Looking for the Real God

Christy begins Season Six of Looking for the Real God with a dive into the evangelical cult she was a part of for almost a decade. She remembers her first experience being one of thousands of young people dressed in navy and white, and ponders a history that was both positive and negative. Christy remembers how angry she was then the Duggar family first burst on the scene, and wonders why Evangelical Christianity seems to wind up in the middle of every spiritual controversy.

This season Christy will be asking hard and uncomfortable questions, sharing more of her cultic experiences, and digging into the motivations we have as people. Why are we continually drawn to ridged systems? And why are those systems doomed to fail?

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Christy finishes her series on rethinking Christmas with a reminder of who Jesus came to be: not just a baby in a manger, but a Savior on a cross. God's wrath, justice, and punishment for sin might not seem like Christmas messages, but Jesus came for one reason -- to die. Unless we remember that, we will always be missing the real magic of Christmas. A God who loved us enough to become one of us, live among us, and take the punishment that we deserved upon Himself. In Jesus God's wrath and love collided. Someone had to die, so God chose that person to be Himself.

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As Christy continues to Rethink Christmas, she reminds her listeners that Jesus is God with Us. His entire life was a picture for us of who God really is rather than who we expect him to be. Instead of seeking power and fame and a position of authority, Jesus came quietly, humbly, and without fanfare.

As we look at the mess of our modern evangelical church, it's easy to be discouraged. But Christy reminds her listeners that the same God who lived among us isn't finished yet.

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Christy continues her season on Rethinking Christmas by looking at all the extra details and traditions that we have added to the Christmas story over the years that aren't actually in the Scriptures. She wonders if maybe we feel disillusioned with the season and struggle to find the meaning of Christmas because we have lost sight of the reality. Jesus came humbly even in His birth to serve and not to be served, to reach the poor and lowly, and to call all people to Himself. This is the magic of Christmas.

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 continues her series on rethinking Christmas with a look back at the Jewish history and culture at the time of Jesus' birth. We often miss the anticipation of the Messiah as modern Western believers. We also miss the history of exile and occupation the Jews faced. The time when Jesus was born was messy and complicated, not unlike our own current experience. And yet Jesus did not come to build an earthly kingdom but to restore humanity to their Creator.

Using history and prophecy, Christy encourages her listeners to settle into their own time in space knowing that God is in control.

Scripture referenced:
Genesis 49:10
2 Samuel 7:12-13
Psalm 8:5-6
Jeremiah 29:10-14
John 1:4, 9-13
Isaiah 9:1-2
Isaiah 53:1-6

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 begins her series on Rethinking Christmas with a look at our modern messy church. She talks about The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast and the way it is exposing the junk that is going on in many churches. Christy contemplates the way people seem to divide into two camps: one that holds onto all of the Christianese traditions and beliefs and one that rejects anything not lining up with human reasoning. As always, Christy encourages her listeners to look for the Middle Way of grace and truth.

Christy jumps from our current church culture into the religious culture in the time when Jesus was born. She compares us to the Pharisees and Sadducees and reminds everyone that Jesus was found by the humble and broken from His birth until His death.

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Christy shares stories from her past that connect with her current experience as a 5th grade teacher. It's fun to watch things come full circle as she reconnects with an old version of herself from almost twenty years ago.

God has made us unique as individuals and we each have passions and gifts that makes us come alive. Christy shares from her own experiences and encourages her listeners to pursue those things that put them "in their element."

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Christy contemplates the longings of our hearts, how we try to meet them by ourselves but fail, and the ways those longings point us to our Creator.

Religion will never satisfy, good behaviors will fall short, and formulas promising wealth, health, blessings, and success will fail. But the Real God isn't waiting for us to DO anything except turn to Him and seek Him. And in Him we will find that those deep desires of our hearts are met.

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 shares some thoughts from her recent Scripture readings in Ezekiel. As she read about the future temple that will be built during the Millennium, Christy began to think back to the way God started out in Eden separating Himself from His creation because of Adam and Eve's sin of disobedience.

But despite that separation, God continued to pursue people: Abraham, Moses, the Nation of Israel. He provided the tabernacle and then the temple with a system of worship that created a path for forgiveness. God continued to move closer to His creation.

Christy explores Jesus -- Emanuel: God with us -- and the way He drew even closer. After Jesus returned to heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell all believers in Jesus Christ. God is even closer than ever!

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Christy jumps back into the topic of deconstruction. This week she explores what might be behind the purity culture and narrow gender role ideas that have become so mainstream. What if in our desire to fix the broken world we live in, we become fixated on rules instead of a relationship with the only One who can save us?

Purity culture, gender roles, and spiritual abuse seem to be the hottest topics among deconstruction conversations lately. Christy reminds her listeners that the Holy Spirit is up to something as He restores and reforms His church.

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