As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I've thoroughly enjoyed how The Mandalorian has brought the series back to its roots as a space western. I've also continued to enjoy how Star Wars gleans and integrates elements from various world religions into its storytelling. Back in 1977, it was mostly Taoism and Buddhism. This time around it's Christianity. The first time I heard Din Djarin … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Advocates A Bold Return to The Way of Jesus
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Beatnik Christianity Expects Jesus Followers to Grow and Develop
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
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 Overthrows Spiritual Authoritarianism
Britannica defines authoritarianism as the "principle of blind submission to authority." Spiritual authoritarianism demands rank and file submission to religious leaders who've ascended to positions of institutional power. It's a centralized structure that functions through a chain-of-command mentality like the military. Christian culture justifies this with nesting set of … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Overthrows Spiritual Authoritarianism
Beatnik Christianity Places Zero Restrictions Upon Women
Remember that highly gif-ified scene from The Avengers where Tony Stark rolls his eyes at Steve Rogers for catching the flying monkeys pop culture reference? I usually manage to keep it inside, but that's exactly how I feel every... single... time... I hear White bros talk about what it means to be the (dick)head of the family and what the role of women should be in the Church … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Places Zero Restrictions Upon Women