesus quoted the reliability of Scripture in His temptations. So many have adopted ideations and thought processes that seek to make the Bible agree with the flesh.

Are we able to grasp how Jesus suffered, greater than we ever will?

The book “The Great Controversy,” says this.

“It is a masterpiece of Satan’s deceptions to keep the minds of men searching and conjecturing in regard to that which God has not made known and which He does not intend that we shall understand. It was thus that Lucifer lost his place in heaven. He became dissatisfied because all the secrets of God’s purposes were not confided to him, and he entirely disregarded that which was revealed concerning his own work in the lofty position assigned him. By arousing the same discontent in the angels under his command, he caused their fall. Now he seeks to imbue the minds of men with the same spirit and to lead them also to disregard the direct commands of God. {GC 523.1}.

One of my greatest desires for our church and community is to place tools in the lives of those clearly in need of an intimate relationship with Jesus.

There are many chains of bondage in our church that need to be broken. There’s hope for everyone.

Zephaniah 3:17 is promising and encouraging,

“The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Our bodies are not our own (1 Cor. 6:20). Let’s learn to deny them in honor of our Life Giver (1 Cor. 9:27).

****