Man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.
John Calvin
Updates to STRENGTH OF HIS MIGHT
- 10 Suggestions for Fostering a Long-Distance Friendship
- First Things: “Can One Be Gay and Christian?”
- My Evolving Definition of Terms
- Updated Revoice Reflections
- Models of Soul-Friendship
- Updated the Definition of Terms post
- Updated the How Do I Answer My Own Questions? post
- Updated Roundup: In Defense of Revoice
- Updated the What I Believe post
- Updated the Online Resources page
- Updated the Articles & Essays page
“Classic” LGB+ Christianity
Spiritual Friendship: Souls Knit Together
“The Bible uses two consistent images in its representation of friendship. The first is that of the knitting of souls together. . . . The second image that the Bible uses to represent friendship is the face-to-face encounter.”
Spiritual Friendship: On Reading Richard Giannone
“Even Karl Barth, who uncompromisingly rejects homosexual partnerships as out of step with the Creator’s intention, writes that such unions are often ‘redolent of sanctity’ (Church Dogmatics III/4, p. 166) because they are about the struggle to give and receive love.”
LGB+ Christianity
Living Out: How Biblically Inclusive Is Your Church?
10 statements to help “audit” your church family.
Inhabiting Hope: My Response to the Nashville Statement
“Though I am an Evangelical Christian and though I live in Nashville and though I incompletely agree with parts of ‘The Nashville Statement,’ I believe it is an extremely poor and untimely expression of beliefs in numerous ways, and one about which I am sad and angry.”
The 4Ts: A Letter to Christians Walking Alongside Christians Who Struggle with Homosexuality
This is an incredibly honest and vulnerable reflection that reveals how psychologically unhealthy and even spiritually ill we gay/SSA Christians can be, and how in need of reliable friends who will remain loyal despite it all.
The 4Ts: 5 tips on how to help Christians who struggle with homosexuality deal with the end of a friendship
“One of the most common stories of Christians that struggle with homosexuality is the story of losing a particular meaningful friendship.”
- Listen to their story.
- Sit with them in the pain.
- Help them make a team.
- Invite them into your story.
- Walk with them through the reconciliation process.
We lose the friend that opened the door to us understanding how to be loved, dealing with shame, helping us understand who we want to be as a man, and also understand what are our needs.
Friendships, Relationships, & Masculinity
Spiritual Friendship: Enduring Male Friendship
“If more men conceived of enduring friendship as a hallmark of maturity, not only would they be happier but I suspect their marriages and workplaces would also be happier. Men need men: spouses and coworkers are no substitute. . . . Strong men connect with each other not only to play a round of golf or close a business deal but to live well. . . . These men have the courage to say No to the distance of geography, the insularity of marriages and families, and the busyness of professions in order to say Yes to friendships that matter.”
New York Times: The Power of Touch, Especially for Men
Highly recommended! “Experts say that nonsexual touching contributes to greater well-being. . . . It should be great news that something free, widely available and lacking in harmful side effects is so good for us, but it gets ignored in a touch-averse culture like ours. . . . Scholarship is unearthing letters — including ones from Abraham Lincoln — revealing how men sometimes nurtured same-sex friendships that were more emotionally and physically intimate in nonsexual ways than the relationships they shared with women. . . . ‘Bromances’ provided less judgment and increased emotional stability, enhanced emotional disclosure, social fulfillment, and better conflict resolution, compared to the emotional lives they shared with girlfriends.”
Next Avenue: Why Do So Many Friendships End?
“Keeping a friendship pulsating, fresh and dynamic requires a concerted effort and an investment of time. . . . Feeling valued is another key to keeping a long-term friendship alive and well.”
YOB: Replacing My Best Friend
“Do you tend to label your friendships or view them in hierarchies? Do you have a ‘best friend’? How do you determine what makes one friendship ‘best’?”
General Christian
Rachel Gilson: When God’s Rules Don’t Make Sense
“Jesus became poor to make us rich. He suffered and died for us, in our place. I can trust this person.”
Strength of His Might 
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