God's Grace and the Homosexual Next Door: Reaching the Heart of the Gay Men and Women in Your World

by Alan Chambers

Author Alan Chambers--a former homosexual himself--and four of his colleagues at Exodus International offer practical and biblical insights on how both individuals and churches can become a haven for homosexuals seeking freedom from same-sex attraction. In this comprehensive guide to helping homosexuals, readers will learn about: The roots of homosexuality God's radical grace for sexual sinners Reaching youth both within and outside the church Dealing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0736916911
• ISBN13: 9780736916912
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Essential read for all church members

[...] "God's Grace and the Homosexual Next Door" is a must read for every Christian. Our prejudices are not our only problem when dealing with people who have same-sex attraction; we also do not recognize our own sinfulness. This book debunks our notions that the Christian is a place to get away from the world, but rather it is a place where the world can come and find truth, love, joy, and peace with God. Read it and share it with a friend.

Must read!

This book is a definite must read for every Christian! The church is woefully uneducated about the realities of homosexuality and what a person who is gay really is experiencing, thinking, feeling from other Christians, how the healing process can look, etc. This book is an easy read - easy to understand - yet packed full of information! It is filled with straight talk, grace filled, eye opening information, etc. It's honest, and truly life changing. Whether you know someone who is gay right now, or not, over the course of your lifetime - you will encounter and have to determine how to respond to this issue in your life. This book may open your eyes to little things that you don't even realize that you are doing or saying that are making homosexuals want nothing to do with Christians. This book is helpful regardless of whether the person you know that is gay every wants to change or not. It's largely about educating Christians about the reality of this issue, and how the church should be responding, to help us do so in a way that is educated, can be received in love, and allows us to be genuine and full of love with homosexuals, whether they ever want to change or not. I very highly recommend this book. I could write for pages and still not adequately describe it.

Must read for Christians who are fearful of the "gay agenda"

Too often the rhetoric of the far right makes us as Christians unloving and condemning toward a group of people that we don't even know, other than the stereotype of the extreme gay activist. We as Christians wouldn't want to be identified by the extremist, hate-filled people who bomb abortion clinics or who carry signs stating that God hates gays, any more than the average homosexual individual identifies with this extremist portrayal. This book encourages us to set aside our fear and our pre-conceived ideas and get to know our co-workers and neighbors...and to show them the love of Christ, which He gives freely to all of us as sinners.

Offers hope to all sinners by reminding us of the power of Christ

Every Christian should buy this book. Alan Chambers and the leadership team at Exodus International have created a resource for the Church that is absolutely astounding and invaluable. The book opens with words of hope, power, and truth from Paul the Apostle: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - ESV) Over the years, I have known individuals who have struggled with homosexuality in the church and out of the church, some openly and others in private. I have known homosexuals in the workplace who have embraced this lifestyle and have no interest in Jesus Christ. These situations can be difficult at times to communicate the grace and uncompromising truth of Jesus Christ. How I wished I had this resource for those circumstances! This groundbreaking book articulates better than any other evangelism book in the marketplace what it takes to effectively reach out to this community. Compassion, mercy, and the convicting truth of Christ flow from the pages of this book so that the Christian is forced to re-examine why and how they are evangelizing, how they befriend other sinners, and whether there is hypocrisy and insincerity in their approach. There are stories that will encourage and break your heart as you read about real personal battles over sin and the souls of men and women for the Gospel of Christ. This resource so clearly addresses the topics of homosexuality, sin, Christ, and the Gospel that frankly, it should be required reading for sharing the Gospel to any sinner struggling with any sin--not just the sin of homosexuality. If you are looking to understand the biblical perspective on this issue, wanting to reach out to this community with Christ, desiring to be the best witness for Christ that is possible, read this book. In closing, this book offers hope to all sinners by reminding us of the power of Christ to deliver us from sin and be restored in fellowship to Him. - John Fallahee, ChristianBookPreviews.com

honest book about a controversial subject

Alan Chambers is the president of Exodus Internatinal, an organization that helps men and women leave the homosexual lifestyle, through a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Once a gay man himself, he is now a Christian, married, with a son and a daughter. He makes no effort to justify the lifestyle or deny what the Bible says about it. He does, however, explode several popular secular myths about homosexuality. He also points out a shameful situation that exists in our churches. We send missionaries overseas, but fail to address the mission field in our own community. All too often the gay men and women who do attend church feel unwelcome, and too many times they are met with hostility and protestors. This book is geared toward churches that are willing to minister to homosexuals, and is an important resource for anyone interested in taking the gospel to the homosexual community. Alan Chambers will probably take some heat from both sides over this book, because it's about a very controversial subject. I will admit I approached it with some reservations and preconcieved opinions, most of which I learned in church. I'm glad I read it and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in ministry in this sadly neglected field.