To start with the review, I got asked to review this book as part of a 'Blog Tour' I received an advanced copy of it through the author agent in this respect and from NetGalley.
When I was asked to review this book I was offered an e copy or a physical copy. I wish I had asked for the physical copy now. I wish now I had asked for the physical copy. This book is rich with content that I could use to help others. NetGalley copies will disappear after a suitable reading time so I will not get to use this book again and will have to take a lot of notes before it does.
Through the church that I go to I have a small online ministry that is to help men with addictions, most particularly sexual in nature. In the last few month I had a few people join that have problem with same sex attraction. When this book was offered to read I decided to take a look.
I honestly did not know what to think. I have reviewed one book about homosexuality that really s aid a lot of negative things about people who do not accept that it is the way God made them. I figured that this book maybe on that side of the political spectrum, or worse, it could have been the 'let's shoot them all' mentality. Fortunately this book did not fall either way. It was a common sense way of looking at the problem that people with same sex attraction(SSA) face.
This book is not for people who are family members or friends of SSA people. Unless you are trying to understand them better this is not for you. It is for the people who are this way or the people who minister to them. And for this book to work, we assume the people believe in Christianity and want to live a life pleasing to God.
The book is divided into parts. The first part deals with the obstacles that the SSA person will face in trying to live as a Christian with this attraction to the same sex. How it is identified is important as the author weaves what he believes is the proper way to identify yourself through the rest of the book.
Section two deals with the ways to deal with these attractions. The author does not purpose a conversion to an opposite sex attraction. If that comes, fine. In the meantime, God may call you to a life of being single. But not to be single alone. Become part of a community at a church that accepts this and will work with you to help you to grow in your Christianity.
The last section is a note to people who minister to these people and also an encouragement to them.
To be honest, a lot of this book, especially the last few chapters, with a little changing of the words, could be written to any people with sexual addictions.
The author does not give pat answers to the problems. This is good because life does not solve things just because we want them to. This is a point that is made throughout the book, especially in chapter 8 where he teaches about using some of the Psalms as prayerful laments. This spoke to me very deeply.
Five starts for this review. I recommend it to people with same sex attraction and to the people who minister to them.

Today, sexual identity seems to be tied up in sexual desire. If you have a desire for someone then that defines your sexual identity, and our work is to be true to one's self and pursue that desire. In the Bible, the opposite is the case. It is through sacrificial love and sacrifice that man most fully lives out his sexual identity.

It is aligning our identity in Christ and not our feelings where real hope lies. To be honest, any love that is selfish is a sin. It is only love done sacrificially that we are in the will of God. We all need a savior. Jesus may have not spoke on Homosexuality but he did speak on marriage. Matthew 19 expresses that our identity is who God made us male and female and it is these roles that we have lost our way.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it
sin.

This book is about something better Jesus. This does not just apply to the SSA but to all who are looking for the hope of the Gospel in a world that has gone terribly wrong and how we view our own identity. That we are above God and his good gifts.

The author has experience in SSA and how he found hope in the presence of Jesus in the community of the Church. Homosexuality has become about embracing not just accepting. If you are not embracing you are homophobia which is a lie from Satan himself. However, accepting is about giving hope to something better and that is what this book offers.

A Special Thank You to Bethany House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.