Crucible of Thought

It's long intrigued me that many doctrinal positions are not universally held, and I started thinking about why we lock hard into clearly debatable positions. I think humans tend to latch onto an idea that comforts us, and then we build walls of doctrine around that idea. Let's explore that tendency. You can read this episode at https://www.crucibleofthought.com/doctrinal-humility/

As I've been thinking about the topic of spiritual sonship, and wondering about how to practically live it out, I realized that the Jewish model of rabbis and disciples had some wisdom to offer our Christian understanding. You can read this episode at https://www.crucibleofthought.com/rabbis-and-spiritual-fathers/

The parallels between today's America and 1930s Germany are striking. In "The Lord of the Rings" J.R.R. Tolkien describes The One Ring, a malevolant and active power which subverts and dominates anyone who wears it. I wonder if the recent pursuit of political power by the Evangelical church is akin to slipping on that ring. Read this at https://www.crucibleofthought.com/the-one-ring-of-political-p...

I've been thinking about how to make an impact on the world. I think we all want to affect our world. For most of us, it's what drives our choices, maybe not day-by-day but at least over time. Naturally I want to have a large impact as quickly as possible. But I've begun to wonder if my impatience itself is keeping me from truly having an impact. You can also read this episode here: https://www.cr...

I've discovered that once you kick out some cinderblocks from a faulty foundation, many other previously-stable things tend to be disrupted as well. And maybe that’s not a bad thing. Read this episode at https://www.crucibleofthought.com/cinderblocks-of-faith/

What if your life mission was to walk the streets of your city, visiting the street corners next to each church, and to cry "Repent, for the kingdom is at hand" - and what if the ones you were calling to repent were the church people who were actually faithfully and diligently living out what they'd been taught were the religious commands from holy scriptures?  This ought to sound familiar. I...

Do small groups support Sunday services, or do Sunday services support small groups? That question is very relevant to the current concerns of many believers about American Christianity’s practices. To find an answer, it's instructive to consider the Jewish religious practices familiar to the New Testament authors. You can also read this episode on the Crucible of Thought blog . 

It's hard to imagine a more precise illustration of "the ends justify the means" - and a more ironic one - than a Christian reverting to very anti-Christian behavior in order to obtain or preserve political power for the church. Read this as a blog at https://www.crucibleofthought.com/lets-not-take-brandon-to-church/

There are many things I feared would happen if I questioned what I believed. And all those fears came to pass. But from the other side of it, I'm so glad it happened, because I am finding out how wrong I had been. You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/what-i-feared-did-happen-and-thats-good/

The wilderness can seem deeply uncomfortable - but it's also a womb, a place of preparation and growth, bringing about what the Lord intends for us. You can read this episode on the Crucible of Thought blog at https://www.crucibleofthought.com

Episode 6: "We cannot live in fear." It's been said over and over by pastors and prophets and pundits and politicians across America. And it's been said we're in a spiritual battle. Yes, it's a spiritual battle. But it's not a spiritual battle against COVID, and it's not against fear. And it's absolutely not against each other. 1 Corinthians 8 applies to this situation. (You can also read this as...

A number of evangelical personalities are now calling empathy a sin and advocating that sympathy is the only Scripturally-appropriate way to deal with other people's difficulties. Over the last couple years, the Lord has been reworking my heart to restore an ability to empathize, so I share that testimony and challenge this unscriptural position. (You can also read this as a blog post at https://w...

(Episode 4) With our individualist thought process, Americans seem prone to creating power structures where an individual is - or at least considers themselves to be - an absolute authority over a group. Any sense of accountability is often secondary to that sense of personal authority.  This American individualism applies to all walks of life - religious, civil, and family.  But much of...

When the church does not provide a "safe place" for the hurting and confused, it effectively eliminates itself as a source of counsel and wisdom, not to mention a place of sanctuary and healing. But "safe places" and a shame-based discipline system are incompatible with each other. Read this episode here: https://www.crucibleofthought.com/safe-places-and-untouchables/

Episode 2. The COVID epidemic has clearly exposed a number of contradictions in the thought process and the actions of many American Christians. The very group that is the most vocal about stopping abortion, preventing euthanasia, and denying "my body, my choice" is also the group agitating the loudest against masking and vaccination and activity restrictions. Isaiah 1 has some strong words for Go...

Hi, I'm Brandon. A few months ago I started blogging on my website https://www. CrucibleOfThought.com, and had several requests to release the content in audio format as well. So here it is. I'd like to introduce myself briefly. I've been hanging around conservative Christian circles since I was five years old, and pretty much all of that in evangelical spaces. The last 30 years have been in an As...