Dwelling In The Land

If you are gay, but celibate, how do you find a way to express your identity as a believer without being defined by your sexual orientation?

An important new volume by the author of Out of Egypt

Some Christians who think of themselves as “gay” have sought healing and sexual reorientation. Some have chosen a freer interpretation of the biblical texts. Others don’t know where they belong or what they should believe. Still others remain gay-identified yet choose celibacy. All have found that their sexual orientation strongly influences, even defines, who they perceive themselves to be.

Jeanette believes that to identify herself as “gay” does not do justice to what God has been doing in her life. Christians belong to Christ. “I have been born from on high and have a completely new DNA, God’s DNA, residing in me and flowing through me,” says Jeanette. “I am no longer a sinner but a saint. I am a daughter of the King.”

With intelligence, compassion and fellow-feeling Jeanette explains what it means, as a Christian who has wrestled for the whole of her adult life with same-sex attraction, to live honestly and consistently as a Bible-believing Christian.
Dwelling in the Land considers what it means for Christians, who are attracted to other members of the same sex, to live fully under the lordship of Christ. Author Jeanette Howard, believes that homosexuality is not part of God’s plan for His world, and has chosen to remain celibate despite experiencing same-sex attraction. She has come to believe that to identify herself as “gay’ does not do justice to what God has been doing in her life. Instead of being identified by your sexuality, as a Christian you are identified by the fact that you belong to Christ. Some gay Christians have sought healing. Others have turned away from a conservative interpretation of the biblical texts. Others have remained celibate and invested their lives in Christian service. All have found that their sexual orientation has strongly influenced who they perceive themselves to be, and how others perceive them. Allowing God to dismantle your false identity permits you to live out of your authentic self. As you grow in Christ you are able to perceive true goodness and health; you rid yourself of old habits of thinking; you learn to recognize what is holding others back; and discover new areas of ministry. You do not have to accept the labels that the world-and the church-attach to you.