Podcast appearances and mentions of christian deconstruction

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if it's Christian Deconstruction, or Christian Introduction, or Christian self-destruction, or Christian self-deception—The question at the heart of it all is always the same: Who is Jesus Christ?... Who is Jesus Christ and what has He done?

In this insightful episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, hosts Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb begin their series on Jesus's parables by examining the Parable of the Sower (or Soils). This foundational teaching from Christ reveals why some hearts receive the gospel message while others reject it. The hosts unpack the four soil types Jesus describes, exploring what each represents spiritually and how these patterns continue to manifest today. They emphasize that while the parable reveals different responses to the gospel, it also provides comfort for believers engaged in evangelism, reminding us that outcomes ultimately depend not on the sower's skill but on the condition of the soil—a condition that only God can prepare. This episode offers both theological depth and practical encouragement for Christians seeking to understand the various responses to the gospel message in their own ministry contexts. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Sower serves as a hermeneutical key for understanding all of Jesus's parables, as it directly addresses why Jesus taught in parables and provides the interpretive framework for understanding their purpose. The parable reveals four types of responses to the gospel (represented by the four soils), but only one that leads to genuine salvation and fruit-bearing. The focus of the parable is not on the sower's skill or the seed's quality but on the condition of the soil—emphasizing God's sovereignty in salvation while encouraging continued evangelism. The "rocky ground" hearers represent those who initially receive the gospel with joy but have no root system to sustain them when trials come, often resulting in what we might call "deconstruction" today. Christians should expect varied responses to gospel proclamation and not be discouraged when the seed appears to be wasted on unresponsive hearts, as this pattern was predicted by Jesus himself. The parable provides a warning against shallow faith while encouraging believers to develop deep spiritual roots that can withstand persecution and trials. Genuine conversion is ultimately evidenced by fruit-bearing, not merely by initial enthusiasm or religious affiliation. Understanding the Soils The Parable of the Sower presents four distinct soil types, each representing different responses to the gospel message. The first soil—the path—represents hearts where the gospel makes no impact whatsoever; the seed simply bounces off and is quickly snatched away by Satan. This illustrates not merely outward rejection of the gospel, but also intellectual non-comprehension. As Tony explains, this doesn't necessarily mean active hostility toward the gospel but could simply be indifference: "It may not be someone who has like a closed fist, 'I hate the gospel, I hate everything about God,' but for some reason they're just not [interested]." This parallels Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that "the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him." The rocky soil represents those who initially receive the gospel with enthusiasm but lack depth. Their faith appears genuine at first but quickly withers under pressure or persecution. This phenomenon is particularly evident in what we often call "deconstruction" today—where someone who appeared genuinely converted falls away when their faith is tested. As Jesse notes, "I think what I've been helpful for me is to get outta my mind...what's the length of time here? Is it possible that somebody could be in this place...which presents like a setting down of deep roots that could last like years on end?" The parable reminds us that immediate joy at receiving the gospel is not necessarily evidence of saving faith, and it calls us to examine whether our own faith has sufficient depth to withstand trials. The Comfort of Realistic Expectations One of the most encouraging aspects of this parable is how it calibrates our expectations about evangelism and gospel ministry. Jesus teaches that when the gospel is proclaimed, we should expect varied responses—including outright rejection—not because of any failure in the message or messenger, but because of the condition of human hearts. This provides tremendous comfort for believers engaged in evangelistic efforts who might otherwise be discouraged by apparent failure. Tony highlights this point: "This parable is not about the skill of the sower or even the efficacy of the seed...The point of the parable...is that it has to do with the soil itself." This understanding frees us from the pressure of thinking we must somehow perfect our evangelistic technique or presentation, while also removing the false guilt that can come when people reject the message we share. Furthermore, the parable encourages continued, generous sowing of the gospel seed. As Tony observes, "We don't see the sower in this parable meticulously only identifying the good soil and only planting the seeds there. He does promiscuously spread this seed everywhere that he can." This reminds us that our responsibility is faithful proclamation, while the results remain in God's sovereign hands. Memorable Quotes "The Parable of the Sower teaches really that the gospel call goes out to all... but only those who God regenerates, that good soil, are gonna receive it savingly and will bear fruit." - Jesse Schwamb "Just because our experience of Christianity and our experience of being in the faith feels so genuine and real and rooted, we should also recognize that it felt real and genuine and rooted for [those who later fell away]... There's a caution there for us." - Tony Arsenal "The exhortation built into this is that we need to seek that root. We don't get to determine what kind of soil we are on an ultimate level—that's God's election and his secret providence. But on a horizontal level, in our experience of things, we have agency, we make decisions. We seek to be rooted or unrooted in the gospel." - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript [00:00:36] Introduction and Greetings Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 462 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I am Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast of Good Soil. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. Well, will you look at us? Look at us. It's finally and officially begun. And that is this conversation. [00:01:00] Kickoff to the Parable Series Jesse Schwamb: This episode is really the kickoff, well, the first parable that we're going through together, starting a long conversation that I think is gonna bear much fruit, if you will. Yes. Maybe 30, maybe 60, maybe a hundred times. Lord willing. It's gonna be great. And we're starting off with a doozy. Yes. Actually, maybe this is like the granddaddy of all the parables because we're gonna hear Jesus tell us something about the word of God and how it's received among different hearers. And this is so fantastic. It's the only place to begin because this is truly some eternally contemporary words. Yeah, it's, this is the parable that's continually verified under our own eyes. Wherever the word of God is preached or expounded and people are assembled to hear it, the sayings of our Lord in this parable are found to be true. It describes what goes on as a general rule in our congregations in the world. Anytime the word of God goes out, what a place to begin. So we're gonna get there. It's gonna be great, don't you worry, dear listener. [00:02:04] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: But of course, before we do that, it's our tradition, our word that's spoken is always something in affirmation with something or in denial against something. So I say to you, as I always do, Tony. What do you have for us on this episode? Uh, an affirmation or denial. Tony Arsenal: This is an affirmation. I'll try to keep it nice and short and tight. Uh, I am affirming everything that comes with the fall. It's the air's getting crisp. The season, the, the pumpkin. Yeah. Not, not the fall. With the, let's, let's, let's clarify. I'm affirming everything that comes with autumn. So, uh, the air's crisp, the pumpkin spice is flowing, the leaves are starting to come down. Although, as a New Englander, I feel like I might be a little disappointed this year they're saying that it might not be as vibrant because we've been under a bit of a drought. But, uh, I, I'm all for all of it. Sweaters, gimme like a nice cozy scarf to put on and like a, I don't know, like a stocking cap. Gimme some flannel. I'm just ready to rock and roll. I'm, I'm, I'm done with summer and I'm ready for fall and yeah, that's, that's the whole thing. That's the affirmation. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. [00:03:09] Autumnal Delights and Debates Jesse Schwamb: Beautiful. It's speaking of like eternally or seasonally contemporary. That is so good. Plus I would say like the fall or autumn. The best adjectives, doesn't it? Yes. Like including like the word ottum. Yes. Like, that's just a great word that we, we do not use enough of. So this season, loved ones dropping a tum in there because Yes. It's just such a good word. Tony Arsenal: And I, I know people hate on the pumpkin spice and uh, there was a rev, I think I've said this before, it's re revolutionized my understanding because I used to get so mad because I was like, this doesn't even taste like pumpkin. It's not pumpkin flavored items, it's pumpkin spiced. Flavored items. So it's the, the spice you would use in pumpkin pie is the spice that they're talking about. So people complain that you're just putting nutmeg in things. And to that, I say yes, that's the point. You just start adding nutmeg or pumpkin spice or cloves or all spice or whatever it might be. The point is we're using the same spices that you would use for making a pumpkin pie or some other sort of fall. Delicious fall. Pumpy squashy, goodness. Jesse Schwamb: You got that right. This is a classic case of don't hate the player. Hate the game. Tony Arsenal: It's true, it's true. And if you don't like it, if you don't like pumpkin spice, then just don't talk to me at all. I'm just kidding. Still get pumpkin spice. Like you can go to Starbucks and get the same, same coffee you always get. You don't have to get pumpkin spice, you don't have to drink pumpkin beer, you don't have to do any of that. The all the stuff is, all the normal stuff is still available. They don't tell you you can't have it. Nobody is opening your mouth and pouring it down your throat. So just calm down, order your normal drip coffee and move on with your life. Jesse Schwamb: Speaking of polarizing autumnal type things, I don't know if we've talked about probably, we have talked about this and I've just forgotten. Where do you land on the whole. Cotton, uh, sorry. Candy corn, not cotton candy, but candy corn. Tony Arsenal: I, I feel like we have talked about this and my perspectives may have changed over the years. I'm not a big fan of candy corn, but I will eat it until I vomit. If you put it in front, I think is the, is the consensus that if there's a bowl of it in front of me, the first thing that I will do is I will break off two little white tips of the ca uh, candy corn and stick them on my fangs and pretend to be vampire. Jesse Schwamb: Beautiful. Tony Arsenal: And then I will eat the remainder of the pound and a half of candy that's in front of me until I throw up. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. And I know there's some difference between like candy, corn and like the little pumpkin confectionary ones. Yeah. Some people prefer those over others. And then this is not even to talk about the whole debate between when it comes to Reese's Peanut butter cups and Oh yeah. The pumpkin variety of those and No, all that stuff. Tony Arsenal: No. Mm. Jesse Schwamb: No. To those? Tony Arsenal: No, to those. The, the shaped, the shaped, uh, Reese's Peanut butter objects, I suppose they're not cups at that point. Uh, they use a different kind of peanut butter. I dunno if you know that, but they use a different peanut butter. So they, they actually do taste different than the actual didn't know that says peanut butter cups. Um, it's either a different kind of peanut butter or a different kind of chocolate. But one of the primary substances, uh, not in the Aristotelian sense, uh, one of the primary substances is different. And so it does actually taste different. It's not as good. And then the balance between the chocolate and the peanut butter is off. It's, it's not good. I'm a, I'm a peanut butter cup. Uh, I like to say aficionado, but I think probably snob would be a better. A better term for it. Jesse Schwamb: Listen, you'll, you like what you like by the way, only on this podcast, only, I think among long-term listeners, would it be necessary to clarify that you do not mean substance in there was six alien sense. Tony Arsenal: That's true. That's, that's definitely true. Well, Jesse, that is where we are. Enough about my, uh, fall. Uh, food preferences. What are you affirming and or denying? Tonight, [00:07:02] Musical Recommendations Jesse Schwamb: I'm gonna also come along with you on it with the affirmation, and maybe while you're drinking that PSL or you're searching for that candy, corn, you might like, want something to put into your ears that isn't us, that's a little bit more melodic. And so I'm affirming with the, this time and age in which it is all about curation. That's often a lovely thing. I use Spotify for all of my music consumption, and they just fed me like a really interesting playlist that I would never have thought of as a category, but I've really been enjoying, it's called Math Rock. And I saw, and I thought I'm, I'm usually kinda like dubious of the Spotify playlist because like they're kind of out there for me generally. But I thought to myself, well, this is an interesting port man too. Like, I like math. I like rock, and the description was complex rhythms and mesmerizing loops. So I thought, I like complex rhythms. I like loops that continue and mesmerize, so the check it out for yourself. If you're looking for something that's like, it's enough to be interesting while you're working on something, but not too interesting. So that distracts you. This is apparently the jam. So yeah, it's like just really interesting rock oriented, mostly instrumental music that is like. Really motivating, but again, not interesting enough to really distract you from the task at hand if that's not your thing. The other thing I would recommend, I know you'll join me in this, Tony, is that poor Bishop Hooper released a new album this week. It's called The Serpent and the Seed, and this one has a ton of tracks on it, like 18 or so, and it, it as well is a unique mix of both instrumental, really lovely, beautiful pieces and then some that carry more vocal and melodic stuff that's kind of their customary jam. Both of 'em are great. They both do have kind of an an autumnal vibe, if I'm honest. Now I'm thinking about it. It's really the perfect compliment to whatever it is that you're consuming that has that pumpkin spice in it. So math, rock, the serpent and the seed. There you go. Tony Arsenal: I'm trying to synthesize. I mean, math and rock are like two of Jesse's favorite things. So I'm trying to synthesize what it would be like to scream the quadratic equation at someone with some sort of like slightly off cadence, dissonant guitar rift underneath. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. Tony Arsenal: I feel like there's a Me Without You album out there somewhere that that's exactly what it is. But Jesse Schwamb: yeah, probably there should Tony Arsenal: be at least. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there, there absolutely should be. And I'm with you. I'm willing to work on that album. That's a great idea. Like just, it's just an album of mathematical equations and like the deep mysteries of life, you know, listen, math is beautiful. Numbers are stories. There's, there's so much there. Yeah. You had me at Quadratic, so I, I think we've, we've given people a lot to enjoy in this fall season. It's true. Tony Arsenal: I, I. I couldn't solve a quadratic equation to save my entire life at this point. Uh, I took introduction to logic when I got to college 'cause I couldn't remember how to multiply fractions on the entrance exam. That's fair. So that's fair. So that was, that's my experience with math. But right Jesse Schwamb: now the internet wants to keep serving me videos about, you've seen like all these tests, like these entrance exams for like Harvard or like the Ivy Leagues, other Ivy Leagues, and it is all these random things, you know, like we're solving for like two variables, terminally, and there is some kinda like expon explanation to it. Um. Yeah, I guess that's what I've become and I watch 'em all. They honestly get me every time. Yeah. I'm like, I'm not gonna watch that. And then I'm like, oh, I'm definitely gonna watch that. So it just happens. It's great. Tony Arsenal: I love it. Meanwhile, meanwhile, YouTube is desperately trying to get me to watch Season six and Cobra High. And it's very quickly gonna be succeeding. I think the next time Netflix has a, has a promotion where I can get a cheap month or something like that, I will definitely be binging Cobra Kai. So I feel like our YouTube algorithms are very different. Jesse Schwamb: Very different. Yeah. Very different. Certainly in, um, there is a commonality of, of the mysteries of the world and. [00:11:06] Introduction to the Parable of the Sower Jesse Schwamb: In some way, that's what we're talking about in this entire series. And yeah, if for some reason you didn't hear a conversation from two weeks ago where we really set the table, I think for what a parable is, why Jesus uses parables. As far as I remember, you correct if I'm wrong, it was the definitive conversation about why the parable is not just peace wise in Jesus' teaching, but really why it's the centerpiece. Yeah, we talked about that at great length. So now we're really ready to go. If you didn't hear that, I highly recommend you go back and hear that. 'cause there's so much. I realize as we, we looked at this parable of the sower or better like the parable of the soils, that we could do a whole series on just this bad boy. Such not just like wide interpretation, but wide application. So much for us to really chew on and then to really come back to and chew the could. So we're gonna have to be probably every time a little bit self-editing and brief. So if you're just yelling at your device, why aren't you talking about this thing? There's a great place for you to yell into or maybe just calmly and very politely suggest rather than the void, you can join our Telegram group. Telegram is just an app for, it's kind of a conversational tool and platform, and if you're looking for it and I know that you are, don't, why would you even fool yourself? It's, you can find it by going to T Me Reform Brotherhood. There's a whole channel, there's a bunch of channels there, a bunch of little conversations that we have compartmentalize. There's one just to talk about the episode. So as we go through this, my encouragement to everybody is track with us, get your scriptures out. Come along with us in the actual journey of processing this. Do spend some time processing it with us. And then when there is inevitably that thing, they're like, why didn't you talk about this? You know, a great place to converse with others and us about that would be in the Telegram Chat. So T Me Reform Brotherhood. So enough of that, let's get to it. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, there's, there's some, um, there's some logic that would say we should have just rather than doing an Introduction to Parables episode, we should have just done the parable, because this parable does really follow, it really does form like an introduction to all of Christ's parabolic teachings. And, you know, it's, no, it's no, um, mystery either in God's providence or just in Matthew as being a, a, you know, somewhat genius level composer of, of a work of literature in putting this parable first, because you're absolutely right at the top of the show that this parable really is. Almost like the hermeneutical key for all of the parables. Not just for in terms of like understanding the parables, it doesn't do that so much. But in understanding the purpose of the parables and more importantly, explicitly in the middle of this, Christ explains why he teaches in parables. So we covered that a lot last time, so we're not gonna, we're gonna skip over that middle section 'cause we don't need to rehash that. But this really is the granddaddy of all the parables. It it is, um. It is Christ's teaching on why he uses parables in action. It's the application of his own theology, of parables, if you want to call it that. Uh, in principle. And he is gracious enough that in this very first parable, he actually gives us the interpretation, right, which is, is not entirely unique, um, in, in the gospels, but it is not always the norm. There are a fair number of parables where Christ just drops the parable and leaves it there, um, for both his immediate listeners to figure out and then also for us to figure out. We're not given the inspired interpretation, but this one we are given the inspired interpretation. And Jesse, I had to laugh because, um. Just as you get really, really upset and worked, worked up about when people say Christ's body broken for you. Uh, it just drives me nuts when people call this the parable of the soils. 'cause Christ gives it a name, right? So, so we'll talk about that too. And I, I'm, I'm mostly playing, like, I'm not gonna jump through the screen at you or anything like that, but that's the, one of the other unique features of this parable is that it's given it's, it's given a name. Um, and that's part of the interpretation is that in most cases, parables have a primary figure or a primary point that's being made. And if you get that primary point wrong or that primary figure wrong, um, you tend to get the rest of the parable wrong. In this case, Christ graciously tells us who the parable is about or what the parable is about, and then later on when we get to the, the next parable or a couple parables down, um, he actually tells us more about the parable through some other teaching as well. [00:15:38] Reading and Analyzing the Parable Tony Arsenal: So, Jesse, do you have that text in front of us? Do you wanna go ahead and read that first chunk? That's the parable itself. Jesse Schwamb: I do, let's do it by the way. Uh, maybe somebody should keep track. Here's a fun little game of how many times we say parable or parabolic. And of course, whenever I hear parabolic, I always think, of course there is like something of great hyperbole or allegory, but I often think of, uh, parabola, which to your point, Tony, I think you're just doing this for my sake now, and I love, this is an exponent oriented equation. Of course, it's a like a canonical section, which can only be creative mathematically by pronunciation again. So thank you for that. I thought you just did that for me, so Tony Arsenal: I have no idea what you just said. You might as well have been speaking like Hindu. Jesse Schwamb: It's fantastic. Well, let's, let's get to the actual, the best word, the word of life. And this is from Matthew chapter 13. Beginning just at the start of the chapter. That same day, Jesus went out of his, uh, house and sat beside the sea and, and great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables saying. A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprung up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no roots, they were it away. Other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain. Some a hundred fold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears, let him hear. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. So on a surface level here, the, the parable is straightforward, right? We have a very straightforward picture, which is, is common for most of the parables, that it's not some sort of unusual, crazy out there situation that's being described. It's a common scenario from everyday life, uh, that doesn't tend to have sort of like. Mythological legendary kinds of characteristics. We have a simple farmer who is out sowing his seeds. Um, some of the commentaries we'll point out, and I don't, I dunno how accurate this is or isn't, but I, I saw it in, in a couple different commentaries. So I'm inclined to, to believe it that our model of farming, uh, in sort of a western world or, or maybe not western world, but in a more, I dunno, technologically advanced world, is to teal the ground till the ground first, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: And then to scatter seed. And it was much more common in the ancient world to actually scatter the seed kind of, uh, promiscuously and then till the ground. Um, I don't know the reasons for that. I'm not a horticulturist, but, um. The, the, one of the critiques that I've heard, and it's funny when people try to critique Jesus is 'cause they're always proven wrong, but one of the critiques I've heard is like, no farmer whatever would ever do this. Like, no, no sower would ever just throw seed on the ground, but this actually is the way they would've done farming. So he's, he's taking an everyday scenario that everyone would've been familiar with. Right. Nobody would've been like, oh yeah, that doesn't make any sense. They would've just said, oh yeah, of course you just throw the seed on the ground and then you come back around later and you do what you need to do. So it, it was really a scenario where some of the seed would've fallen on the path. And we're not talking about like a road next to the farm, but a lot of times the, the field had sort of, um. They're probably called like convenience trails is what they're called now. But people would travel through the, through the paths, and so there would be an area that's already walked, walked on that's a little bit easier to traverse. And eventually that area would turn into a pathway. So it was, it was kind of turned into sort of like hard clay turf that you couldn't get the seed into anyways. And then there would've been areas where, um, there was rocks under the surface. Most of our fields that our farm fields have been tilled and prepared and have been worked over, that the stones had been removed. But it wasn't always like that in the ancient world. And then you would've had areas where there was, uh, there was other vegetation, thorns, weeds, other kinds of plants that would've made, made it difficult for the crop to sprout and to bear fruit. So we have a very common scenario. There's nothing surprising about this. There's nothing out of the ordinary. It's just a simple farming metaphor that Christ employs here. Jesse Schwamb: And in some ways that's very consistent of course, because we have these very ordinary, normal things that God is using as a means of explanation for something that is very extraordinary, very supernatural. So we have the natural coming into play, not just as a representation, but to really demonstrates, illustrates and impound both in structure and form. This idea of what it means for the gospel to be communicated. And I'm with you, my understanding is in most ancient world. Those, those fields, we tend to think of them as fields and often the reference that way were like more like these narrow strips of land separated by these paths and you have this farmer casting the seed like very liberally. And not only that, but I think what's interesting right on the face. Is we see that there are basically four potential outcomes here and only one of those outcomes, 'cause we're already understanding this to mean the sowing of the sea, which is the word of life, which is the gospel message. Only one of those outcomes results in kingdom growth. There's a ratio of three to one. There's three times as many poor outcomes. In other words, there's all of these various ways in which we find that the seed is not rejected or does not result in the intended fruit. But there is just one path, one narrow kind of way in which it does result, and then it results in kind of various outcomes in terms of like the magnitude of the fruit or the plants that result from this planting. But as a result of that. I think what's really interesting to me right on the face is that we're seeing, like you said, there is a sower. He's casting the seed deliberately, he's coming on the path and he's just throwing it out. And in that narrow strip of land, there are all these different soils. And so right away we see if you're, if you're a farmer, you're understanding something about, it's not about the skill of the farmer in the casting of the seed. It's not even about the, the skill of the seed to grow. It's about the soil itself. And so again, we have this as three times as many potentially poor outcomes as there are for the one that results in this grand harvest. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And the one thing about this that might be, might have been, and, and again, some of the commentators are, are split on this, but might have been a sort of unexpected, um, element. And, and this is something we do see with, uh, with the parables, is there's usually some sort of, um. Unexpected or dramatic or turn of events kind of element, usually towards the end of a parable that would make, would, should be a subversion of expectations. Right? Right. And so the, in this instance, um, a yield of 30 times or, or 60 times or a hundred times, all of those yields would be crazy high yields. Um, you know, I, I, I think there are some plants, some of the commentators will make, make a point that there are some plants where like a 30. A 30 yield is normal. Um, but a 30 or a 60 or a hundred times yield of a crop is, is not the expectation. And so I think in, in a scenario like this, the reader or the listener is prepped by the fact that there are three, uh, negative outcomes and only one favorable outcome. To assume that the crop yield is not going to be great. Right? And then the reality is the crops that do sprout the crops that land on the good soil or the seed that lands on the good soil. Not only is it productive, it's so productive that it actually outpaces and kind of compensates for the lack of productivity or the lack of fruitfulness of the other three. So it's, it's three different, uh, it's four possible outcomes and then three levels of fruitfulness. And so this parable does sort of cause the listener or the hearer to think about, um, and start, you know, from the very outset, think about what does, what does it mean that the seed landed on the path and was stolen away by the birds? What does it mean that it sprouted quickly and uh, but didn't have roots and so it withered away in the sun? And what does it mean that, you know, it sprouted among thorns and so it couldn't bear fruit. And then I think the implied, um, the implied question that's being forced here because the parable does start out, you know, saying there was the sower, the sower, um. Sowed this seed out. He doesn't introduce this the same way he normally, he normally does or commonly does, right? Jesus often will start the peril ball by saying something like, the kingdom of God is like, right? Or you know this. This is like that. This, he just starts out saying like, a sower was out in the, in the field sowing seed. So the, the listener is not primed to know what the comparison is necessarily, but I think part of that is that now they're forced to ask what is the comparison? And I don't think it's much of a stretch. And again, this is why parables are so kind of paradoxical is it's not a difficult, when we get to the interpretation, it's not difficult to see the interpretation. Right, right. It's, it's easy to understand that the parable here, the metaphor is, is different reactions of, of some sort to. To a given thing, right? It's, it's different reactions to an investment of some sort. There's an investment of seed and in some instances it just doesn't take, in other instances, it takes and it doesn't sprout, and in other instances it sprouts, but it never fruits. So when we get to the interpretation, Jesus is gonna give us the clarity of what that investment is, and then who are, or what are the outcomes and what do they mean? In, in our, you know, in our thought process of what the kingdom of God is like. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, so let's do it then. [00:25:44] Understanding the Soils Jesse Schwamb: 'cause what we've got here is we basically have, each soil is representing some type of here. So we've got four heres but only one true believer. So it's probably behooves us to go through all of them and really kind of chat through. And maybe what we can do is try to bring some of our own practical application to each of these. I've been really meditating and pondering that, trying to think if this is practical for us, then how can we understand how each of these are being manifest all around us? And of course the intention here is not to like name people that we think fall into each of these four little groups, but more so to think about how we might understand people who do fall into each of these groups. And that is to say that. Each one of these, well, the, the first three rather, that these ones in which they're, the soil is in some degree suboptimal. I, I don't know that it means that it's always that way, for instance. So we might think of people that fall into those categories, but the Lord may be moving or working in them to move them into that fourth category. And of course, he's done that with ourselves, so we know that that's exactly how he operates. Um, and it's, I think it's good for us to remember that. I think there's a lot that's scary about this first soil, this idea that. The seed just bounces. So we get no uptake whatsoever in this one. But the other ones, at least you get a little satisfaction that there's some kind of reception. There is a receipt of that word. And the reason why I find this one to be so troubling is because these who hear it in the first case, they don't understand and they don't esteem it. And Christ is very clear to say that the seed itself doesn't sit there long. It bounces. So there's a, there is a literal hardness. That's reflected in that clay soil or that path, which is down trotted. And it's hard because of perhaps this constant lack of belief, this constant and unrepentant hearts or lifestyle, but it would be enough if it just kinda bounced off and sat there. But the fact that it's snatched away that the birds come and take it away, that Satan himself has an active and powerful role in influencing all of those who are hearing this word. And I think that hardness of heart may not just be manifest in, say, like an unrepentant lifestyle or this kind of clench fist against God on the inside, which is of course true of the natural man. But more than that, that anything that would take us away from true belief. So that is even any kind of our religious system or belief, any kind of philosophy, any kind of other worldview I think is in mind here because we know the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy. And so. What he's doing in that sometimes happens first and foremost in the mind, manifested in the heart and then in our behaviors. So if he's stealing away this word by replacing it with something that is false, that is not true, that destroys, that pulls us away and moves us away, then this is very scary. He has a real power, which we talked about. I don't know, like maybe six or so episodes ago. It's worth listening to, I think. And so what I find here that is really traumatizing upfront is the involvement in particular of the sinful man under his own mean estate. That is, that it's clear that the natural man cannot conceive of the things of God without regeneration, and Jesus makes it abundantly clear. He's, he's basically saying what Paul says later on in First Corinthians when he writes, the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, does not accept them. So again, there's no agreement. There's no, even an intellectual ascent does not accept the things of the spirit of God for they are folly to him and he's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one for who is understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ, so there is no mind of Christ, which is, it's a horrible way to live life. And so in that space we have both the natural man, his total depravity, unable to pull himself up by his theological bootstraps or philosophical bootstraps or his intellectual emotional bootstraps to even discern what the way in which the world really actually is. And then in in, I say in addition to that, we have the devil himself waging war and attacking by pulling away that seed. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I have a little bit of a different take on this and I think this is what I am looking forward to in this series. Is there, there is gonna be. [00:30:01] Understanding the Parable of the Sower Tony Arsenal: Different, uh, different understandings that probably all fall and are all compatible, but all fall within a acceptable range of understanding. Here, you know, I, in, in reading some of the commentaries, Calvin makes the point that all four of these different types of seed represent people who in some sense are open to the gospel. They're, they're open to, he, he makes the point that this is not talking about the, the person who like refuses to hear the gospel at all, who like won't even come into the church. This is a person predominantly who is, is exposed to the word in some sense, probably in view as someone who's among the people of God who's in the, in the, in the physical body of the people of God who's among Christians or among those hearing the word. And for whatever reason, the, the, the seed doesn't, uh, it doesn't even get into the soil. Right, and he compares, Christ compares, um, this not to somebody who is hardhearted, but to someone who doesn't understand, right? That there's an intellectual element to this, right? You think of, um, you know, you think of somebody who hears the scripture and probably understands outwardly what it means, but doesn't ever comprehend it internally. They don't ever really, they don't ever really let it penetrate into their, into their hearts. Um, so it's been sewn into their hearts, but it doesn't actually take root in their hearts in any other sense. [00:31:38] The Role of the Soil in Receiving the Word Tony Arsenal: And this is what's a little bit different from, from the other ones that we're gonna see in all of the other cases. The seed takes root, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: It actually penetrates the ground and begins to grow. Um, it, this is a seed that never even makes it that far. And so it may not be someone who has like a, who necessarily has like a closed fist. I hate the gospel. I hate everything about God, but for some reason they're just not. And when we say for some reason I'm talking, obviously I'm talking la you know, horizontally. Um, we know that the reason that they don't have an open heart is 'cause the Holy Spirit is not open to their heart. But for whatever earthly temporal reason, the word just doesn't penetrate. It bounces off of them. It just doesn't get there. Not necessarily because they're outwardly hostile to it. They just maybe are not interested in it. And so this is where I think that. Along with the evil one, snatching it away. That's actually like one in the same thing. Is, is part of what I think this is getting at is that the, the, the only reason that the, um, that Satan can snatch away the word from their heart or what has been sewn into their heart is because their heart has not received it. And so it's that sort of dual function and, and maybe it's kind of like, almost like, uh, in Exodus, you know, God hardening the heart and then Pharaoh hardening the heart and those two things are happening, you know, by means of concurs that God is doing it in a divine sense. I almost feel like this is an instance where kind of like the, the census or, or with job where Satan is the one who is doing it, but it's ultimately attributed to God as well. It's the hardening of the heart, but it's also the hardness of heart. Um, all of those things are playing a dynamic, but ultimately the point here is that there are those who the word is preached to. [00:33:30] The Sower's Responsibility and the Soil's Condition Tony Arsenal: Um, you know, we will find out in, in a little bit later, like, the sower is Christ in, in these parables here. It's not, it's not generally the sowing of the word. It's Christ who is sowing the word. It's the son who is sowing, uh, the seed of the word. And we can think about that either during his own ministry. This certainly was, um, was true of his own ministry on Earth, that there were some who just did not receive the word and they just, it just bounced off of them. But then also as the son sows the seed through his people, down through the church age, through history, whether it's in the Lord's Day service or personal, witnessing, personal, you know, um, evangelism, it's still God who is sowing the seed. It's still the Lord who is the sower of the seed. But even in that context, there are still some who just don't receive it. So I think what you said earlier is really, is really spot on. This parable is not about. The skill of the sower or even the efficacy of the seed. Right. And I think sometimes people read this and they, they look at it as though it is actually the sewer's fault. What a dumb sower. He sowed it on the path. Of course it's not gonna take root. That's not the point of the parable at all. The point of the parable, and we learn it just right, this very first one, is that it has to do with the, the soil itself. Which is why, you know, I, I kind of joke about calling it the parable of the soils, and that's a fine way to refer to it. And most of these parables could have multiple different, you know, accurate titles as well. But the point of the parable, or the main point of the parable is that the soil itself is what determines the outcome. Again, you know, we, we don't need to get into all the theological details of how the soil becomes, what the soil is. This show has the word reformed in the title. You can figure out that we're gonna say, well, God is the one that prepares the soil. And that also just fits with the, with the a parable here, right? The good soil is only good because it's been tilled and prepared by the sower ahead of time, right? So I think that's, that's spot on. And, and you know, as I think about the people I know in my life, um, it's very easy to get discouraged when you try to so seed to, to follow through on the metaphor when you try to so seed and it feels like it bounces off. But we shouldn't be surprised at that. We shouldn't be surprised when someone is just not interested because Christ in his very first parable tells us there are people out there like that. That doesn't mean you don't sow the seed, it doesn't mean you don't continue to spread the seed the way that the sower does. And the reason for that is that some of it is going to take, take root, some of it is going to take root and bear fruit and you are not in charge and you don't control which one does which. We don't see the sower in this parable meticulously only identifying the good soil and only planting the seeds there. He does promiscuously spread this, so this seed everywhere that he can. [00:36:26] The Reality of Hardheartedness Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there is something there that I think is comfortable about this hardness of the soil, because I think sometimes we underestimate that the normative position of man is to be antagonistic toward God. That's not to say like we're talking about in their every action they take, they're going to refuse to hear the gospel or they're going to fight vehemently or out outwardly against it. But it's true that everywhere we find the scriptures, whether it's this other metaphor about God, again, doing this great surgery, of taking out this height of stone, which is of course hardheartedness or whether we go to like Romans three, where Paul says that there's no one who understands, there's no one who seeks God. So we understand that the default position is, one, nobody's seeking after God. Two, that God is too threatening to us. He threatens ourself. He threatens our ego, he threatens our own way. He threatens our contingency, all of which we try to fight against, like to our own dismay. And you know, basically. You know, it's willing, suspension of disbelief. But it's interesting and I think comforting here that what he's saying is, is exactly what you've just said, which is do not he, he'd almost say like loved ones. Do not be surprised when you find that people are just not that interested. They're just not into the gospel. Because your default position is to be a gospel abuser. To be a covenant breaker. And so because of that, there's just a natural hardness. And that hardness, I think he has to draw out. He has to say it's gonna bounce and Satan's gonna snatch it away because it would be, it's too easy to look at those who are just like vehemently opposed to the gospel that wanna debate. You wanna shut you down, wanna yell at you, wanna put signs in your face, wanna spit on you. That's too easy to be like, well, of course. Those people are not gonna receive it. But what about the quiet people who just don't care? Or, yeah. What about the people who are too caught up in their way of life or their simple behaviors or their patterns, or again, just what? What about those? What about the Mormons? When they come to your door and you can speak into your blue in the face about what Paul says, like the gospel plus anything is anathema, and they're just kinda like, yes. Yeah. Totally. That's fine. Totally down with that. And you're like, yeah, but you're doing, you're doing that very thing. This is great comfort to know that even those situations where you're not at war explicitly with somebody, that it's still comforting to know that this is going to happen. And also I think it's a great reminder that apart from God, apart from that changing of the soil, as you said, Tony, we would be those same people. That's in fact where we start. I, I don't say that. Like there's a progression here. We find in the, from moving from one to four. There is though something like you've said, where it's just interesting that Jesus shows us the very kind of shades of this. And I think, again, we gotta get out of our head like the, the temporality of this or like, well, what length of time are we talking about? Like when we get to the second one, which we should move on to. And there is some sprouting of the seed. Like how much time are we talking about? Like if it's two weeks, are they in camp two, if it's three weeks, are they moved out of that into some other, one of the other schools? Uh, I think it's just to show us that there are really, again, four hearers, one believer, and we can see clearly what the one believer looks like. It's a little bit more difficult to maybe sometimes discern what the other three look like, but it gives us hope and encouragement and basically just a sense of like, this is the way the world works. To know pres positionally, that when we go out, and like you said, I love this already, this is a major theme, is speak the gospel to all people. I mean, in this way, the gospel is for all people. Because Jesus' saying, do not cast the seed here. Go and look at that narrow path and find out, try to keep it off the, the hard ground. Do not let the devil snatch it up. It just says, throw and seed, throw and seed. And so we have to keep doing that stuff. [00:40:10] The Challenge of Shallow Roots Jesse Schwamb: So let's get to number two. What, what? Yeah. What say? Yeah. Tony Arsenal: Let me read it here. This is in verse, uh, 20 and 21. Here. It says, as for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the world, immediately he falls away. So thi this is the person who, um, who has some sort of outward conversion experience, right? It's a person who receives the word, he receives it with joy, um, and appears to sprout, right? This is seed that has taken hold and has, uh, you know, the, the, and we, we can see that it has taken hold. So it's not just some hidden seed that has roots and never breaks the surface. Right. It's a, it's a, it's a plant that has made its way into the soil. It has taken roots of some sort. Um, but the roots are shallow. The roots never actually get, uh, deep enough to, to be able to survive the sun, right. In the, the original parable, it's, it's baked by the sun. And, you know, this is, um, I think what what we're gonna see is maybe to sort of preface your question, and I think probably this is gonna be one of those two parter episodes, even though we planned it to be one parter episode. Um, I think what we're gonna see here is that you can't actually know whether someone is. The hard rocks is the rocks or the thorns. Right? Un until, until all is said and done. Right. Right. And that's part of what's difficult is you, you want to look at a parable like this, and this is where I think maybe this is a good sort of like caution against overinterpreting, the parables, right? Christ is not trying to give us a rubric to identify who is what. Jesse Schwamb: Right. He's Tony Arsenal: not trying to give us like a litmus test to say like, that person is the hard soil. That person is the rocks. That person is the thorns. And you know, this reminds me, I, I recall, I, I dunno how many years ago, it was a couple years ago when Kanye West was going through his like Jesus phase, right? And he, everyone was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that Kanye is a Christian and he's writing this album called Jesus. Jesus Saves. And, and I, I just remember saying at the time, like, guys, there's a parable of the soils here. Like we should be. Um, we should be joyful that it, it appears that this seed is taking root, but there are lots of different outcomes when the seed takes root. And it's funny because I, I don't, I don't remember what episode this was and please don't go look it up 'cause that's a waste of everyone's time. But I remember when that conversation happened and I don't know whether there was an affirmation or a denial or what context came up in, but I remember contrasting him to Justin Bieber. And it's ironic, right, because I actually just read on Twitter today. Let me see if I can find the post during the next time you're talking. Justin Bieber posted this really amazing, theologically astute, mature kind of statement on Twitter today. And I think at the time, if you had asked me, um, is Kanye more likely to be the good soil or Justin Bieber to be the good soil, I would've said Kanye. Right? Just because he's, he was older, he is a little bit more established in himself. Um. Justin Bieber was still very young. He was, he was sort of like all over the place personality wise. He seemed to be changing radically. And it just goes to show like, you can't tell. And, and I'm not even saying right now like, this is, this is where it gets difficult. I'm not even saying right now, Justin Bieber is good soil, although I did right. Retweet his quote and did hashtag good soil. Almost aspirationally, right? But we can take a look at someone's life in retrospect and say, this person is bearing fruit, or this person is not bearing fruit. And, and that's really where this particular, um, type of soil goes. It's not so much the fruit, it's the sprout. And I think when we look at a situation like Kanye and, and. There's hopefully still a lot of life left for Kanye, and that means there's still hope for a con, a genuine conversion and bearing fruit that keeps with repentance that does not appear to be what had happened at the time. Right? He's gone totally off the rails at this point. So we pray for that. We hope, we hope for better things for him. Um, but. At the time, Kanye was, is he, he's going by Y now. I don't even know what to call him anymore. But Kanye was a sprout that grew up with great joy quickly. And what we found through time is that it appears that he, when he was, although maybe he fits better into the second, this next category that we'll have to push off till next week, I think. But either way, like he appeared to have sprouted, he appeared to have taken root and ultimately did not actually bear fruit. And that's the defining feature of these first three ones. It's not so much about what happens with the seed. Does it get in the ground? Does it not get in the grow? Does it sprouts, does it not sprout? It's ultimately about the fruitfulness, right? The final, the final phase of the parable, the final, um, the final type of soil is the one that produces fruit. So we'll get to that in detail, but that's what we need to think about. And again, like I said, it's not as though crisis saying like, all right, here's this checklist of ways to determine whether someone's conversion is correct, is true or not. Because we can't know that until after the fact and well after the fact. We also can't know that it's valid until after the fact. What I think this parable, broadly speaking, gets at is that we have to look at every situation and realize that there are these different possible outcomes. And although I don't know that this is explicitly part of the parable, it also sort of points us to the fact that like, because it's not a foregone conclusion about what's gonna happen, maybe there's also something we can do about it. Right? Right. Maybe when we realize someone might be on the rocky soil. Whether we, we have some reason to believe that or we just want to get out in front of that possibility, maybe there's still room to actually get in there and, and move the seed to a different soil, I guess might be a better way to use the metaphor is to, to just take the seed somewhere else or to till the soil, to get the rocks out of the soil. Although this is not talking about like rocks in the soil. It's talking about a layer, probably a layer of bedrock. Like Yes, exactly. Just under the surface. Jesse Schwamb: Right? So Tony Arsenal: there is an immutability about these, these different categories of, of people, and again, this is where like overinterpreting, the parable can get to be problematic, but we, we see that there are these categories, we can't necessarily know which one of these categories a person is in when they have some sort of outward expression of faith where they've received. I think we can tell the difference between that first category. Someone who just has not received the, the gospel at all, has not received the word of God at all, right? Like it's just bounced off of him. It's made no impact. I think we can see that that's a relatively straightforward, um, situation for us to assess. And of course we can't see someone's heart, but it's, it's usually pretty outwardly, readily available to us that they just have not received the word in any means. Right. When we get to these second two categories, that's not the case. We're talking about two different categories of people who have received the word and it has begun to sprout. It has begun, it actually has sprouted, not just begun to sprout, but it's sprouted. Um, I just think we need to be really careful to sort of not place someone in an immutable category until after we've seen what's gonna happen. Yes. Really across their whole life. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:47:41] The Importance of Deep Roots in Faith Jesse Schwamb: I'm glad you brought that up because we really have to remember that in the last three instances, you cannot tell from the soil what the outcome will be. So it is a little bit, I'm with you, kind of a misnomer in the translation. This idea of like rocky soil. Yeah. If it were truly like rocky soil, the way that probably most of us in the Western think of it like soil mixed with gravel, right? They're probably, the sewer would be like, why would I throw it on there like that? That doesn't make any sense. Certainly again, if you're looking for that, that really fertile, well tilled ground, the one that looks promising, you wouldn't do that. So more than likely, I'm with you. We're talking about like a hired limestone layer that would've been like a few inches below, and as the sun would come down, my understanding is of course, like that limestone would heat up. It'd be like the perfect warm environment for like a seed to immediately like spring up with some hope. And that's exactly I think what Jesus is after here. It's this idea that the seed springs up immediately. People receive the message with joy. There's been no root or development to deeper moist soil though, because it doesn't exist. It gets blocked out. But inci incidentally, like the heat of that rock bed actually is the thing that causes it to germinate and produce at least a sprout really, really quickly. But as soon as like any kind of other heat comes upon it, because it cannot not grow deeper because it cannot set the roots, because it cannot get enough water from deep down, then it's going to be quick to die. I think we see this all the time. Maybe we even see this to some degree, not exclusively and in the same kind of magnitude in our own lives. But you know, we may listen to a sermon with pleasure while the impression produced in us is like only temporary, short-lived. You know, our hearts can be like that stony ground. Sometimes it may yield like a plentiful cop clap of warm feelings and like good resolutions and good vibes. How often do we hear that language? But all this time, there may be no deeply rooted work in our souls. And that first like cold blast of oppression or temptation may cause like all of that to go away. What I see interpret it from this particular group and, and this the one that follows it very much the same is like a conversion to religion. So here where this is where I firmly, like, I think we have a class, and this might trigger some people, but I'm gonna say it anyway. We have a class for this to me is deconstructionism. Yeah. And I think what I've, I've been helpful for me is to get outta my mind is that. I'm not sure that we have to be so concerned in this, this metaphor or this great parable about like what's the length of time here? So for instance, is it possible that somebody could be in this place where there is this hard layer of rock, which presents like a setting down of deep roots that could last like years on end. Yeah, where somebody has heard the gospel message has come into the life of the church and finds that this is generally a pleasant way to believe and to live and to express these ideals until maybe they have a strong voice somewhere or they're confronted with the fact that this, their message now is not very tolerant. And so as soon as there comes against them, this push that maybe what you're saying is too exclusive, that all of a sudden there really is a manifestation that there's no real root there. Yeah, there was no conversion. There was a conversion to religious principle and ideas and insomuch as those things didn't push too much against whatever objectives they had. Not even like going after what happens in the the third instance here with all the pleasures of life and all the temptations of the flesh, but just that there is some challenge. To what they believe and that it would be continually lived out in their actual lives, meaningful enough that it would impact behavior, change their mind, and continue to make them outspoken about the thing in which they're setting their roots into that if those things would cause the death of. That sprouts, then to me, that's where we find deconstruction isn't falling. And so in that case, again, it's comforting because it's not a matter of actual conversion as it were. It's not a matter of actual regeneration that hasn't actually occurred. There's plenty of reasons to come alongside and to give the gospel some kind of favor or to give it some kind of acquiescence because it's good on its own. There are lots of things that are good about it, but the rootedness in that is not merely in the outward manifestations of all the benefits of the gospel. It is getting Christ, as we've said. Yeah. And if we're not abiding in Christ, then we will necessarily die. In fact, Christ says elsewhere when he speaks to himself that even every bad branch that does not bear fruit, the father prunes and throws away. And so here we find that happening. It's, this is traumatic, it is dramatic, but this is where I think we see oftentimes Christians really get unnerved and sometimes it really, I think, rocks them when they see people who've had, like you said, Tony, like some professional faith. And I remember us talking about Kanye, and I remember us saying like, I think you and I were cautiously optimistic. We said like, this is fantastic. God does this very thing where he transforms people. And then we see in the long term, in the long run, the manifestation of that transformation, not in just merely as sinner's prayer or some expression of knowing something about the gospel intellectually, but the living it out so that the plant itself grows up in Christ to know of his great love, and then to share and abide in that love where it bears fruit. And so here I find this again, to be just very comforting because I think we see this a lot and our nerves, a lot of Christians, but I think Christ is giving an example here to say, do not be a unnerved by this. [00:53:10] Encouragement for Sowers and Believers Tony Arsenal: Yeah, maybe one last thought and then we, we can push pause until next week when we come back to this parable. Is. I think it's, there's two words in this, um, this little, these two verses here that really stick out to me. There's the, the word immediately, right? Yes. He immediately receives it with joy. That word is repeated later on when he immediately falls away. So there is a, um, there's a, a sense of suddenness to this, to this kind of, I'm using quotation marks if you're not watching the YouTube to this quotation or this, um, conversion experience, right? I think we all know people who have kind of the slow burn conversion experience, right? That's not to say that those people may not be, um, on hard soil or rocky soil. Right. But the, the person that we're talking about in that crisis talking about is the person who hears the word and has every appearance of an outward, radical, outward conversion of joy. And then joy is the second word that that shows up here. One of the things that drives me crazy, you know, maybe just to, to riff off the, the deconstruction, um, narrative a little bit is it drives me crazy when some sort of, um, high profile Christian falls away from the faith or deconstructs or falls, you know, into deep sin and then abandons the faith or has a tragedy happened in their life and whatever reason they abandon the faith. There's this tendency particularly among, I, I think sort of. I don't know if like, there still are young restless reform Christians out there, but I think it's still a valid descriptor. Kind of like the, I'm trying not to be pejorative, but sort of like the surface level tulip is what I call them, like the five point Calvinists who like heard an RC sprawl sermon one time and think that they are like the def, they're the definition of Calvinism. There's this tendency among that demographic that when somebody falls away from the faith to act as though everything about their experience of Christianity was somehow like an act like it was a, it was a, it was a play they were putting on, they were deceiving everybody. Right. That's that's not real. It's not the, it's not the way that it actually works and, and. I think the, um, the flip side and the caution for us in that is that just because our experience of Christianity and our, our experience of being in the faith feels so genuine and real and rooted, we should also recognize that like it felt real and genuine and rooted for Derek Webb or for name, name your key, you know, Joshua Harris, name your big profile deconstruction person of the day. Um, there's a caution there for us and I think that's the caution here in this, um, in this, I dunno, part of the parable is. Just as this is saying, the reason that the person falls away immediately is because there is no root in them yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, he immediately falls away, right? The cause of this is because there is no route that ca

Zach Lambert joins me for a conversation about how we read Scripture and how our reading shapes everything. We explore the lenses we bring to the Bible, the harm that can come from flat or literalist interpretations, and what it looks like to center our reading on the life and teachings of Jesus. Zach's new book, Better Ways to Read the Bible, invites us to move beyond fear-based or power-driven readings and toward a faith that bears good fruit - love, justice, humility, and hope. If you've ever felt disoriented by how the Bible is used in our culture, or if you're trying to rediscover Scripture through a Jesus-centered lens, this episode is for you. Listen in as we talk about interpretation, mystery, spiritual formation, and what it means to be shaped by the Word in a way that leads to life.Zach W. Lambert is the lead pastor and founder of Restore, a church in Austin, Texas. Under his leadership, Restore has grown from a launch team of five people in 2015 to more than 1,000 members today. He holds a bachelor's degree in communication from Hardin-Simmons University, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is pursuing his Doctorate at Duke Divinity School.Zach is the cofounder of the Post Evangelical Collective and serves on the boards of the Austin Church Planting Network and the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network. Zach and his wife, Amy, met each other in the 6th grade, fell in love at 17, and got married at 21. They love watching live music, discovering local Mexican food places, and playing with their two boys.Zach's Book:Better Ways to Read the BibleZach's Recommendation:The Tears of ThingsSubscribe to Our Substack: Shifting CultureConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTubeConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link belowSubscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com for early, ad-free episodes and more! Support the show

Send us a textMy guest is Matt Mikalatos — author, screenwriter, producer, and all-around brilliant storyteller. He has written award-winning books, including the beautifully illustrated graphic novel God With Us, the devotional Praying with Saint Nicholas, and an imaginative Young Adult fantasy series, The Sunlit Lands. He's also co-authored Loving Disagreement with Kathy Khang — a timely, powerful book about how to stay in relationship, even when the culture says it's time to cancel.As an undergraduate student in creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, Matt studied under the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Percival Everett, author of the wildly popular novel entitled JAMES.  Matt's story doesn't stop there. He spent 20 years with a global campus ministry (Campus Crusade for Christ now known as CRU), lived in China, became fluent in Mandarin, and worked deeply in cross-cultural ministry. He's seen the evolution — or devolution — of Evangelicalism from the inside, and he doesn't shy away from talking about it. From Trumpism and anti-democratic rhetoric to hot-button issues like immigration, LGBTQ rights, and even “chainsaw massacre” politics, we go there — and Matt helps us understand the power of story over shouting matches.There's exciting news - he's just been notified that a script he's written has been greenlit. The production of a full-length feature film begins soon, with filming in Thailand.Join me as Matt and I talk about faith, storytelling, culture, and how, in this divided world, we can still communicate and respect each other — even when we disagree. It's a lively, eye-opening, and deeply human exchange you won't want to miss. Mike Mikalatos WebSiteSupport the showBecome a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken's Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

Episode Synopsis:Did Julius Wellhausen's ideas die along with him, or are the notions of religious liberalism and personal interpretation of the Bible, persistent enough to maintain a stranglehold on society long after their visionary author was put to rest?We talk about this and much more, including:What are some of the cognitive limitations in forming beliefs?How is hybridization a means to and end for the confederated forces of darkness?Who was Julius Wellhausen and how does his idea of the documentary hypothesis rule the world from the grave?How has the Christian Deconstruction movement spawned from religious liberalism?What are some of the devastating consequences of adopting the ideals espoused by religious liberalism?Original Air DateJuly 30th, 2025Show HostsJason Spears & Christopher DeanOur PatreonConsider joining our Patreon Squad and becoming a Tier Operator to help support the show and get access to exclusive content like:Links and ResourcesStudio NotesA monthly Zoom call with Jason and Christopher And More…ORP ApparelMerch StoreConnect With UsLetsTalk@ORPpodcast.comFacebookInstagram

Questions? Comments? Text Us!Welcome to What's Your Spiritual Story: a new series from God: An Autobiography, The Podcast, featuring candid conversations with people whose spiritual lives have been reshaped by direct encounters with the divine. In this first installment, Jerry L. Martin speaks with pastor and podcaster Mark Groleau, who returns to the show exactly 100 episodes after his original appearance.Mark's story is one of radical transformation. Raised in a strict Oneness Pentecostal tradition, he was trained to preach, taught to defend doctrine, and discouraged from asking questions. But once he began studying literature and scripture through a critical lens, everything changed. What followed was a deconstruction of his inherited faith, a period of atheism, and an eventual reawakening through a more expansive vision of God.This episode follows Mark's evolving relationship with the divine, from the static, all-powerful deity of classical theism to a God who suffers, listens, and grows. Influenced by thinkers like John Caputo, Jacques Derrida, Greg Boyd, and Terence Fretheim, Mark now embraces process theology, which sees God not as removed from the world but as intimately involved in its unfolding.Jerry and Mark reflect on what it means to believe in a God who changes. They discuss suffering, divine vulnerability, and the tension between doctrine and experience. Mark also shares why Jesus' teachings have become central to his life, and why many Christians, ironically, ignore them. From Hebrew grammar to the Big Bang, from seminary classrooms to Buddhist temples in Korea, this is a conversation for anyone rethinking their faith and seeking something more relational, honest, and alive.If you've ever wrestled with the question of who, or what, God really is, this conversation offers a starting point for something deeper.Mentioned in this episode: Creation Untamed by Terence Fretheim, Not Sure by John Suk, #JesusIsMyGuru, Process Theology, Open Theism, Wikigod Podcast, Bereshit, PatripassianismOther Series:The podcast began with the Dramatic Adaptation of the book and now has several series:Life Wisdom Project: How to live a wiser, happier, and more meaningful life with special guests.From God To Jerry To You: Calling for the attention of spiritual seekers everywhere, featuring breakthroughs, pathways, and illuminations.Two Philosophers Wrestle With God: Sit in on a dialogue between philosophers about God and the questions we all have.What's On Our Mind- Connect the dots with Jerry and Scott over the most recent series of episodes.What's On Your Mind: What are readers and listeners saying? What is God saying?Stay ConnectedShare your thoughts or questions at questions@godandautobiography.com

Is deconstructing your faith a path to deeper belief or total doubt? In this episode, Mike Stone breaks down the growing conversation around faith deconstruction—why people question Christianity, what leads some to walk away, and how others come out with an even stronger faith.

Christian deconstruction: depending on your theology, it's either a dangerous movement of postmodernism in the Church, seducing young people away from orthodoxy, or a new Reformation of Christistianity, replacing certainty, dogma and control with honesty, love and a messy approach to faith. In this episode (Part I of II), the gang talk deconstruction, what it means to us, what we've gained and what we feel we might have lost because of that journey. We also feature the stories and reflections of special guests (one more special and less guesty than the others) who discuss whether they feel they have deconstructed and why. Listen for some laughs, some thoughts about what deconstruction offers and means, and also for Jonty's niche conspiracy theory about Trent Reznor #reversesatanicpanic. Please share this with your deconstructing friends (and friends who fear the deconstruction movement), and message us with your thoughts on and experiences with deconstructing.  Part II is coming soon! About Beer Christianity Beer Christianity is an anti-capitalist, pro-BLM, pro-LGBTQ+, anti-imperialist, post-post-post-evangelical podcast where we drink a bit and talk a lot. Our aim is to be real, helpful and entertaining. Beer Christianity also has a newsletter in which Jonty and guest authors comment on the news, theological issues and stuff that matters. He updates it according to his own wildly inconsistent neurodivergent schedule, but it's a good read. Sign up to the Beer Christianity newsletter on Substack.  Support Beer Christianity… Putting the show together costs a bunch of money in hosting fees, editing software, equipment and time. If you can, please help out by donating via Buy Me a Coffee (or in our case, a beer) where you can make one-off donations or do the membership thing. Follow Beer Christianity on Twitter: @beerxianity and find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and, probably, loads of other places. We love hearing from listeners. You can email us at beerchristianity AT yahoo DOT com. We often respond to mails we get on the show. And if you leave us a voicenote on Insta we might air your question on an episode. There's also a connected Show With Music on Spotify called New Old Music. Check it out if you like eclectic music and random chat. Other things… Malky's design work has graced many good magazines and music videos. You can find his stuff and even commission him if he's not too busy, here. Jonty's novel, Incredulous Moshoeshoe and the Lightning Bird, is not literature but it's quite fun if you like Supernatural, Africa or the Goth scene. Laura doesn't want us to post her BookTok until she's posted more videos. She may have prayed for the app to be banned just to avoid it. Beliefs… We don't really want to preach at you, but some people like to know what we believe. It's this: Jesus Christ is the Son of God and came to teach us a better way to be, while reconciling us to God and each other in a way we could never do without Him. He also changed water into wine. Nice. 

Deconstruction has sadly become a fad in Christian circles. Research shows that American Christians are walking away from the faith at staggering rates. In this episode, Blake shares three reasons from the Bible why people “lose” their faith. He also shares Scripture's wisdom for how to steward and grow your faith in Christ.

Join us for a deep dive into the latest episode of the HYP Podcast!

Have you ever wished you could get inside the head of a Christian going through a deconstruction journey? Well, you've come to the right place! Today, we're joined by Abigail Favale, a Professor of Women's Studies and author of “Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion,” to hear how she went from an evangelical upbringing to postmodern feminism to a proud member of the Catholic Church. Follow along her journey as she shares with Patrick how her views developed, what she wishes she would have known before and during her deconstruction years, and how she navigated her fears. How have her views on gender and feminism changed? Why is it so important for Christians to live with, not resolve, the tension in the Bible? How did she become a Catholic? And what does she recommend we must do as the Church to support those living in deconstruction land? Listen now! Have you benefitted personally from Truth Over Tribe or seen it have a positive effect on someone you know? have you used the podcast, book, or blog as a catalyst for conversation on polarizing topics? We want to hear about it! Share your story at choosetruthovertribe.com/story. Ok, truth time... Did you like this episode? Tell us by leaving a rating or review!

Please enjoy my interview with Dianne Sherman about her Near Death Experience and Deconstruction from Catholicism.WHERE TO FIND MELISSAWEBSITE: https://lovecoveredlife.com/VIDEO PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/@lovecoveredlifepodcastINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lovecoveredlife/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovecoveredlife BE A GUEST: https://www.lovecoveredlife.com/beaguestEMAIL FOR OTHER BUSINESS INQUIRIES: Melissa@lovecoveredlife.comWHERE TO FIND DIANNE: WEBSITE: https://guidingyourspirit.com/FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/GuidingYourSpirit/?ref=bookmarks

Please enjoy my interview with Keith Giles About his Deconstruction and journey out of Progressive Christianity.WHERE TO FIND MELISSAWEBSITE: https://lovecoveredlife.com/VIDEO PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/@lovecoveredlifepodcastINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lovecoveredlife/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovecoveredlife BE A GUEST: https://www.lovecoveredlife.com/beaguestEMAIL FOR OTHER BUSINESS INQUIRIES: Melissa@lovecoveredlife.comWHERE TO FIND KEITH: SOLA DEUS: http://bit.ly/3Z9dAnXSOLA MYSTERIUM: https://amzn.to/3aLxJf9SQUARE 1:https://www.bk2sq1.com/square-1-finding-faith-and-hope-after-deconstructing-christianity?coupon=SQ1SEVENTYFIVEYOUTUBE CHANNEL:https://www.youtube.com/user/kgilesifyWEBSITE:https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/ (KeithGiles.com)

Please enjoy my interview with Kelly Bowker about her journey from Catholicism to medium and channel!WHERE TO FIND MELISSAWEBSITE: https://lovecoveredlife.com/VIDEO PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/@lovecoveredlifepodcastINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lovecoveredlife/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovecoveredlife BE A GUEST: https://www.lovecoveredlife.com/beaguestEMAIL FOR OTHER BUSINESS INQUIRIES: Melissa@lovecoveredlife.comWHERE TO FIND KELLY: YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3IQZwEkHsN83-5a60IGXwPREVIOUS INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nM6JzRRrBY&t=155sBOOKS:Redefining Faith: https://bit.ly/47u8c1QEstablishing Your Frequency: http://bit.ly/40FuPOrFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084311651931

Please enjoy my interview with Michael Camp about his journey from Christian missionary through his deconstruction journey!WHERE TO FIND MELISSAWEBSITE: https://lovecoveredlife.com/VIDEO PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/@lovecoveredlifepodcastINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lovecoveredlife/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovecoveredlife BE A GUEST: https://www.lovecoveredlife.com/beaguestEMAIL FOR OTHER BUSINESS INQUIRIES: Melissa@lovecoveredlife.comWHERE TO FIND MICHAEL: WEBSITE: https://www.spiritualbrewpub.com/https://www.spiritualbrewpub.com/PODCAST: https://spiritualbrewpub.podbean.com/WORKSHOP: https://www.spiritualbrewpub.com/spiritual-freedom-deconstruction-workshopsBOOKS: https://www.spiritualbrewpub.com/michael-camp-books-christian-history

Please enjoy my interview with Aaron Tomlinson about his journey from evangelical pastor to consciousness teacher. WHERE TO FIND MELISSAWEBSITE: https://lovecoveredlife.com/VIDEO PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/@lovecoveredlifepodcastINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lovecoveredlife/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovecoveredlife BE A GUEST: https://www.lovecoveredlife.com/beaguestEMAIL FOR OTHER BUSINESS INQUIRIES: Melissa@lovecoveredlife.comWHERE TO FIND AARON: YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-bhdFvZZfd7YpZ39N-0cZgWEBSITE: http://www.theawakeningcenter.org/

As a young man, John Marriott struggled with insecurities in his Christian beliefs. It led him on a journey of reconstructing his faith and helping others in a faith crisis. Now a high school and college instructor, Marriott shares about common barriers to faith that young people experience, as he encourages loving interaction with those doubting their Christian faith.   Get a copy of either Before You Go or Set Adrift by John Marriott when you make a gift of any amount. If you're having doubts about Christianity, or know someone who is, get Set Adrift, it'll help you reevaluate your Christian beliefs and experiences while keeping your faith intact. And if you want to be better equipped to encourage others who are doubting Christianity, then get Before You Go.   Check out our Hope Restored marriage intensive to find healing with your spouse.   Get Ray Vander Laan's new study to deepen your faith and assurance in the truth of God's Word.   Donate   Send Jim a voicemail! Click here.

Listen to all podcasts of Pastor David Minard at:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLekXlfn-2GlCRw_Rl3735IiYEKhBpo-Iv&feature=shared

In this last season of my life I've experienced withdrawals, both mentally and physically from an acceptance addiction and a substance dependence. During this time the thing I realized is that the only way for me to get through the withdrawals and remain true to my convictions was to depend on God in a way that I haven't ever really experienced before. Both of my withdrawals from addiction were rooted in dopamine - I wanted to feel good - but it lead to a life of bondage and serving two masters (which isn't possible).  Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

"Grace" is a word that has lost a lot of its power due to culture, overuse and not fully experiencing it. Grace is one of the most powerful forces in all the universe and when you taste of it, it will impact your life and cause drastic change. I'm joined today with Julie Wood, of the Just Initiative, a non profit that helps people in the Tampa Bay area find a pathway out of poverty. She has both received and given grace countless times and shares with us about those experiences.  Learn more about the Just Iniative. Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

“Be holy, as I am holy,” is a verse that still triggers me deeply. This verse was used as a weapon, to place a heavy burden on people, shaming them and in essence saying, “you need to do better.” I wanted to have this conversation today because I know deep down that the way I understood “holiness” from my church upbringing wasn't the real definition of what Jesus meant when he invited us to be like Him (aka “holy”). I left this conversation feeling inspired and hungry to truly be holy. I hope you find the same. Learn more about Caleb. Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

During the summer, God dramatically interrupted my path. He broke into my world, removed scales from my eyes, and showered me with his love and grace. In this episode, I talk about what transpired, and how it has impact it my life. It always amazes me how I can end up in places of deception and not even realize it. In God‘s kindness and grace, he remains faithful, and always finds a way to call me back to the purity of knowing him. If you feel like you've lost the reality and impact of the truth of God's amazing love, this episode is for you. Nothing can separate us! Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

The Neo soul, jazz and Gospel vibes of Peter & Guianna Graced the LIve Music Showcase studio in this episode. We hit some of the heavy topics, covering sobriety, Christian Deconstruction, and art of scating!

Date Preached: Jun 4, 2023 Passage: John 6:60-71 For more information about this sermon, please visit Grace To You Ministries or click here. Copyright Notice: © Copyright 2023 by John MacArthur. Used by permission from Grace to You. Website: gty.org Phone: 800-55-GRACE This sermon is being shared in accordance with Grace To You copyright policy, which allows for the reproduction and distribution of audio and video messages digitally. We have followed all copyright policies set by Grace To You Ministries to ensure the lawful sharing of this sermon. For any questions or concerns regarding this episode, please feel free to contact us at expositorysermons@gmail.com. Learn more about Grace to You's copyright policy here: ⁠https://www.gty.org/about#copyright --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/expositorysermons/support

Date Preached: May 28, 2023 Passage: John 6:60-71 For more information about this sermon, please visit Grace To You Ministries, or click here. Copyright Notice: © Copyright 2023 by John MacArthur. Used by permission from Grace to You. Website: gty.org Phone: 800-55-GRACE This sermon is being shared in accordance with Grace To You copyright policy, which allows for the reproduction and distribution of audio and video messages digitally. We have followed all copyright policies set by Grace To You Ministries to ensure the lawful sharing of this sermon. For any questions or concerns regarding this episode, please feel free to contact us at expositorysermons@gmail.com. Learn more about Grace to You's copyright policy here: ⁠https://www.gty.org/about#copyright --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/expositorysermons/support

In this stream I deconstruct and go over the heretical gnostic Gospel of Thomas and show how and where it departs from the paradigm of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Make sure to check it out and let me know what you think. God bless Superchat Me: https://streamlabs.com/churchoftheeternallogos Donochat Me: https://dono.chat/dono/dph Join this channel's YouTube Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH8JwgaHCkhdfERVkGbLl2g/join Intro Music Follow Keynan Here! https://linktr.ee/keynanrwils b-dibe's Bandcamp: https://b-dibe.bandcamp.com/ b-dibe's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/b-dibe Thumbnails by iPAK: https://linktr.ee/ipak_arts Rokfin: https://rokfin.com/dpharry Website: http://www.davidpatrickharry.com GAB: https://gab.com/dpharry Support COTEL with Crypto! Bitcoin: 3QNWpM2qLGfaZ2nUXNDRnwV21UUiaBKVsy Ethereum: 0x0b87E0494117C0adbC45F9F2c099489079d6F7Da Litecoin: MKATh5kwTdiZnPE5Ehr88Yg4KW99Zf7k8d If you enjoy this production, feel compelled, or appreciate my other videos, please support me through my website memberships (www.davidpatrickharry.com) or donate directly by PayPal or crypto! Any contribution would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Logos Subscription Membership: http://davidpatrickharry.com/register/ Venmo: @cotel - https://account.venmo.com/u/cotel PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/eternallogos Donations: http://www.davidpatrickharry.com/donate/ PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/eternallogos Website: http://www.davidpatrickharry.com Rokfin: https://rokfin.com/dpharry Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/COTEL Odysee: https://odysee.com/@ChurchoftheEternalLogos:d GAB: https://gab.com/dpharry Telegram: https://t.me/eternallogos Minds: https://www.minds.com/Dpharry Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/W10R... DLive: https://dlive.tv/The_Eternal_Logos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dpharry/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_dpharry

American Christians don't ask questions about Father Abraham. Abraham is nothing but an old man, a character in one of the old stories we don't read in the Bible. To us, Abraham has very little to do with Jesus and His sacrifice for us on the cross. Many of us came to Jesus without knowing of Abraham, and we have maintained our relationship with Jesus without any real further acquaintance with him. It's a problem that many don't see this situation as a problem. Our lack of familiarity with Abraham reveals our lack of comprehension of the fullness of the Gospel.❤️ SHOW YOUR SUPPORT - LINKS BELOW...➡️ DONATE ➡️  Join our team!https://www.givesendgo.com/karlgessle...https://www.patreon.com/karlgesslerSocial Media➡️Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...➡️Telegram - https://t.me/FaithoftheFathers➡️Truth Social - https://truthsocial.com/@UCLOvq6O4aIX... ➡️Gab - https://gab.com/KarlGesslerSupport the show

For the last episode of this season, we are taking a look at revisiting “yourself.” We've spent the last 12 weeks looking a many aspects of Christian basics and I wanted to end the season talking about our relationship with ourself. I've learned that my identity is a crucial part of how I move through the world and how relate to God. This week, I decided to not have a guest and share part of my journey with you as I have been revisiting myself. Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

The devil played a very large role in my Christian upbringing. So much so, that I found myself fearing him more than looking to God. The devil became so big in my mind that I was constantly looking for him in every detail of life, which turned into a pseudo-obsession. On today's episode, my guest and I go deep into some of the history and cultural influences of the devil, as found in the Bible and church history. Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

Spiritual warfare is a polarized topic in the church. Some of the church denies that the spirit realm is a real thing, while the other side of the church takes it way too far and seeing the devil under every rock. In this episode, my friend, Ashely and I talk about the two sides of the coin and process our own upbringings to discover what we believe is a healthy and balanced view of spiritual warfare. Check out XII Church. Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

Prayer is something that is built into the Christian life and has been pivotal in my spiritual development and health. For some, prayer was stressful, frustrating and shaming. In this episode, my guest and I talk about the essence of prayer and how it's so simple and can lead to life that is full of wisdom, communion and peace. If you've had a hard time with prayer, have a listen with an open heart and engage God with us. I must confess, after we recorded this episode, all I wanted to do was pray! :D Follow Jolene on TikTok. Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

News segment ends at: sometime. Forgot to hit the flag to say when it ended. Sorry Interacting to a video made by Kristi Burke A "Former Christian" who knows very little if anything at all about the basics of the faith. However, the verses she brought up are good to respond to. Did get heated towards the end as she starts blaspheming God. So, there's that.

News segment ends at: sometime. Forgot to hit the flag to say when it ended. Sorry Interacting to a video made by Kristi Burke A "Former Christian" who knows very little if anything at all about the basics of the faith. However, the verses she brought up are good to respond to. Did get heated towards the end as she starts blaspheming God. So, there's that.

The “gospel” is a term commonly used in Christianity, but it can mean many different things depending on the church denomination you're associated with. In addition, the Bible itself doesn't clearly define the gospel. It is commonly said that Jesus went about healing many and preaching the good news (gospel), but it doesn't tell us exactly what that meant. If you were raised in the church and didn't have a clear understanding of what the gospel is, this episode will help you get to the heart of the message. Follow Rebekah Moyer on TikTok. Book a session with Joey. Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

In many Christian circles, the term, “born again,” has come to mean a certain type of Christian. Basically, asking the question, “do they believe what I believe?” This has removed the actual underlying message was communicating to Nicodemus, which was that there is a spiritual awakening that occurs where the scales of our spiritual eyes fall off. If you were raised as a “born again” Christian, this message may help you redeem that phrase and gain greater understanding of what it really means. Ken's Ministry: Revealed Ministires Ken's Books: Amazon Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

Clint, Gary, and David tackle JMac's views of Christian deconstruction.

This week, we go back and revisit the idea of “God's voice.” This topic can carry a lot of frustration and confusion for those who were raised in the church. For some, it was the pressure to always know what God was saying and for others it was the silence that caused them to feel like a shit-Christian. Wherever you find yourself today, this conversation addresses many of the issues and challenges that comes along with trying to hear God's voice. If you've ever felt like you're the only one that doesn't hear God, this episode will make you feel right at home with others who have felt the same way. Contact David: http://www.davidwaldy.com/ https://www.tiktok.com/@davidwaldy/ https://www.youtube.com/c/davidwaldy Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

Preempt Broadcast Click the icon below to listen.

This week we are taking a look at “sin.” Sin is a loaded term, that is typically found exclusively in Christianity. While it's obvious ever human has sinned, the way most of us were taught by the church about sin, was laced with fear and shame. Some people even develop an obsession about not sinning, so much to the point that it has a negative effect on their mental health. In this conversation we talk about how sin has been dealt with - defeated. It no longer holds any power and we are in fact now the righteousness of God. Have a listen and consider that maybe you're not a horrible sinner at your core, but rather the rightness of who God is. Check out Brit Eaton Follow us on TikTok. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

A new MP3 sermon from Grace to You is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Christian Deconstruction, Part 2 (John 6:60-71) Speaker: Pastor John MacArthur Broadcaster: Grace to You Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/4/2023 Length: 53 min.

Today, Chris Krazter joins the conversation. Chris is the author of two books, Leatherbound Terrorism and Stupid $hit Heard in Church. He is a former ELCA pastor, with a Masters in Divinity, who left Evangelical Christianity for transformation. His books outline his storyline of transformation or "Christian Deconstruction." Chris shares with us the curiosity, doubt, and skepticism he wrestles with on his new journey toward understanding God.  We discuss things like what confronts and inspires one to question their beliefs. We talk about the problematic ideologies associated within some churches and belief systems of our country. And then the conversation takes a nose-dive into divergence and disagreement to an abrupt ending of the interview. Unfortunately, the guest and I have since parted ways, but I am grateful for his story and sharing of space on this episode, both controversial and contentious, but otherwise a prime example of humans being human.  Chris Kratzer's books can be found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=stupid+shit+heard+in+church&crid=2JLZGB95T83HQ&sprefix=%2Caps%2C117&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_2_0_recent https://www.amazon.com/Leatherbound-Terrorism-Chris-Kratzer/dp/0692191623/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=leather+bound+terrorism&qid=1686015276&sprefix=leather+bound+ter%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1 and you can listen to Chris's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grace-is-brave-be-brave/id1557318353   Enjoy the episode!   And visit https://www.daniellekingstrom.com/ 

Christian Deconstruction Truth Be Told Radio is a conservative reformed Christian talk/variety show that features teaching/preaching from a biblical perspective and a unique blend of special guests, humor, critiques, sermons, music, clips, and news. We play music from Shai Linne. You can find him on www.lampmode.com. We also play music from "Go Fish," you can find them at: www.gofishguys.com. Check out WWUTT (When We Understand The Text on the WWUTT channel on Youtube and also at www.wwutt.com. Also see Wretched on the Wretched channel on Youtube and their site for their radio and tv show at: www.wretched.org. Also features Melissa Dougherty on Youtube. Also, Joni Eareckson Tada, "Diamonds in the Dust," segments.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church. Click the icon below to listen.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church. Click the icon below to listen.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace to You is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Christian Deconstruction (John 6:60-71) Speaker: Pastor John MacArthur Broadcaster: Grace to You Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/28/2023 Length: 53 min.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church. Click the icon below to listen.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church. Click the icon below to listen.

It's important that those of us who still claim faith in Jesus listen to the stories of those who have left Christianity. All too often when someone leaves the faith, Christians quickly write them off as “being blinded by Satan.” This judgement doesn't allow for conversation and to really listen and understand why some people leave Christianity. Jo Loyd Johnson, joins me today to talk about her journey out of Christianity, which she documents in her new book, “Silenced In Eden.” I invite you to listen with open arms, compassionate ears and a soft heart. Follow Jo on Insta. Buy a copy of "Silenced In Eden" Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

I was raised in a culture that taught me that God had a calling on my life. Now, while that is true in one sense, the way it was taught to me was that God was going to use me to do earth-shattering feats, such as take over Hollywood or evangelize Europe. Like many of you, life went on and as I entered my 20's and 30's, I started to realize that my life was a lot more “normal” than I expected. I felt discouraged, blamed myself and felt as if God had tricked me. Since then, I've done a lot of processing and have now redefined what my “calling” means. I'm joined by Eric Hyde, a licensed therapist, who was also raised in the same stream of Christianity that I was. He brings a unique understanding between what is meant by “calling” vs. “meaning." Follow Eric's blog: https://ehyde.wordpress.com/ Learn more about Orthodoxy:         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blNhjfac5FM         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUzgrIahs6w        The Orthodox Way & The Orthodox Church (both by Timothy Ware)        Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (by Andrew Stephen Damick) Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

There's a strange phenomenon that I've observed in Christian culture. On one hand it's preached that Jesus has saved us from sin, guilt and shame and on the other hand, the church teaches us to feel guilty and shameful through much of its practice and theology. I've lived most of my life with a chronic sense of guilt, that was at times, debilitating. The more I've talked to others about this, I've come to realize it's something much bigger than me. As Ashley puts it in this episode, we sell people God wrapped in a New Testament (grace, love, acceptance, etc.) understanding but then deliver them the God of the Old (angry, vengeful, judgmental, etc.). In this episode we tackle this contradiction and talk about the reality of who God is. Visit XII Church at: https://www.xii.church/ Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media

We all fail and when we do, we feel like we deserve punishment and judgement, but in God's Kingdom it's just the opposite. Today, I'm joined with Daniel Dodd, who was a successful pastor that had a major moral failure, costing him his job, his spiritual community and his pride. Although he was shunned by his church, he was surprised at what he found in God. Instead of harsh judgement and disappointment, he fell into loving, forgiving and accepting arms. Just like my story, Daniel was surprised at the response he experienced in God. His story is raw, honest and full of grace. Learn more about the KNGDM Collective. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

Every human experiences grief and sorrow. It's simply a part of life. Jesus himself was called a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He knows what it is to grieve loss, to be betrayed and to cry out to the Father in agony and anxiety. I think the church has forgotten about this part of Jesus' life. Yes, he conquered death and the grave and is seated at the right hand of the Father, but he is also the lowly servant, who was mistreated, spat upon and sweat drops of blood in the garden. I think the church has done a disservice by overlooking these parts of Christ. Many church-goers have learned how to deny their emotions, rather than experience them. There seems to be a pressure to always have a smiley face on in church, otherwise you can be perceived as not being a “good Christian.” My friend, George Wood joins me again to talk about his grief and sorrow and how God found him in the midst of it all.  Connect with George Wood. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

Let's talk about sex! For me sex was associated with sin and shame. Being raised in the Evangelical church, I was taught to fear sex and anything related to it. That fundamental teaching was extremely damaging for me, both sexually, spiritually and mentally. In this episode, I'm joined with Shannon Ethridge, a Christian sexologist, sex coach and author, to dive deep into some uncomfortable conversations around sex. This conversation was enlightening and challenging for me.   Learn more about Shannon here. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

Politics is a conversation I tend to stay far away from. I don't like conversations that center around two polar opposite viewpoints, where the one side demonizes the other. And, if you've been alive for the last few years, you know the political climate in the United States has been very, very heated. Not only that but a strange phenomenon has crept into many evangelical churches in the expression of Christian Nationalism. This is not only dangerous but it also taints the very name of the one we proclaim. In this episode, I'm joined by Tim Whitaker, a podcaster and advocate for church reform. His podcast, “The New Evangelicals,” focuses heavily on the current state of the church, with the hopes to expand our understanding of where things went off course and the hope to return to our first love.  Check out "The New Evangelics" Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

Addiction has become sorta an expectation in our society. Most of us have dealt with addiction on one level or another. Many are secretly hiding their addictions, out of fear of judgement and shame. On today's show I sit down with my guest, who was on staff at a church and hiding his addiction to alcohol. While he was a Christian for most of his life, it wasn't until his addiction got out of control that he fully understand and experienced the grace of God. The churches obsession with preaching against sin, has lead many in the church to hide in shame and not feel safe or comfortable to come clean and ask for help. The Transcend Human Podcast Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

The deconstruction movement has swept through American Christianity for the last few years, leaving very polarized opinions of what it is and its credibility. I myself have not been a part of that movement, not because I don't affirm it, but because I haven't had that experience. I never had a moment of “deconstruction.” For me, most of my Christian walk has been asking the tough questions and readjusting my beliefs based on my experiences, knowledge of scripture and new information I've acquired. But for many, there was a moment of realizing that they may not agree or believe everything they've been taught in American Christianity. This movement has had the boldness to address some major inconsistencies in the church and have had the courage to question why they believe what they believe. For some, deconstruction has lead them to greater faith in Jesus and for others it's lead to the decision that they do not believe in Him. Wherever you find yourself, this episode will address each component of this process. Learn more about Danny and his church. Check out "The Deconstruction Zone" podcast. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

LGBTQ Christians. This is a huge topic within the Christian faith. Traditionally, churches have done a very poor job at understanding how to navigate this topic. In this episode, it is my desire to bring greater understanding and awareness around this topic. If you're someone who is queer, on any level, and you've never felt comfortable or welcomed to be honest about your sexuality, I pray this conversation brings hope and peace to your soul. And for the listeners that are straight and don't understand this world, my hope is that you will approach this topic with respect and open-mindedness, so that you can become a safe person for those in your life who are working through this part of their life. Side B Resources The Four Sides Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

The Bible. The most sold book in the world, is intended to be the story of God and humanity, but many times it has been used to devalue, manipulate and dehumanize people. Unfortunately, this abusive approach to the Bible has been a large part of my Christian experience. For many years, I had a very strong shame filter, as I read the Bible because of how others had presented it and used it against me. I'm joined by Dr. Lamp, a professor of the New Testament at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He brings an incredible perspective to this sensitive and heated topic. If you've ever felt like the Bible was used against you, I think this episode will resonate with you and hopefully provide some level of healing. Dr. Lamp's books. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

Introduction to God burns bridges and Him severing people and things from us.God reveals His ways only to a select group of people.How to become one of the select and one who learns the ways of God.Why God burning bridges is a part of His process for you and biblical examples of God burning bridges.The Mysteries of GodWhy you should never think you know all that you need to know about God and your relationship with Him.Links to SocialsYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiberationLiveInstagram: @liberation_liveTikTok: @liberationliveFacebook: facebook.com/LiberationLivePodcast: (direct link) knowgodforreal.simplecast.com, or Listen On Apple, Spotify, and everywhere podcasts are heard.

What if we lived as if Jesus meant the things He said? That's the question that Shane Claiborne has been asking for over 20 years. Shane is a prominent speaker, activist, and best-selling author.  Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia.  He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living "as if Jesus meant the things he said." Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war. Now grace fuels his passion to end the death penalty and help stop gun violence. Learn more about Shane. Watch us on YouTube. Join our FREE Facebook group. Connect with Joey. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

Where is God in the midst of the absurdity of life? Every one of us have experienced loss, hurt, pain and injustice and at times, it is difficult to reconcile those events in our life with the goodness of God. I know I've been there many times and fought my way through the confusion with frustration, anger and hurt. We're joined today by my friend, Eric Hyde, who is a licensed therapist in the state of Oklahoma and practicing Orthodox Christian. We take a look at the book of Job and Ecclesiastes to try and make sense of these complex questions. While there aren't any straight-forward answers, there are a few conclusions we can make from these overlooked books of the Bible. Follow Eric's blog: https://ehyde.wordpress.com/ Learn more about Orthodoxy:         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blNhjfac5FM         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUzgrIahs6w        The Orthodox Way & The Orthodox Church (both by Timothy Ware)        Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (by Andrew Stephen Damick)         Support the podcast and become a patreon. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

How do you relate to a friend or loved one who walked with you in your faith and has decided to leave it? While this podcast is not about deconstruction, my friend Tim, is a prime example of someone who was the poster-child Christian, who has deconstructed, years ago, and is now an agnostic-atheist. The funny thing is, my love and friendship with Tim has not changed at all! His thoughts, his process and his conclusions are fascinating and I think you will be challenged and encouraged by our conversation.   Support the podcast and become a patreon. Produced by Joey Papa Media.

A new MP3 sermon from Living Word Community Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Christian Deconstruction Part 1 Subtitle: Christian Deconstruction Speaker: Jordan McGehee Broadcaster: Living Word Community Church Event: Sunday School Date: 8/21/2022 Length: 45 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Living Word Community Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Christian Deconstruction Part 2 Subtitle: Christian Deconstruction Speaker: Jordan McGehee Broadcaster: Living Word Community Church Event: Sunday School Date: 8/28/2022 Length: 50 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Living Word Community Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Christian Deconstruction Part 2 Subtitle: Christian Deconstruction Speaker: Jordan McGehee Broadcaster: Living Word Community Church Event: Sunday School Date: 8/28/2022 Length: 50 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Living Word Community Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Christian Deconstruction Part 1 Subtitle: Christian Deconstruction Speaker: Jordan McGehee Broadcaster: Living Word Community Church Event: Sunday School Date: 8/21/2022 Length: 45 min.

While doing a search on our website, BCWorldview.org, for the word “deconstruction” I was surprised to discover I had personally referred to the concept in 20 articles over the past nine months. That is likely just the tip of the iceberg when considering responses to questions or challenges from Medium readers. ConclusionMan's vain attempt to “reveal [Biblical Christian] inadequacy” is not only attractive to atheists and agnostics, but to deconstructionists by encompassing all the new twisted variants of their former traditional faith-based Christianity. All are welcome and stroked in this burgeoning group, looking for internet-based fellowship as a poor substitute to fill the vacuum left in their hearts.Of course, my viewpoint seems harsh, narrow-minded, and bigoted. However, if our place in eternity was at stake, which in large part it is, I believe calling deconstruction (with little expectation of a Biblical Christian reconstruction) for what it is, is justified. 

The Apostle Paul warns us that the Holy Spirit says “In The Last Days” believers in Jesus will be seduced by evil demonic spirits. Their satanic mission? To seduce you to abandon your faith. No one is exempt from this subduction, and we are seeing a rise in “deconstruction” and a trend to move the gospel into a progressive woke re-framing of truth. In this podcast I want to share with you real world examples of how this “Christian Deconstruction” happens. More importantly, I want to share three ways to guard your heart against these seducing spirits, spiritual adultery, deconstructionism, and doubt. Show Notes: Please Subscribe To The Omega Frequency Live YouTube Channel  Visit Omega Frequency Online View Our Statement Of Belief We live stream on our YouTube Channel linked Above: Every other Friday evening: Frequency Family Fellowship Prayer Stream - 8pm Central time. Every Friday opposite of that: “Contending For The Faith” with Phil Baker & BDK - 8pm Central time. Every Saturday evening “Live Worship Service” with Before The Throne & BDK - 8pm Central time.

What is Christian Deconstruction and should we fear it? Deconstruction has become a buzz word over the last year in the Christian community so we wanted to have a conversation about what it is and how we can love those who might be experiencing it. Maybe you're deconstructing your faith right now, we may have some helpful insights for you as well, but please don't take my word for it. Listen to the podcast today and decide for yourself as you figure out your own journey with Jesus. Subscribe to our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6sLXxSC0KKjrqL1cq6080gJesus and John Wayne Book: https://g.co/kgs/dv9PQg Bullies and Saints Book: https://g.co/kgs/qySJMG Ways to find Community at Central: https://www.centralaz.com/groups 

Back in 2017 when I was trying to convince Christian Pastors, theologians, ministry leaders and other religious figures that our theology proper and our concepts of epistemology were being deconstructed, many had a hard time with the concept that the church would be under attack from within. There was a problem of seeing the faces and personalities of men that were "highly spoken of" that were now deconstructing the Christian faith in a dialectical fashion. The deconstruction was occurring through the primary tools of seminaries, denominations, and parachurch ministries. And hence, this is why in the summer of 2018 I recorded a podcast that was titled "Evangelical Seminaries: Deconstruction Zones" (https://sovereignnations.com/2018/08/23/seminaries-deconstruction-zones/). And from the summer of 2018 the deconstruction only worsened. In many instances, creating division was the only concern - enough division that would divide the body of Christ. In 2018, the Gospel Coalition released the study, "Derrida, Foucault, and the Bible" (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/derrida-foucault-bible/#course-introduction). The course description stated the following: “This course will help you see what Derrida and Foucault are really saying, and show you how you can bring their thought into conversation with the Bible. You will get an accessible introduction to the thought of two of the most influential French philosophers of recent decades, and you will learn methods for fostering meaningful engagement between philosophical ideas and biblical doctrine.” The Gospel Coalition serves as a warning that Neo-Marxist concepts such as deconstruction are being introduced to Christians by the very people who were responsible for guarding them against evil: the pastors, seminaries, and institutions that were created to guard against dangerous ideologies. -Michael O'Fallon http://sovereignnations.com Support Sovereign Nations: paypal.me/sovnations patreon.com/sovnations Follow Sovereign Nations: sovereignnations.com/subscribe facebook.com/SovereignNations twitter.com/SovNations youtube.com/SovereignNations rumble.com/c/sovnations instagram.com/sovnations/ minds.com/sovnations?referrer=sovnations parler.com/profile/sovnations © 2022 Sovereign Nations. All rights reserved.

This week's guest is Meghan Crozier, the writer behind The Pursuing Life blog and co-host of Thereafter Podcast. Meghan grew up in an Evangelical Free church and she was all in. After high school, she went to a christian university, signing a pledge to become a missionary. Her life turned out differently, and though it took years to be okay with that, she is now extremely thankful she never became a missionary. At the beginning of the pandemic while so much was changing in everyone's lives, she clung to her faith. She journaled, prayed for an hour and read her bible every morning. Since 2020, she began to see other aspects of her church that she could not unsee—homophobia, gaslighting, ableism. Then the January 6th insurrection happened. After her church's response to this disturbing event, Meghan knew she had to reconsider almost everything her life. Meghan now holds her Christianity very loosely. She's found community and connection online through Twitter, and through her blog and podcast. Meghan is an important voice in the deconstruction world, influencing people with the spoken and written word. Links Twitter https://twitter.com/thepursuinglife https://twitter.com/thereafterpod The Pursuing Life https://www.thepursuinglife.com/ Thereafter Podcast https://linktr.ee/thereafterpod Prog/Post Xian Deconstruction Coffee Hour 6 AM PST / 9 AM EST on Twitter Spaces Interact Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2022/02/27/meghan-crozier-prog-post-christian-deconstruction/ Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gracefulatheist/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gracefulatheist/support

Staying along the vein of the church in black history, I decided to venture into the archives and share a conversation with author and filmmaker Jeremiah Camara from 2016. Jeremiah Camara is the director and producer of the documentary film Contradiction: A Question of Faith, which examines the saturation of churches in African American communities coexisting with poverty and powerlessness. Contradiction can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video. Camara is the author of the books Holy Lockdown: Does The Church Limit Black Progress? and The New Doubting Thomas: The Bible, Black Folks & Blind Belief. Camara is also the creator of the widely watched YouTube video series Slave Sermons… a mini-movie series addressing the harmful effects of religion. His latest and upcoming documentary project is titled, Holy Hierarchy: The Religious Roots of Racism in America. Holy Hierarchy… explains how the presumptions of a Supreme Being in colonial America led to precepts and beliefs in supreme human beings and how these beliefs morphed their way into the legal system and ultimately turned racism into an institution. (Source-filmfreeway.com/JeremiahCamara) Visit our sponsor-www.betterhelp.com,  Order your copy of Dr. Neal's latest book "He Was Clean" https://amzn.com/B09M4TF7FG Become a Patron-www.patreon.com/LorenzoTNeal

Blake has been running a really successful podcast called "Rethinking Christianity" where he has interviewed famous theologians like Ed Litton and Pete Enns. We wanted to ask him his thoughts on Christian Deconstruction, the politics of the evangelical church in America, and much more. This is a good one so check it out!

In this episode Doug & Paula further explore what is good about the Christian Deconstruction movement. But then they show that deconstruction isn't everything, but they need to ask, what is the alternative? So take a listen and learn some of the good and not so good of the Christian Deconstruction movement.-Feel free to email us with any questions at info@servingbb.org or for more information check out our website at https://servingbeyondborders.org-Follow us on:Instagram - @servingbeyondbordersYouTube - Serving Beyond BordersFacebook - Serving Beyond Borders-"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve. . ." Mark 10:45-#podcast #podcasting #podcasts #spotify #applepodcast #podcaster #podcastshow #itunes #interview #newpodcast #spotifypodcast #missions #jesus #god #love #bible #faith #jesuschrist #christian #church #christ #gospel #holyspirit #prayer #christianity #pray #godisgood #bibleverse #hope #worship #amen #jesuslovesyou #theradicalchristianlife

Last week two prominent Christian rappers made statements that shook up the American Christian world. Brady Godwin known as Phanatik of the Chrsitian rap group Cross Movement, says he sent a letter to his church withdrawing his membership and renouncing what he believed and shared for over 30 years. Grammy winning Christian rapper LeCrae wrote a tweet about leaving "politicized Christianity" that led to him losing a performance booking. While blacks are still the most religious group of Christians in America, many are beginning to deconstruct their faith or leave Christianity all together. How should pastors and church leaders address this burgeoning problem? Join Dr. Neal as he discusses this and other topics of the day.

What does it mean to “deconstruct” one's faith? Nathan and Cameron discuss the matter.

Caleb Weidman is a Media wiz, and has been creating quality content for Spiritual communities for the past decade. He's the president of Blackbar Media, a youtube channel focused on exploring how Christianity can be complemented and augmented by technology and media, and how people working within positions related to media production can better engage with their faith. I've known Caleb for a very long time now, and we've worked together professionally on many different projects including short films and various musical productions. Caleb is also an incredibly talented graphic designer and has produced album covers and book covers for me and my peers on multiple occasions. I wanted to talk to Caleb about what his project is about, and dive deep into what it would mean for a spiritual community to be entirely online-based, and whether or not the online environment was capable of hosting the level of engagement necessary for meaningful spiritual engagement with a community. Caleb and I aren't on exactly the same page concerning this topic, but that's exactly why I thought it would be meaningful and beneficial to have a conversation. Whether you're part of a spiritual community or not, I think you'll find this discussion both interesting and relevant to your life and our greater cultural problem of processing what exactly the creation of the internet entails for us socially, spiritually, personally, and culturally. Also, if you enjoy this conversation and would like to hear more of Caleb, please be sure to check out his youtube channel and podcast (linked below). If you especially appreciated our dynamic, make sure you check out the new episode releasing very soon where Caleb invited me on to join in for a conversation about Christian Deconstruction and how to engage with it meaningfully. Subscribe to the podcast Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1ezktLCKtpdpPCvZHvFPvF iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/this-could-be-interesting/id1554166655 Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL3RoaXNjb3VsZGJlaW50ZXJlc3Rpbmdwb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQueG1s Podbean https://thiscouldbeinterestingpodcast.podbean.com/ Caleb Weidman / BlackBar Media Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTwQJMZl2HKGWntO-sDlKsg Discord - http://discord.blk.bar Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/blkbar Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/5nQZluqztP1FvBv19hhZ5F?si=5bluELXkRQmOO06Z3xx7Pg&nd=1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Blackbar-100159521451113/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/blk.bar/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/cjweidman?lang=en Garrett Vandenberg Website https://www.garrettvandenberg.com/​​ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/garrettvandenbergmusic/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/garrettvandenberg/ Twitter https://twitter.com/GarrettJVMusic​​/

This week, Joe Costa, Cole Perseo, and Adam Preim take a deep dive into the popular Christian movement called Christian Deconstruction. We try to understand it, hold it up to God's Word, and offer our take on it. As Christians, we need to be like the Bereans (Act 17) by adhering to the Word and be willing to call out bad doctrine when we hear it. Today, we do just that. Podcast Website: https://encounterpodcast11.wixsite.com/encounterpodcast

Lots of people are leaving Christianity and making deconversion of deconstruction videos about their exit. Why is this happening? One reason is they cannot reconcile the problem of suffering. I explore this today and some of my thoughts. Show Notes: Not understanding God doesn't make Him disappear; Understanding everything is counter to faith; Intellectual Christianity is the problem; Leaning on sensory perception and NOT the spirit; God is a spirit and must be worshiped in Spirit John 4:24; Doing the Great Commission is where miracles happen; Miracles and encountering God ceases the carnal arguments; My personal story of backsliding because of hypocrisy; Facebook Comments of Note; Nancy Petrey and suffering; Donna Reiners - people are leaving religion and not God; Loyce Petrey - We don't understand many things but use them anyway; Jen Fishburne - prefers intellectual studies over blind faith; Faith is the evidence of things not seen Heb 11; Smith Wigglesworth, Maria Woodworth Etter, and Williams Seymour are ignored; They never tasted heavenly gift or experienced the spirit of God Hebrews 6:4-6; They think they know God but they don't Mat 7:21-23; Bad Theology and Bad churches are keeping people from God Matt 23:13-15; Links: You can find Jen's video here https://youtu.be/yfdvTpxeLSE Facebook Link https://bit.ly/32XgNe6 my book http://bit.ly/OpenYourEyesBook SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.facebook.com/conrad.carriker https://www.instagram.com/conradcarriker/ https://www.conradrocks.net/p/podcast.html https://twitter.com/MostRadicalMan

Lots of people are leaving Christianity and making deconversion of deconstruction videos about their exit. Why is this happening? One reason is they cannot reconcile the problem of suffering. I explore this today and some of my thoughts. Show Notes: Not understanding God doesn't make Him disappear; Understanding everything is counter to faith; Intellectual Christianity is the problem; Leaning on sensory perception and NOT the spirit; God is a spirit and must be worshiped in Spirit John 4:24; Doing the Great Commission is where miracles happen; Miracles and encountering God ceases the carnal arguments; My personal story of backsliding because of hypocrisy; Facebook Comments of Note; Nancy Petrey and suffering; Donna Reiners - people are leaving religion and not God; Loyce Petrey - We don't understand many things but use them anyway; Jen Fishburne - prefers intellectual studies over blind faith; Faith is the evidence of things not seen Heb 11; Smith Wigglesworth, Maria Woodworth Etter, and Williams Seymour are ignored; They never tasted heavenly gift or experienced the spirit of God Hebrews 6:4-6; They think they know God but they don't Mat 7:21-23; Bad Theology and Bad churches are keeping people from God Matt 23:13-15; Links: You can find Jen's video here https://youtu.be/yfdvTpxeLSE Facebook Link https://bit.ly/32XgNe6 my book http://bit.ly/OpenYourEyesBook SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.facebook.com/conrad.carriker https://www.instagram.com/conradcarriker/ https://www.conradrocks.net/p/podcast.html https://twitter.com/MostRadicalMan

If Your Christian Gospel is "good news," then why are you persecuted for your Christian faith? Is the opposition to your faith a result of your imprudence or lack of kindness? The Gospel For Planet Earth on YOUTUBE:http://bit.ly/THEGOSPELFORPLANETEARTHOur Family Vlog:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAhKxpfyLbAOur MUSIC Channel:http://bit.ly/KARLMUSICLeave a Comment, ask a question, and get FREE music!https://www.karlgessler.com/contactShow Your Love! Become a Podcast Partner!Patreon.com/karlgesslerShare your thoughts on today's discussion and join the larger conversation on our Gospel For Planet Earth facebook page.www.facebook.com/TheGospel4earthSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/karlgessler)

Alisa Childers is back with a conversation I want every Christian parent to hear! A movement called “spiritual deconstruction” is sweeping through our culture, our churches, and (maybe especially) our universities. It is confusing and complex. It is leading young people away from the church and dividing families. In today's interview, Alisa offers us Biblical and historical context for deconstruction, and a truth-centered, loving way to respond to it.I first heard of the term “deconstruction” from my two sons who attended a Christian college, and who had friends “deconstructing” the faith their parents raised them with. My hope is that this conversation might help more parents understand the deconstruction movement, and be inspired to raise their kids to be critical thinkers as they develop their own, rock-solid faith (and thereby avoid “deconstruction.”) If any listeners have family members or friends who are part of the deconstruction movement, I hope this interview offers wisdom and hope. Please share this interview with your friends. Find links to the book “The Deconstruction of Christianity” (with a free chapter download) in show notes. The book will release at the end of January, 2024.Today's episode: www.monicaswanson.com/Alisa-Childers General podcast page: www.monicaswanson.com/podcastLooking for new science or math homeschool curriculum? All of my boys have used DIVE/Shormann Math for Bbile-based, short-but-thorough science and math lessons, through AP level! Go to diveintomath to learn more! The Monica Swanson Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual resources to help you grow into the parent you want to be, visit www.christianparenting.org Our Sponsors:* Check out Factor 75 and use my code swanson50 for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com* Check out HelloFresh and use my code monicafree for a great deal: https://www.hellofresh.com/* Check out HomeThreads.com/MONICA to get a code for 15% off your first order!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy