Ed and Jo are joined by Jez Field to talk about intimacy with others. What are the catalysts for this kind of intimacy? What are some of the barriers to it? And do women need intimate friendships more than men do? 

Resources mentioned and related 

• The Intimacy Deficit by Ed Shaw
• Jez’s review of The Intimacy Deficit 
• Billy No-Mates: How I Realised Men Have a Friendship Problem by Max Dickins
• More from Jez on the Living Out website
• Keswick Convention talks on the intimacy deficit
• Living Out podcast series on Friendship (episode 1 here)

Intimacy with yourself – feeling comfortable in your own skin – being able to be honest with yourself about yourself. How do we grow in this? Isn’t it all a bit narcissistic and unChristian? How does it connect to intimacy with God and with others? Ed, Andrew and Jeanette talk it through. 

Resources mentioned and related 

• The Intimacy Deficit by Ed Shaw
• Keswick Convention talks on the intimacy deficit 
• Hear Jeanette’s story, in 5 minutes or in 30 minutes
• Jeanette’s latest book, ‘Betrothed: wooed by a greater love’ 

Ed and Adam chat with our guest Andrew Nicholls. What do we mean when we talk about intimacy with God? How do we experience it? And what gets in the way? 

Resources mentioned and related 

• The Intimacy Deficit Ed Shaw
• Keswick Convention talks on the intimacy deficit 
• Delight Podcast Episode 2: Meditation – dwelling on God’s truth 

In the first episode of our new series, Jo and Ashleigh quiz Ed on what the intimacy deficit is, why he’s written a book about it, where he struggles with intimacy himself – and, of course, whether he should get a dog. 

Resources mentioned and related 

• The Intimacy Deficit Ed Shaw
• Have You Been Intimate with Anyone Recently? Andrew Bunt 
• Keswick Convention talks on the intimacy deficit 
• Kaleidoscope

Ed's recent book, The Intimacy Deficit, helps us to think about our connection with God, ourselves, others, and creation. In this series we want to expand on the ideas in Ed’s book, involving more voices in the conversation, and hopefully helping all of us to deepen our experiences of intimacy.

Adam is joined by Katherine Brown from the Evangelical Alliance and Ben Thomas from OCCA. Katherine and Ben were both part of the LGBT community when they responded to the gospel, and in their roles now they engage in conversations with non Christians and new Christians about all sorts of faith questions. 

In the last episode of this series, we consider your questions on evangelism. Is it possible to evangelise to the LGBT community? How can we support friends in a same sex marriage? And what about the gay couple with kids who become Christians? 

Resources mentioned and related 

• Katherine’s story
• Ben’s story
• The Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry
• The Sexual Revolution Has Failed — Now Try CHURCH || Louise Perry Full Interview Speak Life Podcast
• Challenges to Friendship (Friendship #6) 
• What If a Gay, Married Couple, With Children, Become Christians? Ed Shaw 
• Evangelical Alliance
• OCCA

Jennifer Kvamme and Robin Barfield are both parents and authors of books that help us engage with our teens in conversations about sexuality. In this episode they join Andrew to answer your questions on parenting teenagers. How can we love and support young people to keep looking to Jesus for the future? What is the best way to talk to young people about singleness being a gift from God? How do we parent a same-sex attracted teen?

Resources mentioned and related 

• More to the Story: Deep Answers to Real Questions on Attraction, Identity, and Relationships Jennifer Kvamme 
• Young People and Pornography: Understanding and Responding Pastorally Robin Barfield 
• Everyday Dadding podcast
• Chasing Love Sean McDowell 
• Applying The Handbrake: A Teenage Boy's Honest Account About God And Porn Ben Dyer 
• Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been Jackie Hill Perry 
• A Change of Affection: A Gay Man’s Incredible Story of Redemption Becket Cook 
• Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next Rachel Gilson 
• The Holy Sexuality Project  
• ‘Today's Parenting Challenges Part 2’, Seminar from Keswick 2024 
• Kaleidoscope 

We’re joined by Rachel Gilson – author of Parenting Without Panic in an LGBT Affirming World – to answer your questions on parenting younger children. What are some easy ways into conversations about sex, sexuality and what God says? How can parents and youth leaders work together in having these conversations? Should you send your children to Christian schools, and what influence is the internet having on their experience of and learning about sexuality? 

Resources mentioned and related 

• Parenting Without Panic in an LGBT Affirming World Rachel Gilson 
• Born Again This Way Rachel Gilson 
• Kaleidoscope 
• Raising Confident Kids in a Confusing World Ed Drew 
• Start Talking to Your Kids about Sex: A Practical Guide for Catholics Julia Sadusky 
• God's Signpost: How Marriage Points Us to God's Love Sam Allberry (picture book for children) 
• God's Go-Togethers: A Celebration of God's Design for People Sam Allberry (picture book for children) 
• Keswick 2024 seminar – Today’s Parenting Challenges: Sexuality and Gender  
• A Parent’s Guide to Social Media Axis 
• A Parent’s Guide to Smartphones Axis 
• A Parent’s Guide to Influencers Axis 

7-13 July is the week of visibility for non-monogamy, so we’ve got a special episode for you diving into polyamory and consensual non-monogamy. What do these kinds of relationships look like? What are the trends that are leading to them being normalised? Why should we care and how should we respond as Christians?   

We quiz Andrew Bunt, who’s written a booklet on the topic called Three or More, and think this all through together. 

Resources mentioned and related 

• Three or More Andrew Bunt 
• What About Old Testament Polygamy? Andrew Bunt  
• Are You Ready for the Challenge of Polyamory? Andrew Bunt 

How do we as same-sex attracted people navigate close friendships with the same sex? How about opposite-sex friendships? How can you best love a sibling who is in a same-sex relationship? And how do you keep a healthy relationship with those you used to have a sexual relationship with?  

Join Ashleigh, Ed and Dan as they share their experience of doing friendship as same-sex attracted Christians. Thank you for your excellent questions!

Resources mentioned and related

• Spring 1 – 2012 
• Mass in B Minor 
• Don’t Blame Me 
• Friendship and Intimacy (Friendship #3) 
• In Praise of Awkward Conversations Andrew Bunt
• Space at the Table: A Review Ed Shaw 
• Listening Carefully and in Full Andrew Bunt 
• Support to Grieve Anne Witton