Trauma-Informed Church Kid

Season 2, Episode 2 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast.   At the beginning of Exodus, the family of Abraham is in trouble. They have settled in the land of a foreign empire, but they are treated with fear and suspicion as strangers. What will become of the ones who will be the light to the nations? We're not sure how or when exactly this came about, but in time the empire of Egypt does what...

Season 2, Episode 1 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast! At the end of Genesis 11, humanity is in trouble. A series of three "falls" have left them at enmity with Adonai and with each other. They are subjected to death, they have succumbed to depravity, and now they find themselves enslaved by demons. What is solution to this problem? Can there be "good news" to come out of this? Enter Abrah...

Is the House of David TV series, currently streaming on Amazon Prime, any good? Is it closer to "The Ten Commandments" or "Prince of Egypt" or "Exodus: Gods and Kings"? Or is it just like all the other examples -- and there are far too many -- of cringey, cheap, contrived, and cloying faith-based media? What about its use of extra-biblical traditions? Can we trust the filmmakers to finally give us...

What is the center of a person? Why does our heart need to be pure? How does God heal the broken-hearted? If our heart is sick, do we have free will? How can we be more free -- by choosing what we want, or choosing well? How do we "see" with the "eyes of the soul" what to choose? Is this even possible when that "eye" is darkened? What is the difference between soul and spirit? Is the soul created...

What is "nature"? Did the first Christians change this because of Greek philosophy? What is a "person"? Whom am I, underneath all the "masks"? What does it mean to be Self-led, or self-controlled? What does it mean to partake of the divine nature, and how do we do that? What are passions, and how did we get them? How do we overcome them? Do we have a sin(ful) nature? Is it even possible for flesh...

What is the human heart, according to the Bible? Is it the seat of thoughts, or emotions? How is it related to our desires and our wills? Is it "desperately wicked"? Can we trust our feelings? What does it mean to have our "bowels moved" for someone else, and is it really as gross as it sounds? Does God feel toward us like a Father, or like a Mother? Or does he just demand blood to satisfy his ang...

What is "the flesh"? What is the best way to think of and treat our bodies? What is the relationship between the spirit and the body? Is our spirit the essence of who we really are? Or is that our soul? Is that something other than our body? Do we have souls or not? And will our bodies be part of the new heavens and new earth? This is the first of three four "Anthropology of Adam" episodes, where...

What are spiritual beings? Are they some kind of ethereal substance, or just in our minds? Are things in our minds real? Where do our thoughts come from? What about ideas? Can spiritual beings influence us, and in what ways do they do so?  Is that the same as being "possessed"? What does it mean to conform our wills to theirs? And what does it mean to actually have "free" wills?   In this episode,...

What is the third "fall" of humanity? Why is it so bad for people to build a tower? Does it actually reach to the heavens? Why does God confuse their language and scatter the people? And who are the gods of the nations? Do they exist at all? What is their purpose? Is there anything we can learn from the Babel narrative about what God wants for his human family?   In today's episode, we take a clos...

What the heck is happening in Noah's tent after the Flood? Why is Canaan cursed, and not Ham? What is the meaning of Ham's genealogical line? Does it mean that biological descent curses people? How much does God actually care about ethnicity, anyway? Isn't that what Israel being his chosen people is all about? What is the "table of nations", and why do the nations matter?   In this episode, we tak...

What does it mean to find "rest" in the Flood narrative? What does it mean for God to "remember" Noah? What about "remembering" our sins, or forgiving our sins? Does forgiveness like God forgives mean "forgive and forget"? Does Adonai need death or blood in order to forgive? What was the function of the sacrifice Noah offered after the Flood waters receded, and what is the deal with the "covenant"...

Is Noah's Ark and the Flood a children's story? Was it a local flood, or a global one? What is the emotional response we see God give to human wickedness? Why was the Flood necessary, and how can that possibly be justice? Was there any chance for repentance or salvation? What does God require in order to offer forgiveness and purification? And what does it mean to be "saved through the waters" (1...

Who are the Nephilim? What is the story in the Bible about how they came to be? What is the "second Fall"? What does it mean to be a spirit in "conjugation" with the material realm? How does metallurgy, mercantilism, and music connect to the Nephilim? How does this connect to demonosis? Are there really giants as tall as the Pyramids in the Bible? And what is the connection of all of this to traum...

Today, I will give you a bonus holiday episode where I will be reviewing a book I have read recently: Anthony Delgado's The Gospel Is Bigger Than You Think. In this book, Delgado examines the "gospel of Middle America" that is focused on a moment of decision and conversion, often at the expense of discipleship and spiritual transformation. He presents a (biblical) alternative to this "cultural fol...

Today we sit down for "tea" with Dr Timothy Patitsas, who quite literally wrote the book on a beauty-first approach to healing from trauma. In our discussion today, we embark on a bit of a mystical journey: attempting to grasp with words the ineffable power of beauty to heal the soul. What is beauty? How does it impact the soul? How can it undo the intra/interpersonal excommunication, schism, and...

What does it mean to be sons of the promise, or sons of perdition? Does this mean that generational curses are real? What does it mean to be "elect"? Are they always the "good guys" in the story? Why does Cain build a city, and what is the relationship of a city to "empire"? What role do divine beings (elohim) play in the descent of humanity into depravity? How does that relate to the mythos of th...

Why was Cain's sacrifice not accepted? What even is a sacrifice, and what makes it acceptable? What does it mean to master temptation? What does it mean to be mastered by temptation? What does it mean to be cursed by God? Who needs to repent: only the oppressors, or all of us? And what does repentance look like, for both? Does God actually hear the cries of the victims, and how does he bring justi...

What is gehenna? Is it the same as hell? What is the Age to Come? Is it only something for the far-off future, or is it something for here and now as well What is the second death? Is that the Lake of Fire? What does it mean for a human being to experience the second death? Will all be saved, or only some? Is this something we should be afraid of, and to whom are these warnings directed? Can we re...

As we've been walking through Genesis 1-3, a few "plot holes" have emerged. What is life? What does it mean to be "alive" or a "living being" (nefesh)? What then is death? Did Adam and Eve actually die the day they ate of the Tree of Knowing? And what happens after death? What is Sheol? Abaddon? Abraham's Bosom?  What is the Old Testament idea of what happens when we die? Are we talking about heav...

In this episode, I tell my story of how I grew up without a clear sense that God liked me. I discuss my encounter with God up in the mountains, using contemplative prayer as a vehicle for that experience, and what that taught me about the heart of my Heavenly Father toward me. I dig a little bit into attachment science, discussing how it works in our relationship with both people and with God, and...

Today we sit down for "tea" with Nicholas Soellner! He is a friend of mine online who I collaborate with frequently on the Cosmic Corner, hosted by the Faith Unaltered YouTube channel. Find the playlist for that segment here: Cosmic Corner (FAU, hosted by Joshua Davidson)   In this episode, we look at the practice of contemplative prayer. This connects back to what we have been discussing with the...

This is the edited audio from our very first live Q&R episode taking questions from the live audience as well as the Facebook discussion group. In this episode, we dive very deep into a challenge from one of the listeners who sees "hierarchical headship" in Genesis 1-2 before the Gen 3 fall. We also look closely at the incarnational nature of the Scriptures as a joint divine-human revelation a...

What does it mean to be slaves of sin and/or death? Who is paying "wages of death"? What, or who, exactly is the serpent-stomper promised to be? Do we possess a "sinful human nature" now, and what does that mean? What does it mean to have our natures "justified"? And who gets this gift? What does it mean to be "saved"? Who gets that reward, and how? We've been looking at the Genesis 3 fall narrati...

What happens after the humans eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowing? Who is to blame for eating the fruit? Are they cursed by God? Is he nothing more than a wrathful deity, punishing them for a tiny infraction? What does it mean to have "garments of skin", or to be mortal? And why block the way back to the Tree of Life?   In this episode, we unpack the Genesis 3 fall narrative and its consequences....

Humanity is firmly planted in the Garden, but why is there a serpent there? Is this a divine setup? Who or what is this serpent figure, anyway? Why would God put a tree there that they couldn't eat from? And what is the deal with the Tree of Life? Is humanity created to be mortal, immortal, or something else? Today, I take a closer look at all these questions out of the first portion of Genesis 3,...