Crucible of Thought

Today I had a chance to interview Rick Pidcock, who I've followed for some time on various social media platforms, and in particular his writing with Baptist News Global was what caught my attention. He's a very diverse thinker, covering a lot of different topics that are directly relevant to the church today, and I really wanted to get to know him a little bit, find out what makes him tic...

Enjoy this interview with Paul and Billie Hoard, talking about disgust theology, contamination, and a fascinating idea that they call eucontamination - how the holy actually removes contamination instead of being contaminated by it. Paul's Substack: https://paulhoard.substack.com/ Paul's professional page: https://theseattleschool.edu/faculty-staff/directory/hoard-paul/ Billie's Substa...

How on earth did I, a conservative evangelical straight man, ever become affirming? There were many reasons and steps in my journey and process; although it felt like an avalanche or landslide at times, it was worth it. So I wanted to share my story to give you hope that it's really okay to tell God that yes, you're willing to change and repent if God asks you to. You can also watch this a...

Working out our faith shares some similarities with an esoteric and advanced form of calculus called "transforms." Sometimes to solve a problem, you have to do the hard work in a completely different reference frame, and then transform the result back into our day-to-day frame. You can also read this as a blog post at https://crucibleofthought.com/calculus-of-faith/

I recently realized that "born again" was the perfect description of my deconstruction and reconstruction. My faith doesn't look much like it used to; it's been such a dramatic change that it really feels like being reborn. But being born again is an ongoing process - "be being born again," continually. You can also read this post at https://crucibleofthought.com/be-bei...

The idea of finding safety in the long history of doctrine from the time of the Gospels until today is a false hope. The history of Christianity is much more messy and shaped by secular forces than I would like. I have to be comfortable with what the Holy Spirit is doing in my own mind and heart, even if it requires me to step away from a place of perceived safety, and to set aside some doctrine t...

There's a lot of really good fruit in the doctrine of universal reconciliation. I think it's worth carefully thinking through how our view of personal eschatology changes us and our witness to the world around us, and affects how we relate to one another as believers. You can also read this on the blog at https://crucibleofthought.com/the-good-fruit-of-universal-reconciliation/

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about a few topics, and I've suddenly begun to see that they're all interconnected. Specifically: the doctrine of hell (and heaven) fear as a foundational feature in certain doctrines how churches control people our modern (non-biblical) assumptions about church structure assessing doctrines based on their fruit In this episode, I consider how all the...

"Miche like quiche," as she says. I'm very pleased to bring to you an interview with Dr. Miche van Essen, of Transmission Ministry. I learned about her through Zach Lambert, after my interview with him in a previous episode of this podcast, and after watching some of her content on Instagram and other social media, was very interested in speaking with her. She graciously agreed, and...

I repent of hell. I'm sorry that I believed a lie about God and how God deals with humanity. I see how that was harmful to both me and to others, and I'll change and do better in the future. You can also read this in text form on the blog at https://crucibleofthought.com/repenting-from-hell Deep dive on Infernalism: https://crucibleofthought.com/a-discussion-of-individual-eschatology/ Book...

Today, I had the real privilege of interviewing Zach Lambert, pastor of the Restore Austin church in Austin Texas. Zach showed up on my radar in early 2022 as I began to seriously study the issue of LGBTQ rights and whether it was possible to be a Christian and affirming at the same time. I saw Zach's powerful sermon on the topic, which I'll link in the show notes, and it really impressed...

What's the difference between a powerful testimony, and a sad story that we perceive as condemning the one who experienced it? Often, it's only our dogma. We listen and swing from "that's amazing" to "that's horrible" in moments, based on our preconceptions of how valid that story is. Maybe, though, we can learn quite a bit from people whose stories don't fi...

P.T. Barnum is famously reputed to have said "there's a sucker born every minute." I'd add a modern corollary that says "there's a grifter born every minute to feed those suckers," especially in today's social media world. The recent bridge collapse in Baltimore brought plenty of Barnum's minions out of the woodwork. What can we learn from this? You can also...

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

Is God's salvation truly limited to those with right beliefs? Or is Gal 2:20 better translated as living within the faithfulness of God's son? One puts the burden on us to believe correctly. The other rests in the completed work of Jesus. And that covers everyone, not just those who believe the right things. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/yes-them-too/ Othe...

This is part four of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid etern...

This is part three of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid eter...

This is part two of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid eterna...

This is Part One of a four-part series on the various Christian doctrines of the afterlife. I grew up in an evangelical church environment, and I don’t think it’s possible for any good evangelical to not know all about heaven versus hell, and streets of gold versus fire and brimstone, and to vigorously defend those concepts and then use them to convince people to repent and believe to avoid eterna...

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

Welcome to the second video podcast episode for Crucible of Thought. You can consider this a bit of an experiment; after about a hundred audio-only episodes, I've decided I'd really like to start interviewing people that have caught my attention and are saying things I'd like to understand further. So this is a sort of warm-up experiment using the technologies I'll need for future...

This is the very first video podcast episode for Crucible of Thought. You can consider this a bit of an experiment; after about a hundred audio-only episodes, I've decided I'd really like to start interviewing people that have caught my attention and are saying things I'd like to understand further. So this is a sort of warm-up experiment using the technologies I'll need for future...

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

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

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