Looking for the Real God: Recent Episodes
Christy Lynne Wood
After growing up in a cultic sub-group of Christianity, Christy Lynne Wood abandoned her rules and twisted religion. But she couldn’t leave Jesus. Because in the middle of all the crazy, she met a Real and Living Being. Recognizing familiar religious lies in mainstream Christianity, Christy is on a hunt for truth. She invites you to join her weekly in looking for the Real God.
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
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
In today's episode Christy leads us into a uncomfortable examination of our own hearts. Following up last week's episode on social media versus real life, Christy explores our desire to be right, have an opinion, and judge others as wrong. Sometimes we even judge God as being wrong when he doesn't line up with our opinions. Reading from Ezekiel 33 and Ephesians 4, Christy encourages herself and her listeners to seek for humility, be gracious and patient with others, put up with people in love, and realize that we might be the problem too.
Scripture referenced:
Ezekiel 33:17, Ephesians 4:1-6, John 13:35
Christy contemplates her own experience stepping back from social media the past few months. She shares how she has been intentionally living her real life and thinking about the things and people in it rather than spending spare moments creating content intended to make people like and comment. She has noticed more peace, less fear and insecurity, and more contentment since stepping back. Christy wonders what would happen if more of us engaged in our real life and the people around us and let social media take a back seat.
Christy digs into the difference between fear and worry or anxiety. She takes a look at the many ways we project fear into our future through worry, or choose to fear things that are different rather than learn more about them and get to know people who are not like us. Christy encourages her listeners to live in the present moment with God, remind themselves of truth, and be bold to explore differences. Fear makes us easily controlled by people in power. But as God's children and members of His Kingdom we don't need to live fearfully in this world. We can hold onto trust, faith, and a peace that doesn't make sense.
Christy pushes back at the moralistic focus that seems to be creeping into segments of evangelical America. She reminds her listeners that rules, laws, and getting people to be "like us" will never be enough to connect people with God. We don't need outward goodness, we need a heart transplant that only Jesus can give us through an encounter with Him.
As Christy continues talking about American evangelical church culture, she shares a short parable from Matthew 21:28-32. Christy talks about the difference between following the rules and following Jesus. She ponders her own once pharisaical heart and wonders if--like the Pharisees--modern church people might be missing Jesus by focusing on the rules.
Blog posts referenced: Confessions of a Former Pharisee
Christy continues her series on the mess within our modern church by retelling one of Jesus' parables from Matthew chapter 13. The familiar story of the wheat and the weeds, or the wheat and the tares, becomes fresh and new as Christy explores the type of weeds that Jesus was talking about. What do these weeds have to do with the junk that seems to continually happen in church or the bad leaders who just continue to stay? Listen and find out!
Scripture Referenced: Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
Welcome back! Christy starts Season 9 by talking about what she calls the "megachurch mentality" and relating it to the story of the Tower of Babel. As Christy breaks down the story of Babel she ties it together with what happened to the early church at Pentecost. Both stories involve a group of people gathering together with one mind. Both have a point in time when there are a variety of languages suddenly spoken. And both ultimately end with a type of scattering. Christy compares and contrasts these stories and then asks the difficult question: which story best exemplifies our current church culture across the evangelical board?
Scripture Referenced: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2-8, Joel 2:29
Chiastic Telling of the Tower of Babel: (It is very clear in Hebrew and less clear in English.)
A. Whole earth had a common language
B. The people settled in one place
C. They said to one another
D. Come let us mix up bricks
E. And build for ourselves
F. A city and tower
G. The LORD came down to see
F. The city and tower
E. The people had built
D. He said, "Come let us mix up"
C. The speech of the people
B. They were scattered from there
A. And with confused language they went through the whole earth
Christy contemplates the goal of Bill Gothard's IBLP cult as expressed on Shiny Happy People: world domination. She remembers feeling like that was the goal back in the day--to take over the world one person, church, and city at a time--so that everyone could experience God's blessings and personal success.
Now she is concerned that perhaps they succeeded more than she ever realized. Fundamental ideology seems to be creeping into mainstream church culture everywhere she looks. But it is really Gothard? Or is it just that people are naturally religious and love turning to formulas and steps to give them feelings of control and comfort? Are people naturally fearful and easily manipulated?
On the other side of the coin, Christy is equally saddened by the people who are angrily rejecting anything and anyone that still holds to orthodox theology. How do we walk the narrow middle way of truth and grace?
Christy connects some dots between the teachings of Bill Gothard, founder of IBLP--the Christian cult exposed on Amazon's new documentary Shiny Happy People and Evangelical Christianity. Gothard's teachings on authority (power), obedience (oppression and suppression) and gossip (truth telling) were pretty extreme. But have those teachings trickled into mainstream evangelical Christianity? Or are these things that we broken people naturally struggle with anyway?
Christy tackles the concept of gossip. Often abusive leaders will use the threat of being called a gossip, or of people gossiping, to stop truth from being told and exposed. There is an unfortunate number of stories coming out about power-hungry, narcissistic church leaders who are able to stay in power because people are too afraid to tell the truth. Christy would like to change that dynamic. She would like to see the church become a place where Jesus reigns not a person, where people humbly use their gifts (like truth telling) instead of bossing others around, and where people find healing rather than abuse.
Books referenced:
When Narcissism Comes to Church by Chuck DeGroat
The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen
Related Blog Posts:
Pastors, Abuse, and the Church
Healing from Spiritual Abuse
Christy talks about the new documentary series out on Amazon Prime called Shiny Happy People. The series exposes the cult she grew up in (IBLP) along with its leader, Bill Gothard. The series was harder to watch then Christy thought it would be. It brought up feelings and memories that she wasn't expecting. But Christy is also grateful that the truth is being exposed. Gothard's teachings have infiltrated the mainstream church, homeschooling movement, and even politics. Christy has been feeling this for a while, but it was validating to hear the documentary express the same concerns.
Then there is Christy's book, "Religious Rebels," that comes out on June 15. The timing is ironic. Christy had no idea that Shiny Happy People would be happening, but God did and Christy is excited to see how the book and documentary will work together to set people free from religious ideology and free to begin a relationship with the real Jesus.
Link for Shiny Happy People
Link to preorder Religious Rebels
On Pentecost Sunday, Christy explores the Holy Spirit. She wonders why He gets less attention than the other members of the Trinity and is often either ignored or manipulated. Christy reads pieces of her new book, Religious Rebels, coming out June 15th and shares the ways she has encountered the Holy Spirit over the years and just begun to recognize Him.
Christy also shares parts of an article that talk about early Celtic Christians who saw the Holy Spirit as a wild goose, unpredictable, wild and free, giving warnings and drawing us back to God.
Happy Pentecost!
Article Mentioned: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/wild-goose
Preorder Christy's Book Religious Rebels: https://christylynnewood.com/religious-rebels-book/
This episode was originally planned for Mother's Day, but in the uploading process, Christy accidentally uploaded the wrong audio. So we are trying again this week. Knowing we have a mothering God isn't just something we need on mother's day. It's something we need every day!
Christy acknowledges the pain that many people feel on Mother's Day from loss, heartache, disappointment, and frustration because of our mothers and children, or lack of mothers and children. Then Christy points to the feminine qualities of God as a mother pictured throughout Scripture. God wants to mother us and then in turn develop mothering characteristics within us so that we can mother others.
Scripture Referenced:
Ruth 2:12; Psalm 57:1; Psalm 91:4
Matthew 23:27 & Luke 13:34
Isaiah 49:15 & Isaiah 66:13
1 Thessalonians 2:7 & Galatians 4:19
As Christy prepares to launch her book, Religious Rebels, she is thinking about the things we might need to rebel against these days. Growing up. rebellion was "as the sin of witchcraft" and highly discouraged and/or condemned. But when you squash rebellion, you also squash questions, exploration, and people seeking for truth.
Christy contemplates the ways Christian industries like the music industry and publishing industry have been absorbed into secular corporations or organizations with sketchy theology. Is there a way to rebel against the system while supporting modern prophets, authors, and musicians who are calling us back to the real Jesus? In our world of technology and connection, she hopes so.
Christy comments on a podcast episode she listened to with Russell Moore and David Platt. As much as she appreciates David Platt's heart for people to be genuine Christians and live lives that please God, she's always felt hesitant about his approach.
It is so easy for us as humans to get caught up in religion--in doing things for God, or to please God, or to get something from God. We cannot do enough. No one can give us enough "shoulds." We can never be motivated by guilt or shame enough to actually change on a heart level. We need something bigger than ourselves to actually change.
Christy reminds her listeners of the true and simple gospel and the power it holds to transform us from the inside out.
Christy explores what can happen when we don't actively reject lies we once believed. During her cult days, Christy taught children's seminars that coincided with Bill Gothard's Basic Seminars for adults. While unboxing some old memory albums, Christy realized that the church she recently attended for the last five years was the same church that hosted Gothard's seminar in 2000. After doing some digging, Christy was unable to find a time when the church actively rejected Gothard's teaching or made a statement that they were wrong to support his ministry.
Why is it important to actively reject lies? Because if you don't they will continue to fester below the surface and affect your life on multiple levels.
Since Christy is on vacation, she is posting some of her favorite episodes over the years from the Easter season.
Christy takes time to ponder her love for Jesus and her awe of His death and resurrection. With passion and emotion Christy invites her listeners to lay aside their ideas of God and look at the person of Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh. She celebrates the core of historical orthodox Christianity — the fact that God would sacrifice Himself in our place so that we could be redeemed and brought back into a relationship of oneness with our Creator. Happy Easter! Jesus is risen!
Since Christy is on vacation, she is posting some of her favorite episodes over the years from the Easter season.
Christy looks at the last Passover Jesus celebrated with His disciples. Jesus did not fit the Jews' idea of the Messiah even though the entire Passover meal pointed to Him. Where as humans seek for money, power, and fame, Jesus sought humility, obscurity, poverty, and servanthood. He was not who we expected God to be. But because of Jesus life, death, and resurrection, a new Way has opened, a new Kingdom is at hand, and Restoration has begun!
Scripture Referenced: Matthew 26:17-25 Mark 14:12-16 Luke 22:7-13
Christy explores the reasons we humans seem to be so quick to fall for false teaching, false prophets, and cults. This world is broken and we feel it. False teachers and cults often promise a short cut to fix the brokenness. They offer identity and purpose. They promise a sense of control. But all the offers and promises are based on lies and can't really satisfy.
Christy encourages her listeners to learn to slog on the muddy trail with Jesus, let Him help them, provide for them, encourage them, and teach them to see the beauty in the brokenness.
Christy talks her listeners through a list of things that make her ears perk up and her sixth cult-detecting-sense go off. She then expresses concern over the NAR and the Passion "translation" of the Bible and shares a new book she is reading called Counterfeit Kingdom.
Sometimes God can use things because they have a shard of truth in them, but it doesn't mean that the whole organization, church, or program isn't still full of lies and should be avoided.
The best lies are almost true. Christy finishes with a list of questions for her listeners to ask to take stock of their own situation.
In this brief episode, Christy introduces her book, Religious Rebels, and reads the introduction. She shares how the publishing process is going and how excited she is for her listeners to get the book in their hands.
Christy contemplates the brokenness that brought many of us to the place of deconstructing our faith in the first place. Our world is filled with pain, sadness, heartache, loss, and more. How do we reconcile that reality with the belief in a good and loving God?
What if the brokenness is actually evidence for God rather than evidence against his existence? Could the frustration we feel be because we were made for something more? Can we hold the tension of pain and hope?
As we reconstruct our faith, we need a foundation to build it upon. In our current Christian culture there are often two views of what to do with the Bible. one side thinks that any doubts or questions are wrong and the other side wants to reject the Bible completely. Christy thinks that we need to take the time to recognize the Bible as an ancient text written in a culture far different from ours by people with a different perspective for people with a different perspective.
Many of the problems people have with the Bible disappear when we understand culture, context, language, and more. Yes, let's reject twisted scripture, false ideas, and religious traditions, but instead of rejecting the Bible as a mistake, maybe we can being to read it as it was meant to be read. It might take time and effort, but it will be worth it!
Christy begins a series on reconstructing our faith by talking about the recent move of God at Asbury University along with the other Universities where the awakening has spread. Christy knows that we need to have a good reason before choosing to reconstruct our faith. It has to be a bigger and better reason than theology or religion. The reason Christy reconstructed her faith more than once over the years is that she met Someone, Some Thing that was Real and that she could not explain. Maybe this is true of you.
The current revivals or awakenings are important because our faith needs to be built on more than belief in an idea or concept. It needs to be built on a relationship with the very real Person of Jesus Christ.
Articles Mentioned:
Guidelines for Asbury Revival: https://www.asbury.edu/outpouring/
https://currentpub.com/2023/02/12/the-maga-evangelical-revivalists-are-silent-about-the-asbury-university-revival-why/
Christy takes her listeners on her book writing journey of the past decade. How she started even thinking about it in the first place, the frustration and discouragement she felt along the way, that she finished her manuscript last Sunday night, and the fact that a hybrid publishing company wants to work with her! There is some up-front cost to hybrid publishing, but Christy is confident that God is going to provide. Her book, Religious Rebels, will hopefully be launching in June of 2023! If you want to partner with her in prayer or with a financial gift, please reach out at christylynnewood@gmail.com.
As Christy finishes her series on church, she ponders her similaries to Jinger Duggar Vuolo. Christy was in the same cult as the Duggar family and got out 20+ years ago. As she has listened to interviews and read articles talking about Jinger's book she has noticed a theme from people responding. Many of them want Jinger to deconstruct even further.
The sides forming around deconstruction remind Christy of a study she is doing called "Jesus & Women." Diving into an understanding of the Middle Eastern perspective, Christy wonders if we aren't all just sitting on one of two sides like the Pharisees and Sadducees and missing the point of why Jesus came in the first place, who He was, and what He came to accomplish. Maybe it's time to get out of our narrow Western worldview and open our eyes to see the Real Middle Eastern Jesus.
Continuing her series on church, Christy talks about knowing when to leave your church. She refers to her background as a youth pastor's wife and how the perspective from church staff to simple church member is so different. Christy give three valid reasons to leave a church and gets pretty passionate about the third reason. It is her hope that more people will stand up to the toxic cultures and leaders that have sadly become so prevalent. Maybe we can't get abusive leaders to go, but we can.
Christy digs into the heart of church. She begins at the beginning with the 1st century church. but instead of idolizing it with rosy colored glasses, Christy points out the familiar problems that we still face today. False teaching, legalism and religion, division, chaos, and sin. Broken people do broken things. And yet Christy still believes in the church and in the world-wide body of Jesus Christ.
Christy opens Season 8 by inviting her listeners to join her new series on church. Many of us have been burned by our experiences within the walls of a church building. Today Christy just contemplates the churches that have been a part of her life over the years. She asks the uncomfortable questions but doesn't offer any answers in this episode. What is wrong with our modern churches? Is this what church is really about? How do I leave my church? Do I need church? And can we find church outside of church?
Christy finishes her Advent Journey and Season Seven with a contemplation of God's love. Despite the brokenness in the world, despite the pain we face, despite our fears and doubts, we are passionately and intentionally loved by God. Christy looks into the genealogy of Jesus and considers the women who are listed there in Matthew One. She wonders about what God is saying and about the way He values people despite their sin. Who is this God who loved us enough to become one of us, take the punishment that we deserve, and send His Spirit to live with us as a promise of His return?
Scripture referenced: Matthew 1
Christy continues her Advent journey by contemplating the angel's message to the shepherds declaring good news that would bring great joy to all the people. What does it mean for the message to be for ALL the people? Christy contemplates the people that Jesus chose to spend time with when He was on earth. She contrasts that with the religious leaders and their opinions of Jesus. Then Christy brings it home by looking at religious church people and how quick we are to condemn others as not worthy of God's message of hope.
Christy reminds her listeners of the great love that God has for His children, for ALL of them.
Scriptures Referenced:
Luke 2:10-12
Christy continues her Advent 2022 journey this time with the Candle of Peace. The angles came to the shepherds proclaiming the birth of Jesus and declaring peace on earth. But we don't have peace on earth. If anything the world just keeps getting more riled up and disunified. What kind of peace did Jesus really come to bring us? Can God give peace even when we struggle in this broken world with things like chronic illness, anxiety, or depression? Christy shares reminders of the hope we have in Jesus despite the brokenness we face every day.
Scriptures Referenced:
Luke 2
Philippians 4:4-7
Christy invites her listeners to join her journey of celebrating Advent for the first time this year. Today, the first Sunday of Advent, we light the Candle of Hope. Have we ever needed hope more than now? Christy ponders how this season of Christmas that is supposed to be "the most wonderful time of the year" is often just full of stress, disappointment, and loneliness. But it is into this brokenness that Isaiah prophesied almost 3000 years ago. It is into this darkness that Jesus came as the Light. Hope is a beautiful thing!
Scripture Referenced:
Isaiah 7:14; 9:1-2, 6-7; 53
Christy shares about one of her students this year who has reminded her of God's crazy love for us. Many of us have baggage from our religious upbringings that form our view of God in an unhealthy way. Christy encourages her listeners to lean into a God who welcomes us with open arms.
Scripture Referenced:
Romans 8:1, 35-39; Ephesians 2:12-13; John 3:16-18
Related Episodes:
17 Broken and Beloved
25 The Crazy Love of God
Christy thinks out loud with her listeners about the Kingdom of Jesus, our ordinary lives, and the true reality of the Spirit. It's a gentle ramble that will hopefully challenge norms while bringing encouragement.
Christy re-shares one of her most popular episodes from Season One: But God Isn't a Vending Machine. trigger warning: pregnancy loss
"Christy shares how God used personal tragedy to challenge the formulaic way she viewed and interacted with Him. She exposes ways we attempt to manipulate God within our religious Christianity."
Bible Verses Referenced: Isaiah 45:6-7
Related Blog Post: Choosing Trust
Extra Resources: "The Insanity of God" by Nik Ripkin.
Christy finishes her series on prayer by talking about liturgy, the way more and more people raised in evangelical circles are being drawn to it, and the controversy surrounding it in some churches. Christy talks about the missing frameworks that liturgy provides, her own recent experiences, and conversations she's recently had with others.
Christy continues her series on prayer by talking about prayer walks, prayer journaling, and listening prayer. Walks were a huge part of Christy's life as she began to question and then left her cult. They were also vital to her entry into the real world as she processed her beliefs, her self, and the culture around her. Journaling has also been a part of Christy's life for over twenty years and is something she still does regularly every morning.
Enjoying a complicated personal relationship with listening prayer, Christy shares cautions and stories. Although she is a Christian mystic who believes in a real but mysterious emotional relationship with God, Christy also knows that our own minds can create god-like thoughts and that we have an enemy who is quick to tell us lies.
Christy continues her series on prayer by exploring two ancient prayer practices: silent contemplative prayer and breath prayer. Sharing how these prayer practices have encouraged her own prayer life, Christy challenges her listeners to try something new (or old). Contemplative and breath prayer are both wonderful for times in our lives when we have no words, when we aren't sure how to come to God. They provide space for our hearts to rest in God's Presence even when we aren't sure how to make that happen.
Related Resources:
https://biologos.org/articles/breath-prayer-an-ancient-spiritual-practice-connected-with-science
https://www.christianity.com/wiki/prayer/is-contemplative-prayer-a-biblical-principle.html
Christy begins a new series on prayer by talking about awkward prayer, formulaic prayer, and the ways we often feel guilt and shame for a lack of prayer. She reminds her listeners that at its core prayer is a chance to connect and communicate with God. Christy talks about her own experiences with prayer and introduces some forms of prayer that she will be exploring in the next few weeks.
As Christy concludes her series on Fringe to Mainstream, she contemplates the political homelessness that exists for anyone in the middle ground these days. Christy ponders a podcast she listened to recently called The Run Up from the New York Times that is exploring how we got to this fraught place of tension in politics. Looking back at last week's episode on the dogmatism that results from fear and insecurity, Christy lets her listeners know that she feels tired. She is tired from pushing back on broken ideology that seems relentless. Tired of seeing the same lies she was trapped in during her cult years recycled for a new generation. And at the end of the day, Christy wonders what really matters. Does any of it actually matter?
The Kingdom of Jesus matters. And it's not built with governments, or politics, or power. It's built with love and servanthood, backwards, inside out, and upside down. Knowing and being known by Jesus Christ and then sharing that beautiful relationship with the people around us.
As Christy concludes her series on Fringe to Mainstream, she contemplates the political homelessness that exists for anyone in the middle ground these days. Christy ponders a podcast she listened to recently called The Run Up from the New York Times that is exploring how we got to this fraught place of tension in politics. Looking back at last week's episode on the dogmatism that results from fear and insecurity, Christy lets her listeners know that she feels tired. She is tired from pushing back on broken ideology that seems relentless. Tired of seeing the same lies she was trapped in during her cult years recycled for a new generation. And at the end of the day, Christy wonders what really matters. Does any of it actually matter?
The Kingdom of Jesus matters. And it's not built with governments, or politics, or power. It's built with love and servanthood, backwards, inside out, and upside down. Knowing and being known by Jesus Christ and then sharing that beautiful relationship with the people around us.
As Christy continues her series on how the fringe of conservative Christianity is becoming mainstream, she reviews the latest episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast. Listening to host Mike Cosper and author and therapisdt Dan Allender discuss spiritual abuse, narcissism, and trauma, Christy realized something. She knows what it is about certain elements of Evangelical Christianity that makes her cringe and think of her cult days. It's dogmatism -- the confident belief that we are right and they are wrong.
Mike and Dan talk about the fear and uncertainty behind dogmatic beliefs and why people follow a dogmatic leader. This is exactly what Christy sees in the church these days, across politics, and through out social media. We are afraid and we are looking for security and certainty.
Related Blog Posts:
https://christylynnewood.com/is-this-really-what-we-sound-like/
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast with Dan Allender
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/podcasts/rise-and-fall-of-mars-hill/bonus-episode-conversation-with-dan-allender.html
Christy chats about her concerns with the way some mainstream evangelicals appear to idolize the family. Their focus on the family unit, protecting their children, fear of the world, and the importance of homeschooling bring her right back to the cult days. Christy knows that trying to isolate and insulate your family out of fear doesn't work. She has seen the devastation that can come firsthand.
Yes, we should value and care for our spouse and children, but being married and having kids doesn't make you more spiritual. Having many children or choosing to homeschool doesn't make you more spiritual and it doesn't guarantee that your family will be safe or turn out the way you want.
Christy expresses concern for the rest of the church that isn't in a nuclear family when that system is put on a pedestal. What about singles, people who are divorced or remarried, and couples who are childless? Family is a good thing, but idolatry is not.
Christy kicks off Season 7 with an overview of where she hopes to go this season. As she watches modern evangelical culture, Christy is reminded of her days in Bill Gothard's cult. She is concerned about the direction evangelicalism is taking and the way many fringe ideas are becoming accepted in the mainstream church.
As she reminisces about how it felt to see the Duggar family on national television just a few years after leaving that lifestyle herself, Christy also shares a list of topics that she finds troubling.
Over the next few weeks Christy will be talking about specific fringe ideas, exploring where they come from, pondering how quickly we become religious, and pointing her listeners back to the person of Jesus Christ and the truth we find in Scripture.
To sign up for Christy's bi-monthly Substack newsletter click this link:
https://christylynnewood.substack.com/
In this final episode of Summer 2022, Christy tackles the ideology of Christian Nationalism. Unknowingly, this is exactly what Christy was taught and believed growing up in Bill Gothard's Christian cult. It was her desire as a brainwashed 15-year-old to redeem culture by influencing it in a way that would cause all people to end up living like her group. A scary thought in her modern mind!
Christy helps to define Christian Nationalism and then walks her listeners through the reason that it's a flawed ideology created by poor hermeneutics and a flawed understanding of history. She understands that most people these days see the brokenness in our world and want to fix it. Many of us are operating out of fear. However it is not possible to create a utopia by our own efforts. And fear makes us do strange things.
Christy encourages her listeners to take a step back, pay careful attention to how we read Scripture, and get to know people who are different from us so that our perspective can be challenged and changed.
Related Links
Articles:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/february-web-only/what-is-christian-nationalism.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/us/christian-nationalism-politicians.html
My Substack:
https://christylynnewood.substack.com/
A friend recently asked Christy how much her children know about her Christian cult days. Thinking that many listeners might have the same question, Christy decided to do a podcast episode. Today she talks about what her kids know and what topics she is cautiously talking through as she parents. Those topics include salvation, modesty, dating, and more.
Christy continues her summer series reminiscing about the cult days by talking about going back to her hometown and house on a recent family camping trip. Because her story took place in the Thumb of Michigan but most of her healing happened away from that space, going back is always an interesting experience. Christy shares how God used KJ Ramsey's new book, "The Lord is My Courage" to remind her of the importance of naming the pain and evil we have experienced instead of just stuffing or ignoring it.
On the first Summer bonus episode from 2022, Christy explores what characteristics define a cult. She finds it fascinating that those cult characteristics fit Bill Gothard's Institute that she was a part of in the 90s, as well as Warren Jeffs and his FLDS group, and even Mark Driscoll and the Mars Hill church.
This summer Christy plans to release a few more bonus episodes with stories from her cult days. Although her story is extreme, all of us are susceptible to false teachers and cultic situations because they always seem good and always promise to meet needs that we feel in our hearts. Find out more characteristics by listening to tonight's episode.
Christy finishes her series on Christianese Phrases as well as Season 6 by looking at what it means to "get a word from the Lord." She explores similar phrases that can also be used to spiritualize any decision we make. It's easy to use Christianese to justify our own plans and desires.
At the same time, Christy believes that the Holy Spirit is real and does speak to and guide us. How can we discern the difference between the Real Holy Spirit and our (or others) own desires?
Scripture Referenced: John 14:25-26 Luke 12:11-12 1 John 4:1-3 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 Philippians 1:9-10; 4:8
Today's Christianese phrases is, "It's all part of God's plan." Christy dives into the potential motivations behind why we use this phrases and points out that it's often once again a form of spiritual bypassing. We say something Christian to avoid dealing with questions, doubts, and negative emotions.
Digging into Scripture, Christy shows how we must hold the tension between God's goodness and power and the pain and trauma of our broken world. If we don't ask the hard questions and try to deal with the paradox we cannot really understand, our faith will be shallow.
Scriptures Referenced: Jeremiah 32:17 Colossians 1:16 Isaiah 45:6-7 Psalm 115:3 Romans 11:33
Today Christy takes apart the Christianese phrase "just have faith." What do we mean when we tell people to "have faith?" What is the definition of faith? Can we really have enough faith to avoid sickness or poverty?
Christy digs into Scripture and once again discovers the tension and paradox of truth. She looks into whether faith is required for healing and asks what faith actually accomplishes in our lives.
Scriptures Referenced: Matthew 9, Luke 13, Hebrews 11, 13.
On today's episode Christy tackles the Christianese phrase, "God won't give you more than you can handle." Is this phrase biblical? Where did it come from? Why do people say it?
Christy explores spiritual bypassing -- the way we quickly bypass pain with a spiritual statement -- and dives into the life of the Apostle Paul. What if God sometimes chooses to give us more than we can handle because He is drawing us to Himself?
Scripture Referenced: 1 Corinthians 10:1-15 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Christy begins her next series on Christianese phrases talking about finding God's will for our lives. What if in our attempts to discover God's will we have actually over complicated it all? What if there is no formula? What if God has already told us His will? What if there is no big plan for our lives?
Christy breaks down our religious traditions, uses Scripture to remind us of truth, and suggests that God's will can be found in simple ways.
Scripture Mentioned: Jeremiah 29:11 Jeremiah 17:7-10 Psalm 37:3-4 Ezekiel 36:26-27
Christy introduces her next series about strange things Christians say and do, by telling the story of the weirdest women's retreat she ever attended. Not only was she given a princess tiara and told to ask God for a new name, there were men with large swords positioned strategically around the back of the room during every session. Fortunately her roommates were also not buying into the madness. Despite everything, the Holy Spirit was able to use the time away to encourage Christy during a difficult season of life.
Christy discusses Holy Saturday as she encourages her listeners to embrace the spiritual discipline of lament. Lament draws us into God's Presence even as we feel the deep pain of grief and loss, even as our hearts break over the brokenness in the world. In lament we feel every bit of our emotion, but we feel before our Heavenly Father as we choose to trust in His goodness and love.
Link to sign up for Christy's monthly newsletter called #Rethink: https://christylynnewood.com/rethink-newsletter/
Christy concludes her mini-series on the Unexpected God with a look at the last Passover Jesus celebrated with His disciples. Jesus did not fit the Jews' idea of the Messiah even though the entire Passover meal pointed to Him. Where as humans seek for money, power, and fame, Jesus sought humility, obscurity, poverty, and servanthood.
He was not who we expected God to be. But because of Jesus life, death, and resurrection, a new Way has opened, a new Kingdom is at hand, and Restoration has begun!
Scripture Referenced: Matthew 26:17-25 Mark 14:12-16 Luke 22:7-13
Christy continues the journey through Jesus' last week on earth by exploring the story of Mary anointing Jesus. She looks at two prominent characters in the story: Mary who sits at Jesus' feet, and Judas who would betray Him. Christy contemplates the way Jesus accepted and loved them both.
Scripture Referenced: Matthew 26:6-13 Mark 14:3-9 John 12:1-8
Christy begins a series exploring some of Jesus' last days on earth. He was not the Messiah anyone expected, and He certainly didn't line up with the religious Jews' view of God. In this first episode Christy tells the story of Jesus cleansing the temple and driving out the people selling animals and exchanging money. She gives some background to the story and then makes connections between the religious system we deal with today.
Scripture Referenced: Matthew 21:12-17
Christy finishes her series on things that keep us from God by talking about unbelief. She knows that this is a complicated topic and something that has been used to spiritually abuse people. But Christy also knows that without faith it is impossible to truly know God. She shares from her own life, from Scripture, and contemplates the church culture at large.
Scripture Referenced: John 3:17-18 Hebrews 11:6 Jeremiah 29:12-14
The religious Jews thought God was their father. But they argued with God in front of them and wanted to kill Jesus when he challenged their firmly held beliefs. What if we are more like the religious Jews than we are willing to admit?
Christy continues talking about the things that keep us from God this time admitting her own prideful, religious heart. Thanks to some painful church hurt, Christy was broken and humbled to a place where she was willing to listen and learn from others.
It is her sincere desire that Church People everywhere will also lay aside their pride and certainty to humbly seek the Real Jesus.
Related Resources: If you have questions about how to love the LGBTQI community, this is a great place to start! https://lauriekrieg.com/
Scripture Mentioned: John 8
Over the next few weeks Christy explores things that keep us stuck in religion rather than moving into a relationship with the Real God. Today's topic is fear.
Christy contemplates the way the religious Jews missed Jesus while comparing the Jews to modern American Christians. She wonders if we have also created our own version of God in a way that would make us just as threatened if the Real Jesus showed up.
Christy admits that until a few years ago, she was also unknowingly missing Him, stuck in a religious mindset and judging others, while claiming to know Jesus and pointing others to Him.
Scripture Referenced: John 8 2 Timothy 1:7 1 John 4:18
Christy tackles the problem of evil. If God is real and good and powerful, then why is there so much evil in the world? This is a good and valid question that must be addressed. Rather than give pat Christianese answers, Christy reminds her listeners of a few important points. She encourages them to wrestle for themselves, reading Scripture, taking the time for the hard questions, and seeking the Real God.
Article Mentioned: A Look at the Problem of Evil https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1969/september-26/look-at-problem-of-evil.html
Christy honestly shares her heart as she compares the religious leaders of Jesus' day to our Modern American version of the Evangelical Church. Christy encourages her listeners to rethink, wonder, question, doubt, and more than anything look for the Real God. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for being more attached to the tradition of men than the commandment of God. Christy seems a troubling similarity to what is happening today.
Scripture referenced: Mark 7:8 Mark 12 Matthew 22
Christy finishes her series on the American Evangelical Church by asking the question why. Why do we seem to come back to this place of religious behaviors? What are we really looking for?
Acknowledging that everyone is attempting to fix a broken world no matter which side of any issue they are on, Christy points her listeners back to Eden. People feel the brokenness because the world is broken. We try to fix the problems through things like politics, religion, social justice, and climate change. But we will never be able to create the Utopia we long for by ourselves. Restoration only comes through Jesus Christ.
Christy continues to explore the problems within American Evangelical Christianity by discussing the Pharisees and Sadducees. If the Real Jesus was physically here on Earth today, would we miss Him? Would we be uncomfortable or irritated by Him? Maybe even furious like the religious leaders were?
Or like the curious crowds would we be seeking to touch Him and experience His power? Would the truth surprise us?
As we deconstruct and reconstruct our faith, Christy encourages her listeners to avoid sides, lean into their own brokenness, and find the God who spent His time with outcasts and sinners.
Scripture Referenced: Luke 6
Christy continues comparing her time with Bill Gothard's Christian cult to the problems within broader American Evangelical Christianity. She looks at how people got sucked into Gothard's teachings and suggests there are three things that make us the most susceptible to false teaching: when we are afraid, when we are ignorant, and when we are isolated.
Related Link for Recovering Grace: A Bill Gothard Generation Shines a Light on the Teachings of IBLP and ATI https://www.recoveringgrace.org/
Christy continues to dive into the connections between the Christian Cult she grew up in and the mess we see in American Evangelical Christianity today. As she asks the question, "How?" Christy explores various false ideas that many of us think are Biblical. She tackles Christian Nationalism, what it means to be in the world but not of it, and the seven mountain mandate.
As Christy continues to ask hard questions regarding Evangelical Christianity and the culture it has created, she looks into the 7 Basic Principles promoted by her Christian cult. What happens when our beliefs are almost true? When they sound biblical but miss the mark?
Christy talks about teaching children at the Basic Seminar despite her own doubts and confusion. She looks into the ways we long to find security through formulas and religion. There is a reason we keep falling for the same Impostor Jesus and the reason is within our own broken hearts.
Christy begins Season Six of Looking for the Real God with a dive into the evangelical cult she was a part of for almost a decade. She remembers her first experience being one of thousands of young people dressed in navy and white, and ponders a history that was both positive and negative. Christy remembers how angry she was then the Duggar family first burst on the scene, and wonders why Evangelical Christianity seems to wind up in the middle of every spiritual controversy.
This season Christy will be asking hard and uncomfortable questions, sharing more of her cultic experiences, and digging into the motivations we have as people. Why are we continually drawn to ridged systems? And why are those systems doomed to fail?
Christy finishes her series on rethinking Christmas with a reminder of who Jesus came to be: not just a baby in a manger, but a Savior on a cross. God's wrath, justice, and punishment for sin might not seem like Christmas messages, but Jesus came for one reason -- to die. Unless we remember that, we will always be missing the real magic of Christmas. A God who loved us enough to become one of us, live among us, and take the punishment that we deserved upon Himself. In Jesus God's wrath and love collided. Someone had to die, so God chose that person to be Himself.
As Christy continues to Rethink Christmas, she reminds her listeners that Jesus is God with Us. His entire life was a picture for us of who God really is rather than who we expect him to be. Instead of seeking power and fame and a position of authority, Jesus came quietly, humbly, and without fanfare.
As we look at the mess of our modern evangelical church, it's easy to be discouraged. But Christy reminds her listeners that the same God who lived among us isn't finished yet.
Christy continues her season on Rethinking Christmas by looking at all the extra details and traditions that we have added to the Christmas story over the years that aren't actually in the Scriptures. She wonders if maybe we feel disillusioned with the season and struggle to find the meaning of Christmas because we have lost sight of the reality. Jesus came humbly even in His birth to serve and not to be served, to reach the poor and lowly, and to call all people to Himself. This is the magic of Christmas.
Christy continues her series on rethinking Christmas with a look back at the Jewish history and culture at the time of Jesus' birth. We often miss the anticipation of the Messiah as modern Western believers. We also miss the history of exile and occupation the Jews faced. The time when Jesus was born was messy and complicated, not unlike our own current experience. And yet Jesus did not come to build an earthly kingdom but to restore humanity to their Creator.
Using history and prophecy, Christy encourages her listeners to settle into their own time in space knowing that God is in control.
Scripture referenced: Genesis 49:10 2 Samuel 7:12-13 Psalm 8:5-6 Jeremiah 29:10-14 John 1:4, 9-13 Isaiah 9:1-2 Isaiah 53:1-6
Christy begins her series on Rethinking Christmas with a look at our modern messy church. She talks about The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast and the way it is exposing the junk that is going on in many churches. Christy contemplates the way people seem to divide into two camps: one that holds onto all of the Christianese traditions and beliefs and one that rejects anything not lining up with human reasoning. As always, Christy encourages her listeners to look for the Middle Way of grace and truth.
Christy jumps from our current church culture into the religious culture in the time when Jesus was born. She compares us to the Pharisees and Sadducees and reminds everyone that Jesus was found by the humble and broken from His birth until His death.
Christy shares stories from her past that connect with her current experience as a 5th grade teacher. It's fun to watch things come full circle as she reconnects with an old version of herself from almost twenty years ago.
God has made us unique as individuals and we each have passions and gifts that makes us come alive. Christy shares from her own experiences and encourages her listeners to pursue those things that put them "in their element."
Christy contemplates the longings of our hearts, how we try to meet them by ourselves but fail, and the ways those longings point us to our Creator.
Religion will never satisfy, good behaviors will fall short, and formulas promising wealth, health, blessings, and success will fail. But the Real God isn't waiting for us to DO anything except turn to Him and seek Him. And in Him we will find that those deep desires of our hearts are met.
Christy shares some thoughts from her recent Scripture readings in Ezekiel. As she read about the future temple that will be built during the Millennium, Christy began to think back to the way God started out in Eden separating Himself from His creation because of Adam and Eve's sin of disobedience.
But despite that separation, God continued to pursue people: Abraham, Moses, the Nation of Israel. He provided the tabernacle and then the temple with a system of worship that created a path for forgiveness. God continued to move closer to His creation.
Christy explores Jesus -- Emanuel: God with us -- and the way He drew even closer. After Jesus returned to heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell all believers in Jesus Christ. God is even closer than ever!
Christy jumps back into the topic of deconstruction. This week she explores what might be behind the purity culture and narrow gender role ideas that have become so mainstream. What if in our desire to fix the broken world we live in, we become fixated on rules instead of a relationship with the only One who can save us?
Purity culture, gender roles, and spiritual abuse seem to be the hottest topics among deconstruction conversations lately. Christy reminds her listeners that the Holy Spirit is up to something as He restores and reforms His church.
Christy takes a break from her series on deconstruction and reconstruction of our faith to voice some heartfelt thoughts about her real life. She shares her disillusionment with social media and the Christian celebrity culture.
Pursuing a book contract is something that Christy thought she wanted until she realized the pressure of platform building and sustaining was not mentally or emotionally healthy. Christy has gone back to teaching this year and as a result has significantly less time available for social media. She has discovered that she is better off without it. Christy encourages her listeners to embrace their real lives even if they aren't glamorous or Instagram worthy.
If we are only basing our faith deconstruction and reconstruction on human reasoning then we will miss out on the Real God. God is bigger than our understanding and more than we can comprehend. If we are going to find Him, we need to humble ourselves and realize that we might be wrong about Who He is.
As Christy has stated before, we don't get to decide who Gog is, we just get to discover Him. God is not changed by our beliefs, or minimized by our doubts. He is who He is whether we like it or not.
Christy encourages her listeners to seek and find a God who is only more than our wildest imaginations but who will completely satisfy every desire of our hearts.
Scripture mentioned: Hebrews 11:6; Numbers 21.
Christy continues talking about deconstructing our Christian experiences and beliefs this week by exploring the Bible. What if the Bible we experienced in the Christianese bubble world isn't the Real Bible after all?
Exploring things like hermeneutics, translations, and the fact that the Bible is an ancient Eastern book, Christy challenges her listeners to reevaluate what they believe about the Bible before they throw it away completely.
Related episodes: Episodes 7, 11-13, 27-29, 53, and 70
App mentioned: Read Scripture
The rest of Uncle Jim's story: https://christylynnewood.com/chased-by-grace-a-testimony/
As Christy continues to explore faith deconstruction, she turns her attention to church. Church hurt and spiritual abuse are real, and they are being increasingly exposed. After experiencing this kind of painful brokenness within the church, how do we think about church or choose to participate in church again?
Christy acknowledges the pain -- something she shares from personal experience -- and encourages her listeners to reconsider the way they view the Church. What if church has been messed up because we've turned it into something it was never meant to be? What if we've taken a good thing and corrupted it?
Christy invites listeners into a paradox where we hold the pain we've experienced in one hand and the love Jesus has for His Bride in the other. She doesn't have all the answers, but Christy wonders if it's possible to restore the truth Church from within.
In the second episode of season five, Christy discusses the option of deconstructing our faith without deconverting from it. There is much to deconstruct in our experiences with legalism, religion, Christian patriarchy, the purity culture, and spiritually abusive situations across the board. Some of the people who talk about deconstruction seem to think that the only option is for everyone who doubts to walk away from Christianity completely. Christy thinks we can do this a different way.
Christy suggests to her listeners that it is possible to deconstruct around Jesus Christ -- even with Him -- as we involve the Holy Spirit in the process of tearing down and rebuilding our beliefs.
Christy begins Season Five of Looking for the Real God by exploring the various definitions of faith deconstruction. Deconstruction really just means to take something apart down to it's individual pieces, but because of people's various experiences it tends to mean different things depending on who you talk to.
Christy shares a poem/analogy she wrote about a Lego set to explain the definitions of deconstruction and tells her own story. She knows that many people are reevaluating their Christian/church experience right now and wants to provide an option and resource for those who wish to deconstruct without leaving the Christian faith.
Resources Mentioned: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/podcasts/rise-and-fall-of-mars-hill/ With This Much Rot, There's No Choice But To Deconstruct article by Karen Swallow Prior: https://religionnews.com/2021/08/04/with-this-much-rot-theres-no-choice-but-to-deconstruct/ Christy's Poem: https://christylynnewood.com/defining-deconstruction/
Christy finished her summer series Stories from Camp with the second half of her love story. This young, totally opposite young man had snuck his way into her heart and she wasn't sure what to do about it. Convinced he was distracting her from Jesus and the campers, Christy was determined to give up her crush. It worked for three days.
Having never had a boyfriend Christy had no idea how to be in a relationship with anyone. But Josh wouldn't take no for an answer even when she told him "don't even think about it" three times. So what happened? How did Josh convince her to date and eventually marry him? Listen and find out!
Christy is closing out her summer series, Stories from Camp, with her personal love story. It's amazingly strange and beautiful how God can work in more than one person simultaneously. While Christy was learning how to live in the real world and letting go of her religious and cultic baggage, a troubled teenage boy named Josh was being challenged to surrender his life to Jesus and see what happened.
The first two years Christy was at camp, Josh was still a camper up on the high-school camp. They met once. The third year Christy came back to camp she discovered that Josh -- who had just graduated -- had also been hired as a counselor. They reluctantly became casual friends. It wasn't until Christy's fourth year of camp that things started to heat up.
How do two people who are so completely opposite become a couple? Listen and find out!
In this third from the last Story from Camp, Christy describes the "rusticness" of her cabins and the little camp she called home for five wonderful growing summers. It wasn't much to look at, but Christy discovered that you really don't need much for a full and fantastic life.
She shares stories of some of her most memorable campers. From the wild tale of campers who punished Christy for not letting them keep cups of tree frogs in the cabin, to the more heartbreaking memories of campers who acted out because of abuse and trauma, all of these kiddos impacted Christy's life. Summer camp is a special and beautiful experience!
A huge part of Christy's summers at camp was her relationship with Jesus. She would often escape into the woods to walk the trails and process these new experiences with the Holy Spirit. She also had little hidey spots around camp that she called her cathedrals where she spent time with God.
Even though Christy came to summer camp still trapped in religious formulas, a legalistic mindset, and plenty of pride, she also loved Jesus. Working in the middle of this messy mixed bag, the Holy Spirit met Christy where she was and continually drew her into the truth.
Christy reminds her listeners that God will always meet us where we are. He reveals Himself differently because He knows our needs and personalities. God works in the middle of our mess and is able to use us even when we don't have it all figured out.
Christy continues to share Stories from Camp with this episode focusing on friendships she made over the years with both boys and girls. These young people had very different backgrounds but they all helped Christy to learn and develop as she discovered what it was like to live in the real world.
Some friendships were life-giving, some gave her a new perspective, and some broke her heart a little, but they were all filled with special memories. The impact people can make on our lives in short amounts of time is a beautiful thing.
In today's episode Christy shares some of the relationships that made the most impact on her those first few summers at camp. Coming from a culture where behavior and standards were the focus, Christy was shocked to discover acceptance and grace even when she made mistakes.
Her coordinators that first summer and the camp nurse for years afterward were people who loved Christy in ways that demonstrated the true love of God. These people might not have "had it all together" but they were authentic in their understanding of grace, their love for God and their love for people.
Christy tries to explain the wild and wonderful atmosphere of summer camp. A place where you become real and get to know other real people by living together 24/7 in the grit of serving children through heat, rain, lack of sleep, and plenty of sunburn. It's hard to describe, but Christy does her best.
When you are encouraged to be crazy, loud, and adventurous -- thanks to skits, songs, and ridiculous costumes -- amazing things happen to your soul. Christy found growth, healing, and her true-self in the midst of pranks, adventures, and more. Here are some more Stories from Camp!
Christy continues her summer series, Stories from Camp, by talking about boys, flirting, kissing, and learning how to appropriately interact with the opposite sex. Growing up in an environment where many boys and girls didn't have relationships until arranged marriages, the whole "how to be friends with boys" thing was very new.
Summers at camp allowed Christy the opportunity to learn how to deal with boys, what it looked like to flirt, and how to develop good boundaries. As she shares these sometimes ridiculous and slightly embarrassing stories, Christy encourages her listeners to give their past selves grace.
Christy continues this summer's series Stories from Camp by talking about her total lack of culture or pop culture references that first summer at camp. She had a lot to learn but was able to explore and experiment in a safe place thanks to the great people at camp.
From learning to understand slang, listening to Christian Rock, and watching her first PG-13 movie, Christy had a lot of new experiences. As that first summer ended with Christy bought some capris and got a cartilage piercing to remind her of her new-found freedom.
Books Referenced: "Changes that Heal" by Dr. Henry Cloud
Christy begins her summer series “Stories from Camp” by describing her love/hate relationship with camp that began as a child. She then describes the way five summers at camp in her early 20s changed her life. Christian summer camp provided a safe place for Christy to go through the developmental stages she missed while being raised in a cult.
This summer of 2021 Christy will be diving into memories, telling funny stories, and sharing how the Real God met her at a simple and, ahem, “rustic” little camp.
Christy uses her background in a cultic sub-culture of Christianity to question the popular ideology known as Critical Race Theory. She gives a basic overview of the ideology, raises some red flags from the perspective of a former cult-member, and points listeners back to the truth about this broken world and the broken people in it.
Just because something sounds like it could be true doesn't mean it is. All great lies have just enough truth to be believable. When an ideology seems to cause division and chaos even though it promises liberation and freedom it'd definitely time to question it.
Podcast Referenced: Freeborn and Liberty https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freeborn-liberty/id1552442669
Christy shares some of her own experiences with patriarchy both from her cult days and from more recent times. She asks questions about the way the church views women. If God created both men and women in His own image than why do so many Christians seem to believe that women are less than men? If the fall is where sin entered the world and part of the curse of sin was that men would rule over women, then why is this considered a good thing?
After sharing stories from her life, Christy gives a review of the new book "The Making of Biblical Womanhood" by Beth Allison Barr. What if the common understanding of Biblical womanhood isn't actually Biblical at all? Looking through the lenses of history and culture, Beth Allison Barr systematically takes apart complementarian theology brick by brick. She explores the flaws in our English understanding, reintroduces her readers to historical Christian leaders who were women, and ends her book with a resounding, "Go, be free!"
As Christy wraps up her series asking the question, "How did we get here?" she takes time to ponder the ways we allow ourselves to be motivated by fear. Fear is a huge part of our broken world. Unfortunately people who are looking for power and control know that fear is also a powerful motivator. If you capitalize on people's fears you can get them to do anything you want.
Christy explores three ways fear has contributed to the state of our current Christian culture. First fear has kept us from telling the truth. Secondly fear has stopped us from seeking the truth. And finally fear has hindered us from sharing the truth. What would happen if we truly experienced a love that cast out fear? Would we become bold people who followed the example of Jesus Christ -- the God-Man who did nothing out of fear?
Scriptures Referenced: I John 4:15-19
In this second to last episode in the How Did We Get Here series Christy shares a story about her daughter's imaginary friend Ellen. If God is just a concept, just an idea, just an imaginary friend, then it doesn't matter what we believe about Him or if our beliefs line up with historical orthodoxy.
But if God is REAL real then everything changes. We don't get to create Him with our beliefs or change Him with our objections. He is Who He is whether we like it or not. If God is REAL real then we just get to discover Him. Too often we make God in our own image. We think that He is like us. But we forget that He is nothing like us, we were just created to be a little like Him.
As Christy continues to move through the question of How Did We Get Here, she confronts our religious obsession with morality and goodness. No matter which side of a topic you are on these days, people automatically have a list of behaviors they expect from you. The Church is no different. Unfortunately a fixation on behaviors and the condemnation that follows when you don't measure up has been the cause of significant church hurt and spiritual abuse.
What if we actually believed in the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out? What of we laid aside our focus on behaviors and instead cared about people's hearts? Christy passionately explores problems and possibilities as she shares this week's episode.
Continuing on with her question of How Did We Get Here, Christy tackles what it means to be a Christian woman. Are women really supposed to be under authority and less than a man? Can women truly not be leaders in the church? What if the passages used to support these ideas aren't really being read in context? How have these ideas about women influenced the current broken state of our church?
Christy shares articles, videos, and information that she has found in the past few years of searching for answers. The information she shares might surprise you. For some reason this topic tends to be highly controversial so Christy hopes her listeners can come in with an open mind and be willing to do a little searching of their own.
Related Blog Post: https://christylynnewood.com/not-so-silent-women/
Article Mentioned: https://baptistnews.com/article/i-knew-the-truth-about-women-in-the-bible-and-i-stayed-silent/#.YHyX0GdKiM8
YouTube Video Mentioned: https://youtu.be/tsyQlaC0btY
For Further Study: https://www.faithgateway.com/ezer-unleashed/#.YHyYRmdKiM9
Christy continues to ask the question "How did we get here?" This time she tackles the idea of Biblical interpretation, specifically the problem with using a literal English interpretation of passages without doing any digging into context, author intent, historical background, or intended audience.
It is incredibly arrogant and ignorant to assume that 21st century Christians can read an English translation of an ancient book and automatically understand it without any extra research. Yet this is where so many of our problems within modern Christianity have originated. Ironically it’s misinterpretation where Christianese happens and also why many people reject the Bible and Christianity.
What if we attempted to carefully read in a way that honors the original authors and audiences, takes context into account, and humbly acknowledges that we are thousands of years and a totally different culture away?
Christy takes a break from asking the question, “How did we get here?” to ponder her love for Jesus and her awe of His death and resurrection.
With passion and emotion Christy invites her listeners to lay aside their ideas of God and look at the person of Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh. She celebrates the core of historical orthodox Christianity — the fact that God would sacrifice Himself in our place so that we could be redeemed and brought back into a relationship of oneness with our Creator.
Happy Easter! Jesus is risen!
Christy continues to ask the question of how did we get here -- to this place where abuse and sin is so common within our Christian culture? Why are so many well-known leaders suddenly being exposed? Last week Christy tackled the topic of Biblical authority. She questioned if the definition of authority that many leaders use is actually accurate and she pointed her listeners back to the example of Jesus Christ.
This week Christy is questioning the common definitions of unity and gossip used within abusive Christian settings. She contrasts these false Christianese definitions with the actual definitions and gives examples of how we can choose as the Church to extend grace to victims and justice to perpetrators while standing for truth.
Scripture Referenced: Ephesians 4:1-6 Galatians 3:26-28
Books Referenced: "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson "When Narcissism Comes to Church" by Chuck DeGroat
Based on some of the recent tragic news within the Christian community, Christy dives into the question of how we got here. How did we get to the place where it's common (although still devastating) for Christian leaders to be caught in sin and abuse? How did we create a culture where abuse is covered up or ignored?
Today Christy explores the concept of Biblical Authority and wonders if it's actually Biblical. She passionately shares from her own experiences and reveals the context behind the statement that is often used to prevent criticism of spiritual leaders.
Resources:
“The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse” by David Johnson “When Narcissism Comes to Church” by Chuck DeGroat
Article mentioned:
https://www.relevantmagazine.com/magazine/the-woman-taking-on-sex-abuse-in-the-church/?fbclid=IwAR2R8wEn4CGqx0JioC8OHfY5OEj8HBLOtfQACwm5fPgFZAnaui1-WxVcAn0
Scripture Mentioned:
1 Samuel 24 Psalm 105:15
Christy talks about watching the animated movie Smallfoot with her family and how it was unexpectedly triggering. The yetis were encouraged to push their questions down and ignore them much like Christy was back in her cultic days. And yet ,much like Christy's personal experience, when the yetis ignored the "stones" and asked their questions they discovered a truth that was bigger than their false beliefs.
Christy encourages her listeners to embrace uncomfortable seasons of doubt and questions because it is only through these crises of faith that we are able to discover the Real God. A God who is not created by our beliefs or disbeliefs, but who is who He is no matter what. A God who wants us to search and find. A God who is only ever more than we can imagine.
As Christy finishes up her series on missing theology she takes a philosophical look at death and life. What are they really? How could our understanding of them change the way we view sin and the effects of it?
What if death is really about separation? Separation from God, others, and even ourselves? Sin does indeed bring separation and death. But if death is about separation, could life be about oneness and connection?
Christy explores these ideas and points listeners back to a God who is bigger than we could ever imagine and who wants to be in a relationship with us.
As she continues to ponder missing theological building blocks, Christy ponders the Kingdom of God. What is the Kingdom? And what happens to us when we fail to recognize it?
Christy explores two kingdoms that Christians are currently trying to build to replace the backwards, inside out, upside down Kingdom of Jesus Christ: Christian celebrity culture, and Christian nationalism. She again digs into over arching themes of Scripture while exposing issues with these false kingdoms.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/the-flawed-theology-of-christian-nationalism/
Christy continues her thoughts on the theological building blocks that we might be missing. Today she shares thoughts on embracing paradox. A paradox is something that initially seems illogical or impossible but upon further study you realize that it's actually correct. There are many paradoxes that Christy has become sure of in her own journey to discover the Real God. She invites her listeners to join her in the Awkward Middle Way between behavior driven religion and intellectual progressivism where paradox is real because God is big and crazy.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/reconstructing-in-the-middle-way/
Christy continues her series on missing theological building blocks by tackling the issue of suffering. How can we reconcile a good God with all the evil and pain that happens in our world? Is there a way to avoid suffering? Is it the result of a lack of faith? Does God cause or allow bad things to happen?
Christy dives into the ways we view suffering and picks apart some popular views within Christianity. Maybe our goal isn't to avoid suffering, but to learn how to walk through it with grace and faith in a Sovereign God despite the brokenness of our world.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/choosing-trust/
Christy begins a mini-series on foundational theological blocks that we need in order to flourish in this world of ours. Unfortunately these foundational beliefs seem to be missing for many of us.
Digging into Scriptural themes, Christy begins by exploring the brokenness of the world and the people in it. Somehow we all know that the world needs fixing -- even if we don't agree on how to fix it -- and we all find ourselves longing for more. Why is that?
What happens to the frustration and fear in our hearts when we learn to accept the brokenness even as we long for restoration? Could we learn to live in humble confidence as we hold truth in tension?
Scripture Mentioned: Romans 8:18-25
After experiencing the brokenness that can be found even in traditional Christianity, Christy wondered what connected the experiences she'd had in her religious cult with the more recent painful experiences with "normal" Christians. She never imagined that she would find the answer at Book Club thanks to a book on spiritual disciplines.
Christy shares the word that made everything make sense and then passionately reminds her listeners that the Real God is nothing like we imagine.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/finding-answers-at-book-club/
Books Referenced: "Recapturing the Wonder" by Mike Cosper
Christy shares a more recent season of her life where she experienced pain and brokenness at the hands of other Christians. Although this year of loss was devastating and the pain was so deep that she wanted to die, Christy is able to look back with gratefulness. Can brokenness really be a gift? It has been for Christy.
Sharing the beauty that God has brought from the brokenness, Christy explains why she is thankful for the pain. She is has been humbled and is able to give more grace to others. Christy feels she can empathize now without condemnation and that she understands why other people have walked away from the Church. Perhaps the devastating year that Christy walked through was actually a gift from a loving God.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/my-best-friend-the-adulterous-woman/ https://christylynnewood.com/confessions-of-a-former-pharisee/
The next step in Christy's journey after discovering she'd spent a decade in a Christian cult was attempting to write a book. Writing a book and then actually publishing it is a much bigger and longer task than Christy ever anticipated originally. Seven years have gone by since she first thought God asked her to write.
Christy's blog, website, social media accounts, her monthly newsletter, and this podcast were all pieces of the puzzle at first -- steps to building an elusive "platform." However, as time went on and as she learned and grew personally, Christy came to realize that these are not just steps, they are her ministry. And if she never writes a published book, or if she chooses to publish in a non-traditional way, that's okay.
Christy's website where you will find links to all of her other forms of communication: https://christylynnewood.com/
Christy opens Season Four with a glimpse into her decade of life in a Christian cult. After three seasons, she actually names the organization she was part of and the leader they followed. Christy talks about what happened when she realized about eight years ago that it was indeed a cult and then began the process of deconstruction.
Deconstruction is difficult, but also necessary if we hope to reconstruct a correct view of God, Scripture, and ourselves. Christy encourages her listeners to give themselves grace as they do the difficult work of deconstruction.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/the-cult-next-door-a-documentary/ https://christylynnewood.com/how-my-parents-joined-a-cult/
Further Resources: The Cult Next Door (a documentary I was a part of) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16OLr-EXuOo Website detailing my cultic organization http://www.recoveringgrace.org/
Suggested Books: "A Matter of Basic Principles" by Don Veinot "When Narcissism Comes to Church" by Chuck DeGroat "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson
Christy finishes Season Three by contemplating Advent and the birth of Christ in light of the year we've all just been through. She shares that going through the uncertainty and loss of 2020 has amplified her own longing for a Savior. We rejoice that Jesus came as a baby to live among us, show us God, die for our sins, and rise again. But, we are still living in a broken world full of pain and sadness and we still long for a Savior King to come and restore everything to the way it was meant to be.
Christy encourages her listeners to embrace the difficult emotions and strive to live in the tension of a broken world and a loving God who refuses to be our enemy.
In this episode and corresponding blog post, Christy shares her heart for the church inspired by an article she read written by an unbeliever. Hearing someone from the outside so clearly identify the problem with modern Christianity broke Christy's heart. The world looking on can see that the modern church cares more about making this world work than they do about following Jesus, but too often the church itself is blind. With passion and authenticity, Christy calls the Church back to her Savior.
Article Mentioned: https://spectator.us/sad-irony-celebrity-pastors-carl-lentz-hillsong/
Related Blog Post: https://christylynnewood.com/heartbreaking-truth-from-an-unbeliever/
Christy passionately shares her heart in this second part of Why Read the Bible. We don't read Scripture to get spiritual points with God or because we should, we read the Bible so that we will know the truth about God for ourselves. The world and even things that seem Christian are often full of lies, but Jesus is the truth that will set us free. And we will know the truth as we read the revelation that God has given us in His Word. It's not a magic formula to use, it's a Living Person to discover.
More Resources: netbible.org blueletterbible.org
Podcast Referenced: https://www.alisachilders.com/podcast.html
Christy discusses the importance of reading Scripture for ourselves -- not as a magic formula to ward off evil but as a way to know truth. False teachers use the Bible to spread lies either because they are misinformed or because they have bad motives. How can we discern the truth if we aren't familiar with the Bible ourselves?
Sharing questions to help understand context, Christy tells a story from her recent life to illustrated what can go wrong if we try and apply the Bible before we understand what a passage is actually saying.
Related Resources: https://netbible.org/ https://www.blueletterbible.org/ https://www.readscripture.org/
Christy jumps into current evens by looking at this year that is 2020. Despite it seeming like everything is falling apart around us, Christy considers that maybe God is using the brokenness to share His true gospel with the world. The gospel is one of those things that should be foundational to Christianity, but even this has been twisted by religion and man-made tradition.
What if this year -- that appears to have come from hell -- actually came from a loving God who is calling His children home?
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2020/10/01/how-2020-is-preaching-the-gospel/
Christy finishes up the stories of Jesus back in the book of John looking at Jesus' unexpected and slightly uncomfortable message. She ponders the way Jesus didn't care about crowd size or popularity but instead spoke truth in a way that made followers leave. Truth isn't found within religious or progressive Christianity but instead within the very Person of Jesus Christ.
Scriptures Referenced: John 6
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2019/08/15/irony-and-apostasy-finding-a-solid-faith/
Christy ponders the plaque of abusive leaders within religious Christianity while telling the story of Jesus -- the ultimate authority -- who chose instead to be a humble servant and wash his disciples' feet. Looking back through history, humans seems to be obsessed with trying to gain power, money, and fame. Religion is a perfect system to help broken people to achieve their goals. Jesus tore that system apart and introduced a new way of thinking, the backwards and inside out Kingdom where the last are first, and the first are last, and the true leader is the servant of all.
Scripture Mentioned: Philippians 2:5-8 John 13:1-16
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2018/12/13/the-lump-under-the-rug/ https://christylynnewood.com/2019/02/24/pastors-abuse-and-the-church/ https://christylynnewood.com/2019/12/22/healing-from-spiritual-abuse/
Further Resources: "When Narcissism Comes to Church" by Chuck DeGroat "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderan
Christy begins a mini-series on some of her favorite stories of Jesus. Christians often focus on Jesus coming to save the world from their sins, and that was a huge part of His purpose. But He also came to show us God. Christy explores Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Then she ponders what it means for us that Jesus came to find sinners. We can easily focus on appeasing the god of religion and miss the Jesus that wants to restore our soul.
Scriptures Mentioned: John 4
Resources Mentioned: The Net Bible https://netbible.org/
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2019/10/09/im-just-here-for-the-broken-ones/ https://christylynnewood.com/2020/01/07/the-gift-of-brokenness/
In this last part to the series Tools for Healing, Christy shares how she discovered the Enneagram just about a year ago. Learning about the Enneagram and discovering that she is a 4 has been a huge part of Christy's growth this past year. Although far from an expert, Christy encourages her listeners to do some exploring on their own. The enneagram is a fantastic tool for healing and growth.
Resources Mentioned: https://www.crystalknows.com/enneagram-test#assessment The EnneaSummer 2019 and 2020 series on the That Sounds Fun Podcast
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2020/01/12/old-journals-the-enneagram-and-exciting-changes/
In the second part of this series on tools for healing, Christy shares about Soul Care from Dr. Larry Crab. Christy discovered the beauty of Christian psychology since joining her new church over three years ago and has found healing from things she didn't even know were broken.
Even though she left the cultic church and organization over a decade ago, Christy still struggled with defensiveness over her decision. It wasn't until the summer of 2019 while visiting her old hometown that Christy found healing and peace.
Books Referenced: "Changes that Heal" by Dr. Henry Cloud
Resources Mentioned: Soul Care by Dr. Larry Crabb https://christianuniversity.org/courses/soulcare-foundations-i-the-basic-model/
Christy begins a series focusing on specific tools that have helped her to heal and flourish. In this episode she shares her personal experience with the concept of core lies -- something you believe about yourself based on past hurts that isn't true. She then shares the truth about our identity in Christ and how that truth has set her free.
LInk to the Core Lie/Core Truth worksheet Christy mentioned: https://christylynnewood.com/free-resources/
Christy walks her listeners through the transformation of her understanding of Biblical Womanhood. Godly women in the cultic-church were quiet, gentle, and submissive and Christy never felt like she fit in. Christy shares personal stories of learning to understand and accept herself as a strong, passionate woman. She also questions conservative teachings about women in the church -- what if those teachings aren't actually Biblical?
Scriptures Mentioned: Judges 4 1 Timothy 2:8-15 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
Blog Posts Mentioned https://christylynnewood.com/2019/10/22/not-so-silent-women/
All Christy ever wanted was to be a mother. Eight months after getting married she was pregnant and so excited. But instead of the joy of a baby, Christy and her husband faced loss. The next couple of years were a rollercoaster of hope and grief. However after an incredible and unexpected gift, Christy discovered that motherhood was harder than she'd ever imagined. She was forced to face her beliefs about motherhood, identity, and God's sovereignty.
Related Episodes:
9 But God Isn't a Vending Machine (S1E9)
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2018/07/19/choosing-trust/
Christy continues the stories of her early marriage -- this time focusing on how ten months in her "dream job" left her with total disillusionment and a loss of identity. You'd think that the description Residential Treatment Center for Psychiatric Children would have given her a hint into reality, but it didn't.
A challenging year teaching math to troubled junior and high school students caused Christy to rethink her worldview, beliefs about God, and view of herself. It was a time of brokenness and stripping as Christy was forced to let go of useless religious formulas and Christianese ideas. Although she didn't have the vocabulary at the time, this season was the beginning of Christy's deconstruction and reconstruction journey.
Christy begins Season Three with a peek into her early marriage. She explores the way fundamentalism initially influenced her view of marriage and how being married to her wonderfully opposite husband for the past thirteen years has changed that perspective. Christy rejects some common Christianese claims about marriage. And she suggests that while there is no perfect formual. marriage is actually a divine partnership that provides the possibility for a glimpse into the God that created it.
Scripture Mentioned: Ephesians 5 (specifically verses 15-33)
Resources Mentioned: “An Impossible Marriage: What Our Mixed-Orientation Marriage Has Taught Us About Love and the Gospel” by Laurie Krieg & Matt Krieg coming October 2020. Preorder here https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830847936/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BFNxFbF68V3GR
In light of a recent Christian influencer announcing they no longer believe in God, and in the midst of evil, chaos, and cries for justice in our world today, Christy tackles the topic of evil. She acknowledges our deep questions about how a good God can allow evil to thrive, and she gently but passionately shares the reasons she still believes.
Scripture Referenced: Romans 1:18-23 Romans 8:18-23
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2020/05/26/here-we-go-again/ https://christylynnewood.com/2019/07/29/why-i-am-still-a-christian/
Christy acknowledges the way a form of repentance has often been used in spiritually abusive situations. But then she helps us to redefine Biblical repentance as a change of mind rather than behavior. Christy gently calls her listeners to genuine repentance both personally and corporately as the Body of Christ.
Scripture Mentioned: Joel 1-3
Blog Post Referenced: https://christylynnewood.com/2020/05/10/our-need-for-redefined-repentance/
What if church as we know it changes? How could those changes be amazingly positive?
Christy contemplates the differences between The Church (the worldwide body of Christ) and church (the building and organization we attend). She wonders how The Great Pause of COVID19 will change things in the long run and she lays out some things that need to change.
Although Christy has been accused of being anti-church, she assures her listeners that she loves the body of Christ. But she is also willing to point out the problems within our local buildings and organizations.
Books Referenced: "When Narcissism Comes to Church" by Chuck DeGroat
Blog Posts Referenced: https://christylynnewood.com/2019/02/24/pastors-abuse-and-the-church/
People Referenced: Brenda Yoder https://brendayoder.com/
Christy finishes her series on the deconstruction and reconstruction of the idea of holiness by exploring the Holy Spirit. She wonders why He gets less than His fair share of the attention in many evangelical churches. Christy ponders the roll the Holy Spirit plays in surrender and a life lived in genuine holiness.
Interview with John White: https://renewaljournal.com/2011/07/22/supernatural-ministry-johnwhite-interviewed/
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2016/05/16/the-missing-member-of-the-trinity/
Christy continues her deconstruction of holiness and then begins to reconstruct through the idea of surrender. What is the difference between making Jesus the Lord and surrendering to His Lordship? Is there a difference? Christy introduces us to two people who understand the daily sacrifice surrender requires and yet who believe the sacrifice is worth it.
Related Websites: Laurie Krieg - https://lauriekrieg.com/about/ David Bennett -https://www.awarofloves.com/
The link for the podcast with Laurie and David: https://lauriekrieg.com/podcast/cant-we-all-just-get-along/
Scriptures Referenced: Romans 8:1
Related blog posts by Christy: https://christylynnewood.com/2017/03/22/more-than-a-follower/ https://christylynnewood.com/2019/03/24/how-two-gay-christians-changed-my-life/
Christy honestly shares her struggles with the word holiness and the way that concept has often included following the rules based on external motivation. But what if her struggle is based on a faulty view of God's pleasure? So often our understanding of the Real God is mixed up because of the fake god in our head.
Scripture Verses Referenced: 1 Thessalonians 4:1
Christy offers an Easter Sunday meditation on the ways the coronavirus is pointing the world to our need of a Savior. As modern humans, we thought we were intelligent, sufficient, and independent. But a microscopic virus changed all that in a matter of days. Instead we have discovered that we are helpless, selfish, and afraid of death.
Christy believes this time of brokenness is a gift from a loving God who knows exactly how to get our attention. Jesus Christ offers us hope, forgiveness, and eternal life in Himself if we will choose to trust Him.
Scripture Mentioned: 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NLT) John 3:14-18 (NLT)
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2020/04/12/a-virus-and-a-savior/
In another heartfelt, honest episode Christy reflects on her quiet Palm Sunday at home during this COVID19 quarantine. She ponders the global Church vs our little churches that we are currently missing. And finally talks about the restoration process for fixing old furniture.
Christy's word for 2020 was "restore" and she notices how the coronavirus has stripped all of us in many ways. What if Jesus has a restoration planned for His Church?
Christy shares honestly from her own season of lament during this coronavirus pandemic. How do we process our deep feelings of grief, sorrow, and regret? By bringing them to a powerful and loving God who has not lost control.
Christy contemplates this Lenten season and the celebration of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection that is coming. She questions whether the Real God might very well be using this brokenness to draw many people to Himself.
Scripture Mentioned: Psalm 107
Christy contemplates the ways COVID19 is revealing what we believe about God, prayer, and spirituality. She encourages her listeners to trust that God is in control and reminds them that He is using the fear, uncertainty, sickness, and even death to draw people to Himself.
How do we forgive and what does forgiveness really look like? Christy explores some Christianese myths about forgiveness and lays out truth that has helped her own heart to heal.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2019/12/22/healing-from-spiritual-abuse/
Related Resources: https://youtu.be/TzHtql5Ur5Q
Christy decided to record an extra episode to address the fear and anxiety that we are currently feeling because of the coronavirus pandemic. She encourages us to trust in a God who has not lost control despite the hysteria and panic around us. Christy also gives practical advice for dealing with our anxiety and fear.
Related Blog Post: https://christylynnewood.com/2020/03/13/fearful-people-are-easier-to-control/
In the final episode of the Rediscovering Jesus series, Christy takes us to the book of Daniel. There she reminds her listeners that it has always been about faith and about a God who pursues people despite of the mess.
Scripture Referenced: Daniel 3 John 3:17-18
Bible Tools Referenced: https://netbible.org/bible/ https://www.blueletterbible.org/
Article about Suzerain-Vassal Treaty: https://www.fivesolas.com/suzerain.htm
Continuing her series on finding Jesus in the Old Testament, Christy tells the story of Abraham and Isaac. She looks into the culture, context, and foreshadowing that makes this story a powerful display of Jesus and the free salvation He offers.
Scriptures Referenced: Genesis 12-24 Romans 4:20-22 Galatians 3:1-9
Bible Study Tools Referenced: https://netbible.org/ https://www.blueletterbible.org/
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2017/10/08/rediscovering-jesus-on-a-mountain/
The Old Testament can be a complicated book to understand through the lens of our modern culture. Christy challenges some popular assumptions and reminds us that we cannot reject or abuse the Old Testament. Rather we should reframe and embrace it as we search for the Real Jesus.
Understanding how the Old Testament is often used within spiritual abuse, Christy begins a series on finding Jesus within its pages. She starts in the very beginning, the Garden of Eden.
Related Scriptures: Genesis 1-3 John 1:1-4 Luke 19:10
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2017/09/24/rediscovering-jesus-in-the-garden/ https://christylynnewood.com/2018/06/19/chasing-eden/
Growing up in her cultic-subgroup of Christianity, everything was either physical or spiritual. There was no room for actual mental illness, but plenty of guilt and shame for feeling depressed, anxious, or more. Christy shares personal stories, recounts crazy scenarios, and explores what happens when we function in fear.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2018/10/18/mental-illness-possessed-baby-dolls-and-the-church/
There are two main things that have influenced Christy's choice to continue her journey as a Christian: meeting a Living Jesus, and experiencing His love.
Christy tells stories about Frankie, a broken bad-boy that God used to teach her about His love. Coming out of her performance driven religion, Christy was shocked to discover that God loved her even more because of her mess. She wants her listeners to know that they are wildly loved too because they are broken and beautiful.
Scripture Verses Referenced: Ephesians 3:14-19; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
Related Blog Posts: Love Beyond Words https://christylynnewood.com/2017/11/06/8631/ I'm Just Here for the Broken Ones https://christylynnewood.com/2019/10/09/im-just-here-for-the-broken-ones/
In part two, Christy tells the story of how she met her husband. She talks about how the purity culture influenced both of them separately even though they had wildly different backgrounds. Christy admits the ways fallout from the purity culture influenced them even after they were married.
Christy explores the purity culture that was so popular in Evangelical Christianity during the 90s and early 2000s. She shares wild stories of the extreme version she experienced while influenced by her cult. Courtship (I mean arranged marriage) anyone?
Christy also ponders what went wrong in the purity culture and how that ties back to our naturally religious hearts.
Christy begins Season Two with a series that looks back to the middle years. She was in her early twenties and fresh out of her cultic organization and church. Sorting through truth and lies, letting go of legalistic rules, and trying to figure out how to live in the normal world was a constant challenge.
In this episode Christy talks about starting college, being a nanny, and learning she wasn't as special as she thought. Even though Christy felt like she was hearing from Jesus and following Him, God allowed her faith to be tested while He challenged her idealistic view of the world.
Christy questions the idea that "God has big plans for your life" even though she has also been guilty of telling people that. She reminds us that even though dark seasons of doubt and questions are hard, they are also a gift in disguise.
After spending the last three episodes talking about spiritual abuse, Christy explores what it takes to begin healing. Healing doesn't mean that things go back to normal, there will always be scars and triggers after trauma. However, the Real God is able to redeem everything and use it for our good. Christy shares a bit of her story and talks about how her own brokenness has changed her life for the better.
Blog post mentioned:
YouTube video by Lina AbuJarma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzHtql5Ur5Q
More resources for healing: "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality" by Peter Scazzero "Spiritual Sobreity" by Elizabeth Esther "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen
In this third part of her series on spiritual abuse, Christy explores nine signs of a false teacher/false teaching. She shares red flags that she has observed both in her own experiences growing up in a Christian cult as well as in more recent circumstances since then.
Jesus warned His disciples about false prophets who would look like sheep even though they were actually wolves. And in almost every epistle the Apostle Paul warned young churches again heresies and false gospels. Things haven’t changed today. We still need to be on guard as we struggle to find the truth.
Interview with Jackie Hill Perry mentioned: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/september/jackie-hill-perry-propel-women-bethel-answers-in-genesis.html
Bible Verses Referenced: Matthew 7:15-20
Christy wonders why spiritual abuse is so common across the spectrum. While doing some research a year ago, Christy discovered a startling connection between pastors and narcissistic personality disorder. She shares her findings and some things we can do about it as a church.
Related Blog Post: https://christylynnewood.com/2019/02/24/pastors-abuse-and-the-church/
Scripture Mentioned: Ephesians 5:11
Further Resources: Article by Dr. Darrell Puls: https://www.aacc.net/2017/12/11/let-us-prey-the-frequency-of-narcissistic-personality-disorder-in-pastors/ Article with 10 signs of a narcissticleader: https://churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/331295-the-narcissistic-pastor-10-signs-that-you-may-be-one-charles-stone.html “When Narcissism Comes to Church” by Chuck DeGroat coming in March: When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community From Emotional and Spiritual Abuse https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830841598/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VNz7Db1573M97
Christy begins a series discussing spiritual abuse. In part one she explores what spiritual abuse is and the various avenues it can take. Christy shares a story that illustrates how silence and a desire to "keep peace" can actually perpetrate abuse.
Extra Resources: "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2018/12/13/the-lump-under-the-rug/ https://christylynnewood.com/2017/08/04/church-hurt-is-a-lot-like-miscarriage/ https://christylynnewood.com/2017/08/13/starting-the-discussion-on-spiritual-abuse/
This episode is for anyone who feels lost, cynical, broken, or disillusioned. Christy shares gentle truth with love, grace, and tears as she points her readers back to the Good Shepherd who willingly gave His life for the wayward sheep.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2016/09/19/rejecting-perfection-we-are-all-broken/
https://christylynnewood.com/2017/11/06/8631/
https://christylynnewood.com/2019/10/09/im-just-here-for-the-broken-ones/
Christy explores the frustration she has felt over the term "Evangelical Christianity" and the way it has become so politically polarized. She then shares a new term she uses to describe her Christian beliefs and why this label is so exciting to her.
Related Blog Posts: https://christylynnewood.com/2018/01/29/i-dont-want-to-be-an-evangelical-anymore/ https://christylynnewood.com/2019/06/13/finding-a-new-name-for-my-christianity/
Christy describes tension theology and what it looks like to be a part of the Middle Way. Rarely is anything black and white, and yet as people we are so quick to choose sides. Christy encourages us to learn from people who are different than us and be willing to accept paradox with an open hand.
Books Referenced: "A War of Loves: The Unexpected Story of a Gay Activist Discovering Jesus" by David Bennett
Companion blog post: https://christylynnewood.com/2019/11/10/the-awkward-middle-way/
Blog post referenced: https://christylynnewood.com/2018/10/11/the-dangers-of-chocolate-or-vanilla/ https://christylynnewood.com/2019/03/24/how-two-gay-christians-changed-my-life/
Christy explores how two seemingly opposing sides of Christianity are actually connected by a common theology. She also talks about her friend who inspired this episode and their favorite bagel shop.
The next few episodes will also have a corresponding blog post on ChristyLynneWood.com. Here is the direct link to this weeks post: https://christylynnewood.com/2019/11/03/the-theology-of-me/
Christy finishes her three part series about the God she found in the Old Testament by sharing a story from winter youth retreat in the crazy church. She then walks us through the end of Judges and beginning of 1 Samuel exploring the God who unexpectedly shows up.
Bible Passages Referenced: Judges 7-21; Judges 21:25; 1 Samuel 1-3; 1 Samuel 2:27-36; 1 Samuel 3:1. 1 Kings19:11-13; Matthew 28:19-20
Books Referenced: "A Matter of Basic Principles - Bill Gothard and the Christian Life" by Don Veinot, Joy Venoit, and Ron Henzel.
Christy continues her three part series describing a rebellious journey she took through the Old Testament after a well-known preacher encouraged Christians to "unhitch" from that part of the Bible.
In Part Two Christy shares an unexpected twist she discovered in the book of Ruth. This twist further crushes the god we might think is in the Old Testament and show us that the Real God has always been full of mercy and grace.
Bible Verses Referenced: Ruth 1-4; Deuteronomy 23:3; Matthew 1:1-16.
Christy begins a three part series talking about a rebellious journey she took through the Old Testament after a well-known preacher encouraged Christians to "unhitch" from that part of the Bible.
In Part One, Christy shares how shocked she was to discover that half of the Bible stories she remembered from Judges were missing. Or rather the stories were still there, but certain parts were definitely absent.
Bible Verses Referenced: Judges chapters 3-8, 13-16
What if God is not who we think He is? It is easy for us to create a God in our own image. Christy challenges performance-based faith and suggests that the Real God might care more about our hearts than our outward behaviors.
Bible Verses Referenced: Jeremiah 29:12-14; Acts 17: 22-31; Matthew 7:7-8
Blog Posts Referenced: "The God Who Wants to be Found" and "Chased by Grace" on christylynnewood.com
Christy shares how God used personal tragedy to challenge the formulaic way she viewed and interacted with Him. She exposes ways we attempt to manipulate God within our religious Christianity.
Bible Verses Referenced: Isaiah 45:6-7
Posts on my blog with more info: "Choosing Trust" and "God is Not a Vending Machine" at ChristyLynneWood.com
Extra Resources: "The Insanity of God" by Nik Ripkin. (This book blew my mind and challenged my thinking in huge ways!)
Christy walks through her own salvation journey and the various ways she understood or failed to understand it. She tackles the behavior based religion at the core of many of our misunderstandings and shares the good news she has come to passionately believe.
Resources: ClarityMinistries.org with Dr. Richard Seymour. Books by Dr. Seymour "The Gift of God," "Fishing for Men," "All About Repentence" all available on his website. Dare2Share.org with Greg Stier: A ministry I found while at Bible School that teaches a clear gospel and provides training.
Bible Verses Mentioned: John 3:16-18; Extra Bible Verses Not Directly Mentioned: Romans 3:21-26; Romans 5:6-11; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-10
Christy shares some of the crazy ways she used to use the Bible. She challenges the way Christians have abused and misused the Bible over the years and encourages us to use good hermeneutics as we read the Bible in context for ourselves.
Books Mentioned: "The Story" by Max Lucado Verses Referenced: Isaiah 53:1-5; Proverbs 3:5-6
Christy explores the differences between religion and the real Jesus. Religion tries to control behavior with rules and power. Jesus came to bring us life. She suggests that the pain many of us have experienced from the church and Christians was caused by religion and not the real God.
Books referenced: "Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World" by Mike Cosper
As Christy rejected her religious Christianity filled with legalism and rules, she discovered true grace and freedom. She shares what it felt like to let go of condemnation and hopes that her listeners will experience that freedom too.
As Christy got to know the Real Jesus for herself, she began to realize that the god her religious organization told her about was a fake. Christy wonders if her listeners have met Jesus, or if we have just found the impostor of religious Christianity.
Christy worked hard to perfect her religious Christianity. But everything changed when she unexpectedly met the Real Jesus. She shares more stories from her cultic days and wonders if we have met Jesus or if we've simply experienced religious Christianity.
Christy's family joined an "evangelical cult" when she was twelve. She shares how the focus on behavior and rules affected her early teenage years while wondering about the ways religion has also affected our views of God and Christianity.
Christy gives an honest explanation of how she started this podcast. She talks about welcoming questions and doubts about religious Christianity while continuing to search for the Real God.