What follows is a template to give you a potential starting point for conversation with anyone in your church leadership. I write this as one who has had both positive and negative experiences coming out to church leadership.
Is masturbation sinful? What if it's done without lusting? Is masturbation "solo-sex" or "self-sex," and does it breech God's design for sexuality? What does the Bible have to say, if anything, about masturbation? Masturbation isn't an oft discussed topic in Christian circles, with many folks describing their childhood discovery of masturbation as if they had been the first ones ever to discover such a secret bodily pleasure. As a result of this secrecy, masturbation has produced a lot of shame for men and women. Regardless where you land on this issue, we want to break down this shame.
Well, 2020 happened. And in this "unprecedented" year, a more personal disease revealed itself in me. Like Nouwen wrote, despite my being around people during a pandemic, I faced loneliness. My tendency to isolate combined with an actual, physical inability to connect with others made me look deeper into the why of my loneliness.
You cannot get to an empty tomb without first getting to an occupied cross. It is finished.
Join us as Tom convos with one of our authors, Ben! We catch up with Ben from his last ConvoCast appearance and talk about his message on chosen family at our recently held YOBBERS retreat. We also riff about proportional haircuts, Ben’s upcoming blog on coming out to people you love, and where (and with whom) a pastor get his support. Also, who's YOB’s pastor: Ben or Will??
The beginning of a new year often leads us to new physical fitness routines (including starting one). But so many of us have difficult relationships with working out: wounds from high school locker rooms, daunting equipment, comparing ourselves with the other men around us, and ultimately dissatisfaction with our own bodies. Are these hard things worth pushing through?
Gregory Coles joins us for a conversation on belonging as we discuss his new book, No Longer Strangers: Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation. We learn some of Greg’s story, growing up as a missionary’s kid in Indonesia, and his winding journey of geographical and cultural belonging in the United States. We also talk to Greg about the aftermath of coming out in his first book, Single, Gay, Christian, including the beauty and challenges that decision has brought him. We dive into the Jesus-inspired concept of bringing belonging to others, and how sexual minorities may find belonging in the Church.
It's our last episode of 2020! AKA the most phenomenal year that ever was. Join Tom, Ryan, Jacob, and returning guest Nate for a fun, nonspecifically topical, yet holiday-themed episode with discussions like our favorite (and least favorite) Christmas carols and when is the proper time to start (and stop) playing Christmas music. We also dive a little deeper by determining the identities of our own personal ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future and what lessons we’d learn from them, along with our individual recaps of 2020 as we fill in the blank after the hashtag: #2020WasTheYear.
What even is attraction? Is it only physical, sexual, and romantic? Or is it something more? Something that can be platonic yet intimate, something more nuanced and layered? Join Tom, Ryan, and Jacob for a discussion on attraction: the varying types of attraction, the difference between physical and sexual attraction, and whether it’s okay to experience attraction – even romantic – for your friends.
For many years gentleness was a foreign concept to me. Even after actually coming to know Christ in college, I still didn't get gentleness. Jesus turned over tables in the temple – aren't we supposed to do the same?