AMAZING STORY
Surrendering Sin, Shame, and Sexuality to God
By Rod Thomas
The 700 Club
CBN.com- For 30 years, Bill Walker, along with his sister Kathy and brother Greg, kept audiences laughing with their celebrity impressions. The Walkers played the Vegas strip and made guest TV appearances.
“Shows like the Merv Griffin Show, the Mike Douglas Show. When Joan Rivers had a nighttime talk show, we did that show. We did cable shows; Norm Crosby’s Comedy Shop.”
But in Bill’s private life, he dealt with a much more serious issue - his struggle with homosexuality. “It was a compulsive issue and I did not know how to break free. It was meeting a legitimate need in an illegitimate way.”
That need was to have the affection of his dad. “From a very early age, I did not feel my father’s touch. Again, I knew he was a good family man, but I didn’t feel that connection.”
He and his siblings often played music at their church, but instead of getting close to God, he felt drawn to other boys. “The attractions probably started as they do for a lot of young boys towards young girls. In junior high school you start noticing, and I knew inwardly, I knew something wasn’t right.”
He managed to control his feelings until he met a boy in high school with the same tendencies. “It felt like I had discovered a little Garden of Eden so to speak. It felt like, ‘oh, this is what I am – this is what I've been longing for.’ I knew you couldn't tell anybody. I knew that this was not the world I grew up in.”
Then at 19, Bill left the relationship to join his brother and sister to form a comedy act – “The Walkers.” They paid their dues at local clubs around Pennsylvania before landing a gig on the Las Vegas strip. But before they moved across the country, Bill visited his friend’s house, where the boy’s mother spoke to them about Jesus’ return. “I never heard that Jesus was coming back, and to be honest that scared me. I began to discuss this at home. I began to talk with my sister. We started talking about what happens after you die. And we realized we were not ready for heaven. We would go to hell if we – if we didn't make some proper step.”
He and his sister later met with their friend’s mother, and she explained what it meant to be a follower of Christ. “We got on the floor and my sister and I fell head to head. I wept before Jesus and I knew my heart was calling out to ask Him in my life and my sister and I both wept and when we got up off that floor I felt like I’d been washed clean.”
When Bill got to Vegas, he felt confident that his newfound faith was giving him a fresh start. “As a new Christian, I thought that homosexuality was behind me. I wanted what I saw in growing up. I wanted family, a wife, a family, and a normal life.”
But it wasn’t that easy; he still longed for male companionship. He sought counsel with pastors, but they gave him cliché answers and sent him away. “I just went to these men saying, ‘I’m not involved. Help me. I don't want to act on this. I want to live for Christ.’ He told me the issue was just lust.”
With no guidance or help, he gave in to his desires and got into a relationship with another man; but the feelings of guilt and shame never went away. “It became a cycle of feeling like I was repenting, and trying to get back on my feet and then falling again repeatedly. I knew it wasn't right and I knew I couldn't leave the church. I wasn't trying to be hypocritical, but I knew Jesus was the only answer.”
Bill had to take the first step. “I realized that if there was any hope for me to get out I had to confess this and bring it into the light. And I, at 40 years old, I began to let my family know.”
Though his family didn’t support the lifestyle, they loved him and encouraged him to get help. He connected with a pastor and a support group for Christians caught in the gay and lesbian lifestyle. Bill left the relationship and started restoring his walk with God. “I began to read the Bible and I began to pray and I began to slowly grow in the things of God. I realized that my sin was not unforgivable. The Bible told me that I was washed, that I was sanctified, that I was justified in the name of the Lord and that I had a new start.
Bill says it was not easy, but he stayed the course of sexual purity. Today he’s married to Stephanie, who’s also an entertainer. After the comedy team broke up in 2004, Bill and Stephanie started a church. Together they have come to know the true love that comes through Christ.
“God knows there’s something in us. Thank God, in my life, He was - He was patient, and He saw me through. When Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ He IS the life; everything about Him - He is my all-in-all.”
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