I had a bad shift the other night at my customer service job. Several people were upset about price increases and I wasn’t ready to handle this type of call. I’ve dealt with difficult people when I was a pastor, and to some degree, I always absorbed a lot of the abuse. Usually people that abuse others are ones that have been abused themselves. Maybe it’s because they don’t have good coping skills for their life, that they feel the... Read more
Laura and I wrote a book a couple of years ago called, Out into the Desert: Thriving Outside Organized Religion. One of the topics we explore in this book, is the idea that religion creates an addiction. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B7KM22HR/ Religion is designed to appeal to our emotions and make us feel “good.” If you told me “I like going to church,” I wouldn’t have a problem believing you. Worship services are designed to make you feel good, to make you... Read more
No matter how hard I try to escape it, Christianity is part of my root system. Often I describe it as the compost, along with the Bible, that is providing nutrients for my current growth cycle. There was some good, there was lots of bad, but as it changes shape from my daily practice, it provides some nourishment, not because it is becoming more important, but because it is decomposing. I have a compost barrel out back. There is a... Read more
For the first time since January 21st, I was able to tie a bow on my sweatpants. As you might imagine, it brought tears to my eyes. It wasn’t something I worked on all the time, I just tried it every once in a while, being perfectly willing to not be able to do it if that ended up being the case. Since my stroke, I’ve learned to celebrate little victories like this. Of course, there are also the... Read more
They told me early on that it’s important to be able to summarize your writing in brief paragraphs. The truth is, my books are a journal of my deconstruction. I didn’t just want to talk about the process. I wanted to describe what it felt like. Apparent Faith In my first book, Apparent Faith, I used the idea of God as Father to examine how I felt about God. I compared my experience as a father against my understanding of God. My... Read more
In 1939, Billie Holiday sang The haunting song, “Strange Fruit,” which is a sobering melody about lynchings in the South. She was subsequently targeted by the US government and Harry Enslinger, a known racist. They didn’t like the fact that she used heroin, but they really hated the song more than anything. A Video about Strange Fruit Billie Holiday was often harassed and arrested because of the song. Oddly enough the reason they didn’t want her to sing the song... Read more
I remember when I discovered that I like girls. Before then, there were some subtle pressures and images that made me wonder what it was like to kiss a girl. The conditioning of society made me comfortable with the idea of having an other in my life. But it was way different the day my body knew deep down inside that it desired intimacy with the opposite sex. Sometimes, this thing that I now knew even embarrassed me if... Read more
Two years ago, Laura and I wrote this book called: Out into the Desert: Thriving Outside Organized Religion. It will finally be published on Monday, August 15th. Below is a brief summary of the book. Order Out into the Desert Sometimes when we begin to question our faith or have doubts about our tradition, it can feel like we are wandering out into the desert. When we take a step back and honestly evaluate religion in the 21st century, many... Read more
Two things seem to be true. 1. Evangelical Christianity is in a tailspin and quickly declining. It claims to be persecuted, but it’s really just under review. Mainline churches are also plagued by various levels of irrelevancy and struggling to understand their culture. 2. Many are finding healing, community and a sense of thriving outside organized religion. The move toward the way of the mystic that was predicted is coming true for millions. The journey is not easy, but it... Read more
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward…” Matthew 6:5 The biggest problem with the western church, especially the Evangelical Church, is the very people that Jesus would be the most upset with are the people that think they are the most right and that... Read more
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