Wade Poe

In the 70's and 80's, there was this thing called "the Satanic Panic".  A minister or two began claiming that if you played certain rock music backwards, you'd hear messages encouraging devil or Satan worship and your subconscious would pick up on it and you'd become possessed or influenced by the devil. I remember hearing about it "at church" and at school.  People would talk about it with comments ranging from, "That's so cool!" to "That's a load of BS." to "We've got to stop all you all from listening to that devil music!" People were genuinely terrified. Horror movies were just beginning to be popular, from my memory at least, and the fear of the devil coming through rock music fit right into it all.  Anything associated with hard rock music was opening you up to the influence of the devil. I remember watching an instructional/educational video about it with church people and, as the video ended with ever...

Over the past couple of years as more people began to be open about deconstruction and changing how they feel or believe about faith issues, a pushback came from some insiders saying that those going through deconstruction are criticizing Jesus' bride, the church. Usually the push back included the assumption that any kind of criticism of "church" is a criticism of their specific church and that people ought not to say anything that would cause anyone to think negatively in any way about "church"; only positive things are allowed. When specific instances of why someone would offer critique of something happening "in a church" or about the faith group they were from, the response is usually something like... "Well, the church is full of imperfect people. Of course they make mistakes. You can't expect perfection.  Being part of a church assumes you'll put up with pain, doubts, disagreements, etc.  God expects you do stick it out and honor hi...

Most people are born into belief.   You don't have to decide about a lot of things, you're just "given" those things and you assume that is how things are and how the world works. As you grow and develop, you begin to run into and/or pick up different ideas and experiences.  At some point, you have to begin defending what you already believe or  begin considering the different ideas and experiences as possibly something to take into your world or belief system. Safety, trust, the possibility of loss or benefit, and a whole host of unspoken but strongly felt thoughts and considerations begin unfolding inside a person IF and when they begin to take other things inside their heart and mind. _______________ When I was a child, my family moved from the country and into a small town. One of my first memories of meeting other people around my age was after a church gathering on a Wednesday night. I don't remember why we got on the topic, but me and another boy got into a...

Is deconstruction the same thing as “being woke”? No, they *can* overlap, but one does not mean the other is present - at least in the way that the word “woke” is used in our culture today. For me, deconstruction simply means that I changed my thinking on a lot of big picture issues when it came to what I believe about faith in God, what scripture is and what it’s for, and what “church” is supposed to be in my life and what it is “supposed to be” in real life for those who believe. To an outsider who comes from another Christian religious tribal background or tradition, they would probably just see me as someone who changed a few of my beliefs about Christianity. To an outsider who does not come from a Christian religious background, they also would possibly see me as someone who changed a few of my beliefs about Christianity. To many from my religious tribe of origin, they would probably see me as someone who has abandoned my faith entirely, but that’s not how I see it at all. In our ...

A lot of church people don't understand why outsiders or non-church people don't want to be part of church. A lot of outsiders or non-church people don't understand why church people seem to be so interested in church things, getting rid of certain sins, and other things that seem so disconnected from their life. There is a cultural and communication difference that doesn't seem like a lot of people try to cross over or build a bridge over in order to communicate better. Outsiders aren't too motivated to be the ones who have to cross over and translate for the church people. Church people often seem like they assume the outsiders "already know better" and are just holding out and not wanting to commit to what they know they should commit to. Outsiders aren't completely unaware of the ideas of right and wrong, know generally who God and Jesus are in a pop culture sense, but get hung up on some of the details that seem really genuinely arbitrary to them....

Steven Martin made a movie called "Leap of Faith" back in the early 90's putting the spotlight on religious healing, fake healers that make money at the expense of the gullible, and yet showing the possibility of hope and faith having real and powerful results. It was really good, even if a little cheesy.  It brought up a lot of good discussions about what it means to be healed and what we're possibly healed of or healed from.  And whether God has anything to do with it. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and the meaning of healing has changed a lot for me.  A lot. _______________ A lot of times, healing doesn't look or appear or feel like you think it's going to look or feel.  Most healing is not external and physical - most of it is internal and spiritual or emotional. It isn't a lot of emotion  and fantastic moments of revelation.   That's what a lot of people try to sell, but it's not real and it's not what works. Most o...