Jesus Archives • Your Other Brothers

Sharing My Story at a Church for the First Time?

by Daniel Marquez | Jun 28, 2019 | Lifestories | 10

The Sunday service started, and I was excited to speak. I’d been praying for this moment for quite a while now — I was about to give my testimony in front of a whole church. The service started, and two songs into worship I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the pastor, and he was motioning me back to his office…

Revoice 2019: So Much to Learn and Love

by YOB | Jun 20, 2019 | Conversations | 7

Several of our authors recently attended Revoice 2019 in St. Louis. We gathered to discuss the second annual conference: our personal highs, challenges, and hopes for future Revoice conferences.

I Was Fifteen Minutes Away from the PULSE Shooting

by Eugene Heffron | Jun 12, 2019 | Lifestories | 9

In my pre-YOB days, I still felt a lot of self-loathing and internalized homophobia over my sexuality and had yet to come to terms with it. I spent that whole day unsure what to think or feel about PULSE. Dismayed by seeing so many people brutally murdered, of course, yet conflicted about how I felt about my convictions with my own sexuality.

Crying with Hope at the YOBBERS Retreat

by Kevin Zimmerman | May 31, 2019 | Lifestories | 16

As that final morning sped by, I found myself wishing I had been more present that weekend. I don’t cry easily or often. Yet tears flowed multiple times during our YOBBERS retreat weekend. And now a few more times since.

Please Don’t Let Our Second YOBBERS Retreat Suck

by YOB | May 28, 2019 | Conversations | 13

We recently held our second annual YOBBERS retreat: a weekend gathering for our financial supporters and community members on Patreon. Several of our authors attended, and we discussed our time together — both highs and lows — in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

My Sexuality is a Gift from God

by Dean Samuels | May 14, 2019 | Lifestories | 29

God could have prevented my attraction to men. Whatever your beliefs on causation, I believe God is powerful enough to have adjusted whatever needed adjusting to have prevented my attraction to men. Since this did not happen, I can only determine one reasonable possibility: my sexuality was something God wanted for my life. Therefore, I see it as a gift.

YOBcast Episode 049: Letting Go

by YOB | May 10, 2019 | Podcast | 15

Pull up a chair as Tom talks about the recent decision to remove our first 39 podcast episodes. Join Tom, Ryan, Jacob, and Dean for a vulnerable conversation on letting go. Letting go of people, letting go of the past, and letting go of the future. Because if we can’t let go of old things, how can we ever let new things in? Before we dive into the nitty-gritty, we talk about Tom’s Lenten “masturbation cleanse,” his recent trip to a monastery, the “perfect friend date,” and possibly rebranding our new hit intro segment, “The Brother Beat”?

Are We Asking LGBT+ People the Right Questions?

by Ryan Burger | Apr 26, 2019 | Musings | 34

If we want to win hearts, we have to ask better questions. How do we win hearts? We win hearts with good news. I want people in my church community to ask themselves, “What is the good news for LGBT+ people in our marriage ethic?”

Wounded Sparrow Seeking Home: Intro to a Queer, Married Pastor

by Ben Rutkowski | Apr 23, 2019 | Lifestories | 33

I like men in more than just a friendly way. I am a man who is attracted emotionally and sexually to other men. I am also married to a woman, attracted only to her out of all the women on earth. Somehow, it works. I am queer. And for much of my life, that has terrified me.

Navigating Faith, Homosexuality, and Masculinity. On Easter.

by Daniel Marquez | Apr 17, 2019 | Lifestories | 17

It’s Easter season, and I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of the cross. Not just the meaning of the cross for the bigger picture of salvation for humanity, but also the tangible effects the cross has been having on me.