Let’s Talk About Sex Baby

Posted on 09/26/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty, Spiritual | Leave a comment

Ah yes, the old Salt N Pepa lyrics bring back a lot of memories of high school for me when my parents and I completely avoided conversations about sex, human sexuality and everything in between. I will admit it, the topic of sex scared me when I was in high school, let alone junior high. I wanted nothing to do with the subject and avoided it all costs.

I was not the only one avoiding the topic of sex. There is a religious institution called the CHRISTIAN CHURCH that seems to like to avoid the same subject. After working with churches, pastors and ministry workers for the last 15 years I have come to a couple logical assumptions: church leaders do not want to talk about sex and church attendees can’t stop talking about it. Sex scares everyone in church except the people who attend.

The most requested books I have in the store besides personal hang-ups and addictions are for books related to human sexuality and relationships. God hard wired us for relationships and sex is a big part of the intimacy that God designed for us. The subject of human sexuality needs to be addressed with in the safe and grace filled community like the church. Unfortunately this isn’t the environment that most churches extended on a regular basis, let alone related to the topic of sex.

That is where The Idea Camp comes in:

The Idea Camp is a collaborative movement of idea-makers who facilitate hybrid conferences and develop resources for people who desire to move ideas towards implementation. Facilitated by a growing collective of innovative thinkers and practitioners from numerous disciplines, participants gather around topics of interest to encourage & inspire one another, share practical wisdom from the field, and develop viable networks for idea-making.

I am excited to say that for the next two days Central Christian Church is the host site for The Idea Camp on all things Sex. I won’t be able to attend all of the sessions and breakouts but I am excited to be apart of the conversation as much as possible. Their are some amazing people attending to discuss topics like: homosexuality and the church, pornography, abuse, prostitution, slavery, trafficking and many more important subjects that get overlooked within the church.

The general sessions will be live online for those who want to tune in and check it out:

Live Broadcast
Mobile Broadcast

Or if you are on Twitter you can use #ICSEX or #THEIDEACAMP to follow the conversation and ask questions.

Dealing with the Demons

Posted on 08/23/2009 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

This past week my wife and I flew to Michigan for my cousins wedding and a little relaxation time with family. It was by far one of the best times I have spent with my family in a long time. We laughed, we cried, we made new memories and we visited old ones. It truly was a great week. However at the end of the trip I was confronted with some of the demons that lurk in my heart and life.

We all have been wounded from time to time, whether it be a broken relationship, a past abuse or some sort of injustice. We all have been hurt in the depths of our souls. Developing through life some (very few of us) learn how to deal with these wounds in a healthy way. Most of us just learn how to mask the pain and anguish these events or people cause on us. I have been masking my pain for years. I have been wearing the mask for so long that I had almost forgotten that I was wearing it.

That all changed when I was in Michigan. I was made fully aware that even though I live thousands of miles away from the memories that hurt me I have been going about life ignoring their presence. Traveling back to the place I grew up generated a knowledge of those hurts, you could almost say that I developed an irregular heartbeat. It was like something deep inside me was stirred awake.

And I don’t like it.

Because the truth of it is that I don’t want to deal with my demons.

At some point in our lives we turn a corner. Our demons go from being our demons, to shifting to our identity. We not only believe the lies, we become the lies. Most of us don’t recognize this shift happening or when it occurs, but I believe it eventually happens to most of us. Being in Michigan snapped me back into reality that I was allowing the demons of my past, although buried deep inside, to control the way that I live my life.

God wants more for my life. And so do I. Time to try something different. But what?

Broken Hearted

Posted on 07/12/2009 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

What does your heart break for?

A few days ago I posted this on Facebook and I gathered a few response . . .

Lack of tolerance
Human trafficking
People who don’t know Jesus as their savior
Thirsty people who can’t get clean water
Little kids born into terrible situations
Loss of a loved one
Others that are hurting
The elderly
Abused, neglected & starving children

I think that deep down inside of all of us there is something that stirs something in our soul that says, “That is just wrong!” I know at numerous times my heart have broken for the atrocities of this world. Hungry children, unclean water, sex-slavery, genocide, civil wars, human slavery, death, or disease; you name the injustice and there is someone out there whose heart breaks for that particular cause. So what does your heart break for?

But beyond that, I think the better question is: what are you doing about it?

The people that posted the previous list on my Facebook people that are doing something about the things that they care about. But the question is not whether they are moved to action, but whether you and I are? I hate apathy. But yet it bleeds out of me. I spend my time doing what I want: reading, blogging, running, working, and out with my wife. My actions represent my heart.

Over the years there have been plenty of things that have broken my heart, but my actions have done very little about it. I am tired of being apathetic. I desperately want to make a difference in the world.

My wife and I are venturing into the world of developing a non-profit that fights drunk driving by providing free rides home to bar patrons. Making a difference in the world requires small steps of action. This is my wife and I moving from apathy to action.

How about you? What breaks your heart? What are you doing about it?