In our current round of Square 1 we’ve been connecting with one another and bonding over our shared experiences in toxic Christianity. One of our new members, Karen Heilshorn Shock, shared something so vulnerable and transparent in our private Facebook group today that I wanted to talk about it here [with her permission]. As you read her stream-of-consciousness post below, ask yourself if you’ve ever heard these things in Church before, or if any of what she shares rings true... Read more
My friend Kenneth Tanner posted this on his Facebook page a few days ago: “We are not saved by what we know or don’t know, by what we do or don’t do, by what we believe or don’t believe but by the saving nature of a God who is not immune to pain or obscurity, who makes himself the servant of his creation, who loves creation and puts his creation first. “No one is saved because they know something, especially... Read more
For about 2 years now I have been working with groups of people who are Deconstructing their faith on a weekly basis. When I started Square 1, the goal was to provide resources, community and practical assistance to people moving through the painful process of questioning their beliefs while enduring rejection from their family and friends who remain in the religious system. After listening to dozens of people share their stories, I’ve started to realize something: It’s worse than I... Read more
For the first 400 years of Church History, almost everyone had their own personal Canon of Scripture. Marcion of Sinope [140 AD] was the first to compile his own list which included 11 books: *The Gospel of Christ [A shorter version of the Gospel of Luke] *Galatians *1 and 2 Corinthians *1 and 2 Thessalonians *Romans *Laodiceans [a lost epistle of Paul] *Colossians *Philippians *Philemon Marcion left out James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, Jude, Hebrews,... Read more
Every few decades the Christian Church experiences a revival that restores the original vision of Jesus and redirects the faith back onto a more Christlike path. During the 18th and 19th centuries, American churches experienced a number of revivals in 1727, 1792, 1830, 1857 and 1882. More recently, in the 20th century, we had the 1906 Azusa Street Revival, the 1930 Balokole Revival, the 1970 Jesus People Revival, the 1971 Bario Revival, and the 1990s “Emerging Church” movement which many... Read more
Many Christians today seem to have very short memories. For them, “Historical Christianity” started sometime around the 1500s. For the rest of us, there is a much older, richer, and more vibrant Christlike historical faith that began with Jesus and carried through to those early Apostles, then to the early Church Fathers and then took an unfortunate detour around the time of Constantine in 313 AD. For those who define Christianity as having started with Jesus, there is a refreshing... Read more
I woke up today to a video post from a friend which featured sermon from author/pastor John MacArthur on why God’s Word forbids women from teaching or preaching. So, in response, I shared links to a series of 5 Minute Videos I did about 5 years ago which went through those Biblical clobber passages against women teachers one by one and showed how either those verses weren’t saying what we were told they’re saying, or how those verses got creatively... Read more
There’s a beautiful, transformative event in the life of the Apostle Peter detailed in the book of Acts that I think many American Christians really need to experience for themselves. Essentially, Peter has a vision and hears the voice of God speaking to him as he’s praying on the rooftop one morning. The point the Holy Spirit wants Peter to understand is this: No human being is unclean or unworthy in the eyes of God. Now, the specifics have to... Read more
Recently, our friends at The Gospel Coalition released a book by various authors called “Before You Lose Your Faith” which was intended to provide guidance for those going through Deconstruction and/or to educate those who just don’t know what it’s all about. Sadly, The Gospel Coalition doesn’t really understand what Deconstruction is all about, either. So, their book includes tone-deaf statements like these: “Whatever your struggle, it gets better with more—not less—Christianity. It might be tempting to leave the church... Read more
Evangelical Christians [and many Atheists] tend to expect God to make everything better. Evangelicals cling to the hope that one day [soon?] Jesus will return to fix everything. Atheists have given up that hope and use God’s lack of intervention as proof that God isn’t real. Either way, you end up with a situation where God either fixes all the suffering and pain in our World, or no one does. But, consider this. Jesus could turn stones into bread and make... Read more
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