Many people aren't aware of this, but there was a massive and intentional shift in the perception in which Christianity is centered in the early 20th century. Two oil magnates paid theologians to write what was known as the Fundamentalist Essays, creating the Five Fundamentals of Christianity, altering the way the word "Gospel" would be understood and used from then on. None of the Fundamentals of Christianity have anything to do with Jesus' words or ministry, and are entirely centered on his birth, death, and resurrection. He needn't have ever spoke at all.

Today's episode explores the history of this shift in America and then goes back and looks at how the word "Gospel" us understood in the stories of Jesus and in the letters of Paul, in an attempt to reclaim what the story of Jesus was all about.

An ambiguous and oft used word or phrase thrown around by pastors and speakers is truth or biblical truth. We must all guard it, embrace it, and express it. But what is it? Rarely defined, but often used. A ploy to firm up the speakers own bias. However, our understanding of what truth is today comes more from Aristotle and Plato than it does the Bible. Today we ask that question together, What is Truth?

You'll hear the preacher talk about standing firm in Biblical Truth, defending the Gospel, avoiding sin. You'll hear it so frequently, you'll be afraid to ask the question, What do you mean by that word? In Christianity words are used so frequently, it's as though everyone should know the definition of the word, but in reality, the word is used ambiguously, and this is on purpose. Today we talk about 3 examples as we start a series on the Ambiguity of Language and how to start asking questions.

The conclusion to our series on Process Theology is the best! How does this theology become applicable in our real lives, our prayers, our response to injustice, etc. This is a theology for today's world that knows the opposite of faith is certainty, but how do we navigate life with the divine in an uncertain world.

God is process, event, verb, relationship! This is the essence of Process Theology and it responds to God in our day. Today's episode highlights some critiques of the classical language of God and brings to light a new way of consideration and being.

We are all theologians whether we know it or not. We're meaning-making creatures and we go to many sources to make that meaning. For many of us, we left either conservative Christianity or Christianity in general b/c the classical doctrines of God no longer held up to the pain and suffering we saw. Today marks the start of a new series, lead by Erik Winn, on Process Theology, or the idea that our theology and understanding of God evolves with life. Today is an intro to the classical ideas we grew up with, which no longer hold up.

It's hard to wrap up everything this series has explored, especially as it asks us to genuinely reflect on and make changes to ourselves. As we wrap this series, there's one question that I believe helps us get to the core in a unique way to each of us: If you had 24 hours left to live, how would you spend that time? I hope as you listen to this episode, you answer this question for yourself and let it become a part of your identity.

In this episode we talk about something that might be the most important aspect for an individual: How do we find resolve in the midst of despair and loss. Whether it's personal grief in our lives our it's facing an uncertain future with the climate, how do we find the resolve to not just curl up in a ball? The truth is, no matter what, beauty is everywhere and there's plenty to connect to.

This episode really has two distinct parts. The first part rejoins the perspective of the Bible as texts written by indigenous people called to live in relationship with creator and land, and the consequences of straying from those paths. The second part moves into the emotions of the heart and calls us to face the death of the planet and/or life around us with the hope that the time we have becomes deeply more meaningful.

It's easy enough to look at people who stand on the other side of the spectrum of climate data and say they need to remove their rose-colored glasses, but do we notice our own rose-colored glasses. Most of us still live in a world where we may intellectually know we live in an interconnected web, but are we truly in relationship with life around us? One of the best things we can do is read the Bible with these eyes, with rose-colored glasses removed, and see how scripture is a call to live in relationship with all.