If you love those who identify as gays and lesbians and you want to learn to see through their eyes and lies, other than Scripture, there's no better source.
I'm referring to the survey of the literature titled, "Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences." I've been intending to post on it for quite a while now.
The survey was authored by Lawrence S. Mayer and Paul R. McHugh, and with or without an education, you can understand the things in this report that are important for our work with those suffering LGBTQ temptations.
The authors are eminently qualified. Mayer is a scholar in residence and McHugh is a prof of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For twenty-five years, McHugh also served as psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
A couple years ago, Al Mohler came out on the national stage saying he now no longer believed in reparative/gender identity counseling. He also "repented" of his former denial of homosexual orientation, stating that he now believes homosexual orientation is a real deal. Mohler goes on to...
say:
Put simply, most people experiencing a same-sex attraction tell of discovering it within themselves at a very early age, certainly within early puberty. As they experience it, a sexual attraction or interest simply “happens,” and they come to know it. The concept of sexual orientation is not only helpful, it is in some sense essential. ...There is a pattern of sexual interest and attraction that is discovered in early adolescence. It is not something that is, in itself, freely chosen.
Mohler's reversal on gender identity counseling and homosexual orientation run directly contrary to the research:
The most commonly accepted view in popular discourse we mentioned above — the “born that way” notion that homosexuality and heterosexuality are biologically innate or the product of very early developmental factors — has led many non-specialists to think that homosexuality or heterosexuality is in any given person unchangeable and determined entirely apart from choices, behaviors, life experiences, and social contexts. However, as the following discussion of the relevant scientific literature shows, this is not a view that is well-supported by research.
Speaking of a survey that "found that 35% of self-identified gay men reported experiencing opposite-sex attractions in the past year, and 10% of self-identified gay men reported opposite-sex sexual behavior during the same period," Mayer and McHugh write of "dispensing with the construct of sexual orientation in the context of social science research, as it seems that whatever it might represent, it is only loosely or inconsistently tied to empirically measurable phenomena."
Then this extended excerpt demonstrating how out of touch the LivingOut.org and Gospel Coalition men are in their understanding of sexuality, gender, and gender dysphoria:
Given the possibility of changes in sexual desire and attraction, which research suggests is not uncommon, any attempt to infer a stable, innate, and fixed identity from a complex and often shifting mélange of inner fantasies, desires, and attractions — sexual, romantic, aesthetic, or otherwise — is fraught with difficulties. We can imagine, for example, a sixteen-year-old boy who becomes infatuated with a young man in his twenties, developing fantasies centered around the other’s body and build, or perhaps on some of his character traits or strengths. Perhaps one night at a party the two engage in physical intimacy, catalyzed by alcohol and by the general mood of the party. This young man then begins an anguished process of introspection and self-exploration aimed at finding the answer to the enigmatic question, “Does this mean I’m gay?” Current research from the biological, psychological, and social sciences suggests that this question, at least as it is framed, makes little sense. As far as science can tell us, there is nothing “there” for this young man to discover — no fact of nature to uncover or to find buried within himself.
Get the document and read it. You will be inoculated against the ideological tripe being spread across the church today by famous Reformed men making their peace with the post-Obergefell world.
Yes, along with the other usual suspects, Huffington Post is trying to shout down Mayer and McHugh's report. What did you expect? Every unrepentant gay and lesbian wants the status of having been "born that way." It makes God the Author of their sin. Don't let them discourage you from taking the time to read this report. You will grow in your love and compassion for those tempted by sexual perversions.
Tim serves Clearnote Church, Bloomington, Indiana. He and Mary Lee have five children and big lots of grandchildren.
Want to get in touch? Send Tim an email!
