Our lives are signposts with signs on. Are we sending people down the wrong road or the right road? In this article, Chris explores the dangers of flirting and using others to meet our physical and emotional needs.

Matt Fuller, with humour, biblical faithfulness and pastoral care, delves deep into the issue. He shows that to “be true to yourself” is not just a phrase, but a worldview (a values system). He places it under the microscope and, in the book, firstly shows how it is lacking. If we follow our society’s understanding of being “true to yourself” then you will end up empty.

One of the criticisms sometimes aimed at True Freedom Trust is that it brings together people who are all same-sex tempted and places them into a pressure cooker of mutual temptation! Maybe a glib response would be to say that the world is full of attractive people, so there’s plenty of same-sex temptation out there already! Same-sex attracted people are arguably exposed to greater temptation than ‘straight’ people in everyday life – one example is when they have to use single-sex changing rooms.

Rachel interweaves each chapter with the expounding of different Scriptures, including the relevant subject matter, life stories and experiences. The unexpectedness of each chapter is refreshing to read, and there seems to be something new around each corner.

All good theology starts with God, and when we look at Scripture, we see that God is a God of righteousness (Psalm 19:9, Deuteronomy 32:4). He despises wickedness and rewards goodness (Romans 1:18, 2:10). In this article, Adam explores the biblical tension between keeping the vulnerable safe from danger and taking appropriate risks ourselves.

I could see that people were different at church compared to primary school. My church friends were true, loyal and kind. However, school friends liked you one week and not the next, or a fellow classmate would call you names if you beat them in PE.

It seems that we are currently ‘living through history’. I realise that, in one sense, we are always ‘living through history’, but this feels like one of those periods that people will refer to in the years to come; one of those ‘big’ events where not only individuals but the whole world has been affected.

I began using my red flag system back in the late 1980s. I converted to Christ in 1985 and, in response to the Bible’s teaching that all sexual activity was to be within the boundaries of marriage between a man and a woman, I walked away from the active gay life that I had been living. However, although I stopped the activity, this decision had no bearing on my emotional response towards various women.

My church has its own same-sex attraction support group. Our group meets three to four times a year. As I reflect on what it means to share life together, I am struck by how important this support group has been for my own growth as a Christian and for sharing life with others.