A Gay Man's Incredible Story of Redemption
THE BEGINNING
Becket Cook grew up in a Catholic household as the youngest of eight children. His father was an emotionally remote attorney. Becket describes his mother as “a giant ball of emotion and unconditional love who required an occasional valium.”
When he was eight, Becket’s friend showed him his father’s pornography. At 10 years old, while having a sleepover at a friend’s house, Becket was awakened to his friend’s father performing oral sex on him. Becket was traumatized and too afraid to tell his parents, but that night severely affected his sexuality. He explains, “In the sixth (age 12) and seventh grades, I became increasingly aware that I was attracted to the same sex.” By age 15, Becket and a school friend came out to each other. However, it wasn’t until after college that Becket told his family.
THE CITY OF ANGELS
When Becket decided to move to LA to pursue acting and writing, he felt free to express his sexuality and creativity. Soon, his artistic friends plugged him into the celebrity party scene where he would grow close to some of Hollywood’s elite actors like spending summers swimming in Drew Barrymore’s pool or vacationing in Diane Keaton’s desert getaway home. Becket attended a party a Prince’s home and went to the Grammy’s, etc. Life was good for the time but one night while in Paris for fashion week in March 2009, things began to change. Becket explains, “After socializing for a couple of hours, I took a moment to look around and contemplate the scene. In this sea of beautiful people, I suddenly felt an intense sense of emptiness. I’m not exactly sure what brought it on, but there I was, in the middle of Paris at an ultrachic fashion party, feeling dead inside.”
CHANGE IS COMING
On September 12, 2009, while having brunch with his friend Ryan, they both noticed something out of the ordinary in their part of Los Angeles--a group of men at a table with Bibles. Becket and Ryan were intrigued. After all the men left, except one (Colin), they worked up the nerve to ask him if he was a Christian. He confirmed their suspicions and even invited them to church. Becket wrestled with the invitation and eventually decided to go, even though Ryan did not. He explains, “I decided to embrace it (going to church) as something of an anthropological study. A chance to confirm all my suspicions about the ridiculousness of Christianity.”
On September 20, 2009, Becket found himself visiting Reality LA church--his first evangelical service. The pastor was preaching on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. As Becket sat there in the unfamiliar environment, he was amazed at how simple the Gospel message was. He was even more amazed that he agreed with it. At the end of the service the pastor explained that anyone who needed prayer was welcome. Becket felt like he needed prayer but kept fighting the urge to go up front. “Finally, I just thought, You know what, I’m here. I might as well just do this. So, I walked down the aisle… All of a sudden, a giant wave of God’s presence came crashing over me.. I was utterly overwhelmed, and I started bawling uncontrollably… I don’t know how to describe it other than that God revealed Himself to me.”
Today, over a decade later and after attending seminary, Becket spends most of his time ministering and speaking on the issue of homosexuality and culture in churches, universities and conferences. Becket shares, “My motivation for writing this book is not to win a debate… More than anything, my hopes is that you will come away with a better understanding of this complex issue, from every angle, so you can make informed choices that affect eternity.”
After Becket told his friends about his experience with God, they took it surprisingly well and he remains close to many of them. While a few friends made it clear that they didn’t want Becket proselytizing them, others listened to the Gospel message and accepted Christ.
