The Importance of Church in a Post Church World

Last updated on: March 14, 2025 at 9:35 am By Rob Giannamore

We are social creatures. We thrive when we are in community and community is one of the events that makes us human. Community challenges us to grow spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally. This week, I want to explore John Wesley’s ordinance of God that focuses on public worship and reflect on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, “Life Together”. I want to demonstrate why public worship and public gatherings of engagement for faith and intellectual development is crucial for our own personal growth,... Read more

Why Might Jesus Be Perceived Differently in Today’s Society

Last updated on: March 7, 2025 at 3:22 pm By Rob Giannamore

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I came across a quote last week that posited the idea that the historical Jesus would not be considered a “real man” or a “Christian leader” in today’s society. Clearly, if Jesus walked into a room of MAGA supporters, he would be dismissed outright. To be fair, the left would probably do the same thing. While he beefed with the religious right of his time, he still reflected the standards of his Jewish faith and was not afraid to put... Read more

Is Truth Dead? Seeking Knowledge with Humility and Love

Last updated on: March 3, 2025 at 11:22 am By Rob Giannamore

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Truth is Dead?! In 2017, Time Magazine declared that “Truth is Dead”. This article confronted us with the reality that truth as we came to know it was dead. The posing of the question “is truth dead?” was a way to show the serious nature of the situation and the concern that societies ability to come to common understanding of reality was being eroded. In this cover, Time Magazine reflected widespread anxiety about the decline of objective truth and its... Read more

The Power of “Shall”: Jesus, Leviticus, and Moral Integrity

Last updated on: February 24, 2025 at 11:35 am By Rob Giannamore

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How Shall We Go I read an interesting article the other day that pointed us to the Exodus story and how it demonstrates to us how to navigate difficult times. As a mental health clinician, I am trained in what is known as trauma-informed care. While the latest rounds of global and domestic current events have left many lost, confused and unsure of what to do, as children of God, God guides us through scripture on how we must go.... Read more

Choose Life – the Way We Live Matters

Last updated on: February 18, 2025 at 7:35 pm By Rob Giannamore

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Life was busy last week; I got my first seven-hour training week in for the year and it left me wrecked on Sunday. I was not able to get this post out like I intended. Post Long Covid is not fun sometimes. Deuteronomy 30:19 – “Choose life so you and your descendants may live” I have been thinking about the spiritual practice of reverence lately and what it means to revere something or somebody. To revere is to feel deep... Read more

How We Love: Embracing Christ’s Agapic and Kenotic Love

Last updated on: February 13, 2025 at 11:56 am By Rob Giannamore

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Cultivating Right Relationships Once again, we find ourselves celebrating the romantic holiday of Valentines’ Day. Last year, I wrote on who we could love, this year, I want to focus on how we love. The love I want to focus on this year is not the standard erotic love that so marks Valentines’ Day, but instead, I want to focus on the love we have for our neighbor, the philios love and the agapic and kenotic love demonstrated to us... Read more

Discipline as a Spiritual Practice

Last updated on: February 8, 2025 at 4:52 pm By Rob Giannamore

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Jesus asks us to keep watch in his story of the ten virgins. We are cautioned to watch out for false prophets. Religion specifically is a very tricky experience as it is all subjective based on a number of factors including but not limited to, time, cultural, geographic location and political factions. All the major religions of the world have love and peace somewhere in their core tenets. To boil it down further, do good. Trained in humanistic psychology, I... Read more

Finding Faith in Tumultuous Times: Lessons from History

Last updated on: February 10, 2025 at 11:06 am By Rob Giannamore

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I remember a worship service I did with my youth group years ago when I was a pastor at West Jefferson UMC. In this service, we reenacted a first century Palestinian Christian house church worship service, a time after Jesus’ death while the persecutions were going on for the early Christians. Many in the congregation were shocked over how difficult it was to worship in our space and real and raw stressors the early Christians were facing in establishing and... Read more

Who Are You? The Spiritual Practice of Identity

Last updated on: February 2, 2025 at 9:02 am By Rob Giannamore

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I have spent the last few posts considering a thoughtful reaction to the rapid changes that are happening in the American landscape. I am aware that there are other places around the world that are also facing tough political and societal shifts. For this second post, I want to spend some time considering how you are doing? One of the constant topics I am dealing with in the office each day (I am a therapist), is identity. I was talking... Read more