Although I received the Lord into my life at an early age, I became an atheist during my teen years, and by the age of 20 was a heavy drinker and into a variety of recreational drugs. Through a series of events, the Lord revealed Himself to me and to the amazement of many people, I became consumed with a zeal to serve the Lord. I would often spend hours a day praying, reading the Bible, and witnessing to others. I used to come to church on Sunday and testify to the number of people I had led to the Lord that week. I eventually became a licensed minister with my denomination and started a campus ministry at UNC-Asheville.
But all this time, I struggled with a dark secret. I often battled with homosexual lust. I had begun having sex with other guys as a child, having been introduced to it by an older student at school. It had fulfilled a deep and unmet need to be approved and affirmed by other males, and it had sunk its claws deep into my soul. And when I had come to the Lord at 20 years old, the desire to drink, smoke, and do drugs all went away. But I still had the desire to be with other men in a sexual way.
For nearly five years, I struggled with this temptation. And although I never ac ...
