Reclamation Faith

This week Josh and Alison take a brief look at Maundy Thursday, that oft-overlooked day of Holy Week, and see how it is absolutely crucial in our understanding of God's love and the call we have to love people in the same fashion as Jesus. Too often this day is neglected because we lack a practical understanding of servanthood and sacrificial love. However, getting to the core of what Jesus does can open up new ways of thinkin...

This week on the Reclamation Faith podcast, we (Josh and Alison) talk about one of our favorite recent movies, Encanto, and how it can function as a wonderful extended metaphor for the process of deconstruction! In this movie, we see the process of feeling unsettled with a system, trying to fix things, experiencing deeper brokenness, and even losing the heart of what gave that system life - sounds like how many of us have experienc...

This week we have another mini-musing, or a short reflection recorded on a week where we don't have time for a full episode! This musing looks back on our last episode about church silence, and asks whether we contradict our passion for a non-individualistic gospel when we say that the church doesn't "value individuals" but instead focuses on the whole.  What we observe is that individualism in our theology actu...

At Reclamation we have a tradition of interviewing each other on our birthdays (or, at least its' a tradition after this episode)! This week, Josh turns 38...errr....or is it 9.5?...it's confusing. But anyway, Alison interviews Josh on the past year, deconstruction, and how to keep going when you're in a long season of doubt and wrestling. 

Quick Note: If you want to skip to the more general (less personal) ...

In Reclamation's first "mini-musing" we (Josh and Alison) respond to a question about how to discern when we've heard from the Holy Spirit. Though commonly treated as a mysterious messenger that comes and goes, the presence of the Spirit is more a promise than a possibility. We briefly reflect on how we've treated hearing from the Spirit, and what can free us to be more trusting in our approach to this ques...

This week, we look at the idea of reclaiming the universal audience of the story of God. Too much of contemporary Christianity has framed the biblical narrative in a way where Jesus exists just for Christians, or those who will become Christians. In reality, as we trace the movement of God throughout narrative history, we see that God's story has always been for everyone. If we make the story about us, we create and "us v...

This week, Alison and Josh discuss the exhaustion that many of us are facing in this current moment, and how reclaiming faith might contribute to OR alleviate some of the tiredness that we are experiencing. What does it mean to take breaks, slow down, and find rest when the world is in upheaval? How do we hear the words from Jesus about being "weary and heavy-burdened" when we are wrestling with what we believe? For anyon...

In the midst of faith crises and questioning our relationship to Christianity, it is extremely valuable to take a historical view of the forces that have shaped what we believe and why. In this episode, Josh and Alison tackle the roots of American Christian fundamentalism and how modern evangelicalism is built upon much of the same foundation. Seeing our relationship to fundamentalism can actually be hopeful as we wrestle with our ...

In our first episode of 2022, Alison and Josh reflect on New Year's resolutions and how they have spiritual overlap with the ways we view growth and formation in the Christian faith. 

In Christian circles, there is almost an obsession in modern times with "growth." When growth is a pressure rooted in shame or feelings of "not being enough" then the idea of progress becomes debilitating and destruct...

In our last week of Advent, we reflect on the oddness of the Christmas story, and just how completely unexpected the whole situation of Christ's birth was in the context of Israel's expectations. It is important, in a world where Christmas has become warmly familiar, to recapture the weirdness of this event so that we  can see the radical ramifications of the incarnation, and learn to celebrate when our own experiences of...

This week in our Advent series, we take a look at the absolute necessity of the female voice in the birth narrative of Jesus, and the time leading up to the Christmas event. Too often neglected in Evangelical circles, this centering of women and their joy, wisdom, and faithfulness is essential to a full picture of the inauguration of the incarnate Christ. When we don't have this fully realized picture of these women and vital ...

Josh and Alison continue the Advent-themed series this week, looking at concepts at the heart of the season that are often overlooked by Evangelical churches, and what impact that has on faith. This week, we dive deeper into the idea that Christmas doesn't really "fit" the conservative worldview, and how some pretty odd things can happen from pulpits and leaders around Advent as a result. Rather than try to sell peop...

We're back after a long, long time away with a jump into the Advent season! This week, Josh and Alison look at the topic of expectation, or hopeful longing, and how a disregard for this element of Advent and the Christian story impacts our ability to deal with the hardships of our lives and world. If we can relearn what it means to wait on God, it can help us navigate the complexity of life and the tension of faith, and Advent...