No Longer Strangers

Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation

De: Gregory Coles

Narrado por: Gregory Coles

Belonging has never come easy to me.

Growing up, there was my mutated national identity to deal with-my not-quite-American, not-quite-Indonesian soul, restless in both countries. Later, when I came out as a celibate gay Christian, I found I didn't fit into the church as easily as I used to. I've often wondered what it means to belong to others even when I can't manage to blend in with them.

The way Jesus tells it, if we give up on belonging in order to follow him, we'll find ourselves belonging anyway. We might not belong the way other people do, with normal homes and normal families and normal ways of fitting in. But we'll belong in a way that's a hundred times better. We'll be fully in place because we know we are out of place. We'll belong like aliens.

Maybe you're caught in the same tension as me, wanting to fit somewhere even as you're permanently out of place. Maybe you feel like an alien.

If so, let's be aliens together.

©2021 Gregory Coles (P)2021 Mission Audio

An amalgamation of humor, storytelling, vulnerability, depth, encouragement, and exhortation in typical Greg Coles style

As someone who shares the desire to be seen, known, & loved, I appreciated the way Greg worked to reach across the proverbial table in order to foster connection and camaraderie.

As someone who longs to ‘fit in’ and find belonging amongst the people and communities around me, I was grateful for Greg’s bold approach to tear down both cultural and religious walls in order to foster a shifting of perspectives and greater depths of unity.

And, as a person who shares the worlds of both ‘Christian’ and ‘gay’ with this author, I found myself simultaneously bountifully blessed, and also highly challenged, by his perspective, perseverance, and devotion.

This book has words of wisdom and relevancy to offer every reader, as long as they are open to hear them. Belonging is a basic need for all of humanity.

Though there is a wide spectrum of desire or amount or frequency, traces of ‘togetherness’ glitter all of our souls.

Well done, Greg, on paving paths to bring us closer together, rather than plowing deeper rows to deepen our divides.

Delightful

Much appreciated thoughts on community in Christ. Especially the stories of being gay and Christian.

someones belonging

I enjoyed listening to this book. The author obviously loves Jesus and has made a costly sacrifice of his sexuality. In doing so (and because he admittedly is kind of an awkward guy) he learned what the Kingdom of God really means and those misfits who are made to fit together by God's design.