Welcome to Crucible of Thought! I'm Brandon, and I was a member of conservative evangelical congregations for 45 years. This blog is about things that I've learned since 2020, as I've been undergoing a process of "deprogramming," "deconstruction," "reconstruction"... pick whatever term you want, but basically a process carefully examining many different aspects of my social, political, and religious beliefs to see what really actually aligns with the Bible and specifically the teachings of Jesus, more than what aligns with the host of dogmatic statements I inherited in years of church training. I'm not trying to persuade anyone: I'm sharing my process, in the hopes that it inspires and enlightens others. I welcome you to join me as we move forward in our faith together.A Year of Personal Firsts in 2022
2022 was a challenging, interesting, and fulfilling year for me. I couldn’t have predicted many of the “firsts” that happened, but I’m thankful for all of them.
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The Gospel According to Jesus
The point of the gospel is not to get the work done. The point is accurately represent the Father. Jesus’ charge in Matt 28:19-20 wasn’t colonial; it was to be ambassadors in the fullest sense of the word – to personally BE an extension of the Kingdom and to fully embody Jesus to those around us. That looks a lot different than many approaches to the gospel.
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Rejecting A Jonah Spirit
Jonah was so opposed to the people of Nineveh that he couldn’t abide God’s forgiveness of them. There are parallels with evangelical Christians’ insistence that God punish people in a fiery hell for all eternity. Is that insistence righteous?
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Signs For John the Baptist and For Us
Jesus’ signs to John the Baptist’s disciples were all tangible and immediately restorative… except preaching the good news to the poor. Why is that? Or did we misunderstand it?
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Deadly Contempt
I’ve noticed an interesting trend in my online discussions and readings: contempt as a starting point of interaction. I can only conclude that this issue has always been there, but I’m only newly noticing it. As I think about my own history, I realize that this was often how I approached others for years. So
A Caleb Generation
The younger generation of Christians are looking a lot more like Caleb and Joshua than like Moses. They’re willing to go at risk with the Lord into a dangerous but bountiful new land. And it’s stirring up a lot of anger among the elders.
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To Live and Die at Club Q
It’s instructive to evaluate our immediate, automatic, and unspoken response to dramatic news. It tells us a lot about our inner selves. What was your first response to the news about Club Q?
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Counting the Cost of Change
How often do we cling to something not because we believe it, but because we can’t risk not believing it?
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If We REALLY are a Christian Nation…
We should be doing the things that Jesus did and commanded. And we should accept the corrections that come with being imperfect representatives of a holy and righteous and just God.
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Ruling America
“I want America to be a Christian nation” really means “I want America to be a nation of Christians that believe and practice like me.” It’s a nice goal. But there really isn’t just one definition of “Christian.”