We Are One In Spirit Podcast Interview

I invite you to listen in and call in!

Posted: Monday, April 23, 2012
Emergent Movement & Oneness in the New Age

Author Steve Brannon will be joining us on We Are One in Spirit Podcast this Thursday. Steve enjoys sharing the reinterpretation of the Bible with anyone who crosses his path.

Join the new interactive format of We Are One in Spirit Podcast. It offers you, our listeners, the opportunity to call in and ask questions to me and my guests. Below is how you can call in and join the discussion. If you miss the event, don't worry. I will post the replay link after it is recorded:

Thursday, April 26 at 2:00 PM Central Time
Dial-in Number: 605-475-6350
Participant Access Code: 356172#
 

As Natural As Breathing

Many people who believe in the Emergent Movement—myself included—are often considered “anti-religion”. This is the furthest thing from the truth. I am forever thankful for the incredible work that Christian organizations do to ease human suffering. Each day, millions of people around the world are fed, clothed and taught by Christian churches, schools, and hospitals. For centuries, Christians have made a positive difference, from healers like Mother Theresa and Padre Pio, to the individual who anonymously donates money to a poor family

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in their congregation. Furthermore, I still believe in church as a sacred place and would never do or say anything to belittle it.

That said, it is also my belief that the “faith-built” churches of today are not a continuation of the original church begun by Christ. Instead, over the past two millennia, man has created the Church in his image, rather than in God’s. The result is that there are some 39,000 separate and different expressions of Christianity around the earth that claim to hold the Truth.

    In a rather straightforward manner, I state in Chapter 7 of The Two Agreements, “As evidenced by the history of all religions, mankind seems to compulsively work to complicate the spiritual life of living in harmony with God, a relating that is as natural as breathing.” Indeed, the connecting to God has become so circuitous and convoluted as to be a life’s pursuit, instead of the place from which we live our lives. I am reminded of the story of the two cats. One is turning in circles chasing its tail. The second cat asks him why he is doing such a thing. “I was told that happiness abides in the tip of one’s tail. And I desperately want happiness.” To which the second cat replies, “I have learned that as I peacefully go on my way that happiness is with me and follows me wherever I go.” And, certainly, we need not seek something we already possess.

Indeed, upon examining church history, we find that the original church was not a formal institution, but small groups of people meeting in each other’s homes to spread Christ’s messages. The purpose of these meetings was twofold: first, to bring salvation to those who had been born under the first covenant with God and, secondly, to spread the story of Christ’s life and resurrection. The Church of today, however, is something altogether different. Sadly, it has become a tool to measure our “worthiness”, even one’s worthiness to hold public office and serve society.

Please note, Christ did not give a list of rules and regulations for doing church the “right way” in order to prove that we believe deeply enough or in the right way. He simply told us to accept the Holy Spirit. Ironically, the man who was persecuted for saying, “I and my Father are the same” is now believed to have been the only one so connected to Source, when in fact we all are. Now we are the blasphemers if we make this claim. Too often, instead of being encouraged to live our lives with God, we are encouraged to give our lives over to institutions that run similarly to the government and any other bureaucracy. These institutions are largely based on the premise that we are separate, not only from God, but from each other. Ultimately, that premise leads us into feelings of fear, guilt and shame, which make manipulation possible.

As evidenced by the thousands fleeing the Church each year, that premise is no longer working. I believe these folks are being called to be mystics—to directly plug into the Source instead of going through the “middle man” that the Church has become.

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Latest Book Review on The Two Agreements

The Christian that Came in From the Cold: Steve Brannon’s The Two Agreements offers a New Path to God

Dana Micheli, Writers in the Sky

Historically, in times of crisis people have turned to their religion. But what happens when people have problems and questions that their church is either unable, or unwilling, to address? This impasse is the cause of the growing rift we are seeing in fundamentalist Christianity.  Millions of people, particularly the young, are leaving the church in droves. They hunger for a closer relationship with God and are tired of being told “they don’t believe strongly enough” if they have questions about the traditional interpretation of the Bible. Some of these questions are nearly as old as humanity itself, and although many remain unanswerable to us on this plane, their exploration is something that must be attempted if we can hope to understand our Divine purpose. 

In this incredible new book, The Two Agreements, Dr. Steve Brannon reinterprets the New Testament and sheds light on the true nature of Christ’s life and work on earth. Brannon explores Jesus’ journey as he walked between two worlds—the relative existence of human life, and the absolute world of love, unity, acceptance and perfection created by The Source.  But perhaps even more important, the book also chronicles the origins of “the Lie”, introduced in the story of Adam and Eve, which has been used for centuries to illustrate man’s inherent “sinful” nature and his separation from God.   

But The Two Agreements is more than just a book; it is also a companion of sorts to Brannon’s work as a spiritual counselor/coach. Licensed as a minister at the age of 19, Steve planted a fundamentalist Christian church soon after.  But over time, he began to feel a need to know Christ in a way that Christian dogma did not seem to allow. After much soul-searching, he began a slow, painful extrication from organized religion that led to his transformation as a true follower of Jesus.

Today, Steve’s interfaith ministry specializes in helping those with mental health challenges to develop their spiritual lives. He hosts two weekly groups: one is for patients at a mental health facility; the other is open to the public, for individuals suffering with mood disorders, as well as their close friends and families. Both groups are comprised of a plurality of faiths. 

The Two Agreements is an invitation to a new level of spiritual awareness.  It opens a door to a new consciousness and most importantly, a deeper relationship with God and with each other.