Predestination versus free will -- it's the topic du jour. But regardless of what you believe or if you even have an opinion at all, one thing's clear: be a good human. Also included in this episode: serious musings on Dwight's Second Life.

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What is the Christian church's stance on capital punishment? What does sanctity of life really mean?

108 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. 8 more countries have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes. 28 countries have, in practice, eliminated executions for at least the last 10 years. 55 other countries are considered Retentionist states in that their laws and practices continue to retain the right of capital punishment. What do China, Cuba, Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, Iraq and the "Christian" nation of the United States have in common? You guessed it -- the death penalty. (Amnesty International) 

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It seems dubious that something we do every day to survive is shuttered from the pulpit. Instead of being fed regurgitated or undigested ideas about food, Jen and Steve contend that we should be more mindful about our eating habits and how it affects God's "temple" and planet.

References:

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker

"Eating Mercifully": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Va6F3iQFc

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Jen and Steve reminisce about their church-shopping daze and how, eventually, they had to settle. 

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Jen and Steve had high hopes for their first professional job out of college at a Christian school in Battle Creek, Michigan. What could possibly go wrong? Well, most everything.

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Jen and Steve recycle some thoughts from their early marriage about defining God with finite terms. This turns into a discussion about how we need to help end hellish circumstances on this earth and create heavenly conditions now.

Book Recommendations:

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Hopefully you will hear a change in this episode as the sound quality has improved. In it, Jen and Steve (and Steve's gravelly long-COVID voice) grapple with the question, "Does God Change?" Discussion veers to the value of prayer and the infallibility of the Bible. They also talk about the Sodom and Gomorrah saga, and how it seems like God changes his mind in that story -- either that, or he sets up our lives like a Choose Your Own Adventure story, which is unsettling in its own right. 

Book recommendation: Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, by Rachel Held Evans

Do you grapple with doubt? Are you in a position where you don't feel like you can voice it? We'd love to hear from you! Join the conversation:

"episode 4" --> check that out!

Jen and Steve address how they call themselves missionaries, but that they don't necessarily feel like missionaries -- at least not in the traditional sense. They wrestle with reconciling what the word "missionary" means to probably most Christians and what the word means to them. They dabble in talks of beer pong and Shawshank Redemption among other things as well. Thanks for tuning in. (Starting next episode, you can look forward to better sound quality. Thank you for your patience as we figure all of this out.)

And if you're feeling generous, here are some of the ministries we support in Ecuador:

Education Equals Hope

Esperanza Art

Casa Gabriel

Cumbre Alta

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In this episode, Jen and Steve explain how they went from living a lovely life in Florida where they biked to work and church and the library to living in Quito, Ecuador, teaching at a Christian school. After their first Christian school experience in Michigan, they swore they would never work for a Christian school again. Now here they are. And in a different country where they get to struggle with the language barrier. Praise be.

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Welcome to Red Weather Christians. In this first episode, sound quality isn't the best, kids and motorcycles interrupt (we live in an apartment in the middle of the bustling city of Quito, Ecuador), and Steve's voice is a touch gravelly from Long COVID. But we pull ourselves together to talk through our Christian doubt journey -- how when we started having and voicing unpopular opinions in our Christian community, we were met with eyebrow raises and denial.

Thanks for listening, Friends. Our sound quality and volume will be getting better, we promise. We can't make any promises about the kids and motorcycles, though.

The Faith Angle Podcast

Do you grapple with doubt? Are you in a position where you don't feel like you can voice it? We'd love to hear from you! Join the conversation: