#beloved arise

Is It Okay For Christians To Doubt?

Many of us are taught that in order to be a strong Christian, we must have unshakable faith and be certain in our beliefs. But this creates a culture of shaming doubt, and millions* of Christians who experience doubt fear that they can’t be open about their faith. Maybe this is you. But what does the Bible really say about faith, doubt, and questioning?

*One 2017 study from Barna indicated more than half of Christians!

What Do These Words Even Mean?

In the New Testament, the word “believe” is a translation of Greek [image 3] (pisteúŌ, meaning to trust).

Like how you “believe in” or “trust in” your friend. Similarly, both “belief” and “faith” are both translations of [image 4] (pistis, meaning trust).

The words “belief” and “faith” aren’t wrong, but we’ve been using them so long they now have specific religious connotations that can limit our understanding. Thinking about it as our TRUST in God offers us a fresh perspective: it’s less like a thing we can possess (faith/belief) and more like a RELATIONSHIP WE LIVE (trust).

The Bible is a Communal Text

Speaking of relationship, there’s a relational contrast between Scripture’s original readers and us: while we today are extremely INDIVIDUALISTIC, they were a COMMUNAL culture.

The peoples in the Bible used their Scriptures to question and discuss how to worship God and live a good life AS A COMMUNITY. Of course it’s still good and fruitful to read the Bible on your own, but they knew the fruit is riper when harvested collectively. And while we often assume Scripture has the single unchanging answer, they quoted it to voice various perspectives within their communities, which changed with the changing times.*

*Just like healthy relationships do!

Biblical Examples

We see Jesus doing this reinterpretation among his own communities. He raises questions about how the Scriptures are interpreted and often disagrees with his fellow Jewish scholars. 

Paul also does this, in one instance arguing strongly with Simon Peter,* which shows us that from the beginning of Christianity, questioning how we should live our faith (and even disagreement!) is a part of the tradition!

So how does doubt fit in?

*Galatians 2:11-14

The Wisdom of Doubt

It’s been said the opposite of faith isn’t doubt, it’s certainty. Doubt calls our attention to what doesn’t feel right, urging us to challenge what we think and look deeper than what’s on the surface. Doubt offers us questions which we can voice in a community* (just like Jesus and Paul and those before them!). And when we listen to our doubt, we give our TRUST opportunity to grow.

*ideally in a safe, open, curious community

A Nonbinary Way of Faith

The same binary way of thinking which dictates that everyone must be either male or female — this same binary mindset demands we choose between doubt and faith. But maybe our doubt is the Holy Spirit’s whisper that Christ’s good news is more inclusive and nonbinary than we ever imagined. God loves us all for our genders, our sexualities, and our curious questions, doubts, and changing beliefs. 

Divine and Human, Trust and Doubt

When we (mis)use the Bible like proof that we’re right or an emotionless instruction manual, we miss so much of it’s nuanced wisdom and cheapen it’s artistry. The complex beauty of Scripture is that it’s a DIVERSE LIBRARY OF BOOKS, INSPIRED BY GOD AND WRITTEN BY PEOPLE. It is profoundly divine and thoroughly human, and contains many perspectives: some confident, some questioning, some harmonious, some disagreeing — all inviting us through doubt and trust in community to love God.

Practical Tips for Doubting

1. Find a safe, open, curious community to question with. (join our weekly youth group here.)
2. Start following experts. While anyone can benefit from reading the Bible regardless of education, we also need historians, scientists, archeologists, linguists, theologians, philosophers, and many other sort of experts to help us interpret what we read. Many have podcasts, books, and social media! (some listed in picture 4)
3. Trust that God isn’t tallying your failures or loving you because you believe X, Y, or Z. God loves you. Invite Them into your journey of doubt and faith.

To see this information in slide form, go here.

Today, we celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King and their radical fight for justice and safety for Black lives.

As we celebrate MLK Day, we know we still have so much work to do in an America that continues to be a dangerous place for Black people, especially those who are poor, unhoused, transgendered, or those who refuse to “settle down” at the face of racism and white supremacy.

We shall overcome!
We shall overcome!
We shall overcome!

Hello Beloved!

Beloved Arise has partnered with Our Bible App, a community that stands for diversity in Christ. With this partnership, Beloved Arise has founded a free shelf of daily devotionals for queer youth around the world as a means to support this often forgotten (but extremely important) part of our community. This week, 3 more devotionals were added to this shelf.

Check out Our Bible App on Instagram,Facebook, and Twitter.
Download their app on IOS and Andriod here.
Gohere for more information about the new releases.

Why is Knowing Yourself So Important?

YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF IS THE LONGEST RELATIONSHIP YOU WILL EVER HAVE

From birth to death, there is no one else you will talk to more, sit with more, or be with more. To engage with yourself and participate fully into discovering who you are is an act of art and beauty.

SELF-AWARENESS LEADS TO BETTER RELATIONSHIPS

Being detached from yourself can contribute to broken relationships with friends and family. The better you know and love yourself, the better you’ll be able to know and love others. 

SELF-AWARENESS HELPS US NAVIGATE THE WORLD

When we operate from a centered understanding of self, attuned to who we are and what our values are, it makes a difficult world a little easier to navigate.

“Knowing” Takes Love and Wonder

“But here is the thing: it takes love to notice and to wonder. A reality where love is at the core of all things is one attuned to be seen only through eyes of love. Only when we first love do we begin to attend, to listen, to understand, to know. Why would we think that reality would disclose itself to uncaring, indifferent, suspicious “knowers”?! We can and should cultivate wonder — a posture of wonder. This is trained readiness to be astounded. The readiness is that of a lover anticipating being delighted. Such training doesn’t quell wonder; it enhances it, it broadens the range of our capacity to wonder.”

Esther Meek

Four Promises You Can Make to Yourself

1. I WILL STAY CURIOUS
   Take a curious posture towards yourself, open to learn something new about who you are — wondering who you might be right now.
2. I WILL PAY ATTENTION
   Pay attention to yourself. It’s easy to fall asleep to your own desires and dreams. We can love ourselves by tuning our ears to ourselves and allowing ourselves to observe ourselves. This takes a huge amount of intentionality. You have to prioritize your needs as much as you do the needs of others.
3. I WILL BE CREATIVE
   How you love yourself is completely unique to YOU. You are on a journey with yourself, get creative with what loving looks like to you. There is no right or wrong way and what works for loving today may not work tomorrow.
4. I WILL GIVE MYSELF GRACE
   Life is full of ups and downs, is sometimes incredibly magical, at other times bleakly dark. The adventure of loving yourself, while beautiful, is also difficult: give yourself grace on the journey.
   

An Invitation to Love and Know

WHAT ARE WAYS YOU ARE ALREADY LOVING YOURSELF?

Take a moment this week to do something as an act of love to yourself.

WHO IS INSIDE YOU?

Take a moment this week to think through what “cast of characters” lives inside you. Give these characters names, qualities, and personalities — this cast of who lives inside you may shift and change through the years!

A Blessing For Knowing
To receive this blessing / it may feel like you are peeling back /
Every layer of flesh / exposing every nerve / baring each bone /
That has kept you upright. / It may seem every word is written /
On the back of something / that your life depends upon /
That to read this blessing / would mean tearing away /
What has helped you remain intact. / Be at peace. /
It will not be as painful as that / though I cannot say it will be easy /
To accept this blessing / written as it is upon your true frame /
Inscribed on the skin / you were born to live in. /
The habits that keep you from yourself / 
The misconceptions other have of you /
The unquestioned limits / you have allowed / 
The smallness you have squeezed into / these are not who you are. /
This blessing simply wants / all this to fall away /
This blessing — / and it is stubborn on this point / I assure you — /
Desires you to know yourself / as it knows you /
To let go / of every layer that is not you / 
To release / each thing you hide behind /
To open your eyes / to see what it sees /
How this blessing has blazed in you / since before you were born /
How it has sustained you / when you could not see it /
How it haunts you / prickling beneath your skin /
To let it shine forth / in full and unstinting measure /
How it begins and ends / with your true name
Jan Richardson

To view this post in slide guide form, go here.

What Is Gratitude Anyways?

Is it an emotion? Is it a practice? Well, it’s both and more. Gratitude has been referred to as an appreciation that comes from within, it’s a tool we can use to shift our attention to the good we have, and it’s also a conscious choice we can make to return kindness back into the world.

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” ~Oprah Winfrey

Are There Benefits?

Many researchers have studied the long and short-term effects of practicing gratitude. Here are some of the benefits (there are a whole lot more!):

-Helps us focus on the positive, resulting in a happier life

-Increases resiliency

-Has a positive impact on self-esteem

-Improves relationships

-Helps us become more generous, give from abundance

-Reduces depressive symptoms

-Improves sleep hygiene

-Helps the mind focus on good things, when bad comes it doesn’t feel as bad

What Does the Bible Say About Being Thankful?

The idea of thankfulness (Hebrew: yadáh) shows up in the Hebrew Bible 102 times and (Greek: eukharistÔ) shows up 71 times in the Christian Bible. It’s clear that the idea of giving thanks is a recurring theme throughout Scripture, indicating that it is a crucial part in being in a relationship with God and others.

We see this in books such as Ecclesiastes, Job, and the Psalms, where people are in various places of prosperity and suffering, yet hold to trust and gratitude toward God.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; For you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” ~Psalm 23:4-6

Even though the Psalmist is near death and surrounded by enemies, they are sustained by their gratitude for God’s presence and gifts.

Materialism

Another benefit of cultivating gratitude is it can help you become less materialistic. This world we live in is all about the next best thing, new this, new that; and in our materialism we are ravaging the earth God trusted us to take care of. Being grateful for what we have helps slow us down and appreciate the gifts God gives us like the everyday food we enjoy, the constantly-changing weather, good art and music, and the people we love.

From Transactional to Transformational

With the idea of materialism comes the idea of a transactional life, and giving to get. We often just use prayer like a transaction:

“YOU’RE SO GREAT GOD! — NOW IT’D BE GREAT IF YOU DID THIS THING FOR ME.”

But praying from a posture of gratitude turns our shallow transactional habit into a transformational relationship. Waking up and giving thanks for the gift of another day, of our breath, and of the person God is ever creating us to be — this worshipful practice of gratitude transforms us into people who love God, love ourselves, and love others.

Cultivating Gratitude

HERE ARE SOME APPROACHES TO HELP YOU ESTABLISH A PRACTICE OF GRATITUDE IN YOUR OWN LIFE!

Gratitude Journal; start a habit of writing down just a few things every day.

Write a thank you letter to your friend.

Prayer; slowly and intentionally thank God for things you appreciate.

Find your breath, slow down, and be present in the moment.

To view this in slide guide form, go here.

What is Advent?

Advent is a season of waiting for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. It’s often an underrated and overlooked way to experience a deeper meaning of Christmas. Just as the season of Lent helps us to prepare for the full impact of the resurrection on Easter, Advent is a way for people to brace their spirits for the incarnation (God becoming a human) on Christmas. Swipe through for some more info on Advent!

First of all Advent is the beginning of the Liturgical Year on The Church Calendar which is also an often overlooked and underrated way for Christians to engage their faith. The Liturgical Year includes scripture readings, feast days, traditions, music, food and all sorts of traditions that unites Christians from all over the world regardless of their denomination or background as they follow these yearly rhythms together.

Practices like Advent and following the Liturgical Year are particularly important to us at Beloved Arise because we are an ecumenical Christian organization. Ecumenical is a fancy way of saying that we include all Christian expressions; we aren’t associated with any one particular denomination. One way we see this expressed every week is at our virtual youth group where we have Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, “Non- Denoms”, Catholics, and many more participating in our weekly virtual youth group. Collectively following The Liturgical Year  connects us to our more ancient roots instead of focusing on some of the more modern expressions of Christianity that sometimes divide us.

But wait! Isn’t this supposed to be a slide guide about ADVENT!? Yes- we just wanted you to have some brief backstory and context before moving forward.

The word advent can be translated as “coming” or “arrival” and observing this season (which starts on November 29) is about anticipating the arrival of Jesus. On a more meta level it can also be about anticipating the arrival of Christ our hearts and the second coming of Jesus.

Christians from around the world celebrate Advent in a variety of ways that you probably already engage in as part of the Christmas season. Putting up a Christmas tree is traditionally a part of advent along with daily readings, special music, and even a designated traditional color- PURPLE. In many Churches around the world sanctuaries and pastors will be decked out in purple which is a royal color and is yet another way to anticipate the coming of the Prince of Peace- Jesus. There are many resources for daily advent readings, but here is one we would recommend: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily.php?year=B

These days one of the most common ways of celebrating Advent is to light an Advent wreath. Advent wreaths are actually a fairly new tradition as far as Christianity is concerned. The modern Advent wreath was conceived of by a German pastor named Johann Hinrich Wichern in 1839 and involves the lighting of a different candle each Sunday along with daily readings. The Advent wreath is loaded with symbols and meaning that we encourage you to look up, but the most obvious symbol is the slow steady emergence of light in darkness.

Advent traditions and celebrations are just like Christmas traditions in that there is always a surprising depth and richness to these practices that get lost in the modern commercialization of our sacred traditions. There is a deep well of traditions and practices to help guide your experience of Advent that will most likely enhance your experience of Christmas, but we are also invited to add our own traditions to this season as well. Whatever you can do during this time to cultivate a sense of waiting and anticipation for the celebration of the birth of Christ is a way for you to more deeply engage with the spirit of the season and join the global Church in a yearly practice.

Beloved Arise wants to invite you to join us this year in observing Advent. Let’s collectively join together in anticipation of Emmanuel- God with us. It is this message of hope that fuels our call to spread a message of hope and affirmation to queer youth of faith all over the world. God’s love is for everybody and ultimately the message of Christianity is that God broke through the forces of darkness and evil to communicate to spread hope and love to every human and that’s the message that we exist to amplify.

We’d like to conclude this slide guide on Advent with an Advent poem from Rowan Williams who was the Archbishop of Canterberry from 2002 to 2012.

He will come like last leaf’s fall.

One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.

He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.

He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.

He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.

To view this in slide guide form, go here.

What is Gender?

1: GENDER IS A COMPLEX THING. Essentially gender is our internal relationship to societal concepts of masculinity and femininity.

2. GENDER EXPRESSION is the behavior attributes and symbols that indicate and perform one’s gender(s).

3. PART OF IT HAS TO DO WITH how you feel, part of it is how people see you, part of it has to do with expectations based on biological sex. Frankly, no definition of gender really gets all of what it is or isn’t. 

4. MANY PEOPLE IDENTIFY WITHIN the binary of man or woman, many have a fluid experience within the spectrum, and still many identify outside the spectrum of these two options altogether.

5. CISGENDER PEOPLE identify with the gender society prescribes them at birth based on external sex characteristics.

TRANSGENDER PEOPLE internally align with gender(s) other than those assigned at birth.

Even Biological Sex Is NOT A Binary

The terms “MALE” AND “FEMALE” are used to categorize the anatomical differences in our bodies, but everything we attribute to biological sex— chromosomes, horomones, sex-linked genes, and genitalia— all exist on a complex spectrum. We are taught that XX chromosomes means female and XY chromosomes means male, but someone with XX chromosomes can be born with a penis and someone with XY chromosomes could be born with a vagina. Other chromosomal combinations exist (including X, XXY, XXX), and many people are born with varying degrees of both ovaries and testicles. This diversity has come to be generalized as “intersex” (neither male nor female). Tragically, doctors in many parts of the world perform irreversible surgeries to assign a binary sex to children whose bodies don’t match traditional understandings of male and female anatomy.

//For a descriptive thread on why biological sex is not a binary, visit https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1207834357639139328.html 

Gender vs Orientation

BEING TRANS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS BEING GAY.

Who you are sexually or romantically attracted to is separate from your gender. Many people confuse the two.

“When I first came out as a lesbian in college, my friends assumed I must feel like a man on the inside because they couldn’t imagine two women loving each other.”
“Growing up, everyone assumed I was gay because of my personality and how I dressed, but that was because they didn’t have the language for gender diversity. To them, everything queer had to be gay.”

Brief History of Gender Diversity

While most of the western world is only just waking up to the diversity and complexity of gender, many cultures around the world and throughout time have recognized transgender and gender nonconforming people, often giving them spiritual reverence.

Ancient Egyptians identified three genders, man, sekhet, and woman, as early as early as 2000 BCE. Other cultures acknowledge three, four, and even more genders.

THE MODERN EMPHASIS ON GENDER as a rigid binary is primarily the consequence of European colonialism: a Christianity of patriarchy and cis-normativity allowed European colonists to call other cultures primitive and justify violence against them along with other forms of theft and control.

The Importance of Pronouns and Names

There’s so many options for pronouns: he, she, they, ze, or even just using a person’s name, and more. THE WORDS WE USE TO GENDER PEOPLE MATTER.

Calling a transgender person by their birth name, or a previous name associated with an identity that is not authentic to them can be harmful. Often times trans people choose a name that aligns more with their identity. Their previous name is sometimes called their “dead name.” DON’T DEAD NAME PEOPLE.

Using a person’s chosen name and proper pronouns can REDUCE THEIR RISK OF SUICIDE BY 30%.

FUN FACT: the singular ‘they’ has been used as a gender neutral pronoun in English for many hundreds of years!

God is Not a Man

God is infinitely more complex than can be contained within human vocabulary and thoughts (see Isaiah 55:8-9).

THIS INCLUDES GENDER. God’s fullness includes woman, man, non-binary, and being outside of gender. The gender-diverse nature of God is reflected throughout scripture. In addition to masculine terms, God is repeatedly described as a nursing, protective, and comforting Mother who has born us from Her womb (Hosea 11:3-4; Deuteronomy 32:11-18; Isaiah 42:14, 49:15, 66:13; Psalm 131:2; Matthew 23:37; etc). Even Genesis 1:27 says all of humankind was made in God’s image (not just cisgender men).

In the Beginning

The Bible says that in the beginning, God created day and night, land and sea, birds and fish. But have you ever seen a sunset, or a beach, or a penguin? Well, trans and non-binary people are kind of like that. A BEAUTIFUL ARRAY OF DIVERSITY.

So, God created male and female, and we are no less beautiful, diverse, and wild than a sunset or a beach or a penguin. God created people with genders beyond male and female in the same way God created realities in between, outside of, and beyond these others. Trans and non-binary and agender and intersex: God created us.
–Adapted from a message from trans pastor Asher O’Callaghan

To see the post in slide guide form, go here.

LGBTQ+ Allyship is a Process

You’ll never know it all and you’ll never be perfect. But following the lead of your LGBTQ+ friends to CHALLENGE DISCRIMINATION is a vital way to show your love for all people. Most queer people will agree there are “allies” and then there are FABULOUS ALLIES! How can you live the love you proclaim? Here are 10 suggestions from Beloved Arise volunteer, Stephen Cowden, one of our favorite fabulous allies!!

10 Ways to be a Fabulous Ally to LGBTQ+ People

01: LISTEN, LISTEN, and LISTEN.

If you are cishet, don’t assume you know what it’s like to be queer. Make a habit of listening to LGBTQ+ voices.

02: AMPLIFY LGBTQ+ VOICES.

When you speak for them, you risk speaking over them. Instead, you should elevate their perspectives.

03: REJOICE WITH THEM.

Show the queer people around you that they are valued and recognize their faithfulness.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice…weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15

04: MOURN WITH LGBTQ+ FOLX.

Seek to understand the challenges they face. Validate the pain they feel.

05: PARTNER, DON’T PATRONIZE.

To you, LGBTQ+ inclusion may be an abstract cause. But it is very personal to lots of folx. Treat people like people rather than a cause.

06: DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK.

Don’t expect queer folx to educate you. Allyship is not passive; you need to be proactive in your own learning and growth.

07: NORMALIZE QUEERNESS.

Put your pronouns in your social media profiles and email signatures. Use gender-neutral language. Don’t assume cisgender and heterosexual is the norm.

08: DISARM THE HATERS.

Arguing just gives them a platform, and let’s face it, many haters aren’t really open to changing their minds. Try this: respectfully acknowledge where you agree and disagree, and then move on…

09: ERR ON THE SIDE OF HUMILITY.

You will make mistakes. You will misspeak and misstep, so always be humble and willing to do better. 

10: LOVE OTHERS!

“Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it… Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.” Romans 12:9-10 The Message

To see this post in slide guide form, go here.