Wagon Witness While I was a member of the institutional church, I always felt compelled to witness. We were all told that someone’s blood was on our hands if we did not share “our gospel” with them. I make that distinction because I have since learned of another gospel, the one we were warned about. I was afraid of believing anything other than what I was taught. Religion Flips it Upside Down Religion makes it’s converts afraid . I am convinced... Read more
I’ve Been Delivered I used to get excited when someone contacted me on Facebook. There were thoughts about potential and wide-eyed curiosity about the world. I made friends over the years and contacts that I was able to visit in Africa and Belgium. Some of those relationships are still intact today that are precious to me from that period. I didn’t know then what I know now. I’ve been delivered from religion. The Religious Agenda Now, I see through the... Read more
The Exciting Good News I had just finished a three hour lunch after church and was about to share my Good News with someone. We loved going to the buffet and having lunch after church. The waitresses probably didn’t like to see us coming in because we hardly ever tipped them much, if anything, and then we would stay long enough to have dinner. Imagine having to provide drink refills to people and interact with them for hours to either... Read more
In My Office I wasn’t thinking about submission when he came into my office for an assessment. His kiddo was the client and a preteen. They sat down, and we got started. I began asking questions and updating his son’s chart. Everything was going fine until I asked if they had a spiritual orientation. That’s when religion reared its ugly head and looked right at me in a challenge I remembered doing as a senior pastor. Who I Used to... Read more
Paradigm Shift Anyone? A paradigm is a model. We have many paradigms in life. I noticed something profound while completing the Frustrated Grace series. When I pointed out the things that are broken in the institutional church, people identified. They agreed with me in the areas of Christine doctrine that were completely in error. Get Your House In Order In discussing the issues of Christianity itself, I heard all kinds of support and encouragement. I realized that people wanted to fix... Read more
Jesus and PTSD I grew up knowing a gentle and religiously framed Jesus. You know the guy, humble and meek, dying for the sins of the world. He was a savior, a friend and confidant, a kindhearted man who identified with the needs of the poor. When you know Jesus like that, it becomes the focus of your heart to emulate that behavior. I wanted to be like Jesus, but the Jesus I knew was a Catholic Jesus. He was... Read more
Kim the Christian Cowboy Kim talked me into buying a sixty dollar book called, “On Wounded Knee”. He had a big pock marked nose and big ears as older men get. His face was scarred by what had to have been severe acne when he was younger. His hair was still mostly brown and his mustache was beginning to turn grey. Kim’s dark brown eyes were deep set. He would befriend me at my job and then later rip my... Read more
The Word of God and Arrow To talk to you about my feelings about “the Word of God” I would first like to share a bit with you. I grew up on a farm in the thumb area of Michigan where the dirt is black as can be and fertile. Animals were like second nature as my father was a farmer on a cattle farm and cats and dogs ran “amuck. I got my first dog when I was two,... Read more
My Beginning with Nicholas I remember the day I first saw Nicholas, this young Hispanic kid with braces and acne. He was my height, about 5’7″ and a little stocky. He was likable and enjoyed laughter. We had opened up our home to a couple of teenagers on a Monday evening and within three weeks we had over fifty. I would cook a pan of my special soft and gooey brownies, which turned into two pans rather quickly, and then... Read more
Frustrated Grace
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
Truth Doesn’t Always Hurt
Truth in Jail I was a corrections officer working in a jail in Texas. There were many opportunities while I was there to talk with inmates one on one. If they brought up anything “religious” in nature, according to the jail code, we could talk with them freely. One day, I spent some of my time with a young woman who absorbed the truth that I was sharing with her. When people are seeking, truth is so easy to give... Read more