Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"Fear is what tempts people to control perception, and to try to shift the burden away from themselves, to use both conformity and separation to address their fears. We see echoes of this in the American church, where fear has often led to segregation and separation instead of any real engagement across difference, or to demanding conformity as a way to manage tension and maintain a sense of control. But as Reverend Thomas Bowen reminded us a couple of weeks ago, if fear and control are needed as fuel, perhaps the work is in service to an idol with no real substance."
Excerpt from "Acts of the Spirit: Enduring through the Spirit" | October 10, 2025
"Fear is what tempts people to control perception, and to try to shift the burden away from themselves, to use both conformity and separation to address their fears. We see echoes of this in the American church, where fear has often led to segregation and separation instead of any real engagement across difference, or to demanding conformity as a way to manage tension and maintain a sense of control. But as Reverend Thomas Bowen reminded us a couple of weeks ago, if fear and control are needed as fuel, perhaps the work is in service to an idol with no real substance."
Excerpt from "Acts of the Spirit: Enduring through the Spirit" | October 10, 2025
