Matthew Paul Turner, Christian author of children’s books, announced that he has embraced the gay lifestyle and divorce
By Julio Severo
Noted Christian author Matthew Paul Turner
dropped a bombshell on the evangelical community on July 17, 2020 when he revealed
he is homosexual. The author of the books “When God Made Light” and “Our Great
Big American God” shocked his followers when he made the announcement on social
media, and then added he is divorcing his wife, fellow writer Jessica M.
Turner.
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| Matthew Paul Turner and his wife, from whom he has divorced to embrace homosexuality |
Turner is the former editor of CCM, a
magazine covering contemporary Christian music, but he is best known for his
rhyming children’s books published through Convergent, an imprint of Penguin
Random House. His 2019 book “When I Pray for You” is a Today, Publisher’s
Weekly and Wall Street Journal bestseller with more than 100,000 copies in
print.
“[A]s someone who spent 30+ years in
fundamentalist/evangelical churches, exploring God through conservative
theologies, I’ve lived many days overwhelmed by fear, shame and self-hatred,”
Turner wrote in his Facebook post. “But for the first time in my life, despite
the sadness and grief I’m feeling right now, I can say with confidence that I’m
ready to embrace freedom, hope and God as a gay man.”
Matthew and Jessica were married in 2004
after meeting online and quickly bonding over their interest and involvement in
CCM.
“Despite her own grief and pain, she has
loved and encouraged me to be fully me.” The couple live in Nashville, Tennessee,
with their three children.
In his book, “Fear No Evil,” Turner
describes growing up in a conservative Independent Fundamental Baptist Church
where he said his belief in God was rooted in fear of damnation. He wrote that
his faith evolved over the years, and this “evolvement” is that eventually he
became a part of more progressive Christian circles.
“Though my own faith evolved long ago to
become LGBTQ+ affirming, my journey toward recognizing, accepting and embracing
myself took much longer,” Turner wrote in his post.
His progressive faith is reflected in his
children’s books — which emphasize that God’s love accepts everyone just as
they are, including homosexuals — as well as his other writings.
His book “When God Made You” was an
Evangelical Christian Publishing Association bestseller and described as “Oh,
the Places You’ll Go meets The Divine” by recording artist Amy Grant.
Turner has been described as “one of the
most influential progressive Christian voices in media.” The author of 16 books
including “The Christian Culture Survival Guide,” “The Coffeehouse Gospel,” and
“Provocative Faith,” Turner previously served as the entertainment editor for
Crosswalk and was a frequent contributor to Relevant magazine.
The challenge of modern Christians is to
fix their eyes on Jesus. When they fix their eyes on the trends of this world,
they are engulfed by them. One of these trends is the progressive ideology,
which is socialism.
When a Christian fixes his eyes on Jesus,
he is encouraged to fight temptations. But when he fixes his eyes on the
worldly trends, he is discouraged from fighting the temptations and he is
encouraged to yield to them.
It seems that Turner fixed too much his
eyes on what the world has to offer, including misinterpretations of God’s
Word.
What
do the trends of this world say? Often they say that you can be a homosexual.
But what does God’s Word say? It says:
“Do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not
be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some
of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11
NKJV)
While
world and its trends enslave people to every kind of sin — including the lie
that a man can be a homosexual and a Christian at the same time —, Jesus Christ
delivers people from every kind of sin — including homosexuality, its agenda
and lies.
Some
of the people in the Church of Corinth had been homosexuals in the past. But
they embraced the Gospel and the deliverance Jesus offers. And they “were
washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God.” So there is freedom from homosexual slavery and its sins.
Perhaps
the people who did not choose embrace the Gospel and its freedom from
homosexuality thought that they could remain as Christians. But God’s Word says
— and so we should agree and say too — that those who remain in their
homosexual sins and other sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Today,
those who make their bad choices have the Big Media to applaud their blend of homosexuality
with their fake christianity. Meanwhile, Christians should use all the media
available to announce that such blend it is impossible and that freedom from homosexuality
is always possible in Jesus Christ.
Portuguese version of this article: Matthew
Paul Turner, autor cristão de livros infantis, anunciou que adotou o estilo de
vida gay e o divórcio
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