As part of the on-going series, the links below will take you to current conversations about sexuality and relationships as well as issues related to the other three categories of holistic body theology: community, cultural discernment, and service.

Stay informed about what the world and the Church are saying so we can discuss the issues, discern healthy, holistic body theology, and discover God’s truth in the midst of many opinions.

Here’s this week’s installment.  Don’t be shy.  Share your thoughts in the comment section, or join the original conversations via the links provided.

1) Jesus, Don’t Let Me Die Before I’ve Had Sex The movie will paint a picture of what is taught explicitly and implicitly by showing how churchgoers implement those teachings⎯through anecdotes of first kisses, chastity rallies, and secret obsessions.

2) Follow this link to find three articles on various views on homosexuality by members of the Fuller Theological Seminary community.

3) Question #2: Jesus and Women If there is historical evidence that Jesus affirmed and loved and served with women, even has them as disciples, why is the Church so stuck on this issue?  Why don’t pastors/leaders/teachers care about learning the historical truth?

4) A Bar Closed Means “No Child Will Ever Have to be Exploited Here Again”  Late last week, a karaoke bar where minors had been trafficked and sold for sex was permanently closed.

5) Five women who changed God’s rules  The second approach doesn’t see the Bible as a Rulebook, but as a story and collection of stories that shows us what God is like.

6) I Am (Pastor) Kristen To some this may sound like a brief snapshot of a typical week of a Pastor, and yet, because I’m a woman, the description might border on unscriptural at best, heretical at worst.

7) Why Are We So Sure Things Are Going Downhill? Regardless of how or why the bad news comes, the real issue is separating fact from fiction. You don’t have to believe all that you hear.

8) Fair Trade Products Are Too Pricey It is easy to walk into a store and purchase whatever you think is cute and cheap enough for your budget. However, it is rare for the average shopper to stop and consider the hidden costs of what he or she is buying—and who might be paying the costs.

9) Christian Catfights: Why Women Leaders Don’t Support Each Other In the Christian world, most of our attention has been focused on how men, as institutional gatekeepers, have prevented women from assuming leadership positions. But even we don’t see other women as having what it takes to be a successful leader.

10) A Pro-life Plea This Election Season I fear as well that the politicization of “pro-life” has desensitized us to seeing the people involved….Though evangelicals have over the past decade become more convinced of the importance of supporting unwed mothers, many of us still labor under the idea that once the baby is born, we’ve won the fight and can move on to the next one. But where does that leave mother and child?

11) 99 Problems with Jay-Z’s Use of the Word “B—“ New York magazine tabulated its usage in Jay-Z’s lyrics, reporting that he says “bitch” an average of 1.2 times per song. And while he’s been saying it and singing it and shouting it for years, the ugliness suddenly came into sharp focus when contrasted with the evident, intrinsic value of his newborn daughter.

12) Canada looks for ways to prevent honour killings How will police, teachers, social workers, and immigrants join forces to prevent any more women from meeting horrific fates?

13) The Mother God Here the reflection of the triune God is a community of women and men without privileges, a community of free and equal people, sisters and brothers. For the building of this new congregational structure, the motherly ministry of the Spirit, and the Tri-unity as a community, are important.

14) The Beloved Community vs. the Beloved Economy So, here we are as a nation, caught between two American Dreams: Beloved Community and Beloved Economy. Here we are, torn between two pursuits—a spiritual quality of life and a materialistic style of life.

15) Your Friendgirl Deserves Better And if you’re one of those guys who is passively encouraging a single woman to waste her time on you when you’re not romantically interested, then it’s time for one of the most important breakups of your life.

16) After Komen, the Next Big Planned Parenthood Fight Government funds appropriated for women’s health services are supposed to pay for medical tests, contraception, and cancer screenings, not abortions. But even if government checks aren’t used directly for abortions, they still subsidize the organization, pro-life advocates say.

17) What Planned Parenthood actually does, in one chart  So though the fight over Planned Parenthood might be about abortion, Planned Parenthood itself isn’t about abortion. It’s primarily about contraception and reproductive health.

18) Super Bowl XLVI: Real Battles Off  the Field The seamy underside of the Super Bowl is the increase in sex trafficking that accompanies it.

19) The Secret to Marriage  So maybe there’s just one secret to a successful marriage…

20) Sexy Marriage Songs If you’re single, have you ever thought, “That song is too dirty to listen to right now, but in the context of marriage that is going on the mix tape?” If you’re married, have you ever thought, “Hello formerly forbidden music, welcome to the Song of Solomon?”

21) Let God Write Your Love Story Clichés don’t work. I spent most of my 20s as a single woman, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that love stories differ. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to romance.

22) The Greatest Story Ever Played  Stories create readiness, they nudge people toward receptive insight….I see a new medium rising, one with the potential to convey meaning in a more affecting way than ever before: video games.

23) John Piper, what he said The internet is ringing with stuff about pastor John Piper and his recent opening comments about masculine Christianity…

24) Plant New Trees when God created humans, God made us in in the fullness of God’s image.  not half, not part.  yes, we are unique and different, and that’s why we need each other to more accurately reflect the fullness of God’s image.

25) Permit a Woman to Speak God permits a woman to speak.

26) Thank you, brothers   [M]y call for guys to write blog posts that honor women and celebrate the feminine images of God in Scripture has been absolutely overwhelming.

27) Christian Exorcism Leads to Gay Teen’s Suicide Not only are we, as followers of Christ, called to set aside our judgment, hateful rhetoric and disdain for those in the LGBT community; we’re bound by a covenant of compassion to advocate for their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

28) Sex, Money, and Other Good Things Gone Bad  There are three main wells in our culture we go to over and over again—despite the fact that they satisfy for a moment, only to leave us thirsting for more.

29) Evangelicals Mounting Concerns over Obama Administration’s Contraceptive Mandate  [C]oncern about the mandate runs even deeper since groups cannot opt out.

30) The Komen Fiasco’s Silver Lining But there is a silver lining to the disaster, and not just for textbook writers looking for case studies in catastrophic public relations failures. (Find additional articles about Komen here, here, and here.)

31) What If God Asked You the Same Question? What would you say if God asked you what you were doing about all the suffering, poverty and injustice that exists in the world today?