Dating back to the early church, theologians have argued whether temptation, the desires of the flesh that pit themselves against God’s moral laws, are sins only if acted out. In the episodes of The Upside-Down Kingdom Bible. The Gay Christian. Side B Christianity, I pointed out that Preston Sprinkle, who provided commentary in it on sexuality and gender, maintains that same-sex attraction is not condemned by God, is not a sin, if it is not acted out in same-sex sex. The New Testament was written in Greek. In this episode, I present the Greek word that, in English, is translated as “sin;” it refers to both desire and behavior. In Genesis 4:7, God told Cain that sin was crouching at the door, that its desire is for him, and he must master it. And that verse is speaking today to all Christians: We must learn to master the sinful desires of the flesh, so we won’t be overtaken by them and sin against God. Sprinkle leaves his followers in the hands of same-sex attraction as if it is a “safe zone” that has been exempted from Genesis 4:7. And he leaves the door wide open for sin to open the door, walk in, and fulfill its desires. In this episode, I share what I learned from faithful men of God who teach what it means to miss the mark by desires and actions. I pray that it protects you against Sprinkle’s unbiblical exegesis – and helps free you, if you’ve fallen for it.  

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In Parts A and B, I explained that I purchased a copy of the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible after learning that Preston Sprinkle, the co-founder and president of The Center for Faith Sexuality & Gender was involved with it, but I wasn’t sure how. But what I did know was that a respected evangelistic ministry to college students had hired him to train its staff to minister to LGBTQ-identifying students. And I knew that it did not go well.  I explained why in A and B. So, I purchased a copy of the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible to see what it is all about. It is not a new translation but rather a series of commentaries packaged in the New International Version (NIV) with commentaries on current social, political, and spiritual issues provided by a cadre of contributors. Sprinkle is the general editor, and he provides commentary on sexuality and gender. In A and B, I mentioned Gay Christianity, a movement with three somewhat affiliated branches: Revoice, Side A Christianity, and Side B Christianity; Sprinkle is often associated with Side B – perhaps its spokesperson.  Revoice and Side A are blatantly unbiblical in their interpretation of sexuality and gender. Side B (Sprinkle) provides enough biblical truth to masquerade as biblical, yet, when examined in detail, it is also found to be unbiblical. I’ve launched these three episodes, The Upside-Down Kingdom Bible. The Gay Christian. Side B Christianity to examine Sprinkle’s commentary on gender and sexuality. I simply read what he had written, adding my comments by comparing his commentary with Scripture. In A and B, I’ve presented what Sprinkle says about sex, gender, and Sodom and Gomorrah, with my comments. I also revealed who coined the words homosexual and heterosexual,  invented the idea of sexual orientation, when the word homosexual first appeared in a translation of the New Testament, and how that opened the door to Gay Christianity and Sprinkle finding their way into the evangelical framework. In this episode, I unpack what Sprinkle says about homosexuality in the New Testament: Romans 1:18, 1 Corinthians 1:9, and 1 Timothy 1:10. And I comment on it. And I pray it will be beneficial to you. 

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In this episode, I revisit the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible, which is really a series of commentaries packaged in the New International Version (NIV) and published by Zondervan. It contains commentary on topics relevant to modern culture provided by a cadre of men and women based on their interpretation of Scripture. Preston Sprinkle is the general editor and provides commentary on sexuality and gender. In Episode A, I mentioned the Gay Christian Movement, which is the umbrella for three of its branches, Revoice, Side A Christianity, and Side B Christianity. Revoice and Side A Christianity are blatantly unbiblical. Side B Christianity, of which Sprinkle is most often associated, presents itself upfront as biblical; however, when digging into it, it distorts biblical truth about sexuality and gender. In this episode, I simply read Sprinkle's commentary, adding my own comments using Scripture to either refute or affirm what Sprinkle has written. You decide. 

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In this episode, The Upside-Down Kingdom Bible. The Gay Christian. Side B Christianity, I point out that what calls itself a Bible is a commentary on issues relevant to today’s culture, packaged in the New International Version (NIV) and published by Zondervan. It contains commentary from a cadre of people on issues such as migration, politics, race and ethnicity, wealth and poverty, abortion and reproduction, and sexuality and gender. The commentators use their interpretation of Scripture to justify their contributions.  As a Christian who knows what it is like to be same-sex attracted, I comment on the commentary on sexuality and gender. I endeavor to show that the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible’s commentary on sexuality and gender aligns with the gay Christian movement, the umbrella for Revoice, Side A Christianity, and Side B Christianity – splinter movements with ideologies that violate God’s creation of sexuality and gender. Each has its own flavor, while sharing similarities. The commentary on sexuality and gender in the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible aligns with Side B Christianity ideology because it is presented by Preston Sprinkle, who is most often associated with it.  I pray that God will use this episode, the first of several, to call Christians who are same-sex attracted to reject the Side B Christianity ideology, including churches, parachurch organizations, and all Christians. And I say this without apology: eternal destinies are in the balance. Please check out Part B of this episode. It picks up where this one ends. 

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This episode picks up where My Journey to Jesus Part B leaves off, with me telling myself, “If I am gay, I’d better find out what it means.” I made the decision because of applying to join the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, now called Cru, and its application asked: Have you ever had homosexual tendencies? If so, please explain. This was 1969, and people who declared they were homosexual were often fired from their jobs. I had been a Christian for three years. The only time I heard the word homosexual mentioned in an evangelical setting, in sermons and in conversations, was condemning homosexuals to hell, and never in the context of the saving work of the gospel. I had heard testimonies of people who came to Christ as murderers, thieves, alcoholics, drug addicts, and every other sin imaginable except as a homosexual. The silence was deafening, and I took it as a warning to keep to myself that I was same-sex attracted. Sure, I would be rejected from joining the ministry’s staff should I check “Yes,” my dream of serving Jesus through Campus Crusade for Christ ended in a wastepaper basket. This episode chronicles my life from 1969 to 1980 – a journey of giving myself over to being same-sex attracted, repenting of it, a marriage that ended in disaster, and again giving up fighting the attraction and living as a gay man – a prodigal – and moving to Chicago to immerse myself in its gay community. Please refer to the episode, A Prodigal Son Comes Home, which picks up where this episode ends.   

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In this episode, I share the months and years 1966-69 after I received Christ. I also share that my mother took liberties with me until I was 12, mother-son incest/sexual abuse; I omitted it from Part A, because I did not want to disgrace my mother. She died in 1985, and I have long since forgiven her. I decided to include it because there are men who have suffered mother-son incest, and my story may encourage them, especially to forgive their mother.  The evangelical world I entered condemned homosexuals apart from the context of the gospel. And that a born-again believer could struggle with being same-sex attracted was never mentioned.  Within that condemnation and silence, I tried to ignore that I was same-sex attracted by serving as a student leader with Campus Crusade for Christ, while working on a bachelor’s degree in education. All through college, I had one goal: to join the Crusade (as we called it) staff when I graduated. I close this episode with my dream of serving Jesus with Crusade ending up in a waste basket and telling myself, “If you are gay, you’d better find out what it means.” 

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In this episode, I share my journey coming to Jesus and receiving Him as my Savior and Lord- I was 20. At age 14, I experienced a sexual encounter with an adult male. It happened between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. The encounter devastated me emotionally and my ability to learn. I also became a chronic truant. The same-sex sex that I experienced with the man left me craving more of it. By age 16, I was on the road to sexual addiction, having anonymous sex with men. I came to Jesus, rather He came to me, a broken young man, perhaps on the road to homelessness. This episode is the first episode that chronicles my journey.   

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In this episode, I share how I came to Jesus at the age of 20, broken by sexual abuse that created a desire for same-sex sex, which grew to sexual addiction during my high school years, a secret life of having anonymous sex with men. 

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 The first episode of The Joy of Being a Closet Christian focused on how I was taught to deal with same-sex attraction biblically,  took what I had learned, and spent time alone with God - in my closet - the privacy of my home - to pray about it, think about it, and then use it in my daily life. I took the idea of going into my closet from Matthew 6:6 in the King James Version of the Bible: When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret shall reward thee openly. In this episode, I share that I've learned about fearing the Lord and learning about His attributes. Spending time with God in my "closet" to cultivate the fear of the Lord and His attributes through prayer, thinking about what I was learning, and applying it in my daily life, began changing me from a horizontal Christian, concerned with God meeting my needs, to a vertical Christian, growing in the reverential and awe-filled fear and knowledge of God, loving what He loves, hating what He hates - with same-sex attraction and its practices at the top of the list - without hating myself but loving who I am in Christ - His own possession paid for with His blood. I pray that this episode will minister to you. 

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The first episode of The Joy of Being a Closet Christian focused on how I was taught to deal with same-sex attraction biblically,  took what I had learned, and spent time alone with God - in my closet - the privacy of my home - to pray about it, think about it, and then use it in my daily life. I took the idea of going into my closet from Matthew 6:6 in the King James Version of the Bible: When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret shall reward thee openly. In this episode, I share that I've learned about fearing the Lord and learning about His attributes. Spending time with God in my "closet" to cultivate the fear of the Lord and His attributes through prayer, thinking about what I was learning, and applying it in my daily life, began changing me from a horizontal Christian, concerned with God meeting my needs, to a vertical Christian, growing in the reverential and awe-filled fear and knowledge of God, loving what He loves, hating what He hates - with same-sex attraction and its practices at the top of the list - without hating myself but loving who I am in Christ - His own possession paid for with His blood. I pray that this episode will minister to you. 

Email: [email protected]