Untangling Christianity Podcast

In this episode John and Gregg investigate how (and how much) we see God as being involved in our lives, and how the perspectives on Christianity that we’ve been discussing / proposing differ from much of typical evangelical Christianity. John mentions Wayne Jacobson’s The Jesus Lens, which walks through both the Old and New Testament.  John […] The post 36: Embrace the Grappling appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John compares grace and love.  Specifically, John contrasts a listener’s story and Gregg’s story (both being fairly radical departures from the Christian norm) with his own path of not overtly departing from these norms.  John’s epiphany is that the message of love makes far more sense than the message of grace (to […] The post 35: Love is More Than Grace appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss listener feedback from Joanne, on Episode 31. Joanne commented on relating to God as “father” and “abba.”  Joanne explained this with reference to Romans 8:15, which refers to people being adopted into God’s family contrasted with earlier parts of Romans that also touches on slavery–a topic Kyle Idleman […] The post 34: Beyond Salvation | Listener Feedback appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Today’s discussion is kicked off by comments that listener Melinda left for Episode #25, which is also related to Episode #20, were the topic of grace versus love was also raised. Gregg then turns to John to define and contextualize the notion of grace is in the evangelical world.  John equates grace with ‘pardon’ and […] The post 33: God is Not an Idiot–Grace and Truth | Listener Feedback appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode starts with John thinking more about topic of justice from the things Gregg shared in Episode #5. Gregg takes issue with John’s assertion that we’d all be better of if we all assumed other people were always doing the best that they can. Gregg wonders exactly what that means, especially when the stakes […] The post 32: Justice is Easy appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

After a long journey we’ve finally arrived: Chapter 14 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman, the book’s end.  This is perhaps our most important episode on this book as it gets to heart of what we find wrong in Idleman’s “reward and punishment” approach to Christianity. So in the place of Idleman’s view that following Jesus […] The post 31: Coerced Obedience | Chap 14 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Gregg opens with his view that Chapter 13 from Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman is among the most important in the entire book.  This is because it connects to (and helps clarify) the book’s core message: insuring people make “the right decision” and spend eternity in heaven.  In John’s words, the chapter emphasizes the need to […] The post 30: Swallow the Pill | Chap 13 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode we riff on comments Charlie left on Episode Two, about the Bible.  Charlie shares his conflicted feelings about how he views the Bible and and also his observation that many people just want to be told to a more literal view of what the Bible says instead of doing their own work […] The post 29: Biblical Extremes and Openness to Dialog | Listener Feedback appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss Chapter Twelve from Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman.  John observes Idleman building this chapter around the idea that we are to go wherever God wants us to go and that it won’t be comfortable or easy.  What doesn’t add up here, when contrasted with other parts of the […] The post 28: Make Sure It Hurts | Chap 12 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This is John and Gregg’s second discussion of chapter eleven from Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. John observes a continued message of “try harder” and “it doesn’t count unless it’s painful,” combined with an orientation (as noted in previous episodes) that appears to lead to untenable conclusions. Further, instead of placing his message in a […] The post 27: Life Not Death | Chap 11 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode finds John and Gregg discussing Chapter Eleven from Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Gregg begins by agreeing with Idleman’s view that crucifixion was ultimately humiliating. Specifically, the importance of ‘honour and shame’ in 1st century Palestine means that crucifixion not only results in a grueling death but also completely abases and discredits the victim. […] The post 26: Honor and Shame | Chap 11 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg interact with listener feedback from Anna, who asks whether we believe that authors like Kyle Idleman or John Eldridge have any value to offer the Christian community. Gregg suspects these books are written within (and so informed by) an evangelical Christianity that has wrongly set truth above love, rather than understanding […] The post 25: Truth Over Love | Listener Feedback appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg return to Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman and discuss Chapter Ten.  John questions Idleman’s chapter-ending story where following Jesus equates to “giving up period.”  In turn, Gregg doubts this includes “giving up on church” or even “waiting on God,” a theme John sees nowhere in Idleman’s relentless message of […] The post 24: More Than Scripture Alone | Chap 10 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss Chapter Ten of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. John finds Idleman’s message repetitive and unconvincing. Gregg pushes things further: could it be that, instead of being poorly written or argued, this book actually proposes a view of Christianity that contradicts other aspects of Idleman’s own beliefs? John sees […] The post 23: Ignoring Your Own Existence | Chap 10 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode looks at Chapter Nine of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. We start with John’s confusion and discomfort with the amount of “shoulds” and how following Jesus seems to be defined as being crazy, misunderstood, and even hated.  John also observes Idleman’s continued emphasis on a Christian’s need to love and pursue God with no […] The post 22: A Crazy Pursuit | Chap 9 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss Chapter Eight of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Idleman believes that Jesus decides what is most important and what He wants in a relationship with us. Gregg agrees that what God wants is important, however he does not believe we are completely subsumed in relationship with God–what we want […] The post 21: Your Terms or God’s? | Chap 8 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode we are joined by Tommi, John’s wife. Tommi explains how understanding grace at Swiss L’Abri allowed her to overcome legalism and yet she still desires to know experientially that God loves her (to “live loved”). Gregg suggests that this minimally involves being open to and honest with God, including prayer, orienting my […] The post 20: How We Know God Loves Us appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This short episode examines Chapter Seven of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Our discussion focuses on the author’s story about himself at the end of the chapter. Unlike every other chapter, which ends with someone else’s story, this chapter ends with a story of Idleman’s own. He met with the mother of one of his […] The post 19: Dialog Fail | Chap 7 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg chew on the presentation of the Holy Spirit and how the Bible is used to make certain points in Chapter Six of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Gregg notes that Idleman seems to want God to “move in and take over,” and so wonders what about us God actually […] The post 18: No Room For You | Chap 6 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss Jerry Bridges’ view that “In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not sense” (Trusting God, p. 18). John notes that he would have put the book down right there. Gregg comments that viewing negative circumstances solely through “the […] The post 17: Digging Deeper into Experience appeared first on Untangling Christianity.