Queer Insights on God & Faith - Rebecca Janvrin, Vince Brackett, Kyle Hanawalt

In honor of the weekend many would have been participating in Chicago’s Pride Parade if not for COVID-19, Rebecca Janvrin joins Vince & Kyle to discuss queer insights on God and faith. This kicks off our new series of discussion: God of the Oppressed. We’ll be immersing ourselves, one at a time, in various different marginalized perspectives on Jesus and faith and the Bible. Really, we can’t come to a proper theology and understanding of Jesus at all if we’re not trying to do that from marginalized perspectives, because Jesus was a marginalized person.

Acts, Psalms, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, GenesisVincent BrackettJune 30, 2020God of the OppressedComment

Loneliness - Linda Kim, Vince Brackett, Kyle Hanawalt

Linda, Vince, and Kyle discuss loneliness, identity, introversion vs extroversion, and the prayers, scriptures, and images of God that are helping them during our shelter-in-place reality or have helped them in past seasons of loneliness.

Psalms, PhilippiansVincent BrackettApril 28, 2020Comment

Mental Health Buffet

Vince & Kyle discuss the overlap of Jesus spirituality and mental health, and then pass on a mental health potluck of ideas, prayers, poems, technology, and resources from people in BLC’s community. There are no one-size-fits-all approaches to maintaining mental health, so take what you like and leave the rest!

PsalmsVincent BrackettApril 21, 2020Comment

Believing in God when bad things happen - Vince Brackett & Kyle Hanawalt

With the coronavirus in view, but also any senseless suffering each of us might face, Kyle and Vince discuss the difference between a “Life as God’s Blueprint” understanding of believing in God and a “Life as a Battlefield” understanding of believing in God. The former is extremely common, but hurts many. The latter has helped them personally find powerful connection with God in the midst of hardship.

Psalms, Romans, GenesisVincent BrackettApril 7, 2020Comment

Uncertainty & Spirituality - Vince Brackett & Kyle Hanawalt

Life is full of uncertainty, and we feel that all the more in the midst of a global pandemic. In our experience, spirituality helps with uncertainty in a profound way, but it isn’t by providing certainty in response. So how does it help? Vince and Kyle discuss…

Psalms, Proverbs, EcclesiastesVincent BrackettMarch 31, 2020Comment

Become who you're meant to (Wk 5: Choice & Prophecy) - Vince Brackett

In Harry Potter, Harry discovers the difference between “being dragged into the arena” of the hardship ahead of him and “walking into the arena with his head held high” — The same discovery is what made Jesus who he was — And the same discovery can transform us into all we’re meant to be.

1 Samuel, Isaiah, Psalms, MatthewVincent BrackettMarch 3, 2020Become all you're meant toComment

Prayer as Kindness to Self - Vince Brackett

Most of us spend a lot of time being self-critical or self-punishing, and that sucks! Vince shares about his number one self-kindness practice over the last 5 months: contemplative prayer, how that helps him “get out from under the waterfall” of his endless thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and how the simple words “of course” can revolutionize your prayer life.

Luke, Mark, Matthew, PsalmsVincent BrackettDecember 17, 2019Comment

If God is a servant, then "serving God" isn't what we think - Vince Brackett

Does the encouragement to “serve God” from the Jesus and Biblical tradition mean we’re meant to approach God like the servants from Downton Abbey approaching the Crawley family? It seems not, according to the picture the Gospel of Luke that paints about “serving God”. According to Jesus, God is himself a servant, so, in some way, to serve God is to let God serve us…

Fall Community Fair - Vince Brackett

Vince shares about the unique impact friendships in a spiritual context have had on him. And various leaders in the church share about ways Brown Line Vineyard can help you connect with other people in spiritual community this fall.

Matthew, Psalms, HebrewsVincent BrackettSeptember 10, 2019Comment

Summer Tips for your Prayer Life (This Summer's Vision, Pt 3) - Vince Brackett & Kyle Hanawalt

Vince wants to rescue prayer from the “obligation zone” in people’s brains and put it in its right place in the “rest zone” in people’s brains. He shares from his own life a number of prayers that help him, and then Kyle shares why prayer is the key ingredient to this summer’s vision for BLV on being a “community of care”.

Proverbs, PsalmsVincent BrackettJuly 30, 2019Comment