Observations from Life

Dave Canfield, a former member of Jesus People USA, shares his journey from being a holiday Catholic to joining the Christian counterculture community. He discusses the vibrant music scene, the impact of Christian rock and roll, and his involvement in promoting concerts and working backstage. Dave also talks about his experience with Mike Warnke, a Christian comedian and author who claimed to be a former Satanist high priest, and the role he played in helping expose Warnke's fraudulent ministry.  Other topics include the influence of books and movies, such as Hal Lindsey's "The Late Great Planet Earth" and the Pirkle-Ormond films, in promoting fear and trauma within the Christian community. Dave talks about the idea that faith is rooted in ambiguity and the importance of not rejecting faith based on negative experiences. Finally, the conversation touches on the need for relationships, connections, and empathy in faith communities. 

In this episode, I dive into fundamentalism and fear-based Christianity. This includes a revisit of the Satanic Panic of the 70s and 80s, Jack Chick, and movies like The Burning Hell and A Thief in the Night. What's it like to grow up in a church that uses the fear of Hell to convert lost souls? How does it impact people later in adulthood and what is the path to heal from it?

In this episode, I interview Reverend Joanna Fontaine Crawford, lead minister for the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in Cedar Park, Texas. Joanna talks about her experience growing up a UU in Texas, how she came into the ministry, and the importance of building a spiritual community outside of traditional religions. 

What are the Akashic Records and how do they work? I talk about them, another experience with Emily, and a surprising discovery about one of my past lives.

This is the second episode related to my daughter, Emily's, recent death. In it, I discuss a series of Tarot and Oracle card readings, a couple of dreams, and Emily's surprise drop in to send me a message a couple of weeks after her death. I have also posted a series of blog posts with pics of the drawings so you can see what they look like as you listen.

This is the first of two episodes, talking about the recent passing of my daughter, Emily, and how, in the midst of it, I learned alot about love, empathy, and compassion and just how powerful they are. It's probably a little all over the place as I continue to work through the grief and loss of her in my life.

Hannah Smith shares her incredible journey from being trapped in an abusive cult to engaging in many self-destructive behaviors that nearly ended her life. She had a true Dark Night of the Soul experience that led to her finding her way back to spiritual health. She spent the last decade or more studying how God has wired us and has developed training programs for therapists.Last year, Hannah had an incident happen that really tore the veil from her eyes about the oppression that is happening, especially with LGBTQ people. Now, her passion is to help those in church leadership who want to become affirming find a safe way to "come out" - and if not safe, then strategic, supported, and skillful.This is truly a journey you'll want to hear her share!

Steve is a multi-award winning composer, lyricist, pianist, and performer who believes in the healing power of music, crediting the writing of the score of his Off-Broadway hit musical The Last Session, as having saved his life. He shares his life story, a gay man who grew up in a very conservative, fundamentalist home and church who found his purpose after coming back from the brink of death in the 90s battling AIDS. Steve's story is both inspirational and spiritually engaging. Bonus: He's my brother!

Sheila Gregoire is an author, podcaster, and researcher into evangelicalism and sex. On this episode, she shares her research and observations about how evangelical Christianity has often taken a toxic and harmful approach to sexuality in marriage, especially when it comes to women. This is an important discussion, covering how the patriarchy often turns a blind eye to research and to those it harms in order to continue the status quo, often leading to unhealthy and unhappy relationships.

A conversation with Karen Tarrazas, who shares her and her husband's challenges with infertility. We discuss the church's (lack of) response to this very important issue that impacts a significant number of women and couples. Karen also talks about her research into the topic, dealing with the patriarchy, and gives tips to individuals and churches on how to better support and serve people who deal with infertility.

A conversation with Zach Lambert, Meg Wise, and Kevin Young - three very active and vocal voices of Christianity found on Twitter. Each share aspects of their spiritual journeys, observations about the state of the Christianity and the church, and provide unique insight into where they believe the Christian faith is headed. You don't want to miss this engaging discussion!

I give my observations on holding space for someone - what it means and how we can do it. How does one truly listen to others without judgment or opinion? What does it mean to listen? To truly listen? Find out on on this episode.

Join me as I share an amazing Tarot experience, talk about spirit guides and reincarnation, then send my mom off on her next journey. This one might be a little woo woo, so buckle up!

Finding the good in others starts with a thoughtful and honest look at yourself. In this episode, I talk about the shadow side of our nature and how we need to understand it and deal with it in order to be a light for others.

My observations on the nature of humankind and how we need to find a way to love, accept, and forgive people. Finding the divine nature in people can be hard as we spend so much time looking on the outside. We must look within to truly know the essence of the person - their very soul.

A conversation between me and another exvangelical and former seminarian who runs a parody account on Twitter knows as TheoBro Extraordinaire. We talk about Christianity and the process of deconstruction. We explore quite a few topics, such as Christian Twitter, TheoBros, and the modern evangelical movement and the impact it has on those around it.Note: Pardon some of the technical difficulties during the discussion.

My observations about ancient civilizations, the gods, aliens, UFOs, and all those mysterious supernatural things that fascinated me as a child and still do.

This was a fascinating conversation covering everything from reincarnation to the meaning of life to trying to figure out why those UFOs show up in our lives. Stephen had great insight, research, and stories to share.

My observations on the similarities of cults and fundamentalism and why people get trapped in them. Drawing from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, I walk through the five levels of his pyramid and talk about how these groups exploit and seem to fulfill those needs, but they are based on lies.

A follow up to my blog post about the church. I also talk about being a recovering fundamentalist and how that impacts my approach to religious discussion.