Rethinking God with Tacos PODCAST

“Faith is a seed that is to be planted firmly in the love of God." Atheism, politics, nationalism, identity, punishment, hell, evangelism, and the church, in this conversation Derek and Jason, dive into a faith that is not transactional and always relational. The guys talk about how it’s the power of kindness to change the world. This is a generous conversation between two friends who are becoming sure that God is like Jesus and always has been; two fellas rethinking what it means to be a friend of God. To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

Leif Hetland’s profound and powerful personal testimonies bring to light what it means to be transformed by God’s love. Leif has been recognized as an ambassador of the Father’s love—an everyday person who has received divine opportunities to bring God’s light into some of the darkest places on earth. In this conversation Leif, Mark Appleyard 7 Jason dive into Leif’s new book, The Love Awakening. Through personal stories, the guys discuss the powerful, supernatural Baptism of Love that breaks off shame, affirms identity, and reveals the unconditional love of the Father. This is a life-giving conversation around union, evangelism, and the miraculous. To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

The human soul has a built-in yearning for joy and beauty and all good things. But that craving for life has taken a real beating in recent years. Between false promises of ease and comfort on one side and the sheer trauma of global disease and disasters on the other, people today are facing a shortage of peace, happiness, and strength.  In this conversation, John and Jason dive into John's new book, Resilient. The guys talk about life and faith during and since the pandemic. They dive into the evidence of trauma, how to discover peace in the midst of disappointment, the dark night of the soul, de- and reconstruction, and ultimately union. This conversation reveals a path toward genuine recovery and resilience provided by Jesus himself. To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

Justin Stumvoll is a speaker, teacher, and life consultant who knows the kindness of God and loves to create space for individuals to find healing so they can be their most authentic selves Just dives into Love being the key to helping folks walk through the gritty, vulnerable and real approach to transformation. This was a fast-paced conversation where the guy’s traded stories about the reconciling nature of God; they talked about punishment, self-judgment, reconciliation, justice, sin, grace, freedom from addiction, and more. This podcast is bursting with the kindness of God that transforms the world. QUOTES “The thing that is completely different with Jesus (as opposed to) any other religious system is that there is no hierarchy.” “We are tormented by our disconnection to love that causes us to believe that  “I am abandoned.” “You are more than the amalgamation of the messes you’ve made.” “People are terrified of forgiveness because it strips them of control…under a law-based system I can control the love of God… this removes relationship and trust… “There’s no such thing as an atheist, there are just people that really question religion.”  “When I look at an individual, I (am able to) have grace for their messes, (because) I don’t see a 40-year-old, I see a five-year-old…” To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

John Crowder pulls from the different streams of the church to talk about Christilogical Trinitarian theology, grace, union, contemplative practice, intimacy, and mystical Christianity. John and Jason dive into the Cross, Western atonement theories, and the religious industry built upon separation; how Jesus is healing the human race. John describes a relationship with a person, Christ. He invites us to embrace mystery so we might discover that God looks like Jesus. QUOTES “People are grabbing the Trinitarian Father, this gospel message…” “I saw the connection between the church mystics and post-Azusa Street Pentecostalism, it was the presence orientation that connected these streams.” “We’ve pulled from a lot of different streams; I could see baby Jesus in the bathwater.” “I think there is a merger happening that we got to get a hold of, a Christological, Trinitarian theology that is contemplative in its experience and employment.” “The biggest problem in the church is separation thinking, between you and Jesus, and between Jesus and His Father” “This idea that the Father is turning his back on the Son, that Jesus is the whipping boy for the Father's wrath, this is preached as the gospel, an atonement theory, a twisted one at that, being preached as the gospel in the western church. These atonement theories are demonic in nature. (And) There’s almost no grid for what the cross means outside that…” “What did not happen on the cross, which is a complete fabrication, a demonic fairy tale, the Trinity was not imploding on Itself…Jesus was healing the human race…” “There have always been pluralities in the Godhead and He has always desired family” “Religion builds an industry on the concept of separation.” To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

This conversation with Jason Clark was hosted by Brent Lokker on his youtube channel Vibrant Life. This podcast begins with two dads sharing stories about helping their children encounter God as a loving Father. The guys dive into obedience in the context of union and friendship, learning to trust the unchanging nature of our Father, not as retributive, punishing, or abandoning, but as the tenderhearted one who accepts us, loves us, and is always good! They discussed what it looks like to live as God's friend, not as a servant. Why Jesus cried out on the cross, "My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?" Knowing and trusting the Father who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Dreaming with a good Father. The positive side of the deconstruction movement. Reconstructing our lives on the cornerstone of the real Jesus. To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

Karen Swallow Prior is a Reader, Writer, and Professor in that order, which was discussed in this conversation along with the power of language, the Word becoming flesh, the connection of imagination with logic and reason, empathy, trauma, the theodicy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and love being the center of our conversations. Karen also shares about getting hit by a literal bus and how she grew in her understanding that her life is in God’s hands. QUOTES “We express our sense of ourselves and our experience through language and even before we express it, we understand it that way.” “Language helps us interpret our experiences…what stories we tell ourselves or what we tell other people about what happened to us. It's an interpretive frame for the rest of our lives.” Regarding the Word became flesh: “To think about words as symbols and even that idea is also a metaphor but also literal… I can’t even understand it on a literal level but the possibilities and the implications are endless and it should shape everything that we think and we do.” “What I’m trying to understand better about God… is how we relate to God through the church and in the church that is so imperfect and fallen…” To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

Scott Crowder is a pastor, singer-songwriter, and one of Jason’s closest friends. The guys dive into their love for the church, about learning how to be present with God, ourselves, each other, and our community. Scott talks about creating church cultures that practice the fruits of the Spirit, learning to lead ourselves and others in seasons of joy and sorrow, that “success” isn’t about numbers, cool fads, or being 'front runners,' it’s discovered in community. QUOTES “'Success,’ in a word is, ‘presence.’ I don’t mean that in the school of ‘the glory cloud came.’ I mean, I can be present to you, as you are present to me, as we are present to this moment, as we can be present to where we live, and we are not stuck in a dream of an ideal community that we never can become.” “When you’re present, you’re present to pain. When you’re present as a servant, as a leader, you’re present when you can do nothing for that person or they can do nothing for you.” “How many faithful people did we (the church) overlook…faithful movements did we overlook because they didn’t bear the fruit that we thought kingdom-building looked like. They didn’t promote themselves (but) they’ve been here the whole time.” “I am a witness or witnesses, I’m part of the church at large, whether I want to be or not. So, I’m learning to value those voices and people who have gone before me.” To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!

Thomas Jay Oord shares about open relational theology; how it connects with the way we live and matches our deepest intuitions. The guys talked about a relational God who is genuinely loving, looks like Jesus, and walks through each day with us, impacting and impacted by our friendship. Thomas describes an uncontrolling, loving God, that harmonizes with scripture. In this podcast, he dives into the subjects of hell, prayer, and evangelism all through the lens of open relational theology. To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.orgPlease rate, review, share, and subscribe!

Daniel Grothe and the guys discuss his new book, The Power of Place, which speaks to the sense of loneliness that many feel in today's age of hypermobility and noncommittal wandering, reminding us of the ancient vow of stability and teaching us how we can lead a richer life of friendship, community, and purpose. They also touch on the deconstruction movement within the church, how authoritarian leadership has wounded and undermined trust, and how healing and connection are available only where we practice the long game of family. To learn more or to support this podcast go to www.afamilystory.org Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!