purpose Archives • Your Other Brothers

Receiving Brotherhood at the YOBBERS Retreat

by Dean Samuels | Jun 10, 2019 | Lifestories | 3

I realized that these guys had come to this YOBBERS retreat for the right reasons. They came to honor Christ, love one another, and encourage each other. And that included me. I realized that I had come expecting to work and only work, with no expectation to receive anything.

Finding Humility Through Beauty at the YOBBERS Retreat

by Ryan Burger | Jun 4, 2019 | Lifestories | 5

Humility is not about being hard on yourself; it’s about fighting the urge to stand at the center of it all. As I stood there at this year’s YOBBERS retreat, an observer rather than a participant, God reminded me I wasn’t there to get as much as I could get, or even give as much as I could give. The YOBBERS retreat was bigger than me. I didn’t need to stand in the center of anything.

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.

The Last Ever Episode of Manly Monday?!

by Thomas Mark Zuniga | Apr 15, 2019 | Manly Monday, Video | 5

It’s the last Manly Monday ever! Or, wait, is it? Find out in this month’s video, where I also discuss the upcoming YOBBERS retreat, a church men’s retreat from which I just returned, the dreaded comparison game, and the prospect of encountering giants in our already promised land…

Who Am I to Lead Others?

by Kevin Zimmerman | Apr 10, 2019 | Lifestories | 10

Did I want to be in leadership, or did that role need to be filled? I felt inadequate. To lead. To be an example. To show my non-Christian roommates Jesus and love. To be a good friend.