I’m a little hesitant to write this post, mostly because I’m concerned it will sound a bit narcissistic. But please understand that I’m just writing it to process some thoughts, and to let others in on it just in case others feel the same way, and perhaps can relate it to their own story.
Category Archives: My Story
March 17, 2013, Author: , 1 Comment
Balancing a Thirst For Significance with Great Expectations
Categories: General, My Story
November 4, 2012, Author: , 1 Comment
The Path Toward Healing part 4: A New Community
Categories: healing wounds, My StoryIn case you’re just tuning in, you might want to start with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. This post isn’t officially part of the Path Toward Healing series, but it’s apropos as well.
In the previous posts, I’ve largely dealt with the fallout associated with my departure from institutional Christianity, particularly in suffering at the hands of institutional churches and leaders who for one reason or another felt threatened by that decision. Today, I’m going to begin turning the focus less toward what was behind me, and more toward where I found myself, and my new spiritual surroundings, if you will.
October 14, 2012, Author: , 1 Comment
The Path Toward Healing part 2: Those We Left Behind
Categories: General, My StoryI started generalizing a few weeks ago about my journey of deconstruction, and how it is ultimately a path toward healing, and how healing really should be the goal of anyone following a similar path. I decided to turn this into a series of posts, for two reasons: 1) I’m on the threshold of a lot of new things personally, and I think it is a good time to stop and take inventory of where I’ve been and how I got here; and 2) I know a lot of people reading this blog are on a similar journey, and I feel that documenting what I’ve learned in this process could be helpful. Ironically, while I mentioned in the last post that the path toward healing is a progression from looking backward to looking forward, initially in this series there will be a bit of looking back. I say this because coming to grips with the past (so far as it depends on me) has been a key to my ability to embrace my future. Hope that makes sense.
In times past on this here blog (you can find it in the archives, I’m too lazy this morning to find specific examples for you), I’ve processed thoughts about Christians and “calling.” Just one of the many things I’ve been re-thinking over the years. I’m sort of re-visiting this subject this morning.
A huge switch in my thinking regarding my own calling began a few years ago when I was hosting a men’s study group for some young guys as part of our outreach in our house church. We were working through a popular men’s book at that time, Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. In the book, John presented a quote by Howard Thurman:
December 30, 2011, Author: , 2 Comments
Four Years
Categories: My Story, Things that Are Amazingly AwesomeFour years.
Nearly 700 posts.
Four years ago today, I began documenting my deconstruction from traditional church by launching this blog.
I had a lot to say.
For the first two years, there was hardly a day when I didn’t post. I had so much to say, and it was coming out so furiously, that friends were telling me they couldn’t keep up. Emotions were rampant–anger, pain, joy, and peace–often changing from day to day as I processed my journey.
August 28, 2011, Author: , 2 Comments
Tags:: change, mission, ramblings
Closing One Chapter and Opening a New One
Categories: My StoryTags:: change, mission, ramblings
The walls are plain and bare.
Over the past couple of years, the walls of our little flat have filled up with fine art photographs and paintings that my wife, The Wild One, has created. Now all those pieces are safely bubble-wrapped and waiting to be moved.
When we first moved into this place, there were literally boxes floor to ceiling, so many that we could barely move. It’s starting to get that way again, as we pack up our stuff. It’s getting harder to figure out how to move from one side of the apartment to the other–a stark reminder of how tiny this place really is.
September 27, 2010, Author: , 3 Comments
The Next Step
Categories: How I am, Meanderings (look it up), My StorySo for those of you who have been tracking along on my journey…first of all, my apologies. Thirteen-days-no-blogging-here has to be a personal record for me.
Shortly after moving to Denver a year ago (!), I mentioned here that I was helping some friends with worship at a church plant they were/are doing–an…um…institutional church. I’ve talked on occasion about the irony and tension associated with that relationship, the various discussions we’ve had from differing points of view. After a year there, I’m still scratching my head a little, because I’m still a little baffled as to how I got the job in the first place. These guys know about my deconstruction and my feelings about institutional Christianity, and furthermore, they read this blog. If I had been them, I probably wouldn’t have asked me, because I would have assumed I would be trouble. 
But for some reason, they did ask…and I’d have to say it’s been a healthy exchange all around.
September 4, 2009, Author: , 1 Comment
We Have Done Made It to Denver-ly (A Short Story in Three Chapters, or Maybe Four)
Categories: My Story, Rantings, what I did todayCyberspace is once again available to me, and I’m enjoying my first morning as a Denver resident at a nearby coffee shop before hitting my looong list of things to do to get settled. But here, for your amazement amusement, is the story of our trip.
CHAPTER 1: The Turbulent Take-off
August 17, 2009, Author: , 6 Comments
The Big Reveal (part 4: The Details)
Categories: My Story, Things that are too good to keepSo if you’ve been following along, you now know that we are leaving Tulsa and moving to Denver in less than three weeks. (If you haven’t been following, read part 1, part 2 and part 3 to catch up.)
It might seem a bit sudden–and definitely the move date itself is coming up more quickly than we had anticipated–but honestly, we’ve been pondering this move for awhile. We didn’t say much to very many people, simply because we didn’t have details about how, when, where, and “We’re gonna leave sometime in the not-too-distant future” just seemed too vague. We’ve spent most of this season not knowing how we could do this–and this last trip to Denver, enough pieces of the puzzle came together to prompt a commitment from us.
August 16, 2009, Author: , 6 Comments
The Big Reveal (part 3: The Twist)
Categories: My Story, Things that are too good to keepIf you’re just arriving, I urge you to read part 1 and part 2 before reading this.
So after all the teasing and buildup about BIG change coming, I’ve taken two posts so far to drag it on as long as I can take the time to explain what we’re dreaming of, and why.
I’ve shared about wanting to see a creative community be born, one that doesn’t look like “church” or “ministry” as we’ve understood it before, one in which the arts can be genuinely encouraged and nurtured, and one in which the love of Christ can be freely expressed in a natural manner, without agenda. And I’ve shared our conviction that it needs to happen organically, not by “starting” something, but by embedding ourselves in a community and doing what we do.