Stories From A Village

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 10 — Working out our own summary of the Bible can help us better understand how isolated verses fit into the Bible. We don’t begin by copying someone else’s summary but by asking big-picture questions like, “How does this verse fit into the author’s purpose?” We won’t know the answers a lot of the time. But if we stay aware there is a bigger picture and work to find those answers as we can, it’ll help keep us centered and eventually give us a better understanding of the Bible as a whole. An example summary of the Bible is included. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TCL-e10-Seeing-the-forest.mp3 TCL e10 – Seeing the forest – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: Seeing The Forest – Episode 10 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 9 (Part 3 of answering “What makes the Bible inspired?”) — The first two answers (ancient believers’ reframing of scripture and Jesus as the greatest revelation of God) are traits of the Bible that create a trajectory which Christians are to further. Scripture has been reframed by Christianity over its history. We reframe scripture today when we look at it through the lens of Jesus in a new or different way to change the focus or perspective of what scripture has to say in light of our own experiences of God. This continues the trajectory created by the Bible’s own reinterpretations and Jesus’ re-centering of scripture to more fully reveal who God is and what God desires. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TCL-e09-When-inspiration-is-fully-unleashed.mp3 TCL e09 – When inspiration is fully unleashed – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: When Inspiration is Fully Unleashed – Episode 9 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 8 (Part 2 of answering “What makes the Bible inspired?”) — We can find God being revealed throughout the books of both the Old and New Testaments but the greatest revelation of God is in the person of Jesus. This means that where Jesus reinterprets scripture, He is not only reframing it, as is done by other biblical writers, but He is re-centering it to reflect how God was meant to be revealed in scripture (i.e., who God is and what God desires). https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TCL-e08-The-greatest-revelation-of-God.mp3 TCL e08 – The greatest revelation of God – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: The Greatest Revelation of God – Episode 8 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 7 (Part 1 of answering “What makes the Bible inspired?”) — The ancient biblical writers and people in the Bible often reframed their understanding of God after finding themselves between two stories— the first one being the stories of how God was promised by those who came before them and second one being the very different way God was experienced in their own lives. This caused them to reassess how they viewed God and then express that in their reinterpretation of scripture. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TCL-e07-Walking-in-the-company-of-those-who-came-before-us.mp3 TCL e07 – Walking in the company of those who came before us – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: Walking In The Company of Those Who Came Before Us – Episode 7 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 6 — An introduction and background on the Bible being inspired is shared, but that belief is complicated. So biblical inspiration is compared to a bank robbery to provide the shocking twist we might need to help rethink the nature of an inspired Bible. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TCL-e06-And-then-God-said-Everybody-down-on-the-floor-Now.mp3 TCL e06 – And then God said Everybody down on the floor Now – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: And Then God said, “Everybody down on the floor! Now!” – Episode 6 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 5 (The Bible is not God part 2) — The Bible is not the problem. The problem is when Christians view ambiguous or objectionable passages as a problem, and then feel obligated to offset them. The Bible is like a bunch of different faith-journey jigsaw puzzles all dumped into the same box. God does not need us to make amends for anything in the Bible or re-shape it to fit our image of God but just to listen to its many voices. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TCL-e05-The-Bible-is-not-the-problem-1.mp3 TCL e05 – The Bible is not the problem – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: The Bible is Not the Problem – Episode 5 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 5 (The Bible is not God part 2) — The Bible is not the problem. The problem is when Christians view ambiguous or objectionable passages as a problem, and then feel obligated to offset them. The Bible is like a bunch of different faith-journey jigsaw puzzles all dumped into the same box. God does not need us to make amends for anything in the Bible or re-shape it to fit our image of God but just to listen to its many voices. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TCL-e05-The-Bible-is-not-the-problem.mp3 TCL e05 – The Bible is not the problem – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: God Didn’t Dictate the Bible – Episode 5 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 4 (The Bible is not God part 1) — God inspired the biblical authors but did not control what they wrote. Failure to understand that an inspired Bible is not synonymous with God dictating the biblical texts to those authors in some fashion is often the biggest presumption hindering Christians from not only a better understanding of the Bible itself but from what God’s Spirit is actually speaking through it today. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TCL-e04-God-didnt-dictate-the-Bible.mp3 TCL e04 – God didnt dictate the Bible – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: God Didn’t Dictate the Bible – Episode 4 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. Episode 3 — We all bring presumptions and preconceptions to the Bible. The problem is when we are blind to or deny them because that more than anything corrupts our ability to more fully hear what God is speaking through the Bible. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TCL-e03-Yellow-lawn-mowers.mp3 TCL e03 – Yellow lawn mowers – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: Yellow Lawn Mowers – Episode 3 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a podcast by Steve Flowers that explores how the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder for us to climb. In this episode, Christianity’s history includes both favorable and unfavorable consequences in its application of the Bible. The Church has used it to help everyone but has also used it to alienate and hurt others. But only the side of this double-edged sword used to help everyone is the one inspired by God. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TCL-e02-The-double-edged-sword.mp3 TCL e02 – The double-edged sword – essay transcript The post The Chaos Ladder: The Double-Edged Sword – Episode 2 appeared first on Stories From A Village.

The Chaos Ladder is a new podcast series created by Steve Flowers.\r\n\nIn Steve’s words, the Bible is not a gaping pit waiting to swallow us but a ladder waiting for us to climb it. When the Bible sounds confusing or concerning, our reaction shouldn’t be distress or anger but seeing an opportunity to climb. And the ladders to climb out of our biblical chaos begin with the very questions and doubts we have about the Bible itself. It takes work to climb such a ladder, but the result will help us better hear what God has always been speaking through these sacred texts.\r\n\n\nhttps://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TCL-e01-Beauty-amidst-the-chaos.mp3\nTCL e01 – Beauty amidst the chaos – essay transcript\r\n\nThe post The Chaos Ladder: Beauty Amidst the Chaos – Episode 1 appeared first on Stories From A Village.\r\n

By Ivy Lamb  Money, influence, expertise — Mark let it all go when he decided to leave a toxic work situation and embrace the uncertainty of unemployment at age 63. In this episode, he shares the insights he’s gained, including learning to take joy in the small things. He also dives deep into his relationship with the Catholic church and his journey reconciling his faith with his sexuality. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/SFAV_Mark_final.mp3The post Stories From A Village Podcast: Letting Go appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Ivy Lamb Keith was raised Catholic, but drifted away from the church as an adult. But he never lost the commitment to service his parents instilled early on. In this episode, Keith talks about his journey back to Christianity, what drives him to volunteer his time to different causes, and how that volunteer work has deepened his relationships — relationships that became even more meaningful when Keith found himself in need of help and support. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/SFAV_Keith_final.mp3The post Stories From A Village Podcast: Faith in Action appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Ivy Lamb  From childhood through adolescence, Claudia’s Quaker faith was a fundamental part of her life. But as she got older, she lost touch with that part of her identity. In this episode Claudia talks about the process of reclaiming her faith, dealing with the stigma around divorce, working on self-compassion and discovering a new church community. She also reflects on how her Quaker upbringing continues to influence her values and actions. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/SFAV_Claudia_FINAL.mp3The post Stories From A Village Podcast: Recovering my Faith appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Ivy Lamb Chris is a father, an artist, a business owner and a Christian — but he’s not likely to tell you about it. For Chris, being Christian is more about how you treat people than anything else. In this episode, he shares his journey in and out of church, dealing with the death of his parents, and his decision to embrace sobriety. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/SFAV_Chris_final_vers-2.mp3The post Stories From A Village Podcast: Finding Hope In The Trenches of Life appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Ivy Lamb Tamasha grew up in a former coal-mining town in Virginia with her deeply religious grandmother. She knew she wanted her life to be different than what she saw around her in her childhood, and she succeeded in realizing her vision for her life. But everything, including her faith, came crashing down when she started struggling with her mental health. In this episode, she shares openly about how her faith has shaped her life choices, her parenting, and her experiences with her mental health. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Tamasha.mp3The post Stories From A Village Podcast: You’re Not Broken appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Ivy Lamb Steve spent most of his life in what he now describes as a state of spiritual apathy toward LGBTQ Christians. In this episode, he recounts the journey that took him from a traditional Southern Baptist view of homosexuality to feeling called to stand with and fully affirm LGBTQ Christians. Steve’s story shows how that shift can be grounded in compassion, experience and a close reading of the Bible. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SFAV_Steve_final.mp3The post Stories From A Village Podcast: How a Straight, 50-something Southern Baptist Came to Affirm LGBTQ Christians appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Ivy Lamb Good interviewers have a trick. It seems simple, but it’s much harder than it looks. You must become comfortable with silence.  Letting a silent moment in the conversation stretch to awkward lengths is the best way to get people to open up. These moments often hit the cutting room floor in an edited piece, and I understand why, but I also think it’s a shame. In American culture, we’re taught to fill these silences, to gloss over any social awkwardness they cause. Excellent conversation, we are taught, comes from having many strong opinions and amusing anecdotes ready to deploy at parties. But when we rush to fill a pause, we miss an opportunity to listen more closely to the other person.  I learned to hold space for silence as a journalist. But I didn’t grasp the spiritual dimensions of silence until I started my podcast, Stories from a Village. In each episode, I invite a member of my church to share their faith journey with me. Along the way, we end up exploring the ways faith and religion intersect with things like family relationships, sexual orientation, gender roles, morality, health crises and finding meaning in suffering.  My guests have shared stories of joy and heartbreak, confusion and clarity, marginalization and homecoming. So many moments have stuck with me: Irene talking about how the love of Jesus chased her down even when she felt ashamed of her sexuality, Sonya reconnecting to prayer through art, Aimee describing the sacredness of the love she shares with her wife, Joey sharing the moral foundation of his atheism, Scott’s spiritual revelations after a stroke … I could go on and on.  I started this project because I felt these stories needed to be told. I attend a small Christian church in Columbus, Ohio called Stone Village. We’re an inclusive church that affirms people of all backgrounds, including the LGBTQIA community. As a result, my community is full of people who have been told that they don’t belong in the church because they don’t love the right person, or believe the right things, or act the right way. But the fact that they found Stone Village means they refused to accept rejection and judgement as the final word. They kept searching for a place that affirms what they already know: We all belong.  My fellow worshippers have not journeyed unscathed, but they have journeyed faithfully. I know this because I was willing to ask a few open-ended questions and then sit in silence to see what would unfold. In this context, silence becomes an invitation. The silence isn’t dead space, it’s something active and open. It allows room for the other person to speak as they feel moved to do so. I’m certainly not the first person to figure this out. Quakers have a long tradition of embracing silence as a holy state, something that leaves room for the spirit to move us. I attended a Quaker college, and while my knowledge of Quakerism remains admittedly shallow, my brief experiences with silent worship have come back to me now as I record these interviews. I now see the time I spend behind the microphone as holy space. When the conversation moves into intimate territory, nothing else exists. I am wholly focused on the person sitting across from me. I’m not worried about what I will say next because I trust in the connection we are building. And when I allow myself to listen that deeply, I feel tender toward that person in a way I never did before.  I believe we need more of this kind of deep listening. But it’s not easy, is it? Silence can be scary because sometimes it invites hard truths out into the open. Since I started my podcast, I have heard many stories of suffering. Suffering I can’t fix. And I’ll be honest, I’m not always great at holding space for other people’s pain. That’s another thing we’re taught. When someone shares their grief or pain, we rush to fill the awkward silence with a platitude that will make us feel comfortable again. That’s why we say things like, “God has a plan” or “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” But I’m learning that holding space for other people’s pain is part of allowing them to tell their story. And holding that space with integrity and compassion is one of the greatest gifts we can offer each other. This is a truth I return to when I feel especially pessimistic about the state of the world. There’s much beyond my control, and that scares me. But listening deeply and without agenda is something that’s always accessible to me — to all of us. But first, we must learn to embrace silence. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SFAV_silence.mp3The post Stories From A Village Podcast: Silence as a Holy Invitation appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Steve Flowers & Jordan Flowers The 5th installment of the periodic series studying through The Gospel of Mark. Steve and Jordan discuss their favorite Bible story– The Gerasene Demoniac in Mark 5:1-20. They share how an impressive but seemingly difficult-to-relate-to exorcism is simply the background of a very rich story in which everyone can find themselves. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/OTT-12-That-Bible-story-you-always-ignored.mp3The post On The Table: That Bible Story You Always Ignored…Until You Saw Yourself In It appeared first on Stories From A Village.

By Steve Flowers & Jordan Flowers The conclusion of Jordan and Steve’s discussion of specific episodes from Jordan’s growing-up years in order to ask Steve’s thoughts behind his parenting decisions to help Jordan work out his own questions. Sometimes funny, sometimes raw, it’s an earnest discussion of lessons learned by both father and son. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.64/ovs.a9d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/OTT-11-Jesus-never-had-to-raise-a-kid-part-2.mp3The post On The Table Podcast: Jesus Never Had To Raise A Kid! (Part 2) appeared first on Stories From A Village.