On May 31, 2024, Frank-Answers.com went dark. I removed it because it had become too controversial among my clergy colleagues. One of their issues was too much nudity in the images. Some regard pictorial nudity in itself as pornography. So much for the human body “wonderfully made” by its Creator!

 Another criticism was my defense of homosexuality. As my blog evolved, I was attracting different readers. I provided answers for people who had questions about their sexuality, and I decided to serve them since not too many pastors address people confused about sexual issues (at least not in public). Millions of men are dealing with masculinity issues, and if a small fraction found a pastor to answer their questions instead of the likes of Andrew Tate, Elon Musk, and Tucker Carlson, I was providing a needed ministry. Frankly, the liturgical questions I initially answered on my blog weren’t attracting much traffic. I deleted articles that had few viewers as well as adding new articles so that the blog would not become overly cluttered.

 But fellow pastors wanted me to repent by taking down the blog. They said that if it had been someone else, they wouldn’t have cared so much about it. But I had been a model to them, and they had been able to refer their lay people to my blog for its articles on liturgy, theology, spirituality, etc. But if their lay people went on my blog they might be scandalized to see naked bodies or articles that promote homosexuality.

So, I hid Frank-Answers.com from public viewing on May 31, 2024. In its place I posted my goodbye message. (We had paid for a year’s subscription to WordPress and could leave the message up for those who were looking for the blog and couldn’t find it. The blog had attracted a rather wide readershi from around the world. Nothing I ever published in print had as many readers as some of my posts.

But now, nearly two years later, we are dealing with politically divisive culture war that has intensified. To what extent are theological commitments blurred by culture wars? How many theologians have been cancelled just because they have been known to support homosexuals…or trans people, or women’s health issues, or immigrants and refugees, or DEI (diversity, equality, identity)? Political cultures wars have infiltrated the Churches as well as consumed society.

One’s cultural upbringing or political ideology clouds the interpretation of biblical passages leading to a rejection of even traditional hermeneutics, like “Scripture itself interprets Scripture.” The result is proof-texting. Does Psalm 139:13−14, “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’ womb,” prove that gender or sex is assigned at birth? Or does the following verse 15, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works,” indicate that the psalmist is praising the God who created him and knows all about him? Who couldn’t praise God for creation, even if that could only be the result of a long discernment process?

We seem to be at a point where some Christians suspect that empathy for other people is being politicized. The right is turning not only against the LGBTQ community, but also the plights of migrants and recipients of foreign aid who might die of hunger or disease without it. Hard right podcaster, Allie Beth Stuckey, published a book entitled, Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christiam Compassion. Right-wind theologian, Joe Rigney, published a book entitled, The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and its Counterfeits. Who has the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us not to love? How can a godly love be expressed if not by understanding the situation of our neighbor and acting on it?

Just so, I think my blog is needed more than ever.

But there is another reason to return to blogging. How did someone who viewed himself as a liturgist end up addressing issues about the body? 

In fact, I’m not the first liturgist or lover of liturgy to make this transition. That’s not surprising. You glorify God with our body (1 Cor. 6:19). See Elochukwu E. Uzukwu, Worship as Body Language: Introduction to Christian Worship: An African Orientation (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997; Bruce T. Morrill, editor, Bodies of Worship: Exploration in Theory and Practice (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1999); Tara M. Owens, Embracing the Body: Finding God in Our Flesh and Bone (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2015); Craig Mueller, Any Body There? Worship and Being Human in a Digital Age (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2017); John W. Kleinig, Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021); Pavol Bargár, Embodied Existence: Our Common Life in God, Foreword by Stephen Bevans (Eugene, OR:Cascade Press, 2023). To these I add my own writings: Embodied Liturgy: Lessons in Christian Ritual (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016); Eucharistic Body (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017); “The Body in Protestant Theology,” Protestant Spiritual Traditions, Vol 2, 191−261, Edited by Frank C. Senn (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020).

This new version of my blog will maintain its emphasis on body issues. But I will also be open to liturgical questions from readers. As before, it’s my choice to answer them.

Pastor Frank Senn

When I started up the blog again, I had to see what articles are still here. (I forgot which ones I deleted. Some of former readings might also be wondering what’s left.) So what follows is a Table of Contents beginning with most recently published and going back to the first published on Easter Day 2016. The articles include the date of publication.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Stations of the Cross February 27, 2026

Passion in a Man February 25, 2026

Pastoral Liturgist Fbruary 22, 2026

The Black Christ February 19, 2026

Our Problem with Fasting February 15, 2026

Lent and the Belly February 15, 2026

Violence and Scapegoating February 10, 2026

(Black) Body Image February 4, 2026

Male-on-Male Sex as an “Abomination” June 13, 2004

The Body and Blood of Christ May 28, 2024

Yoga Harnessing the Wind and Releasing the Spirit May 18, 2024

The Element of Space May 1, 2024

The Green Man and his Friends April 22, 2024

The Resurrection Body April 1, 2024

Chastity and Prnography February 22, 2014

Motion and Human Bonding January 24, 2024

The Use of Incense January 6, 2024

Human Sxuality and Religion December 18, 2023

Male Modesty November 11, 2023

Christians Observing Halloween October 28, 2023

Aversion to Nudity October 22, 2023

Shedding Possessions October 3, 2023

Banning the Bible from School Libraries September 20, 2023

Indoor Male Shirtlessnes September 12, 2023

Being Solitary July 25, 2023

Walking Meditation July 15, 2023

Freedom of Dress June 16, 2023

How Parents Can Know If Their Son is Gay June 12, 2023

Life in the Holy Trinity June 2, 2023

The Spirit and Breath May 29, 2023

The Ascension of Christ May 18, 2023

A Young Man’s Interest in Older Men May 15, 2023

Coming Out to One’s Parents May 10, 2023

Beltane Fire and Maypoles April 30, 2023

The Care of the Earth April 21, 2023

Teens and God March 4, 2023

Sexual Abuse of Boys March 2, 2023

The Disciplines of Lent February 11, 2023

Water and Yoga February 1, 2023

Embodied Yoga and Yoga January 10, 2023

Dancing in Worship January 7, 2023

Water, Wind, Fire and Baptism January 6, 2023

The Circumcision of Jesus January 1, 2023

Sleeping Naked December 30, 2022

Holy Irregular Families December 13, 2022

Christmas As a Solstice Festival Deceember 1, 2022

Yoga, Tantra, and Sex November 2, 2022

Yoga Fire November 1, 2022

Halloween and Death October 30, 2022

Anoinying the Sick and Massage October 18, 2022

Naked Freedom at Home September 12, 2022

Connecting with Earth’s Body September 1, 2022

Embodied Theology August 22, 2022

Yoga for Men August 20, 2022

Nude Art in Churches August 2, 2022

Jesus and Male Intimacy July 29, 2022

Some Personal Issues Regarding Masturbation July 28, 2022 An Anthology of ten articles answering different questions about maturbation between 1920 and 1922)

Being Naked Before God July 22, 2022

Crucifixion Erection July 16, 2022

Virtual Communion June 13, 2022

Radical Intimacy at Holy Communion June 12, 2022

Christians Participating in Public Nakedness June 11, 2022

Swimming Nude June 9, 2022

Gay Pride June 8, 2022

Experiencing a Low Libido June 5, 2022

Massage and Healing Touch June 4, 2022

Male Shirtlessness June 1, 2022

Recovering Connections and Touch May 29, 2022

Many earlier articles dealing mostly with liturgical and sacramental issues (asked by clergy) were removed, but I retained an article or two from each year that I deem to be of more general interest.

Accepting and Loving Your Body June 1, 2021

Sex During COVID-19 March 17, 2020

Returning to Nature May 30, 2019

The Body—God’s and Ours May 28, 2018

The Meaning of the Body May 24, 2017

Martin Luther and the Body February 18, 2017

Masturbation and Prayer July 18, 2016

The Resurrection of the Body and Tattoos April 15, 2016