Joe's Journey

I didn't think I wanted to keep listening but I challenged myself and finished the podcast.  I don't want to believe it but I am not sure I can't nor sure that I can. It left me asking, "what kind of universe do we live in?" The episode was called "Deliver Us From Evil", #60 on the Deconstructionist podcast.  Father Gary Thomas opened a window into the world of spiritual conflict resolution including intervention prayers and formal exorcism rites. He is certified by the Vatican to perform the rite of exorcism. The challenge for me is Thomas' "both/and" view of reality. By that I mean he acknowledges that mental illness is a thing. Depression, disassociation, multiple personalities can exist apart from demonic activity. But once those causes have been ruled out as probable cause for presenting disturbed behavior he considers demonic possession a real possibility. He has cast demons out, seem victims spit vast balls of foamy saliva, de...

In church today, the sermon touched on Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23 and I find it to be a dismal passage. 13  “Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.   14  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.  21  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’  will enter the kingdom of heaven,  but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.   22  Many will say to me on that day,  ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’   23  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ For Christians, it is supposed to be a powerful reminder to make sure your faith is genuine and not just hypocrisy. This may in fact remind a saint to not be a spiritual jerk and perhaps we're all the be...

I think I need some space.  I'm still living in a predominately conservative Christian world. I'm not sure how long I can continue. I've been going to church on Sundays with the family. We attend City Alliance in Williamsport and it's an awesome church, one I wish I could have attended earlier in life. The pastor and people are pretty great. I enjoy the before and after service interactions and conversations but the service itself is awkward for me. I also attend a Monday night small group which has a Bible study/discussion component. And I go to Celebrate Recovery on Friday nights which has a "worship" singing time and all kinds of "I'll pray for that", "in my devotions this morning...", "I am amazed God could save a wretch like me". I really miss the Liturgist gathering where I was in a room full of fellow post/non-evangelicals. By my wiring, I have a high tolerance for blending in and keeping my preferences and...

Christmas is coming! I have always loved Christmas! I especially love Christmas musicnand  have a perfected Spotify playlist that I've worked on for years that almost always gives me chills. Some of my highlights are Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent by Red Mountain Church Christmas Canon  by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Coventry Carol by Libera (and just about anything by them) Of the Father's Love Begotten by Fernando Ortega I Saw Three Ships by Sting I just started playing the music tonight, still moves my heart.   But I just don't know.  Everything feels different now. What is Christmas when you don't believe in God? When you think the virgin birth is an idea necessary to make sense of early understandings of how sin is transmitted to and through the human race? To help guide me through Advent, I've cracked this book. The focus on this books is the meaning  of Christmas. There's a lot of historical context highlighting the subvers...