Show me a person who's virtually unchanged over a 20-year period and I'll show you someone who's terribly boring and likely suffering from trauma-induced stagnation. It's an entirely natural psychological process of human growth and development for people to have experiences that influence their worldviews, personalities, relationships, interests, and values. Therein lies a lot … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Expects Jesus Followers to Grow and Develop
Lutheranism
Beatnik Christianity Merges House Church Community with High Church Worship
Over the last two decades, I've felt a steady pull towards the house church movement. My soul longs for its slow pace, warmth of hospitality, depth of community, and conscious removal of all the bureaucratic crap that usually dominates church life. I've quietly read books by its leading authors. Not gonna lie, there are times when I feel like Frank Viola and Neil Cole are … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Merges House Church Community with High Church Worship
Beatnik Christianity Repudiates Honor-Guilt And Honor-Shame Cultural Paradigms
One of the insights I most appreciate from the field of cultural anthropology is the identification of the sister paradigms of honor-guilt cultures and honor-shame cultures. In guilt societies, control is maintained by continually reinforcing individual themes of inward guilt for condemned behaviors. The moral order is preserved through law, punishment, and forgiveness. In … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Repudiates Honor-Guilt And Honor-Shame Cultural Paradigms
Beatnik Christianity Rejects the Obsession with Outward Appearances of Piety
The 19th century Holiness Movement has been largely forgotten outside of Wesleyan circles, but its permeating influence upon global Christianity continues. The movement called for the "consecration" of a Christian's whole life and the pursuit of "entire sanctification" that purged sin from one's soul through a "second work of grace." The ultimate goal being not only intimacy … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Rejects the Obsession with Outward Appearances of Piety
Introducing Beatnik Christianity: A Countercultural Vision for Following Jesus
This piece is intended as a direct follow-up to "Wrong from the Start: How Christian Culture Keeps Pulling Us Away from Jesus" and is the first in a series introducing Beatnik Christianity. The more I try to follow Jesus, the more I trigger the wrath of Christian culture. Last year a back-up priest freaked out at me over the phone. The issue was that my wife kept … [Read more...] about Introducing Beatnik Christianity: A Countercultural Vision for Following Jesus
