Snarky Faith

Oh, Liberty, what has happened to you? Once a shining beacon for evangelical conservatism, has now been rocked with scandals. Scrutiny and allegations are hitting Liberty University's emperor, dictator, grifter, president, Jerry Falwell Jr. He's cronies with Trump, a proponent of political evangelism and turned Liberty U into a cash grab through financial mismanagement. Liberty University is just a more successful version of Trump University.   Falwell Jr. rules the campus with an iron fist of fake piety and conservative purity, but apparently he leads with the mantra, "do as I say not as I do." He's used Trump's fixer, Michael Cohen, to bury salacious photos and let's not even talk about his weird relationship with his pool boy. Yeah, that's actually a thing. And at the end of the day, we can rest assured that he learned it all from his dear ol' dad, Jerry Falwell.   So join us today as we talk about the recent scandals that surround Liberty University. We'll also read some fun hate mail and descend into the pit of insanity with the Christian Crazy of the week. Buckle up, it's going to be a wild ride.  Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.SnarkyFaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We should all rejoice that Benny Hinn has finally seen the light and renounced the prosperity gospel! Yes, it's true. That Benny Hinn. You know the one that knocks people to the floor with the power of the Holy Spirit. The one that tells you to give him money for God to bless you. The prosperity gospel, greasy grifter, owner of private jets, Benny Hinn. That one? Yes, supposedly he's turned over a new leaf. Miracles never cease... or do they? So join us today as we delve into this new revelation. We'll look deeper into the art of apologizing... or more aptly put, the art of seemingly apologizing and really just saying nothing. No, not really. Today, we'll basically mock Benny Hinn's non-apology and then look into what apologizing actually should look like. We'll talk about forgiveness and reconciliation and why it matters so much today. The world needs more apologies and more forgiveness. Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.SnarkyFaith.com   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Let's talk about the insanity happening in Christianity. In the age of Trump, it's only gotten more wild and crazy. Typically on our program, we devote the first segment of the hour to the Christian Crazy. This show today will devote its entirety to the crazy. So buckle up as we delve into the Christian lunacy for a higher purpose. Is it mockery? No, but there will be plenty of that, don't worry. We're looking directly into the eyes of madness to see how far Christianity has gone off the rails. Through our journey, we'll discover the peddlers of fear, conspiracy theories, lies, misinformation, and fanaticism. The deranged seeds of these have been under the surface of American Christianity for years, but the Orange messiah has opened the doors and welcomed the crazy into the light. He's emboldened it and given it a platform. All of this does nothing but obstruct and impede the mission of God. This type of crazy is about control and power. It's a far cry from the call of Jesus for the faithful to be people of love, grace, humility, truth, and justice. Join us today as we descend into the Christian Crazy and see what can be gleaned from all of this absurdity, stupidity, and derangement. Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.SnarkyFaith.com  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bon Jovi once iconically sang, "You Give Love a Bad Name." It was an 80's anthem and an ode to big hair and arena rock. Today that song summarizes up the modern posture of the Evangelical church. Love no longer has a good name within Christianity. With the elections of 2016, the Evangelical Church in America showed us its true colors. 80% of white Evangelical voters signed up, part and parcel, for a narcissist, womanizing, bag of tanned flesh that became their new messiah. We're now in 2019 and they're certainly not turned off by Trump's first term. His bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia and inflammatory rhetoric only make them hornier. To conservative Christendom, Jesus is no longer their boyfriend. They believe that they are engaged in an existential struggle against a wicked enemy American liberals and the left. They believe that power and politics are part of their mission. They believe many things but none of them are the way of Jesus. The church has forgotten how to love, how to serve and how to sacrifice. They may say the right words, sing the right songs and quote the right scripture, but much of Christianity has forgotten how to love. When you forget how to love, you lose Jesus. When Christianity has lost Jesus, it's lost everything. Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.SnarkyFaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the sad state of the world today, one thing has become more and more clear. American Christianity is a religion driven more by fear than faith. Fearfulness drives us to suspicious. It drives us to be paranoid. It drives us to hate. Fear has no place within Christianity, it only toxifies and warps worldviews and drives us as far from love as we can be. If Jesus said, "fear not," why has fear become such a driving force that has seeped into the ethos of Christianity? Is Christ no longer an active ingredient in the faith? The Christian church has become feckless, selfish, weak, and driven by fear. We don't have to stand for it. We weren't commanded to be complacent. Christ's words and commands are as relevant to today as they were years ago. We're not commanded to follow a faith that's driven by fearfulness. We're called to live out the ways of Jesus and make a difference in the world around us. Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.SnarkyFaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I have so many questions for the American Church. What are we doing? How did we get here? What's the point anymore? The most important of these questions is who are we? The church has forgotten its identity and it's forgotten why it exists. This can be seen easily by the things that Christianity has somehow gotten involved with like politics and commerce. Today, it's more of a business than the movement founded on love by Jesus. If Christianity no longer looks like Jesus, it's basically either a business or a lobbying firm. Christians have forgotten why they exist. It's not about being right or where go when you die. It's about how you live here and now. Jesus spoke about a new way to live that was laser-focused on the here and now and how we could make a difference in the lives of other people's 'here and now.' That's the hard work. Most the faith gets too heaven and hell obsessed because it's all abstract and not tangible. It pulls us away from real life and the fact that we all have a pulse. Our actions matter. The words of Jesus matter. Christianity should matter, but the church has forgotten its identity and needs to find it again. Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.SnarkyFaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Another week, another mass shooting in America. It's become all too normal for us. We respond in the same ways and call for the same reforms and still nothing ever changes. We're outraged, but this outrage is all too familiar a feeling. Let's take a different look at part of the problem. I'm not talking about big, sweeping solutions that politicians pander. Nope, I'm talking about small things that we can do to effect change. Spoiler alert: it begins with you learning to own your shit. We live in a blame culture where we pass the buck and make other responsible. Sorry kids, this one's on you. We've got to learn to stop making excuses and own our roles in this mess. It'd be great if we could scapegoat this, but sorry, we're done with that approach. Looking to Jesus, we see the small beginnings of what is required. It's called repentance. I'm not talking about that pseudo-spiritual, evangelical trigger word. I'm talking about real repentance in the form of saying that we're wrong and owning it. As a culture, we've learned to pass the blame and we no longer own our shit. We expect politicians or pastor to fix things, but the real change is in our own hands. There's huge power in owning your own mistakes. A power that can create real change, if we're willing to be vulnerable. Are you willing to try? Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world.   www.SnarkyFaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Scott Shay is not a rabbi or a theological scholar, he’s the founder and chairman of Signature Bank in New York. So, of course, you'd assume that he's written a book about faith, right? In his new book, In Good Faith: Questioning Atheism and Religion, Scott seeks to reexamine the relationship between faith, reason, and ethics. It’s an honest take on how a modern person finds meaning and purpose within ancient texts where he answers the question, does religion make sense anymore? One of the core components of the books is a deep dive into the concept of idolatry and how it's fundamentally opposed to monotheism. We'll unpack that with Scott along with many other rich concepts and conversations found within the pages of his fascinating new book. Join me as I wrestle with Scott about the role of faith and reason in the modern world. It's a fun ride that you're sure to enjoy. You can find Scott Shay's book, In Good Faith: Questioning Atheism and Religion, here. You can also find more about Scott here: scottshay.com Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.SnarkyFaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Within modern American Christianity, we have forgotten what it means to be sacrificial. We've traded this humble posture of Jesus for a consumeristic, materialistic, and comfortable faith where we shop for churches like we look for fast food options. There is a lost art of sacrifice that has been long forgotten. If you lose sacrifice from the faith, you're just left with a judgmental, selfish religious club. There are far too many Jesus clubs these days and far too few followers of Jesus. To follow Jesus means to walk like Jesus. Sacrifice is central to faith and if we lose it, we lose all of Jesus. And a church that has forgotten Jesus, what is the point anymore? Join us as we talk about how to find our way back to Jesus. Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world.  www.SnarkyFaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"The Dunning-Kruger effect is a type of cognitive bias in which people believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are. Essentially, low ability people do not possess the skills needed to recognize their own incompetence. The combination of poor self-awareness and low cognitive ability leads them to overestimate their own capabilities." - Kendra Cherry Join us today as we discuss the Dunning-Kruger effect and the general stupefying of American Christianity. When we assume with certainty that we know everything it's a sure sign that we don't know much. When faith becomes more about certainty and less about asking questions and wrestling through the journey of life, you've closed yourself off from learning and growing. Furthermore, if you're not learning and growing, you're being led around by others, whether you want to admit it or not. Come along for the ride as we skewer through life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world. www.snarkyfaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.