Looking for the Real God

Christy continues her series on missing theological building blocks by tackling the issue of suffering. How can we reconcile a good God with all the evil and pain that happens in our world? Is there a way to avoid suffering? Is it the result of a lack of faith? Does God cause or allow bad things to happen?

Christy dives into the ways we view suffering and picks apart some popular views within Christianity. Maybe our goal isn't to avoid suffering, but to learn how to walk through it with grace and faith in a Sovereign God despite the brokenness of our world.

Related Blog Posts:
https://christylynnewood.com/choosing-trust/

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Christy begins a mini-series on foundational theological blocks that we need in order to flourish in this world of ours. Unfortunately these foundational beliefs seem to be missing for many of us.

Digging into Scriptural themes, Christy begins by exploring the brokenness of the world and the people in it. Somehow we all know that the world needs fixing -- even if we don't agree on how to fix it -- and we all find ourselves longing for more. Why is that?

What happens to the frustration and fear in our hearts when we learn to accept the brokenness even as we long for restoration? Could we learn to live in humble confidence as we hold truth in tension?

Scripture Mentioned:
Romans 8:18-25

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After experiencing the brokenness that can be found even in traditional Christianity, Christy wondered what connected the experiences she'd had in her religious cult with the more recent painful experiences with "normal" Christians. She never imagined that she would find the answer at Book Club thanks to a book on spiritual disciplines.

Christy shares the word that made everything make sense and then passionately reminds her listeners that the Real God is nothing like we imagine.

Related Blog Posts:
https://christylynnewood.com/finding-answers-at-book-club/

Books Referenced:
"Recapturing the Wonder" by Mike Cosper

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Christy shares a more recent season of her life where she experienced pain and brokenness at the hands of other Christians. Although this year of loss was devastating and the pain was so deep that she wanted to die, Christy is able to look back with gratefulness. Can brokenness really be a gift? It has been for Christy.

Sharing the beauty that God has brought from the brokenness, Christy explains why she is thankful for the pain. She is has been humbled and is able to give more grace to others. Christy feels she can empathize now without condemnation and that she understands why other people have walked away from the Church. Perhaps the devastating year that Christy walked through was actually a gift from a loving God.

Related Blog Posts:
https://christylynnewood.com/my-best-friend-the-adulterous-woman/
https://christylynnewood.com/confessions-of-a-former-pharisee/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

The next step in Christy's journey after discovering she'd spent a decade in a Christian cult was attempting to write a book. Writing a book and then actually publishing it is a much bigger and longer task than Christy ever anticipated originally. Seven years have gone by since she first thought God asked her to write.

Christy's blog, website, social media accounts, her monthly newsletter, and this podcast were all pieces of the puzzle at first -- steps to building an elusive "platform." However, as time went on and as she learned and grew personally, Christy came to realize that these are not just steps, they are her ministry. And if she never writes a published book, or if she chooses to publish in a non-traditional way, that's okay.

Christy's website where you will find links to all of her other forms of communication: https://christylynnewood.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy opens Season Four with a glimpse into her decade of life in a Christian cult. After three seasons, she actually names the organization she was part of and the leader they followed. Christy talks about what happened when she realized about eight years ago that it was indeed a cult and then began the process of deconstruction.

Deconstruction is difficult, but also necessary if we hope to reconstruct a correct view of God, Scripture, and ourselves. Christy encourages her listeners to give themselves grace as they do the difficult work of deconstruction.

Related Blog Posts:
https://christylynnewood.com/the-cult-next-door-a-documentary/
https://christylynnewood.com/how-my-parents-joined-a-cult/

Further Resources:
The Cult Next Door (a documentary I was a part of)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16OLr-EXuOo
Website detailing my cultic organization
http://www.recoveringgrace.org/

Suggested Books:
"A Matter of Basic Principles" by Don Veinot
"When Narcissism Comes to Church" by Chuck DeGroat
"The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy finishes Season Three by contemplating Advent and the birth of Christ in light of the year we've all just been through. She shares that going through the uncertainty and loss of 2020 has amplified her own longing for a Savior. We rejoice that Jesus came as a baby to live among us, show us God, die for our sins, and rise again. But, we are still living in a broken world full of pain and sadness and we still long for a Savior King to come and restore everything to the way it was meant to be.

Christy encourages her listeners to embrace the difficult emotions and strive to live in the tension of a broken world and a loving God who refuses to be our enemy.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

In this episode and corresponding blog post, Christy shares her heart for the church inspired by an article she read written by an unbeliever. Hearing someone from the outside so clearly identify the problem with modern Christianity broke Christy's heart. The world looking on can see that the modern church cares more about making this world work than they do about following Jesus, but too often the church itself is blind. With passion and authenticity, Christy calls the Church back to her Savior.

Article Mentioned:
https://spectator.us/sad-irony-celebrity-pastors-carl-lentz-hillsong/

Related Blog Post:
https://christylynnewood.com/heartbreaking-truth-from-an-unbeliever/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy passionately shares her heart in this second part of Why Read the Bible. We don't read Scripture to get spiritual points with God or because we should, we read the Bible so that we will know the truth about God for ourselves. The world and even things that seem Christian are often full of lies, but Jesus is the truth that will set us free. And we will know the truth as we read the revelation that God has given us in His Word. It's not a magic formula to use, it's a Living Person to discover.

More Resources:
netbible.org
blueletterbible.org

Podcast Referenced:
https://www.alisachilders.com/podcast.html

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy discusses the importance of reading Scripture for ourselves -- not as a magic formula to ward off evil but as a way to know truth. False teachers use the Bible to spread lies either because they are misinformed or because they have bad motives. How can we discern the truth if we aren't familiar with the Bible ourselves?

Sharing questions to help understand context, Christy tells a story from her recent life to illustrated what can go wrong if we try and apply the Bible before we understand what a passage is actually saying.

Related Resources:
https://netbible.org/
https://www.blueletterbible.org/
https://www.readscripture.org/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com