No Longer Strangers - by Gregory Coles (Paperback)

About the Book

Belonging has never come easy to me. But the way Jesus tells it, if we give up on belonging in order to follow him, we'll find ourselves belonging anyway--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.

Book Synopsis

ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award

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 tellsit, 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.

Review Quotes

"Greg Coles has become one of the most important voices in the church. I can't express how grateful I am for him and for this book. No Longer Strangers is another home run--showing us a creative, bold, and intrepid way forward in following Jesus in a gray world. I commend him to you. And his melodic book."

--A. J. Swoboda, author of After Doubt, assistant professor of Bible and theology at Bushnell University, Eugene, Oregon

"In No Longer Strangers, Gregory Coles offers a heartfelt and compelling exploration of what it means to belong to Jesus and to others, especially when we feel the ache of being an outsider. With engaging storytelling and incisive theological reflection, Coles invites us into the journey of finding our home, not only in Christ but in the beloved community where aliens become brothers and sisters."

--Sharon Garlough Brown, author of the Sensible Shoes series and Shades of Light

"In his new book, No Longer Strangers, Greg Coles explores belonging in a deeply personal panorama of his life. It's a book about real connection. The engaging stories are layered through multiple aspects of his crosscultural and mobile life, creating a very Christian, very human experience. Read it."

--Michael V. Pollock, author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds 3rd Edition

"Structured around compelling narrative, No Longer Strangers is a story of the human quest for acceptance and belonging. Greg Coles, in his winsome and honest way, takes all of us on a journey to discover the places, the people, and the God in whom and to whom we all belong."

--Deb Hirsch, missional leader and author of Redeeming Sex: Naked Conversations About Sexuality and Spirituality

"When I finished reading No Longer Strangers I thought that all of my friends should read this book, because in its pages they will find a friend in Greg, hope for the church, and true belonging with Friend and Lover, Jesus Christ."

--Laurie Krieg, podcaster, teacher, and coauthor of An Impossible Marriage: What Our Mixed-Orientation Marriage Has Taught Us About Love and the Gospel

About the Author

Jen Pollock Michel is the author of Teach Us to Want and Keeping Place, both published by InterVarsity Press with video curriculum available from RightNow Media. She is a regular contributor for Christianity Today and Moody BibleInstitute's Today in the Word. A wife and mother of five, Jen lives in Toronto, Canada.

Gregory Coles (PhD, Penn State) is a writer, speaker, and language scholar. He is the author of Single, Gay, Christian; No Longer Strangers; and The Limits of My World. Greg lives in Boise, Idaho, where he serves as senior research fellow at The Center for Faith, Sexuality and Gender.