Face The Sun

This weeks episode is on how LGBTQIA+ are treated by some churches and some Christians. We take a look at how in history the Bible has been used to treat others in ways we are regretful of. We also take a look at how the church has dealt with an opportunity to love others and grow and what that could mean for the X-Y-Z Generations regarding their relationship with the Church and Christianity. 

Below is a link to the Laramie Project. --- LARAMIE PROJECT: Moisés Kaufman and members of New York's Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie.

https://youtu.be/u1qiTmF0p4A

 

Feel free to email Face The Sun at [email protected]

For this weeks episode my guests Eric Stillman (Pastor of NewLife Christian Fellowship in Wethersfield, CT), Scott Solberg (Pastor of Wethersfield Evangelical Church in Wethersfield, CT), Adam Lewis and Rich Porter discuss "objective morality". 

The conversation is from a debate with Sam Harris and William Lane Craig at Notre Dame University. The debate was on the foundations of moral values and are they natural or supernatural.

NewLife Christian Fellowship, Eric Stillman

https://www.newlife-ct.org/ 

Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church, Scott Solberg

http://www.wethefc.com/

I  hope you enjoy the discussion. If you have any questions or comments, please email me at [email protected]

Today's episode is Part II of a conversation I had with my friend Shirley Skyers-Thomas. We talk a little more about being in a family with a faithful family and a few other topics. We also talk about Shirley's project - Do Process and Practice. The link to her project is below. 

 

Do Process and Practice - Changing the conversation.

Do Process and Practice: For all those who are curious and open to the Art of Debate – what it means to listen; what it takes to be heard; and why so many voices are left unheard.

https://doprocessandpractice.com/

 

 

Shirley's mother is the pastor of:

Shiloh Apostolic Church, 475 Charles St., Bridgeport, CT  (203) 384-9684

Shirley's father is the pastor of:

First Holiness Church, 108 Guion Place, New Rochelle, NY  (914) 633-3291

Today's episode is a conversation I had with my friend Shirley Skyers-Thomas. She is one of the kindest people I know and is always interested in the projects I'm working on. When I let Shirly know I have a podcast, she immediately followed it and let me know her parents were pastors. I wanted to know more! Here we are catching up with what it's like to grow up as a pastors kid - times two.

 

Shirley's mother is the pastor of:

Shiloh Apostolic Church, 475 Charles St., Bridgeport, CT  (203) 384-9684

Shirley's father is the pastor of:

First Holiness Church, 108 Guion Place, New Rochelle, NY  (914) 633-3291

 

 

Shirley's website:

Do Process and Practice - Changing the conversation.

Do Process and Practice: For all those who are curious and open to the Art of Debate – what it means to listen; what it takes to be heard; and why so many voices are left unheard.

https://doprocessandpractice.com/

It took me countless recordings and re-recordings to get this episode out. These times are heart wrenching. Thankfully there have been some places of worship that I've listened to who have given their attention to what part the church has to play in healing the country by taking a look inside their doors and outside. Andy Stanley - Racism. It's prevalent in this world. So what do we do about it? What wisdom can we gain on this topic? Andy Stanley talks about this and more in today's service.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZJLUkuM9KM Scott Solberg of Wethersfield Evangelical Church  in Wethersfield, CT spoke about the tragedy after George Floyd and several weeks and then proceeded to do a series on race and the church. From this link you can listen and read the transcript as well. http://wethefc.com/resources/sermons/a-timely-message-on-race/

It took me countless recordings and re-recordings to get this episode out. These times are heart wrenching. 

Thankfully there have been some places of worship that I've listened to who have given their attention to what part the church has to play in healing the country by taking a look inside their doors and outside. 

Andy Stanley - Racism. It's prevalent in this world. So what do we do about it? What wisdom can we gain on this topic? Andy Stanley talks about this and more in today's service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZJLUkuM9KM

 

Scott Solberg of Wethersfield Evangelical Church  in Wethersfield, CT spoke about the tragedy after George Floyd and several weeks and then proceeded to do a series on race and the church. From this link you can listen and read the transcript as well. 

http://wethefc.com/resources/sermons/a-timely-message-on-race/

This weeks episode was a treat because I was able to visit a friend of mine and see the church he pastors. Eric Stillman and I became friends a few years ago when I emailed his office to ask him what he believed and why he believed it.  He replied back and made it clear he was up for the discussion. That's not always the response I get so I was happy he was willing to meet. Over the years we have struck up a friendship sharing emails of our perspectives and when possible discussing our views in person.

In the coming months, we will meet up again to talk about our views on a debate titled: The God Debate II - Harris vs. Craig. We'll invite several others to watch the debate with us (hopefully in person if we can do safely - if not, via remote).

I'll post our discussions of the debate on Face The Sun!

I hope you enjoy this episode. If you would like to know more about Eric and the church he pastors at NewLife in Wethersfield, CT, the link is below.

https://www.newlife-ct.org/ 

If you would like to contact Face The Sun, you can send an email to: [email protected]

Face the Sun is starting it's second season this fall. I discuss potential topics including continuing on with my 52 Places of Worship series. Because of the coronavirus, I won't be able to complete this in 52 weeks but none-the-less - we press on! I will get to places of worship so long as it's safe to do so and give my commentary. 

I will also conduct interviews this season as I have in Season 1. I'm excited to announce a project I am working on to view a debate at a church with a few people and discuss our thoughts about the debate. That conversation will be recorded and will be one of the Face The Sun episodes. I have a few hot topics planned for discussion as well so Stay Tuned!

 

Feel free to email me with any ideas, comments or questions. 

Adam Lewis joins Face the Sun for a discussion about the church and race. We discuss discuss Trump as President and the response to his presidency regarding race and how the church responded. 

 

Note: On this episode I comment on abortion and one of the main reasons evangelical Christians site for supporting Donald Trump. While  Trump supporters often claim voting for him is important to reduce abortions, the abortion rate has been on the decline since 1991 and continued to decline under President Clinton, President Bush and President Obama.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_statistics_in_the_United_States 

 

A book we mention is White Fragility by Robin Diangelo. Sold in bookstores - paperback, ebook and audio.

Adam Lewis joined Face The Sun for a discussion about the church and race. We discussed a number of differences that are readily rejected by the majority. In understanding the ways society and the church respond to differences around us such as women, LGBT, disabilities, we who fall within a marginalized group can flip the coin to see how the past 400 years of racism has perverted our nation. We can grow in these difficult times and make mistakes while doing it. 

Places of worship have a responsibility. If a church speaks of Jesus and "WWJD?", we know he wouldn't press his knee into a mans neck and kill him. More than that, what should we do? We can't remain silent any more. 

Many churches didn't address what happened to George Floyd the Sunday after he was murdered. The church Adam Lewis goes to did. More need to take up the cross. More churches need to actively be uncomfortable.

The end of this podcast ends a little abruptly. I'm learning as I go. But I'm not waiting to be perfect to get the message out.

If your podcast host doesn't link to these sites below, simply Google "the bail project" and also google "ted talk bail project" to get an understanding of how much it's costing us to throw the poor into jail who can't afford bail. It cost them their lives and it cost taxpayers.

There's a better way to help.

The Bail Project:   https://bailproject.org/ 

TED Talk - The Injustice of Bail:  https://www.ted.com/talks/robin_steinberg_what_if_we_ended_the_injustice_of_bail?language=en