From time to time our members will contribute content to this blog such as reviews of useful or important books. We anticipate this supporting the ministry of good books in the church.
We hope this particular post will be helpful in stirring some meaningful conversations and engagement with the culture we live in, in light of this book that puts God’s grace on display.
By Emily Freeman
In Gay Girl, Good God, Jackie Hill Perry shares her life story, but her focus is on God’s work in her life,
not her own accomplishments. In the first part of the book, Jackie shares her story of sin, pain, and
confusion. Jackie grew up without a father, abused marijuana, and was lesbian. She talks about
homosexuality the most because that was the part of her life she was most reluctant to give to God and
felt most condemned for. When she describes the struggle and feelings of sin and giving in to
temptation she is not graphic but tells how she offended God. The second part of the book is called
Who I Became and tells of a new journey of loving and worshipping God. She talks about how she
struggles with temptation after becoming Christ’s and her new experience of church. Jackie ends the
book with 3 chapters on Same Sex Attraction AND: Identity, Endurance, and the Heterosexual Gospel.
Jackie’s story is easy to relate to because each of us is a sinner and resists God’s redeeming work in our
lives. Without turning the attention to herself or doctrine, Jackie tells of her own experience of sin and
God in a way that shines a spotlight on God’s work in a sinners life.
Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been
Jackie Hill Perry
Published September 3, 2018
208 pages