Free Range Faith

"Free Range Faith" is a companion memoir for people who have left the institutional church, but not the faith. Glenn Hager addresses the question, "Is there is a more real and meaningful way to try to follow Jesus and express your faith without having to deal with all of the baggage of the institutional church?" He honestly admits, "I was trying to figure out what's next. I did not want to re-enter the institution that we call the church, but I never ceased being amazed by Jesus. I decided that however I expressed my faith, it needed to be real, personal, and a part of everyday life." The author suggests a potential path forward for irreligious friends of Jesus. He examines each of the practices generally believed to be important for nurturing spiritual formation by looking at the conventional way they are expressed, then digging deeper to uncover the foundational principle for the practice, and lastly, considering a more open, meaningful, and honest means of expression. He also devotes several pages to what he calls "lessons that I haven't mastered." These "lessons" are things that every honest person of faith struggles with, like the tension between trusting God and personal responsibility, our hunger for certainty and things that seem to be unanswerable, and the inner battle between grace and guilt. It is an invaluable resource for honest seekers, people who have questions, but haven't been finding answers in the institutional church, and for those who are re-examining their faith and are looking for meaningful avenues of expression. This book is about breaking out of the cage and flying free by forging a personal faith rather than outsourcing it an institution.

Free Range Priest ministry is how clergy can work in the 21st century church. Too many congregations can no longer afford full-time salaries for their ministers. Clergy today are serving in multiple roles within and outside the traditional church model. Becoming a Free Range Priest helps support congregations and bring the Gospel to the world in new ways.

Sometimes you have to leave everything you know in order to find everything you need. Join me in a discovery of the authentic faith of Jesus, without the dogma of Christianity. This book is grouped into themes, but you don't have to start at the beginning and read all the way to the end. Everything was written from late 2012 to early 2014, and in no particular order. Some posts were written while I was in the beginning of the deacon discernment program, while some were written as much as a year after I left church. It is as if I was assembling a jigsaw puzzle without knowing I was doing so. I have done my best to make these pieces fit together as well as possible, even though they were not written with a specific theme in mind at the time. So what is the theme? In part, this book is about what it is like to follow Jesus without following Christianity. I seek to separate the man from the machine. His simple message that we are all loved and forgiven and should do likewise to everyone else should have been enough, but history has proven otherwise. The traditions and rules of the institution that the church has become often take precedent over how we show the love of Jesus to a world that desperately needs it. I propose, like Jesus, that we examine everything we do as members of the Body of Christ and see if we are following the letter of the law or the Spirit of it. I propose that we look closely at how Jesus wanted his Church to be in this world. What should it look like? What should it do? Are there buildings? Or are we to spend our time and money serving together more than worshipping together? Are there ordained ministers? Or are we all ministers by virtue of our baptism? Has the church held people hostage or freed them? Are we to focus on our sin or the fact that Jesus has paid for it? Are we to expect others to live up to our standards, or to love them and serve them as they are? And what if Jesus already has come again, in the hearts of every person who says "Here I am" when he calls? What if Jesus is just like the bread that he gave thanks for, blessed, and broke to distribute to feed the hungry? I believe that Jesus wants all of us to be ministers, regardless of education or gender or anything else. Look at who he chose to be his disciples - the uneducated, the overlooked, the least. I believe that Jesus is sad about anything that divides us, especially us. I propose a new way of looking at, but more importantly, of being, the Church. One without divisions or denominations.

If religion is characterised by the recruitment of God to serve our agendas, and faith is about putting our agendas at the service of God, then clearly there is too much religion in the world, and not enough faith. The first eight chapters of this book apply this religion/faith dichotomy to some crucial areas of interest to those exploring what it might mean to be people of faith in a world saturated with religion.

What if you could wave a magic wand and suddenly look into your mirror to find the lean, healthy body you've always dreamed of smiling back at you? What if you could stop falling out of breath when you tie your shoes, and instead have the energy to keep pace with your own children? What if you had the confidence and self esteem to pursue your dreams? It's not as easy as waving a wand, swallowing a magic pill, or snapping your fingers ... but if you feel it is difficult or impossible, it's time you experience the keys to releasing your fat and embracing your faith. It's time you join those around the world who have overcome obstacles and triumphed through the power of International Health Coach Jeremy Likness' expert advice contained within Lose Fat, Not Faith: A Transformation Guide.

This ambitious and accessible history of the nation's highest court contains information important for every American to know.

What does a Christianity constructed upon and pervaded by a theology of God's unconditional love look like? Aimed at a wide audience, A Faith Worth Living provides one portrait. Chuck Queen weaves together biblical interpretations, theological reflections, and spiritual observations drawn from stories, movies, literature, and common life experiences in his argument for an inclusive Christianity. In a simple, though scholarly informed style, he addresses Christians, students of religion, and spiritual seekers. Key elements of the presentation include: a transformative faith (holistic and non-dualistic), God's dream for the world (kingdom theology), Jesus' nonviolent atonement, the church as a kingdom community, universal salvation (judgment and the cosmic Christ), acceptance of other religious traditions, and the dynamics of a radical discipleship to the way of Jesus.