Hearing from readers who find the Where True Love Is devotional helpful or healing is a wonderful joy. Hearing from clergy takes that emotion to an even higher level. I'm so grateful for such encouraging words.

Matt 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. This verse from Matthew is often used to describe people like me who offer apologetics for Christ's acceptance of same-sex relationships. I've been called a false prophet from an assortment of places online, sites in which fundamentalist Christians gather to pick up scripture like a burning brand with which to purge the land of the scourge of gaydom. The passage continues with this: 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good

I'm having a hard time being productive today. My heart is heavy from the news of school shootings and the arguments and division which fill the news and social media. It's hard to hold on to energy and enthusiasm, but I have to do it. The need to bring God's kingdom to earth is renewed with every news cycle, and I am called to do my part. While scrolling through posts on my author page, I came across this talk which I gave at a beloved church we attended before moving out of the region. It reminded me that rejoicing isn't something we do simply because we are feeling happy. It;s an act which God commands, and rewards. And so I will rejoice. It will be my act of repentance for today. May i

A few days ago I received the message below: I appreciate your generosity in offering them [Kindle versions of Where True Love Is] for free on Valentine's Day and made a point to download the book. I sat down at lunch to start reading it and your introduction gave me pause. Specifically, the discussion that you and your wife both identify as heterosexual, but are married to each other and also participate in and consider yourselves part of the LGBTQIAA+ community. You are very obviously in love with your wife, and for this reason I question the self description of heterosexual. By definition, if you identify as heterosexual, you aren't a part of the Queer Community. Can you help me understan

The Where True Love Is devotional is structured to lead the reader on a journey of scriptural exploration. Each week centers around a specific topic. The first week deals with the question "Who is God?" Here's the introduction to the week, along with the first devotion. Before we begin exploring the scriptural view of the LGBTQI+ community we must first understand the one who breathed life into the collection of books which make up the Bible. Who is this God we worship? This section is critical because all that follows hinges on who we know God to be. Jesus tells us when we see him, we see the Father. Jesus is the full revelation of God. That means understanding scripture, relationships,

A version of this article first appeared on the author's Theology of Desire blog. Lent is the Old English word for spring, but in almost all other languages the term derives from the Latin term quadragesima or "the 40 days." 40 is the traditional number of days for discipline, devotion, and preparation. Just think of Moses on the mountain, Elijah on his travels to the cave of visions, Nineveh’s deadline to repent, and most significantly, Jesus' time in the wilderness praying, fasting, and experiencing the temptation that humanity faces: For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning. (

This article originally appeared in Impact Magazine in February, 2018. Dr. Pauli Murray was a remarkable woman who shattered ceilings of glass and perhaps even iron. Articles about Murray describe her as a black queer feminist civil rights activist lawyer poet professor priest and saint. That's a lot of chapeaus to wear, but she managed them all with grace and dignity. Anna Pauline Murray was the great granddaughter of slaves. Her mother died when she was a young child, and her father was murdered in a psychiatric hospital after suffering from emotional instability as a result of typhoid fever. Murray's childhood was tough, and made more difficult by racism and discrimination. She was refuse

St. Valentine’s Day has a rich and interesting history. February 14 is the date we celebrate because of a belief in the middle ages that birds began to pair halfway through the second month of the year. Given this belief, the date became associated with love, and was designated as a special day for lovers to send notes and small gifts to each other. But who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient ritual? The Church recognizes at least three martyred saints named Valentine or Valentinus. The St. Valentine most likely to be related to the holiday however was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men ma

This article originally appeared in Impact Magazine in January, 2018. I’ve read a number of rebuttals to John Piper’s recent declaration titled Is There a Place for Female Professors at Seminary? Each response addresses the groaningly geriatric nature of the concept that women shouldn’t teach fledgling clergy, but none of them addresses the point which seems most obvious: If you closely read what Piper demands, you have to conclude that only women should be teaching in seminary. Here’s why. The central refrain in Piper’s sermon is that training up pastors is different than other teaching. He returns to this point four or five times, saying things like: “When a student with the pastoral call

The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” (John 4:19-24 NABRE) In today’s passage we fi