This podcast, featuring Tim Bayly and a host of others from his church community states that its purpose is to help Christians recovering from Evangelicalism. In the first two seasons they have covered such things as homosexuality and fatherhood, often covering the same material found in The Grace of Shame and Daddy Tried, books by Bayly and others. However, this format was really terrific for them because we really get a conversation. Here they do not deal with strawmen, but with the real struggles of human beings living in a complicated world where masculinity is hated and the church has compromised in ways that are hurtful for homosexuals.
On the outside, they may seem like they just swing to the right and Tim Bayly may rub on people the wrong way, but if you take a closer look it's clear that they say everything because they are loving real people and because they abide by their principles. This podcast has also shown how Tim Bayly really is a great guy: some listeners may need to take time to warm up to his style of communication which is very emotional and down-to-earth in ways that have been lost for so long. But that just makes it better because you know that he's in the field, being awkward but not giving up on the people around him.
To the content: I could hardly think of a better primer on how to take care of people tempted to homosexuality. They are willing to talk about effeminacy without either exaggerating or just reducing masculinity to character. Go the gym, they say, without being legalistic about it. And the stuff on childrearing goes deeper. I have been reading Douglas Wilson for years, and yet there's new specific things I learn from listening to Tim Bayly (spank, don't manipulate your child to get an apology; make sure you discipline even when your wife doesn't like it, and other great points).
This is a great show that points us to the cross of Christ in a way that is neither cheap nor over serious. Listen and live it out!
