Live Out Loud : Invitation from the President of Exodus

Dear Friends,

In 1992 I began attending a church here in Orlando called Discovery Church. I was about a year into my journey out of homosexuality and searching for a church that would accept me with all my stuff. I didn’t go to announce my struggle to the entire church, but neither was I going to allow my struggle to be a secret.

After my first service at Discovery, I made an appointment with one of the leaders and told him everything. To my surprise, he embraced me as a friend, a brother, and as a fellow believer on the road to healing. Amazingly, by the time a month rolled around, I had told everyone I’d met of my struggle with homosexuality.

No one ever looked cross-eyed at me, ran screaming or avoided me thereafter. To the contrary, I was not only accepted but sought after. Men in the church took time to invite me to breakfast and lunch. Single guys with no history of same-sex attraction issues welcomed me into their small groups and on outings. My story gave them hope with issues they were struggling with.

The Lord had me at Discovery Church for just over 3 years. From there, I went into a much larger congregation, called Calvary Assembly, where God had given me more opportunities to serve, share, and develop relationships. From the moment I started going to Calvary I was not only honest, but intentional about sharing my past.

I don’t want to minimize the depths of my struggle with homosexuality or infer for one minute that it was easy to overcome. However, I will say that my honesty was a key factor in finding lasting freedom. I learned that remaining in secrecy only caused my struggles to intensify. I wasn’t going to allow Satan to hold me in bondage. I was ready to move on into the plans, purposes, and destiny that God had for me.

It was my honesty that caused others to feel close to me and vice versa. Scripture defines this as iron sharpening iron. Living Out Loud not only sped up the healing process in my own life, it called out the healing process in others. Others were able to overcome their issues by the word of my testimony. When we are honest others feel that they can be honest. Transparency and realness is what Christ intended for His Church. We need each other to fulfill Kingdom plans and purposes.

I am so excited that our theme this year is Live Out Loud. Being loud forces us to rely most on God’s opinion of us rather than man’s. Honestly, who cares where you’ve been. What matters is where you are and where you’re going. Our stories are God’s stories and it’s about Him being glorified. Share your story and truth boldly. I believe that in the process, you will find healing for yourself and opportunities to minister Christ’s freedom to others.

Out Loud for Christ,

Alan Chambers