Hello and Welcome!
This is my first post so let me introduce myself. My name is Joshua Allen Milford.
I'm a Christian. I'm also gay. I'm here to write about my experiences, and what I have learned since I came out publicly back in 2019. I feel like this is something that God is pushing me to do. Of course, he didn't just come out and tell me to get online and start a blog, but I feel that he has been pushing me to reach out to people that are like me and may have similar experiences or feelings as I do.
When I refer to people like me, I mean those who are LGBTQ+. That's right! Out of that long acronym that seems to keep getting longer and longer each day, I am the "G" as in gay. But like I said, I'm also a Christian. Born and raised as a Southern Baptist. So many would question, and believe me they have, "How can you be a Christian if you are gay?" Well, believe it or not, it is possible.
How is it possible? It's simple. You have a one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus is literally God in the flesh. Before Jesus, no one had access to God because of the sins of man. Now we have access to God because of Jesus's loving sacrifice to forgive all sins. I will get way deeper into what all that means in later posts.
In order to establish a relationship with Jesus you must first accept him as the Lord and Savior of mankind. Once that happens, you are saved and your sins are forgiven and you belong to him.
When you have a relationship with Jesus, you feel the desire to emulate him as best you can. To emulate, or be like him, is to be a representative of him. That is the action of what being a Christian is. To be Christ-like. It doesn't matter if you are gay or straight, white, black, brown, red, yellow, or purple... if you believe in and represent Christ you are a Christian.
Now here's the kicker... Jesus is God in the flesh and therefore perfect. We are not. We are sinful and always will be. Jesus died for the forgiveness of sins. That doesn't mean the sins and temptations of this world were taken away. Jesus simply broke the chains. To God, all sin is the same and equal and that is what separates us from him. The punishment for sin is death and a constant separation from God. We will always fall short, but because of Jesus, we have a way to God.
Jesus said,
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
John 14:6-7
By accepting Jesus your sins are forgiven! However, that doesn't mean that we are to freely sin and do things that we know in our heart is wrong. Sin is like cancer. It is dangerous not only to your soul but physically as well. It can bind you down and literally make you ill, and will eventually destroy you. Who wants to live like that? Even to a Christian who has been saved, if they continue to deliberately sin they are putting themselves in danger and therefore not acting like a Christian in the first place. As a Christian, you should want to strive to be sinless, but that doesn't happen. So we hand over our sins to Jesus and strive to be like him. That is what is called repentance, and it is all part of that relationship with Jesus that I mentioned earlier. Handing over your sins to Jesus and letting him take control, is the key to living the best life possible. Believe me, letting go of sin and trying to live a Christian life is not easy, but I know that in the end it will be worth it.
I'm calling this blog "Walking on the Edge of the Rainbow" because that is what I feel like I am doing. The rainbow has great significance between Christians and the gay community alike. To Christians, it is a major biblical symbol. To the gay community, the individual colors of the rainbow have different meanings. Yet here I am standing right in the middle of the two.
Over time I will write about my endeavors of being a gay Christian and the ups and downs that I have experienced. It is my hope that this collection of writings may help others like me become closer to Jesus and find peace and contentment.