Beau, it really was hard to pick just one of the topics you listed; each has a very direct and different impact on who are called to be as Jesus Followers. That said, we should not bury ourselves in our "faith cocoon" and ignore the culture and events going on around us. We need to be interacting and using what we know and learn by digging deeper in the bible and our theology to improve our relationships with those we love and those that are harder to love. So, see how intertwined it all can become! I am no help at all helping you pinpoint where we're going; but I will continue to see the you on the journey. Your posts have been full of "AH HA" moments and I love reading where God is working in and through you.
What you are writing - weekly and daily - resonates so much with me, and reflects my journey over the past several years. It also gives me food for thought. Thank you so much for writing. It truly is a gift.
I clicked biblical deep dives but honestly I think it serves as a good top five and you can move with the spirit and write what you are called to write.
Ironically, so for 0 votes are for current events and culture, and I don't know about others but that is top of mind to me.
The posts I have shared of yours put current events and/or culture into a biblical perspective. Thinking about "What would Jesus do?" (in this time and place) and making that relatable to my evangelical brothers and sisters (literal as well as church). Some of the best food for thought I share to my Facebook feed and then block comments. My hope is that my sister or a brother will read and ponder whether their teachers are really upholding the values of Christ.
I’d love it if you could combine the original meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words found in scripture and how the culture of that time would’ve understood the letters Paul wrote and the gospels. In addition can you also unpack the poetic and allegorical passages found in scripture. I also think it would be easy enough to wrap current events and culture into most any post without it being its own separate blog post.
Please consider a periodic article on "why the Bible doesn't mean what it seems to say." For example, on homosexuality, instead of maligning "clobber passages" compare what the original language meant in the context of the present culture and examine the way believers at that time were handling the issue (e.g. how did Mosaic-Law era Israelites handle people caught in homosexuality, if at all?).
Hi, Beau, I appreciate your humility and transparency in asking your audience what we need most. I voted for theology deep dives because I want the fundamentalist hermeneutical assumptions that still sabotage my reading of the Bible to be exposed and challenged. A friend and I recently read Reading Scripture with Western Eyes and it was, well, eye opening. I’m reading Jewish commentators on the OT presently to learn from that school of exegetical ninjas.
You’re skilled in critical thinking, and I’m hoping to learn more about the ins and outs of that skill.
Please recommend some of your favorite Mainline preachers that I can listen to online. And do you have recommendations for Mainline churches in the LA County/Orange County area?
I hope this is helpful, I really enjoy your writing, yours is the first substack I read. I always find your thoughts and considerations right on target as a former Roman Catholic and now a practicing member of the Episcopal Church, I am so very attracted to and challenged by your thoughts and interpretations of scripture. Keep it up, I also see your humility and Humanity in your writing, thanks for sharing it so well.
Beau, I picked navigating relationships because I'm wondering about effecting change within my evangelical circles. For example, my men's Bible study group holds fast to direct revelation (the "nudge nudge hint hint, can't know God's will until you hear directly), I insist the correct interpretation is a wisdom based model. I'm looking at how to discern where we need to clean our evangelical house (but not leave it).
When I get buried in the detail and stress of maintaining our church building your posts remind me that there is more to being a Christian than buildings.
What keeps landing for me is when theology meets real life. Not just what we believe, but how it plays out at dinner tables, family group texts, and moments where faith gets awkward instead of theoretical.
I don’t need everything explained. I need help staying human while holding convictions in a world that keeps trying to turn belief into a personality test.
I am a Christian and you are helping me navigate current events and issues, more than you can imagine. I want to continue to learn more from God’s Word, and I need the encouragement to live it. Thank you.
I would like advice on how to encourage a very close unbelieving loved one to seek Christ. I know we're not "evangelical" here -- I'm Presbyterian, after all. But I pray for this person to experience the joy and peace that comes only from Christ. I long for a Christ-centered relationship.
Beau, it really was hard to pick just one of the topics you listed; each has a very direct and different impact on who are called to be as Jesus Followers. That said, we should not bury ourselves in our "faith cocoon" and ignore the culture and events going on around us. We need to be interacting and using what we know and learn by digging deeper in the bible and our theology to improve our relationships with those we love and those that are harder to love. So, see how intertwined it all can become! I am no help at all helping you pinpoint where we're going; but I will continue to see the you on the journey. Your posts have been full of "AH HA" moments and I love reading where God is working in and through you.
What you are writing - weekly and daily - resonates so much with me, and reflects my journey over the past several years. It also gives me food for thought. Thank you so much for writing. It truly is a gift.
I clicked biblical deep dives but honestly I think it serves as a good top five and you can move with the spirit and write what you are called to write.
Ironically, so for 0 votes are for current events and culture, and I don't know about others but that is top of mind to me.
The posts I have shared of yours put current events and/or culture into a biblical perspective. Thinking about "What would Jesus do?" (in this time and place) and making that relatable to my evangelical brothers and sisters (literal as well as church). Some of the best food for thought I share to my Facebook feed and then block comments. My hope is that my sister or a brother will read and ponder whether their teachers are really upholding the values of Christ.
I’d love it if you could combine the original meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words found in scripture and how the culture of that time would’ve understood the letters Paul wrote and the gospels. In addition can you also unpack the poetic and allegorical passages found in scripture. I also think it would be easy enough to wrap current events and culture into most any post without it being its own separate blog post.
Please consider a periodic article on "why the Bible doesn't mean what it seems to say." For example, on homosexuality, instead of maligning "clobber passages" compare what the original language meant in the context of the present culture and examine the way believers at that time were handling the issue (e.g. how did Mosaic-Law era Israelites handle people caught in homosexuality, if at all?).
Hi, Beau, I appreciate your humility and transparency in asking your audience what we need most. I voted for theology deep dives because I want the fundamentalist hermeneutical assumptions that still sabotage my reading of the Bible to be exposed and challenged. A friend and I recently read Reading Scripture with Western Eyes and it was, well, eye opening. I’m reading Jewish commentators on the OT presently to learn from that school of exegetical ninjas.
You’re skilled in critical thinking, and I’m hoping to learn more about the ins and outs of that skill.
I get the emails. But never open them because I check the app daily. Might be skewing the numbers
Me, too. Just the app.
Please recommend some of your favorite Mainline preachers that I can listen to online. And do you have recommendations for Mainline churches in the LA County/Orange County area?
I hope this is helpful, I really enjoy your writing, yours is the first substack I read. I always find your thoughts and considerations right on target as a former Roman Catholic and now a practicing member of the Episcopal Church, I am so very attracted to and challenged by your thoughts and interpretations of scripture. Keep it up, I also see your humility and Humanity in your writing, thanks for sharing it so well.
Can’t stuff my view into a survey, sorry. The things you write that I most value are the things that startle me. “Never thought about it that way!”
Beau, I picked navigating relationships because I'm wondering about effecting change within my evangelical circles. For example, my men's Bible study group holds fast to direct revelation (the "nudge nudge hint hint, can't know God's will until you hear directly), I insist the correct interpretation is a wisdom based model. I'm looking at how to discern where we need to clean our evangelical house (but not leave it).
When I get buried in the detail and stress of maintaining our church building your posts remind me that there is more to being a Christian than buildings.
What keeps landing for me is when theology meets real life. Not just what we believe, but how it plays out at dinner tables, family group texts, and moments where faith gets awkward instead of theoretical.
I don’t need everything explained. I need help staying human while holding convictions in a world that keeps trying to turn belief into a personality test.
I find the movement from evangelical worship to mainline liturgical worship so interesting. Could you address that?
I am a Christian and you are helping me navigate current events and issues, more than you can imagine. I want to continue to learn more from God’s Word, and I need the encouragement to live it. Thank you.
I would like advice on how to encourage a very close unbelieving loved one to seek Christ. I know we're not "evangelical" here -- I'm Presbyterian, after all. But I pray for this person to experience the joy and peace that comes only from Christ. I long for a Christ-centered relationship.