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Rick Brentlinger Reviews The God Box by Alex Sanchez
The God Box by bestselling author Alex Sanchez ("The Rainbow Boys" trilogy) is an incredible new novel about gay teens and their Christian faith. Its October, 2007 publication coincides with National Coming Out Day in the U.S. TGB tells the fascinating story of gay teens and their nongay friends who also happen to be Christians. In some ways, this book could be called an apologetic novel - that is, a novel meant to instruct others about the practical realities of the Christian faith. Alex Sanchez manages to achieve his goal while maintaining a fast-paced, captivating storyline. I have read the book and love it! I wish such an uplifting book had been available back in the 1960s when I was a gay teen. Sanchez addresses the questions teens ask about sexuality with unusual insight and sensitivity. TGB is set in a small west Texas town, with several Hispanic protagonists, giving it a wonderful multicultural dimension. Sanchez covers many gay themes and gay myths including ex-gay themes and how ex-gay ministries are so spectacularly unsuccessful. The fallacy of the ex-gay ideal and the sadness of gays who buy into the ex-gay myth is honestly portrayed without being preachy. The God Box encourages authentic, Bible-based spirituality and demonstrates through literary device, how everyone should embrace the gift of our God-given sexuality yet in no way does Sanchez promote sexual promiscuity. The teen years are difficult enough without the complicating factor of being a gay teenager. Sanchez describes the trauma of teen bullying and the indifference of many teachers and school administrators when gay kids are bullied. A particularly poignant section of the book shows the horrific damage bullying causes to vulnerable kids and stresses the Biblical message of Jesus' incredible love for us.
With exquisite finesse, Sanchez portrays the destructive manifestations of overt homophobia and internalized homophobia, and the inner torment of so many gay kids. In his fair and balanced treatment, he shows how some pastors fuel the inner torment of gay teens by appealing to their cultural prejudices and lack of knowledge. The image of God Sanchez paints in TGB is of a living, loving Savior who gave us a practical, relevant handbook for life in His written word, the Bible. If you have gay teenagers, TGB is must reading! This book encourages gay teens to live for the Lord, to not give up on God and to stay alive. Conflict over sexual orientation is a leading cause of teen suicide. The God Box provides a positive, scriptural antidote for gay teens considering suicide. Important Reviewer's NoteFor me, the one negative about The God Box is the author’s comment at the end of the book, in which he seems to recommend books by Bishop Spong. As a Bible believing Christian, I CANNOT in good conscience, recommend any of Bishop Spong’s books. Spong’s denial of the virgin birth of Christ, his denial of the necessity of the new birth through the substitutionary blood atonement of Christ and his denial of Biblical inspiration can only confuse and discourage gay Christians who are seeking Biblical answers. Thankfully, the wonderful story Alex Sanchez tells in The God Box itself does NOT embrace or recommend Bishop Spong’s unbelief, which is why I am able to heartily recommend Alex Sanchez’s latest book The God Box. - Reviewed by Rick Brentlinger, Founder of GayChristian101.com and author of Gay Christian 101 - Spiritual Self-Defense For Gay Christians. Interesting Links To Make You ThinkFind out more about Alex Sanchez at his website. Don’t miss our review of Calling The Rainbow Nation Home by E.T. Sundby You've read my review of The God Box. Click here to return to Gay Christian 101 Home Page. Click here to examine the analogy of Amram and Jochebed, the parents of Aaron, Miriam and Moses. This Scriptural Analogy convincingly validates Gay Relationships. There are four popular analogies which are used to validate Gay Relationships as blessed by God. Click here to examine these four popular analogies. Here is a real-life example of a prominent gay partnership in scripture - the amazing true love story of Jonathan and David is the greatest human love story in the Bible. Jesus identified the sin of Sodom and it was not homosexuality. I am saying that the Holiness Code was aimed at Israel, in a specific place, the land of Israel, in a specific time period, while Israel was in the land, living under the Law. And what some Christians wrongly interpret as a universal prohibition of all gay relationships is, in reality, a prohibition of shrine prostitution in worship of the Canaanite fertility goddess. What was a sodomite in the Bible? Was it a homosexual, as many conservative preachers insist or was a sodomite in the Bible always a shrine prostitute who worshiped the Canaanite fertility goddess?
Discover why readers LOVE our NEW Book! Gay Christian 101 cuts to the chase and deals head-on with the false allegations, inconsistent interpretations and outright misrepresentations of scriptures which are alleged to condemn gay and lesbian relationships.
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