An exploration of current affairs - refining my mind, burning away impurities, in the forge of truth. Find me on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/crucibleofthght/
The Smell of Rot: How to Tell Which Christianity Is Sound
I renovated a house for a homeless prevention ministry that looked fine when I walked in. Under the carpet and fresh paint, the bathroom floor was rotted soft, the kitchen floor was close to collapse, and a past fire had been covered with new drywall instead of being repaired. After a hundred hours repairing the damage, I will never forget the smell of rot.American Christianity has split into two camps looking at the same country and reaching opposite conclusions. Both claim the Holy Spirit is on their side, so how do you tell which one is sound?In this episode I use Jesus' own metaphors, houses and fruit trees, to look past the furnishings to the structure underneath. I walk through three teachings I once supported: purity culture, positive confession and the prosperity gospel, and "taking America back for God." Each looked healthy on the surface and turned out to be rotten underneath. Then I offer the test I've come to trust most: listen to the ones being harmed.This is a hard episode. It's also why I left evangelicalism after more than 40 years, and why I won't stay quiet about it.
Chapters
0:00 Welcome
0:44 Two Christianities, opposite conclusions
4:43 Purity culture: good intentions, bad fruit
6:46 Positive confession and the prosperity gospel
8:36 "Taking America back for God"
10:43 The house that looked fine
12:09 How furnishings hide the rot
17:01 Fruitless trees and the fig tree
18:20 "Come out of her"
19:22 Answering a family member's letter
20:29 Who decides? Listen to the ones being harmed
22:57 Bringing it home
24:13 Closing and news about my book
📖 My upcoming book, Perfect Love, Perfect Fear, looks at how fear became the operating system of institutional religion. Join the mailing list at crucibleofthought.com for updates.
#Deconstruction #ExEvangelical #ProgressiveChristianity #PurityCulture #ProsperityGospel #Faith
17 Sept 2026
"I'm Concerned For Your Soul"
Twice in the past year, someone who loves me has written to warn me that my changed theology puts my soul in danger, citing Matthew 18:15 and 2 Timothy 3:16. In this episode I share my response. If you're on a deconstruction journey and someone has told you "I'm concerned for your soul," this one is for you.
I talk about taking 2 Timothy 2:15 seriously and realizing I'd only ever studied to prove myself right. I also share how inner healing and my church's failures in 2020 opened me to real repentance. I explore why the Bible isn't as "plain" as we claim, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, Gregory of Nyssa and apokatastasis, and whether challenging the church is arrogance (Luther had thoughts). And I explain why I no longer need anyone to agree with me in order to trust their relationship with God.
Plus: I've finished the first draft of my book, Perfect Love, Perfect Fear.
26 Jun 2026
O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
What happens when you've spent decades being shaped by God - and you finally feel ready to pour into others - but you have no one to pour into, and you're running out of time?In this episode, Brandon wrestles with a growing sense of uselessness: the institutional church isn't making disciples the way it should, he can't return to it in good conscience, and community outside its walls is nearly impossible to build. The rubber just isn't meeting the road.But then something broke open.If Christian universalism is true - if resurrection means an embodied, eternal life on a restored earth - then death doesn't end the call. It doesn't end the purpose. It doesn't even end the discipleship. The grave has no hold on what God is building in you."O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" This episode is about why that passage hits completely differently when you take eternity seriously.Topics covered:- Why the institutional church is failing at discipleship (and the numbers to prove it)- Organic church and the problem of community outside the institution- Christian universalism and the sweep of scripture toward universal reconciliation- Embodied resurrection and the renewed earth in Isaiah, Romans, and Revelation 21- Why your usefulness to the Kingdom does NOT end when you dieScripture referenced: Matthew 28:19, Romans 5:18, 2 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 1:3-2:10, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, Isaiah 65:17-25, Romans 8:19-23, Revelation 21Crucible of Thought is Brandon's podcast exploring theological deconstruction, progressive Christianity, and what faithful living looks like after you've left easy answers behind.Subscribe and leave a comment - they all get read!
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