Religious Rebels

Continuing her series on Reconstructing Faith, Christy digs into the necessity of beginning with a reconstructed view of God. The god of Christy’s cult days was harsh and demanding. This god was quick to bless good behavior and punish anyone who stepped out of line. Formulaic views of god happen across denominations and in various Christian groups. Christy’s background is in fundamental conservative Christianity, but she’s met people from charismatic churches—specifically ones connected with the New Apostolic Reformation—who have experienced equally demanding and formulaic gods even if the behaviors they expect look a little different.Who is God? This is the first question we need to try to answer on our faith reconstruction journey. Where do we turn for ideas? If God is real, then we don’t get to decide who He is. We just get to discover Him. Over the years Christy has turned to Scripture, nature, Jesus, people, and the Holy Spirit to discover aspects of God. She is continually amazed and overwhelmed by what she finds. The real God is only bigger and better than we have ever dreamed.Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy is back with the Religious Rebels Podcast and an episode introducing a new series on faith reconstruction. We've deconstructed our faith. We've taken apart the pieces. But now we have decided that we want to rebuild our faith centered around the person of Jesus Christ. What does that look like? What questions do we need to ask? What answers do we need to look for? Although Christy came to faith deconstruction and reconstruction from a place of religious legalism in a fundamental, conservative setting, she also knows that other people are coming out of charismatic settings connected to the New Apostolic Reformation. Despite the different looks, these false versions of Christianity are still filled with rigid expectations and formulaic faith.Christy introduces this series with the reminder that she is not giving a formula to follow, but is simply talking about important aspects of faith and telling about her own faith reconstruction. Everyone's journey is different. If God is real and He wants to be found, He will reveal Himself to us.Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

As someone who grew up in a fundamental Christian cult (Gothard's IBLP of Shiny Happy People), Christy understands the fear and mindset behind Christian Nationalism firsthand. As a teen, she believed that if we could control other people's morality by law, that they would be happier and closer to God. She was taught that America was created as a Christian nation and that it was important to God that it stay that way. People with similar views are part of the Christian Nationalist movement that we see currently. But that's not all. Christy suggests that a Christian dominionist view supported by the Seven Mountain Mandate popular in NAR churches is colliding with the fundamentalist view to fuel the rapid rise in ideology that we are seeing today. Christy shares strong doubts about whether either view is accurate or biblical. She points to the example of Jesus who declared that His kingdom was not of this world. Related Links: Four Views of the End TimesExamining the Seven Mountain MandateChristy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy tackles the topic of spiritual abuse and unhealthy church cultures, specifically speaking out the use of NDAs, quick restoration processes, and coverups in churches and Christian organizations. She asks questions and encourages her listeners to ask questions as well.* What are we protecting?* Who are we protecting?* What are we hiding?* What needs to be brought into the light?* Is it worth the mess and chaos to tell the truth?There is a horrible epidemic of unhealth within our American evangelical churches. Christy wonders why. She talks about our pretend bubble world that we often create, the happy endings we long for, and the lengths we are willing to go to keep those fantasies alive.Christy references the story of Jesus flipping tables in the temple and wonders if he was upset about creating a place of dishonesty and consumerism within the space that was for anyone to seek God. It reminds her of what we are dealing with today in our churches.Finally Christy encourages her listeners to tell the uncomfortable truth, ask the hard questions, and follow Jesus above anything else.Favorite Books on Spiritual Abuse:Bully PulpitThe Subtle Power of Spiritual AbuseWhen Narcissism Comes to ChurchCelebrities for JesusChristy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy continues to talk about emotions, this time following up on a recent Substack essay. She expands on her original thoughts and encourages her listeners to keep thinking. For the past three hundred years, emotions have been an important part of the evangelical experience. However, because they are so important, they are often manipulated as we have seen from the past two episodes of Religious Rebels. Christy also begins a conversation about "good" and "bad" emotions. Within evangelical experiences the comfortable emotions are usually considered to be good, while uncomfortable emotions are often called sin. Explaining that emotions should be considered a neutral response from our bodies, Christy talks about spiritual bypassing, a too simplistic definition of sin, and the good news of the grace filled gospel of Jesus. Related Links: Christy’s Substack Essay "The Evangelical Imagination" by Karen Swallow Prior (still on sale!)Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy continues her conversation about spiritual and emotional manipulation that can look like revival. She discusses more concerns with the Unite Us movement on college campuses featuring Jennie Allen and Jonathan Pokluda. Christy reminds her listeners that she is not trying to condemn anyone, but that she also recognizes anyone can be deceived and affected by power. Referencing the Jesus People movement of the 1970s and also Bill Gothard's original Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts, Christy ponders how young people are often filled with passion and ready to follow Jesus and yet how they are often targeted, used, and led astray. Wrapping up the episode, Christy reminds her listeners of the good news of the gospel. It's not about sin management or having a list of rules to follow to be good. Jesus came to heal and restore broken hearts. We don't have to get it together by ourselves, we just have to allow Him to help us. When Jesus begins to transform us from the inside out, we no longer want to do the things we used to do. We find our needs met in Him instead of trying to meet them in unhealthy ways. As Tim Keller often said, "We are more broken than we will ever know, and yet more loved than we can ever imagine." Related Links:K-Love Article explaining what went on at the University of TennesseeBlog Post by Elizabeth Meeshim Hogsten on Spiritual AbuseChristy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Inspired by some concerns she has with Jennie Allen and the Unite Us movement going around college campuses, Christy beings a two part series exploring the difference between an actual movement of God and spiritual manipulation. Christy digs into the latest Unite Us event in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee. She looks into the events that unfolded at the Thompson Bowling Arena last week and compares them with similar events that she heard about from someone online at a difference conference. Music can create emotion. Professional Christian bands know how to play songs and chords in ways that will give us a "moment." We can manipulate people with guilt and shame, and coerce them with forced vulnerability. But are the results truly from the Holy Spirit or are they simply a consequence of our carefully planned actions? Related Links:K-Love Article explaining what went on at the University of Tennessee,Forced Vulnerability Article talking about how forced vulnerability can lead to resentment.Greatest Showman Song (This is 100% worth watching just to be amazed AND it makes my point.)Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

In this episode, Christy explores the origins of Gnostic Christianity and the gnostic gospels. She ponders how the view that the spirit is good but the body is bad has affected our evangelical experience. Although most evangelical Christians would never say that they get their sin management ideas from the Gnostics, Christy questions whether this is the case after all. Why are we so obsessed with control? Why do some people stifle their emotions and desires instead of leaning into and exploring them? Is there a better way to live? Can we find a balance of grace and truth and live a holistic life?Article on Gnosticism mentioned in the podcast.Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Inspired by some recent conversations with young adults and college students, Christy digs into common struggles with faith that we often experience: I am not enough, I am not doing enough, I don't believe enough or I don't believe the right things, and I can't hear from God.She gently reminds her listeners that not everything we've heard in evangelical church or youth group over the years is true. As broken people, we are naturally religious--always looking for a list of things to do. But Jesus isn't looking for good, religious people. He is there to seek, find, save, and love the lost. And this is good news!Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy steps back from her typical topics to address a so called "eclipse prophecy" or "eclipse judgement prophecy" that has been circulating on Facebook. She takes apart the words, verses out of context, poor science, and sketchy numerology to debunk the prophecy. Then Christy addresses the desires of our hearts that make us susceptible to these kinds of false prophecies. We have an innate understanding that there is more than just this physical world. We long for signs and wonders. And we are often quick to be controlled by fear. Christy reminds her listeners that Jesus is our sign from God. She points back to the simple and beautiful truths of the gospel, and she offers the possibility that in the long run, our end times theology doesn't really matter. Jesus is coming back regardless of how it happens and He will make all things new.Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

In this episode, Christy talks about sharing her more recent experience with spiritual abuse on her Substack last week. She explains that telling our story is important if we are going to create a culture where victims are protected rather than abusers. Christy then explains why she still believes in Jesus Christ, foundational truths about him that have been believed for thousands of years, and why she is still in church. After learning about trauma informed care as a teacher this year, Christy has been thinking a lot about trauma and the way we should approach people who have been shaped by it. She relates this to the way she has experienced the Person of Jesus Christ for the last twenty-five years. Despite everything she has been through, it's as though the Holy Spirit has been pursuing Christy with trauma informed care. It’s the same way He has been pursuing broken people for years.Related Substack post: Seven Years Ago Our Bubble World ShatteredChristy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy finishes her episode about Bill Gothard and his teachings by looking into the impact his Basic Seminar has had on the mainstream Christian people who attended. Many people went to a seminar once or twice, but never got into the cultic whirl pool far enough to realize how wrong and twisted his teachings were. They went to the seminar and then went home. Mainstream churches hosted Gothard's seminars and then went on with their lives. The leaders never got in deep enough to recognize how destructive the seminars were. Christy attended a local church for five years and never realized it was the same church where she taught at a Basic Seminar twenty years earlier. It wasn't until she left that she discovered that church hosted Gothard for over a decade. We must recognize and reject the IBLP teachings in order to be free. They are so sneaky and so subtle that they feel true, and yet they will damage every relationship in our lives if we don't root them out.Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

For the first time in her podcast history, Christy dives into the life and teachings of her old cult leader, Bill Gothard. She introduces his organization, the Institute in Basic Life Principles, talks about the Basic Seminar and the seven Basic Principles, and explains why these things matter to her listeners even if they were never personally influenced by Gothard or his teachings. The Institute claims that over 2.5 million people have attended the Basic seminar since it's creation in the 1970s. If this is true, than many pastors, professors, and ministry leaders have been influenced by Gothard's false teachings. In turn, churches, organizations, and colleges have also been affected mostly unbeknownst to their members.Christy explains how everything within Gothard’s IBLP seemed Christian and legitimate, but under the surface it was twisted just enough to be a lie. She gets so excited about this topic and has so much to say that she runs out of time and decides to make a part two that will be coming soon. Related Links:Recovering Grace: This is the rabbit hole I was warning you about!How My Parents Joined a Cult: Story from my blog.Christy’s Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

As we rethink our Christian faith or religious experiences, it is inevitable that we will run into the Bible. What do we do with this book that is supposedly from God, but has often been used to control and abuse us? How do we read it? What about the parts that seem wrong or confusing? Is the Bible literal and inerrant like some claim? Christy shares how she used to view and use the Bible in her cult days—as a mystical, magical, religious Ouija board. She pushes back on the idea that we can pick and choose what to believe in the Bible. And she reminds her listeners that the Bible is an ancient book written to and by people in a completely different culture. What if our 21st century Western perspective is causing us to ask the wrong questions? What if we are looking for things the authors never intended to communicate? What if we are missing beautiful truths because we just don't understand?Blog Post: The Only Condemnation was in the CommentaryNet BibleAuthors Mentioned:Kristi McLelland and Kenneth E. BaileyLinks:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy encourages her listeners to rethink the way they see God. Often when we have experienced spiritual abuse in a church or an organization, the god they represent is angry, has specific expectations for us, condemns and rejects, and likes us better when we behave. Christy wonders if this god is more of a representation of the leaders than the Real One. She reminds her listeners that if God is real (and she believes He is) we don't get to decide who He is, we just get to discover Him. Often we make god into our image instead of recognizing that He is nothing like us. We were just made to be a little like Him.Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy begins her new podcast, Religious Rebels, by sharing pieces of her story growing up in Bill Gothard's IBLP cult, meeting Jesus anyway, growing out of the cult, experiencing spiritual abuse in a regular church, and choosing to hold onto her relationship with Jesus despite everything that happened.Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy works to define faith deconstruction for her audience. Often people have specific expectations about deconstruction. Some think that deconstructing your faith automatically means you deconvert from Christianity. Other people think that if you deconstruct, you will automatically arrive at a progressive, unitarian theology. Christy reminds her listeners that in any other context, deconstruction simply means to take something apart to its individual pieces. It never says what you do with the pieces once you take them apart. Christy believes it is possible to put our faith back together centered around the real Jesus if we want to. She believes we can rebuild a historically orthodox faith without the extra tradition and religion we've collected along the way.Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Enjoy this trailer! The first three episodes of the Religious Rebels podcast will drop tomorrow at 5pm. New episodes will continue to drop every other Sunday night after that. You can listen to Religious Rebels here on Substack, watch my new YouTube channel, or listen anywhere you like to listen to podcasts. Thanks for being part of this new adventure!Links:Order Christy’s Book HERESubscribe to Christy’s SUBSTACKFind Christy on Threads, Facebook, or InstagramOr visit her WEBSITE This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy wraps up four years, nine seasons, and 170 episodes by inviting her listeners to watch for a new podcast coming to podcast apps and YouTube in January 2024.Until then you can find Christy on:Substack, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or her website: www.christylynnewood.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com

Christy shares her frustrations with yet another public Christian leader being accused of sexual and spiritual abuse. She talks about how as our evangelical world falls apart, people's faith is left in ashes. Christy talks about the new Hope Retreats that she is starting to host, and shares things she was thinking about during her own quiet reflecting during the recent retreat. She rants about the high-control, high-demand atmospheres that are torching people's faith and reminds listeners that Jesus chose His disciples--which was very countercultural--and then called them friends. We don't need to follow a long list of rules, find the right formula, have enough faith, or manifest obvious spiritual gifts. We just need to enjoy our relationship with Jesus by faith as we enter into the closeness that He provided for us through His life, death, and resurrection. Only in that closeness will our hearts be changed to match His.Scripture Referenced:John 15:15-17 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christylynnewood.substack.com