Jason Clark's Blog, page 14

That Time I Was Asked About Ultimate Reconciliation

Recently I shared about the ultimate nature of reconciling love on a Zoom Call with a group of young radicals in Australia. During a question and response time at the end of the call, I was asked about my thoughts on hell. They inquired, “Can we be saved after we die?”

I smiled and hesitated. In that brief pause, the lady who was leading, graciously said, “Jason, this is a safe place.”

It caught me funny, and I laughed in a way that was cathartic and healing.

Then, while wiping the humor from my eyes, I said, “Thanks for letting me know it’s a safe place. I believe you. But I laughed because the last time I responded to this question in what I thought was a safe place, my family and I were kicked out.”

* * *

There’s nothing safe about a retributive view of God; there’s nothing safe about a God who uses a gun.

I’ve learned first-hand that if you step on the toes of a gun-carrying God culture, even if they’re family, you’re likely to get shot. A church that believes in a God of retribution will participate in punishment—often cruelly, and blindly—even with those they love. Anyone who questions the nature of authority-by-way-of-a-gun will quickly realize they are only as safe as their conformity. And if they can’t comply, they will, at some point, find themselves on the wrong end of the gun. And that’s the opposite of a safe place.

I answered the question, “Can we be saved after we die” this way.

• Hell exists here and now, and we have been invited to discover and establish eternal life, heaven on earth, here and now.

• Family is the long game; it transcends dimensions of time and space, and God is our infinitely good and eternal Father.

• If my hope isn’t placed in reconciling love, I will find myself, in one way or another, aligned with the older brother at odds with my Dad’s reconciling heart.

• I can’t afford to undermine my faith by entertaining any certainty that conflicts with Greater Love.

I want to be fully engaged in the reconciliation party because everything our Heavenly Father has He has given to us, it’s ours! But only in love can we access it.

So, when someone asks, “Can you be saved after you die?” my best response is, “I think God is like Jesus, so…

“Yes, I sure hope so.”

This article is excerpted from my book, Leaving and Finding Jesus
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Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children, Madeleine, Ethan, and Eva. Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… KATIE SKURJA / Discovering Our Humanity

by A Family Story | August 26, 2020 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Parenting, Relationship, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season One, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment

In this podcast, Katie Skurga talks about discovering our humanity in the image of God, shame and behavior, grace and identity, paradox and spiritual and emotional maturity, freedom, and intrinsic authority.

Read More ERIC JOHNSON / In The Image of God

by A Family Story | August 19, 2020 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Popular, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season One | 3 Comments

Eric Johnson, the pastor of Bethel Church in Redding CA, shares generously, humbly, and with great insight on the goodness of God, navigating culture, Jesus and American politics, spiritual maturity, emotional health, and what it means to be alive.

Read More 7 Things to Do During a Time of Shaking and Disruption

by Pete Scheller | March 25, 2020 | Articles, Faith | 1 Comment

…Reconnect with our Father by recalling that He is good, He is love and He is for us (Romans 8:31)! Remember that He has already promised to make all things work together for good (Romans 8:28) including the current circumstances you are facing…

Read More THOMAS JAY OORD / OPEN & RELATIONAL THEOLOGY

by A Family Story | March 29, 2022 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Hell, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, Sin, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

Thomas Jay Oord shares about open relational theology; how it connects with the way we live and matches our deepest intuitions. The guys talked about a relational God who is genuinely loving, looks like Jesus, and walks through each day with us, impacting and impacted by our friendship.

Thomas describes an uncontrolling, loving God, that harmonizes with scripture. In this podcast, he dives into the subjects of hell, prayer, and evangelism all through the lens of open relational theology.

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Published on July 12, 2023 22:54

DR. MATT PANDEL / LIVING IN THE IN-BETWEEN

Dr. Matt Pandel Living In The In-Between

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“God, here I stand in you, God help me” Martin Luther. The reality of our completion, a pure grace, objective truth (Jesus), experiential truth (how we live it out), union and the God of the promises, evangelism, the ministry of reconciliation, law and grace (never the less, Christ is preached), obedience, community and healing from church trauma, in this podcast, Dr. Matt Pandel and the guys discuss faith, trust, and tacos.

For more on Dr. Matt Pandel
Facebook: www.facebook.com/matthew.pandel
Website: www.unconditionalgrace.org
Consulting: www.noexceptionsministries.org
Global Grace Seminary: www.globalgraceseminary.net

Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

Derek Turner Follower of Jesus, in love with @sarahjturner, father to @caro.turn & @kaaatters, owner of Milo, pastor @rivercharlotte. Amazed by Grace
www.rivercharlotte.com

Follow Follow Follow Jason Clark is a writer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

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YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… ALLEN ARNOLD / CHAOS CAN’T

by A Family Story | January 27, 2021 | Art, Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment

God creates order from disorder and we have been invited to co-create with Him. In the midst of chaos, “we associate peace with answers. God associates peace with Union.”

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Published on July 12, 2023 15:21

JOHN BLASE / ARE YOU LETTING GOD LOVE YOU TODAY?

John Blase Are You Letting God Love You Today?

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“Are You Letting God Love You Today?” Abundant life, the goodness and the GODness of God, loss, suffering, and trust, grieving and grace, and more grace, healing, embracing the heights and depths of the human story, becoming like Jesus, poetry and faith, in this podcast, John Blasé and the guys have a vulnerable conversation about life and trust and the GODness of God. John shares about his friendships with Brennan Manning and Eugene Peterson and the impact they both had on him and our world today.

For more on John Blase
Website: www.johnblase.com
Substack: www.johnblase.substack.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jdblase

Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

Derek Turner Follower of Jesus, in love with @sarahjturner, father to @caro.turn & @kaaatters, owner of Milo, pastor @rivercharlotte. Amazed by Grace
www.rivercharlotte.com

Follow Follow Follow Jason Clark is a writer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY BUY NOW!

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR / LIFE, LITERATURE, & GOD

by A Family Story | April 27, 2022 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Hell, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, Sin, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Karen Swallow Prior is a Reader, Writer, and Professor. In that order, which was discussed in this conversation along with the power of language, the Word becoming flesh, the connection of imagination with logic and reason, empathy, trauma, the theodicy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and love being the center of our conversations. Karen also shares about getting hit by a literal bus and how she grew in her understanding that her life is in God’s hands.

Read More JUSTIN STUMVOLL / LOVE IS THE KEY

by A Family Story | June 8, 2022 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Hell, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, Sin, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments

Justin Stumvoll is a speaker, teacher, and life consultant who knows the kindness of God and loves to create space for individuals to find healing so they can be their most authentic selves Just dives into Love being the key to helping folks walk through the gritty, vulnerable and real approach to transformation. This was a fast-paced conversation where the guy’s traded stories about the reconciling nature of God; they talked about punishment, self-judgment, reconciliation, justice, sin, grace, freedom from addiction, and more. This podcast is bursting with the kindness of God that transforms the world.

Read More THERE IS NO “US OR THEM” AT THE CROSS

by A Family Story | September 15, 2022 | Faith, Interview, Leadership, Life, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three | 3 Comments

This podcast highlights Jason’s book, Leaving and finding Jesus, where he writes about his deconstructing faith journey. The book is Jason’s Emmaus Road discovery of a love that is reconciling all creation; a journey where he’s awakening to a burning heart while leaving every Jesus who won’t lay His life down for His friends.

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Published on July 06, 2023 12:16

I Just Let Him Love Me

Several years ago, Anthony and Mary Keith Skinner visited the Clark family.

Anthony and Mary Keith are worshipers who know the love of God. Anthony is a dad, a singer/songwriter, and an author; and Mary Keith is a mom, a teacher, and an encourager. They are a lot of things, but mostly they are loved.

“People who have lived immersed in the Father’s love, simply can’t help but love; they’ve become transformed—they have become love.”

(click to tweet)

You know what was really refreshing about the Skinners’ visit? They didn’t visit us for them. That’s not to say we aren’t good company, because we’re amazing. But they didn’t come to receive; they came to give. They walked through the door and started loving us before the coffee was fully brewed. And you know what was amazing? It was easy; they didn’t even have to try. People who have lived immersed in the Father’s love, simply can’t help but love; they’ve become transformed—they have become love.

Karen and I have begun to live this way as well. We are daily becoming convinced in our Father’s always-good love. And so we, too, are being transformed. You know what the best thing is about becoming love? You don’t have to try to love; it’s just the natural expression of one who is loved. All you have to do is walk through the door, and before the coffee is fully brewed… well…done…

Love is an awesome thing. The more you know and experience, the more transformed into love you become. There is an ease that enters your life. Even in the midst of hardship, there is a grace to live at rest—like Jesus when He slept through the storm.

“When you are loved and you know it, you don’t have to try not to sin, you don’t have to beg God for breakthrough, you don’t have to strive to obey, you don’t have to work up your love for God, your wife, your kids, your neighbor, your coworker, or even your enemy.”

(click to tweet)

When you are loved, and you know it, you don’t have to try not to sin; you don’t have to beg God for breakthrough; you don’t have to strive to obey; you don’t have to work up your love for God, your wife, kids, neighbor, coworker, or even your enemy.

Jesus was love. It wasn’t hard for Him, either. There was no striving. He didn’t have to try. All He had to do was keep His eyes on His Dad.

We went to Queen City Church, a wonderful family of believers, to worship with the Skinners that Sunday night before they headed to their Nashville home. It was beautiful, sweet, and powerful. It was all those things for several reasons. First, as my friend Andy Squyres says, Anthony Skinner’s voice is a million bucks. So there was that. But it was also beautiful, sweet, and powerful for a profoundly simpler reason: the Skinners weren’t there for themselves; they were there for the Father… and for all of us.

Mid-strum, Anthony muted his strings and paused, “I used to try and love God, but now I just let Him love me.”

Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

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The Thorn…

by Jason Clark | September 14, 2012 | Articles, Faith, Intimacy | 4 Comments

Here is a thought, the grace that was sufficient for Paul was the same grace Jesus operated in; the same grace in which Jesus become poor that His rich power would be available to all of us. It’s the same “grace of God that brings salvation” Paul wrote about in Titus 2:11. Could it be that the power of this grace is the whole point of Paul’s message? Of course, it is!

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Published on July 05, 2023 23:38

BRITTNEY SERPELL / IMPERFECT PARENTING

Brittney Serpell Imperfect Parenting

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The true goal of parenting—safe, loving, heart-to-heart connection with our kids—in this podcast, Brittney Serpell shares about growing mature in our own identity as parents, modeling repenting and humility, finding courage to fight for family, recognizing fear, control, and punishment in our parenting, trading perfectionism for trust and always pursuing heart-to-heart connection as we guide our kids on their own learning journey to becoming healthy, confident, emotionally intelligent, and strong in character.

For more on Brittney Serpell
Website : www.lovingonpurpose.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/brittneyserpell

Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

Derek Turner Follower of Jesus, in love with @sarahjturner, father to @caro.turn & @kaaatters, owner of Milo, pastor @rivercharlotte. Amazed by Grace
www.rivercharlotte.com

Follow Follow Follow Jason Clark is a writer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY BUY NOW!

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… JOHN CROWDER / TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY

by A Family Story | May 25, 2022 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Hell, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, Sin, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

John Crowder pulls from the different streams of the church to talk about Christilogical Trinitarian theology, grace, union, contemplative practice, intimacy, and mystical Christianity. John and Jason dive into the Cross, Western atonement theories, and the religious industry built upon separation; how Jesus is healing the human race. John describes a relationship with a person, Christ. He invites us to embrace mystery so we might discover that God looks like Jesus.

Read More SCOT MCKNIGHT / A CHURCH CALLED TOV

by A Family Story | January 19, 2022 | Faith, Interview, Life, Popular, Prayer, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Co-Author of A Church Called TOV, Scot McKnight talks about his new book written in response to the abuses of power, sexual abuse, and spiritual abuse within the leadership of Willow Creek, Harvest, and sadly churches of all shapes and sizes.

We talked about TOV (which means goodness) and how when we practice empathy, compassion, extending grace, putting people first, telling the truth, promoting justice, and serving others, TOV emerges in the culture and we all become more Christlike.

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Justice, love, respect, our shared humanity, a discussion around Christian Zionism and the peace of Jerusalem, ETC, and a shift in hearts and minds around war and the inevitability of peace; in this conversation, the guys connected with Joe Chadburn around the finished work of Jesus and an inevitable peace on earth as it is in heaven.

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by A Family Story | November 17, 2022 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Hell, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, Sin, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

“I felt like the Jesus I knew deserved a better Christianity than the Christianity I knew.” In this podcast, Zahnd shares about the Christian faith in alignment with Jesus and the journey he’s taken in discovering this good news! De- and reconstruction, a non-violent, non-retributive God who is reconciling the world to Himself, hermeneutics, hell, and the wonder of church deep and wide, in this conversation, the guys discuss a much richer, wider faith. The guys dive into Brian’s book, “When Everything’s on Fire,” a conversation that invites us to move beyond the crisis of faith toward the journey of reconstruction.

Read More WINN COLLIER / WE BELONG TO ONE ANOTHER

by A Family Story | August 4, 2022 | Faith, Interview, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three | 0 Comments

The thread through all Winn Collier’s work is delight in the God who exists as the blazing center of everything that is good, beautiful, and true; and you feel that in this conversation. In this podcast, Winn and Jason talk about God’s hope and heart for all creation to know we belong to one another. The guys dive into wholeness, cruciform love, and what it means to be fully human.

Then Winn talks about his friendship with Eugene Peterson, writer of The Message Translation. Winn shares about the biography he recently released on Eugene’s incredible life, A Burning In My Bones, and on their shared heart for pastors and the church!

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by A Family Story | May 26, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two | 1 Comment

Patriarchy, authoritarian rule, the nature of power and privilege in America and the Church, the deconstruction movement, Christians in politics; in this podcast, Professor and Historian Kristin Du Mez, examines the impact of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, white evangelicalism. This conversation explores how evangelicals have stepped away from the Jesus of the Gospels, from sacrificial love. “But what was once done, can be undone.”

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Published on June 29, 2023 08:39

Grossly Misinterpreted

My whole life, I’ve heard the message of the cross presented from pulpits and platforms, mostly by well-meaning preachers and teachers, as a moment in time when a good Father abandoned His Son.

You’re likely familiar with it, too. It often sounded like, “The Father looked away. He turned His face. He could not look upon sin.” If you Google the phrase, “God turned His face,” you’ll find endless books and teachings on God’s abandoning, sin-counting, cruel, and punishing nature.

My wife, Karen, as a children’s pastor, paid especially close attention to our children’s curriculum and constantly searched for a children’s Bible that she didn’t have to redact. In one of the best Bibles she found, she still had to black out the grossly misinterpreted interaction between a Father and His beloved Son.

“’Papa,’ Jesus cried frantically, searching the sky. ‘Papa? Where are you? Don’t leave me!’…Nothing happened. Just a horrible, endless silence. Papa turned away from His Boy…”

Do you wonder why we have a Deconstruction movement today? I think it’s partly because many Christians have been forced to build their faith upon the shaky foundation of an oscillating “Papa who turned away from His Boy.”

We have been taught, and then passed along to our kids in their formative years, a “good” God with kindness in one hand and a Skill Saw in the other. We read “Papa turned away from His Boy” to our kids and then wonder why they don’t trust God later in life.

It’s pretty simple. You can’t trust a Father who turns His back on His Son in His most desperate hour of need, but this teaching is woven into our Western Evangelical approach to God. A “Papa who turned away from His Boy” is preached from pulpits, taught in our Sunday schools, found in our discipleship books, and has infiltrated our worship songs.

“The Father looked away” is a lyrical trope employed by many sincere worship songwriters. The song How Deep the Father’s Love contradicts its title with the unsettling lyric, “How great the pain of searing loss—the Father turns His face away.” Apparently, though the Father’s love is deep, it’s not quite deep enough to stay with His Son in His most desperate hour. And that’s a trust-compromising problem.

In the song, God of Calvary, “The sky went dark, the Angels wept,” and “the Father looked away.”

No, He didn’t!

The idea that “Papa turned away from His Boy” is heretical bullshit!

He does not oscillate; nothing separates us from His love…

This article is excerpted from my book, Leaving and Finding Jesus
Order Now At AMAZON.COM

TO READ MORE ON THIS SUBJECT, CLICK HERE

ORDER NOW!

Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children, Madeleine, Ethan, and Eva. Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… Hope

by Jason Clark | October 8, 2019 | Articles, Faith, Relationship, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Have you ever wondered how to feel hope? Jason tells a story about how to feel hope, how to live in expectation of good.

Read More JONATHAN FOSTER / THEOLOGY OF CONSENT

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“Consent is the depth of love…” Jonathan Foster shares about his book, Theology of Consent, where he blends René Girard’s scapegoating theory with open and relational theology. The guys talk about anthropology, mimetic theory, and the nature of love. This is a conversation for those already deep in the forest of theopoetics, life, love, the church, and theology.

Read More “Prone to Wander”? Debilitating Theology in the Pew

by Jason Clark | July 23, 2012 | Articles, Faith, Prone To Love | 1 Comment

The power of the song “Come Thou Fount” is the revelation that we can always know His Love

Read More HAROLD & LINDA EBERLE / THE NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION

by A Family Story | March 10, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, Sin, The Fathers Love | 4 Comments

Harold and Linda Eberle share about the catalytic love of God that is transforming our western understanding of the church. They speak on victorious mindsets, kingdom thinking, the myth of separation, reconciliation through the death of Jesus, and salvation through his life; plus old elephants! This is a power packed interview full of profound insight.

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Published on June 21, 2023 21:19

MARK APPLEYARD / DIGNITY: THE LEADING EDGE OF LOVE

Mark Appleyard Dignity: The Leading Edge Of Love

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Redefining success, living loved—from Jesus, laying our lives down for one another, awakening to a union, living from rest, the peace that surpasses understanding, human flourishing, and dignity as the leading edge of love; in this podcast, the guys dive into how dignity seeks to protect the image of God in a person. Dignity treats every human interaction as if it were eternal.

For more on Mark Appleyard
Website: www.anothen.co/pathfinder/

Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

Derek Turner Follower of Jesus, in love with @sarahjturner, father to @caro.turn & @kaaatters, owner of Milo, pastor @rivercharlotte. Amazed by Grace
www.rivercharlotte.com

Follow Follow Follow Jason Clark is a writer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY BUY NOW!

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by A Family Story | June 4, 2023 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Four, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

“God didn’t want me because of anything I could do for Him; He wanted me just because He loves me.” Paradigm shifts, intimacy, eternal life, practical applied theology, a sustaining energy of a more subtle kind, the connection of all things, quantum science, quantum faith, the supernatural, miracles, signs and wonders, and union; in this conversation, Steve dives into the scientific universal nature of the love of God.“

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by A Family Story | May 26, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two | 1 Comment

Patriarchy, authoritarian rule, the nature of power and privilege in America and the Church, the deconstruction movement, Christians in politics; in this podcast, Professor and Historian Kristin Du Mez, examines the impact of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, white evangelicalism. This conversation explores how evangelicals have stepped away from the Jesus of the Gospels, from sacrificial love. “But what was once done, can be undone.”

Read More LEIF HETLAND / THE LOVE AWAKENING

by A Family Story | July 6, 2022 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Miracles, Popular, Prayer, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

In this conversation Leif, Mark Appleyard, and Jason dive into Leif’s new book, The Love Awakening. Through personal stories, the guys discuss the powerful, supernatural Baptism of Love that breaks off shame, affirms identity, and reveals the unconditional love of the Father. This is a life-giving conversation around union, evangelism, and the miraculous.

Read More WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN / with DEREK TURNER

by A Family Story | April 2, 2021 | Faith, Intimacy, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

He came and he walked beside us, He said, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you; you are not alone, you belong.” When we discover this love, we are transformed and we begin to love like He does. On Palm Sunday Derek speaks about the cross and how we are invited to live surrendered and sure in love. He talks about laying down our loves, loving our enemies, and seeing the kingdom come.

Read More DAVID TENSEN / YOU ARE NOT ALONE

by A Family Story | May 12, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two | 5 Comments

Trauma, pain, empathy like Jesus, and healing for the oppressed, misunderstood, lost, or broken; in this podcast David Tensen shares how we are loved and not alone. Addressing how shame and condemnation are compounded by religion, the guys talked specifically about abortion and the LGBTQ community with an invitation to love like Jesus, through our union with God and reconciliation.

Read More KATHRYN LYNN CIENIEWICZ / LOVE IS THE LONG GAME

by A Family Story | February 24, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

Salvation, hell, justice, equality, the bible, and the unconditional transformative always good Love of God; in this insightful interview, Kathryn talks about her spiritual deconstruction and the journey of rethinking God. She brilliantly addresses the sin of certainty, newfound feminism, and a Love that casts out all fear.

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Published on June 21, 2023 20:29

Love Keeps No Record…

Love Keeps No Record...

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most beautiful descriptions of love, a chapter often used at weddings. So, most of us are familiar.

The chapter describes love as patient and kind and continues by laying out the stunning attributes of God. Tucked between “Love isn’t easily angered” and “Love doesn’t delight in evil” is a powerful world-changing truth:

“Love keeps no record of wrongs….”

Jesus, Love in human form, hanging on a cross between heaven and earth, His body battered, the lie of separation a veil between Him and His Father, the myth of abandonment cutting Him off from sensing His Father’s affection; the fiction that God punishes screaming its message through the iron nails that tore His flesh and held Him fast to a cross, reveals the power of a free will submitted to love.

Jesus—fully God, fully Man, one with Father, intimate with Holy Spirit—forgives. And His forgiveness confronts the transactional, fallen, sin-counting, punishing justice payment system—“What seems right to a man.” 1

Casting back to before the beginning and looking forward to after the end, Jesus keeps no record of the wrong humanity has committed. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” He said. And the power of that Greater Love saves the world.

Do you know what happened when Jesus kept no record of our wrongs?

He couldn’t justify His right to hold onto offense—and all creation was reborn in that powerful conclusion.

And we’ve been invited to live in that same powerfully transformative freedom!

All creation has been invited to awaken to that reconciling measureless revelation. Love doesn’t count sins; it keeps no record of wrong!

1 Proverbs 14:12

This article is excerpted from my book, Leaving and Finding Jesus
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Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children, Madeleine, Ethan, and Eva. Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… Encountering Humanity on 5th and 2nd

by Aimee Perry | October 21, 2020 | Articles, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Popular, The Fathers Love | 9 Comments

Masks, no masks, a black woman, a middle-aged white woman, a red neck, an old white man, and a black man met up yesterday on the corner of 5th and 2nd to work together for the good of humanity!

Read More Living Powerfully Generous: Eggos and Juice Boxes

by Jason Clark | July 18, 2016 | Articles, Faith, Life, Parenting | 0 Comments

Generous giving is our birthright. It’s a partnership with our Father’s heart. It always further aligns our affections with His.

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Published on June 14, 2023 23:19

JOE CHADBURN / PEACE IS INEVITABLE

Joe Chadburn Peace Is Inevitable

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“The greatest manifestations of justice will find their genesis in a grassroots love for all mankind. I have more hope in a trickle-up effect vs the hierarchal top-down pyramid paradigm.”

Justice, love, respect, our shared humanity, a discussion around Christian Zionism and the peace of Jerusalem, ETC, and a shift in hearts and minds around war and the inevitability of peace; in this conversation, the guys connected with Joe Chadburn around the finished work of Jesus and an inevitable peace on earth as it is in heaven.

For more on Joe Chadburn
Website: www.internationalpeacenetwork.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/joe.chadburn.5

Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

Derek Turner Follower of Jesus, in love with @sarahjturner, father to @caro.turn & @kaaatters, owner of Milo, pastor @rivercharlotte. Amazed by Grace
www.rivercharlotte.com

Follow Follow Follow Jason Clark is a writer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY BUY NOW!

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… ADDISON BEVERE / SAINTS, BECOMING MORE THAN CHRISTIANS

by A Family Story | April 14, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Identity, union, searching scripture through the lens of Jesus, and holiness discovered through community, Addison brilliantly describes that we are beloved saints.

Read More WINN COLLIER / WE BELONG TO ONE ANOTHER

by A Family Story | August 4, 2022 | Faith, Interview, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three | 0 Comments

The thread through all Winn Collier’s work is delight in the God who exists as the blazing center of everything that is good, beautiful, and true; and you feel that in this conversation. In this podcast, Winn and Jason talk about God’s hope and heart for all creation to know we belong to one another. The guys dive into wholeness, cruciform love, and what it means to be fully human.

Then Winn talks about his friendship with Eugene Peterson, writer of The Message Translation. Winn shares about the biography he recently released on Eugene’s incredible life, A Burning In My Bones, and on their shared heart for pastors and the church!

Read More SHAWN HARNISH / UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

by A Family Story | February 16, 2023 | Faith, Intimacy, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Four, Sin, The Fathers Love, Writing | 0 Comments

Pastoring a community, faith and living in mystery, putting unconditional love before understanding, kindness that leads to repentance, the nature of trust, punishment hell, Bible College, the Age of Certainty, and timeless reconciling love – in this conversation, Shawn Harnish shares about his 25-plus years of pastoring in one area and the transforming discovery of the finished work of the cross. Add to that, 25-plus years of friendship with Jason and a mutual love of the Buffalo Bills, and you got a profound and fun conversation – Go Bills!

Read More HE CALLS US FRIENDS WITH BRENT LOKKER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | May 12, 2022 | Intimacy, Life, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

This conversation with Jason Clark was hosted by Brent Lokker on his youtube channel Vibrant Life. This podcast begins with two dads sharing stories about helping their children encounter God as a loving Father. The guys dive into obedience in the context of union and friendship, learning to trust the unchanging nature of our Father, not as retributive, punishing, or abandoning, but as the tenderhearted one who accepts us, loves us, and is always good!

Read More THE PROBLEM WITH RETRIBUTION WITH JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | February 22, 2023 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Hell, Intimacy, Leaving and Finding Jesus, Miracles, Podcast, Popular, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Four, Sin, The Fathers Love, Writing | 0 Comments

This podcast announces and features Jason’s new book, Leaving and Finding Jesus, in audio format. Retribution is the title of chapter seven and is presented in its entirety. In this chapter and podcast, Jason juxtaposes retribution with reconciliation and recognizes that a punishment lens on the nature of God is one of the reasons the church is navigating broken trust. It’s also why we currently find ourselves in a Deconstruction Movement.

God is as Jesus revealed Him, and on a cross Jesus forgave. God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself.

Read More SCOTT CROWDER / LEARNING TO BE PRESENT

by A Family Story | April 13, 2022 | Dreaming, Faith, Friends, Leadership, Music, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three | 2 Comments

Scott Crowder is a pastor, singer-songwriter, and one of Jason’s closest friends. The guys dive into their love for the church, about learning how to be present with God, ourselves, each other, and our community. Scott talks about creating church cultures that practice the fruits of the Spirit, learning to lead ourselves and others in seasons of joy and sorrow, that “success” isn’t about numbers, cool fads, or being ‘front runners,’ it’s discovered in community.

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Published on June 14, 2023 11:26

STEVE MCVEY / QUATUM LIFE

Steve McVey Quantum Life

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“God didn’t want me because of anything I could do for Him; He wanted me just because He loves me.” Paradigm shifts, intimacy, eternal life, practical applied theology, a sustaining energy of a more subtle kind, the connection of all things, quantum science, quantum faith, the supernatural, miracles, signs and wonders, and union; in this conversation, Steve dives into the scientific universal nature of the love of God.

“I am not a biblical universalist… but you might call me a quantum universalist…”

“I don’t believe in ultimate reconciliation; I believe in historic reconciliation. I believe everything and everybody has already been reconciled to God, and they just don’t know it. And conversion is a recognition of what’s already true of you…

“Is the universe a friendly place, is God love — yes…

“This is eternal life, that they may know you…” John 17:3

For more on Steve
Website: www.stevemcvey.com
Quantum Life: Amazon Book Link

Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

Derek Turner Follower of Jesus, in love with @sarahjturner, father to @caro.turn & @kaaatters, owner of Milo, pastor @rivercharlotte. Amazed by Grace
www.rivercharlotte.com

Follow Follow Follow Jason Clark is a writer, speaker, and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

Follow Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY BUY NOW!

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… GOD IS NOT IN CONROL / SOVEREIGN LOVE with JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | March 31, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, Sovereign Love Series, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

What if control is a flawed word to describe God’s sovereignty? What if there is an infinitely better word, a greater revelation, LOVE! Through a fresh look at God’s sovereignty, Jason invites you into a transforming encounter with the love and goodness of our heavenly Father.

Read More WM. PAUL YOUNG / ETERNAL LIFE, THE EVER PRESENT NOW

by A Family Story | August 17, 2022 | Art, Dreaming, Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Miracles, Popular, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, Writing | 6 Comments

“Eternal life is not on a timeline, it is the ever-present now.”

Wm Paul Young, the author of The Shack, talks with Lloyd and Jason Clark about eternal life, an authentic friendship with our Father where we are free to live in the ever-present now. Union, peace, grace, expectancy, trust, facing our fear, the incarnation, death, writing for the one, and stories about Pauls’s friends on death row and the Shack movie, this is an authentic and vulnerable conversation.

Read More CARLOS PADILLA / WALKING IN GOD’S POWER

by A Family Story | May 5, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two | 0 Comments

Healing, miracles, the power of God, evangelism through the gospel of inclusion, faith, and reframing repentance, Carlos shares about his journey of discovering that the miraculous, or a transformed life, is simply about discovering God’s love and our origin and union in Him.

Read More WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN / with DEREK TURNER

by A Family Story | April 2, 2021 | Faith, Intimacy, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

He came and he walked beside us, He said, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you; you are not alone, you belong.” When we discover this love, we are transformed and we begin to love like He does. On Palm Sunday Derek speaks about the cross and how we are invited to live surrendered and sure in love. He talks about laying down our loves, loving our enemies, and seeing the kingdom come.

Read More SHEILA & KEITH GREGOIRE / THE GOOD GUYS AND GIRL’S GUIDE TO GREAT SEX

by Jason Clark | December 14, 2022 | Intimacy, Marriage, Parenting, Popular, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, Sin, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment

In this conversation, the guys talked with Sheila and Keith about intimacy, sex, and God’s design for our marriages. Based on groundbreaking surveys of more than twenty-five thousand people, the Gregoires shared how our theology impacts our intimacy, the nature of our sex drives, porn addiction, and freedom, all for the purpose of helping husbands and wives discover intimacy and experience great sex! This is both an insightful and fun conversation.

Read More LEIF HETLAND / THE LOVE AWAKENING

by A Family Story | July 6, 2022 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Miracles, Popular, Prayer, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

In this conversation Leif, Mark Appleyard, and Jason dive into Leif’s new book, The Love Awakening. Through personal stories, the guys discuss the powerful, supernatural Baptism of Love that breaks off shame, affirms identity, and reveals the unconditional love of the Father. This is a life-giving conversation around union, evangelism, and the miraculous.

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Published on June 04, 2023 12:52