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The Desert Sanctuary

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Being and Becoming – Part 2 of 2 – Laura

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/29

Being and Becoming – Part 2 (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Laura IMPOSTER SYNDROME!! Sitting down to write this chapter seems to be more challenging than the rest. Karl and I have been going back and forth discussing my feelings on “being and becoming.” I […]

336 – What is Trauma?

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/27

This week we decided to have a vulnerable conversation about a chapter in our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. We are not licensed therapists, so we rely a lot on the experts. I sometimes say, “Do your research and consult a professional.” Somatic therapies are a helpful tool to help us take control of […]

Being and Becoming – Part 1 of 2 – Karl

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/27

Being and Becoming – Part 1 (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Karl I started recycling about three years ago. It always seemed like a promising idea. One company I worked for recycles about 95% of its material. They have obviously done it for years and […]

A Plan for Us

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/23

(From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Karl As a former pastor, I remember the faces of people visiting for the first time. They were always more attentive than the other members. They were more hesitant to be demonstrative, but they looked hopeful in a cautious way. […]

New Resource – Evolving from Religious Trauma

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/21

Evolving from Religious Trauma Hello! We are Karl and Laura Forehand! For the last 8-10 years, we have found our way outside organized religion. We were in ministry for about 20 years, serving upstart and struggling churches and helping them get on their feet. When we realized our beliefs were evolving, we stepped down from […]

Listening

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/20

Listening (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI-Generated Several years ago, we started a group called The Desert Sanctuary. We wanted it to be a home for spiritual nomads questioning their faith, struggling with their spirituality, or taking a break from organized religion. Eventually, it also included a […]

In Search of a Grown-up

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/15

In Search of a Grown-up Audio version of this blog! AI Generated In real life, I’m a fairly low-key, go-with-the-flow person who occasionally gets emotional about something. When I feel like someone has to say something, I say it quite strongly. Those who know me know that I’m soft-hearted but also occasionally come out swinging when […]

The Four Existential Concerns

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/10

The Four Existential Concerns (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Audio version of this blog! AI Generated Healing religious trauma and embarking on a journey of discovery can be terrifying! Many assumptions about the dangers of setting out on our own exist, but there are also the very real fears that all of […]

What is Trauma?

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/06

What is Trauma? (From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th) Listen to this blog – AI Generated When I first started to learn about trauma, it wasn’t very clear to me. We didn’t talk about trauma; we talked about sin. We certainly believed that there were things in life that were traumatic. Still, […]

It’s Going to be Okay

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/05/01

(From our new book, Evolving From Religious Trauma. June 4th)) Listen to Audio – AI Generated So, here we are, out in the Desert! That’s what we call it when people start asking questions, challenging their long-held beliefs, and evaluating the worldview they inherited. We call it The Desert because that’s what it feels like. It can be […]

The Jezebel Scapegoat Shuffle

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/04/23

The Jezebel Scapegoat Shuffle It’s been a while since I read the Bible. I sometimes search for verses online to help me remember what I learned a long time ago. I used to be in love with systematic theology until I wasn’t. But considering all the talk these days of the Jezebel Spirit, primarily by evangelicals, […]

Step One – Deconstruct the Stage

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/04/19

Step One – Deconstruct the Stage What would happen if you realized someone removed the stage the next time you went to church, and the auditorium was completely remodeled? You notice no more elevations where one person could stand above the others. There are also no seats in one direction pointing towards something else. Instead, […]

Colosseum and Cathedral

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/04/13

I watched a documentary last night about the excavations in Rome and the Colosseums being unearthed in the surrounding area. The more they uncover, the more they learn about the history and purpose of this practice. In the early 300s, Emperor Constantine moved to unite the church and empire, and the next emperor canceled the […]

The Fools Gold of a Misogynistic Narcissist

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/04/10

The Fools Gold of a Misogynistic Narcissist Recently, Josh Howerton, a mega-church pastor in Dallas, emerged from a marriage weekend to tell one of the most misguided jokes ever. It compared how important the wedding is to women to how important sex is to the man. This comparison is a fair point in its infancy, […]

Some Things I Didn’t Understand

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/04/08

We are getting ready to experience the eclipse. But I don’t understand some of the talk I hear from Evangelicals and “Prophets” Some Things I Didn’t Understand If all the Evangelical Christians are raptured and the world becomes a much nicer place, what is God’s next move? If the eclipse is God’s judgment, how do […]

An Open Letter to Pastors for Consideration

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/04/04

I was a pastor for 20 years. About eight years ago, I began to question everything. I started deconstructing my beliefs and eventually walked away from organized religion. Some theologians think I’m adversarial to them because I openly question organized religion and whether we need clergy in the near future. I realize we have a […]

Evolving From Religious Trauma

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/03/29

Hello! We are Karl and Laura Forehand! For the last 8-10 years, we have found our way outside organized religion. We were in ministry for about 20 years, serving upstart and struggling churches and helping them get on their feet. When we realized our beliefs were evolving, we stepped down from our Evangelical church assignment…Read more →

Focusing on Somatic Healing

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/03/29

Amanda Baker, director of the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders and a clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, says, “It’s a treatment focusing on the body and how emotions appear within the body. Somatic therapies posit that our body holds and expresses experiences and emotions, and traumatic events…Read more →

322 – Michael Camp – Breaking Bad Faith

The Desert Sanctuary ·

2024/03/29

When Michael Camp started deconstructing his evangelical faith, he noticed a pattern. The doctrines he questioned—original depravity, substitutionary atonement, God-ordained genocide in the Old Testament, the doctrine of hell, etc.—were all tied to retribution and violence. Evangelicals believed in a retributive god who required corporal punishment, punitive justice, militarism, the death penalty, and the eternal…Read more →

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