Hey everyone!
As you may have noticed, I've been dark on this blog for a little while. Thank you so much for your patience with me. Over the last few months, I've been building something brand new - a publication called Becoming Love.
I've loved writing here but the more I wrote, the more I realized that it all was starting to fall under the same category - living a life with God in community that is restorative, transformative, and abundant over the long haul. As I wrote, it became more and more clear that this content deserved its own home, not under my name alone. There are two big reasons for this:
As you may have noticed, I've been dark on this blog for a little while. Thank you so much for your patience with me. Over the last few months, I've been building something brand new - a publication called Becoming Love.
I've loved writing here but the more I wrote, the more I realized that it all was starting to fall under the same category - living a life with God in community that is restorative, transformative, and abundant over the long haul. As I wrote, it became more and more clear that this content deserved its own home, not under my name alone. There are two big reasons for this:
- There are A TON of other incredible people out there with fascinating takes and brand new ideas about discipleship that deserve a place to share what's working for them in their walk with God - I want to help uplift those voices and collaborate with them to build something new
- I'm generally uncomfortable with the idea of "personal branding" or self promotion - not that I think those who engage in it are always wrong, but the last thing that my ego needs is a boost - writing in community will help with that
Enter Becoming Love. I've become convicted that discipleship in the Western Church is failing - we tend to rely solely on intellectual formation or emotional experiences to help people grow. Now those are not bad things in and of themselves but without anything to balance them out, they become a recipe for burnout. We need a more solid foundation for life with God that is:
- Communal
- Liturgical
- Contemplative
- Charismatic
- Evangelistic
- Practical
I'm not saying I have the all the answers to the problems we face, but I really do believe that there's something I can contribute to the conversation.
SO.
With all that in mind, I'd love to encourage you to check out Becoming Love, first on our website and secondly on Substack where we'll be sharing the newsletter.
I'll make a little plug just to say that now being on Substack, we have the ability to offer paid subscriptions. The plan is to offer absolutely everything for free but the cost of running a website/other technology tools is currently coming out of my pocket (which is TOTALLY fine with me) but if you'd like to contribute, there is a little "honesty box" so to speak that you can opt into should you desire for $8USD/month.
Lastly, I recorded a 45 minute-ish conversation with my good friend Margaret Raymond about communal discipleship for Becoming Love subscribers. You all have been following my writing journey for a while so I thought I'd share it here, should anyone be interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUaRmJIUvKc.
Thank you all so much for reading my lengthy ramblings about prayer, deconstruction, ministry, and a healthy spirituality. It's been a wild ride and I can't wait for what comes next.
God Bless,
James