Trauma-Informed Church Kid

Permeable Creatures -- NERD ALERT

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, we take a look at what it means to be human, and what it means to be a spiritual being, and explore the overlap of the two. Along the way, we discover that humans are permeable creatures: designed to have our wills interact with the wills of the spiritual realm. In the end, we try to understand how all this relates to everyday life and becoming better "spiritual beings" ourselves. I hope you will join me on the journey of finding resurrection on the other side of deconstruction!
 
But We Have the Mind of Christ | Ancient Faith Ministries
The Most Important Question -- Nathan Jacobs Podcast
What's a Spirit When It's at Home? | Ancient Faith Ministries
Bible Project video on spiritual beings
Stimulus - Reaction - Response graphic
 

The gods of the nations

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 closer look at the Genesis 11 Babel event and its connection to the redemptive plan of God: to lovingly shepherd his children back to him, in order to unite them in their diversity, so that the unique glory each possesses can participate in his life once more. I hope you will join us on a journey to find resurrection on the other side of deconstruction!
 
The Gods of the Nations | Ancient Faith Ministries
Pentecost and the Ziggurat — Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Human Desire to Be Godlike - TheTorah.com
Language Is Baffling – The Story of the Tower of Babel - TheTorah.com
What-is-spiritual-warfare-from-Heiser-DEMONS-MS-unedited.pdf
The Angels Who Left Their Former Estate - The Whole Counsel Blog
The Unseen Realm Collection (10 book series) Paperback Edition

A Light to the Nations

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 take a closer look at the relationship of the chosen seed and the sons of promise to the rest of the family of God -- the nations of the earth. We challenge the idea that ethnicity plays a major role in salvation history, and examine what the vocation of the "firstborn son" was supposed to be. Namely: to be a light to the nations. I hope you will join us on a journey to find resurrection on the other side of deconstruction!
 
Naked Bible 159: Noah’s Nakedness, the Sin of Ham, and the Curse of Canaan | The Naked Bible Podcast
 
Sukkot's Seventy Bulls - TheTorah.com
 
israels-early-inhabitants1_2021-12-01-174244_jgmx.jpg (700×993)

A Covenant of Rest

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" God makes with all flesh? Does the rainbow have a different meaning than just a pretty sign of that covenant?
 
Today we take a good long look at the consequences of the Flood, and what it means to search for rest in the midst of a world drowned in sin and needing purification. We explore the symbolism of the ark as a mini-cosmos and examine how the God we see in the Flood is a God whom we can trust to always bring justice -- just perhaps not in the way we think, or demand he should. I hope it is helpful for you in your process of finding resurrection on the other side of deconstruction!
 
Noah and God’s Rest in Hebrews 4 – Citizens & Sons
Why did God flood the world? (Bible Project)
A Cup of Wrath? (Bible Project)
Are We Really Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God? - N.T. Wright Online
Zakar: REMEMBER… and pass it on. – Hebrew Word Lessons
What Is the Rainbow Really Teaching Us? - Jewish Theological Seminary
 

Through the Waters of Purification

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 Pet 3:20)?
 
This is a meditative episode, focused on the nature of God's judgment and his mercy. In it, we find a God who always deals with sin... but not always in the way we think. We also find a God who always provides a way out... but not always in the way we want. And through it all, we discover that we all must go through the waters of purification.
 
The Deluge as a Biblical Symbol - EARLY CHURCH HISTORY
 
Noah’s Ark: Josephus, Earlier Historians, & Church Fathers | Dave Armstrong
 
Coming to Grips with the Early Church Fathers’ Perspective on Genesis, Part 1 (of 5) - Reasons to Believe (the whole series is worth a look)

The Giant Sin Problem

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 trauma -- spiritual or otherwise?This is an episode where we get mystical, taking a look at ancient near east mythology and its connection to our lives today. Along the way, we survey a lot of disputed scholarship, understand more about where human depravity comes from, and learn about what "shrinking the giants down to size" looks like in recovery from trauma. I hope you enjoy it!
 
Here There Be Giants - The Whole Counsel Blog
 
The Five(ish) Falls of Angels | Ancient Faith Ministries
 
Herodotus' narrative of the Nephilim ritual
 
Etemenanki - Wikipedia
 
Daijosai ritual
 
Story of Gilgamesh (YouTube video)
 
Genesis Marks the Spot (episode 1 of the series on reception history of Genesis 6)
 
Article about Og, the Rephaiim and other giants
 
The Ancient Near Eastern Context for Genesis 6:1-4 - Dr. Michael Heiser
 
Cross-referenced posts from Dr. Michael Heiser (Nephilim)

The Gospel is Bigger Than You Think (Book Review) -- BONUS

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 folk religion" that is deeper, broader, more enchanting, and "bigger" than we might have thought.Hope you like it!
 
(disclaimer: I was given a free copy of the Audible book for review purposes)
 
Amazon link to buy the book
 

Beauty-First Healing from Trauma -- EXPERT-TEAS

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 heresy caused by trauma? Why is beauty the foremost of the three transcendentals (beauty, goodness, and truth)? How does the modern psychoanalytic approach to counseling fail trauma sufferers? And how can we recapture a beauty-first approach to healing?
 
This is an interview I have been looking forward to having for a long time, and I am delighted to share it with you now! Please forgive the audio quality issues; I hope it will not detract too much from the important information we explore here. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this content to get the word out!
 
The Ethics of Beauty — St Nicholas Press
Home | beauty first films
 
Some emerging research on how beauty, wonder, awe, and other ventral vagal states are being recognized as essential factors in the healing process
Research Reveals the Healing Power of Beauty and Awe | Psychology Today
Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health - Maria Monroy, Dacher Keltner, 2023
Awe: A Systematic Review within a Cognitive Behavioural Framework and Proposed Cognitive Behavioural Model of Awe | International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology
GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Awe_FINAL.pdf
 

Prodigal Sons of God

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 the surrounding ANE cultures? Are things like music and dancing and makeup bad in and of themselves? And what does it mean to be a "father" to someone, in the biblical text? Is there any hope for rebellious sons?Here, we spend an entire episode on genealogies! (don't leave!) We take a look at the parallel yet inverse lines of Seth and of Cain, and dive deep into both the physical and spiritual dimensions of that "sonship" and "fatherhood". Along the way, we discover that we are all in one way or another prodigal sons of God, and that Adonai our Father is longing for our return to receive the inheritance he has promised us. Join us on the journey of searching for resurrection on the other side of deconstruction.
 
Two Themes, Two Days, Two Goats; with Caleb Lewis - Episode 083 (Genesis Marks the Spot podcast)
 
Through the Waters: A biblical theology of the book of Genesis (Caleb Lewis)
 
Naked Bible Podcast transcript: Episode 262, Exodus 3, Part 2b (Dr Michael Heiser)
Article about the book of Enoch and the Watchers
 
Dr. Michael Heiser's graphic on the parallel genealogies of Seth and Cain
 
Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple? | Smithsonian
 
A YouTube video about the Apkallu (Seven Sages), using AI
 
The Five(ish) Falls of Angels | Ancient Faith Ministries
 
Technology and the Story of Redemption: Being the People of God in a Mechanized World - The Symbolic World

The Crouching Sin-Beast

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 justice?
 
In this return to the text of Genesis and our walkthrough of the Scriptures, we see that each of us can at any time become either Cain or Abel. We look at the ways in which some portions of this narrative have been used to cause hurt, and we examine what it means for God to call both the innocent and the guilty to master the crouching sin-beast in at the doorway of their own hearts.
 
A Demon at the Door? | memoirandremains
 
Genesis 4 – What History’s First Criminal Report Can Teach Us - Cerebral Faith
 
Cain, the Sinner - The Whole Counsel Blog