Following the Fire Following The Fire
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- Religion & Spirituality
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Like many others, we (Steve & Nathan) are on a spiritual journey of deconstruction and reconstruction to find what God truly wants of us. Just like Israel followed the pillar of fire in the desert, we want to follow God wherever we are led. And just like Israel, we get lost a lot, we get it wrong a lot, but we're trying our best to follow and have a relationship with the Father. Join us on the journey!
Join our Patreon (http://patreon.com/followingthefire) - we would love your support!
Our theme music is by Daniel Wheat!
* Find more music and merch at his Bandcamp (https://danielwheat.bandcamp.com)
* Follow his Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/danielwheatmusic/)
* And listen on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/artist/26EjMDBdKGmxBXEwkGWCkd?si=bQ8wtAeiSImTVmf8asqxrA)
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62: Where Are We Going?: The different destinations of deconstruction
Steve talks to Josh Kaiser, former pastor turned deconstruction coach, about the different places people tend to end up at the end of their deconstruction / faith journeys (if there even is an end). Josh has a lot of wisdom and insight to this whole crazy process, so be sure to give this one your time.
Josh Kaiser’s TikTok: @theLocalHeretic
Origen
Jerome
Justin Matyr
Augustine
Mark Driscoll
Vivant Life Coaching
Brewery Vivant
Christian Mysticism
Josh’s video about mysticism
John Philip Newell
Cognitive Dissonance
Pete Enns
The Bible for Normal People
Richard Rohr
Film: “Ghandi”
Hymn: “O Sacred Head”
Vertical vs. Horizontal Morality
Annihilationism
Podcast: The Local Heretic Live
Thomas Merton
Book: “The Naked Now” by Richard Rohr
Book: “The Universal Christ”
Book:“Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps”
Books by John Philip Newell
All of our music is by Daniel Wheat:
Find more music and merch at his Bandcamp
Follow his Instagram
And listen on Spotify
Special Guest: Josh Kaiser.
Support Following the Fire -
61: Watching The Watchmen: Christian Nationalism isn’t going anywhere
We read “The Watchman Decree” (and even hear a disturbing recitation of it) and discuss the implications of Christian Nationalism in America. What do we do about it? Can we do anything? Is maybe just a little bit okay? (Spoiler: No. No, it’s not)
Following the Fire Facebook Group
Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
Free Dad Hugs shirt
Free Mom Hugs (official)
Christian Nationalism
Theocracy
Sharia Law
Book: “The Founding Myth” by Andrew Seidel
The Watchman Decree
Article: “The ‘Watchman Decree’ is a scary vision of Christian nationalism in action”
The Moral Majority
Samuel Perry
Book: “Do I Stay Christian?” By Brian McLaren
Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13
Theme music by Daniel Wheat!
Find his music and merch at his Bandcamp
And follow his Instagram
Support Following the Fire -
60: Make It Make Sense: Why do American Christians elevate horrible people?
The things we lift up and admire say a lot about us. Why, then, do so many evangelical Christians in America lift up the worst of us like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and others. Has Christianity always been like this? Is there any way to redeem it?
Halloween was weirdly warm
Nathan can only handle “evangelical scary”
Steve has numbed himself to everything “scary”
Series: “Midnight Mass”
Film Genre: Elevated Horror
Film: “Midsommar”
Director: Martin McDonnaugh
Film: “In Bruges
Purgatory
Bruges, Belgium
www.letterboxd.com
6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon
Film: “Amelie”
Film: “Rubber”
Film: “The Social Dilemma”
Elon Musk buys Twitter
Tesla
SpaceX
Ford valuation
Tesla valuation
Attention Economy
Lauren Boebert
Mark Driscoll
Colt McCoy
Series: “Knight Rider”
Film: “Doc Hollywood”
Film: “Cars”
Weird Al Yankovic
Documentary: “God Forbid” about Jerry Falwell, Jr.
The Power Team
Height of CEO’s in America
Psychology Today
Cracker Barrel
Book: “The Divine Conspiracy” by Dallas Willard
The Beatitudes
Constantine
IXTHYS fish symbol
Book: “Do I Stay Christian?” By Dan McLaren
Jairus’ Daughter
Jesus healing the bleeding woman
Theme music by Daniel Wheat!
Find his music and merch at his Bandcamp
And follow his Instagram
Support Following the Fire -
59: Embracing the F-Word: What is Feminism and how it can help us all be fully human
Embracing the F-Word: What is Feminism and how it can help us all be fully human
Special guest Alison Buxton joins us again to discuss that OTHER dirty f-word: Feminism. She tells us what it is, what it isn’t, and why it matters. The 2 dudes on this podcast learned a LOT from Alison, including how feminism is connected to everything in ways we didn’t expect.
Friends don't have to use shortened names
Ms.
Book Club Episode: “The Making of Biblical Womanhood” by Beth Allison Barr
Rush Limbaugh
“Feminazi”
Book: “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver
Jane Fonda Vietnam War protests
bell hooks
Bra burning
Women’s March 2017
Black Lives Matter
History of Feminism
Intersectionality
Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw
19th Amendment
Jim Crow laws
MeToo movement
Tarana Burke
From “The Handmaid’s Tale” - Gilead
Clarence Thomas
Anita Hill
Book: “The Democratization of American Christianity” by Nathan O. Hatch
The Bechdel Test
The Bechdel Test Movie List
Nadia Boltz Weber
Article: “The Crisis of Men and Boys”by David Brooks in the New York Times
The Feeling Wheel
Kimberlé Crenshaw TED Talk
Book: “The Second Sex” by Simone de Beauvoir
Book: “The Woman’s Hour” by Elaine Weiss
Book: “The Krunk Feminist Collective” by Brittany Cooper
Book: “Feminism is For Everybody” by bell hooks
Book: “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan
Theme music by Daniel Wheat!
Find his music and merch at his Bandcamp
And follow his Instagram
Special Guest: Alison Buxton.
Support Following the Fire -
58: Fruitless: Why aren't Christians showing the Fruit of the Spirit?
Nathan and Steve discuss the age-old conundrum of why Christians don’t show more of the Fruit of the Spirit than non-Christians. Spoiler-Alert! They remain frustrated.
It’s dark outside, thus Nathan is tired
Steve has been sleeping!
Everyone should go to therapy (if possible)
Steve talks about his neurological diseases in episode 28
Nathan needs more "crunch"
Sleep makes everything better
LGBTQ+ Listener update
Conversion Therapy is bad.
Documentary: “Pray Away” on Netflix
Book Club Episode 45: “Heavy Burdens” with author Bridget Eileen Rivera
Article: “The Four Sides”Christian perspectives of LGBTQ+ relationships as “sides”
Fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23
Fishbone Diagram
Dunning-Kruger Effect
Theme music by Daniel Wheat!
Find his music and merch at his Bandcamp
And follow his Instagram
Support Following the Fire -
57: Your Biggest Heresy: How do your beliefs align with popular evangelical theology?
Nathan and Steve go through the survey "The State of Theology" which was published recently and find that, not only are they both wildly heretical, but that the Ligonier group writes REALLY bad questions.
Steve and Nathan are both exhausted because they’re privileged
Nathan is overly concerned with the Trump Mar-a-Lago case
Pep Band is fun
Church is weird
“Do I Stay Christian” by Brian McLaren
The State of Theology Survey
Ligonier Ministries
R.C. Sproul
Reformed Theology
Martin Luther
Calvinism
Doctrine of “Original Sin”
Survey Data Explorer
Support Following the Fire
Customer Reviews
Thank You!!!
I am so grateful for your work on this podcast. The honesty and humor with which you approach each segment is incredible. Thank you for sharing your perspective and self-reflection in each episode!
Episode 28
Great podcast. I just listened to episode 28. I have young onset Parkinson’s too. It started in my twenties. Such a relatable episode for me. Steve’s vulnerability is palatable. Loved the realness. Thank u
Deconstruction with humor
I am enjoying this podcast. It explores the faith I grew up in (that was rules based even though we said we weren’t). Great discussions on what it means to love others and how we sometimes get that wrong. I’m looking forward to future episodes.