Tag: The One Rule Church

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Fear and Faith

Most world religions teach some form of an afterlife. Further, the idea of “bad” behavior being punished, both in this life and in the “life” to come, is often used to discourage people from doing what is considered to be “bad”. For example, 58% of adults in the United States believe in hell (according to the Pew Research Center). The word “hell” usually describes “a place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are punished after death.” If the wicked are punished, it stands to reason that people would want to avoid being wicked, right? So this week, we will look at the relationship between fear and faith. Is fear a useful tool that God uses to get us to obey?

Here’s what we know:

  1. Fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.”
  2. A deterrent is “a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something.”
  3. In the context of the criminal justice system, “deterrence — the crime prevention effects of the threat of punishment — is a theory of choice in which individuals balance the benefits and costs of crime.”
  4. The National Institute of Justice summarizes some of the research on deterrence:
    • The certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment.
    • Sending an individual convicted of a crime to prison isn’t a very effective way to deter crime. Prisons are good for punishing criminals and keeping them off the street, but prison sentences (particularly long sentences) are unlikely to deter future crime. Prisons actually may have the opposite effect: Inmates learn more effective crime strategies from each other, and time spent in prison may desensitize many to the threat of future imprisonment.
    • Police deter crime by increasing the perception that criminals will be caught and punished. The police deter crime when they do things that strengthen a criminal’s perception of the certainty of being caught. Strategies that use the police as “sentinels,” such as hot spots policing, are particularly effective.
    • Increasing the severity of punishment does little to deter crime.
  5. Most world religions teach that reaching “heaven” (or paradise, nirvana, etc.) and avoiding “hell” is at least somewhat dependent upon doing and/or being “good”.

In an experiment involving 61 ethnically and religiously diverse undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia, the participants were asked to use mental math to solve 20 addition problems. Before the test, a monitor explained that there was a glitch in the computer program being used to administer the test and that the participants needed to press the space bar key immediately after each question appeared in order to avoid seeing the answer. Cheating behavior was measured according to whether participants followed these instructions. Once the test was completed, the participants were asked to fill out a “View of God Scale,” which gauged their conceptions of God as “positive” (i.e. forgiving, loving, gentle, etc.) or “negative” (i.e. vengeful, harsh, angry, punishing, etc.). Next, the participants were asked to complete a suspicion probe, the Hoge (1972)
scale of intrinsic religiosity, a Views of God scale, and a set of demographic questions.

The results published in 2011 in The International Journal for Psychology of Religion indicated that the students’ differences in religious beliefs had no bearing on whether the students cheated or not, but the participants who applied more punitive attributes to God cheated less than those who attributed positive traits of character to God.

Fear can be a powerful deterrent, but perhaps we should be less focused on whether fear itself is a bad thing and more focused on who and/or what we are afraid of. For example, should the good things we do be motivated by a fear of going to hell? Or should the good things we do be motivated by a “fear of” (it may be better worded as “concern for”) how the negative things we do impact us, the people we love, and the world around us?

Further, is a fear of going to hell really an effective deterrent? Is the fear of what may or may not happen when we die or some other time in the future enough motivation to do good now? Is the threat of more immediate consequences even effective? Children disobey their parents all the time, knowing that they could be (and oftentimes are) caught and punished. Discipline works up to a point, but ultimately, each of us has to decide for ourselves what kinds of people we want to be and the kinds of choices we want to make.

What do you think? How does fear interplay with your faith? Do you think fear is an effective deterrent? If so, why? If not, what motivates you to be the best person you can be? Let us know in the comments below!

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Behavior Modification: Good or Bad:?

We all need to know where our beliefs stem from and why, but knowing what you think about something doesn’t mean much if you don’t spend time considering how what you think impacts what you do. Most, if not all, world religions/ideologies encourage us to be “good” people, but what does being “good” look like? Is being “good” based more on what we do (behavior) or on who we are (character)?

Here’s what we know:

  1. The word character refers to “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.” The word behavior refers to “the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others.”
  2. Behavior modification is defined as “the alteration of behavioral patterns through the use of such learning techniques as biofeedback and positive or negative reinforcement.”
  3. Behavior modification utilizes the idea that good behavior should lead to positive consequences and bad behavior should lead to negative consequences.
  4. The four main techniques used to encourage behavior modification are:
    1. Positive Punishment – adding a consequence that will deter a person from repeating the behavior. Ex.: Giving a child an extra chore as a consequence for lying when asked if he cleaned his room.
    2. Negative Punishment – involves removing something from a person. Examples include taking away privileges or removing positive attention.
    3. Positive Reinforcement – giving a person something that reinforces good behavior. Discipline that relies mostly on positive reinforcement is usually very effective. Examples of positive reinforcement include praise or a reward system.
    4. Negative Reinforcement – a person is motivated to change her behavior because it will take away something unpleasant. Negative reinforcement can be less effective than positive reinforcement. Ex. a child who stops a behavior because her parent yells at her is trying to get rid of the negative reinforcer (the yelling). 

Most people would probably agree that positive behaviors are good things to encourage and be supportive of. Most people support things like donating to charity, being polite to everyone, giving a hug or a kind word to someone who is feeling down, etc. And individual communities and society as a whole provide both positive and negative reinforcement for all manner of things. That said, the question may be less about character development instead of behavior modification and more about how we go about finding a balance between the two.

Finding balance may seem pretty straightforward, but things can get tricky. Why? Because while there are positive and negative behaviors that most of us can agree on, there are some behaviors that most people can’t agree on. Some people believe certain things are okay, and other people believe those things are not okay. Further, some people disagree with certain behaviors to the extent that they believe that it’s society’s responsibility or their community’s responsibility to make sure no one engages in those behaviors. So how do we find that balance?

The important thing to remember is that love is the rule, so everything we believe AND everything we do should stem from the principle of unconditional love. In this context, love should perhaps lead us to ask ourselves questions, such as:

  1. What behaviors do I consider to be “good”, and why? Does my belief stem from my own understanding and conviction? Does my belief stem from someone else’s understanding/conviction and my concern for what they will think of me or do to me?
  2. How do I prioritize the behaviors I consider to be “good” (i.e. the positive behaviors that are the most important and have the most impact on the world around you may take priority over the positive behaviors that are less important because they have less impact)?
  3. When I do something I believe is good, what’s my motivation/intention? Do I do good because I want to be rewarded/viewed positively by other people? Do I do good because I’m afraid of receiving punishment/negative feedback from other people? Do I do good because I am convicted in my heart that I should?
  4. What type of punishment/reinforcement am I most responsive to? When I want to improve myself, what kind of feedback inspires me the most? Who, if anyone, do I feel safe and confident receiving feedback from? What makes me feel safe and confident in this person(s)?

And if you see someone exhibiting behaviors that you believe are negative:

  1. Is this behavior causing immediate and/or irreparable physical, mental, and/or emotional harm to this person, me, or someone else? Note: If the answer is yes, you may need to consider getting a family member and/or law enforcement involved.
  2. Does this person believe their behavior is negative?
  3. What is my relationship with this person? How well do I know this person? How well does this person know me? Have they explicitly invited me to give them feedback?
  4. What is my motive/intent in giving feedback? Are my intentions pure, unselfish, and genuine? Am I being honest with myself about my intentions?
  5. How does my feedback stand to benefit this person? Is there any way my feedback could potentially do more harm than good?
  6. What kind of punishment/reinforcement is this person most responsive to? Am I communicating my feedback effectively? Am I communicating my feedback in a way that reflects my understanding of the person I am sharing it with?

We don’t have the power to make people change or to force them to agree with us on what constitutes “good” or “bad”, but we do have the power to live our own lives consistently with what we believe and to support and encourage others in their pursuit to do the same. Loving means being present, being engaged, avoiding making assumptions, and putting our own egos and agendas aside in order to do what’s best for each other. We probably won’t always agree on everything, but being there for each other and working together towards being the best people we can be isn’t a bad start.

What do you think? Is behavior modification good or bad? What motivates you to change things about yourself: fear or conviction or both? Has anyone ever tried to change you? If so, how did that make you feel? What does being a “good” person or doing “good” mean to you? Let us know in the comments below!

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Journey to Forgiveness

Hello, my name is Paige Baxter. I’ve recently gone through a life-changing, personal healing journey. During that journey, my mindset, thinking, how I act, and even the things that I post on social media have changed. I was asked by my cousin to share my views with you all, not only on my journey, but on the power of forgiveness. First things first, though. I think it is important for you to know a little bit about my journey and how I got here……….

I’ve put tons of energy into myself in 2019. I’ve purposely invested time in myself in order to truly heal…heal my soul and my heart. Through my healing journey, I was blessed enough to find God again, and at a time in my life when I needed him the most. You see, I was at a place in my life where I needed to re-find my glory, remember whose child I was, and rediscover my true life’s calling. Finding God this time around was different than when I found him during my years in the church. Being able to reconnect with him on a spiritual level has given me the ability to not only understand certain things in the Bible, but to have a better understanding of how the universe, karma, vibrations, thoughts, and energy all work and flow together to create our reality. My faith and belief in God are stronger than ever before and it’s now a bond and a unique understanding that can never be broken. No, I’m not Christian, and I do not practice religion. I believe in spirituality, meditating, smudging, crystals, chakras, sage, and energy. I believe in the power of the SOUL and its ability to connect with God on a spiritual level.

As I poured energy into myself and God, beautiful things began to take place in my life. Once strained relationships began to heal all on their own, my spirit became lighter, my light began to shine brighter, my heart became happier, and my smile became infectious. I realized that in doing this I had begun to heal myself from the inside, which in turn manifested into my reality on the outside.

One day, I sat back and took the time to realize how healing my soul also allowed me to forgive, major key! We will all face hurt, pain, and trauma in our lives. It’s similar to death in that it’s inevitable. I realized that before I took the time and effort to heal myself, I had never been able to forgive the people who had hurt me throughout the years; the people that betrayed me, played me, abandoned me, tried to break me, and legit prayed for my downfall. I carried that pain with me every day and I took it everywhere I went. It became the unseen baggage in my life. It created an internal weight on me, causing me to become emotional every time I spoke about it. It made my soul heavy. 

It’s funny to me now because I used to preach forgiveness to my friends and family, but I didn’t even know what it was or what it even really felt like.  Through healing and through God, first and foremost, I was able to be made whole again, and in that, I was able to forgive all of those that spoke against or trespassed against me. Through loving God and myself, I was able to let go of the pain and the baggage, truly letting the past stay in the past; it was at that point that I realized that I was able to forgive EVERYONE! I did not carry them with me everywhere, and I no longer took that pain and anguish with me either. My soul became lighter and started to shine brighter and brighter.

What are the lessons about forgiveness that I have learned throughout my healing journey, you ask?

Recently, I was on social media and I ran across a post from one of the many people who have trespassed in my life.  I immediately began typing, preparing to point out their hypocrisy and decided to speak my “truth” and “expose” them. As I laid there trying to come with what I was going to say, how I was going to say it, and if it would be too many characters to fit in the comment box….something happened. A voice (God) came over me, and I felt a sense of calmness, and “exposing” that person was no longer on my spirit. Through forgiving them and a strong relationship with God, I realized that having the last word is not always needed. I know what happened, they know what they did, and no matter how it’s masked, in reality, there is also another person that knows, too: my mighty and faithful God. 

At the end of the day, we all have to answer for our sins, mistakes, shortcomings and wrongdoings. I won’t have to answer for what they did, but I will have to answer for what I did with my time on this planet. When I thought about my answer to “exposing” said person, I realized I couldn’t even use the “I didn’t know better at the time” excuse; I did know better, so I listened to God and decided against it.

Growth for me was walking away from an opportunity like that and keeping it between God and I. When I sat down and thought about it, I was able to do that through the power of forgiveness. When I realized the power that forgiveness created in my life, I realized the pain, hurt and the people that did those things no longer had power over me. For years, I’ve heard people say “you forgive people for yourself, not for them” and never got it…until I was today years old. Through the power of forgiving, I was able to release my traumatic baggage by relinquishing their power/hold over my life. 

All in all, my good people, don’t let the trespassers against you win. Believe in God, believe in yourself, in your light, and in love. If you don’t take away anything else from me and my journey, just remember, they failed because God WON! Peace, Prosperity, Positivity, Aśe! – Paigey B.

Paige Baxter was born and raised on the west side of Detroit. She has a BA in Psychology from Wayne
State University. Her love and passion for mental health and for working with children placed a calling on her life to be a social worker, a field she’s worked in for the last 3 years. She seeks to impact the world through her testimony, her ability to uplift, encourage, and inspire others to believe in themselves. She wants people to see the beauty within themselves and recognize their own worth and just how amazing and magical they can be. She takes pride in being blessed so that she may be a blessing to others. She believes that is the true meaning of being human and being a child of God.


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Is There Only One “Right” Way to Live?

This is probably one of the most important questions we will consider. This question may seem pretty straightforward, but it’s extremely important for us to avoid drawing a quick conclusion. Why? Because whatever answer you land on will be the basis for how you view and relate to people who live and believe differently from you.

Here’s what we know:

  1.  “Absolute truth” is whatever is always valid, regardless of parameters or context. Those parameters include things like time, culture, religion, nationality, etc. The word absolute in the term suggests that absolute truth must have or be: a quality of truth that cannot be exceeded; complete truth; unvarying and permanent truth. Absolute truths cannot have exceptions and must be valid for everyone at all times, no matter what.
  2. If there is only one “right” way to live, the phrase only one suggests that way of living is absolute, meaning it must always be valid for everyone at all times, no matter what.
  3. Some (not all) religions/denominations of religions teach that their ideology is the only way to be saved and/or the only way of life that is acceptable to God. For example, Catholicism teaches that “outside the Church there is no salvation,” first stated by Pope Innocent III in 1215. Another example is Islam, which teaches that “[t[ruly the religion with Allah is Islam” (3:19) “[a]nd whoever seeks a religion other than Islam it will never be accepted of him…” (3:85).
  4. Philosophers have debated what is known as moral relativism, i.e. that “moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others.” The Ancient Greeks first challenged accepted assumptions regarding morality in the 5th century B.C.E., and that challenge saw a resurgence in the late 1500s A.D. with the writings of Montaigne. In his book “On Custom”, Montaigne advances as a general thesis that “each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice; for indeed it seems we have no other test of truth and reason than the example and pattern of the opinions and customs of the country we live in” (Montaigne, p. 152).

That said, you may be wondering, “Does objective truth exist? And, if it does, how do I figure out what that ‘truth’ is?” There is no simple answer to those questions. In the Bible, John 14:6 states that Jesus said he was “the way and the truth and the life.” Taking that at face value for a second, if Jesus is truth AND Jesus is God or Godlike, could we draw the conclusion that the overarching message of that statement is that truth = God and/or God = truth? Mahatma Gandhi seemed to think so. He wrote, “My prayerful search gave me the revealing maxim Truth is God, instead of the usual one God is Truth. That maxim enables me to see God face to face as it were. I feel Him pervade every fibre of my being.” Harijan, 9-8-’42.

Gandhi’s perspective is interesting because it points back to one of our earlier discussions. Do you remember when we asked you who do you say God is? If “truth” and God go hand in hand, perhaps what we think about truth goes back to what we believe about God and who we say God is. Moral relativists generally don’t believe in God and thus, don’t believe in an objective standard or truth being set by God. On the other hand, truth absolutists believe in their conception of God 100%, thus they believe in what they consider to be God’s absolute truth 100% (as we saw above, this can be said for both Catholic and Islamic theology). However, if you believe in an infinite God, there’s also an argument to be made for truth also being infinite, which actually works with both truth absolutism and moral relativism because an infinite truth accounts for what we know (known absolutes), what we know we don’t know (unknown absolutes), and what we don’t know we don’t know (relativism).

As you have probably realized, we often find ourselves caught between two extremes. In this context, one extreme being that there is only one “correct” way to live and believe, and the other extreme being that there are no moral absolutes at all (which is also an absolute!). It can get pretty confusing, but the important thing to remember is that the only person you can ultimately control is…you. No matter what anyone else believes or how they believe people should live their lives, the best way for you to live and believe your truth is to just do it. Know what you believe, know why you believe it, and then do the best you can to live a life that is consistent with what you feel convicted of in your heart. You never know who’s watching, and showing how the life you live works for you is often more effective than just talking about it could ever be.

What do you think? Is there only one “right” way to live life? Is truth absolute or relative? Are there principles/lifestyle choices that you believe anyone can benefit from? Let us know in the comments below!

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Jason’s Truth

“Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” -Yeshua (Jesus), Matthew 16:18b 

I admit, the implication of the above quote was lost on me for a long time. It’s a segment of a conversation between Jesus and his rambunctious disciple Peter. It’s sandwiched right between Peter’s victory moment of correctly identifying out loud that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah (vs.16), only to lose sight of that in the next few moments and be rebuked with a stern “get behind me Satan!” (vs.23). These high drama moments would grab my attention, and if I did read the bridge between them, I would then be lost in trying to prove that the “rock” the church is built upon is not Peter himself, but his confession of the nature of Christ (vs. 17-18). With all this, I stumbled past the simple truth that would radically shift my faith walk and send me on a completely new path. 

You see, being raised a believer, I spent much of my life with an “us against them” mentality when it came to matters of faith. I had internalized the idea that Christians are under attack on all sides, so I should greatly fear being compromised, deceived, or defeated. Because of this, I would only feel safe amongst other completely like-minded believers, and I put high importance on not being tarnished by the world; seeking to avoid it at all and every cost. I went through phases of being terrified by secular music or television, demonic activity that could be found in party environments, or even playing Pokemon cards. 

Anything outside of a western Christian perspective was dangerous and potentially deadly, and anything popular must be the result of a deep-seated and demonic conspiracy. In all honesty, as an older teen maintaining this level of vigilance and fear within my faith became exhausting and deeply discouraging. It felt that God had abandoned us to a world of constant attack, and the penalty of a slight stumble or fall would be total annihilation. The power of Satan felt insurmountable and the path to redemption felt almost impossible. The mindset of keeping one’s head down and muscling through to the end of this life thing while keeping your fingers crossed that you would earn heaven became my MO. Little did I know that THIS was the deception; this whole concept was a trap that robbed me of life abundant. 

While pursuing a degree in theology, I began to actually read the teachings and stories in the Bible, and at the encouragement of some phenomenal teachers, I did so without the baggage of any particular perspective. Instead, I allowed the world and motivations of the writing to speak for itself. To my surprise, I did not see the terrifying world I had imagined when listening to various sermons over the years, but instead a gospel so sweet that it defied the mind. I saw a God so loving and passionate that the title of Father was not only fitting but natural and an astounding standard to inspire awe and to be revered. It was at this time that I re-encountered the above text and became floored by it’s simple and readily apparent meaning: When the Messiah depicts the nature of the church, the community of believers, they are not playing defense, but OFFENSE. Not against other people, but against the power of the enemy itself. 

Nobody carries a set of gates into battle to do war, but erects them outside a territory as protection. The imagery Jesus pulls from does not display the church as setting up gates of defense to hide behind for escape but showcases that hell itself is seeking protection from US. We are not saved through a test of endurance to be challenged by the world and reach some quota of righteousness by the end, but are birthed into a Kingdom that empowers us to storm the enemy camp on a mission of rescue. We are not the defeated, we are the conquerors. We don’t fear the darkness, for we are the light. The goal is to be immersed and spread amongst the world, not to run from it. To engage humanity and bring light to the fallen, to the hurting, to those trapped in darkness and death. Not with just a message, or recruitment to a side, but with LOVE. Spoken, yes, but also lived out through compassion and justice. The gates of darkness will not overpower us, so how can we fear? 

I put away my defensive weapons of judgment and fear. I picked up understanding, compassion, and empathy. I began to see others as people just like me. Who hurt, and were afraid, clinging to their own version of “us against them”. Now that I had tasted reconciliation and peace, I only sought to share it and set my fellow prisoners free. 

THIS is the church. This is what it is to believe. We have tasted, and seen. We now showcase and share in love. Hell doesn’t stand a chance. 

Jason Francis is a single father of three who has a passion for young people and showcasing the gospel to the unchurched. He is the leader of Kinetic (iamkinetic.org), an independent ministry dedicated to inspiring every believer to recognize and unleash their God-given potential to transform the world. Jason longs to see the birth of a new and simple church that is relevant and accessible to the average person of this generation. 


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Spirituality Vs. Religion

Now that you’ve established your thoughts regarding religion and its place in the world, it’s time to think about the “Spirituality vs. Religion” debate and what that means for you. We’re sure that you’ve heard people say, “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” Nowadays, an increasing number of people use that phrase as a way of challenging the idea that organized religion is the only or the most valuable way to further spiritual growth. Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used interchangeably to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion. Recently, however, spirituality more often refers to the interior life of the individual, emphasizing a personal relationship with God or a higher being and personal exploration/growth/conviction, while religion generally refers to organizational or communal culture and doctrinal beliefs. So which is better? Or does it matter?

Here’s what we know:

  1. Spirituality is “the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.” “Religion” usually refers to “a particular system of faith and worship,” but it can also be broadly defined as “[t]he belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.”
  2. According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2012, the number of Americans who do not identify with any religion increased from 15% in 2007 to 20% in 2012, and that number has continued to grow. One-fifth of the U.S. public and a third of adults under the age of 30 were reportedly unaffiliated with any religion but identify as being spiritual in some way. Of those religiously unaffiliated Americans, 37% classified themselves as spiritual but not religious, while 68% said they did believe in God, and 58% feel a deep connection to the Earth.
  3. Linda A. Mercadante categorizes people who identify as “spiritual but not religious” into five distinct categories (Mercandante, Linda A. (2014), Belief without borders: inside the minds of the spiritual but not religious, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, p. 35-67):
    1. “Dissenters” are the people who, for the most part, make a conscious effort to veer away from institutional religion. “Protesting dissenters” are those who have been ‘turned off’ by religious affiliation because of adverse personal experiences with it. “Drifted Dissenters” refers to those who, for a multitude of reasons, fell out of touch with organized religion and chose never to go back. “Conscientious objector dissenters” refers to those who are overtly skeptical of religious institutions and are of the view that religion is neither a useful nor necessary part of an individual’s spirituality.
    2. “Casuals” are the people who see religious and/or spiritual practices as primarily functional. Spirituality is not an organizing principle in their lives. Rather they believe it should be used on an as-needed basis for bettering their health, relieving stress, and for emotional support. The spirituality of “Casuals” is thus best understood as a “therapeutic” spirituality that centers on the individual’s personal wellbeing.
    3. “Explorers” are the people who seem to have what Mercandante refers to as a “spiritual wanderlust”. They find their constant search for novel spiritual practices to be a byproduct of their “unsatisfied curiosity”, their desire for journey and change, as well as feelings of disappointment. Explorers are best understood as “spiritual tourists” who take comfort in the destination-less journey of their spirituality and have no intention of ultimately committing to a spiritual home.
    4. “Seekers” are those people who are looking for a spiritual home but contemplate recovering earlier religious identities. They embrace the “spiritual but not religious” label and are eager to find a completely new religious identity or alternative spiritual group that they can ultimately commit to.
    5. “Immigrants” are those people who have found themselves in a novel spiritual realm and are trying to adjust themselves to this newfound identity and its community. “Immigrants” can be best understood as those who are “trying on” a radically new spiritual environment but have yet to feel completely settled there. It is important to note that for them, although they are hoping to become fully integrated in their newfound spiritual identities, the process of acclimation is difficult and often disconcerting.

Spirituality and religion are both difficult to box into just one perspective or way of thinking. It seems that many people struggle to nail down and define exactly what they believe, even those who belong to organized religious structures. There are many people who label themselves something, but when they really have to think about it, they find themselves explaining the aspects of that belief system or ideology that they don’t necessarily agree with. There are also people who don’t label themselves or subscribe to anything at all, and subsequently “get lost in the sauce,” i.e. they don’t have any sort of foundation to ground themselves in.

No matter what you call yourself, the important thing to remember is who you are, the kind of person you want to be, what you stand for, and why. If your religion or your spirituality or lack thereof aren’t making you a better person and inspiring you to have a positive impact on the world around you, that’s what you should consider re-evaluating. Having a community to hold you accountable can be beneficial, but if you aren’t motivated to hold yourself to a certain standard regardless of who you think may be watching, how effective can you say that community is? And who says it has to be one or the other? If the goal is personal growth and accountability, the way you pursue that may be less important than the pursuit itself.

What do you think? Is spirituality or religion preferable to the other, or are they really the same thing? If you consider yourself to be “religious,” what does that mean to you and why? If you consider yourself to be “spiritual,” what does that mean to you and why?

Further Reading:
Are there dangers in being “spiritual but not religious”? by John Blake

Criticisms of Spirituality without Religion:
Viewpoint: The Limitations of Being ‘Spiritual but Not Religious’ by Rabbi David Wolpe
Spiritual But Not Religious – Not so Fast! by James Martin
Spiritual but Not Religious: The vital interplay between submission and freedom by Amy Hollywood

Criticism of Organized Religion:
Criticism of Religion Wiki (links to a variety of sources on a wide range of criticisms regarding several different religions)
Problems of Organized Religion by Paul Brunton
A Historical Outline of Modern Religious Criticism in Western Civilization by R.G. Price

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What Role Does Religion Have in the World?

We’ve reached the point where we discuss a topic that most people have opinions on but they either don’t like to talk about or can’t talk about without arguing: Religion! Right now, more than 75% of the world’s population is a part of some religious community. The word “religion” is perhaps derived from the Latin word “religare”, meaning “bind together”. Historically, one positive aspect of religion has been its ability to unite people in common beliefs and practices for a shared common goal. However, that unity has also been known to become warped, with religion being used to justify doing harm rather than good. So what does that mean for us? Is religion good, bad, irrelevant, or obsolete?

Here’s what we know:

1. No one really knows where “religion” originated. According to anthropologists John Monaghan and Peter Just, “Many of the great world religions appear to have begun as revitalization movements of some sort, as the vision of a charismatic prophet fires the imaginations of people seeking a more comprehensive answer to their problems than they feel is provided by everyday beliefs (Monaghan, John; Just, Peter (2000). Social & Cultural Anthropology. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 126).”

2. Religious development has taken different forms in different cultures. Some religions emphasize practice, while others emphasize beliefs or doctrines. Some religions prioritize people having their own personal (subjective) religious experiences, while others consider the activities of the religious community as a whole to be the most important thing. Some religions claim to be universal, believing their laws must be (or eventually will be) followed by everyone, while others are designed to only be practiced by a select group (Monaghan, John; Just, Peter (2000). Social & Cultural Anthropology. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 124).

3. Anthropologists John Monoghan and Peter Just also state that “it seems apparent that one thing religion or belief helps us do is deal with problems of human life that are significant, persistent, and intolerable. One important way in which religious beliefs accomplish this is by providing a set of ideas about how and why the world is put together that allows people to accommodate anxieties and deal with misfortune (Monaghan, John; Just, Peter (2000). Social & Cultural Anthropology. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 124).”

Very few human communities have existed without some sort of religious belief system being incorporated into their culture. Although many people would deny that they are religious, with an estimated 4,200 different religions currently in practice worldwide, others would argue that religion is as intrinsic to human beings as is breathing.

What do you think? Do we need religion? If so, why? If not, why? Is there a way to incorporate the good things religion has to offer into our lives without taking on the bad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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You’re Worth It

Being a mom and a wife isn’t easy. If marriage isn’t complicated enough, adding kids and the military to the mix leads to a whole other mess of problems! I got married and had my children when I was still pretty young. Over time, I’ve learned how being a wife and mother increases the chances of losing your identity, or rather, not even realizing you have an identity because it gets lost in the daily hustle and bustle of caring for everyone but yourself. 

Growing up in church and in a God-fearing home, I was raised to always go to God first for everything. But then I grew up and life hit me at full speed. Before I knew it, I had a baby, a husband who was traveling the world with the military, and no sense of self. I was alone in a brand new place with no family and no desire to make new friends. I didn’t have anyone to tell me that I may be suffering from postpartum depression, so I just spent years in a dark and low place, wondering…why? Why did I feel so lost? Why wasn’t I thriving like some of my peers? 

Why did the darkness feel so hard to come out of?

My vision of being a wife and mother was nowhere near my reality. I constantly told myself that I wasn’t good enough, even occasionally questioning the reason I was alive. However, with time, I have learned to give myself grace. I expected so much out of my life while putting in so little. I wanted to have it all, but poured hardly anything into myself. Then I beat myself up because I was not where I wanted to be. It was like being in an abusive relationship with my subconscious. I had to wake up and get out! I also had to accept the fact that even though I’m not always where I want to be, it’s alright, because I’m right where God wants me to be. 

God put me on this planet for a reason and my purpose is in the process of being fulfilled. All the hurt, pain, and darkness were for growth. It took a while to get here, but ever since I allowed God to pull me out of my depression, my focus has been self-care. I’ve learned that when I’m at my best, everything else will follow and fall into place. If you’ve ever been on an airplane, you know that they tell you that in an emergency, you have to put your oxygen mask on before you can help anyone else. You can’t help anyone if you’re passed out, and you being passed out only makes things more difficult for everyone else. I think the same applies to life. When you feel like you have to meet all of your husband’s needs, make sure your kids are being poured into, and that your house is immaculate to the point that it feels like you’re drowning in tasks, remember to put the oxygen mask on yourself before anyone else. They need you to be awake and present, not drowning! 

So to all the moms and wives out there who sometimes get overwhelmed like I do, I just wanted to remind you that self-care is so important and you’re worth it. It’s okay to take some time for yourself, whether that means locking yourself in the bathroom to take a bath and read a good book uninterrupted, waking up an hour early to get in some yoga or meditation, or even going out and starting a kickball league with other moms. Whatever “fun” may be to you, find it and carve out some time for yourself every week and see how different your life will be in a matter of months. Also, don’t forget to take time daily to talk to your Creator and ask Him to pull you out of the darkness, however deep you’ve fallen, and show you the happiness you have been craving. Pour into self, and God will pour into you! 

I’m still a work in progress, but ever since I started following this plan, I’ve been happier than ever! No longer a “homebody,” I’m out making new friends, going to networking events, and working constantly on personal development. My kids see and feel the difference it has made, and they are also so much happier AND they are more behaved (moms know how amazing that is lol). It’s a win-win all around, and I hope any mamas and wifeys reading this can be encouraged to find their peace and happiness, too. I’m rooting for you. You got this! 

Tricia Bowman is an Entrepreneur, 
Personal Trainer, Mentor, and Bodybuilder. Also a mom of 3 and a military wife, she is excited to use her experiences and her gifts as a way of sharing the awesome love of God! 


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David’s Truth

by David Baxter

Hello, my name is David Baxter. I was born in 1956 to an interracial couple in the City of Detroit, MI. Growing up amidst the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements while having a Caucasian woman as my mother made my adolescent years extremely challenging. It became clear to me that being fully accepted into the society I lived in was never going to happen. Even excelling athletically (I was the 61st player selected in the 1978 NBA Draft) could not get me over the hump. After a brief professional career, I retired and used drugs and alcohol to mask the pain caused by years of rejection.

In 1984, a high school friend shared his faith in Christ with me and after a few Bible studies, I became a Christian, too, and I was baptized. That suppressed my pain for a while and I served faithfully in my church for 30 years, only to reach a place where I discovered that I had more questions than the church’s teachings had answers. My faith gave way to doubt and my uncertainty in God’s love for me led me to choose the path of the prodigal son, and I ended up going to a proverbial “far country.”

While I was in the “pig pen” expecting God’s wrath to come in whatever form, even illness or death, I waited…and waited…and it was there that I actually discovered His mercy. Whether I stayed in the “miry clay” or returned to “my Father’s house”, He revealed to me that His love has no conditions. That revelation freed me, and I chose to return to my amazing wife and children. My family also embraced me for who I was, a flawed human being. Their capacity to forgive me and love me through my healing as they were going through their own healing processes helped me to see in them something I’d never seen before: the love of God with no conditions.

I now have a newfound hope and renewed purpose and I can say, like God’s servant Job in Job 42:5, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.”
Thank you, Father. Thank you, Renée. I love you.

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Does Earth Reveal Anything About God?

Most people who believe in God or a higher power believe that God’s power has been revealed through the intricacies of the world we live in and the creatures who inhabit it, humans included! However, some scientists argue that evolution is responsible for the world as we know it. So what’s true?

Here’s what we know:
1. The theory of evolution refers to a process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
2. An estimated 8.7 million species live on earth (read the article for yourself here). There are 5,416 different types of mammals, 228,450 types of sea animals, 9,000-10,000 types of birds, 391,000 types of plants (369,000 being flowers), and 60,000 types of trees.
3. Science does not, in fact, disprove the existence of a creator God.

Science and the earth are both so vast and complex that it is possible to make a case for many different theories. It all boils down to a person’s premise, i.e. whether or not that person believes in God, because that’s the lens that person will be interpreting evidence through. If you don’t believe in God, there are arguments to be made for why our existence can be explained without relying on a creator. And if you do believe in God, there are arguments to be made for why our existence as we know it would not be possible without intervention from a higher power. The important thing to remember is that your opinion should be evidence-based and even though your evidence may not be enough for someone else, that’s okay.

What, if anything, do you believe creation reveals about God and why? Why do you think so much diversity exists and do you think humanity’s diversity reflects the diversity found in other species? What, if anything, does that diversity say about God? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!