What do you do when God transforms you — and nobody believes it?

Pastor Jim Domen lived as a gay man for five years. Then Jesus changed everything. The problem? The church doubted it, skeptics called it a lie, and the state of California tried to pass a law making it illegal to even tell his story.

It turns out Jim's favorite movie isn't just a movie. It's a mirror. Captain America: The First Avenger is the story of a man who gets transformed — and then gets sidelined. Made into a dancing monkey instead of a warrior. And what happens when he finally steps off the bench and into the fight he was made for.

This is one of the most honest conversations we've had on the show. Jim doesn't clean it up. Neither do we.

Decode what your favorite stories reveal about your own calling at unlockyourstory.org.

Support the show and access our behind-the-scenes pre-show conversations at buymeacoffee.com/menatthemovies.

Find Jim's books — Breaking Sin's Grasp, Not a Mistake, and the Button Kids Series — at jimdomen.com.

Spotify put the original episode in jail for showing the clips from Star Wars: A New Hope. So unfortunately, this episode has no clips--however, if you'd like to engage in the full episode, visit https://youtu.be/nRP8201-qgk to view the episode in its entirety on the YouTube channel.

Every man arrives at the moment where he has to answer the question: Am I really who I think I am?

Luke Skywalker faces that moment 30,000 feet above the Death Star — guidance computer off, Obi-Wan's voice in his head, Vader on his tail. No proof. Just faith.

Author, documentary filmmaker, and men's coach Eric Rogell joins Paul to break down Star Wars: A New Hope through the lens of origin stories, fear vs. courage, and what it actually takes for a lion raised by lambs to become who he's meant to be. Eric's story — raised by a single mom, kept safe from everything, angry about it for years — mirrors Luke's more than he realized. And probably yours too.

In this episode: why stories are the software of the soul, the difference between a culture of fear and a culture of courage, why the villain is just the hero of the other side, and the moment Luke stopped being a farm boy and became who he was always meant to be.

Find Eric's book Lions Raised as Lambs at lionsraisedaslambs.com.

Find out what your favorite stories say about you at unlockyourstory.org.

Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/menatthemovies.

You're not stuck. You're in the first act.

The Men at the Movies Star Wars episode is in Spotify jail — music licensing, no bond available. So while we wait, here's what you didn't see.

Paul sits outside with a cigar and shares two raw pre-show conversations: one with Sam Ainslie about how MATM got started, and one with Eric about superheroes, the hero's journey, and what the stories you keep coming back to are actually trying to tell you about who you are.

Also in this episode — MATM is officially moving to a monthly cadence, and something new is being built. Not a personality quiz. Not a framework that puts you in a box. Identity archaeology — excavating who you already are through the stories that have always spoken to you. Go to unlockyourstory.org and find out what your stories mean.

The full Star Wars: A New Hope episode drops as soon as Spotify springs it. This is just the warmup.

Find more at menatthemovies.com

Support the show: buymeacoffee.com/menatthemovies