How to Own Our Story and Love Better: Review of “Queer Virtue”

Last updated on: June 11, 2016 at 7:40 am By Steve Austin

Liz Edman's book is not another worn-out argument in the “gay debate.” It is a breath of fresh air for Christians everywhere. Biggest takeaway: God continuously queers our dividing lines on behalf of love. If we profess that God is love, but our churches have no place for all God’s children--every vibrant color and flavor of the rainbow, whether straight, gay, transgender, addicted, healed, full of joy, or suicidal--we have missed the point of the Gospel. It is time for the church of Jesus to own our story and live our love. Read more

How to be a Better Christian: Lessons from a Queer Priest

Last updated on: June 10, 2016 at 9:22 am By Guest Contributor

Jesus was trying to communicate to his contemporaries: “Put God first in your life. Orient your entire being toward the sacred. Not because I’m telling you that you should, not because it’s what scripture tells you to do. Do it because it’s who you are. It is who God made you to be.” Read more

What to Remember When You’re Pissed at Grace

Last updated on: June 9, 2016 at 1:57 pm By Steve Austin

I'm left in awe that God, in all of His splendor and majesty and beauty and purity somehow finds grace for the father who rapes his daughter. The mother who breaks her child’s arm in a drug-induced rage. The teenager who has a stupid one-night stand and lets that boy talk her into killing her innocent baby. For the grandfather who never has time for his family. The insanity of GOD is that grace is available, equally for them. And for me. Not subpar grace. Not heavenly leftovers. Full, unending, marvelous, matchless, messy grace. Read more

This is My Story. Suicide Sucks. Grace is Messy.

Last updated on: June 8, 2016 at 1:38 pm By Guest Contributor

My mom killed herself when I was 12. I’ve spent a good amount of time obsessing over the circumstances of her death. No amount of “pray this prayer”/ “claim this scripture”/ “read this book”/ “ten ways to recover from childhood trauma” is ever going to fix what’s broken with the deepest parts of people’s souls, including mine. Yet life does not have to be dictated by the past. Read more

How American Christians Use the Bible to Keep Discrimination Alive

Last updated on: June 8, 2016 at 1:40 pm By Steve Austin

If your God is love but your church won’t accept the disenfranchised, those on the fringe, the forgotten, something doesn’t line up. And as we continue to speak from a place of ignorance, our neighbors are drowning in confusion and judgment. Maybe it’s time to loose the death grip on our precious moral stances and open our hands to those around us who are hurting and longing for love and acceptance. Now, more than ever, we should love the person in front of us. Lives are changed through relationship rather than rule-keeping. This is the essence of the message of Jesus. Read more

The What, Why, How, and Who of Messy Grace

Last updated on: June 8, 2016 at 1:41 pm By Steve Austin

Have you ever wondered how to live a more grace-filled life? If so, you've come to the right place. The mission of the Grace is Messy Community is to love beyond the labels. To love God and everyone we come in contact with, no matter their race, color, religion, creed, disability, or sexual orientation. It’s a safe place for you to come and share your story of a messy life: past, present, and future. A messy life, redeemed by radical, messy, unconditional Grace. Read more

To My Grandfather. The One with Alzheimer’s.

Last updated on: June 7, 2016 at 10:48 am By Steve Austin

You were the one I could always talk to about the things no one is ever supposed to discuss: religion, politics, and a myriad of current affairs. For years, you’ve been far more than just a Grandfather. You've been my teacher. My mentor. My friend. And you are fading. And my heart breaks with every single visit. Read more

When You Wish You Could End Your Pregnancy

Last updated on: June 7, 2016 at 10:54 am By Guest Contributor

I wanted out of the situation. I didn't want a new baby. I didn't want to live with my mother-in-law. I didn't want the life I had at the moment. The future seemed oppressive. Up to this point I was a birth junkie. A trained doula. A woman that gave birth naturally with midwives and doulas. I loved babies. I loved being pregnant. I loved giving birth. I loved all of my children fiercely. It was safe to say I was staunchly pro-life. So naturally what followed all of this fear was shame. Read more

The Power of Owning Your Story

Last updated on: June 7, 2016 at 11:13 am By Steve Austin

A few weeks ago, in the Grace is Messy Facebook group, one friend mentioned that she was learning to look at her story of “coming out” in the same way that I look at my suicide story. “It is my story,” she said. But it’s only part of her story. Read more

I Cheated: Overcoming the Pain of Infidelity.

Last updated on: June 7, 2016 at 11:32 am By Guest Contributor

I ran into an ex-boyfriend, and we were still attracted to one another, and his marriage was “just ok”, and we began a very flirtatious relationship. I still loved Brent. I did not intend for things to happen the way they did. But they did. We began our affair and I became that person I used to judge. Overcoming infidelity is a difficult and messy task, but it is possible. Here's how. Read more