“Tranzformed – Finding Peace With Your God-Given Gender” shares in-depth testimonies of people who wrestled with gender dysphoria, transgender identity, and childhood trauma. The film differentiates intersex conditions from transgender experiences and explores how early abuse, family dynamics, and social rejection shaped identity struggles. Featuring biblical teaching and personal journeys, it argues that real healing comes through faith in Christ rather than medical transition. “Tranzformed” aims to offer hope, understanding, and a biblically based path to wholeness for those navigating gender confusion.
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2026 Summer Newsletter
The Summer 2026 First Stone Ministries newsletter centers on the theme of idolatry and inner child work. Women's Minister Bronwyn Welch offers a biblically grounded call to wholehearted devotion, warning against the subtle ways idols compete for our hearts. Office Administrator Joseph Thiessen shares a vulnerable personal account of reconnecting with his wounded childhood self through Husband Material Academy. Director Laura Leigh Stanlake contributes a warm anniversary reflection honoring 33 years of ministry and the many faithful people who shaped First Stone's story.
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Fifty Years of Faithfulness
In this heartfelt reflection, First Stone Ministries Director Laura Leigh Stanlake looks back on 33 years of ministry — from her introduction to Jeff Janes at a wedding to joining staff full-time in 1997. She honors the many staff members and volunteers whose unique gifts shaped the ministry's culture of honesty, hospitality, and healing. Laura's reflection is a tribute to community as the vehicle God consistently uses to bring hurting people into His presence and toward restoration.
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Regaining the Lost Voice of my Childhood
In this personal reflection shared by First Stone Ministries, Joseph Thiessen describes his journey through Husband Material Academy — a men's ministry program built around emotional healing rather than accountability alone. Through exercises like meeting his childhood self in imagination, writing blessing letters, and spending intentional time reconnecting with the boy he once was, Joseph began to recover a voice that had long been silent. He describes it as the most intentionally healing experience he has ever encountered.
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What Competes for Our Hearts? The Trouble of Idols
In this biblically rich article from First Stone Ministries, the author explores how idolatry — loving anything more than God — divides our allegiance and draws our hearts away from Him. Using passages from the Psalms, Isaiah, the Gospels, and the letters of Paul, the piece calls readers to honestly examine what they seek for comfort, approval, control, or security apart from God. The answer is not mere self-improvement, but wholehearted repentance and a full return to the Lord.
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What is Changing, and Why
Marking 50 years of ministry, First Stone Ministries announces a thoughtful evolution in how it communicates and ministers. While remaining firmly grounded in biblical conviction and the belief that healing is found in Jesus Christ alone, the ministry is adopting warmer, more accessible language, refreshing its website, and shifting internally toward Scripture-based identity formation rather than self-assessment. The goal is clear — to meet people where they are, welcome their whole story, and walk with them patiently toward freedom and wholeness in Christ.
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Holding Love and Truth When It’s Challenging
In this thoughtful article from First Stone Ministries, the author — a parent personally navigating a child's gender identity questions — examines how cultural pressure has redefined empathy as agreement rather than understanding. Drawing on Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 13, and the cautionary example of Aaron, the piece calls believers to hold love and truth together without yielding to coercive demands. True empathy, the author concludes, does not affirm what is contrary to God's will — it points people to Jesus.
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The Problem with Unforgiveness
“The Problem with Unforgiveness” warns that refusing to forgive carries severe spiritual consequences, as Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:14–15. Unforgiveness blocks prayer, fosters spiritual dryness, opens doors to the enemy, and reflects a graceless heart. Drawing from Acts 8:22–23 and June Hunt’s Forgiveness, the article details harmful traits—bitterness, pride, judgment, vengefulness—that poison relationships with God and others. By contrast, forgiveness reflects God’s nature, breaks captivity to sin, and restores freedom, intimacy, and spiritual vitality in the believer’s life.
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The Great Pronoun Debate: Should I Use Someone’s Preferred Pronouns?
Laura Smalts argues that using preferred pronouns contrary to biological sex conflicts with God’s intentional design of male and female in creation. She highlights purposes for sex distinctions—fruitfulness, complementary gifting, and whole‑body sexual differentiation—alongside research on the brain’s rapid recognition of sex. Smalts contends affirming cross‑sex identity harms truth and obscures God’s glory reflected differently in men and women. Practically, she advises kindness, restraint with pronouns, using given names cautiously, asking questions like Jesus, and prioritizing respectful, gospel‑centered conversations.
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Testimonies on YouTube
Curated testimonies on our YouTube channel. We hope you are blessed by these.
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Porn & Sex are Women's Issues Too!
Host Garry Ingraham talks with guest Laura Leigh Stanlake.
Keep ReadingJan 4
2019
How Do You Like Me Now?
“How Do You Like Me Now” is a documentary designed to support families encountering the emotional and relational challenges when a loved one comes out as gay. Narrated by Joe Dallas, it offers biblical guidance and compassionate insight for parents, siblings, spouses, and children. The film addresses feelings of betrayal, relationship strain, and the difficulty of maintaining love and faith. Featuring candid testimonies from individuals who have experienced this journey, it encourages families to respond with grace while upholding biblical truth.
This article provides practical, biblically grounded advice for students battling pornography. Key strategies include seeking God and trusted friends for support, taking a digital detox to reset habits, using an alarm clock to break phone dependency, and employing the 15-minute rule to redirect temptation. The guide stresses the value of confession, repentance, and enjoying life as God designed it, aiming to help students build lifelong habits of purity and find satisfaction beyond fleeting temptations.
May 11
2018
My Heart's in the Highlands
Joseph Thiessen grew up in rural Oklahoma carrying wounds from childhood insecurity, early pornography exposure, and a longing for male affirmation that gradually drew him into same-sex attraction. A later diagnosis of Klinefelter's Syndrome — a rare chromosomal condition — helped explain lifelong physical and emotional struggles. Through First Stone Ministries, biblical discipleship, and a deepening relationship with Jesus, Joseph found healing, a new God-given identity, and the freedom to live contentedly as a man made in the image of God.
Mar 22
2018
Supernatural Life
In this video testimony from First Stone Ministries, Andrew Franklin recounts growing up as a praised church kid while secretly hiding deep shame over his effeminate identity. After coming out as gay and hitting rock bottom in New York City, Andrew surrendered to Jesus Christ and discovered for the first time that change was possible. Discipled into his true identity as a son of God, Andrew now devotes his life to speaking identity and destiny into other men — his greatest weakness becoming his greatest calling.
Jan 6
2018
Such Were Some of You
“Such Were Some of You” is a feature-length documentary showcasing the personal stories of over 29 people who left the gay lifestyle after experiencing profound change through faith in Jesus Christ. The film combines these testimonies with insights from theologians and PhDs, exploring the development of same-sex attraction, the process of leaving homosexuality, and the emotional and spiritual healing that followed. Inspired by 1 Corinthians 6:11, the documentary emphasizes that genuine transformation and healing are possible through Christ’s grace and power.
“Hope for the Homosexual” outlines First Stone Ministries’ approach to helping individuals overcome homosexuality and sexual struggles through faith, counseling, and support groups. Featuring the story of Stephen Black, a former homosexual transformed by his relationship with Christ, the article emphasizes that change is possible with biblical guidance and community. It documents the ministry’s origins, its compassionate approach to sexual brokenness, and testimonies of lives changed, ultimately offering hope and practical help rooted in Christian conviction.
Aug 3
2017
The God Who Sees Me
Annette Morales grew up invisible — surviving parental abandonment, stepfather molestation, and a chaotic young adulthood before finding stability in marriage. After her husband Rudy's death from cancer, grief drove her into dangerous online sexual relationships that eventually exposed a child exploitation network. Her courageous decision to report the abuse marked a turning point. Through First Stone Ministries' Living Waters program, counseling, and a battle with stage four breast cancer, Annette discovered that God truly sees her — and that her identity is found in Him alone.
"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)
May 24
2017
The Terrors of Hell
"The Terrors of Hell" by William C. Nichols presents a thorough biblical case for the reality and eternity of hell, arguing that the doctrine is widely neglected yet critically important. The article explores why hell is necessary given God's infinite holiness and perfect justice, describes its torments in vivid scriptural detail, and addresses both believers and unbelievers with urgency. Its ultimate aim is not to frighten readers into faith, but to drive them toward genuine repentance and surrender to Jesus Christ.