Shawn Key
| Rev. Shawn Key Midland, Tx |
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It was while he was in high school that he began to either question, or to believe the accusations that has begun in 4th grade, that he might be gay. He prayed that God "take this cup from me." The "cup" he believed would surely "lead to utter damnation". He continued to deny what he knew was. He began spiraling into a cycle of depression, fear, and self-loathing. The last time he attended his childhood church was his senior year in high school. The sermon was on how there was a cultish abomination in "our neighborhood", where homosexuals claimed to be Christian. He never went back to that church, for fear of being "found out". He knew the scripture, and the preacher was quoting it. How, as a Baptist, as someone who loves the Lord, could he reconcile the fact that he was gay? He could not.
He told himself, he did not need church. He believed he could pray and communicate with God on his own. However, he seldom picked up his Bible anymore, because if he came across anything to do with "sexual immorality", it would depress him further, and because he was sure that homosexuality was immoral. Shawn met Cliffton in 1994, right after graduating from high school. The two fell in love and moved in together within a month. They loved each other and loved God. They just didn't think there was a place where they could worship freely. After about four years together, they began to go to the "important" services, such as the Easter service at St. John's United Methodist Church in Lubbock. This church had started the PFLAG mission, so Shawn and Clifton felt it would be a safe place to worship without being in a "cultish" atmosphere. however, his childhood doctrine would not allow him to fully step back into the fold, and as Cliffton was raised Assembly of God, the music was too subdued for him; so, they stuck to the annual "dose" of church. They moved to Odessa in 2004. Shawn graduated with his doctorate in 2005 and both were essentially happy. It was in this bliss that they were presented with an invitation to go to New Song Fellowship. Shawn felt it would be nice to quench that nagging part of him that was all too aware that his plan wasn't working quiet as well as he had thought. He thought he was showing up for his "annual" service, only to find out he was getting Sunday school. Pastor Debbie Cummins held up her Bible and said, "As new Christians, the first thing you need to know in order to live for God is that everything in the Bible is the truth." "What?", he thought. His plan had been destroyed. The plan that stated, "send $19.95 for write your own Bible kit - keep the stuff you like, throw out what you don't." It was the questions he had that kept him coming back. He couldn't get full, therefore he kept going back with his stomach ready for each service. He began to open his heart and praying for God to open his eyes. Scriptures revealed the flaws he had in his own plan: "Forsake not the gathering together of yourselves; come near to God, and He will come near to you; and , for where two or three come together in My name, I am there also." Shawn regained that spiritual craving for more of God, and embraced the idea of baptism in Jesus' name, in order to acknowledge full belief that Jesus is the Messiah - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and was Shawn was later baptized in Jesus' name.
After many questions, workshops, teachings, Bible studies and prayer, God began to reveal to Shawn the He did love him. That Shawn was worthy of His salvation. He began to understand that God was is no respecter of persons. He is not concerned about who we love, as long as we are not sexually immoral - freely having sexual relations with multiple partners, with no regard for His plan in our lives, only fulfilling the lust of our flesh. God began to reveal to Shawn that He did in fact have a plan for Shawn's life, as a gay Christian, as someone in a monogamous, committed relationship. Prior to returning to God in 2006, Shawn's Baptist roots had him not believing in speaking in tongues. He believed in faith and that through God all things are possible, but he didn't believe that the gift of tongues was all too real. He had seen it, but didn't understand it. Once Shawn had gathered enough faith to believe that God's power is real, present tense, not just historical, Shawn began to actively seek the gift of the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by speaking in tongues. He prayed daily for this. He received his gift in February 2007. He was in a service in Ft. Worth Texas, when Pastor Doug Clanton began calling people to the alter for prayer. Shawn remained planted, even though he felt the pull to go. Pastor Clanton then said, "someone out there has been praying for months to receive the Holy Spirit, and God is calling you up to receive." Shawn felt such a draw, a pulling to up there at those words. Still he stood fast, praying for God to give him this gift without having to go to the front of the church. Pastor Debbie Cummins then took Shawn by the arm guiding him to the front of the church. Once there Shawn raised his hands and began to pray for the Holy Spirit to baptize him in fire. As Shawn describes it, "Unknown words began to burst forth from my lips. I remember such a feeling of joy, which relaxed into such a peace, and my body must have melted into it, because eventually the sounds of the sanctuary began to return to my ears, and when I opened my eyes, I was on the floor" I had received the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by speaking in tongues, and been slain in the spirit - all in the same evening!" Many ministers have told Shawn that he had a calling on his life to minister. It wasn't until September, 2009 that Shawn heard God's voice clearly say, "Surrender yourself - I have been calling you." Shawn had thought he had surrendered. He states, "A revelation came to me as showed me an onion - and peeling back the layers, I realized there are layers of surrender, and just when I think I have surrendered all, that simply means I am ready for Him to reveal to me what else I am in need of surrendering. Shawn knows he has been called by God, to reach out to a lost community, and provide a place to worship and preach the word. |
Shawn was raised Southern Baptist in Lubbock, Tx. He was saved at the age of 8. It was not until the age of 14, after youth camp, that he truly felt saved, so he was baptized a second time. He was at church every time the doors were open, and as a family they had "Family Alter" every night. His parents would read scripture, they would discuss the scripture, then they would each pray. He loved the relationship he had with God and constantly desired to be near to Him.