Clay Jones tweeted this story from the ultra-leftist National Public Radio, of all places.
Excerpt:
Allan Edwards is the pastor of Kiski Valley Presbyterian Church in western Pennsylvania, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America. He’s attracted to men, but considers acting on that attraction a sin. Accordingly, Edwards has chosen not to act on it.
“I think we all have part of our desires that we choose not to act on, right?” he says. “So for me, it’s not just that the religion was important to me, but communion with a God who loves me, who accepts me right where I am.”
Where he is now is married. He and his wife, Leanne Edwards, are joyfully expecting a baby in July.
This was the part I thought was interesting:
Allan first met Leeanne when they both worked as teenagers at a Christian summer camp. “I always joke with her that she was one of the cool kids and I was a raging fundamentalist nerd,” he says.
They didn’t click at the time, but in 2006 they both applied for the camp director job, and Leeanne got it. When she was ready to leave the position, he took her to lunch to scope out the job.
“We got off talking about the job and started talking about our experience of the last couple years,” Allan recalls. “I don’t want to be gushy or romantic, but I just melted inside, and thought, this is someone who understands graciousness. This is someone who understands acceptance, and this is someone I want to spend as much time with as possible.”
He was drawn to her heart and soul, he explains. “Out of that was birthed our intimate relationship.”
Leeanne says she knew Allan struggled against a sexual attraction to men. “I wondered if he was going to be able to put something like that behind him, or if it was going to be something that would affect our relationship,” she says.
But they way they see it, people in any marriage must work to resist attractions from outside the relationship, whether from the same or the opposite gender.
“There’s always going to be situations where a partner is sexually attracted to someone else and isn’t necessarily dealing with sexual attraction with their partner,” Leeanne says.
There are a couple of things that I wish I could change about me. I would like to be more involved in my church, I’d like to have a daily quiet time, I’d like to do Bible study more. But usually these things get short shrift because I am so busy trying to earn and save money and have an apologetics ministry. It’s nice, though, when a woman responds to a “fixer-upper” man with acceptance and understanding.
The things I want to work on don’t seem to have stopped me from making an impact as a Christian. I never had a “falling away” period where I went wild in college, got drunk and cohabitated with atheists. Whatever I’ve been doing for the 25 years I’ve been a Christian was obviously enough to keep my faith intact, be a good steward of my resources, and make a difference by mentoring others and blogging. In today’s culture, it’s probably better to be more practical, and focus less on things that are devotional, like A. W. Tozer and praise hymns.
Another thing occurred to me while I was reading this story. I thought – what good evangelists they will make, because they both have this ability to look past imperfections and listen to people and then work with them. If you really want to change a person and grow them, then you can’t just stand back and draw a line in the sand and explain why you get to be lazy and not do something with them that will work to grow them. All the people I have ever mentored had something about them that I didn’t think was perfect – but I didn’t take it as an excuse to not engage with them, and to do whatever would work to give them a shove in the right direction. And the results speak for themselves! Sometimes Christians who grow up thinking that “the Bible says you have to do it” is enough get lazy though, when confronted with real people who are not perfect. And they will say anything to avoid having to do work that helps others grow. They just want to make the judgment and be done with the person. Thank goodness the pastor in this story had friends who didn’t dismiss him out of hand because he was not perfect.
WINTERY KNIGHT 
That’s a lovely story. I do hope it works out well for them.
LikeLike
The guy actually sounds like a bisexual more than a homosexual but glad their happy however most wont be happy. I knew a guy who was a christian and was atrracted to men and tried to do what this guy did in your article but he was miserable and so was the woman he was with. If it works for it it works dont try to force something that is not there. Thats the only thong i have issue with when it comes to religion and the lbgt community. One can not force another to wear a mask so the other party can be happy,who one this earth wants to be in a relationship that wont work? If christians are not suppose to be unyoked with non-believers then dont try and force gays and lesbians to be straight with christian people and they get married have kids then divorce or one may commit suicide.
LikeLike
Are people wrong for encouraging delinquents and liars to stop their rebellious behavior or their lying? Should we just assume that that is who they are and let them go? All who disagree with them are nothing more than insensitive bullies? What you are espousing here follows this line of reasoning precisely and is just as absurd.
JMG
LikeLiked by 1 person
If a man had attraction for another man but is force to like and marry a woman,will they truly be happy? I doubt and I have seen it. I would never try to force something that couls never be. Liars and delinquents can not be compared to a persons sexual attraction. One can encourage a person who has attraction to the same-sex all day long to marry someone of the opposite sex but it does not erase the attraction but just hides it.
For example, my friend could be shown photos of attractive educated black males all day but it would not change her attraction to white men.
LikeLike
No one is “forcing” anyone to do anything. What Biblical Christians are doing is to convey to anyone who will listen what the Biblical stance on sex (and other issues) is. If one does not agree with the Bible, then fine, they are of course free to do what they wish, but they should not try to bend what scripture has to say in order to put a divine stamp of approval on what the divine message actually condemns.
My problem with what you are espousing is that you seem to be saying that whatever ones “appetite” directs in any particular moment has to be OK, because no one ever has “appetites” for anything that are wrong “appetites”. So, for instance a person who has an “appetite” for multiple women should not be discouraged from being a polygamist, or likewise, someone who has an “appetite” for smoking or heroin, or whatever, should not be entreated to understand that such “appetites” are wrong, and that pursuing those “appetites” will actually drop them to a level of existence that is less than human.
Simply because someone HAS an “appetite” (read addiction) to something does not make it natural, beneficial or legitimate desire.
JMG
LikeLike
For people of the lbgt community their attraction to the same-sex is not just a particular moment. If you as a christian believe homosexuality is a sin that is fine,you spread the message of the bible that is fine but it will not change a persons sexual attraction unless that person does so outta fear.
If a person does have an attraction for multiple women ,again you can discourage them but it will not stop them. Polygamy can work and I have seen it be successful but it depends on several factors in order to be succesful. People smoke all the time and yes you can tell them how harmful it is but when it comes to drugs that especially drugs such as cocaine,heroin it would be easy for someone to go cold turkey and for a drug addict that have to be willing to give up the drugs.
A person can help and say all that they can but in the end if that person does not want to be help there is truely nothing else you can do.
LikeLike
Your assumption here is that there is something different about sexual addiction and drug addiction and all other addictions. Sexual addiction takes many forms (addiction to pornography, addiction to eroticism, addiction to same sex relationships, etc.). Homosexuality and the other shades of what you refer to as the LGBT (the lumped together initials seem to grow by the year) community are merely a small collection of very vocal addicts who wish to elevate their aberrant behavior and “appetites” to a level of not just societal acceptability, but more societal approval and celebration. In the same way, a pedophile has a recurring attraction (read addiction) to young children, but which behavior is nevertheless rightfully resisted by society as a “normal” behavior.
What you don’t seem understand is that we are ALL born as sinners with what the Bible calls “lusts” and desires for that which is both wrong as well as degrading. These desires are ingrained in our beings, yet they are sins and are not to be accepted as “natural” simply because we have them. There are those who have a tendency to lie, a tendency toward violence, an tendency toward anger, etc. These too are not merely “momentary” inclinations. Aberrant sexual tendencies are just another item on the list. Those who fall into this category are not any more privileged to claim that they are powerless to deal with their short-comings than those in the other categories. What is needed as a remedy for ALL such things is a renewed mind and this is what is obtainable only via a relationship with God through Christ. Bootstrap pulling will be of no avail.
You are quite right about one thing. It is all about what a person “wants” and not simply about what is possible. If a person relishes sub-human behavior enough, then they will certainly see no reason to deal with their cherished addiction and will be offended by anyone who challenges them on it or even simply disagrees with what they have embraced as “normal” and “natural”. And that is a sad but true fact.
JMG
LikeLike
Im not talking about sexual addiction but sexual attraction. Attraction and addiction are two different things
Addiction is a state characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences. It can be thought of as a disease or biological process leading to such behaviors.
Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest.
Human sexuality is the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. A person’s sexual orientation may influence their sexual interest and attraction for another person.
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generally subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, while asexuality (the lack of sexual attraction to others) is sometimes identified as the fourth category. These categories are aspects of the more nuanced nature of sexual identity.
Attractiveness or attraction refers to a quality that causes an interest or desire in something or someone.
Sexual desire is a motivational state and an interest in “sexual objects or activities, or as a wish, need, or drive to seek out sexual objects or to engage in sexual activities
Motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain behavior. It is the scientific word used to represent the reasons for our actions, our desires, and our needs. Motivation can also be defined as our direction to our behavior or what causes us to want to repeat a behavior and vice versa. A motive is what prompts a person to act in a certain way or at least develop an inclination for specific behavior.
LikeLike
ChildofRa,
Are you saying that people should simply live according to their desires all the time? Surely not.
We all have desires that are not good for us and have to say no. In some cases, we also have to do what we don’t want to do because it’s good for us. I may have a desire to consume unhealthy foods like donuts and potato chips, but I have to make a choice not to eat those things and instead to eat healthy things like chicken and carrots. It is the same with regard to sexual activity. If a person has a desire to have sex with a person of the same sex or a person who is married to someone else or a child, they need to say no to that inclination because doing those things would be bad for them.
What’s more, desires often change according to your behavior patterns. People who avoid junk foods and eat healthy foods tend to develop a taste for healthy foods while junk foods lose their appeal. People who exercise regularly tend to like it better as they get used to it. Much the same thing can happen with sexual desires. If a person who is attracted to the same sex denies that desire and instead chooses to engage in healthy sexual activity within marriage (between a man and a woman), their desires often shift. They may never fully lose the attraction for the same sex, much as many people never completely lose the attraction to junk foods. However, they can have a happy, healthy life in the path they have chosen.
LikeLiked by 1 person