All tagged discipleship
Ya know me? I hate glib Christian expressions. But still, it is good and wise to give God our pain, to learn from our pain, to practice a holy fear of God in the midst of our pain. So I share some heartfelt pastoral concerns about suffering. I also describe eating daily oatmeal with my grandson and share a story about Squirrel Tom, one of my golf friends. Come laugh and think with me about things the Church is terrified to address.
Our emotional experiences are memorable, formative. So we naturally think they are foundational to our own story. On top of that? Culture prods us to embrace and emphasize emotions. What does all that do to our Christian walk? What are some practical steps for being bigger than, and less influenced by, our emotions? Join me for a bit of thinking, some laughter, and some ways out of being mere sock puppets!
If you're like me, you get frustrated when God doesn't answer your prayers the way you want him to. Even when you're praying sincerely and regularly, nothing seems to be happening. Why is that? What kind of microcosmic and macrocosmic factors play into that? Is God indifferent? Is he unable? I also address the question of whether prayer is control. And along the way I discuss how I use the Lord's Prayer in my own prayer life. Come, laugh and think with me!
The now-common meme says, "the New Testament is a phony construction, the product of men who got together after Jesus' death and conspired to hoodwink us all." I work through multiple layers of history and truth to expose that trope for just what it is: a time-worn meme. In this episode I also describe a new species of being I've encountered in Idaho. Come think and laugh with me!
