76. Losing Religion, Finding Love, with Jason Elam, host of Messy Spirituality

Jason Elam, host of the Messy Spirituality podcast, has an amazing story.  As a pastor, Jason had all the answers, but he didn't have a lot of love.  Then something happened.  Today, Jason Elam is no longer a pastor and he doesn't have all the answers.  But he has discovered the love of God in a way he could never have imagined before.


THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Jason Elam is a former pastor and host of the Messy Spirituality podcast.
• Jason is currently writing a book with the working title, From Ashes We Rise: Rebuilding Your Faith When Your Life Burns Down.
• Jason was constantly afraid of God when he was a child.
• Jason was often a guest speaker in churches who got people “back into line.”
• It was by losing his church and losing his marriage that Jason hit “that bottom place.” This is where Jason began to learn that he was loved unconditionally by God.
• Jason Elam had a near death experience as a child in which he experienced the unconditional acceptance of God.  That acceptance always pulled him away from the legalism of his tradition.
• During the final year of Jason Elam’s ministry, Jason’s church stopped holding worship service. Instead, they held an indoor farmer’s market with food for anyone who needed it.
• We can only truly know God when we truly know ourselves.
• Certainty makes preaching easier but living with yourself harder.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Jason Elam:
  • Website:  www.messyspirituality.org
• Books mentioned:
  • Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, by Richard Rohr
  • The Gift of Being Yourself, by David Benner
  • Surrender to Love, by David Benner
  • Life of the Beloved, by Henri Nouwen

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