The development of Dynamic Living for Men: Building Integrity through Vital Relationships with God and Others began in March 2002, with the birth of the Dynamic Living Ministries (DLM). DLM was a long time dream of Dr. Steve Stoller, a distinguished Indiana physician and seminary graduate. Dr. Stoller conceived of a Christian organization that could approach health and healing from both a Christian and scientific perspective. Dr. Stoller provided seed money for start up expenses and employed Jody Burgin full time in March 2002.

The need for the church to be equipped to assist men and women maintain healthy sexuality became piercingly clear to our project director, Jody Burgin, in 1998. After effectively pastoring for 20 years, involvement with pornography surfaced. It cost Jody his marriage, career opportunities in the field of his training and calling, loss of friendship and respect from some, and thousands of dollars. Where could he turn for help? He could not find help in the church he served, in area churches nor in any area Christian organizations. With the coaching of two Christian friends, he constructed a recovery plan including professional Christian counseling, accountability partners, support groups, etc.

During the recovery process, Jody had coffee at a local Starbucks with a spiritual and thought leader in the Christian community of Cincinnati, Steve Sjogren. Steve, founding pastor of the Vineyard Community Church and author, leaned over and casually confided, “You know, Jody, we need people like you to survive this mess. It seems to me that for God to use a man greatly, he has to break him. (Steve told his story of a botched surgical procedure leaving him in poor health). God effectively used and blessed your ministry in some key churches in our city. He can use you with impact again. Unfortunately, we just don’t know how to help you now.” Curious, Jody asked him to explain.

“There is a high level of discomfort among churches admitting that the faithful could be hooked on porn. Confession is especially shameful with little or no grace extended for fallen church members and leaders. We don’t know what to do so we just shake our heads in disdain, say ‘shame on you,’ and throw people like you in the garbage. Maybe someday we will learn to dispense grace and restore hurting spiritual leaders to a place of usefulness.”

We have come to agree that Sjogren’s essential observation was correct—that churches have never been more ill equipped to handle such a pervasive problem in our society.

Three years after that cup of coffee, countless hours in counseling and recovery groups, the Lord called Jody to participate in a very determinative project. He served as the curriculum writer for Sex & Young America (a collaborative project of eight national Christian non-profit organizations). SYA is a multi-media curriculum kit targeted at Christian high school students to equip them to survive in a sex-saturated society. The product was the impetus for national media attention and is currently in use by hundreds of churches across America. During the development of SYA another project began to grow in Jody’s mind. It was what has become known as Dynamic Living. Similar in format to SYA, it is a multi-media curriculum kit but more extensive and targeted at adult men. Inspired by Sjogren’s observation and challenge, along with his experience with SYA, Jody and a research team embarked on the development effort in March 2002. The journey to explore the inner workings of how Christian men and women can sustain moral integrity continues today.