Hi, I'm Brandon. A few months ago I started blogging on my website https://www.CrucibleOfThought.com, and had several requests to release the content in audio format as well. So here it is.

I'd like to introduce myself briefly.

I've been hanging around conservative Christian circles since I was five years old, and pretty much all of that in evangelical spaces. The last 30 years have been in an Assemblies of God church, but only loosely affiliated with the AG denomination. Mostly, we're a Charismatic full-gospel church that believes in the Bible as the sole authoritative word of God, and Jesus as the only way to be reconciled to the Father. I was a church worship leader for 15 years, and a lay leader in my church for 30 years, including marriage ministry, audiovisual ministry, deacon, and core leadership team.

I've also been a devoted conservative Republican all my political life. I knew a few Democrats but never really understood them, and especially how a Christian could ever be a Democrat or a liberal.

In early 2019, a major life event happened for me - I discovered how I was broken emotionally, and I spent a year in discipline away from most of my church leadership duties, and six months in counseling learning how I had been emotionally wounded by many aspects of my personal history. The Lord rearranged quite a few things in my soul and my mind, and I came into 2020 restored to my leadership positions, with a brand new awareness, and a new ability to empathize with those around me.

Then, 2020 hit us all.

A big part of 2020 was George Floyd's murder, and for the first time in my entire life, I truly understood how others were being affected by a political or social situation. My awareness upended my Republican viewpoint, as I was able to hear the cries saying "Black Lives Matter" from a very new perspective. I began to hear the stories of my Black friends and churchmates with new ears.

Of course, COVID was another big part of 2020. Having spent nearly 30 years married to a nurse, and with an engineering and data analysis background, I approach understanding the epidemic from a very intellectual, science-based perspective. I tend to begin with the assumption that doctors and epidemiologists actually know what they're doing, and have our best interests in mind.

I'm generally conservative, although I have a bit of a libertarian bent - I tend to favor small and hands-off government, especially in fiscal areas, but in the past I have historically taken political positions that favor conservative Christian moral positions.

Recently, I have become rather discouraged by trends I see in evangelical churches, and I feel like the Lord is calling His people to repent of quite a few things that the American church has been doing over the decades, more out of habit and convenience than out of conviction. Many of the things you'll hear from me on this blog and podcast come from words I feel like the Lord is speaking to me about His people. I don't have much expectation that the non-Christian world will act Christian - but I do have a rather high expectation that the church should reflect the true values of its King. We should be light and salt to those around us, and lately I feel like even the world has begun to see what's wrong with the Church. When the world sees it, and begins to point it out, I think we need to pay close attention and seek the Lord whether we're missing something ourselves.

So that's my background, and I hope it gives some context for the kinds of topics and positions I discuss on this blog.

I'll talk to you again soon!

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