“What is fear? Nonacceptance of uncertainty. If we accept that uncertainty it becomes an adventure.” – Rumi Don’t tell me what you know about God. Talk to me about all the things you do not know about God. Rather than explain the unexplainable, try to imagine all the wondrous beauty hidden in the endless folds of eternity that you cannot begin to fathom. Your theology has remade God into a book you can carry around, or a symbol you can... Read more
It’s kinda surreal to see an article calling me out by name and criticizing something I’ve posted on my blog on the Patheos Progressive channel. I mean, I get it when an Evangelical Conservative like Ricky Gantz or even anti-gay theologian Robert Gagnon comes at me and posts something about how I’m a false teacher or a dangerous heretic, but when the person calling me out is on the same Progressive Patheos channel as I am…that’s…kinda weird. Anyway, the post... Read more
“The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that its center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.” ― Black Elk, Lakota Medicine Man Over the last few weeks, I’ve been reading a fascinating book about the saying of Jesus... Read more
Someone asked me today if I had any wisdom or advice to share with them. Here’s what I said: “The most wonderful thing I’m learning about lately is the beauty of embracing mystery and letting go of my need to be right.” Here’s why: Because more and more I am beginning to accept that I don’t know everything. In fact, when it comes to the transcendent Being who exists outside of space and time; who created all things with a... Read more
It’s not something anyone likes to talk about, although the evidence for it is right there in both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew, but Jesus’s most embarrassing moments are on full display for us to see if we’re looking for them. In both Matthew 13:58 and Mark 6:5, we read this: “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands... Read more
My friend Kim Cowling shared this fascinating article with our Square 2 group a few weeks ago and it really helped us to connect a few dots about why Deconstructing is so necessary and healthy for those who have been brainwashed by the cult of American Christianity. Out of 17 Cognitive Distortions identified in the post [FOUND HERE], she found that 10 of them were things she experienced in Evangelical Church. They are: -Magnifying mistakes -Overuse of “should” statements -Black-and-white... Read more
As we’ve seen before, the process of questioning your Christian faith can be painful, disorienting and extremely lonely. While some people want to suggest that the solution is just to find a local Church to join, for many of us, Church is the problem, not the solution. If the Church you’ve called home has now become a toxic place for you, leaving is your only option. Finding another Church in your zip code that isn’t preaching Eternal Torment, Penal Substitution,... Read more
“Turn around when possible.” “But you told me to go this way,” I yell at the GPS! Another day it tells me to take an exit ramp only to have me cross a highway and get right back on the interstate I had been on! It makes no sense yet I do it. It reminds me of a scene from “The Office.” Michael and Dwight are on their way to visit a client. The GPS in... Read more
Over the last 2 years or so, I’ve been trying to help people navigate the painful process of Deconstructing their Christian faith and find their way through the darkness towards a path that looks more like a Reconstruction of some sort that they can move forward with. By spending countless hours listening to their stories and hearing how toxic theology has twisted their views of God, and of themselves, and even how it made them teach things to their own... Read more
If you’ve ever found yourself in a place where you don’t know what you believe anymore, and you don’t feel welcome or at home in any church, and you don’t have any friends or family members who understand what you’re going through, then you already know that Deconstruction isn’t so easy. In fact, you know how incredibly isolated, disoriented and helpless it makes you feel. Some people who don’t know what this feels like might hear your story and think,... Read more
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