HOUSTON—For Michael Newman “coming out” was a major turning point in his life. He was determined to not look back. No one, this time, was going to convince him that he should live any other way.

It’s been more than 20 years since Newman followed through on what he believes was the conviction of the Holy Spirit and came out—not out of the closet—but out of a homosexual life.

Since then he has dedicated his life to helping other men and women, indwelled by the Holy Spirit and embracing biblical identity in Christ, come out of homosexuality as well.

Newman, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and member of First Baptist Church of Houston, said he recalls life events—dating as far back as when he was 3 1/2 years old—that began to define him. Words that were said, names called, and the unsettling realization that he was not like most other kids began to compound. Growing up in the 1950s and early ’60s gave Newman a “distorted world-view,” he said.

Fathers, he imagined, either all “worked like dogs or they went off to war and got killed.” His father was in the former group. Both his parents were products of divorce; neither of them knew their fathers well, if at all. His dad, he said, did not easily grasp the role of effective father to a talkative, artistic little boy and consequently failed to convey biblical manhood effectively.

“There wasn’t really a place for me in a little boys’ world,” he said.

In retrospect, Newman saw how the lack of a strong father figured into the defining of his own character. He doesn’t blame his father for the choices he made later in life, but Newman has seen, through his studies and counseling of homosexuals, the lack of strong family foundations as a recurring and underlying element with most people in the homosexual life.

His parents tried to do right by him, he admitted, sending him to church and Vacation Bible School (he still has certificates recognizing his participation in VBS). But, he added, it seemed that church was good for him, not for his folks. They went to church but did not reinforce biblical values at home. It is no small irony, he said, that the path of Newman’s homosexuality would ebb and flow from the church.

At 13, Newman heard the gospel for the first time and responded in faith. Yet his ideas of himself in relation to other teenage boys were still conflicted. There were no sexual urges but he admired many from afar, envying their confidence and desiring their friendship.

He remained the odd man out in high school. Not having an outlet for his artistic talents, teachers put him in Spanish class where he excelled. Being the best and brightest at learning foreign languages became his goal, the foundation upon which he would receive approval and self worth.

It was in his freshman year of college that his self-identity was sealed.

“In a drunken stupor,” Newman said, “I gave into all the name calling.” He had been confronted by another student who said, “I’m gay and you are too.” Following his first homosexual encounter, Newman, who was involved with a student church group but not fully committed, began wondering what God thought about homosexuality.

That was in 1972 when pro-homosexual theology was entering the church in some quarters, he said. A rewrite of the 23rd Psalm began: “The Lord is my shepherd, he knows I’m gay.”

Newman said he began to believe that if he were not promiscuous, but sought out a meaningful, monogamous relationship, God would approve. Looking back on such  ideas, Newman laughed, “You can’t make deals with God.”

Instead of condoning his homosexuality, God confronted Newman in the form of a godly roommate named Sam. He said somehow God had prepared S