New Culture

Radicalized: Breaking Free from Religious Traditions

R A D I C A L I Z E D, putting to deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. unbiblical traditions and fear-filled, controlling cultures that limit spiritual imagination through baseless traditions. YAHAVAH. Our first Radicalized online meeting. Seekers, Mags, Del, the ministry as we seek to liberate people from the confines of religious tradition. IN YESHUA’S ONLY GIVEN NAME, AMEN.

You might have noticed my mentioning of Radicalized being our first online meeting in the prayer. Our? First online meeting? See, in our mind, HOTM is an online meeting of like-minded souls. We have taken a show that started out trying to reach any viewers willing to pause and listen. Tonight, it officially becomes a monthly meeting of like-minded souls so we can address various themes, elements, factors that orbit around the Great NewsThe message that prophecy is fulfilled and we are free to pursue God in love and liberty—without fear or religious control. and the Great News Network. In other words, we are speaking directly to those who are with us in spirit and truth. If you are visiting for some other reason, evil or benign, you are welcome, but our messages are NOT catered to you and we have no interest in trying to please you.

The Great News Network

Let’s begin by introducing you to a new tool at the Great News Network which is available now and I want to have Delaney explain to you now. Also, and just a reminder, if you are interested in going through this year’s Leadership Training course, now is the time to sign up as the first meeting is in February. Just go to the Great News Network.com for more information.

In harmony with the fulfilled eschatologyStudy of “last things”—TGNN teaches all biblical eschatology was fulfilled in 70 A.D. More and soteriology, I want to say something I see at work in the world today. Where the first Garden scene with Adam and Eve had a forbidden tree that led to death, called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, I maintain that because Christ has returned the world back to that garden Spiritually, that same tree and its fruit are edible. What do we gain from eating it? Knowledge, imperfect, perhaps human knowledge and insight, that functions and operates specifically in this world. Therefore, its effectiveness is limited to this realm exclusively. This access is possible by and through Christ’s finished work, and what it allows believers to do is to learn, adapt and even relate to people, cultures, and institutions that have frankly got it down.

Challenging Established Christian Culture

So we wanted to do something this year that is admittedly, shall we say, “of this present world.” To what end? I want to lend my hand to helping utterly destroy established Christian culture. I mean, to burn it to the ground. Why do it? Christian culture is a thriving unifying thing, right? And while it is not outlined by the scripture necessarily in terms of modern application it certainly serves to keep people out of trouble by enforcing good practices, lifestyles and social morays. I mean, right? I mean shawn, some might say, isn’t “not of this world” at least better than “of this world?” Aren’t modest fashions, and avoiding substances, and voting republican better than immodesty, alcoholism and anarchy?

Can be, sure. But this is NOT the point. Listen – just because something works in a pragmatic utilitarian sort of way DOES NOT MAKE IT GOOD, of God, or reflective of genuine Christianity. And this is the point. Christianity is about Christ, what He said, did and commanded. And what He did was to set the captives free. He liberates. In fulfillment, what receivers of Him do in light of these facts is entirely subjective and we make a profound error when we liken cultural demands created by men to the Spirit of Liberty and the will of God Almighty. To embrace and worse-yet demand cultural conformity to what people of faith create is contrary to the…

Alternative Routes in Culture

With all that being said, and in an effort to help obliterate religious culture, we think that offering some alternative routes in culture might aid in this pursuit. So, we present to you what we are calling the FOUR FIVES segment of these monthly meetings. Each month we will submit to you recommendations in four categories – from art, music, literature, and film – all as a means to help illustrate cultural items not typically found in established or inferred Christian cultures.

An example of what this looks like might be if you walked into a church and they were promoting a book that was once popular like, “The Shack,” you might say, “Oh, nice. But I prefer Victor Hugo.” Where the church members might gasp, you could be reassured that your choice, in terms of fictional writers, is just as beneficial to your soul as the fiction of the Shack – and not feel guilty over the preference. Get it?

Personal Preferences and No Shame

Same in the instance of “Christian films, art, and music.” And there is NO SHAME in anyone’s personal preferences. So over the years, I have had some folks ask about where I get my world-views or how my personal insights and perspectives formed. What they are really asking is, “why (and how) I am so different than a standard Evangelical in pretty much every way culturally,” yet I am just as committed to Christ as those who reflect such?

In my particular case, the answer is from a young age I have been a keen observer of cultures and cultural demands and I learned really young that the world of culture operates on what Neil Pert penned as, “conforming or being cast out.” When it came to my devout search for God, I soon realized that God does not have a “preferred culture” He allows us to create our own and to operate in faith and love from whatever we prefer and from what I see, this remains the case so long as two principles remain – the individual puts Him and His will above the cultural demands and that the cultural demands are never used to alienate others.

The Importance of Individual Culture

Because cultures are a natural outflow of being human and belonging and unifying with others is important to people feeling loved and part of a group, cultures also demand that their members think, live and look like each other so as to retain their safe, insular distinctives. I realized early on that being part of a culture created by others often serves as a detriment to discovering who God made each individual to be and how to honor the lives He gave each of us to respectively live.

The early apostolic church relied on unity, even a cultural unity to be honest, all as a necessary means to resist the onslaught of external attacks from those seeking to destroy her before He returned to take her to the New JerusalemThe spiritual reality of God's fulfilled presence with humanity—replacing Sheol after 70 A.D. above. Same with the Nation of Israel – God literally crafted a culture for them in and through what He prohibited and described including diet, dress, and worship.

In fulfillment, with the world having been returned to the garden state spiritually and the faith thriving subjectively in the hearts of all people, Christian cultures, in my estimation, only serve to keep groups of people from thinking, from self-examination, and from maturing by the Spirit the way God intends them to as individuals while here, on earth living material lives. I learned very early on as a Latter-Day Saint that if I was to genuinely search for Truth there was no room for cultural conformity.

So, what did I do? Here’s where we get radical tonight and here is what I personally recommend all believers seek to do – to curate and craft THEIR OWN CULTURE and say goodbye forever to those of established in most modern Evangelical domains. The Four Fives are suggestions to help you get on your way to doing this all the while fully understanding that these lists are to be tested, not readily embraced but to

Personal Cultural Exploration

By the end of the year, we will have recommended 60 artists, 60 films, 60 books, and 60 musicians (or songs) that I suggest are more worthy of your time and are certainly part of the personal culture I have crafted for myself. Again, just me. Before sharing them, also take note that I do NOT embrace everything these recommendations represent to the world from their own cultural homes. I take what encourages, enlightens, uplifts me and discard the rest. So here goes –

Musical Alternatives

FIVE MUSICAL ALTERNATIVES TO “CHRISTIAN” PERFORMERS

1. The Seekers (an Australian group from the 50s and 60s).
2. The Melvins (their entire discography)
3. Sam Cook’s Soul Stirrer Songs
4. Anything Johnny Cash
5. Bad Religion (especially their recording called, New Maps of Hell – The Acoustic version)

Next, we have,

Books of Significance

FIVE BOOKS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE to CONSIDER

1. Native Son – Fiction (Richard Wrights)
2. The True Believer Non-Fiction (Eric Hoffer)
3. How we know what isn’t so. Non-Fiction (Thomas Gilovich)
4. The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged Fiction (Ayn Rand)
5. The Glass Beads Game (also known as Magister Ludi) (Hermann Hesse)

Stirring Films

FIVE STIRRING FILMS TO CONSIDER

1. The White Ribbon– Michael Hanake
2. Mother – Darren Aronofsky
3. Come and See – Elim Klimov
4. Ordet – Carl Theodor Dryer
5. The Tree of Life – Terrance Malick

AND FIVE ARTISTS WORTH EXPLORING

1. Antoni Guadi – Architect
2. Louis Khan – Architect
3. Michealangelo Caravaggio – Oil
4. John Singer Sargent – Oil
5. Julian Schnabel – Artist/Director

And these are January’s 2025 FOUR FIVES! Look for our next install in February.

Cultural Creations and Faith

What is really fascinating about this process of “subjective cultural creations” is we are all so very different and being liberated to create our own rules for expression, art, entertainment, and education, we are able to learn so much about each other along the way – what really makes us tick – and not judge in the least along the way. In this open thriving petri dish of humanity, where Christ reigns, the world, through every preference and culture, is drawing closer to Him. Go as you are led.

And now to REALLY take it out there in terms of Radicalization in the faith. Because I have spent undue hours looking at culture and its power to bless and curse, I want to do a 180 on all that I have said in the past against this world. Remember, I cut my teeth on hating this world, on it being fallen and it working with Satan to help bring souls into hell. With our discovery in eschatology and soteriology, and a personal experience I had on this world view eight months ago, I still realize, from a faith-based perspective, how to live for this world remains a mistake, but that Christ’s victory accomplished something I never thought possible – that believers and the cultures that we have created in the past can (and should) learn from the people, cultures and institutions that ARE not necessarily founded in faith or God or Yeshua but – that’s right – are SIMPLY OF THIS HUMAN WORLD and really pertain only to this Human Experience. Of all the cultures I have observed that thrive outside the faith, I believe and suggest that Christianity today would do well to fully embrace one that has formed over the years into a really beautiful, well-functioning display.

Can you guess what culture I recommend believers/pastors/teachers embrace from the world around us? The culture seen in the culinary industry but in this case I am speaking particularly about the

Culinary Industry Insights

I understand that at the so-called lower levels of this industry, fry cooks and hostesses and servers at the local Denny’s have a lot of problems and issues. But I am talking about the people in the culinary industry surrounding independent restaurants and restaurants that really care about food – we Christians find a fantastic cultural model that we should embrace. Let me explain.

This culture has a focus – food. Those in it because they love it (as opposed to those in it because it's just a job) really really REALLY care about FOOD – they are sold-out and passionate over it. Their first priority – number one first and always, is to care enough about it that they don’t serve something unsafe. Food that is safe to eat is their number one priority because if it's not they directly contradict the meaning and purpose of food – which is it is to be consumed. If the food they prepare and serve is unsafe for consumption, the goal is lost.

Spiritual Parallels

So should this be the goal of those who prepare spiritual messages and who consume them – the first priority is the message must be safe, consumable by the mind, and fit for consumption. To offer up anything that is tainted, that will lead to spiritual illness, should be wholly avoided by anyone and everyone involved. The next thing the restaurant industry is focused on is doing everything they can to prepare and serve food to those who are interested in eating it. If the food tastes bad, is poorly prepared, is cold when it should be hot, or warm when it should be cold, if it is incompatible with standards of excellence, the food is not served. Same with those who prepare and serve in the faith. But the analogy is much much deeper.

Those serious in the restaurant industry, again, while making food their sole focus, literally live to make it safe, to prepare it right, and to serve it appropriately no matter the level of the cuisine. They have passion for the food, they care about every aspect of food, and they spend their lives educating themselves about food and everything surrounding the preparing serving and eating of it. So too might the dedicated Christian world be – filled with people sold out to God, every aspect of God, and they literally spend their lives educating themselves about God and everything surrounding Him and His ways.

Learning from Food Industry

Here is where Christian cultures can really learn from the Food Industry: They do NOT care about the lifestyles, beliefs, styles, or even the very different and unique approaches that they each take to food – not in the end. At the highest levels, they care about what is safe to eat, what is cravable/desirable to eat, what is prepared appropriately to eat, and the way that food is offered to others. Once these things are met, they leave purchases and reservations to the consumer.

What if Christians borrowed from this culture and treated Christ and all He has done for this world in the same way they look at food? … that at the highest and lowest expressions everyone involved (and this is key) EVERYONE involved agrees and conforms to the idea that Christ is first safe to eat. That what He has done and what He is craveable and desired. Christ is prepared appropriately AND according to the tastes of the diner) and that He is served respectfully and with all honor and devotion to Him?

See, both food and Christ are subjectively experienced according to a set two-way street – how they are prepared and served (presented and offered) and how each recipient prefers to consume them. In the food industry, there are standards that are established relative to safety, preparation, and techniques. For instance, to cut potatoes randomly in different shapes to fry is to break a standard of uniformity which is necessary for an even cook and therefore for mouthfeel and…

Understanding Standards in Faith

To a Christian, we discover our standards from the principles in a contextual, reasonable understanding of the Christian Cookbook – the Bible. But every chef knows, like every Christian pastor and believer ought to know, that once the standards are understood, which in the Christian faith are solely “faith and love,” the varieties of approaches and expression in the faith, just like the varieties of approaches to preparing and serving food, are endless. However, the success of them is always determined by the consumer and their subjective tastes. For example, I cannot stomach any egg preparation other than super well done. To a trained chef, the proper standard to preparing and serving an egg is very close to runny. The call then comes between the standards the chef adheres to, his or her training and personal preference against the tastes and preferences of the consumer.

Subjectivity in Faith

This is how subjectivity comes into play in the Christian faith. There is a standard, but it must comport itself, by the Spirit, to meet the receiver at a level they can understand (and appreciate). The war between a dogmatic chef and a picky consumer always lies in the control of the consumer. In religion, we have decided that the chef (pastor) is in complete control no matter what. This is an egregious cultural mistake and has been since the destruction of Jerusalem because all believers are truly different in almost every way. We see great adaptation in the way the Master (chef) teacher taught when on earth, preparing and serving each individual what they were able to stomach and understand and NOT force-feed His unmoveable standards upon them. The only standard He insisted upon was Himself and others. Just like the only standard people in the culinary industry share across the board is love for food first, then sharing this love with others second.

Balance in Relationships

But it is so important to see that in the exchange of chef and consumer, and in the relationship of God and Man, there is a balance. A chef must do her or his best to rightly prepare each dish safely and deliciously WHILE taking the customers' tastes and experience with food into account. This is what Yeshua did and perhaps even more importantly, this is exactly what the Holy Spirit does in the lives of all people – not just believers – but all people today. This said, the depth of maturity in the culinary industry does not stop here as they collectively value merit and treat each other accordingly. Perhaps it's time we start to embrace this cultural attitude as well in things of faith.

In the restaurant/chef world, they work as a trusted team. The dishwasher is as valuable as the chef de cuisine. In fact, watching a show called "The Bear," everyone is known as chef, perhaps in the same way we call each other brother or sister. Then, because of their love for food, they will not give any recognition to those who do not also take food seriously. Fakers are quickly put to the test in every serious kitchen as a means to quickly get them to choose to take food seriously or to leave. They don’t do this out of hatred for the phony or incompetent – they know that they just aren’t ready to belong – but they do it out of love for the food itself. They have sacrificed way too much for the subject to respect those who show that they don’t love food with the same heart. But they will beautifully, and with great patience and longsuffering, stand side by side and support ANYONE – from the oldest to the youngest, from the gay to the straight – anyone who shows that they are as devoted to food as they are.

The next thing they do, again out of love for the food, is they do NOT make it easy on newcomers but neither do they overwhelm them with tasks beyond their skill level. Instead, they with great patience bring them along, taking the time to nurture and guide them.

Culinary Culture vs. Christian Culture

There are expectations, but whenever anyone shows interest, they are taught what those expectations are – all as a means to honor food and to keep the food industry thriving and alive. Christian cultures tend to take a very different approach when it comes to people who claim to have passion for Christ but are new, weak or need training. We tend to either allow them to linger around endlessly and without any expectations of maturity or growth or we just tell them what they need to do or believe and never take the time to really disciple them. We are happy with warm bodies but fail to encourage and honor real merit. In the case of culinary culture, their members put Christian cultures to shame because they prove that their dedication to food is far superior to the love the majority of Christians have for Christ.

A Call for Serious Commitment

There is something off in this. And the culture we crafted around these fact does not serve to make the faith better. It just makes us pathetic and operating like a chain of really poorly run restaurants with meth-heads on the grill and an indifferent wait-staff carelessly serving plates they really could not care less about. Isn’t it fascinating that an earthly, often wild and godless industry, can be so culturally superior to many Christian expressions where we are supposed to be better? I suggest we can adapt what the culinary industry actually does to honor food, but to do it to honor the living God. It occurs when we take the faith seriously, while realizing that for it to thrive, we need to cultivate environs that accommodate anyone and everyone who wants to belong.

Learning from the Culinary Industry

The final take-away from the culture of cuisine is that they honor and respect those who have lent to the industry in a meritorious way. We see this in how they applaud accomplishment, how they encourage innovation, and admit that they stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before them – again – whether they appreciate or agree with their style or way. In the faith, we ignore merit and award what and who is most popular or only those who cook what we enjoy. In the culinary industry, so long as the individual loves food, as proven by their dedication to it, they are appreciated and honored. In Christian culture, we refuse to honor other chefs, who too, out of a love for God, have crafted some super interesting dishes to consider. Where the culinary industry would openly award and recognize chefs who cook by braising, boiling, frying, who approach food through molecular gastronomy, who focus on raw food, or grilling, steaming, sautéing, deglazing, microwaving, simmering, open firing, pureeing, searing, dry heat cooking, SousVide, Stewing, stir frying and pressure cooking anything from plants, sealife, and animals – all contributing to the industry because of their LOVE and DEVOTION to God or Christ, Christian cultures only honor their own and rarely step outside these parameters because their cultures won’t let them.

The fact of the matter is, food is an essential part of human life and the people who really love it prove it by their respective and different devotions. From this they have established a healthy, vibrant, living culture that takes its subject really seriously and because of this they welcome anyone and everyone in to contribute their specific skill set, imagination and passion because it helps keep that industry alive and relevant. May the Living God take this example into the future and into the hearts of real followers of the King and equip us to craft a similar culture around our absolute love for His Son where lifestyles, personal appearances, opinions, and differences are not only allowed but extolled, encouraged and honored in His name and cause.

See you in February.

HOTM RADICALIZED 2025
Show 1 January 7th 2025
New Culture