Strahan Coleman | A More Holistic Charismatic (Part 1)
Feb 8, 2023
auto_awesome
Strahan Coleman, writer, award-winning folk musician, and spiritual director from New Zealand, discusses his spiritual journey in a hyper-Charismatic culture. He shares how he recovered from liturgies of anxiety and found a more holistic Christian spirituality. The podcast explores the challenges of reconciling identity and faith, the need for heart reformation, and the importance of experiential knowledge in deepening one's relationship with God.
Struggling to balance a charismatic experience of God with mental health challenges, the speaker shares their journey of finding integration and understanding in the midst of isolation within ministry circles.
Through the practices of silence, solitude, and beholding, the guest speaker discovered a deeper, participatory knowledge of God that transcends propositional understanding and integrates personal experience with theological insight.
Deep dives
The Tension of Charismatic Experience and Mental Health
The speaker discusses the struggle of balancing a charismatic experience of God with mental health challenges like depression and anxiety. They share their personal journey of feeling isolated within ministry circles due to the lack of understanding and integration of these two aspects of their life.
Rediscovering God in the Mundane
The podcast explores the realization that meaning and communion with God are not limited to extravagant experiences or conferences. The guest speaker shares their own journey of finding God in the mundane moments of life, such as taking care of their sick child and facing limitations due to chronic illness.
The Intersection of Charismatic and Contemplative Spirituality
The speaker delves into the convergence of charismatic and contemplative spiritual practices. They emphasize the importance of integrating personal experience of God with theological understanding. Through the practices of silence, solitude, and beholding, they discovered a deeper, participatory knowledge of God that transcended propositional knowledge.
Navigating Deconstruction and Reconstructing Faith
The guest reflects on their experience of deconstructing and reconstructing their faith. They share how encountering chronic sickness led them to question their previous theological framework. By allowing themselves to experience God outside of their understanding and finding beauty, truth, and goodness in the midst of doubt, they discovered a new depth of faith and a path towards growth and transformation.
Strahan is a writer, award-winning folk musician, and spiritual director from Aotearoa, New Zealand. He is the founder of Commoner's Communion and the author of Beholding: Deepening Our Experience with God.
In today's episode, I begin to wrap up my series on "A Quest for Meaning as a Spiritual Species" by talking with Strahan about his spiritual journey as he struggled to make sense of God while in the depths of hyper-Charismatic culture.
How did he recover from liturgies of anxiety and discover a more holistic and time-tested Christian spirituality? What did he retain from his Charismatic experiences?
How might the insights from his journey help Christians with similar experiences?
If you find this podcast helpful and want to see it continue ad-free, would you consider becoming a supporter on Patreon? You're not only supporting this podcast, but you are also supporting my free Substack page and YouTube channel.
We need 200 patrons to ensure that my work can continue in 2023. https://www.patreon.com/deeptalkstheologypodcast
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode