Jason Clark's Blog, page 21

A Wonderful Life!

#awonderfullife

I, Jason, collected a series of Facebook posts from my Dad, Lloyd’s page. He hashtagged each one #awonderfullife I found them to be full of joy and grace and wanted to collect them in one place and share them with you. Praying grace and wonder over you today!

Every life on this planet is in part a revelation of the creativity, diversity, and symmetry in the heart of God and an ever-expanding canvas paraphrase of the gospel!

Can I see and love what Papa sees and loves in every other person today?

The Incarnation, Christ in us!

#awonderfullife

There is not a life on this planet that Christ has not identified with.

Every life has value and purpose!

Every life is at home in Him!

We all are family!

And without each and every life, the rest of us will be deficit in the whole love story!

#awonderfullife

When Christ died, He died humanity‘s death, so that in Him humanity could find their truest life!

To see everyone in the value that God has placed in them, and be a catalyst in their self-discovery, yes, that is the whole point of life!

#awonderfullife

To say, “I love God and hate or disregard my neighbor,” is an oxymoron! It’s an impossibility! A lie!

Recognizing and appreciating every human being as a child of God is not only at the heart of Christianity, but the truest definition of Christianity;

That we all are participants in this Holy dance with Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

#awonderfullife

As Jesus was contemplating His death and return to the Father, He declared “I am going to prepare a place for you and you and you, in Father‘s heart.”

There is not only a vacuum in every heart for God but a vacuum in Papa‘s heart for you and every person before and after you, a divine place for each and every one of us! An intimate place in the family where you and only you belong!

#awonderfullife

In Abba’s huge heart there is a distinct and unique place for you.

A place no other can enter.

As a uniquely and wonderfully designed individual, there’s your own abiding place to which you alone are in-vited!

It is also a place from which you alone have a perspective, uniquely yours on the heart of Abba. That place is the source of your spark!

Oh, and that is your purpose. To reveal and declare in words and in your life, the identity, beauty, and wonder of that unique perspective.

A place which no other can enter, and a place from which only you can contribute.

Abba’s pleasure is in you!

And your life is complete in Him!

#awonderfullife

Grace is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world.

It is a floating, cosmic bash shouting its way through the streets of the universe, flinging the sweetness of its cassations to every window, pounding at every door in a hilarity beyond all liking and happening, until the prodigals come out at last and dance, and the elder brothers finally take their fingers out of their ears ~ Robert Farrar Capon

What a high calling!

What an opportunity!

Our mission on earth- to see and celebrate each and everyone in their true value!

We are family; We ALL belong!

And this is what makes it easy to love!

#awonderfullife / Dancing boys by Ayhan Özkan

My prayer for this year is that people that I run into, bump into, friend or foe, feel valued… because that is our Father in heaven; on earth…

In the context of family, (identity, security, and belonging), love flows.

Oh, and there is no resistance that can stand against that kind of love.

~

What is the point of the gospel?

A few people pray a prayer, avoid hell and get to go to heaven?

We get to have thousands of Christian labels, clubs, cliques, and societies?

We get to rule the world someday?

Or is it love; that our neighbors get to know their Papa and discover their wonderful life!

Love you, Lloyd

#awonderfullife

Lloyd Clark is an entrepreneur, a former pastor, and a writer. He is passionate about being loved by our Heavenly Father and revealing that same love to everyone he meets. He and his wife Mary have 5 children and 7 grandchildren and live in North Carolina. Follow Follow Follow Follow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… God Has Favorites & So Do I

by Jason Clark | October 29, 2009 | A Family Story, Articles, Faith, Intimacy, Leadership, Parenting, Prone To Love | 1 Comment

While holding hands with my family, I told my wife she was “the one” I loved, that I loved her best, she was my favorite. Then I looked at my oldest daughter and I told her the same thing. I moved on to my son and finally my youngest daughter repeating myself as I went. You are “the one” that I love…

Read More Five Signs You May Have a Wrong View of God

by Jason Clark | January 9, 2015 | Articles, Crisis of Identity, Faith, Leadership, Life | 0 Comments

There are many different false ideas we put on God, but here are a few signs that you have a wrong view of God.

1. You’re Motivated by Shame Instead of Love. Feelings of shame or condemnation are often the evidence that you believe God’s opinion of you is determined by how much you have pursued Him or, obeyed Him or loved Him…

JOHN ELDREDGE / RESILIENT: RESTORING YOUR WEARY SOUL

John Eldredge Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul

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The human soul has a built-in yearning for joy and beauty and all good things. But that craving for life has taken a real beating in recent years. Between false promises of ease and comfort on one side and the sheer trauma of global disease and disasters on the other, people today are facing a shortage of peace, happiness, and strength.

In this conversation, John and Jason dive into John’s new book, Resilient. The guys talk about life and faith during and since the pandemic. They dive into the evidence of trauma, how to discover peace in the midst of disappointment, the dark night of the soul, de- and reconstruction, and ultimately union. This conversation reveals a path toward genuine recovery and resilience provided by Jesus himself.

For more on John Eldredge
www.wildatheart.org

Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

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

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… 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 | 2 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.

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 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.

Read More KIM HONEYCUTT / SHAME, AND WHAT TO DO WITH IT

by A Family Story | February 10, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

In this podcast, Psychotherapist Kim Honeycutt addresses shame, blame the trauma of rejection. She brilliantly highlights our intrinsic worth, our identity in Christ, and the journey from rejection to acceptance.

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 CHRIST IN YOU with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | February 17, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment

Derek and Jason dive into our union in Christ and how that impacts everything from knowing our identity to loving our “enemies,” to evangelism, to navigating cross moments in our lives.

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Published on June 22, 2022 14:02

JUSTIN STUMVOLL / LOVE IS THE KEY

Justin Stumvoll Love Is The Key

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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, forgiveness, grace, freedom from addiction, and more. This podcast is bursting with the kindness of God that transforms the world.

QUOTES

“The thing that is completely different with Jesus (as opposed to) any other religious system is that there is no hierarchy.”

“We are tormented by our disconnection to love that causes us to believe that “I am abandoned.”

“You are more than the amalgamation of the messes you’ve made.”

“People are terrified of forgiveness because it strips them of control…under a law-based system I can control the love of God… this removes relationship and trust…”

“There’s no such thing as an atheist, there are just people that really question religion.”

“When I look at an individual, I (am able to) have grace for their messes, (because) I don’t see a 40-year-old, I see a five-year-old…”

For more on Justin Stumvoll
www.justinandabi.com

Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

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

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… 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.

Read More RANDALL WORLEY / BRUSHSTROKES OF GRACE

by A Family Story | April 28, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Popular, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, Worship | 2 Comments

“The two greatest myths that we, as humans, believe, are the myth of separation and the myth of scarcity.”

Grace, empathy, spiritual maturity, identity, destiny, purpose, and a sense of our eternal significance and worth; in this podcast, Randall Worley dives headlong into the measureless transforming and reconciling mystery of the love of God.

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 CROSS with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | January 6, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments

In this first episode of season two, Jason and new host Derek Turner dive into the wonder of what Jesus revealed about our Father and humanity through the cross and resurrection.

Read More PETER HIETT / WHAT ABOUT HELL?

by A Family Story | March 2, 2022 | Articles, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Interview, Life, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

The goodness of God but hell, atonement but hell, reformation but hell, scripture but hell, Calvinism but hell; in this podcast Peter Hiett describes hell as “Satan’s big but.” In this conversation Peter walks us through the story of our own creation, the goodness of God’s reconciling love, the relational kindness of a God who encounters, sets free and transforms.

Peter describes a God who delights in His creation, a God who destroys what is evil, creates what is good, and invites us to observe our own creation in Christ Jesus.

Read More DR. CAROLINE LEAF / CLEANING UP YOUR MENTAL MESS

by A Family Story | March 4, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Popular, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

Brilliant, compassionate, and empowering, world-renowned neuroscientist and best-selling author, Dr. Caroline Leaf, talks about her new book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. She addresses what happens when we don’t use our minds properly. Why mind-management is the solution to cleaning up our mental mess and how the science can help us transition from being aware of toxic thoughts to catching and managing them. In other words, she teaches us how to renew our minds.

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Published on June 08, 2022 19:53

icuTalks / End The Stigma With-In The Church

End The Stigma With-In The Church icuTalks

Last month I had the opportunity to speak at icuTalks on the topic of Ending Stigma in the Church.

I was incredibly honored and took all 26 of my 25 minutes to talk about a reconciling God in a church that often perceives him through the lens of retribution. If you’re curious about the new book I am finally wrapping up, Leaving & finding Jesus, this is a good introduction. icuTalks creates a safe and vulnerable environment through an authentic sharing of God’s redeeming love of life. They are a mental health ministry that provides a stage for every-day people to share about God’s redemptive love. The theme for the evening was Ending the Stigma with-in the Church and I was honored to share the stage with Heather Bise and Cody Suddreth. icuTalks is led by my friend, Kim Honeycutt, who is a psychotherapist and trauma recovery consultant. Kim provides individual services that are open to all seeking emotional healing. Kim was rated second in a “best list” of psychotherapists by Charlotte Fitness Lifestyles. You can learn more about them at www.icutalks.com

To pre-order my forthcoming book, Leaving (& finding) Jesus CLICK HERE PRE-ORDER NOW!

Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God in a world traumatized by the religious abuses done in the name 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… The Earth Was Never Flat : The Devastation of Sovereign Control

by Jason Clark | May 1, 2017 | Articles, Books, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership | 0 Comments

I would like to suggest that sovereign control is flat earth thinking, it’s an institution unto itself, a broken paradigm, a ruler by which so many have measured everything since the fall of Adam. This devastating narrative has dominated humanities thoughts and perceptions for far too long!

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Published on June 05, 2022 18:53

A Name Like Honey

The other day I took my Taylor guitar off the wall where it hangs in our living room and began to play some of the songs in which I’ve experienced God’s affection over the 48 years I’ve walked the planet; songs where my heart has burned with Gods love.

I leaned in.

“Jesus, I love you.” I sang and immediately His friendship flooded my heart. Wonder and thankfulness filled me.

With tears in my eyes, my voice weighted with the realization of Greater Love, I continued, “I turn my eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory, and grace…”

One song led to another.

“My Jesus, I love thee. I know thou aren’t mine…”

and

“My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

and

“Your name is like honey on my lips…”

With each hymn, I grew in my awareness of Jesus’ goodness and I was overcome by the great love we share for one another.

“Jesus, friends forever…” I sang, reconciled in love.

Friends forever.

It’s true, has been since before the foundations of the earth. And I’ve been awakening to it my whole life. And all humanity is invited to this awakening.

Friends forever.

Forever is a long time.

Even longer than time…

—

When I wrote this book under the title, Leaving Jesus, I did not write as a cynic, I haven’t lost faith. Just the opposite.

I am more fascinated by Jesus’ kindness, convinced in His goodness, amazed by His love, and confident in our friendship than I’ve ever been.

This isn’t a breakup book, it’s an expression of our friendship. And an expression of His great affection for humanity.

This book is an invitation to leave our infatuation with retribution and rediscover a relational God who walks beside us as a friend. This book is an invitation to repent, to turn from our cruel and punishing theological certainties, and awaken to the reconciling love of God…

Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order

PRE-ORDER NOW!

Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God in a world traumatized by the religious abuses done in the name 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… If God Is Good…

by Jason Clark | January 15, 2018 | Articles, Faith, Life, Popular | 15 Comments

If I type into Google’s search bar, “If God is good…” Google will finish my search with the following suggestions: …Why is there suffering? …why do bad things happen? …why is there evil?

Read More LEAVING (& FINDING) JESUS WITH DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | July 14, 2021 | Interview, Intimacy, Life, Popular, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

God’s sovereignty revealed by Jesus through cruciform, self-giving love, the nature of trust, intimacy, and union, and the transforming truth that there is no shadow of turning with God, in this podcast the guys explore Jason’s upcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus. This conversation juxtaposes an inclusive, reconciling, self-giving, unconditional view of God’s love against an excluding, hierarchal, punishment-focused, conditional view of God’s love.

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Published on May 25, 2022 12:39

JOHN CROWDER / TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY

John Crowder Trinitarian Theology

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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.

QUOTES

“People are grabbing the Trinitarian Father, this gospel message…”

“I saw the connection between the church mystics and post-Azusa Street Pentecostalism, it was the presence orientation that connected these streams.”

“We’ve pulled from a lot of different streams; I could see baby Jesus in the bathwater.”

“I think there is a merger happening that we got to get a hold of, a Christological, Trinitarian theology that is contemplative in its experience and employment.”

“The biggest problem in the church is separation thinking, between you and Jesus, and between Jesus and His Father”

“This idea that the Father is turning his back on the Son, that Jesus is the whipping boy for the Father’s wrath, this is preached as the gospel, an atonement theory, a twisted one at that, being preached as the gospel in the western church. These atonement theories are demonic in nature. (And) There’s almost no grid for what the cross means outside that…”

“What did not happen on the cross, which is a complete fabrication, a demonic fairy tale, the Trinity was not imploding on Itself…Jesus was healing the human race…”

“There have always been pluralities in the Godhead and He has always desired family”

“Religion builds an industry on the concept of separation.”

For more on John Crowder
www.johncrowder.net
www.thenewmystics.com
Twitter

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

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… JAMIE & DONNA WINSHIP / OUR TRUE IDENTITY

by A Family Story | February 16, 2022 | Faith, Interview, Life, Prayer, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment

How to experience God, confession, faith, fear, freedom, our true identity, and cruciform, others-focused, self-emptying unconditional love barely scratches the surface of this packed conversation on the goodness of God. Jamie and Donna Winship share how we can discover our true identity through a relationship with God and each other.

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Published on May 25, 2022 10:35

HE CALLS US FRIENDS WITH BRENT LOKKER & JASON CLARK

He Calls Us Friends with Brent Lokker & Jason Clark

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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!

They discussed what it looks like to live as God’s friend, not as a servant. Why Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?” Knowing and trusting the Father who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Dreaming with a good Father. The positive side of the deconstruction movement. Reconstructing our lives on the cornerstone of the real Jesus.

For more on Brent Lokker go to:
Vibrant Life
Brent Lokker Ministries

Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly

iTunes Google Spotify YouTube 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 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 DOUG CREW / WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW?

by A Family Story | March 24, 2021 | Faith, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Navigating through loss with a good God, experiencing the presence of God as a loving Father, loving our neighbor, democrat and republican, and love answering every question that aches in the heart of humanity, Doug Crew shares on these subjects and more with insight and grace. Doug is the executive leader of Shiloh Place Ministries and a good friend of the podcast.

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.

Read More THE CROSS with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | January 6, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments

In this first episode of season two, Jason and new host Derek Turner dive into the wonder of what Jesus revealed about our Father and humanity through the cross and resurrection.

Read More CHRIST IN YOU with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | February 17, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment

Derek and Jason dive into our union in Christ and how that impacts everything from knowing our identity to loving our “enemies,” to evangelism, to navigating cross moments in our lives.

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 | 2 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.

The post HE CALLS US FRIENDS WITH BRENT LOKKER & JASON CLARK appeared first on A Family Story.

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Published on May 11, 2022 21:46

An Authoritarian In Pastor’s Clothing

An Authoritarian in Pastor's Clothing

Excerpted from, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus…

Have you ever had your trust broken by an authoritarian in pastor’s clothing?

Like David in Saul’s throne room, I’ve played my metaphorical harp with my heart open to God’s love and one eye always on the authoritarian King. And I’ve learned the hard way…

“Best to see the spear coming,” I say, having been on the pointy end of a few.

If David had trusted King Saul, his life story would have been much shorter as he wouldn’t have survived Saul’s hurtled spears, never mind the ten plus years of living on the run while the authoritarian hunted him.

David honored Saul’s title, but had he equated honor with trust, as so many Christians have been taught to do, he would have died painfully at the end of a spear. David’s trust was always in God’s goodness. Surely God’s goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, he wrote in his most famous psalm. God’s goodness and love are where David put his trust. A good place to put it and the reason God referred to Him as a man after His own heart. (See Psalm 23:6 & 1 Samuel 13:4)

Blind trust is a fool’s game. A person’s title doesn’t infer character, or integrity, and has nothing to do with kindness. And honor and trust aren’t the same things.

You can honor someone without trusting them. And when it comes to hell-fire authoritarians, I’d recommend it.

Honor and trust are not mutually exclusive. Honor simply recognizes a person’s humanity, their intrinsic value, and the fact they were made in the image and likeness of God.

Trust is earned over time, through faithfulness, by those who lay their lives down.

When it comes to titles, especially within the church, unkindness in any form is an alarm bell. When I see it demonstrated, or hear it preached, my trust for that leader diminishes faster than a five-year-old’s meltdown in the ice cream aisle of a grocery after mom says no.

But I digress…

Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order

PRE-ORDER NOW!

Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God in a world traumatized by the religious abuses done in the name 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… Ask The Question

by Jason Clark | January 17, 2019 | Articles, Crisis of Identity, Faith, Parenting | 0 Comments

Every sincere question is an invitation into a transformative answer. The honest questions resonate in heaven and pull heaven to earth!

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Published on April 27, 2022 20:13

KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR / LIFE, LITERATURE, & GOD

Karen Swallow Prior Life, Literature, & God

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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.

QUOTES

“We express our sense of ourselves and our experience through language and even before we express it, we understand it that way.”

“Language helps us interpret our experiences…what stories we tell ourselves or what we tell other people about what happened to us. It’s an interpretive frame for the rest of our lives.”

Regarding the Word became flesh: “To think about words as symbols and even that idea is also a metaphor but also literal… I can’t even understand it on a literal level but the possibilities and the implications are endless and it should shape everything that we think and we do.”

“What I’m trying to understand better about God… is how we relate to God through the church and in the church that is so imperfect and fallen…”

For more on Karen Swallow Prior
www.karenswallowprior.com
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Article Karen referenced in the Podcast / Sin Is Like Walking In Front of a Bus

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… 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.

Read More KRISTIN DU MEZ / JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE

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 KIM HONEYCUTT / SHAME, AND WHAT TO DO WITH IT

by A Family Story | February 10, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

In this podcast, Psychotherapist Kim Honeycutt addresses shame, blame the trauma of rejection. She brilliantly highlights our intrinsic worth, our identity in Christ, and the journey from rejection to acceptance.

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.

Read More THE DE/RECONSTRUCTING PARENT WITH SARAH TURNER & KAREN CLARK

by A Family Story | April 21, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Sarah Turner and Karen Clark take the hosting reins to share their de/reconstructing faith journey and how, primarily through parenting, they began to rethink who God is and their approach to scripture, church, and ministry.

From Harry Potter and the college years to church life – the good, the bad, and the ugly, they talk about how parenting for connection and living an honest relationship with a loving God, is the most transformative thing we can do in our lives, our kids lives, and in ministry.

Read More SHEILA GREGOIRE / THE GREAT SEX RESCUE

by A Family Story | June 13, 2021 | Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Marraige, Popular, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two | 2 Comments

Intimacy within marriage, the connection between intimacy and mutuality, the nature of trust, the definition of sex, addressing transactional vs relational thinking, dismantling obligation, addressing objectification and broken ideologies developed from Eph 5:22, “Wives submit to your husbands…” Sheila Gregoire practically rethinks sex so husbands and wives can experience intimacy, joy, and deeper connection.

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Published on April 27, 2022 09:37

You Can’t Get There From Here

You Can't Get There From Here

Every culture has strange sayings, vestiges of days past. Some origins are easy to discern like, “Knock it out of the park.” Others like, “Break a leg,” less so.

Then there are the curious phrases that are just good fun.

Why are there “Skeletons in your closet? and what’s “a humdinger”?

“Clean as a whistle?” that’s never been blown?

“Give it to me straight like a pear cider made of 100% pears?” OK.

Why would you ‘beat a dead horse?’ Also, please stop beating horses, dead or alive.

“Out like a light…” that’s, been, turned, off?

“The rules were made to be broken,’ Yeah, pretty sure that’s not why they were made.

And how does ‘imagining everyone in their underwear’ calm the nerves of a first-time public speaker? That’s counterintuitive.

Finally, “You can’t get there from here.”

Back before GPS, in the days when, as a lost traveler, I had to stop and ask directions from some old-timer, always an old-timer. On more than one occasion, upon hearing my desired destination, he would shake his head as though I was willfully lost and say, “Son, you can’t get there from here.”

“Sure, you can, fella.” I’d think. “If I’m here and I need to get there, then there’s no other way to get there than from here. So, unless this is an existential conversation taking place in the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly, I’m certain I can get there from here if you’d just be so kind as to give me directions”

I never employed the phrase except to cleverly expound on its contradiction.

Then, one late night several years ago, I navigated for my brother, Joel, as we traveled from Charlotte NC to Lexington KY for a conference. By “navigated,” I mean, I was listening to Siri communicate GPS directions and repeating what she told me.

Siri, “Turn left,”

“Turn left,” I said, looking up from my phone and pointing.

“Joel!

Left!

There!”

I repeated as we passed our hotel.

“I can’t turn left, bro. Look!” Joel responded just as I recognized the problem. A freshly cemented three-foot median wall had been newly installed between our left turn and the hotel. We couldn’t turn left.

As we drove past and Siri declared, “Recalculating,” I heard myself saying that rascal phrase, “You can’t get there from here.”

And then with epiphanous enthusiasm, “Oh?

Oh!

It’s about the road you’re traveling!”

What Am I Still Lacking?

In Matthew 19:16 a young fella came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain eternal life?”

That’s a good question.

And Jesus answered in the language of the man’s understanding. Something Jesus is brilliant at as He is fluent in every language; a master communicator.

“Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” The young man asked, sincerely.

So, Jesus gave him some well-worn roads he could travel down; some of the greatest hits.

“You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony; Honor your father and mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The young man replied, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

“What am I still lacking?”

That question cuts to the heart of the matter. And I imagine Jesus was thrilled by it.

It’s a humdinger, a recognition that even though the young man kept all of the commandments, something was missing. It was an acknowledgment that something still didn’t measure up, a confession of incompleteness, a realization that no matter how far down this road he traveled, no matter what he did, how much he prayed, read his bible, obeyed, or gave, he somehow couldn’t seem to reach his destination.

What am I still lacking? is a question I’ve asked most of my life, and I’m not alone. It’s the question so many of my brothers and sisters ask today. It seems to haunt us even after we prayed the prayer, that first one, and the thousandth…

What am I still lacking we ask after tragedy strikes, after disappointment crushes, after rejection breaks us, after loss devastates.

What am I still lacking we ask after we miss the mark. It’s the question that torments us in addiction, condemns us when we fail, and shames us after we have hurt those we love.

What am I still lacking we ask Sunday morning after church.

Because sadly, ‘What am I still lacking’ is the ‘gospel’ message many sin counting preachers still present from many Western pulpits.

“Prone to wander! Lord, I feel it…” The pastor pontificates. And, good lord, we feel it.

“When I am weak, He is strong,” the teacher espouses, and lord knows it’s true… even though it’s the exact opposite of Paul’s words which read, “When I am weak, I am strong…” (See 2 Cor 12:10) It seems the Apostles revelation of the good news was truer than his experience with what he was lacking.

That’s worth noting…

What am I still lacking is the punishing paradigm so many Christians slave under. It daily reminds us of our inability to measure up, it frustrates us with a beautiful destination that’s always just beyond our reach.

What am I still lacking reveals dualistic, for and against, us and them, thinking, it’s the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, it positions us in a fight against flesh and blood, it forces us to point fingers, and throw rocks.

What am I still lacking is the beginning and end of every transactional approach to God, the conclusion of all retributive thinking.

And, “What am I still lacking” was the problem the Rich Young Ruler couldn’t solve.

His question was sincere, his desired destination true and good. The man was endeavoring to arrive at eternal life. The man was searching for a Greater Love that answered every question that aches in the heart of humanity, and boy if he wasn’t asking the right person for directions.

“Jesus, if I’m here and I need to get there, then there’s gotta be a way to get there from here, right?” He asked.

And Jesus honored his question by redirecting traffic.

“Son, you can’t get there from here,” Jesus responded. “If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me…”

Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order

PRE-ORDER NOW!

Jason Clark is a bestselling storyteller who writes to reveal the transforming kindness of the love of God in a world traumatized by the religious abuses done in the name 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… THE CROSS with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | January 6, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments

In this first episode of season two, Jason and new host Derek Turner dive into the wonder of what Jesus revealed about our Father and humanity through the cross and resurrection.

Read More Fixing the Church Scale Problem

by A Family Story | December 16, 2020 | Articles, Dreaming, Faith, Friends, Leadership, Relationship | 0 Comments

No matter how we package the metrics, the current model of the Church in the West is incapable of scaling Kingdom growth at a rate that can keep up with it…