Jason Clark's Blog, page 22

SCOTT CROWDER / LEARNING TO BE PRESENT

Scott Crowder Learning To Be Present

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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.

QUOTES

“’Success,’ in a word is, ‘presence.’ I don’t mean that in the school of ‘the glory cloud came.’ I mean, I can be present to you, as you are present to me, as we are present to this moment, as we can be present to where we live, and we are not stuck in a dream of an ideal community that we never can become.”

“When you’re present, you’re present to pain. When you’re present as a servant, as a leader, you’re present when you can do nothing for that person or they can do nothing for you.”

“How many faithful people did we (the church) overlook…faithful movements did we overlook because they didn’t bear the fruit that we thought kingdom-building looked like. They didn’t promote themselves (but) they’ve been here the whole time.”

“I am a witness or witnesses, I’m part of the church at large, whether I want to be or not. So, I’m learning to value those voices and people who have gone before me.

For more on Scott Crowder
www.jesusloves757.com
Bandcamp Music
Twitter
Facebook

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… BRIAN SIMMONS / THE PASSION TRANSLATION

by A Family Story | May 19, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Popular, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two | 2 Comments

“The bible, minus love, equals false teaching, false living, and fosters an anger in the soul of man.” Brian Simmons, author of The Passion Translation, talks about approaching scripture with a love theology, the oppressive impact of hyper literalism, women in ministry, equality, union, Jesus’ humanity inside the Trinity, the finished work of the cross, and the passionate, powerful, transforming love of God.

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.

Read More SEXY DECONSTRUCTION? WITH DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

by A Family Story | January 5, 2022 | Intimacy, Life, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season three, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Matt Chandler, pastor, and writer, recently used the phrase “a sexy fad” when describing the deconstruction movement. Derek and Jason highlight his statement to dive into the nature of their own de/ and reconstruction. This podcast dives into sin, grace, reconciliation, and God’s love for all His kids, the church deep and wide. Ultimately, the guys kick off season three embracing Rom 8:38-29 That nothing… “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Read More 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.

The post You Can’t Get There From Here appeared first on A Family Story.

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Published on April 13, 2022 12:43

THOMAS JAY OORD / OPEN & RELATIONAL THEOLOGY

Thomas Jay Oord Open & Relational Theology

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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.

QUOTES

“In the history of Christian theology the major Christian theologians have denied that God is relational, people like Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, they say, nope God doesn’t receive, God isn’t affected and relational theologians like me say, ‘you got it wrong, we need to think relationally.’”

Regarding the Open aspect of Open and Relational Theology, “So much of what we read about God in scripture is undermined if you think God is perfectly timeless.”

“We should avoid philosophies that cannot help us talk coherently about love. We should avoid philosophies that make little or no sense of love.”

“If you start with a God of love, who loves everyone all the time, you’re not gonna have a God sending anyone to eternal conscious torment.”

“If we start with love, we’re gonna move away from any notion of a punishing God.”

For more on Thomas Jay Oord
www.thomasjayoord.com
www.c4ort.com

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… 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.

The post THOMAS JAY OORD / OPEN & RELATIONAL THEOLOGY appeared first on A Family Story.

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Published on March 29, 2022 14:10

DANIEL GROTHE / THE POWER OF PLACE

Daniel Grothe The Power of Place

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Daniel Grothe and the guys discuss his new book, The Power of Place, which speaks the sense of loneliness that many feel in today’s age of hypermobility and noncommittal wandering, reminding us of the ancient vow of stability and teaching us how we can lead a richer life of friendship, community, and purpose.

They also touched on the deconstruction movement within the church, how authoritarian leadership has wounded and undermined trust, and how healing and connection are available only where we practice the long game of family.

QUOTES

“We live in a world that is enamored with financial capital…What most people don’t think about is the thick layering of social capital.”

“If we have deep pockets but we don’t have social capital, we are poor.”

“As long as you’re protecting the machine, you’re missing the lonely who are out there…”

“The very worst wounds that happen to us are through the perverse laying on of hands.” I will go at your pace to earn your trust. If it takes ten years to lay hands and speak life, I got all the time in the world…”

“Can we make a conversational space; can we make the church of Jesus not (about) a platform to spout our certainties and tow the party line with our little tight theologies and recover the psalms of lament”

For More Information on Daniel Grothe:
www.danielgrothe.com
Amazon
Facebook
Instagram

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, producer, 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… 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 DALE HOWIE / UNSPOKEN SERMONS ON THE GOOD NEWS OF INCLUSION

by A Family Story | June 23, 2021 | Interview, Intimacy, Life, Prayer, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments

Paraphrasing the sermons of George MacDonald, Dale Howie shares his sometimes painful, often beautiful, journey of awakening to the irreducible truth of life discovered in relationship. He speaks to grace, our common Fatherhood, our inclusion in Christ’s life, death and resurrection, our union, and the wonder of our humanity. A humble storyteller and relational theologian, Dale speaks as a father on behalf of Our Father, who loves all His children with a reconciling love.

Read More BRUXY CAVEY / LOVING GOD BY LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR

by A Family Story | May 7, 2021 | Interview, Intimacy, Life, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments

Bruxy Cavey, author, and pastor of The Meeting House, dives into relational faith, loving God through loving our neighbor, repenting with a hopeful future focus, how doubt is connected to our faith, how we are not people of the book (bible) we are people of the person (Jesus), and three perspectives on hell concluding with the fact that the New Testament church never leveraged hell to get people to make a decision to for Jesus.

Read More 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.

The post DANIEL GROTHE / THE POWER OF PLACE appeared first on A Family Story.

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Published on March 15, 2022 13:15

PETER HIETT / WHAT ABOUT HELL?

Peter Hiett What About Hell?

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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 destroys what is evil, creates what is good, and invites us to observe our own creation in Christ Jesus.

QUOTES

Regarding relentless love and hell “At that point I was simply saying I want to hope this is true. And they said, “you can hope it, but you can’t believe it’s possible.”

“Knowledge of evil is believing I have to justify myself.”

“It’s really not very complicated at all. If you take out the middle point of (Calvinism’s) limited atonement, your’e left with a beautiful picture of this God who is raising his children and creating them in His image and He does it through His atonement and His atonement won’t fail…”

“When you announce good news, you don’t say, “Now this is what you need to do about it, you just tell people, and the news changes folks.”

“But if you’re a part of the institution, you want people to give to the budget, you want them to go on the church retreat, you want them to come help pull weeds in the garden. So, you’re always tempted to say, “believe this or…something.” Well, hell is a huge “or something.”

“The good news, the Word, it carries the power within itself, you don’t need to con anyone into obedience.”

“His goodness is beyond anything we’ve understood.”

“Regarding Romans 5 “As in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive, and it’s the best most beautiful news.”

“That sloppy universalism that just says ‘Oh God feels great about everybody and it doesn’t matter what you do.” It leaves everybody feeling empty because we all know something is really wrong with humanity and really wrong with me and my neighbor. I think scripture reveals that, yeah, were half made, were not finished yet. God is gonna destroy what is evil and create what’s good and you’re observing your own creation in Christ Jesus. And in the end, absolutely everything is a gift of your Father and you can’t even begin to comprehend how much He delights in you.”

For more on Peter Hiett
Relentless-Love.org
Facebook / Relentless-Love
Amazon Book Link
YouTube Upside Down Productions
YouTube Peter Hiett

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… AWAKENING! with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

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

An infinite love, the nature of revelation, a kindness that changes our minds, the joy of our salvation discovered as we awaken to the resurrection, the risen Christ within us, in this podcast Derek and Jason discuss how all creation is awakening to the transforming certainty of sacrificial love and resurrection life.

Read More 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 BRIAN SIMMONS / THE PASSION TRANSLATION

by A Family Story | May 19, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Popular, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two | 2 Comments

“The bible, minus love, equals false teaching, false living, and fosters an anger in the soul of man.” Brian Simmons, author of The Passion Translation, talks about approaching scripture with a love theology, the oppressive impact of hyper literalism, women in ministry, equality, union, Jesus’ humanity inside the Trinity, the finished work of the cross, and the passionate, powerful, transforming love of God.

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 DALE HOWIE / UNSPOKEN SERMONS ON THE GOOD NEWS OF INCLUSION

by A Family Story | June 23, 2021 | Interview, Intimacy, Life, Prayer, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments

Paraphrasing the sermons of George MacDonald, Dale Howie shares his sometimes painful, often beautiful, journey of awakening to the irreducible truth of life discovered in relationship. He speaks to grace, our common Fatherhood, our inclusion in Christ’s life, death and resurrection, our union, and the wonder of our humanity. A humble storyteller and relational theologian, Dale speaks as a father on behalf of Our Father, who loves all His children with a reconciling love.

Read More MATTHEW HESTER / GOD WAS PLEASED TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME

by A Family Story | March 17, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Mystery, faith, salvation and awaking to Christ’s likeness within us, adoption and sonship, being in the family, discovering the Word in scripture, and living from union, we discuss this and more with Matthew Hester in a passionate conversation around the love of God. Matthew is an author, pastor of Dominion Church (Greer SC), and founder of Hester Ministries and Present Truth Academy.

The post PETER HIETT / WHAT ABOUT HELL? appeared first on A Family Story.

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Published on March 02, 2022 11:56

JAMIE & DONNA WINSHIP / OUR TRUE IDENTITY

Jamie & Donna Winship Our True Identity

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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.

QUOTES

“So, we lose the great commandment and pick up the great commission, we’re exchanging love for conflict.” Jamie

“Most people aren’t even aware that they are living separate from who they really are.” Donna

“Your true identity is the essence of who you are at your core and it’s something to be discovered through your lifetime and worked out in relationship. You cannot set apart your identity from relationship with God and relationship with other people.” Donna

“I think it’s important to note that your identity is not your gender, not your sexual preference, not your job, not your political party, not your religion…” Donna

“You can study business ethics all day long but if you’re in a scarcity model its always gonna come up to not enough.” Jamie

“You’re in a world that’s every day says “there’s not enough.” It’s the lie that we live in. But there is an alternative world view.” Jamie

“You can’t intellectually have faith. Faith comes from experience and experiential relationship.” Donna

“All identities we discover about ourselves are identities of Jesus in one form or another.” Donna

For more on Jamie & Donna Winship
Identity Exchange
Living Fearless – Amazon link for Jamie’s new book.

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… 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.

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 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 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 AWAKENING! with DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK

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

An infinite love, the nature of revelation, a kindness that changes our minds, the joy of our salvation discovered as we awaken to the resurrection, the risen Christ within us, in this podcast Derek and Jason discuss how all creation is awakening to the transforming certainty of sacrificial love and resurrection life.

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.

The post JAMIE & DONNA WINSHIP / OUR TRUE IDENTITY appeared first on A Family Story.

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Published on February 16, 2022 09:47

I May Be A Better Atheist Than You…

I May Be A Better Atheist Than You...

I was corresponding with a new atheist friend the other day. He had read an article where I described God’s goodness with deep affection. He was agitated and looking for a fight, in my direction.

He reached out and let me know how devoted he was to exposing the cruelties, abuses, and hypocrisies of the god he had been raised to believe in; a god to whom he had given zealous devotion and unwavering obedience during his formative and early adult years.

He was angry; and came at me verbally swinging with his beliefs about a retributive, unjust, merciless, unkind, angry, petty, insecure, egomaniac god. He wrote well to expose the horrific nature of the god he once dedicated his life to.

And when he was done, he demanded that I defend the god he no longer believed in.

He wanted a fight.

But there were two problems. First, I didn’t want to fight.

Second, and more importantly, I don’t believe in that god either.

I wrote, “There were days in my life where I tried to believe in the god you just described. It led to desperation, insecurity and a whole lotta shame. But I left that god a long time ago. I don’t believe in or follow him anymore, not even a little. So, no need to argue my friend, we are in agreement, that god sucks.”

I had hoped he would let it go or maybe ask for further explanation, but he was still too worked up with my article in which I wrote about a kind and loving God who happened to go by the same name as the evil god he once believed in and followed.

Instead of engaging in dialogue, he continued to vent.

Ignoring my response, he instead listed several abuses perpetrated by god’s people, the church, throughout history. It was clear he had spent a great deal of time studying and contemplating these horrific hypocrisies, the destruction done in the name of the god he no longer believed in. Then, he again demanded I defend this god, but this time he also wanted me to defend the broken actions of this god’s followers.

But I too am offended and I let him know. “Man, I agree with you. Horrific things have been done on behalf of a god neither one of us believe in or follow. Slavery, sexism, abuses of every kind have been, and continue to be, done in the name of a god we’ve both rejected. But I am not writing about that god.”

He was still not ready to have a conversation, instead, one last time, he unburdened himself with another list of retributive definitions of god and the evil atrocities done by and for him. And again he demanded I defend them.

So, I took a different approach.

“It feels like you keep asking me to defend a god neither of us believe in or follow? We’re in full agreement, believing in that god is detrimental to our emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, and relational health. And submitting to those who follow such a god is signing up for abuse, manipulation, trauma, and loads of behavior-focused shame. I don’t believe in that god, not even a little. I left him a long time ago.”

“But you still consider yourself a Christian!” He responded with frustration.

“Yes, but not as you define it.” Then I added, “I am absolutely in love with God, just not the one you’re angry at. Man, when it comes to that god, I may be a better atheist than you.”

“What do you mean?” He asked. And I sensed he was sincerely asking.

“I think we are in agreement about much, but there seems to be a difference between us, the god we don’t believe in anymore isn’t still haunting me. I no longer lose peace because of him; I have truly left him”

I continued.

“For the sake of conversation, let’s step away from the version of the Christian god you keep associating me with, and let’s instead just describe God as love; a kind, self-giving, others-centered love. From now on, when you read something I write, know that’s the God I am writing about. To me, God is love. Period. And everything is defined through and by this love.”

Everything in our conversation shifted after that, he let me know he could get on board with that God. And then he thanked me.

He thanked me.

And it got me thinking. My atheist friend is convinced of the retributive nature of god. He is even more convinced than many of my Christian friends who continue to play a role in convincing him. And his conviction that god is retributive is destroying his heart even as he pursues atheism as a way to protect it. It seems that even if you reject the existence of god but do not leave the idea that he is retributive, you still experience the bondage of that religion…

But thankfully, God is love and He continues to reconcile the world to Himself…

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… God And The Polar Express

by Jason Clark | December 20, 2018 | Art, Articles, Faith, Short Story | 6 Comments

It’s Christmas Eve and instead of dreaming of the best day of the year, the boy is in his bedroom agonizing over the universal question: Does God—sorry, I mean Santa Clause—really exist? He used to believe, but now…

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Published on February 11, 2022 13:09

A Family Story Film Project

A Family Story Films Dream Big!

Partner with A Family Story Films and we’ll make magic together!

A Family Story pairs classically trained actors with best-selling children’s books. Children’s imaginations will soar to new heights as they watch their favorite characters come to life.

From Mary Poppins to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the interaction of live actors with animated characters and environments has captured the imagination of audiences young and old.

Our animation team expertly brings to life the characters from the most beloved children’s stories of all time. Characters that are playful and fun, that interact with the reader, the story, and the viewer.

SERIES Trailer & Opportunity

Each Family Story Videobook is a full-scale film production complete with set design, an original script, score, sound design, props, prosthetics, and animation.

This is far more than a simple reading. Each Videobook takes the best-selling and most endearing stories of our time and delivers them in a new medium to an even broader audience.

Pilot EPISODE

Each Family Story Videobook contains a purely magical segment where the actor puts the book down and interacts with the animated characters. In this original song and dance sequence, our actor leaves the real world and enters a purely magical one.

Each original song is written to capture the theme of the book and is infinitely singable. These scenes bring our actors and animated characters together to sing, dance, flip, fly, romp, and roar.

A Family Story Series Breakdown

The Emmy-nominated, children’s literacy program Storyline Online gets an astonishing 10 million views a month. Their online and mobile app offering consists of 50 titles and is available worldwide at no cost. This comprehensive experience is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers and is a trusted source of TV entertainment for parents of young readers. A Family Story will easily appeal to the Storyline Online audience- while taking the concept to an infinitely higher level.

Invest Into A Family Story Films

Interested in partnering with us?

We are looking for partners at every level. Whether you are interested in investing in season one of the A Family Story series or a broader partnership with A Family Story Films at the company level, we’d love to hear from you! You can contact us at invest@afamilystoryfilms.com

Unreal Engine 5

The technology used to create the sci-fi planetary landscapes in The Mandalorian, and the motion capture used to bring Thanos and The Hulk to life in the Avengers is accessible to projects like ours through Unreal Engine 5 virtual production.

Unreal Engine is a real-time rendering engine that offers a host of tools to enhance and speed up video production. We plan to use it primarily to generate environments on set that would track and respond to camera movement and provide realistic lighting to our actors.

We will use this technology to seamlessly blend practical set-pieces with animated fantastical backgrounds in-camera, creating a more realistic reaction from our actors and a shorter post-production workflow. We can also capture actors in motion capture suits, speeding up animation workflows: even if Giraffes Can’t Dance, we certainly will be able to as we use professional dancers to teach them!

Meet The Team

PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / WRITER

Joel N Clark is the director of A Family Story Films. Joel has written and directed multiple award-winning films, short films, sitcoms, commercials, adventure series, and feature documentaries.

Joel has also written fiction and nonfiction books that have been published widely. The quality of Joel’s work can be seen in the stories he’s chosen to tell. He lives with his wife of fifteen years, Megan, their daughter Juno, and their son Elah, in Washington DC.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Mark Yucha is a seasoned finance and accounting professional who began his career with KPMG and then moved on to management roles at various organizations ranging in size from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining A Family Story he most recently served as the CFO of a national online publisher based in Washington DC.

Mark is currently enjoying a stint in Cape Town, South Africa with his wife and two children.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / DISTRIBUTION

Esther Fedorkevich is the founder of The Fedd Agency, a literary and entertainment agency. Among her clients are Mark Batterson, Tim Tebow, George Barna, Erwin McManus, Jentezen Franklin, and Eva Shockey. After representing fifty-six New York Times bestselling authors and having represented more than a thousand books, Esther knows that publishing is changing. That’s why she has established The Fedd Agency’s unique, 360-degree model, which comprehensively manages the needs of her clients—from traditional publishing to in-house book production, to building personal platforms, to negotiating for film, television, and other derivative products.

Esther lives in Austin, TX with her husband, Jimmy, and their two kids, Alexi and Paul.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / WRITER

Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. One church with multiple locations. NCC is focused on reaching emerging generations and meets in theaters throughout the DC metro area. NCC also owns and operates the largest coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. Mark holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times bestselling author of 19 books…

PRODUCER / WRITER

Jason Clark is a writer, producer, and lead communicator of A Family Story nonprofit. He has written 6 books including, Prone to Love, and Untamed. Jason has written and produced films that span from commercials and documentaries to TV and feature films.

Jason and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children Madeleine True, Ethan Wilde, and Eva Blaze.

Educational ValueCountless studies have been carried out which point to the positive impact of reading aloud to children. Scientists can watch a child for a short period and quickly assess whether or not a child has been read to consistently or not. Reading aloud impacts their imaginations and even how their brains are wired. Numerous studies point to fast-paced TV and inconsistent reading time as a large reason for this generation’s explosion of A.D.D.
A Family Story is offering a product that is highly educational and interactive. Often the idea of starting a new book can be daunting to children. But the more they experience reading through our format, the more they will be drawn into reading on their own.

Season One – Proposed Films

We have purposefully picked five public domain stories and five best-selling children’s books for season one. We are still finalizing our list but as of now, here are several that make the list.

To give you an example of where this series is headed, think about the Three Little Pigs. Not the world’s best story to say the least. Yet what child doesn’t know it off by heart? When we say we are going to create a Videobook of the Three Little Pigs, we don’t mean we will create the story you know.

What we create will be SO MUCH FUN! To see an example of where this series will take the most beloved stories of all time, check out the screenplay for “Pigs,” HERE!

Invest Into A Family Story Films

Interested in partnering with us?

We are looking for partners at every level. Whether you are interested in investing in season one of the A Family Story series or a broader partnership with A Family Story Films at the company level, we’d love to hear from you! You can contact us at invest@afamilystoryfilms.com

SO MUCH MORE!

Each public domain story we tell will allow us to also create an original book to be published along with the series. Along with the book, we will also have the option to create interactive games and other merchandise.

We also plan to create booklets for teachers and parents to use to help teach kids to follow along and learn to read.

A Family Story is an interactive reading series that helps kids learn from stories, get along with others, and develop kindness and values.

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Published on February 10, 2022 12:51

ROD WILLIAMS / UNION WITH DISTINCTION

Rod Williams Union With Distinction

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Union, a Triune God, mutual indwelling others-centered love (perichoresis) approaching scripture to discover Jesus, and communion are some of the themes Rod Williams dives into. What if “all” means “all” and God isn’t distant? There is no distance, no separation in God and this conversation is a beautiful invitation to awaken to that discovery and our union with Him.

QUOTES

“To build the kingdom of God you need a clear picture of Jesus that you communicate in love.”

“If you’re believing in a little stick figure Jesus that you walk on to get to the real God, you’re not believing in the real Jesus, you’re believing in something we manufactured to build our empires.”

“Still, today you’ll hear people say ‘Well God is love but God is fear,’ which comes from our Greek dualism… the reality is God is not two conflicting things. We invented conflict, God is not in conflict.”

“No one comes to the Father but by me. We make that an exclusive statement but it’s not, He’s saying ‘I am here,’ and this is why you can come to the Father.”

“Here’s the deal, we can have a Father who can’t be in the presence of sin, or we can have Jesus be God, but we can’t have both.”

“Beholding is more important than explaining most of the time.”

“He does nothing as a judge he wouldn’t do as a father,” George McDonald

“God bless some of the movements we’ve been a part of because they talked about the Father Heart of God. But they didn’t go back and fix their theology.”

“We can’t talk about union as a kinder gentler Arianism or a slightly more practical Gnosticism, we have to look at it as, ‘This is LIFE.’”

“So many of the race problems and identity politics and all that stuff will just fade away as we begin to see we all have the same origin.”

“We were made to have ecstatic experiences in the mystical union with God.”

For more on Rod Williams
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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… MATTHEW HESTER / GOD WAS PLEASED TO REVEAL HIS SON IN ME

by A Family Story | March 17, 2021 | Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments

Mystery, faith, salvation and awaking to Christ’s likeness within us, adoption and sonship, being in the family, discovering the Word in scripture, and living from union, we discuss this and more with Matthew Hester in a passionate conversation around the love of God. Matthew is an author, pastor of Dominion Church (Greer SC), and founder of Hester Ministries and Present Truth Academy.

Read More SHEILA GREGOIRE / THE GREAT SEX RESCUE

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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.

Read More BRUXY CAVEY / LOVING GOD BY LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR

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Bruxy Cavey, author, and pastor of The Meeting House, dives into relational faith, loving God through loving our neighbor, repenting with a hopeful future focus, how doubt is connected to our faith, how we are not people of the book (bible) we are people of the person (Jesus), and three perspectives on hell concluding with the fact that the New Testament church never leveraged hell to get people to make a decision to for Jesus.

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.

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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 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.

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Published on February 02, 2022 08:18

Religion vs. Grace

Over the last weeks, I’ve posted through social media some condemnation of religion. And some religious folk have been pushing back a little.

Let me be clear, all this “pushing” is coming from a guy who has been religious most of my life; I am done with it. But I’m definitely not done with religious folk; I love them and understand them all too well. I was in it up to my eyeballs, but I was never that good at it. Maybe that’s why it’s been so easy to condemn, not the folks but religion itself.

You don’t have to look very far to see all of the good things that religion has accomplished. The Jews had the Ten Commandments, the foundation for a civilization based on law and order that has withstood the tests of time.

It was religious fervor that discovered America.

The same Jewish Ten Commandments were also the basis of our good old USA. Rules and regulations are critical in society and religion helped provide the guidelines for our very successful experiment.

I am grateful for all of the worldwide philanthropy initiated by religion. Good religion feeds the hungry.

Religion also joined up with monarchs and explorers and established communities all over this world, often on top of competing religion.

And that’s not always been a good thing. You don’t have to look far before you realize that there has been so much evil done in the name of religion.

Religion, like businesses, thrive on the concepts of comparing, competing, and controlling.

Religion can become powerfully persuasive or unattractive, uninspiring, and irrelevant.

Religious disciplines aren’t necessarily bad but they usually create smugness.

They’re usually built around special charismatic leaders or special doctrines … you must believe in a certain way to be accepted and to climb the ladder.

Groupthink is essential. Religion is generally an exclusive club. And you jump through the hoops to keep your membership in good standing.

Religion produces an “us” and “them” mentality, insiders and outsiders.

Religion tells you who you aren’t, but seldom celebrates who you are. They are structured like businesses and can never become family because they are entirely performance-based!

Besides all of that, as John Crowder says, “our religious structures today, depend heavily on maintaining the delusion of darkness and separation from God in order to exist. Religion builds an industry on the concept of distance from God. I would contend that this darkness is the very delusion of fallen Adam which religion was invented to enforce and a lie which Jesus came to awaken us from. God never abandoned us! God doesn’t do abandonment! Darkness is the lie that we can exist apart from God – find a bush to hide under where God is not.”

Paul discovered something much bigger and way better than religion, “…we can religiously bestow all of our goods to feed the poor, even give our bodies to be burned, but if we don’t have love it profits nothing!” (See 1 Cor 13:3)

There was quite a stir when the Holy Spirit was poured out back in the early church. People were discovering Jesus by the thousands. Yet I find it surprising that it wasn’t the non-inclusive religious strain of Christianity coming out of Jerusalem that turned the world upside down. It was Paul’s inclusive grace message coming out of the city of Damascus that changed everything.

In fact, it wasn’t in Jerusalem that the disciples were first called Christians. It was Damascus!

“Christianity is not a religion: it is the proclamation of the end of religion. Religion is a human activity dedicated to the job of reconciling God to humanity and humanity to itself. The gospel, however – the good news of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the astonishing announcement that God has done the whole work of reconciliation without a scrap of human assistance. It is the bizarre proclamation that religion is over – period!” Writes F. Robert Capon.

John Crowder – “By stripping the sacred cow of religion down to the very bone and not giving one inch of ground to human effort and the lie of separation or paying off an angry god… only then can we begin to drink the pure, unmixed message of the gospel of grace. It is unending bliss and abundance! It is having our cake and eating it too. It’s the scandal of his goodness which we could never have dreamed up, much less acquired, yet has relentlessly been poured into us freely and single-handedly in Jesus.”

And as John Crowder says, “Faith doesn’t get you into the club. Faith is the recognition and acceptance of your already given inclusion into the life of God. Salvation is not a decision for Christ. It is Christ’s decision for you! Sin may have separated you from God but sin has never separated God from you! He is forgiveness. He was not OK with leaving you broken and alienated, hence the work of the cross! And to live authentically is to believe the truth about what God believes about you.”

Baxter Kruger says, “The gospel is not inviting Jesus into your life. It is the good news that he has already included you in his life.”

I would propose to y’all that it isn’t going to be religion that changes our world for good. Religion doesn’t have that potential. But grace is another thing altogether, and grace is entirely irreligious and breathtakingly scandalous!

As Capon again so marvelously says, “Grace has to be drunk straight, no water, no ice and certainly no ginger ale…”

Love you, Lloyd

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… Heaven, Hell, and the Older Brother

by Jason Clark | January 29, 2020 | Articles, Faith, Life, Popular, The Fathers Love | 6 Comments

If our hearts don’t truly desire to see all our brothers and sisters “in the party” in this life and the next, it’s past time to repent.

Good Soil

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells us about a farmer who went out to sow seed.

“ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.

Still, other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matt 13:4-9)

There are a lot of ways to interpret this parable, but most of the time it’s presented as a story about the nature of soil… and we’re the soil.

As a kid, I listened in earnest when this parable was preached. You see, I really wanted to be good soil. But I could do the math well enough to realize the odds were against me, cause 3 out of 4 soils suck.

It seems 75% of all soil is in for some bad news.

But there was also good news, for 25% of us. And that was the gospel I was raised in.

A lot of those early formative prayers could be boiled down to “Dear God, I was bad soil again today, please help me beat the odds tomorrow, amen”

They were sincere prayers, the best I had, cause, again, it was my heart’s desire to be good soil.

I could spend the rest of this article breaking down all the teaching I received on the nature of bad soil in all its forms, paths, rocky and thorny. But what if this parable is not about the nature of soil, but is about a Sower and the transformative power of seed?

If God is Love, I imagine He would sow generously, everywhere, willy-nilly, just like the Sower; as if He had a measureless amount of seed, as if Love was a limitlessly transforming revelation.

What if life is a journey of transformation?

What if Love is the seed introduced to our delusions, deceptions, experiences, religious idolatries, ignorance, fear, shame, and unkind thoughts towards ourselves and others?

What if Love is the seed that challenges retributive thinking, dualism, elitism, bitterness, and control?

What if Love is a seed that confronts and invades the ego and every broken ideology of man, every sinful thought, belief, and action?

If God is Love, and He is, and if Love is reconciling the world to Himself not counting our poor soil against us, then maybe we could read this Parable as a story about the transformative nature of measureless Love…

“Some fell along the path…” isn’t that beautiful; Love sows on a path. And before the birds could consume it, Love changed the nature of the path; it became rocky soil. And in this rocky soil were signs of life.

“Some fell on rocky places…,” and before the sun had scorched its root system, Love had cultivated the soil and once again transformed it. In this weed-infested soil, everything grew.

“Other seed fell among thorns…” and even as the thorns ran rampant the soil was being transformed because “…the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end…(Lam 3:22) ” Because He makes all things new… (Rev 21:5).

Still, other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown…”

When you approach the Parable of the Sower through Christ’s reconciling work of the cross, you just might find yourself thankful for the generous nature of the Sower and remember in your own life the beautiful transformative power of seed.

“Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
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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… Repent! The Kingdom of God is Within You

by Jason Clark | March 25, 2020 | Articles, Faith, Leadership, Life, Popular | 2 Comments

Yes, repent! Change the way you think until “righteousness, peace, and joy” are your reality; until the confidence of “on earth as it is in heaven” is your perspective; until you sense the arms of your kind and loving Father enveloping you and you grow sure in His nature to work all things to our good.