Fundamentalists Need To Be Loved

To make a long story really really short, I just found a file full of papers, emails, and discussion board posts I’d participated in around ten years ago (as a new youth/music leader’s wife and a mom of one, with baby #2 on the way).  Reading them was truly shocking.  I could hardly stand the [...]

The Truth That Frees Us (John 8:31-31) and Why that is NOT Synonymous with a Daily Quiet Time

“Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’”  John 8:31-32
This verse is usually used to remind all “us good Christian folk” to engage in a daily Bible reading time.  [...]

On Trying to Explain a Living Thing

I can tell that, to some people, I’m terribly offensive now. I didn’t used to be that way (at least I don’t think). I was in the same trenches they were in. We were on the same side. When my paradigm came crashing in, I suppose it’s fair to say that [...]

Why I (Speaking in Servant-Love) Believe Men Should Not be Church Leaders

10. A man’s place is in the army.
9. The pastoral duties of men who have children might distract them from the responsibility of being a parent.
8. The physique of men indicates that they are more suited to such tasks as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do [...]

The “Official” Tithe: Nyeh.

After faithfully tithing our money to whatever church we were attending, we’ve stopped. 
We were big tithers.  Tithing a tenth of our income to our local church was on the same page as commandments like, “Do not commit adultery.”  We have always tithed.  And we never complained about it, either.

We still practice the fine art of giving away more [...]

The Art of Un-Warfare: Learning to Talk to Those With Whom We Theologically Disagree

I am a part of an email group made up of mothers of many young children and have been for many years. It’s a Christian group and, for the most part, fairly conservative–at least, the vocal ones are. Since I have five young children, a resource like this group can be nice, even though five [...]

GNAP (Generic North American Protestantism) Dreams Busted: The “Biblical Family” Yearning for the Good Ol’ Days Requires Massive Doses of Historical Revisionism

Some of Tulip Girl’s observations [in the comments on this TW thread] gleaned from living abroad as missionaries,
 “One of the things the the Lord did in my life during our time in Ukraine was help point out in my own heart and life how many of my OWN ideas were not from the Bible, as I thought they were–but were [...]

Root Issues: Authority Structures We Like Best (Fluid vs. Heirarchal, etc) and Their Influence in the Way We Interpret Scripture (Gender Issues, Church Government, Relationships…)

Resonate writer, Len Hjalmarson, recently mused on a topic of interest to me.  His post, Evolution of Heirarchy, discusses how factors like access to technology and information are forcing us to change the way we think of authority structures. No longer do we live in a world where only “the leader” knows what to do—-now [...]

Coming out of Fundamentalism (A Reader Writes)

I enjoy getting emails from readers sharing their thoughts on coming out of legalism and/or fundamentalism, most of which I tend to keep private (and most of which take me at least a week or more to reply to, depending on how busy I am).  This letter was really good, and the writer, who blogs regularly at Living [...]

On Gratitude and Stress, Whether Women Get to Grow Up or Not, and one HOT Husband

First, my best friend is doing a study (related to her degree) on using gratitude to combat stressors in parenting.  She needs participants and I thought some readers here might be interested.  Check out the details on Holy Experience blog.  It’s fun and it’s free. 
 Secondly, I recently put up a post at Complegalitarian about the lack of [...]