Saving Faith with Eric Sentell of the Backyard Church Blog

Is David French right that colleges tolerate protests from "preferred groups" but not other groups? No. No, he's not.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

Have you heard of ChatGPT, or have you been living under a rock? In this episode, Eric reflects on the analysis of Daniel Susskind, author of "A World without Work," and how AI might change the way we work both outside and inside the church.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

John Michael Talbot is a multi-platinum selling, Grammy / Dove award winning Contemporary Catholic Christian Music pioneer. He joins Eric to talk about his 59th album and 38th book, both titled "Late Have I Loved You." John shares some of his remarkable spiritual journey, including multiple mystical experiences.

Learn more about John Michael Talbot's books, albums, and ministries at:

Many people have a difficult relationship to the Bible. This episode offers some practical advice for rebuilding that relationship.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

What has experience taught you about God? Jesus? The Holy Spirit?

Experience is an important part of both deconstructing and reconstructing faith. Experience causes the former, but it can also help with the latter. In this episode, Eric explores how experience can help rebuild a stronger faith and reflects on the Apostles following their experience instead of their scriptures and traditions.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

In this episode, Eric talks about the Christians who inspire other people to become, or remain, followers of Jesus. Leave a review and share who inspires your faith, or post a link to this episode to social media and share your faith inspiration.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

When reconstructing faith, experience of the supernatural - the part of reality beyond our senses and measurements - can open us up to the limits of human perception and knowledge and, thus, open us up to God.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

Faith deconstruction is a necessary part of maturing one's faith. But how do you reconstruct faith? Based on personal experience and conversations with other Christians, Eric suggests beginning the journey by focusing on your "core belief" that helps you firmly believe in God no matter what.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

Kim Jenne returns! She gives us an insider's perspective on the United Methodist Church's ongoing debate about LGBTQ inclusion and shares some of her personal theology on the topic.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

Gratitude is a choice. Eric shares his struggles witih choosing gratitude and offers a prayer for Diana Butler Bass to help us choose to give thanks this Thanksgiving.

"Suppression leads to depression. Expression leads to emotional resurrection."

When is war moral or immoral? Christianity's "Just War" tradition offers insights into that difficult question.

How can Christians, who follow a preacher of non-violence, respond to the self-defensive war of Israel against Hamas? How can they make sense of the Israel-Hamas War and the problem of evil? Eric Sentell tries his best.

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;

• to reconstruct a faith that works; and

• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

Saving Faith creates space for Christians:

• to deconstruct harmful beliefs and attitudes;
• to reconstruct a faith that works; and
• to explore how they can follow Jesus in today’s world. 

Eric talks about making some changes to revamp Metamorphosis and build its audience.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Shannon Kearns is the author of In the Margins: A Transgender Man's Journey through Scripture. He shares some of his faith and trans journeys and explains how a trans (or queer) lens can illuminate scripture for everyone.

Monday was the 22nd anniversary of the 9-11 Terror Attacks. In the years since, many religious and political communities have hardened their beliefs into absolutism: all-or-nothing, in-or-out, right-or-wrong. This kind of absolutism eliminates the room for nuance, complexity, and compromise. But epistemic humility can reverse the trends.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Does American Christianity have some heretical tendencies at its heart? Does it over-emphasize emotion and hyper-spiritualize life to the point of Gnosticism?

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

For many people, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and holidays are joyful occasions. But for some, these days are very complicated. Eric names this reality and reflects on his struggles and efforts as a father.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" is arguably his most famous speech. It's super-familiar to Christians. But has it become so familiar that we overlook what Jesus was really getting at?

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a 2021 study of high school students. 60% of teen girls reported feeling "sad or hopeless." 30% reported "seriously considering" suicide. What can we do? Eric has ideas.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest protestant denomination in the United States. Yet the SBC has lost half a million members in the last year and 3 million since 2018. Why? Eric has thoughts.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Eric ruins Genesis 1-3 by describing how he interprets it symbolically, not literally. He describes the history of the literal interpretation of the Bible and explains the strong reasons for a non-literal interpretation. In the second half of the episode, Eric breaks down Genesis 1-3 verse by verse and suggests different interpretations than you may have heard before.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Eric "ruins" the Bible in this episode. He uses examples from the Bible itself to show that the Biblical authors were inspired, but their writing is not inerrant, infallible, a rule book, or life's instruction manual. Rather, the Bible, in Eric's view, is a source of wisdom and an invitation to conversation with God and fellow believers.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Happy Day After Easter! Last episode, Eric talked about how Christians tend to focus so much on the Crucifixion but not enough on the Resurrection. In this episode, he reflects on how Jesus' bodily resurrection shows that God cares about our bodies as well as our spirits.

Jesus' ministry shows that God cares about our physical, social, emotional, and pyschological needs as much as God cares about our spirituality. In fact, much of our spirituality can't be addressed until other needs are met.

Throw into the mix what we (think we) know about quantum physics, and perhaps we can imagine the reality behind the observations of the Resurrected Jesus recorded in the Gospels and the metaphors Revelation uses to describe God's ultimate intentions.

Eric mentions the following books and authors:

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Atonement theories try to explain how sinful humans can be reconciled to a sinless, holy God. Christian atonement theories center around Jesus' death on the cross. But is the Resurrection of Jesus actually the more significant part of the equation?

In this solo episode, Eric discusses the popular atonement theories, Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA), Cristus Victor, and the Scapegoat theory. Then Eric ponders whether the Resurrection plays a bigger role in reconciling humans to God.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Could it be that half of self-identified Christians don't imitate Christ because too many organized churches don't actually want them to grow spiritually? 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

What is Christian Nationalism? What's wrong with it? 

Eric discusses a new survey on Christian Nationalism that reveals alarming attitudes about religion, government, and political violence. Then he describes the problems of heresy, idolatry, and violence that arise from the ideology of Christian Nationalism. 

To learn more about the survey and researchers cited in this episode, visit the following websites: 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Dustin Arand is a writer on Medium who caught Eric's attention with a recent essay in which he mentioned a group called "Recovering from Religion." Dustin and Eric discuss his faith journey, the group, and the dynamics that make such a group (sadly) necessary. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

This episode concludes our series on the first five hundred years of church history. Eric summarizes previous episodes to refresh your memory and then discusses

• St. Jerome's contribution to Biblical translation; 
• St. Augustine's influential ideas about free will, original sin, and predestination; 
• the Council of Chalcedon tripling-down on the Holy Trinity because people just couldn't stop disagreeing about Jesus' nature; 
• and the necessity of looking to Jesus' LIFE and Resurrection -- and not just Paul's letters, Augustine's theology, or Jesus' death -- for our ideas about how we are "saved" or reconciled to God. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

This episode focuses on the hope Christians have thanks to bodily resurrection. It may seem strange to talk about Jesus' resurrection at a time of year when we focus on Jesus' birth, but Jesus' birth sets in motion the life and ministry that ends with death and resurrection. How does the Bible depict resurrection? How does this vision of bodily resurrection, plus the research on Near-Death Experiences and reincarnation, create unassailable hope for Christians? 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Eric is excited to bring you one of the nerdiest episodes yet. He explores three prominent heresies in the early church, where they came from, and how the church's leaders evaluated them. 

The beliefs we take for granted today did not always exist. The church had to determine its beliefs and doctrines. Competing ideas may seem crazy to us today, but they came from influential traditions and thinkers in their time. 

How do we know if a given belief is acceptable for Christians? The process of discernment in the early church is fascinating and illuminating for us today. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

In A.D. 64, Emperor Nero blamed the massive fire of Rome on the Christians. Thus began persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Or did it? The reality is more complicated and nuanced than our popular historical imagination. 

In A.D. 70, the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. This contributed to the distinction of Christianity and Judaism, allowing different expressions of Christianity to establish themselves. That included some ideas we now regard as heresies. 

Eric recounts and reflects on this fascinating period of the early church. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Jesus taught that we would know "false teachers" by their fruit. Paul describes the "fruit of the flesh" as immorality, division, and violence. The "fruits of the spirit" include love, compassion, gentleness, and self-control. 

Eric argues that anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has produced the rotten fruit of violence against LGBTQ people. 

Rhetoric that depicts LGTBQ people as evil threats (such as people who "groom" children for abuse) pushes people who are comfortable with using violence to "do what must be done" and eliminate the threat. Thus, Anderson Lee Alrich shoots people at the Q Club in Colorado Springs. 

If this is the "fruit" of our theology and politics, then what does that reality mean for us as Christians? 

This episode references the following sources: 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

In Paul's final missionary journey, he testifies in Roman courts to his experience of Jesus. We learn about the final stage of his ministry and reflect on the whole of his ministry to both Jews and Gentiles. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

This episode continues the series on the early history of the church. We focus on Paul's time in Ephesus, the semi-revolt of the cult of Artemis, and the work of the Spirit in Paul's ministry. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

This episode continues the series on the early history of the church. Eric focuses on Paul's second missionary journey as desribed in the IF Gathering study Anno Domini and the Acts 15-18. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

This episode picks up the history of the early church with Paul's first missionary journey, the Council of Jerusalem, and the inclusion of Gentile believers. 

Eric puts special emphasis on the way Paul, Peter, and James creatively reinterpret and re-understand their Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament) in light of Jesus and the Work of the Holy Spirit. Their reinterpretations and applications of their scriptures and traditions included Gentiles in the church. And they offer an example for us today. 

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.