I received the following message from a former acquaintance recently: What advice would you give someone preparing to step out of a IFB, Legalistic Church? I sent this person a bit of advice over messenger, but as I thought about it a bit more, I felt like it would be apropos to include a post of … [Read more…]
{Warning, this post contains brief but graphic depiction of sexual abuse. Proceed with caution.} As a semi-avid follower of the sport of gymnastics for the last few years, it has been impossible for me to avoid being touched by the heartache of the Larry Nassar case. For those of you who know nothing of which … [Read more…]
In the last segment of this series, I spoke about the practical struggle of everyday Christian living when you are a recovering legalist. Mainly, doing the “right thing” when you don’t want to, navigating spiritual disciplines, and how to know if you are living in your own strength or God’s power. I concluded my last post … [Read more…]
The practical struggle of everyday Christian living when you are a recovering legalist When I spent two and a half months in 2013 fleshing out the theology of grace while telling my personal story, I came to a lot of good conclusions that I believe to be Biblical. Let me summarize them in a nutshell: … [Read more…]
I was cleaning my bedroom last week when this quote popped into my head. I had cleaned off my night stand, including my new(ish) journaling Bible that had been resting there. While I have been using it (more on this to come), it’s not falling apart by any means. It’s condition might even be called … [Read more…]
Nearly every Sunday morning I sit down in the pews of our church with ease, knowing that I am safe and loved. But that doesn’t keep me from sometimes being blindsided with songs, Christian jargon, and even Bible verses that I find to be triggers to some of the darker days of my spiritual past. … [Read more…]
When we moved into our new home in April, we were totally in love with the fenced-in yard on a corner lot that came with it. Three massive oaks line the front yard and five white pines offer shade or our spacious side yard. Scattered in between the bigger trees were a varied assortment of … [Read more…]
If you have ever been on my blog before, you probably know that I feel like I have a complicated “faith story.” (If you are new to my blog, you might want to start here.) After walking away from “fundamentalism” in my mid-twenties, I’m now in the process of letting God reconstruct my faith as … [Read more…]
It was two years ago today, on July 19, 2015, that we stepped into Grace Bible Church for the first time. I remember the date quite vividly because it was a series of random-yet-God-scripted events that led us there to our church home. This past Sunday, our pastor said these words: It all started with … [Read more…]
In my last post, I talked about Church XYZ – a church we thought would be our church home, but ended up being a less-than-ideal fit for our family. I think that I knew it wasn’t working long before my husband did. So now, I have to tell you the story of a church detour … [Read more…]