God Ponderings
Thoughts about God, religion, the Bible, etc.
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Reconstructing in the Middle Way
Why do I focus so much on deconstructing and then reconstructing our faith within historical orthodoxy? Why don’t I fit into a side? Why do I choose to muddle through life in this messy and awkward middle way? I’ve wondered these things a lot lately. My more progressive friends are always encouraging me to join them and I’ve definitely faced condemnation from religious conservatives. I don’t seem to fit anywhere and I know that many of you feel that too. I’ve been reading a book that is opening my mind to a bunch of junk that’s been going on within evangelical Christianity for years (you will hear about it eventually…
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Heartbreaking Truth from an Unbeliever
“If Christianity is such an inessential add-on, why become a Christian?” Ben Sixsmith, The Sad Irony of Celebrity Pastors I found an article yesterday that made me weep. As I processed it, I literally had to stop my Christmas baking to have a good cry with Jesus. The author identified as “non-religious” and yet from his outside perspective he managed to nail the major issue across every brand of modern Christianity. Originally written as a response to yet another celebrity pastor stepping down because of sexual misconduct, the article ended as a critique of Christianity as a whole. I think the part that hit me the hardest was the fact…
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How 2020 is Preaching the Gospel
“2020 is going to be infamous for centuries to come. People are going to use it in sentences like, “My week started great and then it went all 2020 on me.” Our world appears to be falling apart on multiple levels. And it just keeps going. But maybe that’s a good thing. I feel like 2020 is exposing humanity’s need of the gospel like never before. We are broken. The world is broken. We cannot fix this alone no matter how hard we try. We need a Savior.” @christylynnewood 2020 is preaching us the gospel. I am increasingly convinced that this year — which appears to have come from hell…
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I Want to Go Home
Tears. Face in the floor. Sobs. “I just want to go home!” Every time. This was the heartbreaking saga that played out every time something fell apart, or didn’t go his way, or disappointed him for the first four or five weeks of living with my mother-in-law this summer. My poor little son. “We can’t go home, buddy. Someone else lives there now. It’s not our house anymore.” They aren’t exactly comforting words, but it was the best I had to offer. For some inexplicable reason in early May of 2020, as if COVID shutdowns and quarantines weren’t enough, my husband and I decided to sell our house. We’d bought…
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A Dry and Thirsty Land
I was reminded of one of my first blog posts this morning as I once again prayed for rain. The shriveled clumps of grass clung weakly to the dirt. Brown and brittle, they crunched under my feet. It hadn’t rained in weeks. Everything was dry and dusty. Just walking around kicked up so much dirt that a light tan film constantly covered my feet and legs. My favorite summer camp was quickly turning into a desert. We were desperate for some rain! It has been incredibly dry here in Michigan for the past few weeks. The grass is yellow with the exception of some weeds and I have to water…
