Trauma-Informed Church Kid

Season 2 Episode 12 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

The family of Abraham has endured the waters of wrath, and are now in the wilderness -- a place of scarcity, hunger, and thirst. Are they just wandering, or being led? Where are they headed, and why is this the path that was chosen for them?

Join us as we follow the Israel-assembly (plus the Mixed Multitude) on their journey to Sinai, from Exodus 15-17. In this episode,...

Season 2 Episode 11 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

This is our second How of Hurt episode of the season! In this episode, we take a close look at the impact of trauma. We will do a brief crash course on neurobiology, find out the effects of trauma on various brain structures, learn about the brain-body connection, examine cognitive distortions downstream of the effects on our nervous system, and discover how nothing -- ...

Season 2 Episode 10 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

On the journey out of Egypt, the family of Abraham has left a path of destruction and devastation in their wake. And there is about to be one more moment of decreation: the parting of the Sea of Reeds, where Pharaoh and his army are swallowed up by the death-waters. Is this just an angry God, wreaking his vengeance on those he hates? What will it take to satisfy his wrat...

Season 2 Episode 9 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

The family of Abraham has been finally freed from slavery! The redemption has been obtained by the blood of the Passover lamb as the cost it took to end the oppression of the gods of Egypt. But there remains an ambiguity: who actually is the "family of Abraham"? Is it just racial Hebrews, or do Egyptians "count" as well? The Passover event has created a new nation calle...

Season 2 Episode 8 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

In this episode, I sit down for "tea" with Chris Pompu, a rural church pastor and host of The Sanctuary YouTube channel ( @PastorChris87 ). We take a close look at the "wrath of God" in the biblical text, trying to see how it functions and where it is present... as well as when it is not. We explore the impact of teachings such as penal substitutionary atonement, and exam...

Season 2 Episode 7 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast.

Nine plagues have struck the gods of Egypt, providing both Pharaoh and the people chance after chance to repent. Now, the final plague is about to fall: the death of the firstborn. Not desiring the death of anyone, God makes a way for any who pledge allegiance to Him to be spared from the Destroyer: the angel of the bottomless pit. The blood of the Passover lamb will b...

Season 2 Episode 6 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

Abraham's family continues to find themselves under the thumb -- and strengthened heart -- of Pharaoh, who thinks he is a god and the source of all order and life. First, Adonai shows him a wizard duel that should dispel this belief, but he persists. What follows is a decreation and deconstruction of all Egypt, from top to bottom. The gods of the nations are shown that ...

Season 2 Episode 5 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

This is our first How of Hurt episode of the season! In this episode, we seek to understand trauma better. We will define trauma, find out what separates it from unpleasant or difficult events, learn about the signs and symptoms of trauma, examine the feedback loops and neuroplasticity that either reinforce or repair trauma, and discover the multiple types of trauma -- i...

Season 2 Episode 4 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

The deliverer of Abraham's family returns to his people, but the job is not yet done. Pharaoh likes his power, he likes having his slaves, and he isn't about to let them leave. In fact, he makes it much worse for them: forcing them to work with fewer materials and then blaming them when they can't do what they used to. The appearance of Adonai in his throne room has stren...

Season 2 Episode 3 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast

The family of Abraham has been enslaved and oppressed by the head of the superpower of the day. One man who grew up within that empire discovered that he identified with the "stranger" and is forced to leave -- to become a "stranger in a strange land". Those who remain behind groan with a deep, soul-level pain to their Father. He "remembers and knows" them, like a mama ...

Season 2, Episode 2 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast.

At the beginning of Exodus, the family of Abraham is in trouble. They have settled in the land of a foreign empire, but they are treated with fear and suspicion as strangers. What will become of the ones who will be the light to the nations?

We're not sure how or when exactly this came about, but in time the empire of Egypt does what all empires do: they treat humans ...

Season 2, Episode 1 of the Trauma-Informed Church Kid podcast! At the end of Genesis 11, humanity is in trouble. A series of three "falls" have left them at enmity with Adonai and with each other. They are subjected to death, they have succumbed to depravity, and now they find themselves enslaved by demons. What is solution to this problem? Can there be "good news" to come out of this? Enter Abraham: the man who is called by Ado...

Is the House of David TV series, currently streaming on Amazon Prime, any good? Is it closer to "The Ten Commandments" or "Prince of Egypt" or "Exodus: Gods and Kings"? Or is it just like all the other examples -- and there are far too many -- of cringey, cheap, contrived, and cloying faith-based media? What about its use of extra-biblical traditions? Can we trust the filmmakers to finally give us art that is beautiful, accurate, a...

What is the center of a person? Why does our heart need to be pure? How does God heal the broken-hearted? If our heart is sick, do we have free will? How can we be more free -- by choosing what we want, or choosing well? How do we "see" with the "eyes of the soul" what to choose? Is this even possible when that "eye" is darkened? What is the difference between soul and spirit? Is the soul created at the same time as the body, and h...

What is "nature"? Did the first Christians change this because of Greek philosophy? What is a "person"? Whom am I, underneath all the "masks"? What does it mean to be Self-led, or self-controlled? What does it mean to partake of the divine nature, and how do we do that? What are passions, and how did we get them? How do we overcome them? Do we have a sin(ful) nature? Is it even possible for flesh to seek after God? And what purpose...

What is the human heart, according to the Bible? Is it the seat of thoughts, or emotions? How is it related to our desires and our wills? Is it "desperately wicked"? Can we trust our feelings? What does it mean to have our "bowels moved" for someone else, and is it really as gross as it sounds? Does God feel toward us like a Father, or like a Mother? Or does he just demand blood to satisfy his anger?

This is the second of three f...

What is "the flesh"? What is the best way to think of and treat our bodies? What is the relationship between the spirit and the body? Is our spirit the essence of who we really are? Or is that our soul? Is that something other than our body? Do we have souls or not? And will our bodies be part of the new heavens and new earth? This is the first of three four "Anthropology of Adam" episodes, where we will look at the words in the H...

What are spiritual beings? Are they some kind of ethereal substance, or just in our minds? Are things in our minds real? Where do our thoughts come from? What about ideas? Can spiritual beings influence us, and in what ways do they do so?  Is that the same as being "possessed"? What does it mean to conform our wills to theirs? And what does it mean to actually have "free" wills?

In this episode, we take a look at what it means to...

What is the third "fall" of humanity? Why is it so bad for people to build a tower? Does it actually reach to the heavens? Why does God confuse their language and scatter the people? And who are the gods of the nations? Do they exist at all? What is their purpose? Is there anything we can learn from the Babel narrative about what God wants for his human family?

In today's episode, we take a closer look at the Genesis 11 Babel eve...