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Worshiping the Baals and Missing the Living God
I found The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast thanks to someone I follow on Instagram. Produced by Christianity Today and hosted by Mike Cosper, the podcast describes the story of the Seattle based megachurch and it’s pastor Mark Driscoll. But even more than that, it digs into the background of Mars Hill and the Christian culture of the last 40-50 years which produced the disaster that followed. They’ve only released the first two episodes, but I’m already hooked. This feels like I’m getting the missing half of the conversation that started with Kristin Kobes Du Mez’ book Jesus and John Wayne. But unlike Du Mez who seemed to…
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How Did We Get Here?
What has happened to the Church? To our Christian culture? How did we get to this place of brokenness? Where it’s no longer a shock when well-known believers publicly leave the faith? Where pastors and leaders are regularly exposed for sexual assault and harassment? Where spiritual abuse and church hurt are familiar words? The state of our American Church breaks my heart. This article has been simmering for two months now. Really ever since I heard the truth come out about Ravi Zacharias. If you want more thoughts and info than I write here, I’ve been digging into each issue that I mention on my podcast, Looking for the Real…
- \'rant\ : to talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner, And Then I Met Jesus, Exposing Legalism
Yeah, That’s Not Okay
I listened to the podcast episode in frustration yet not in disbelief because I’ve experienced the bitter pain of church hurt myself. An author I’ve read and resonated with–even though sometimes we’ve disagreed–shared how her family was asked to leave the church they had finally settled in because of her writings. Is this author on the progressive side of things? Yup. Does she have a fair share of questions and doubts? Absolutely. Had she been deeply wounded by religious Christians before this latest experience? Oh, yes. These are all the more reasons she had hoped to find a place of safety and grace as she rebuilt her fractured faith. Unfortunately…
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A Peek Inside My Heart
Welcome to a peek inside my heart… A random collection of my current thoughts and experiences. A year ago I was in the middle of the darkest season I’ve ever gone through. It was bitter, and painful, and long. It felt like the Valley of the Shadow of Death that David talks about in Psalm 23. There were times that I just wanted to die. It completely broke me. I’ll be honest, healing takes time. Sometimes I feel like I’m doing good, and sometimes it still hurts. Last week, memories were coming back in a flood. I stood there in church during worship fighting back tears…just one person among hundreds…feeling…
- \'rant\ : to talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner, Exposing Legalism, Things We Don't Talk About
Shhh! Don’t Talk About the Can’t Talk Rule.
As I continue my way through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse” I am recognizing more and more that the extreme circumstances I faced as a teen and young adult are just a tiny piece of a larger problem. It is making me rethink the focus of my blog and the book I want to write. It’s easy to get tunnel vision looking at your own experiences. It’s easy to judge people who grew up like I did and left Christianity. But I’m realizing they have very valid reasons… “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11 ESV). There is a lie spread throughout…
