J.S. Park - The Way Everlasting Podcast

Spoken Word, given to Yale University Students in CT. About the three fateful days from Jesus's crucifixion to resurrection, told from the viewpoint of a modern day disciple. 1-21-18

Marriage can be extremely difficult work. Here are three daily habits which I strive to practice (imperfectly with much stumbling) in marriage. Also, how Christian faith becomes practical in our relationships. This video is slightly adapted from my viral post "3 Lessons I Learned Instantly In My First Week of Marriage (That I’ll Need For Life)" - https://jsparkblog.com/2015/03/17/3-lessons-i-learned-instantly-in-my-first-week-of-marriage-that-ill-need-for-life/ Watch this on YouTube: https://youtu.be/v7IZgpTKeOY  

Everyone loves the idea of love and forgiveness—but do the abused need to "love and forgive" their abuser? Here's my quick take on boundaries and self-care for the abused and traumatized. Watch this on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTgtEu5InBo A romanticized culture of hyper-compassion easily leads to fatigue, disillusionment, and secondhand trauma, especially when we attempt to love those beyond our limits. I also share on trying to help those with mental illness, and the ugly reality that many of us are in over our heads and need to refer to professional help. My post on love, abuse, and trauma: https://jsparkblog.com/2017/01/09/does-love-and-forgiveness-apply-to-abuse-and-trauma/

About my journey from atheism to faith, and how our historical impulse for religion points to the hidden story of humanity. I also engage with Yuval Noah Harari's "Sapiens" and his take on religious metafictions. Watch this on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc9uQCOEj3o Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear from you. For my seminar and Q&A "Jesus for Atheists," click here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/thewayeverlasting/JS_Park_-_Atheist_Workshop_Boston_2-18-17.mp3

Different political opinions can end a friendship—but should they? How politics, faith, and friendship can fit together. Watch this on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhn4UPDvXHI My post on politics, which was published on the front page of Wordpress: https://jsparkblog.com/2017/03/06/when-do-politics-decide-friendship/

As a lifelong fighter of depression, here's what I've found helpful (and not helpful) in our dialogue. Watch this on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xggg6xFObIE My book on fighting depression: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TX15LB/

Romans 7-8. Everyone's talking about change, but we never quite live up to who we want to be. How can we be more than inspired, but actually different? "Our national obsession with motivational inspirational speeches and rallies and TED Talks, that crazy thing inside us prevents our hands and heart from doing the right thing, Paul's public takedown of Peter's racism, how we secretly keep a judgmental score on one another, the biggest difference between romantic dating and everyday marriage, and how the adopting love of God will dismantle the ugly divisions of race, class, gender, and superiority." 7-10-16

1 Kings 18-19. The story of Elijah. Through discouragement, distress, and depression: how God speaks to us and how we speak to one another. As a lifelong sufferer of depression, this is hugely personal for me. "The sudden mental replay in the shower and the late-night regret twitch, the one common denial from every patient in the hospital, when you just need a hamburger and a really long nap, the hidden fear of men getting honest, the panic moment when someone sees your text messages and photos, how Yoda finally got through to Luke Skywalker, and Elijah versus depression versus the world." 4-17-16

A Spoken Word performance: a modern re-telling about the three fateful days of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, and how the chaos of the cross turned into beautiful death-defying glory. (Audio clip by Gungor, "We Will Run") 12-8-13

1 Samuel 17. How David and Goliath shows us true strength amidst our worst weakness. Preached at the Navigators Winter Conference. "The overwhelming statistical ultimatums of TED Talks, the time my 160 lb brother destroyed a 250 lb challenger in an MMA match, our hyper-mania in trying to go viral, play-by-play breakdown through the ultimate cage match between David and Goliath, a time travel interview with little boy David, how true strength is shaped in behind-the-scenes in background nowhere-ness, how I first started dating my wife through AIM messenger, and how God can work through a box full of pizza." 2-18-17 *Note: Details in stories have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

A workshop on atheism and faith, from a former atheist. At the Navigators Winter Conference. "A theological remix of Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens, when you reduce money and marriage and government all the way down to the bottom, trying to find the non-contingent objective truth of 'just really,' when the transcendent existential panic kicks down the front door of your guts at 3am, the two things I hear on every deathbed, dismantling the zeitgeist of Us vs. Them dichotomy, giving up magical formulas for faith, un-weaponizing the cultural warfare of religion, and the scary moment when you bring a friend to church for the first time." 2-18-17

Matthew 5-7. How Christianity painfully breaks us open and puts us back together. CCF Retreat 1 of 4. "A meta-deconstruction of the Sunday sermon and inspirational TED Talks, overly obvious photoshopped Instagram pictures, the inherent weakness of marriage lessons, how Christianity is less Lord of the Rings and more Breaking Bad, two false solutions from the church on How-to-Change, the terrifying glory of the Sermon on the Mount (and two clues in the sermon about how to follow it), and how a nine-year-old Tae Kwon Do student totally schooled me on the Gospel." 11-4-16

Matthew 7 and 18. About judging, rebuke, why we go to church, and confronting your friend with the truth. CCF Retreat 2 of 4. "That secret low-key grudge-hate against a fellow church member, the extremely painful (and necessary) peeling of accountability, the danger of isolating ourselves by echoing yes-men and self-affirming flattery, Jesus's graphic pictures of digging in your eyeball, the weird crazy arranged marriage of church, and four phrases we can use daily to heal one another." 11-5-16

Matthew 17. Our rest and resolve through demands and darkness. CCF Retreat 3 of 4. "The two things I hear on every deathbed in the hospital, how over 700 people answered the question, 'What is the greatest universal human desire?', how Jesus answers our marriage proposal, when we can finally stop being crushed by demands and deadlines, how faith is like a long-distance relationship, how God solves for both our lukewarmness and legalism, Seven Powerful Truths if the Gospel is True, and the Gospel according to Han Solo." 11-5-16

John 1. How to live our faith authentically in the real world. CCF Retreat 4 of 4. "The time I overheard a couple have the most dramatic break-up ever, what flirtation and 'romantic chemistry' is really about, the problem with trying to be the protagonist of your own story, seeing your name in the dedication section of a book, and the one question that every Christian can ask ourselves in every room we enter." 11-6-16

A seminar that I gave in San Jose, CA about the truths and myths of dating & relationships within both the church-culture & pop-culture. 2 Timothy 2. "The time I overheard a couple have their final knock-down drag-out fight, my absolutely favorite type of scene in the movies, what everyone really wants in the hospital, dating theology from Taylor Swift, when God looks at you through the ceiling, and Christianity according to a cologne sample." December 27th, 2015

Q&A in San Jose, CA about dating, celibacy, self-forgiveness, finding "the one," and a renewed community. December 27th, 2015

Acts 2:42-47. Preached at CCF in Gainesville, FL. On the difficult messy work of giving grace. "My time at the mental institution with drug addicts and sex addicts and recovering mental patients, the awkward harrowing nerve-racking experience of bringing your friend to church (and it happens to be sacrifice-a-live-animal day), the cringe-inducing moment when the preacher goes political, finding out what percentage of the church is actually God's intention, the recent trend of movies where bad guys are not really bad but have a tragic back-story, what saying 'I do' really means, that time I fought a pastor in a parking lot, and sculpting a real eye-to-eye face-to-face friendship over coffee." 7-18-14

John 3:30. Preached at CCF in Gainesville. About our itchy eternal longing for heart-swelling value and worthiness. "My first audition for a TV show, the secret second language we use to fight for attention in every room, our crazy scrambling for a social media fanbase, when we become demon-possessed in rush hour traffic, our Main Character Syndrome, what I plan to do at my kid's first junior football game, and the absolutely face-melting moment when Jesus returns with a flaming sword ripping the sky open." 7-31-15

Ephesians 6. The battlefield of spiritual warfare: fighting two equally destructive voices. "Fluctuating between our biggest daydreams and our worst fears, four of the devil's most common strategies to destroy us, when conspiracy theories are real, the problem of polarized opinion and shutting down all dissenting opinions, exposing the rigged carnival games, and how to fully finally beat the devil for good." 6-12-16

Mark 4. Two words that we quickly avoid but desperately need for growth, healing, and wholeness, for our relationships, churches, politics, and faith. "When you see someone else's kid misbehaving in public, the most unappealing things about Christianity for Christians, thinking the sermon is for the guy in the next row, tracing the theme of water and chaos through ancient history and Scripture, and how Jesus's war cry obliterated our worldly warfare." 3-6-16

Isaiah 6. How the holiness of God irrevocably changes us in two ground-shaking ways. "The two things I hear at every deathbed in the hospital, my body's crazy involuntary response when I flew over the Grand Canyon, every instance of the Bible characters seeing God and falling over crying, the unseen thankless art of raising children, how to live generously with zero guarantees, and a letter from Belize." 3-20-16

Acts 9. How killer Saul became Apostle Paul and got his first unlikely roommate, the disciple Ananias. "Adopting my abused dog Rosco and rehabilitating him, how an African-American musician befriended and changed a KKK leader, why I agree with the Elder Brother against the Prodigal Son, the impossibility of outgrowing your nickname and time-stamped hometown past, the one frustrating difficult person that never changes, how the back-row of punk kids at church completely humbled me, and the freedom of finally becoming the kind of person that loves no matter what." 4-24-16

Matthew 17. When we're crushed by deadlines, demands, and disorder, we need both the rest and resolve to get through. "That moment of exhaustion when you sigh for a long time before you walk through the door, the burn-out check-out from school and marriage and career, the strange beauty of enjoying something you can't pay for with nothing to offer, the greatest miracle Jesus ever pulled, faith as a long-distance relationship, a word for both perfectionists and slackers, and the one crucial question they ask you at a car accident." 7-17-16

Jeremiah 29. Exploring one of the most misinterpreted passages in the Bible about pain and perseverance. "The after-wedding shock of discovering your spouse is a stranger, when you take a test with lowered expectations to feel good about a bad grade, how 200 respondents answered whether Depression was a Choice or a Disease, life lessons from a tough plucky foster kid, and enduring the Saturday between the Cross and Resurrection." 6-26-16

Romans 7-8. A message preached to Yale students about the relevance and reason of Christianity. Part 1 of 3: How the Gospel uniquely differs from every other kind of motivation. "A meta-deconstruction of the Sunday church service, how to bomb a TEDTalk, the last two things I hear from dying patients in the hospital, the haunting of l’esprit de l’escalier, de-romanticizing adoption, the list of my flaws I gave to my wife before we started dating, and how a nine-year-old showed me the heart of Christianity." 1-30-16

Luke 15. A message preached to Yale students about the relevance and reason of Christianity. Part 2 of 3: How the Gospel solves for two universal human problems and the greatest human need."How to tell an alien about the human race, conclusions about humanity after a survey with 700 replies, the instant anxiety when you walk into a crowded room, the itchy self-conscious moment when someone is slightly more talented at 'my thing,' that loopy moment at night with your best friend when you start confessing everything, two universal human problems and our greatest human need, and the absolutely most important linchpin verse in the Bible." 1-30-16

Exodus 14, 20. A message preached to Yale students about the relevance and reason of Christianity. Part 3 of 3: How the Gospel compels us into action, neither by guilt nor religion, but deliverance."How long it actually should've taken the Israelites to get to Canaan from Egypt (not forty years), the moment right after the wedding, how the grace of my first pastor completely tenderized and galvanized me, the Christian life beyond 'overcoming-sin,' and seeing God in the Philippines and a homeless shelter." 1-31-16

Mark 9. The Transfiguration. Preached in Gainesville, FL. What it really means to be "on fire for God" and how to endure the dry desert valley. "Walking with kids and pigs through huts on the islands of the Philippines, the moment when Jesus dropped his flesh-suit and flexed his total divine glory with laserbeams out his mouth, how long-distance dating is like faith, and finding God in the homeless shelter." 10-25-15

Mark 16:13-19. The church can be crazy: but she is still God's idea to be a force for good in the world. "That very nervous moment when you bring a friend to church and you see the weirdness of Sunday service,  how I reply when someone tells me that the church is full of hypocrites, how the friction of colliding with our disagreements can turn us into fully polished people, that time a church lady hit my car in the parking lot and ran, and my very first pastor loving me from hateful atheism to unexpected faith." 8-17-14

Jeremiah 29:11. When God says He won't harm you, that's a weird way to start a promise. "Finding Jesus for three easy payments of $9.99, the mathematical impossibility of soulmates, the surprising difficulty of planning for a wedding, fighting against our natural inclination to fight against God, how martial arts teaches us about reacting to the trials of life, and how every Unresolved Tension will meet Happily Ever After." 4-25-14

An audio preview of my book "Mad About God: When We Over-Spiritualize Pain and Turn Tragedy Into a Lesson," about persevering through pain and suffering.Preface 1 - I Don't Have It All Figured Out, and That's OkayPreface 2 - Perpetually Skeptical: Screaming Through The Red SeaPreface 1 is about our crazy need to connect pain with a lesson.Preface 2 is about the constant, uncomfortable doubts about the existence and goodness of God.http://www.amazon.com/Mad-About-God/dp/0692390472/

1 Kings 18-19. Series: Snapshots: Men & Women of the Bible. Part 1. Facing the up-and-down craziness of life. "That one time I went to audition for a show on Nickelodeon when I was seven, that discouraging word that sticks in your brain all week, those giddy midnight conversations when you expose your crazy self (and regret it in the morning), preparing a speech in case your marriage proposal is answered with 'no,' when all you really need is a nap, and the mind-blowing reveal that someone has been praying for you the whole time." 5-25-14

Genesis 37-50. Series: Snapshots: Men & Women of the Bible. Part 7. Persevering through pain. "How to read a book in ten seconds (by turning to the first and last page of the book), how painful moments always become the best stories but never in the moment, that time my dad was nearly executed by firing squad in the Vietnam War, the awful cliches that spiritualize pain into lessons, the vivid wild wonderfully heartbreaking tale of Joseph and his brothers, the single linchpin verse that brings together the whole Bible, and how to put down the baggage of an old hurt in your next season of life." 8-8-14

Judges 6-7. Series: Snapshots: Men & Women of the Bible. Part 5. God calls you who you could be, into greatness by His grace. "Outlandish auction bids for celebrity-owned items including Justin Bieber's hair, my brother the totally unsuspecting MMA jujitsu fighter, the anxious fear of small-town gossip when you try to step it up, tough advice for my future daughter, how the church ought to be like a bunch of cheerleaders, my first pre-marriage counseling, and the words that you've secretly wanted to hear your whole life." 7-13-14

Matthew 28:18-20. Preached in Huntsville, Alabama. Making disciples is messy. "When Jesus uppercuts drug addicts, the hyper-spiritual attitude in the awkward Bible study, that time I was Baker Act'ed and put in the mental hospital, and what separates the church from every other place in the world." 5-12-13

Psalm 42:1-5. Guest sermon at Refuge Full Gospel. How to handle the constant loop of your inner-voice. "My ultimate social fantasy daydream when I run for political office, growing up in the same town with the same labels, imagining that back room of rumors about you, the epidemic called Main Character Syndrome, when you crush someone with a false hologram version of them, and when God replaces your lungs." 11-15-13

John 15. We tend to do Christian things around God but not with Him. "When the preacher says 'don’t be like' that one evil terrible guy Bill, how to know for sure you've instantly encountered the face-melting presence of God, how I found Jesus at a homeless ministry, and the icky moment after you confess all your weird stuff to your friend." 12-20-13

1 John 3. That impossible itch of trying to be better than we are. "When you get older and your body stops listening to your brain, when you think you've made spiritual progress but then you cuss out someone in traffic, that slobbery screaming moment on the phone when you vent everything, how far you'd go for a million dollars, and the crazy anxious fear of raising a human baby." 11-19-13

  Psalm 73, Joshua 24:15. To be a countercultural force for the common good. "The increasingly halfway lazy sloppiness of cutting corners in our non-committed culture, playing around with the numbers on our tax returns, when it looks like cheaters and troublemakers are more successful than honest upstanding citizens, fighting against the mob mentality of gossip, and the 3% rule of changing the world." 3-7-14

Philippians 2:1-11. Preached at Reach: Session in NJ. Breaking the reactionary cycle of retaliation with the heart-stopping power from above. "Growing up with a 9th degree black belt 2nd lieutenant father, the one weird Sunday you decide to bring a friend to church, passing on a torch of hurt or healing, starting over with an enemy, and a word to those who have checked out." May 1st, 2015

An interview with Sam Won of Pusuit NYC while I was in NJ to speak at a revival. We talk about finding a safe space of honesty in the church, the journey from atheism to faith, the pitfalls of blogging & going viral, how to toil behind the scenes, and how I’ve been connecting with God lately.

Colossians 3:2. Keeping above the drama, eyes on the mission. "Overhearing a woman catch her boyfriend cheating with another woman in my apartment complex, watching a TV show and yelling at all the dumb decisions they make, our first reaction if God were to rip the roof off your house and make eye contact with you, those O.G. 1st century Christians rebelling against the Roman Empire, getting pulled into the vortex of crazy yelling ugly cry-face drama, and the most hardcore gangster preacher of all time." 5-9-14

A seminar on dating and relationships given to a wonderful ministry of college students and young adults in Gainesville FL. Some of the content is from my new book on relationships called The Christianese Dating Culture. Some things I talk about are: The romantic theology of Taylor Swift, that time I overheard a girlfriend catching her boyfriend with another woman, two soldiers at war gossiping about the Kardashians, the best Christian pick-up line ever, the gritty raw painful sweaty work of theater actors and ballerinas, the difference between "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Hurt Locker," three directions that every relationship takes, if my fiancé gained 200 lbs, the scary anxious fear of marriage proposal and possibly hearing "Nope," and a Q&A Session including the truth about "wives submitting" and how to find "The One."  

1 Corinthians 13, Mark 15. The difficult gut-wrencing power of grace. "That one time I saw a cop chasing a half-naked man in the middle of the street at night, the icky feeling of constantly defending yourself around nitpicky people, the one tiny innocuous statement your pastor makes in a sermon that makes you leave the church, that awful stomach sickness when you know someone hates your guts, and how God sees two tiny people on earth finally reconciling." 5-23-14  

John 3:30. Breaking down the phrase glorifying God, and why it's the most important thing we could do with our lives. "Our Christianese church-language that we never question, when you walk into a crowded room and you suddenly hear the desperate clawing fight for validation, the Main Character Syndrome when we treat everyone like supporting props for the Movie of Me, the insane frothing monster we become in rush hour traffic, the overarching meta-narrative of the Bible in one rushing swoop, how to anonymously donate a kidney, and when Jesus finally returns with 100 million angels at the final conclusion of the universe." 8-10-14

1 Kings 11:1-13. Series: Life of David. Part 7. Idolatry, addiction, and freedom. "The unfortunate trashy creepiness of singing competitions, when Asians hate other Asians of a different Asian nation, Four Types of Idols that enslave us, when I find out someone doesn't like me, that moment the preacher tells you to throw away all your stuff, and the only true heart surgery that breaks free of addiction into victory." 2-23-14

1 Kings 2:1-12. Series: Life of David. Part 6. Staying faithful in the everyday ordinary grind of life. "The last secret technique of a dying karate master on his deathbed, when a gigantic six-foot twelve-year-old jock protected me in sixth grade, how Barney the dinosaur saved my next door neighbors, how Chaos Theory and the butterfly effect reveals the tapestry of God's Story in the world, and how a mean internet comment drove me to a slobbery broken down mess." 2-16-14

2 Samuel 11-12. Series: Life of David. Part 5. Breaking free requires an ugly honesty. "Getting stabbed without knowing it, exposing rigged carnival games, that one time I was cured by Cuban food, when a girl is convinced she really loves that guy, and creating a culture of slobbery honesty in church." 2-9-14

1 Samuel 24, 26. Series: Life of David. Part 4. Your small everyday decisions preach a bigger story. "How a man with cancer will stay in touch with her daughter through her lunchbox, what you think of when you hear Steve Jobs, Adolf Hitler, and Superman, the best movie quote of all time from Gladiator, David's bedtime stories with Solomon, and when someone seems like they're succeeding without God." 2-2-14

1 Samuel 23. Series: Life of David. Part 3. What God says about friendship. "When your friend plays a song for you right in front of you with all the awkward eye contact, Four Cornerstones of a Foundation for Friendship, spreading false rumors about an itchy butt, when your friend tells a story again for the fiftieth time, and punching jealousy in the face." 1-26-14