My Heart's in the Highlands
Testimony of God's grace in the life of Joseph Thiessen concerning his struggles with pornography addiction, identity confusion and a genetic disorder....
Keep Reading
Differing Views on Christianity, Identity and Homosexuality
Differing Views on Christianity, Identity and Homosexuality where there is an onslaught of the promotion of "gay Christianity" in the Church today. The differing view chart reveals the differences in belief and approach and is helpful for those who need to understand and be warned of those who promote false teaching, or lacking in fullness for HOPE....
My Heart's in the Highlands
Testimony of God's grace in the life of Joseph Thiessen concerning his struggles with pornography addiction, identity confusion and a genetic disorder....
Supernatural Life - Andrew Franklin
Andrew Franklin tells his story about how Jesus has transformed his life and brought him out of homosexuality, revealing his true identity in Christ....
Hope for the Homosexual: First Stone Ministries
I have the privilege of talking with many people who minister to others in the area of sexual sin: the youth minister counseling hormone-charged teens, the pastor getting ready for a sermon on lust, the counselor meeting with sex addicts, or the brave soul reaching out to women in the adult industry. But no type of ministry is perhaps as overlooked, underfunded, and stigmatized as a ministry to homosexuals. ...
Public Response to False Claims Laid Against The TranZformed Documentary Being “Soul-Crushing”
This public response is answering a false claim, some distortions and the typical fake-news narrative by those who do not hold to a conservative Biblical orthodox view of human sexuality, The Gayly and Sara Cunningham. Before going into the details of their false claims...
First Stone Ministries’ Position on ‘Gay Christian’ and ‘Spiritual Friendships?’
Restored Hope Network (RHN) respectfully disagrees with anyone who continues to identify as both ‘homosexual’ and Christian. Identification with Christ can and must displace an identity based on disordered desires. The New Testament repeatedly calls believers to repent of old identifications and to cleave to the new, true source of one’s identity...
The God Who Sees Me - Annette Morales' Testimony
The God Who Sees Me is Annette Morales' testimony. Annette went through discipleship pastoral care at First Stone Ministries and participated in the Living Waters support group for several years. Annette is now serving as a volunteer at First Stone Ministries in helping others recover from sexual and relational brokenness....
FSM & RHNs' Position on The Role of Christian Counseling for Persons w/ Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction
First Stone Ministries embraces the Restored Hope Network (RHN) Policy on the Role of Christian Counseling for Persons with Unwanted Same-Sex Attractions. This policy was developed by the RHN board 2016-2017 and was presented to the Member Ministries for a vote in June of 2017. This became the recognized policy of the RHN Network....
Spiritual Attack: Meant For Evil, Turned For Good
"How many of you feel that, within the last year, you’ve been through the most intense spiritual warfare you've ever experienced?" Almost the entire congregation raised their hands. It is as if the enemy knows that his time is short and he is coming against the people of God with great intensity. (Revelation 12:12)...
Unadulterated Internet - How God is Winning My Heart Over to Him
An encouraging article and testimony from Joseph Thiessen in overcoming internet pornography addiction. There are several helpful tools included from Covenant Eyes....
The Terrors of Hell
The study of hell, understanding the theology of hell is very important for Christian maturity. Most churches today forsake the thorough teaching of hell. Therefore, unfortunately, allowing many so-called Christians to remain in sin, no repentance necessary, and believe they are going to heaven. It is not true. Only those who truly surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as Lord, bringing forth the fruit of repentance enter into heaven....
Fire! Fire!
We should never forget the extreme mercy of God in delivering us from hell by sending us His Son to die on the cross for our sins. It is so important to remind people of the reality of hell and eternity....
I Keep Falling In Love With Him - Aaron Girod's Testimony
Aaron Girod tells his story of being religious and broken with a secret world of same-sex attraction and homosexuality. However, the Lord Jesus broke through Aaron's religiousness by going through a tragic pedestrian/vehicle accident....
Overview of Homosexuality
Stephen Black shares a message on the "Overview of Homosexuality" with the BGCO Baptist Ministers' Group in Lawton, OK -- Tightrope Session in 2014. You will want to view the PDF / Handout with this video message....
Discovering My True Identity
Testimony of Jim Farrington in overcoming homosexuality and finding a true identity in God's original intent as a man of God....
Perverting Grace - Red Flags to Alert You To Perverse-Grace Teachings
Perverse-Grace, Red Flags to Alert You to Perverse-Grace Teachings is to help people identify if they might be under a perverse-hyper-grace teacher. If you hear the following things being taught in your church or community you are under perverse-grace teaching. This is very important as it is a segue to the promotion of “gay Christianity.”...
Scandalous Good News
From Stephen Black: Andrew Comiskey gave a very timely message that serves as a prophetic warning to the Church. I believe this warning is especially needed for evangelicals that are more susceptible to the growing deception toward embracing “gay Christianity.” Evangelicals are more likely than ever before to embrace the mixture of the cheap-grace messaging, adding the validation of same-sex sexual orientation and then pouring in a once prayed, always saved message. The outcome of this mixture has caused many to embrace “gay Christianity.” Andrew Comiskey gives a warning as he shares his own story of how this “gay Christian” messaging infiltrated his own home through the “Spiritual Friendship” movement and Wesley Hill's book with the so-called celibate gays, who are calling for the Church to embrace “gay Christianity” as a dangerously deceptive and corrupting option....
Pornography Facts 2015
First Stone has compiled a short list of stunning statistics concerning pornography use among Christians including pastors as well as in marriage and children....
Hope and Wholeness
Laura Leigh Stanlake and Stephen Black teach "Hope and Wholeness" as an audio teaching in growing in maturity and freedom....
The Word of God Comes to Save Us
Stephen Black was the guest speaker at Abundant Grace Community Church in Gainesville, FL on January 17, 2016. He shared a message from the testimony of his life on how the word of God brought salvation....
A Grace-filled and Truthful Response Regarding "Gay Christianity"
After the ruling of the Supreme Court on June 26, 2015 Laura Leigh Stanlake, Director of Women's Ministries attended a local church service where a pastor gave a message in responding to so-called "gay marriage". There was a problem! Homosexual identity and Christianity were being integrated as one legitimate identity-- a "gay Christian" identity. Laura responded with this article in the Winter 2015 First Stone Newsletter....
Theology of the Body, Sexual Redemption and the New Evangelization
The emphasis of the beauty of God's divine intent and His divine creation brings clarity to Imago Dei - made in the image of God. This message was delivered on June 26, 2015 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania the very morning the Supreme Court gave their opinion on gay marriage in America....
Gay Christian - Oxymoron
There is a serious error that is growing in the ranks of Evangelicalism. It has already permeated mainline Protestantism. It is a Trojan Horse in the Body of Christ––one that must be addressed. It carries the potential to change the Gospel we believe, teach and preach into a different gospel (Galatians 1:8), which is NOT the Gospel, but heresy. The implications are extremely sobering. For the most part, the move to embrace the unbiblical term ‘Gay Christian’ has been a well-intended effort to express love, to accept and be supportive of persons who experience same-gender attraction who have self-identified as being gay......
So-Called "Gay Marriage" is No Marriage at All
I am hearing of this more and more—that a Christian has been invited to attend a "wedding" between two men or two women. It is usually from a relative, a close friend, or perhaps their own child. A Christian, who is faced with a decision whether to attend or not, processes through many questions with heartache. ...
Everyone Needs This Ministry - A Letter from a Pastor
A Letter from a Pastor Who Participated in Living Waters 2014-2015...
First Stone Ministries Attendance and Code of Conduct Agreement
This is an agreement that is between First Stone Ministries(FSM) and any participant or attendee to any FSM event, seminar, conference or group. This includes all public and/or private events. Participating, Attending or Registration to a First Stone Ministries Event signifies agreement with the event policies....
Friendships For God’s Glory and Our Good
It seems to me that our entire Christian culture is looking for the inspiration for connection. What is the best way to connect? What is the face we want to put out there that draws people? How do we connect with hurting people? What is the right formula for making “community” happen in our churches?...
Will the Church Show Justice and Mercy to the Same-Sex Attracted?
A Clarion Call for Genuine Salvation and Biblical Hope; Not Compromise! God commands us to love one another, yet only through the divine influence of the Holy Spirit living in us and moving us to love as the Lord Jesus Christ loves are we able to fulfill that command and walk out love. The Holy Spirit creates this kind of love within God’s diligent surrendered repentant people, enabling them to walk out true love without denying true justice. Only in His love can we avoid the great compromise of our age....
For the Love of a Father
A poem by James Ryle about a boy who becomes a homosexual and the need for the Church to act....
"This is the Way God Made Me" A Scientific Examination of Homosexuality and the "Gay
The trumpets were left at home and the parades were canceled. The press releases and campaign signs were quietly forgotten. The news was big, but it did not contain what some had hoped for. On April 14, 2003, the International Human Genome Consortium announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project—two years ahead of schedule. ...
Affirming Biblical Orthodoxy on Homosexuality as Sin
The following article links are helpful in understanding the subject of homosexuality clearly communicated in the Bible as sin and are posted as encouragement and equipping for those who desire to have a clear Biblical response to the culture concerning homosexuality....
The Gospel According To Jesus Christ and the "Gay Christian?"
A Message to Pastoral Care Leaders Processing The Gospel and "Gay Christianity" This article is equipped with many end-notes of Biblical references to back up the emphatic statements and is a Bible study with over 150 verses on this subject. Please read the Scripture references with this article and let God’s word be your guide....
Responding to Pro-Gay Theology, Part I: Social Justice Arguments
This three-part series will address the pro-gay theology by dividing its arguments—or tenets—into three categories: social justice arguments, general religious arguments, and scriptural arguments. A brief description of these arguments will be provided, followed by a response/rebuttal to each....
Responding to Pro-Gay Theology, Part 2: General Religious Arguments
This three-part series will address the pro-gay theology by dividing its arguments—or tenets—into three categories: social justice arguments, general religious arguments, and scriptural arguments. A brief description of these arguments will be provided, followed by a response/rebuttal to each....
Responding to Pro-Gay Theology, Part 3: Scriptural Arguments
This three-part series will address the pro-gay theology by dividing its arguments—or tenets—into three categories: social justice arguments, general religious arguments, and scriptural arguments. A brief description of these arguments will be provided, followed by a response/rebuttal to each....
A Call to "Ex-Gays" to Press Toward the Higher Mark
There are a great many people in ministry whose personal healing has not reached a stage where it is safe for them to be a model or teacher for others who are seeking help. There, I said it!...
Breaking the Silence on the "M" Word
After ten years of celibacy, Jim (not his real name) had concluded that masturbation was his consolation prize - door number three in a world where the big deal of the day was behind door number one. "It was God's provision for single people and for those in sexually unfulfilling marriages," he surmised, concluding that it would be unfair for God to have made things any other way. "Even more," he thought, "it was necessary to maintain healthy physiology. After all, the Bible was silent on the issue wasn't it?"...
Finding the Will of God
Finding the will of God can be unclear and uncertain for many. God is not a physical person that shows up for a conference session to tell you exactly what to do. Any believer would welcome that in a crisis or during a difficult decision time, but the walk of faith with Christ doesn’t work that way....
Supernatural Life - Andrew Franklin
Andrew Franklin tells his story about how Jesus has transformed his life and brought him out of homosexuality, revealing his true identity in Christ....
Keep ReadingThe God Who Sees Me - Annette Morales' Testimony
The God Who Sees Me is Annette Morales' testimony. Annette went through discipleship pastoral care at First Stone Ministries and participated in the Living Waters support group for several years. Annette is now serving as a volunteer at First Stone Ministries in helping others recover from sexual and relational brokenness....
Keep ReadingI Keep Falling In Love With Him - Aaron Girod's Testimony
Aaron Girod tells his story of being religious and broken with a secret world of same-sex attraction and homosexuality. However, the Lord Jesus broke through Aaron's religiousness by going through a tragic pedestrian/vehicle accident....
Keep ReadingDiscovering My True Identity
Testimony of Jim Farrington in overcoming homosexuality and finding a true identity in God's original intent as a man of God....
Keep ReadingFrom Homosexuality to Holiness - Stephen's Testimony
Victimized by men throughout his childhood and adolescence, Stephen found himself driven by homosexual compulsions. Heading for disaster, he finally discovered the truth about Jesus' sacrifice for his sins and decided to choose holiness. From Pure Passion TV. ...
Keep ReadingSing Over Me: Bonus Interview - Laura Leigh Stanlake
Video testimony from Laura Leigh Stanlake, Director of Women's Ministries at First Stone Ministries. Freedom from lesbianism, sexual addiction, pornography and sexual abuse....
Keep ReadingStephen's Story
Stephen's Story of freedom from homosexuality and sexual abuse. Video is from PFOX's Safe Exit library....
Keep ReadingCreated for Manhood
From my earliest memories, I can recall a sense of feeling different from my brother, dad, and male friends. While the other men in my life got excited about sports or active play, I found myself much more adept and interested in artistic endeavors like singing and dancing....
Keep ReadingGod Restored My Marriage
“Beth,” my friend confided, “when I pray about your husband, two words keep getting impressed on my heart. One is suicide, and the other is homosexuality.”...
Keep ReadingFading Faces - Voices of Healing
The faces that come to the First Stone office are nothing more than the fading faces of children who have been hurt...but now the face we see is the grown up one, but the hurt is still there. Matthew 18:10 says “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”...
Keep ReadingCalling Out the Man
“Teach me how to be a man.” This has been the cry of my heart, the desire of my life since my memories began. My journey has been one out of homosexuality, a life of devouring men in fraudulent hopes of someday becoming one. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to kill and steal and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” My path has led...
Keep ReadingFreedom from Homosexuality & Healing of Sexual Abuse - Pure Passion Video
Stephen Black Interview with David Kyle Foster Stephen Black's Testimony in overcoming homosexuality and childhood sexual abuse. Pure Passion - Season 2, Episode 19...
Keep ReadingJesus Glory and the Lifter of My Head
I have never considered myself a gay man as this title seems to be for the more political person who lives with his same-sex sexual orientation out in the open for all to see. In contrast, homosexuality was never a lifestyle wherein I immersed myself with like-minded people for any length of time, nor was I ever given to sex with anyone. Rather, it has been a lifestyle of ...
Keep ReadingFreedom Video - Presentation of First Stone Ministries
We love what God does for those who choose to walk according to His ways! We have found freedom from homosexuality by submitting our lives to the Word of God. Hear the stories of three people and hope at First Stone Ministries....
Keep ReadingFreed From The Henchmen: Deliverance From Sexual Addictions & Emotional Dependency
As a young man I grew up in the world and thus into carnality. As a teenager, I began to be attracted to girls. One thing led to another and by the time I was seventeen, I was involved in fornication and pornography. Truly, it was the way of a young man who was not told about God, nor about His laws and the consequences of breaking them....
Keep ReadingI'm A Brand New Man
My daddy was gone. I knew that he had done something very wrong, but I didn't understand fully. I did not have a daddy to hold me when I cried, no one to teach me how to play catch or throw a ball, to fight and rough-house with, or even to use the restroom like boys do. I don't remember a time when I got to be bounced on my daddy's lap, to be held and kissed, or told that ...
Keep ReadingLooking for Peace
When you think you have lost everything and nothing else matters, Jesus rises above all of it and carries us through, even in death, what unexplainable joy Jesus gives us in that time! We must trust Him! I chose a rebellious life of lesbianism and bondage to sin. Now I choose HIM! I finally found the freedom, joy, and PEACE that I had spent most of my life looking for, to ...
Keep ReadingA Letter of Victorious Living
I wanted to write you and thank you for what you do and have done for me. About 3 years ago I married a man named Clay Brown, you were instrumental in leading Clay into changing his life. Clay had a problem with pornography before I married him. He realized he had a huge problem and sought you out for help....
Keep Reading"El Envió Eu Palabra Para Curarnos."
“El envió su palabra y los sanó, y los liberó de sus destrucciones.” Un testimonio de Stephen Black, director ejecutivo, First Stone Ministerios...
Keep ReadingA Broken Heart
What you are about to read is a story of hope...and the reason we sing...the reason we will never stop praising the Lord Jesus Christ. The following is our personal witness of the love and power of Jesus Christ in our lives. As you read, we are asking the Lord to break your heart by the things that break His heart....
Keep ReadingCross-dressing and Christianity: A REAL Man's Struggle
There are some in the Christian faith who do not understand cross-dressing and will condemn you. I know where you are coming from and do not condemn you. I am not a therapist or counselor, but I have "been in your heels", so to speak. I am now an ex-cross-dresser (heterosexual M to F) by the grace and healing of Jesus Christ....
Keep ReadingWhen The Waves of Death Surrounded Me
I never felt I could share my testimony because I felt too hypocritical. If people knew what I was, and what I had done, then they would reject me. I couldn't deal with rejection. I was an expert at reading people, figuring out what they wanted to see, and meeting their expectations. I held to a strategic plan to protect an image I had set up: "ME"....
Keep ReadingLike Oil and Water
"So, should I start over?" The doctor asked. I had just walked back into my husband’s hospital room. Steven nodded. Very graciously, the doctor continued. He reviewed my husband’s illness, pnuemocystis carinii pneumonia, and reminded us that this kind of illness only occurs when the immune system is broken down. AIDS was a possible culprit and he was here to give the r...
Keep ReadingJennifer Elaine... or Jerry Edward?
Dressing as a woman gave me excitement, sexual and emotional , pleasure, and a wonderful means to temporarily escape from my hated existence as a man....
Keep ReadingA Brand New Man: Freedom From Homosexuality and the Gay "Christian" Deception
I'm a new creation; I'm a brand new man. If you were to ask me who I was in the Fall of 1977, I would have told you "I am a husband, I am a factory representative, I am the owner of a collector's car..." Just 6 months later in the spring of 1978; if you would have asked me who I was, I would have told you, "I am divorced, I am changing jobs, I am dealing with my dad's deat...
Keep ReadingA Mother's Testimony
Almost 3 years ago, my son told me he was "gay". In all honesty I cannot tell you that it came as a complete and total surprise. We had questioned (to ourselves) some of his actions, but I would not let my questions surface, because I trusted my son. He had accepted Jesus Christ when he was 10 and loved the Lord, and because of that he could not be a homosexual. I didn't r...
Keep ReadingHey, COACH! By His Grace, I Survived Your Sexual Abuse
I hated myself because I had very conflicting emotions about my abuser, a high school teacher and coach. It was not until I recognized him for what he is that I was able to start the healing process. I think the process of writing these two projects has freed my spirit from the hate that once bound me in my sin. Even though the hate is gone, some of the hurt still remains....
Keep ReadingSet Free To Follow Christ: Freedom From Pornography
I'm writing this, not as one who has finished the journey to freedom over sin, but as a man who faces trials and failures every day of his life. I've learned a great many things since I have faced my sexual addiction. ...
Keep ReadingDeceived, Then Totally Freed!
When I was about eleven years old, I had an experience that set me on a collision course of sexual brokenness. ...
Keep ReadingFree At Last!
I was married yet deeply in love with another man. Guilt and fear raged inside. What if my wife discovered this secret? I am no longer consumed by overwhelming depression. My marriage is being brought back to the place intended from the beginning. Jesus promised that we would have tribulations in this world (John 16:33). And my life still has its share of trials. But I ...
Keep ReadingTrapped In Deception
"God created us this way," the gay priest told me, "and He loves us just the way we are." Sex became a distorted issue for me at an early age. I was molested about age six by a male friend of the family who was baby-sitting me. I was also exposed to some pornography at the same time. The porn was heterosexual, yet very devastating to my understanding of real love and God...
Keep ReadingMy Secret War
I had spent years in church, graduated from Bible school, and served in short-term missions. But a hidden battle was raging inside that threatened to destroy me....
Keep ReadingFrom Preacher's Kid to Prostitute to PRIEST
You see, when I was eight or nine, I suddenly became sexually obsessive and suicidal - classic signs of having been sexually abused, although to this day I have no such memories. I was a spoiled brat, selfish and perverse, full of rebellion and seeking to prove to everyone who looked my way that I was not the goody two-shoes that everyone was trying to typecast me as - bei...
Keep ReadingAdventure In Divine Submission - AIDS
Why would someone CHOOSE to be a homosexual? Why would they choose a life of rejection and scorn from so many different areas of society and God? Why would they become involved in something destined to bring so much heartache to their life? Many believe, as I did, that there is no other way; that they were born that way and must accept that there can't be any other way for...
Keep ReadingContentment and Joy
From my earliest memories, I have longed to know Jesus. The problem was that I couldn’t ever seem to grasp the truth of His salvation. So, I became a seeker. (God rewards those who seek Him diligently. Thankfully.) Though I looked into many different expressions and practices of various religions and beliefs, I continued to return to Jesus as my One Hope. I attempted to ...
Keep ReadingHe Sent His Word to Heal Us
As I gave my life completely over to the Lord back in 1983, He took me down memory lane as a part of my deliverance. There I was, a five year old little boy, very curious about the male anatomy. This was the first remembrance of what were the beginnings of homosexual thoughts. ...
Keep ReadingThe Man in the Mirror
Imagine - me married! A day of rejoicing and celebration, of sharing love between family and friends. At my side was my wife, the woman I loved. But special as it was, our wedding held a much deeper significance....
Keep Reading