INTROThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENWhen you were a child, was there something you believed in with all your heart that you later learned wasn’t real?  If so, share what it was and how you felt when you found out the truth?HEADRead John 20: 24-29 and ...  Read More

As we finish this first week of dipping our toes into the deconstruction pool, I want you to understand a bottom line that I think is important: “I can choose to trust God with a childlike trust regardless of how certain I feel.” (Peter Enns, The Sin of Certainty).Quite a while ago, Rob Bell wrote a book called The Velvet Elvis. It was pretty widely acclaimed and seemed to bring in a new era of Ch...  Read More

Orthodoxy, in its simplest definition, is right thinking. And we were taught to think rightly, or correctly, or whatever. From my first memory of church, we were taught to think about God correctly. Who he was, what he wanted, how he wanted it, and how I fit into his plan, that was definitely for me in particular. All of these things were what we were taught. And that is okay, I mean, maybe that i...  Read More

Thus far, we haven’t encountered much scripture. I hope that is okay. Through the Elemental series, we have to set the background for what we are attempting to take on. The growth that is needed is not simply coming from Scripture, but it is also coming from the community of Christ, it is coming from those who have wrestled with many of these ideas before you, and it is coming from our shared expe...  Read More

Church should be the safest place to take risks. Let me say that again. Church should be the safest place to take risks. The Church should hold a place of value in our lives because we can ask questions, we can wonder, ponder, and dream about things, and we can meet God in our certainty and in our doubt. It should be a place where we are comfortable enough, to tell the truth about our journeys, ev...  Read More

If you have ever had a moment when you question your faith, or feel some doubt, then you know that the people around you get pretty nervous and anxious about what you are going through. People don't like it when we begin to vocalize questions, wonder about the answers that have always been given, and seek to find new expressions or a new language in which to engage God. Your willingness to questio...  Read More