Crucible of Thought

I repent of hell. I'm sorry that I believed a lie about God and how God deals with humanity. I see how that was harmful to both me and to others, and I'll change and do better in the future. You can also read this in text form on the blog at https://crucibleofthought.com/repenting-from-hell Deep dive on Infernalism: https://crucibleofthought.com/a-discussion-of-individual-eschatology/ Book reviews related to salvation and the afterlife: https://crucibleofthought.com/book-reviews-salvation-and-end-times/ Cover art from YongL at https://www.deviantart.com/yongl/art/Hell-Or-Heaven-278094639 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives Works 3.0 License)

Today, I had the real privilege of interviewing Zach Lambert, pastor of the Restore Austin church in Austin Texas. Zach showed up on my radar in early 2022 as I began to seriously study the issue of LGBTQ rights and whether it was possible to be a Christian and affirming at the same time. I saw Zach's powerful sermon on the topic, which I'll link in the show notes, and it really impressed me and motivated me to study the topic harder. I reached out to Zach and asked him if we could speak on Zoom, and much to my surprise he agreed. Pastors are typically pretty busy and he was generous with his time, and we had a great conversation that gave me a sense that the nudging of the Holy Spirit in my heart might really need close attention. After many months of study I eventually concluded in late 2022 that I needed to be explicit about being affirming myself, so on the National Coming Out Day in October 2022 I posted a lengthy paper detailing my process and reasoning and the results of my own study of the scriptures. Since then I've continued to study the topic, and I realize constantly that I just don't know as much as I need to if I'm going to be an effective ally and to share my own convictions in a useful fashion. So I reached out to Zach a second time, and once again he graciously gave me an hour of his time. This interview is the result. It challenged me but also gave me a sense that I'm moving in the right direction. This is Zach's sermon that I referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3d_mhbTwL4 Find us at https://crucibleofthought.com

What's the difference between a powerful testimony, and a sad story that we perceive as condemning the one who experienced it? Often, it's only our dogma. We listen and swing from "that's amazing" to "that's horrible" in moments, based on our preconceptions of how valid that story is. Maybe, though, we can learn quite a bit from people whose stories don't fit our existing framework of understanding. You can also read this at https://crucibleofthought.com/the-conditional-power-of-testimony/

P.T. Barnum is famously reputed to have said "there's a sucker born every minute." I'd add a modern corollary that says "there's a grifter born every minute to feed those suckers," especially in today's social media world. The recent bridge collapse in Baltimore brought plenty of Barnum's minions out of the woodwork. What can we learn from this? You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/barnum/ and watch it at https://youtu.be/ONVeSdXBs_Q

Americans seem to worship efficiency and scale - and American Christians seem to apply Henry Ford's innovations to building Christians, just like he built the Model T. But maybe that's not the best way to advance the Kingdom of God. This is episode #103 of the Crucible of Thought podcast. You can also read this in text form at https://crucibleofthought.com/henry-ford-christians/ and watch it on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zL0ZOvHRbwM

Is God's salvation truly limited to those with right beliefs? Or is Gal 2:20 better translated as living within the faithfulness of God's son? One puts the burden on us to believe correctly. The other rests in the completed work of Jesus. And that covers everyone, not just those who believe the right things. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/yes-them-too/ Other related posts: https://crucibleofthought.com/for-two-billion-years/ https://crucibleofthought.com/every-created-thing/ https://crucibleofthought.com/new-series-a-discussion-of-individual-eschatology/

This is part four of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid eternal punishment. But those views are not universal to Christianity, and I just began to realize this in the last couple years. So I’m making these videos to provide some awareness of the alternatives, and to discuss the doctrinal positions which I believe are probably more correct. The following link is referenced in this video. https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/the-severity-of-universal-salvation/ The text version of this video, with clickable links and all the Bible references in popup form is also available in blog form at https://crucibleofthought.com/a-discussion-of-individual-eschatology-part-4-of-4/ You can also watch this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/3sNnUw7Y4eU

This is part three of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid eternal punishment. But those views are not universal to Christianity, and I just began to realize this in the last couple years. So I’m making these videos to provide some awareness of the alternatives, and to discuss the doctrinal positions which I believe are probably more correct. The following link is referenced in this video. https://www.hopebeyondhell.net/articles/further-study/eternity/ The text version of this video, with clickable links and all the Bible references in popup form is also available in blog form at https://crucibleofthought.com/a-discussion-of-individual-eschatology-part-3-of-4/ You can also watch this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/pmpdSkc6Bww

This is part two of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid eternal punishment. But those views are not universal to Christianity, and I just began to realize this in the last couple years. So I’m making these videos to provide some awareness of the alternatives, and to discuss the doctrinal positions which I believe are probably more correct. The following link is referenced in this video. https://www.naccanada.org/IMIS_PROD/NAC/Believe/Service_for_the_Departed/Salvation_after_death.aspx The text version of this video, with clickable links and all the Bible references in popup form is also available in blog form at https://crucibleofthought.com/a-discussion-of-individual-eschatology-part-2-of-4/ You can also watch this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/84HlLjeFKoM

This is Part One of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid eternal punishment. But those views are not universal to Christianity, and I just began to realize this in the last couple years. So I’m making these videos to provide some awareness of the alternatives, and to discuss the doctrinal positions which I believe are probably more correct. The following links are referenced in this video. https://theologyintheraw.com/biblical-support-for-annihilation/ https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/what-does-bible-say-about-annihilationism/ https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/hell-as-endless-punishment/ https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2022/06/05/sometimes-eternity-aint-forever-aionios-and-the-universalist-hope-2/ https://tentmaker.org/FAQ/forever_eternity.html https://hebrewwordlessons.com/2019/10/27/sheol-the-grave-gehenna-hades-hell/ https://www.afterlife.co.nz/articles/history-of-hell/ https://exploringthefaith.com/2021/11/16/considering-the-theological-case-for-universal-salvation/ https://www.tentmaker.org/books/InFavorCh20.html The text version of this video, with clickable links and all the Bible references in popup form is available in blog form at https://crucibleofthought.com/a-discussion-of-individual-eschatology-part-1-of-4/ You can watch this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/WOKE70TxluM

Dogmatism is often used to build a tribe, and strengthen its borders, often by threatening shunning for those who so much as question the dogma. But doctrinal humility and cheerfully welcoming uncertainty will ultimately build the Kingdom in ways that dogmatism cannot. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/dogmatism

Welcome to the second video podcast episode for Crucible of Thought. You can consider this a bit of an experiment; after about a hundred audio-only episodes, I've decided I'd really like to start interviewing people that have caught my attention and are saying things I'd like to understand further. So this is a sort of warm-up experiment using the technologies I'll need for future interviews. Bethany Alvey, from the Caraid Anam spiritual direction ministry, is a close friend, and we had a discussion about the stages of faith, and deconstructing our dualism and simplicity of faith. We talk here about our own experiences of rethinking and reconstructing our beliefs, and then Bethany shares about her ministry at caraidanam.com

This is the very first video podcast episode for Crucible of Thought. You can consider this a bit of an experiment; after about a hundred audio-only episodes, I've decided I'd really like to start interviewing people that have caught my attention and are saying things I'd like to understand further. So this is a sort of warm-up experiment using the technologies I'll need for future interviews. So as a sort of practice video podcast, a close friend and I had a discussion about tithing. We both attended the same church for quite a few years, and both stopped attending that same church about the same time, as we both went through a time of rethinking the fundamentals of our faith and doctrines. We talk here about our own experiences in our former evangelical church and its teachings and practices around tithing, and some ways that those were harmful despite claiming to be biblical. You can also find this video on the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiW1ANwwqQY

The Bible is full of apparent inconsistencies. What do we do with them, and is it possible that God actually is just fine with an imperfect collection of writings about the relationship between God and mankind? I think so, and here are some thoughts about why that is. https://crucibleofthought.com/a-perfectly-imperfect-bible

This is Episode 93. Some thoughts on infant baptism and universal salvation. It no longer seems quite as alien an idea as it did when I was steeped in evangelical theology. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/on-babies-baptism-and-universal-salvation

I've been thinking about how I can safely and morally join with a church for missional work, even though I find myself fundamentally opposed to joining or building any institutional church. The word that came to me was "partnering," and here are some thoughts. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/partnering-despite-differing/

When we think about foreign policy, it's easy to forget that nations are made up of people, and how we treat individual people was incredibly important to Jesus, far more than national identities. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/nations-and-individuals

Those maps showing a shrinking Palestine are widely disputed by Zionism supporters, but there are some major problems with those counter claims. But there's a better way than political or military solutions. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/about-those-maps-of-a-shrinking-palestine/

Some kinds of testimony probably do more harm than good. Too often, a story about ourselves comes across as an accusation about the other, and actually harms our witness. We can do better. You can also read this post at https://crucibleofthought.com/a-different-kind-of-testimony/

Considering Israel and Gaza in light of Isaac and Ishmael, peace is not gained through superior firepower, but superior love. You can also read this post at https://crucibleofthought.com/peace-through-superior-love/