And we're back! After a summer retreat that reunited our supporters after two and a half years away, we return with a brand new YOBcast – with more episodes on the way! This episode we're talking about mountaintops and valleys: those proverbial "everything is bold and clear" and "everything is long and dark" seasons of life. Coming off a YOBBERS retreat is a mountaintop experience for many in our community. How do we come back from experiences like that? And what are some other mountaintop moments we've experienced beyond YOB?
While I do not want to ignore the subject of temptation and what to do with it, I think it would be more relevant to talk about the positives of this weekend retreat spent with my brothers in Christ. A better question to ask and answer about our YOBBERS retreat would be: "Why do you gather together?" And also the question: "What is the fruit of such a gathering?" Perhaps by looking at something more culturally familiar, we can draw a parallel to our experience as gay/SSA "Side B" Christians.
More than anything, though, what struck me about this year's retreat was a deep sense of unity. As I looked around the room of forty brothers, I considered how what unites us all is our crazy decision to make Jesus our everything – not just to follow Christ in a church on Sunday, but to take a devotion to Him into every single second of our lives.
Tom welcomes back Marshall after a long YOB hiatus! They chat about delicious gourmet pop-tarts, and Marshall catches us up on life post-pandemic, including losing his father. The guys also talk about spiritual family, growing older and staying single, and moving multiple times around the country more for community than careers.
There is no one group that is "for" my existence as a celibate SSA Christian, nor is there a specific group "against" it. It can feel like I have no clear place to turn to in the Church, because every place is equally likely to attack some part of who I am or what I do. Meanwhile, all I strive to be is a sold out follower of Christ.
Tom welcomes back Kevin into the proverbial podcast studio for the first time in YEARS! They discuss his recent departure from the Jewel of the Blue Ridge, and then they talk about camp the whole episode. Going to camp. Growing at camp. Working at camp. Even kids who used to go to our camps who now work at camp. They linger on this question: would we ever work (or go to?) camp again?!
Something came crashing into my mind when Peter asked me to be a team leader at church: a stream of familiar feelings, similar to the ones I felt the first time I had to come out. They were feelings of inadequacy; the line of thinking that I was in a somewhat state of sinfulness that compelled me to confess.
June is widely recognized as LGBT+ Pride Month. How do we as Jesus-followers engage with Pride Month – or is it even ours to engage with? How do we participate or spectate this month as gay/SSA believers with a traditional sexual ethic? Is there a place for us at this table and a space for us to be proud? Join Tom, Ryan, and Aaron for a discussion on Pride Month. Have we ever been to Pride, or would we ever go to Pride? And what would be our motivations for doing so?
It seems the only celibate communities forming are only by fellow "Side B" gay Christians, done so out of necessity. That really bothers me. Don't misunderstand me: it is good for celibate gay Christians to form communities. What bothers me, though, is that those communities should have already been started by celibate straight people.
Somewhere in the night, the role reversal from cuddling with Brandon completed itself. Lines got blurred and then definitively crossed. It wasn't sexual touch, but it was inappropriate touch. It wasn't welcomed or invited. Brett didn't ask; he just did. He took. Just as I took from Brandon, Brett took from me. And passive, conflict-avoidant me felt crippled to say a word against it.