Matthew Turner, the former editor for CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) magazine and author of books such as “Our Great Big American God,” “Churched: One Kid’s Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess” and the bestselling children’s rhyme “When God Made You”, has announced that he and his wife are divorcing in order to accept and embrace his inclination toward the same sex.
“After much thought, prayer, and counseling, Jessica and I have made the decision to end our marriage. While we’re best friends and thoroughly love doing life, parenting, and pursuing our dreams together, ending our marriage is necessary because I am gay,” Turner posted to social media on July 17.
He said that he has had homosexual feelings for some time but claimed that spending decades in conservative churches caused him to live in “fear, shame, and self-hatred.” Turner has identified with so-called “progressive” professing Christians in recent years.
“Though my own faith evolved long ago to become LGBTQ+ affirming, my journey toward recognizing, accepting and embracing myself took much longer,” Turner wrote. “But for the first time in my life, despite the sadness and grief I’m feeling right now, I can say with confidence that I’m ready to embrace freedom, hope, and God as a gay man.”
The father of three outlined that he still loves his wife, whom he married in 2004, and that the decision to divorce was mutual. Jessica Turner operates the blog “The Mom Creative”, which covers topics such as busy moms, recipes, DIY projects, travel and money-saving tips.
“I fell in love with her 17 years ago and still love her deeply. Despite her own grief and pain, she has loved and encouraged me to be fully me,” Turner stated. “Many of the steps I’ve taken recently wouldn’t have happened without Jessica walking beside me, helping me through every fear.”
“Our utmost desire is to move forward in love and compassion for each other and put the well-being of our kids first,” he continued. “Coming out to my kids was one of the hardest, most beautiful things I’ve ever done. Loving and protecting their stories will always be our first priority.”
Turner said that he will continue to write children’s books, the latest of which include the aforementioned “When God Made You”, “When God Made Light”, “When I Pray for You” and “When God Made the World”.
Jessica Turner also posted an announcement on her website, stating, “We have worked for more than a year on trying to make our marriage work, even in light of Matthew’s truth, but it wasn’t healthy or fair to us or our children. We feel confident that this is the next right step for each of us and our family.”
“I am so grateful for the way we love each other and the deep belief that God is with us,” she said. “We are both grieving the loss of what we had and taking hope in what is to come.”
As previously reported, while the common argument among those who identify as homosexual is that they were “born that way,” the Bible teaches that all men are in the exact same predicament:
All are born with the Adamic sin nature and are therefore “by nature the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), having various inherent feelings and inclinations that are contrary to the law and will of God and being utterly incapable of changing by themselves (Job 14:4).
It is why Jesus came: to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) and that they might be “saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9) — taking out of the way for those who are saved both the penalty for, and the power of, sin.
Jesus also outlined in John 3:5-7 that men must have their very nature changed by the second birth, and be transformed from being in Adam to being in Christ, or they cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.’”
This work of the Holy Spirit to make men into a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17) is known in Christianity as the doctrine of regeneration.
“Can any change his own heart? No! The thing is impossible. We can no more quicken and impart life to our souls than we can to our bodies; we can no more rise and become new men in our own strength than wash away sins by our own performances. It is impossible! The natural man is as helpless as Lazarus was when he lay still and cold and motionless in the tomb. We may remove the stone, as it were, and expose the sad work of death — but we can do no more,” the late preacher J.C. Ryle once explained in a sermon on regeneration.
“There must be a power far mightier than any power of earth in exercise before the natural man can awake and arise and come forth as a new creature. And to do all this is the special office of the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to send. It is He who quickens; it is He who gives life.”
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