Actually Following Jesus

My interview with Jae, a trans woman who grew up in our church, left, and came back again.Here is the article she mentions during the episode: https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-transgender-people

For many Christians, the Bible is a crutch to faith. If you no longer had a Bible, would you still believe in God? Abraham didn't have a Bible, and he believed, and God credited it to him as righteousness. God is so much bigger than the bindings of a book. Rather than try to do mental gymnastics to justify/prove the Bible, what if we recognized that the Bible is a collection of writings from people of faith who are sharing their witness - their experience of God - with us?

A continuation of last week's Bible study episode with the study of Genesis chapters 2 and 3

In this episode, Pastor Chris gives an in-depth overview of Genesis chapter 1. We explore how science and faith can both be affirmed as true and how the rich theological meaning embedded in the text helps us to show kindness and respect to all our fellow human beings, as well as the rest of Creation.

Special Bonus Episode - My interview with Zach, one of my former youth and current Associate Coordinator of Youth Ministries. Zach came out as gay in the youth group his Junior year in high school, and in this interview he shares his experience struggling with his sexuality and his faith.

Pastor Chris talks specifically about the issues of abortion and sexuality (LGBTQIA+) from a progressive Christian standpoint. "Christians" (Trumpists) have by-and-large forsaken the weightier matters of Christian living in order to focus on human sexuality and reproduction.

Christian always say "Jesus saves" - but how, exactly? There's the popular notion of substitution, but what are some lesser known theories of salvation? How does our language about Jesus and what Jesus does for us affect the way we live our every day lives?

In this episode we explore what it means to live the life of faith and why we should always be striving to realize the Kingdom of God/Beloved Community on earth.

What if God isn't just an old bearded man in the sky? In this episode I begin my systematic theology with the main topic - God. Join me in exploring traditional and non-traditional views of God's nature, God's character, and God's relationship to all Creation. One thing I forgot to explicitly say but should be evident throughout is this: God is Love.

The first episode - an introduction to who I am and why I believe what I believe, as well as an invitation to join me in pursuing what Martin Luther King, Jr. called "The Beloved Community". The word "Christian" does not have the connotations it should; it means "follower of Christ", but most "Christians" are anything but. I believe there is a place for actual followers of Jesus to join together with people of all different faiths and particularities around the world to help realize true peace on earth.