New Book Offers LGBT Believers a Bulletproof Faith

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

First, let me offer an apology. I'm sorry there is even a need for my new book: Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians. I would have loved to have written a completely different book. Perhaps a feel-good self-help book, like the ones that have made Wayne Dyer a rich man, or perhaps one that celebrates the awe and wonder of being a follower of Christ - without having to distinguish between those followers based on something inconsequential to God, like their sexual orientation. But, because there is a faction of Christians who insist on making this distinction, there is a need for this book, and for that I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that there are so many Christians in this world who would rather judge and tear down fellow believers instead of building them up. I'm sorry there are so many Christians in this world who would rather exclude than include others in God's grace. I'm sorry there are so many Christians in this world who would rather argue over a few biblical passages of dubious meaning than seek common ground around the law of love that Jesus came to proclaim. I'm sorry for the damage these kinds of Christians have done to the body of Christ - wounding the GLBT believer who seeks find their place in God's realm. I'm sorry that these kinds of Christians have made GLBT people believe that they are hated by God, cursed by God and not faithful enough in their walk to come to God just as they are created.

What I'm most sorry for is that this book has been needed for so long. When I founded my Internet magazine Whosoever (at whosoever.org) back in 1996, there was little out there to affirm GLBT Christians. Daniel Helminiak's What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality had been released a couple of years earlier and remained a best seller in GLBT bookstores. Clearly, our community was hungry for affirmation that God loves us and made us just as we are. It would be nice to say that some 13 years later we wouldn't be as hungry for affirming material, but we are. Bulletproof Faith is a book that is needed by many in our community and even by those outside our community who support us. I believe the atmosphere in both church and society is more inviting and affirming of GLBT people now, but the voices against us are still loud and often persuasive. To counteract this continued hatred and bigotry, we have to be bulletproof - not just in our faith, but in our conviction that there is nothing abnormal or sinful in being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. In Bulletproof Faith, I offer a blueprint for becoming bulletproof - able to deflect the bullets fired from loaded Bibles or the biased missives of misguided, and often professionally discredited, psychologists.

I hope that this book, along with 25-page study guide that's available at the book's Web site at http://www.bulletproofbook.com, will help you on your journey to becoming bulletproof - able to withstand any attack on your faith, no matter its origin.