Untangling Christianity Podcast

In this episode John and Gregg continue to consider Gregg’s Sunday morning discussion group. John begins by returning to his uncertainty about Gregg’s contention that the beginning of the “Disciple’s Prayer” in Matthew 6: 9-13 (“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is […] The post Identifying Self Deceit (136) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode, John and Gregg again speak about Gregg’s Sunday morning church discussion group. Gregg explains that the most recent session became rather fiery, particularly concerning the idea that the Holy Spirit does not do the majority the work in helping Christians understand the Bible’s original meaning. John notes how this belief is often […] The post Stuck in a Loop of Self Deceit (135) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss the morning discussion that Gregg facilitates every Sunday. John is interested in the newest developments, and Gregg highlights how engaging with a foreign mindset can be continually surprising. For example, Gregg summarizes the culture in his church as “hyper-trustful” relative to certain ways of reading the Bible. Yet […] The post The Holy Spirit Reads the Bible for Me (134) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a recent session at the Sunday morning group that Gregg facilitates. Gregg explains how this session was quite different because the adolescents joined the adults for this discussion. The history of his involvement with this group is that Gregg has been trying to engage them in re-considering their […] The post Is God Always in Control? (133) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss two different cultures, those who find Christianity and Christian beliefs to be suspect and those who are not questioning or believing that anything is wrong with their beliefs. They then focus on how to work with the latter group. Gregg explains that indeed he is experiencing culture shock […] The post Questioning Beliefs and Trust (132) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a meeting that Gregg had with a street preacher. Gregg explained that he has never spoken to a Street Preacher before but had his curiosity piqued and so began a conversation. After recounting his encounter with the Street Preacher, Gregg goes on to explain that he had always […] The post Street Preacher Experience (131) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a quotation by Yogi Bhajan, submitted by an Untangling Christianity listener. John sees the discussion about Gregg’s response to the Yogi Bhajan quotation as an extension of their conversation about Christian Praise music (in episode #128, “Let them have their music”). John’s concern here is similar to his […] The post You Guys are Too Picky (130) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a poem from an anonymous newspaper clipping titled “I am a Christian.” Gregg received the poem on Facebook as, perhaps, a way of defining what a Christian is. In Gregg’s view a Christian can be defined in two ways: a) as someone who claims to be a follower […] The post I am a Christian (129) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg again discuss Christian worship music, focusing on a listener comment about the song “Fierce” by Jesus Culture. John is of two minds in his response to the song. On the one hand he wonders if the song, in describing God’s love for us as a “hurricane that I cannot […] The post Just Let People Have Their Music (128) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss an article by Tim Lawrence, “Everything doesn’t happen for a reason.” This post “went viral” and concerns people trying to support those who suffer tragic circumstances by commiserating that “everything happens for a reason.” John notes both the author’s passion and a sense of hopelessness and is curious […] The post Everything Doesn’t Happen for a Reason (127) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg are joined by Evan from Virginia, the second person ever to contact the podcast. Evan found the UC podcast through his wife’s concerns about Kyle Idleman’s not a fan. Having mentioned that he plays in a church worship band Evan joins John and Gregg to share his insights on Church worship […] The post Exploring Worship Music with Evan (126) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss the article “Between Easter and the End,” posted in the Untangling Christianity private Facebook group. John found the article both tough to unpack and to be difficult to connect with / find value in. When Gregg wonders why John feels disengaged from the article, John notes that in […] The post Unsatisfying Transformation (125) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg return to their discussion from the last episode titled Problematic Praise Music following comments by listener “Lynette.” In partial response to Lynette, Gregg undertook to re-write the lyrics to one of the main Christian choruses of which Gregg was critical. Gregg’s new (amended since their reading in this episode) […] The post Praise Music Progress (124) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This week’s episode is sparked by a satirical post titled Worship Leader Caught In Infinite Loop Between Bridge And Chorus from the Babylon Bee. This leads to a critical discussion of two songs–How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin and I’ll Obey (author unknown). Gregg asserts that worship music should more accurately articulate God and the wider message […] The post Problematic Praise Music (123) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg follow up from the previous episode where they both find it problematic when there is only one “politically correct” view on a given matter. Gregg offers an example of this, when he was living in Vancouver and attending a party. At the party a number of people were commenting […] The post Superstitious Christianity (122) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg pick up from their last episode where they discussed the idea of how the craftsmanship sees meaning in an object and brings this meaning forth. For example, a sculptor may see a figure within a block of stone and simply removing the unnecessary pieces in order for the figure to […] The post When Reasonable People Disagree (121) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss John’s reading of Deep Work, by Cal Newport. A recent interview with Cal Newport is found on the Productivityist Podcast. John wonders specifically about how the themes and concerns of the book relate to Christianity and lack of depth / thought in one’s beliefs. The author offers a […] The post Deep Work (120) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg again welcome listener “Anna” to the discussion.  Much of the conversation centers on Anna’s responses to the earlier discussions in the last two episodes. The post Another Conversation with Anna (119) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg recap their discussion from last episode with long-time listener Anna. John explains that he felt greatly encouraged to hear Anna’s story, despite the fact that Anna has experienced setbacks and that there certainly has been no “happy ending” in it for Anna. Gregg also values the discussion with Anna […] The post Bible Pastiche (118) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg connect with long-time listener “Anna.” Anna was the first Untangling Christianity listener to respond with feedback to John and Gregg and has been listening for over 2 years now.  Anna explains how she was listening to many podcasts about Christianity at that time but responded to John and Gregg because she […] The post Anna’s Story | Interpreting Experience (117) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.