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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…
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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…
- \'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…
