September 23, 2025 • 15 mins
“I now pronounce you husband and husband” were the words spoken at Lex Renick’s wedding. Married as a trans man to a gay man, Lex was transformed through the love of Christ. Both she and her husband went Straight to the Father, living for the Lord with a traveling ministry to the misfit community, spreading a powerful message of love and hope.
See how Lex seeks God’s heart and finds it, as well as the truth of scripture, the love of Jesus, and the freedom in her new identity with Christ.
In this three part story, you'll see the slow but steady transformation of Lex and how God honors those who earnestly seek Him. And you'll never see the lost the same way again!
Part 2
See how Lex’s baby steps toward Jesus end with a church confrontation that sent her to more heartache, her marriage to Nick, her life as Austin, serving in the US Army, and her sweet date with Jesus as she attempts to repent of sin.
The Best Part, the song that played when Lex met Nick
Jesus, My Gender, and His Perfect Love, child's book by Lex Renick
Lex on Instagram
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcement (00:02):
Welcome to One80, transforming testimonies from
next door to across the globe.
Be amazed at how God works tobring people to himself.
Share today's One80 with afriend.
It might be the best news theyhear today.
Lex Renick (00:17):
God, if this is not okay, then I know that you have
the power to change me.
So, lord, please change me,change my mindset, Change my
attraction, Lord.
Margaret Ereneta (00:30):
Thanks for coming back to Straight to the
Father.
The One80 of Lex Renick, parttwo.
I'm Margaret Ereneta, your host.
Today.
We'll hear how Lex getsrejected at church but really
tries to seek the Lord whileliving her broken, trans
lifestyle and slowly you'll seeGod guide her to fullness in
(00:51):
Jesus.
It gets really good.
Stay with us.
Lex Renick (00:58):
Do I believe that God wanted me to lay it all down
at the feet of Jesus,absolutely.
But I know that with this walkwith Jesus, it was almost like
the Lord was like do you trustme with this?
Hey, you got some unforgiveness, let me work on that.
Do you trust me with this?
Now, let's work through thatsexual trauma you got.
You got this, now let's work onthat.
And it was like I was on thisjourney walking closer and
(01:18):
closer to full, authenticsurrender.
And so this pastor is like hey,I heard that you want to get
more involved here.
I'd love to hear more aboutyour testimony, fast forward.
I share that testimony and Ileave out the part where I'm
identifying as Austin, that I'mactually born female, that I'm
living this transgenderlifestyle as a transgender man.
I leave that part out becauseat this point in my life I've
(01:39):
been living my life as Austin noone knows and I didn't feel
safe enough to share that yetwith this pastor from all the
other church hurt that I'veexperienced.
And then all of a sudden hejust starts laughing at me with
the other pastor that's thereand he's like I just think that
it's funny that you didn'tmention the fact that you were
actually born a woman.
I just think that it's funnythat you didn't mention the fact
this, this and this about meliving that lifestyle.
(02:02):
And he says I want you to knowthat you're no longer welcome
here, that I've already outedyou and told everyone the
worship team all of that You'reonly allowed to come on Sundays
because that's whennon-believers are allowed to
come.
And I remember it was like Ihad this flame that you could
almost see and I was so on firefor the Lord and it was
literally like he just steppedon it and just smothered it with
(02:24):
his shoe.
And I just remember being soembarrassed, so heartbroken.
I remember looking in at theyoung adult group and there was
like garage doors at this churchand you could see all of them
looking like really confused.
And I remember walking to my carand I get in the car and I call
my mom and at this point my momand I you know she's drinking,
(02:45):
and then she's sober.
And I remember walking to mycar and I get in the car and I
call my mom and at this point mymom and I you know she's
drinking, and then she's soberand I'm trying my best to
forgive her and we're going backand forth and I just remember
feeling so suicidal in thatmoment, knowing that God wanted
me so bad and it was like I washungry.
And every time I got closer,people would get in the way and
then I would start to believethe lies again and after every
(03:07):
rejection like that moment, Ifell back into a lot of sin.
I was like you know what, ifthis is how the church is, then
I don't want to be a part of it.
And I remember being so angryif I'm being honest just
literally saying the F word andcussing and just hitting my
steering wheel and literallystarting to plan how I wanted to
kill myself that night.
And then I could clearly hearthe Holy Spirit say forgive them
(03:29):
.
They don't know what they'redoing, they don't know what
they're saying, forgive them.
And I remember yelling at Godwhen I hung up the phone with my
mom, saying Lord, why would youwant me to forgive him?
You know everything that hejust said.
You know how he embarrassed me,god, why would you want me to
forgive him?
You know everything that hejust said.
You know how he embarrassed me.
God, why would you want me toforgive him?
(03:53):
I heard nothing.
But I felt so deep in my spiritthat, no matter how bad this
pastor just cut me deep toforgive him and to know that,
like God was still pursuing meand that God still wanted me.
And I remember reaching out toone of the church leaders
letting them know what happened.
And the enemy took this wholesituation and just took it and
ran with it.
And I believe the lie thatnever even happened, because I
(04:13):
was friends with the leadpastors in the church and I just
remember thinking, oh, thismust have came down from them
and that's how they know andthey don't really want me here
anymore.
And as I began to say that toone of the leaders, she's like I
don't think that they know thathe said that because the staff
is not trained to speak topeople like that.
And so I reached out to thepastor's wife, told her the
(04:35):
situation Needless to say, thatpastor is no longer pastor at
that church and I'll neverforget her saying apologizing
and how powerful it was for aspiritual leader at that church
to say like I'm so sorry thatthat happened to you.
That's not how this church works.
Obviously we believe and teachwhat the word of God says.
But the way that he approached.
(04:56):
That was not right.
If you want to learn more aboutJesus, then you should be going
to the young adults group, youshould be a part of these small
groups.
And I remember even telling herI know that the Lord is calling
me and I remember her saying,yeah, but I know that that
calling's not right now and itwas.
I normally don't even sharethis part of my testimony, but
just the Lord's bringing that tomy attention right now.
(05:16):
I remember it hurting when shesaid that, but I had no idea
what God was going to do.
I had no idea the surrenderthat was going to happen, the
miracles that I was going to seethe more that I walked with the
Lord.
And so at this point in my life,I graduate high school, I
decide to join the military, Ibecome the first ever openly
(05:38):
serving transgender religiousaffairs specialist in the entire
United States Army and thatmeant that I had a Buddhist
chaplain, I had a Baptistchaplain and just a regular,
non-denominational chaplain thatI served under.
And basically, with my MOS 56Mike religious affairs
specialist, and basically withmy MOS 56 Mike religious affairs
(06:02):
specialist, they are created toprotect the chaplains, the men
of God or the women of God insome belief systems to protect
them, while they providereligious support to the
soldiers either deployed or inthe States, and they take an
oath that thou shall not kill,so they don't bear any arms.
So they created my job to beararms to protect them while they
could do their religious duties,and so within that, I was able
to get training on suicideprevention.
(06:23):
It really put my foot in thedoor of counseling people and
speaking the word of God overthem, and people are probably
confused like wait, you'reidentifying as Austin and you
are still pursuing Jesus andidentifying as that.
Yes, just like anyone elsestruggling with any other sin
that we give ourselvespermission to do, like drinking,
or like going out or doingdrugs or having the sin of pride
(06:47):
and ego, whatever it is.
I somehow again believed thatit was okay that I can continue
to do this and identify as beinga Christian.
Nowadays, do I believe that youcould be gay and be a Christian
?
I would say my answer would beno.
You could say that you're aChristian that is struggling
with same-sex attraction.
You could say that you're aChristian that's struggling with
(07:08):
gender identity, but there'ssomething about when we claim
that to who we are, that we'restarting to say I'm going to
choose this, which, for me, wasmy sexuality, my gender identity
.
I'm going to choose this, which, for me, was my sexuality, my
gender identity.
I'm going to choose this andI'm going to put this above God,
and when you do that, you makeit an idol.
I was so delusional and so noteven realizing that I was making
(07:30):
my identity an idol, and so Ikept pursuing Jesus and things
were changing, my life waschanging, but it was almost like
I kind of got to like a halt inmy faith and I thought that
that was kind of normal.
But no, god's like, okay, yousurrendered all of that, but I'm
ready for you to surrender,like literally everything.
Now there's things that you'renot revealing to me, and we
(07:52):
cannot heal from what we don'treveal.
And so my husband and I weactually met in a small town
coffee shop.
My husband's name is NickRenick.
He grew up in a Lutheran churchand grew up in a household that
loved him.
You know, despite his identity,he identified as being gay, but
(08:13):
at first he never even knewwhat it meant, just because he
grew up in a small town.
And he was very talented andstill is incredibly talented at
acting and singing and all thearts.
People started telling him well, that means that you're gay.
And so he started saying, okay,well, I guess that's what it
means.
And then he Googled it on theinternet and started attaching
what people were saying over himto who he was and he started
(08:37):
living that out.
What people were saying overhim to who he was, and he
started living that out.
So when I went to the army, helived on Kauai.
He was really deep into the newage and the Lord just told him
to lay it all down, lay hisidols down, the witchcraft down.
Margaret Ereneta (08:50):
You'll see this with Lex, but with Nic,
here too, just baby steps out.
God just leads them so gentlybut carefully out of their false
identities and their falselives, and you can see that with
Nic's story too.
A little bit that we hear herein the show.
Lex Renick (09:05):
So I grew up in a small town.
Well, my husband grew up in asmall town in Big Bear Lake,
california.
We went to high school together, never talked to each other.
I was in the army and came backto Big Bear and God just called
him back home to walk away fromthe new age, to walk away from
his lifestyle of what he wasdoing.
And all of a sudden I go intothis coffee shop Again.
(09:27):
I'm identifying as Austin atthis moment in my life and I'm
just studying the word of God.
Even at this time, living thatstealth life, I was being
mentored by a pastor that had noidea that I was actually born
female and I was hungry for theword again, believing the lie
that that God was okay with howI was living.
And I'm in my word and I hearthe back door open.
(09:47):
Little do I know that the loveof my life is going to walk in.
And he plays a piano.
He plays a song, best part andit's an R&B song.
One of the lines in there saysand those brown eyes are the
ones that I desire.
And before this moment happened,before this Hallmark movie love
story happened, I found myselffast forwarding.
You know, I'm in my 20s now,like 23, 24, maybe and I fall on
(10:12):
my face at a dock right a weekbefore, I met my husband in this
coffee shop and I just I wouldgo to this dock all the time.
I'd worship God there at mylunch breaks.
It has this beautiful view ofthe lake.
I would get into my word.
I would just sit there and havedates with Jesus.
And there was somethingdifferent about this dock moment
this time, like when I walkedto the end.
It was like I was going toleave something there, like if
(10:34):
this dock could be an altar forthe Lord.
It was in this moment and I walkat the end of the dock and I
said, god, I know you now.
I don't want to hear it fromsome guy, you know, like,
pointing at me, telling me thatI'm going to go to hell.
Like God, I know you now.
I know your heart, I know thatyou love me.
Lord and God, I know that youhave the power to do anything.
So if this desire that I havebecause before my husband I only
(10:56):
dated women, I only feltcomfortable to be sexual and
intimate with women I just said,lord, if this sexual attraction
that I have towards women isnot of your will, like the Bible
says, like Christians aresaying, god, if this is not okay
, then I know that you have thepower to change me.
So, lord, please change me,change my mindset, change my
(11:18):
attraction, Lord, that I couldlook at a man and be physically,
emotionally, spirituallyattracted to him.
Margaret Ereneta (11:26):
I want you to think about Lex sitting at the
dock seeking the Lord with herBible.
She doesn't have her theologyright, but her heart is in the
right place.
I want you to think about yourfriends who might be in the same
boat and have compassion onthem and pray for them.
They're not as far away fromthe Lord as you might think and
you might be a light to them,and so keep praying for them and
(11:47):
keep listening to the show tillthe end, and maybe you can help
guide them to the truth.
Lex did come to the truth atthe end.
Praise God.
Lex Renick (11:58):
And I remember saying that and I'm pointing up
and I'm crying because somepeople that may have not
struggled with their sexualityor gender identity may not
understand the magnitude of myprayer.
But the magnitude of my prayerwas basically, like God, if
you're not, if you're not goingto change me, I don't know.
I don't know how to moveforward and I was just desperate
to make sure that I was livingin God's will.
(12:18):
And I remember praying that andjust crying and pointing up at
the sky and I said but God, youpromised to wow me Like you
promised to wow me, because thatwas one of the words that the
Lord spoke over my life when Irededicated.
I just heard the Lord say,through the Holy spirit, I'm
going to wow you in your life.
And so I said God, you saidthat you're going to wow me.
Where's my wow?
A week later, my wow walked inthrough a coffee shop, my
(12:41):
husband singing.
Never been attracted to a man,the way that I've ever been
attracted to my husband.
And I remember thinking, oh mygosh, lord, I am so sorry, I'm
so attracted to this man rightnow.
I know I'm supposed to befocusing on studying your word,
but little did I know that itwas a God assignment, like God
had this plan for us to meet andto be together.
So we we went on our first datethere and I remember my dad
(13:04):
telling me you need to tell him,like you need to tell him, that
you're actually born female,because my person that I was
interested at the time, myhusband at the time didn't know
that I was actually born femaleand he was identifying as gay.
And I remember telling himbeing so scared, thinking like,
well, he doesn't want to be withsomeone that's trans or to be
with someone that's born female.
And his response to me tellinghim on our very first date at
(13:25):
that coffee shop he said oh, I'mnot interested in any of that,
I'm only interested in yourheart.
And it was this pure type oflove that is such a
representation of Christ,because he was the first person
that never looked at melustfully.
He didn't desire to do anythinglike that, he desired to pursue
me just as Christ pursues uswith purity.
(13:47):
And I remember when Nick saidthat over me, it was like all my
walls went down.
It was like I finally felt likeI was home.
And recently, last year, him andI got a chance to speak at a
Bible college in Kauai and Iremember when I shared that the
Lord spoke to me in that momentof speaking on that platform and
(14:09):
the Lord told me that thereason why that was so impactful
, that Nick said that to me,that he wanted to pursue me in
purity, was because I could notreceive the love that my husband
could give unless I could firstreceive the love of the Father.
And I was told this pervertedversion of the love of the
Father and I was told thisperverted version of the love of
the Father from the world andfrom Christians living out their
(14:30):
Christianity.
And I had to rewire and walkwith Jesus myself and experience
him myself and be transformedby him myself before I could
ever accept the love that hewanted to give me through a
husband.
And so my husband and I began adate.
We fell in love so fast this isduring COVID.
Three months we were engaged.
(14:50):
Six months we went to Vegas andwe got married, because when
the Bible says, if you can'twait, get married.
And we got married and ourwhole life, you know, shifted.
Margaret Ereneta (15:00):
Yes, there's more to this story.
It just keeps getting better.
It's such a hard place to stop.
I'm sorry I left you at acliffhanger, but come back for
the end of Straight to theFather.
The story of Lex Renick, partthree next week.
Promise it'll end next week.
Announcement (15:17):
It's so great I am 180 is brought to you by One
Way.
Ministries Exalt Christ,advance His Gospel.
Welcome to One80, transforming testimonies from
next door to across the globe.
Be amazed at how God works tobring people to himself.
Share today's One80 with afriend.
It might be the best news theyhear today.
Lex Renick (00:17):
God, if this is not okay, then I know that you have
the power to change me.
So, lord, please change me,change my mindset, Change my
attraction, Lord.
Margaret Ereneta (00:30):
Thanks for coming back to Straight to the
Father.
The One80 of Lex Renick, parttwo.
I'm Margaret Ereneta, your host.
Today.
We'll hear how Lex getsrejected at church but really
tries to seek the Lord whileliving her broken, trans
lifestyle and slowly you'll seeGod guide her to fullness in
(00:51):
Jesus.
It gets really good.
Stay with us.
Lex Renick (00:58):
Do I believe that God wanted me to lay it all down
at the feet of Jesus,absolutely.
But I know that with this walkwith Jesus, it was almost like
the Lord was like do you trustme with this?
Hey, you got some unforgiveness, let me work on that.
Do you trust me with this?
Now, let's work through thatsexual trauma you got.
You got this, now let's work onthat.
And it was like I was on thisjourney walking closer and
(01:18):
closer to full, authenticsurrender.
And so this pastor is like hey,I heard that you want to get
more involved here.
I'd love to hear more aboutyour testimony, fast forward.
I share that testimony and Ileave out the part where I'm
identifying as Austin, that I'mactually born female, that I'm
living this transgenderlifestyle as a transgender man.
I leave that part out becauseat this point in my life I've
(01:39):
been living my life as Austin noone knows and I didn't feel
safe enough to share that yetwith this pastor from all the
other church hurt that I'veexperienced.
And then all of a sudden hejust starts laughing at me with
the other pastor that's thereand he's like I just think that
it's funny that you didn'tmention the fact that you were
actually born a woman.
I just think that it's funnythat you didn't mention the fact
this, this and this about meliving that lifestyle.
(02:02):
And he says I want you to knowthat you're no longer welcome
here, that I've already outedyou and told everyone the
worship team all of that You'reonly allowed to come on Sundays
because that's whennon-believers are allowed to
come.
And I remember it was like Ihad this flame that you could
almost see and I was so on firefor the Lord and it was
literally like he just steppedon it and just smothered it with
(02:24):
his shoe.
And I just remember being soembarrassed, so heartbroken.
I remember looking in at theyoung adult group and there was
like garage doors at this churchand you could see all of them
looking like really confused.
And I remember walking to my carand I get in the car and I call
my mom and at this point my momand I you know she's drinking,
(02:45):
and then she's sober.
And I remember walking to mycar and I get in the car and I
call my mom and at this point mymom and I you know she's
drinking, and then she's soberand I'm trying my best to
forgive her and we're going backand forth and I just remember
feeling so suicidal in thatmoment, knowing that God wanted
me so bad and it was like I washungry.
And every time I got closer,people would get in the way and
then I would start to believethe lies again and after every
(03:07):
rejection like that moment, Ifell back into a lot of sin.
I was like you know what, ifthis is how the church is, then
I don't want to be a part of it.
And I remember being so angryif I'm being honest just
literally saying the F word andcussing and just hitting my
steering wheel and literallystarting to plan how I wanted to
kill myself that night.
And then I could clearly hearthe Holy Spirit say forgive them
(03:29):
.
They don't know what they'redoing, they don't know what
they're saying, forgive them.
And I remember yelling at Godwhen I hung up the phone with my
mom, saying Lord, why would youwant me to forgive him?
You know everything that hejust said.
You know how he embarrassed me,god, why would you want me to
forgive him?
You know everything that hejust said.
You know how he embarrassed me.
God, why would you want me toforgive him?
(03:53):
I heard nothing.
But I felt so deep in my spiritthat, no matter how bad this
pastor just cut me deep toforgive him and to know that,
like God was still pursuing meand that God still wanted me.
And I remember reaching out toone of the church leaders
letting them know what happened.
And the enemy took this wholesituation and just took it and
ran with it.
And I believe the lie thatnever even happened, because I
(04:13):
was friends with the leadpastors in the church and I just
remember thinking, oh, thismust have came down from them
and that's how they know andthey don't really want me here
anymore.
And as I began to say that toone of the leaders, she's like I
don't think that they know thathe said that because the staff
is not trained to speak topeople like that.
And so I reached out to thepastor's wife, told her the
(04:35):
situation Needless to say, thatpastor is no longer pastor at
that church and I'll neverforget her saying apologizing
and how powerful it was for aspiritual leader at that church
to say like I'm so sorry thatthat happened to you.
That's not how this church works.
Obviously we believe and teachwhat the word of God says.
But the way that he approached.
(04:56):
That was not right.
If you want to learn more aboutJesus, then you should be going
to the young adults group, youshould be a part of these small
groups.
And I remember even telling herI know that the Lord is calling
me and I remember her saying,yeah, but I know that that
calling's not right now and itwas.
I normally don't even sharethis part of my testimony, but
just the Lord's bringing that tomy attention right now.
(05:16):
I remember it hurting when shesaid that, but I had no idea
what God was going to do.
I had no idea the surrenderthat was going to happen, the
miracles that I was going to seethe more that I walked with the
Lord.
And so at this point in my life,I graduate high school, I
decide to join the military, Ibecome the first ever openly
(05:38):
serving transgender religiousaffairs specialist in the entire
United States Army and thatmeant that I had a Buddhist
chaplain, I had a Baptistchaplain and just a regular,
non-denominational chaplain thatI served under.
And basically, with my MOS 56Mike religious affairs
specialist, and basically withmy MOS 56 Mike religious affairs
(06:02):
specialist, they are created toprotect the chaplains, the men
of God or the women of God insome belief systems to protect
them, while they providereligious support to the
soldiers either deployed or inthe States, and they take an
oath that thou shall not kill,so they don't bear any arms.
So they created my job to beararms to protect them while they
could do their religious duties,and so within that, I was able
to get training on suicideprevention.
(06:23):
It really put my foot in thedoor of counseling people and
speaking the word of God overthem, and people are probably
confused like wait, you'reidentifying as Austin and you
are still pursuing Jesus andidentifying as that.
Yes, just like anyone elsestruggling with any other sin
that we give ourselvespermission to do, like drinking,
or like going out or doingdrugs or having the sin of pride
(06:47):
and ego, whatever it is.
I somehow again believed thatit was okay that I can continue
to do this and identify as beinga Christian.
Nowadays, do I believe that youcould be gay and be a Christian
?
I would say my answer would beno.
You could say that you're aChristian that is struggling
with same-sex attraction.
You could say that you're aChristian that's struggling with
(07:08):
gender identity, but there'ssomething about when we claim
that to who we are, that we'restarting to say I'm going to
choose this, which, for me, wasmy sexuality, my gender identity
.
I'm going to choose this, which, for me, was my sexuality, my
gender identity.
I'm going to choose this andI'm going to put this above God,
and when you do that, you makeit an idol.
I was so delusional and so noteven realizing that I was making
(07:30):
my identity an idol, and so Ikept pursuing Jesus and things
were changing, my life waschanging, but it was almost like
I kind of got to like a halt inmy faith and I thought that
that was kind of normal.
But no, god's like, okay, yousurrendered all of that, but I'm
ready for you to surrender,like literally everything.
Now there's things that you'renot revealing to me, and we
(07:52):
cannot heal from what we don'treveal.
And so my husband and I weactually met in a small town
coffee shop.
My husband's name is NickRenick.
He grew up in a Lutheran churchand grew up in a household that
loved him.
You know, despite his identity,he identified as being gay, but
(08:13):
at first he never even knewwhat it meant, just because he
grew up in a small town.
And he was very talented andstill is incredibly talented at
acting and singing and all thearts.
People started telling him well, that means that you're gay.
And so he started saying, okay,well, I guess that's what it
means.
And then he Googled it on theinternet and started attaching
what people were saying over himto who he was and he started
(08:37):
living that out.
What people were saying overhim to who he was, and he
started living that out.
So when I went to the army, helived on Kauai.
He was really deep into the newage and the Lord just told him
to lay it all down, lay hisidols down, the witchcraft down.
Margaret Ereneta (08:50):
You'll see this with Lex, but with Nic,
here too, just baby steps out.
God just leads them so gentlybut carefully out of their false
identities and their falselives, and you can see that with
Nic's story too.
A little bit that we hear herein the show.
Lex Renick (09:05):
So I grew up in a small town.
Well, my husband grew up in asmall town in Big Bear Lake,
california.
We went to high school together, never talked to each other.
I was in the army and came backto Big Bear and God just called
him back home to walk away fromthe new age, to walk away from
his lifestyle of what he wasdoing.
And all of a sudden I go intothis coffee shop Again.
(09:27):
I'm identifying as Austin atthis moment in my life and I'm
just studying the word of God.
Even at this time, living thatstealth life, I was being
mentored by a pastor that had noidea that I was actually born
female and I was hungry for theword again, believing the lie
that that God was okay with howI was living.
And I'm in my word and I hearthe back door open.
(09:47):
Little do I know that the loveof my life is going to walk in.
And he plays a piano.
He plays a song, best part andit's an R&B song.
One of the lines in there saysand those brown eyes are the
ones that I desire.
And before this moment happened,before this Hallmark movie love
story happened, I found myselffast forwarding.
You know, I'm in my 20s now,like 23, 24, maybe and I fall on
(10:12):
my face at a dock right a weekbefore, I met my husband in this
coffee shop and I just I wouldgo to this dock all the time.
I'd worship God there at mylunch breaks.
It has this beautiful view ofthe lake.
I would get into my word.
I would just sit there and havedates with Jesus.
And there was somethingdifferent about this dock moment
this time, like when I walkedto the end.
It was like I was going toleave something there, like if
(10:34):
this dock could be an altar forthe Lord.
It was in this moment and I walkat the end of the dock and I
said, god, I know you now.
I don't want to hear it fromsome guy, you know, like,
pointing at me, telling me thatI'm going to go to hell.
Like God, I know you now.
I know your heart, I know thatyou love me.
Lord and God, I know that youhave the power to do anything.
So if this desire that I havebecause before my husband I only
(10:56):
dated women, I only feltcomfortable to be sexual and
intimate with women I just said,lord, if this sexual attraction
that I have towards women isnot of your will, like the Bible
says, like Christians aresaying, god, if this is not okay
, then I know that you have thepower to change me.
So, lord, please change me,change my mindset, change my
(11:18):
attraction, Lord, that I couldlook at a man and be physically,
emotionally, spirituallyattracted to him.
Margaret Ereneta (11:26):
I want you to think about Lex sitting at the
dock seeking the Lord with herBible.
She doesn't have her theologyright, but her heart is in the
right place.
I want you to think about yourfriends who might be in the same
boat and have compassion onthem and pray for them.
They're not as far away fromthe Lord as you might think and
you might be a light to them,and so keep praying for them and
(11:47):
keep listening to the show tillthe end, and maybe you can help
guide them to the truth.
Lex did come to the truth atthe end.
Praise God.
Lex Renick (11:58):
And I remember saying that and I'm pointing up
and I'm crying because somepeople that may have not
struggled with their sexualityor gender identity may not
understand the magnitude of myprayer.
But the magnitude of my prayerwas basically, like God, if
you're not, if you're not goingto change me, I don't know.
I don't know how to moveforward and I was just desperate
to make sure that I was livingin God's will.
(12:18):
And I remember praying that andjust crying and pointing up at
the sky and I said but God, youpromised to wow me Like you
promised to wow me, because thatwas one of the words that the
Lord spoke over my life when Irededicated.
I just heard the Lord say,through the Holy spirit, I'm
going to wow you in your life.
And so I said God, you saidthat you're going to wow me.
Where's my wow?
A week later, my wow walked inthrough a coffee shop, my
(12:41):
husband singing.
Never been attracted to a man,the way that I've ever been
attracted to my husband.
And I remember thinking, oh mygosh, lord, I am so sorry, I'm
so attracted to this man rightnow.
I know I'm supposed to befocusing on studying your word,
but little did I know that itwas a God assignment, like God
had this plan for us to meet andto be together.
So we we went on our first datethere and I remember my dad
(13:04):
telling me you need to tell him,like you need to tell him, that
you're actually born female,because my person that I was
interested at the time, myhusband at the time didn't know
that I was actually born femaleand he was identifying as gay.
And I remember telling himbeing so scared, thinking like,
well, he doesn't want to be withsomeone that's trans or to be
with someone that's born female.
And his response to me tellinghim on our very first date at
(13:25):
that coffee shop he said oh, I'mnot interested in any of that,
I'm only interested in yourheart.
And it was this pure type oflove that is such a
representation of Christ,because he was the first person
that never looked at melustfully.
He didn't desire to do anythinglike that, he desired to pursue
me just as Christ pursues uswith purity.
(13:47):
And I remember when Nick saidthat over me, it was like all my
walls went down.
It was like I finally felt likeI was home.
And recently, last year, him andI got a chance to speak at a
Bible college in Kauai and Iremember when I shared that the
Lord spoke to me in that momentof speaking on that platform and
(14:09):
the Lord told me that thereason why that was so impactful
, that Nick said that to me,that he wanted to pursue me in
purity, was because I could notreceive the love that my husband
could give unless I could firstreceive the love of the Father.
And I was told this pervertedversion of the love of the
Father and I was told thisperverted version of the love of
the Father from the world andfrom Christians living out their
(14:30):
Christianity.
And I had to rewire and walkwith Jesus myself and experience
him myself and be transformedby him myself before I could
ever accept the love that hewanted to give me through a
husband.
And so my husband and I began adate.
We fell in love so fast this isduring COVID.
Three months we were engaged.
(14:50):
Six months we went to Vegas andwe got married, because when
the Bible says, if you can'twait, get married.
And we got married and ourwhole life, you know, shifted.
Margaret Ereneta (15:00):
Yes, there's more to this story.
It just keeps getting better.
It's such a hard place to stop.
I'm sorry I left you at acliffhanger, but come back for
the end of Straight to theFather.
The story of Lex Renick, partthree next week.
Promise it'll end next week.
Announcement (15:17):
It's so great I am 180 is brought to you by One
Way.
Ministries Exalt Christ,advance His Gospel.
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