8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
God Heals ALL Sexual Brokenness Through His Grace., February 9, 2011
This review is from: Surviving Sexual Brokenness: What Grace Can Do (Paperback)
In the introduction to Thom Hunter's book, _Surviving Sexual Brokenness: What Grace Can Do_, there is a paragraph which I underlined and referred to almost every time I returned to the book: "It took me a long time to admit I was 'sexually broken.' I knew from an early age that engaging in sexual activity with a person of the same sex was wrong. I knew it instinctively, but I also knew it spiritually. God's Word was clear on the issue. Still, it seemed impossible to resist and yielding to it cost me greatly. Only by accepting the fact that I was `broken,' could I accept my need for repair, through a desire for holiness.'"
As the leader of a recovery group for sexually broken Christian men (freeinchrist@yahoogroups.com), this paragraph could easily exemplify the problem and also the solution to the pain and suffering of hundreds of people I encounter; their misery is genuine, for they are truly sexually broken; but as for the solution, they are as individuals in a very dark room, holding an extension cord of wholeness, but unable to find the electrical outlet because of the terrifying darkness. And that outlet is the grace of God
Sexual brokenness is sexual brokenness, regardless of the form in which it manifests itself - pornography, adultery, homosexuality, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, etc. Thom Hunter's book alludes to possible causes for this brokenness, but he is not rash enough to proclaim that he has found the solution. As a father of five who fought, fell and rose again to fight against unwanted same-sex attraction, he has suffered fractured relationships with some of his children. He has been vilified and cast out of his own church by those who apparently choose to hide their own brokenness. His wife has faithfully remained at his side, participating in the grace that continues to heal him.
There are thirty-three chapters in this book of 167 pages. It is not only an easy read, but it is an inspiring experience. Above all it is a hopeful experience for the sexually broken. Several factors account for this: Thom has a clarity of writing style that make it difficult to put the book down - he is a poet; he has chosen deeply relevant Bible verses to illustrate how the glory of grace works in those who have a less than kind impression of themselves; he transforms the concept of evil into good, extolling doubt, guilt, and shame - and he makes it obvious that grace and grace alone is the inner physician mending the shattered heart that has an innate desire to be righteous and love God.
"We need instead to see ourselves as Jesus sees us," he says. "Jesus sees us as complete . . . he picks us up and wraps us in His arms and simply loves us. He doesn't wrestle us into forced surrender; He invites us to surrender and soothes us with grace and peace. He doesn't point and mock, reducing us to shame; He holds and hears and builds us back up with hope.
"Jesus doesn't exploit our weaknesses. When we're weak, He is strong. He never makes us wish we had never been born; He makes us rejoice to be born again."
The sexual storms that erupt in our lives don't just tear away the good; they wash away the bad. The just and the unjust are recipients of grace. Struggling with sexual brokenness is a form of suffering that often seems deserved not only in the eyes of our observers, Thom says, but in our own. Why are we so weak? Inquiring minds really . . . really ...really want to know.
A recurring theme in this book is the "reward" of resignation ... and what a reward it is. Bitterness, inaction, stagnancy. Again I emphasize that anyone who reads this book will find it impossible to resign himself to a life of sexual brokenness. "Therefore we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance" (Romans 5:1-3).
This is not a book of condemnation, judgment, or the search for secular solutions. Rather it is a blessing of divine wisdome because it shows us that even in our spiritual warfare we have GRACE to celebrate the darkness that is upon us. For without knowing the night, how can we rejoice in light of morning?
Perhaps I am so attached to this book (I've read it three times) is because it persists in showing me the depth of the love of Jesus Christ for me, in spite of the sins that consumed me most of my life. Yes, He is the "hound of heaven," pursuing me through the forest, crashing rocks and fallen trees to get His hands on me. One feels His hot, loving breath on the neck, and one knows that at last the chase is over.
There is a magnificent chapter entitled "The Graceless Gospel of Guilt," perhaps my favorite, as I am one who continues to live with the guilt of my sexual transgressions. I have read countless books in my attempt to rid myself of this demon that obsesses me, but few have given me the relief of the New Testament. My problem with the New Testament, with its repentance, with its admonition to forget yesterday, was that I hadn't yet realized that I loved my sin more than I loved Jesus Christ. I hope that the reader of this review who is agonizing over the guilt of the past can suddenly be emptied of the lies, distortions, and constant obsessions that the enemy uses to keep us sexually broken. "The Graceless Gospel of Guilt" is a gospel for all of us who are sexually broken. The miracle of this chapter is that the author has ripped himself free from the guilt that the world imposes on this. I personally have experienced a revelation from this particular chapter which has moved me light years from the dysfunctional desire to wallow in my guilt because I couldn't find Christ.
There is an outstanding chapter about the church which some might find controversial. Perhaps it is best dealt with in this review with a "biblical-secular" reference from the book:
"Instead of leaving the 99 sheep to go after the one that is lost, the church is often busy building a tighter corral to keep the lost sheep out with the wolves where he belongs in his assumed depravity. Maybe he is not so much depraved as just wandering and uncertain and needing the right kind of love. Honest and real. Maybe the men and women in our churches who struggle with same-sex attraction would tell someone in the church themselves rather than waiting for that awful discovery to emerge and submerge them in shame, labeling them as perverted and perverting, if they believe that the ears would hear and not recoil in disgust. What is it about revealed sexual sin - straight or gay or whatever - that sends us into spasms of shock and horror? Are we, as a church, really silly enough to think that Sunday sermons and seasons of VBS somehow inoculate us from the evils of the world? Jesus knew better."
If you are hanging on by your fingernails, about to take your last breath before you let go in despair, consider purchasing this book first and doing yourself a favor by coming to the reality that GOD'S GRACE is for all of us.
All we have to do is unclench our hands and release the self-loathing and fear. The grace of God will never allow us to clench them again.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recovering From Brokeness, December 4, 2010
This review is from: Surviving Sexual Brokenness: What Grace Can Do (Paperback)
Mr. Thom Hunter in his book SURVIVING SEXUAL BROKENESS ventures where very few go in the Christian world: transparency, sexual brokeness and restoration. There is no "Halleluyah Mask" here! It is a powerful and gutsy book that raises visceral emotions that most would rather keep in darkness but emotions that nonetheless need to be exposed for healing and restoration.
In his masterful way of wordcrafting, Mr. Hunter artfully, beautifully and painfully takes us on his journey of sexual brokenness and how the L_RD has used this pain to minister to others. Some of the issues brought up are disappointment from people that one should feel comfortable with, unmet expectations, violated trust, and trying to live up to the expectations of others behind a facade of suppurating and bleeding wounds and the book does so WITHOUT delving into quasi-pornografic details.
It is a cautionary tale for those who secretly flirt with sin while deceiving themselves by believing that it won't happen to them or that they won't be caught---the deception of denial; it is also a powerful testimony of redemption and restoration. I have used the lessons that I have learned from his fall and restoration to counsel others in areas that the Body of Messiah would rather keep silent about and/or ignore. Silence=death in one form or another! It not only raises issues but offers hope and solutions for men and women who have been bruised from addictions and hidden wounds, whatever they may be.
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