We get asked the why question so much because this life is hard. Being a Christian is hard; being LGBTQ+ is hard. Being both can be exhausting. And it may continue to be exhausting if we don't do the work to understand why it's hard and figure out how to keep going.
Bridget Eileen Rivera (from Twitter!) joins us, along with her cat. She’s the author of the new book, Heavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church (and just the second woman ever to appear on our show!). We discuss the burdens sexual minorities face regarding matters of so-called “clarity” in Scripture, stereotypical versions of masculinity/femininity, assumed pedophilia when working with children, and forced celibacy. Finally, we ask Bridget if her own choice to pursue celibacy stems from burdensome duty or life-giving joy?
Many conservative Christians don't believe I've ever really tried to change. Those with this position assert that my goal must be to become heterosexual, that God wants nothing less than that for me – and from me. Thus, if I haven't received this orientation change yet, then my faith must not be strong enough, or I haven't ever truly wanted this change.
Tom welcomes back our resident Filipino Londoner, and the second Daniel in as many weeks! We catch up with Daniel on the other side of COVID as he now attends three small groups simultaneously. We mourn the loss of our international flavor at this year’s YOBBERS retreat, but we also discuss possibly holding Zoom calls more relative to European time zones? With increasing UK and European support, Tom wants to travel overseas soon to visit Daniel and all the other YOBBERS. But does even the sparrow find a spare room? Finally, the guys share how they hear from Holy Spirit. Can you believe?!
I had tasted all these new intense bursts of touch in recent years, perhaps some healthy and others not so much, and during one isolating season I was desperate to share the warmth of masculine flesh again. I was having trouble making friends with other men, though...so where did I turn? To an app.
Tom welcomes a longtime YOBBER to the show, and also the first guest to his recording studio! Dan has been pledging on Patreon since 2017, along with sharing a friendship with Tom that goes back to our first YOBBERS retreat in 2018. The guys discuss some shared travel stories from San Antonio to Albuquerque, including multiple traumatic events on the road that have forever bonded them.
Growing up, I had few friends; those I did have were not the greatest. I brought up one boy, Jack, who I'd considered my best friend from first through third grade. I hadn't talked to him since high school. "I'm not sure what's happened to him," I said to my friend. "He could be dead for all I know." On a whim I looked up my old best friend on Facebook, and...yep, sure enough, he was dead.