Relevant Faith Journey

What I meant to write about was how to have good conversations with family over the holiday. What I ended up with is a reflection on what it means to feel safe, and how we can aim to set an intention to be a haven of rest and support for the people in our lives. There's more to this topic than I could fit in one 13 minute episode, but I hope this will provide an introduction to the concept if you are unfamiliar and serve as a reminder to always lead with empathy.

Books referenced in this episode:
Kerry Patterson , Joseph Grenny, et al. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High. McGraw-Hill. June 18, 2002.

Nagoski, Emily and Amelia. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Random House Publishing Group, Reprint edition 2020. 

The last few years have been weird and it's not just the pandemic. They way people view and practice their faith has been shifting. Many are going through a process of reflecting on how they were raised and reevaluating their belief systems. They call it deconstruction and it's something of a buzz word right now, carrying a variety of meanings. In this episode, I talk a little about changing perspectives and the evangelical tradition.

This podcast references the follow book:
Kobes Du Mez, Kristen. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Liveright Publishing Corp., June 2020. 

#ThrowBackThursday This week I decided to clean up and release an article I wrote in 2007. I tell a story about driving in the snow, crossing the mounting and finding strength on the other side. 

The title is a reference to a song by Shane & Shane called "When I Think About the Lord" which I recorded for this episode. 

This is the 4th episode in the Late Bloomer series. I wrap up my personal coming of age story, dive into some of what the Bible says about sex and make observations on the affects of purity culture. Writing this series has been helpful to me in my healing process and I hope you enjoy listening. 

Please feel free to reach out to me on my web site www.relevantfaithjourney.com or on facebook or Instagram. 

This is the third episode of this series where I talk about my experience growing up and coming of age in purity culture.  Make sure to listen to Late Bloomer and Confessions of a Late Bloomer.

Picking up the story, I'll talk about the end of my first relationship. The pain of any breakup is difficult, but recovering from shame made it all the more challenging. I began to rethink some of the ideas I'd grown up with and discovered again that God's grace is never far away. 

I conclude this episode with the song "Goodness of God" from Bethel Music, written by Ed Cash, Ben Felding, Jason Ingram, Brian Johnson and Jenn Johnson. 

This is a follow up to the last episode titled Late Bloomer that gave an introduction to my experience around purity culture in the evangelical church. As a continuation of my coming of age story, we'll start with one of my last MySpace blog posts that chronicles the beginning of my first relationship. This is a difficult story for me to tell but my hope is that it will be helpful to the listener. I know many of you have gone through difficult learning experiences in relationships too. For others it's simply an opportunity to better understand the effects of a heavy emphasis on sexual purity. 

This is the second installment on this topic and there's more to come. It's taken me 15 years to have the courage to talk about sex and the single life and I have a lot to share. I sincerely hope you find it helpful. 

Please feel free to reach out to me at my web site: www.relevantfaithjourney.com 

This episode begins a series where I tell my coming of age story, specifically as it pertains to relationships and sex.  Primarily an introduction, I'll share the beginnings of my story along with some cultural observations on history.

I promised myself as a single person that someday I would use my experience to help others. Honestly, I've been too afraid of what other people might think, how they wouldn't agree or might judge me.  I know I'm not alone in this, that there are many of us who still struggle with the remnants of Purity Culture . The church also still wrestles with how to have a healthy understanding of human sexuality.

So here we go! Let's talk about sex.

I used information from a PBS documentary titled "Mrs. America: Women's Roles in the 1950s" which you can also read here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-mrs-america-womens-roles-1950s/ 

This episode is a little different. For this short meditation, I encourage you to find a quiet place, close your eyes and rest. I've been working through some challenging things and I needed something this week that helped me feel grounded. I hope this leaves you encouraged. 

I'm on a journey of discover and I invite you to join me. There have been times when I questioned my faith and wondered if my people would think I'm not a good Christian. Those questions are an important part of our faith and should be encouraged. I want to choose to believe not out of blind faith, but because of thoughtful reflection. 

I have been reflecting on my journey as a minister since last month I was asked to voluntarily surrender my ordination credentials. A big part of my ministry journey was my friend, Densel Ball. What comes next? Not sure, but I hope you'll be around to find out with me!