Jason Clark's Blog, page 23
February 11, 2022
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
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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollow 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…
Read More Seen and Knownby Hope Wiles | December 18, 2019 | Articles, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Life, The Fathers Love | 4 Comments
Sometimes He speaks when it’s quiet, and sometimes when its loud. Sometimes it’s inconvenient. Right in the middle of Walmart close to Christmas. Listen. Listen. Don’t miss the chance to connect with His heart. He invites us in. He invites us to not just know Him, but to have an experience of love as we follow through.
Read More The Most Accepted Heresy on the Planetby Jason Clark | November 4, 2020 | Articles, Faith, Popular, Prone To Love, The Fathers Love | 6 Comments
The idea that God rejects, abandons, or turns away is the most accepted heresy on the planet.
Read More God Is Not In Control, You Are…by Jason Clark | May 29, 2019 | Articles, Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership, Life, Parenting, The Fathers Love | 8 Comments
“You know, I could control you, Ethan. I could force, manipulate or straight up shame you into obedience, you’re only ten. I can make him behave. But someday my boy, you will be a man and beyond my ability to control. But more importantly son, I don’t want to control you, I want you to control yourself. I want you to value freedom as the Holy Spirit does. Do you understand?”
Read More What Am I Still Lacking?by Jason Clark | October 20, 2021 | Articles, Crisis of Identity, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Intimacy, Leadership | 0 Comments
The young fella replied, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?”…“What am I still lacking? It’s a good question, a recognition that something is missing, an acknowledgment that something still doesn’t measure up, a confession of incompleteness. What am I still lacking? is the conclusion of living in the context of law instead of grace. What am I still lacking? is the beginning and end of every transactional approach to God.
Read More A Sling and A Song: Worship that Kills Giantsby Jason Clark | November 21, 2008 | Art, Articles, Faith, Leadership, Music, Untamed | 0 Comments
Everything in the Kingdom of God is birthed out of worship. All of our promises are engaged through worship. Our worship is an act of surrender, our will for His. But our worship doesn’t stop at surrender. When we surrender to God, He invites us into the untamed where we can demonstrate our worship
Read MoreThe post JAMIE & DONNA WINSHIP / OUR TRUE IDENTITY appeared first on A Family Story.
February 10, 2022
A Family Story Film Project
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 & OpportunityEach 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 EPISODEEach 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 BreakdownThe 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 FilmsInterested 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 5The 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 / WRITERJoel 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 OFFICERMark 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 / DISTRIBUTIONEsther 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 / WRITERMark 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 / WRITERJason 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 FilmsWe 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 FilmsInterested 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.
The post A Family Story Film Project appeared first on A Family Story.
February 2, 2022
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 FollowFollowFollow 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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY 
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“The two greatest myths that we, as humans, believe, are the myth of separation and the myth of scarcity.”
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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.
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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 MoreThe post ROD WILLIAMS / UNION WITH DISTINCTION appeared first on A Family Story.
January 28, 2022
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. FollowFollowFollowFollow 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.
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The church gathers and sings beautiful love songs to God. They pray for each other and encourage and challenge each other to love greater and live bolder. Often someone speaks about the goodness of God. It’s a nice thing to do on a Sunday morning.
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God creates order from disorder and we have been invited to co-create with Him. In the midst of chaos, “we associate peace with answers. God associates peace with Union.”
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Read More Sovereign Love God Is (Not) In Control / Six-Part Teaching Series FREE Learn More JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORYThe post Religion vs. Grace appeared first on A Family Story.
January 19, 2022
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
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order
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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollow 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.
Read More I Exist To Know His Loveby Jason Clark | March 23, 2013 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Parenting, Prone To Love, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments
My story and yours will continue to be one in which we discover our Dad and in turn ourselves. Discovering our Father is the most important thing we will ever do. It transforms us and sets us free to live as His sons and daughters. The good news is, Jesus was sure in his identity and because of this, we can also become sure in ours…
Read More When I Am Weak, I Am Strongby Jason Clark | November 20, 2019 | Faith, Film | 0 Comments
No Longer Slaves (Live from Harding Prison) | Zach Williams
Read More Jesus, Baseball, and Shameby Hope Wiles | June 10, 2019 | A Family Story, Articles, Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Life, Parenting, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments
Here’s the thing, if we believe God is about control, it affects everything. Every experience and encounter is filtered through the insecurity of our relationship with a small God. A control-based perspective of God is evidenced by the subtle anxiety we experience in our heart when the furnace breaks down, to the blatant sense of righteousness when a rapist gets the death penalty.
Read More Five Signs You May Be Serving An Angry Godby Jason Clark | March 12, 2014 | Articles, Faith, Intimacy, Prayer, Prone To Love | 5 Comments
Discovering our Fathers pleasure is the most empowering thing a Christian will ever do. The opposite is true, believing Father God is angry or displeased will lead to an insecure and survivalist faith walk. Here are five signs you may be serving an angry or “displeased” God.
Read More BRIAN ZAHND / Jesus Is The Interpretationby A Family Story | June 7, 2020 | Faith, Interview, Life, Popular, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season One, Short Story, Writing | 2 Comments
The Bible cannot be the foundation we build upon, the foundation is Jesus. Brian Zahnd talks on how to approach scripture, American Nationalism, Trump’s Bible photo Op during the George Floyd protests, equality, and contemplative prayer in this brilliant and transformative Podcast.
Read MoreThe post Good Soil appeared first on A Family Story.
SCOT MCKNIGHT / A CHURCH CALLED TOV
iTunes Google Spotify YouTube 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.
QUOTES
They (those who were abused) needed people in the establishment to stand up for them in order to move that story forward at the pace it should have been and they (church leaders) didn’t.”
“The flipside of the power through fear culture is grace.”
“The opposite of a narcissist, who has utterly no insight into his own character and who is totally self-satisfied, is empathy, the capacity to empathize with others.”
“Many of the victims of pastors are afraid to come forward because of what it will do the church; but also because of the blowback that comes at the systemic level from an institution which, is very powerful. So you put people first, rather than institution.”
“Lived theology is more potent than written theology. So, if you hung out with Mr. Rodgers for fifteen years and worked with him, you would have experienced the divine reality more than if you had attended sermons on those fifteen years of Sundays.”
For more on Scot McKnight
Northern Seminary
Substack
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 FollowFollowFollow 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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… 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.
Read More WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN / with DEREK TURNERby A Family Story | April 2, 2021 | Faith, Intimacy, Relationship, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments
He came and he walked beside us, He said, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you; you are not alone, you belong.” When we discover this love, we are transformed and we begin to love like He does. On Palm Sunday Derek speaks about the cross and how we are invited to live surrendered and sure in love. He talks about laying down our loves, loving our enemies, and seeing the kingdom come.
Read More THE DE/RECONSTRUCTING PARENT WITH SARAH TURNER & KAREN CLARKby 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 BRUXY CAVEY / LOVING GOD BY LOVING OUR NEIGHBORby 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 SCOT MCKNIGHT / A CHURCH CALLED TOVby Jason Clark | 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 ALLEN ARNOLD / CHAOS CAN’Tby A Family Story | January 27, 2021 | Art, Crisis of Identity, Faith, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment
God creates order from disorder and we have been invited to co-create with Him. In the midst of chaos, “we associate peace with answers. God associates peace with Union.”
Read MoreThe post Good Soil appeared first on A Family Story.
January 5, 2022
Deconstruction; Dear Church, Welcome to The Revolution
I remember the first time I heard the term ‘deconstruction.’ While I grasped the metaphor, the word didn’t resonate with me.
I’ve certainly done some spiritual deconstructing in my life, but I am inclined to use a descriptor more in line with ‘reconstruction.’ This is partly because I’m a ‘glass half full’ guy; at least, I want to be. But also, my spiritual journey has been less about what I tore down, and more about what replaced it.
My spiritual journey would better be described with transformative words like rethinking, reimagining, repenting, or, reconstruction.
My spiritual journey? It’s been about mercy and grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration; it’s a remodel not a teardown.
But yeah, every remodel needs some deconstruction; and that’s the word that’s stuck for so many, and I get it.
It’s a violent word, and limited for sure. But us church kids? We were raised in the limited violent dualism of retribution.
We grew up under the abusive hypocrisy of a good and loving God with a hateful murderous streak.
We grew up in the religion of hierarchy; where the last is always last, and the first decide who’s ‘in’ and who’s ‘out.’
We grew up under the banner of what we’re against, even when it was at the expense of what we were for, even when it compromised mercy and grace.
And this has birthed a revolution, and when people revolt, they start by tearing shit down.
When you react to something, you create an equal and opposite reaction. Just so, for some, the deconstruction movement is an equal and opposite reaction; still dualism, still war, still about punishment, the only thing that’s changed is the side to which they’re enslaved.
For some, maybe those most abused by the church, the deconstruction movement has become an outright demolition with no plan for the future. For some, there is no baby in the bathwater, and the journey vacillates between days of cathartic melt-downs and days of nihilistic numbness.
But, for the ‘some,’ I am ever hopeful, and for good reason. God is love. And Love meets us where we are and redeems, restores, and renews. You see, regardless of what we call a movement, Love is in the business of reconciliation.
And, ‘God is love’ is the whole point.
And, ‘God’s love reconciling the whole world,’ is the kindness that is leading so many to repentance. And repentance is the beautiful foundation of this deconstruction movement.
Whether the church sees it or not.
Lately, I’ve been describing repentance this way; it is when we have a thought about God that isn’t as good as who He really is. And so, we change the way we think until we are in alignment with what Christ revealed about God’s goodness through the cross and resurrection.
This deconstruction movement is a repentance movement, it is sons and daughters, the church deep and wide, changing their minds about the love of God. It’s an awakening to the image and likeness of God with us, God within us. It’s a discovery that there is no death love hasn’t defeated, no hell love hasn’t invaded, no delusion love hasn’t infiltrated, no darkness love hasn’t illuminated, there is nothing that separates us from God’s reconciling love.
Whether the church recognizes it or not.
This deconstruction movement is an opportunity for an about-face, a changing of the way we think. I would propose that it’s the repentance movement we’ve longed for, the beginning of the billion soul harvest we’ve prophesied, the great revival we’ve prayed for.
Whether we like it or not, dear church, welcome to the revolution.
To be continued…
Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order
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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… What is Hell? by Lloyd Clark | August 14, 2019 | Articles, Faith, Lloyd's Corner, Relationship, The Fathers Love | 0 Comments
We are free to reject Him all we want but we can’t stop Him from loving and pursuing us.
Read More Encountering Humanity on 5th and 2ndby Aimee Perry | October 21, 2020 | Articles, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Popular, The Fathers Love | 9 Comments
Masks, no masks, a black woman, a middle-aged white woman, a red neck, an old white man, and a black man met up yesterday on the corner of 5th and 2nd to work together for the good of humanity!
Read More Intimacy is Your Inheritanceby Jason Clark | January 3, 2019 | Articles, Faith, Intimacy, Parenting | 0 Comments
I am convinced that our true inheritance as believers has nothing to do with money, land, or possessions of any kind. It’s simply our Father’s love revealed.
Read More 7 Things to Do During a Time of Shaking and Disruptionby Pete Scheller | March 25, 2020 | Articles, Faith | 1 Comment
…Reconnect with our Father by recalling that He is good, He is love and He is for us (Romans 8:31)! Remember that He has already promised to make all things work together for good (Romans 8:28) including the current circumstances you are facing…
Read More What Is God Like?by Jason Clark | January 1, 2020 | Articles, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Popular, The Fathers Love | 23 Comments
If a person believes punishment is in God’s nature, that God pulls triggers after we die, that hell is His final act of eternal separation, then simply asking the question “Can we be saved when we die?” is sacrilege and attempting to answer, sheer heretical lunacy…
Read More Finding Kingdom Comeby Jason Clark | January 11, 2019 | Articles, Faith, Friends, Worship | 0 Comments
I am convinced that our true inheritance as believers has nothing to do with money, land, or possessions of any kind. It’s simply our Father’s love revealed.
Read MoreThe post Deconstruction; Dear Church, Welcome to The Revolution appeared first on A Family Story.
SEXY DECONSTRUCTION? WITH DEREK TURNER & JASON CLARK
iTunes Google Spotify YouTube
Matt Chandler, a 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 deconstruction and reconstruction. They have become even more convinced that God is in the restoration business. 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 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
QUOTES
“If our deconstruction can get us to expose the cornerstone that is Jesus, now we have something to build upon.” Derek
“God is actually in the restoration business…”
“I’m convinced the billion-soul harvest is actually happening right now in the deconstruction movement.” Jason
“Deconstruction is the revival that evangelicals have been praying for, for years.” Derek
“God is a reconciling, redeeming, restoring God; His death leads to resurrection, and to me, deconstruction is an invitation to know this God more fully.” Jason
“I am so convinced Jesus is walking down every road with every one of us that it isn’t possible to leave Jesus.” Jason
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 FollowFollowFollow 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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… 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 HAROLD & LINDA EBERLE / THE NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATIONby 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 SHEILA GREGOIRE / THE GREAT SEX RESCUEby 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 THOMAS JAY OORD / GOD CAN’Tby A Family Story | January 13, 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 | 2 Comments
“Given that we start with God’s power…we end up giving God the kind of capabilities that make God culpable; in other words, morally responsible for not only causing but allowing bad things…I think there are good biblical reasons to object to that standard view of Gods power.” Thomas Jay Oord
Read More DON KEATHLEY / THE GOSPELby A Family Story | February 3, 2021 | Crisis of Identity, Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God Podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season Two, The Fathers Love | 6 Comments
Don Keathley touches on the goodness of our Father, Jesus as perfect theology, grace, our union, our identity, how to approach scripture, and the lie of eternal conscious torment.
Read More KRISTIN DU MEZ / JESUS AND JOHN WAYNEby 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 MoreThe post Deconstruction; Dear Church, Welcome to The Revolution appeared first on A Family Story.
December 29, 2021
Here’s To Bigger Dreams
“Dream” is a word I have loved to participate with as a child. As I near 50, it’s a word I hardly understand. It holds the potential for wonder and hope, and also sorrow and disappointment.
It’s such a powerfully vulnerable word that I’m often leery of using it, and yet every time I talk to my Father he asks me to dream with Him.
As I look again upon a New Year I am less sure about how to dream with God than ever before, and more sure it’s what I am on this planet to do.
I continue to discover that Acts 2:17 is true, dreaming is an old man’s game, but the older I get the more I discover that only children can truly play it.
Dreaming is for children who have chased down vision, failed, lived through disillusionment, disappointment, loss, sorrow, and endless rejection, and still surrender their hearts to the wonder, innocence, kindness, and goodness of Love.
“Old men dream, dreams.” That’s the scripture, but it’s not about age, it’s about a journey into revelation–an awakening to a great affection for ourselves and our neighbors.
Dreaming is not a pretty concept, or a good principle, neither is it a brash leap or the optimistic bent; it is grace lived out, it is hope differed and promises fulfilled.
Only a person who has experienced the death of a dream has access to resurrection. And those words are prettier than the experience.
And so, as I enter a new year, I pray to know resurrection life, and not just for me and mine, but for you as well. I pray you would awaken to all our Father has for you. I pray you would dream “old men dreams” with the abandonment of a child and experience the wide-open places of God’s love.
Even as we count the cost, I raise my glass to 2022 and say, “Here’s to bigger dreams.” |
Happy New Year!
…
I wrote this song nearly twenty years ago. One night, just on the other side of loss, I went for a walk with a friend. As we walked through a field we dreamed of resurrection life. A year later I released a song that was the beginning of that promise fulfilled. I thought I’d share it with you.
Where Once I Feared To WalkWe went walking out in the field
Yeah, late tonight
Could see our breath each dream exhaled
Beneath the half moonlight
This is Life you said to me
This declared round your pipe
This is where it all works out
In dreaming we’re alive
I have dreamed and still believe
I have risked and I have lost
But looking down I see my feet
Where once I feared to walk
So we go walking out in this field
To claim our destiny
And if by chance it seems we’ve failed
Then here’s to bigger dreams.
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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… RANDALL WORLEY / Questioning My Answers by A Family Story | September 9, 2020 | Crisis of Identity, Dreaming, Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season One, Writing | 2 Comments
Randall Worley talks about having a “beginner’s mind,” faith while embracing mystery, pioneering and the nature of heresy, the limits of language, approaching scripture through love, and the importance of remaining curious while understanding that God is not insecure or defensive when we raise hard questions.
Read More Why Can’t I Experience God’s Love?by Jason Clark | February 19, 2020 | Articles, Faith, Life, Popular, The Fathers Love | 2 Comments
“How do I experience God’s love?”
Because I write and speak on the always good love of our heavenly Father, that is a question I am asked often.
by Jason Clark | May 15, 2019 | Articles, Faith, Prone To Love, The Fathers Love | 5 Comments
The idea that God saw me as a spiritual giant seemed too good to be true…
Read More Goodness & Love: Psalm 23by Jason Clark | May 27, 2011 | Articles, Faith, Film, Messages | 10 Comments
Psalm 23 is Davids revelation of an always good and loving Father
Read More MIKE POPOVICH / PRAYER & QUANTUM PHYSICSby A Family Story | April 5, 2020 | Faith, Intimacy, Life, Popular, Prayer, Relationship, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season One | 1 Comment
Mike is a brilliant communicator and pastors Freedom Ministries. In this podcast we talk about prayer and oneness with God and Mike teaches us quantum physics! Mike reveals how scripture and quantum physics are not in conflict with each other
Read More Flip Your Lid with Kim Honeycuttby Jason Clark | October 20, 2021 | Articles, Faith, God Is Not In Control, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Relationship | 0 Comments
I had the incredible honor of conversing with psychotherapist Kim Honeycut for her podcast.
Below is a synopsis of our conversation. It was a good one!
Jason Clark is a pastor, writer, producer, and many more titles. He is also a cisgender, white male who was removed from a church because he had different ideas about the Bible. This is his story about leaving and rediscovering Jesus.
Read MoreThe post Here’s To Bigger Dreams appeared first on A Family Story.
December 21, 2021
Kindness
When Karen and I do pre-marriage counseling, we talk about a lot of things, communication, kids, sex, but there is always one theme, one foundational focus, one earnest word of advice, one hope for the couple, that they would practice and know kindness.
In 26 years of marriage, we’ve discovered that kindness is the key to everything. It unlocks every good thing, encourages every future hope, heals every past pain, disarms anger, dismantles distrust, softens a hard heart; kindness believes and empowers and reveals all that is beautiful and lovely.
Just so, unkindness will destroy a marriage, a family, a friendship, a generation… unkindness works like yeast in the dough, it infiltrates every aspect of our lives. It’s a poison with only one remedy, repent…
And unkindness can be subtle, like a sigh, or body language, or how I speak to the dog. Yeah, I know it well, I’ve been unkind more than I like to admit. But thank God for the remedy; I can repent! I can ask forgiveness, I can be transformed…
And I do repent, “Father, I repent today. I thank you for your kindness, I ask that you would permeate my heart with the kindness you have for me, for my loved ones, for all those I meet today, all I come across on social media. I want to be an expression of Your kindness to me. I receive, I give, I repent, wholeheartedly. I change my mind and align my will with my reconciled heart. I will not let unkindness make a home in me. Amen.”
I have learned that any hope of an authentic and beautiful life is lost through the justification of unkindness.
And I have also learned that the opposite is true, everything can be made whole through kindness.
“Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?” (Rom 2:4)
It’s kindness that changes our minds and there is none kinder than our beautiful friend and savior, Jesus.
It is His kindness that opens us to new thoughts, that empowers us to visit our bias, reimagine our world through hope, confront our fearful hearts with perfect love. It’s His kindness that overcomes our violent defenses and settles our deepest insecurities.
It’s His kindness that exposes our arrogance and hypocrisy, that knocks us off our high horses; the same kindness that violently knocked Paul on his ass exposing his elite violent unkindness toward God’s beloved.
And it’s His kindness that exposes our ignorance, broken ideology, and oppressive theology, that gently reveals resurrection life; the same kindness shown on a road to Emmaus when God hid Himself so His beloved could discover union.
It’s the kindness of a friend who gave Himself up to our violent delusions, experiencing death on behalf of our ignorance and hate; not once holding it against us.
It’s kindness that empowers repentance. And we are transformed when we respond to this kindness.
Do not be conformed to this (unkind) world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (See Rom 12:2)
It’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance, the changing, or renewing of our mind; and we are transformed.
If kindness isn’t the foundation of a thought, if it is not the soil a belief system grows in, then there is no repentance and we can’t experience transformation. And without transformation, there is no way to live an authentic and whole life.
How does a person step away from shame and condemnation if every thought they have toward themselves is unkind? They can’t.
How does a person experience trust or hope of union if every thought they have toward those they disagree with is unkind? They can’t.
It’s why kindness is Karen and my foundational advice to couples who desire to experience the dream of union as a reality. Oneness is impossible without it.
It’s Christmas, a season that celebrates hope; the birth of Kindness of displayed in flesh and blood.
We pray you would know this kindness today in every way; that you would know you are His beloved and His expression.
Merry Christmas
Jason and Karen
Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order
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. FollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollowFollow JOIN OUR MAILING LIST GIVE TO A FAMILY STORY YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE… Introducing Children to the Father by Jason Clark | May 9, 2019 | Articles, Books, Faith, Life, Miracles, Parenting, Prone To Love, The Fathers Love | 1 Comment
I prayed. “Father, come make your love known.” Immediately our Father, Ethan’s and mine, filled the room with His love. It’s hard to explain but let me try. For the next ten minutes, while I lay there and held Ethan, my body trembled with God’s presence. I literally shook with His love.
Read More The Preacherby Kenneth Tanner | March 4, 2021 | Articles, Faith, Friends, Leadership | 0 Comments
This preacher drowns with the disobedient outside the ark, with the chariot armies of the Egyptians, with the lost tribes of Israel, and with us. He does not want to be the only righteous human while the rest of us, his unrighteous brothers and sisters, go under. His baptism is our baptism.
Read More The End of Emptyby Jason Clark | November 29, 2018 | Articles, Faith | 2 Comments
Need is the final singular truth by which our world operates. While need is the very substance of our existence, it has no place in God’s reality.
Read More What About Sin?by Jason Clark | October 2, 2019 | Articles, Faith, Prone To Love | 5 Comments
“What about sin?” she interrupted rather forcefully. I was sharing with about ten college students on the perfection of our Father’s love. She had started to get jittery when I began discussing how we are prone to love. I thought it was the coffee, but it wasn’t.
Read More A Simple Theologyby Jason Clark | July 5, 2018 | Articles, Faith, Prone To Love, The Fathers Love | 10 Comments
I believe God is always saying one thing: “I love you.” And He always follows up with a question, “do you believe me?” What would our lives look like if we could answer this one question that God is always asking?
Read More BILL VANDERBUSH / RECKLESS GRACEby A Family Story | May 7, 2020 | Dreaming, Faith, Interview, Intimacy, Leadership, Rethinking God with Tacos / Season One, The Fathers Love | 3 Comments
Bill Vanderbush is a writer and brilliant communicator. In this podcast, Bill gives incredible insight into what the new covenant looks like, our inclusion in the family through both being adopted and reborn, how to navigate fear, reckless grace, and how to navigate conflict online.
Read MoreThe post Kindness appeared first on A Family Story.
