Faith + Mental Health
“Until and unless Christ is experienced as a living relationship between people, the Gospel remains largely an abstraction. Until Christ is passed on personally through faithfulness and forgiveness, through concrete bonds of union, I doubt whether he is passed on by words, sermons, institutions, or ideas.”-Richard RohrBRAAAAAAAINSI don’t talk to my kids about the Bible […]
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different…”- C.S. Lewis (Prince Caspian)“I’m struggling hardcore, missing Jesus,” That’s the text I sent to my buddy Michael, three days before Christmas. I’ve had to sit with the uncomfortable truth that exists in this story for the past couple of […]
After reading Catching Your Breath, the one thing everyone seems to want to know is this: what the hell is a Christian Agnostic?
I’m not sure why you clicked on this story, but I feel like it should come with a disclaimer. The goal of this article is not to get you to say “Happy Holidays.” I’m not a soldier in the “War on Christmas.” Leave the baby Jesus in the manger and say “Merry Christmas” to whomever […]
Growing up in the Bible Belt, life seemed fairly simple – you were either “sinner” or “saint”, Alabama or Auburn, Republican or Democrat – Christian or not. But these days, I’m not so sure. Nothing is certain. And that isn’t just the biggest part of my church struggle, it’s the biggest part of my faith […]
“Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life.”― Shannon L. Alder I’m a Christian, but I’ve had questions for God for many years. My wondering started way back in high school. The familiar questions and answers about faith […]
Lindsey and I love to shop at garage sales and thrift stores. We both grew up going to them, so giving new purpose to old pieces of furniture is a fun challenge and reward for us. Our current kitchen table is a wooden corner booth, which originated either in a camper or a house boat. […]
In this Episode of the #AskSteveAustin Podcast, I get honest about my struggles during the Easter season. I talk about Jesus, the Cross, and the Resurrection. I ask the question, “What the hell do we do with Jesus?” I talk about faith, doubt, atheism, Christianity, and feeling stuck somewhere in-between. I talk about attending an […]
Sometimes trusting God isn’t triumphant or glorious. Sometimes trusting God isn’t even a desire. It’s a stubbornness that cries in the middle of the night, but attaches firmly to my faith. Sometimes trusting God isn’t a praise song with the full band on a Sunday morning, but rather it’s a stick-to-it-ness that says I know there is something deeper than my pain and a Power higher than anything I can rationalize, so I’ll give this another shot tomorrow.
I’ll never forget my first experience with a “crisis of faith”. It was about fourteen years ago, during my second year of ministry school. I’d been having questions for a couple of years, and one day in Bible class, all my suspicions came to a head. I knew I couldn’t go on, ignoring that gnawing in the secret places of […]