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Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been by Jackie Hill Perry
khelwig's review
3.0
I love Jackie, and I love her spoken word on social media. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book.
I honestly skimmed through the last part about how to do life after meeting God and still having SSA.
As a note: read through the reviews by actual gay Christians or SSA Christians. This book did not seem to make things better for them...
I honestly skimmed through the last part about how to do life after meeting God and still having SSA.
As a note: read through the reviews by actual gay Christians or SSA Christians. This book did not seem to make things better for them...
nolaceliac's review
5.0
Jackie Hill Perry has a command of the English language like only a poet could. Listening to her recount her relationship with her father was like ripping a bandaid off of my shoddily-mended heart. Perry is a beautiful soul, and this will be the first of many books I read by her. It was also a treat to have listened to the audiobook read by the author.
rbacon's review
fast-paced
This book comes from the assumed premise that being gay is a sin and God is against it, which is a bold stance to take that not every Christian agrees with. With that, Jackie never actually explains why she believes this premise, no reference to a handy bible verse or even conversation she had that made her believe this to be true. This makes it really hard to get on board with unless you already agree and assume likewise. She also mixes in a lot of other debates with little to no explanation of why they would be grouped in with same sex attraction (it was the gender identity and presentation one that really sent me, I had no idea the type of bra I wore could be me sinning). So just be warned, if this isn't going to be helpful to read in your journey with sexuality and God, don't push yourself. Equally, if you already agree with Jackie's assumptions, I'm sure you'll love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Lesbophobia
rhenny's review
5.0
Jackie’s goal for this book is to point us back to Jesus. Not to point fingers or to give sinners a weapon against other sinners. Her main goal is worship; to share how Jesus has transformed her inside and out. She reminds me/readers that Jesus’ aim is to free us from ALL sin. She talks about her core sin from which all else stemmed from: unbelief. I have lots to ponder on after reading this book!!! The best ones always do that.
“The gospel didn’t just save you, it also keeps you.”
“Unbelief doesn’t see God as the ultimate good. So it can’t see sin as the ultimate evil. It instead sees sin as a good thing and thus God’s commands as a stumbling block to joy. In believing the devil, I didn’t need a pentagram pendant to wear, neither did I need to memorize a hex or two. All I had to do was trust myself more than God’s word. I had to believe that my thoughts, my affections, my rights, my wishes, were worthy of absolute obedience and that in laying prostrate before the flimsy throne I’d made for myself, that I’d be doing a good thing.”
“God isn’t calling gay people to be straight.
You’d think He was by listening to the ways Christians try to encourage same sex attracted people within, or outside, their local churches. They dangle the possibility of heterosexual marriage above their heads, point to it like it’s heaven on a string, something to grab and get whole with. And though it’s usually well-meaning, it’s very dangerous. Why? Because it puts more emphasis on marriage as the goal of Christian life than knowing Jesus.” Pg.177
“Joy has never been the problem. It was our hearts that bent us away from finding our ultimate enjoyment in Who’d made us, which crippled how, what, and who we got joy from.”
“… I decided that if I could teach my daughter anything about herself, it would be that because a good God made the woman, then being a woman was a good thing.”
“Unbelief, just like Satan, will always take the easy way out. It will tell us to eat the fruit in exchange for knowledge, instead of fearing God to gain real wisdom. Unbelief will unravel our perceptions of both suffering and the blessedness of life and beckon us to skip self-denial at all costs with the faux promises of comfort that can’t extend beyond the grave.” Pg. 171
“We endure because we know joy will be on the other side of obedience” pg. 175
“The gospel didn’t just save you, it also keeps you.”
“Unbelief doesn’t see God as the ultimate good. So it can’t see sin as the ultimate evil. It instead sees sin as a good thing and thus God’s commands as a stumbling block to joy. In believing the devil, I didn’t need a pentagram pendant to wear, neither did I need to memorize a hex or two. All I had to do was trust myself more than God’s word. I had to believe that my thoughts, my affections, my rights, my wishes, were worthy of absolute obedience and that in laying prostrate before the flimsy throne I’d made for myself, that I’d be doing a good thing.”
“God isn’t calling gay people to be straight.
You’d think He was by listening to the ways Christians try to encourage same sex attracted people within, or outside, their local churches. They dangle the possibility of heterosexual marriage above their heads, point to it like it’s heaven on a string, something to grab and get whole with. And though it’s usually well-meaning, it’s very dangerous. Why? Because it puts more emphasis on marriage as the goal of Christian life than knowing Jesus.” Pg.177
“Joy has never been the problem. It was our hearts that bent us away from finding our ultimate enjoyment in Who’d made us, which crippled how, what, and who we got joy from.”
“… I decided that if I could teach my daughter anything about herself, it would be that because a good God made the woman, then being a woman was a good thing.”
“Unbelief, just like Satan, will always take the easy way out. It will tell us to eat the fruit in exchange for knowledge, instead of fearing God to gain real wisdom. Unbelief will unravel our perceptions of both suffering and the blessedness of life and beckon us to skip self-denial at all costs with the faux promises of comfort that can’t extend beyond the grave.” Pg. 171
“We endure because we know joy will be on the other side of obedience” pg. 175
alliepstephen's review against another edition
5.0
This book does exactly what she says she wanted to do. It shows you a little about her and a lot about God and His goodness. Beautifully written
melissafelicia's review
sad
fast-paced
0.25
I feel tricked. I found this book in a bookshop in the LGBT+ section and it seemed to be about being queer and religious. But it turns out to be about how being queer is a sin and how the author stopped being a lesbian after finding God. She does say that same sex attraction is not bad to have, but that you can become 'a slave' to it and describes it as temptation that we should resist.
This made me feel bad about being queer and religious. It says bad things about the queer community as well: "But the reality was that my gay community was indeed lifeless. They were what I had been, dead." How can you say that about the most accepting community I've ever been a part of? I feel bad for the girlfriend the author broke up with because she "gotta live for God now", that was so sad. I recognize how difficult it is to be both queer and religious, how the communities are sometimes at odds with each other, but that does not mean you have to choose one or the other and it's hurtful that the author says you do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Drug use
estherscholes's review
5.0
This is the real life story of a woman who wrestled with her identity, her sexuality and her faith, told in her own raw and honest voice. Jackie Hill Perry’s writing style is both poetic and incredibly direct, mixing genuine experience of how it feels to ‘follow your heart’ in the pursuit of love and wholeness, with the indisputable framework of what it means to find your worth and identity in God. The wrestle of the two worlds she wanted to be part of, and the conclusions she draws, are incredibly powerful.
For people wanting to speak into the theology of same-sex attraction, this is a really important resource. It does not diminish the huge weight of the issue, its nuances and heartbreak, nor the difficult passages of the bible that deal with this topic.
I am really looking forward to reading more of her books as I find her writing style captivating and her research very robust.
For people wanting to speak into the theology of same-sex attraction, this is a really important resource. It does not diminish the huge weight of the issue, its nuances and heartbreak, nor the difficult passages of the bible that deal with this topic.
I am really looking forward to reading more of her books as I find her writing style captivating and her research very robust.
ras_tazie's review against another edition
5.0
An amazing story of God's love and His pursuit of us!