Standing and Kneeling at the Same Time
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
The missing ingredient for a strong center of spiritual resistance (against evil) is often awe/wonder. Jesus taught us how to live as children born again with fresh eyes of awe and wonder, but we often allow ourselves to "grow" out of this heart posture for the purposes of living in "reality." However, what we find is that this "reality" we create for ourselves, devoid of awe and wonder, leads to all manner of evil. What can we do to cultivate this heart posture in a world that seems bent on stripping us of it? Learn to stand and kneel at the same time. Join us today as we expolore what this...
info_outline
Lonely Birds Under a Wide Open Sky
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Theologian Karl Barth compelled Christians of the Third Reich to resist the evil which was besetting the world by becoming accustomed to being "lonely birds under a wide, unconditionally open" sky. What he meant by that is that they (and we!) must establish a center of spiritual reistance so strong that they are willing to go it alone if even the entire world begins to call what is evil good. On today's episode we explore this concept and how a few important shifts in our worldview might enable us to establish a center of spiritual resistance of our own in the times in which we find ourselves...
info_outline
Becoming Resolute Truth Tellers is the First Step
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
For the next several episodes we will explore how to "establish a center of spiritual resistance," as Karl Barth implored the Protestant Christians in Germany to do in 1933. I believe the first step is to commit to being resolute truth tellers in a time and culture where truth is often obscured, ignored, or denied. Why did the German Christians renegotiate their theology to accommodate the lies of the Third Reich? The answer isn't as simple as we might imagine. Join us as we explore the parallels between the mindsets of the German Christians and Christian Nationalists today.
info_outline
There's a Little Bit of Nazi in Us All
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
On today's episode we explore the age-old traps that the German Christians of the Third Reich fell into -- traps to which we've all succumbed at some point or another. The benefit of looking backward and listening deeply to those who've made devastating errors in judgment is that we can learn how to navigate our own journeys with wisdom, discernment, and most importantly love. As much as we'd like to turn off the bad news of the day and pretend we aren't living in extraordinarily challenging times, we don't have that luxury. These times are here, and God has seen fit to call us into being...
info_outline
Nazis, Ignatius, & Lost Sheep
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
On today's episode we cover a lot of ground! Luther's two-shephere theology, "order of creation" doctrine, and the German Christian abuses of speculative theology in the name of Christ. Then we explore Ignatius of Loyola's "Ignation Contemplation" also known as "imaginative prayer." What does this practice have to offer us today? At the end of the episode we practice this form of prayer together.
info_outline
Enlarging the Boundaries of Our Hearts
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
On today's episode we explore the notion of "Toxic Empathy" that's been making the rounds in political and religious conversations these days. We begin with a story about how empathy saved Amber's family and then we explore how empathy makes us both more human and more like God who is Love.
info_outline
Ignatian Discernment & Nazified Christianity
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Today's episode introduces two seemingly opposite topics that actually have surprising overlap -- Ignatian spirituality and the beliefs of the German Christian movement. Both topics hold much wisdom and challenge for us here in the Year of our Lord 2025. We begin with the Welcoming Prayer by Father Thomas Keating and discuss the Ignatian Examen alongside the mindset of the German Christians in 1933. What might God be speaking to us today through our own consolations and desolations?
info_outline
What the World Needs Now is (Mother) Love
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Today's episode is a reading from a recent newsletter I sent out to subscribers of my Substack. It deals with the scapegoating of the trans community that's been on the rise since the election cycle began and offers a prescription for what ails us -- powerful mothering love. If you'd like to subscribe to my Substack and receive newsletters from me a few times per month, the link is below.
info_outline
Being Brave in a New World - Intro Ep
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Hello there, Gold Digger! Welcome to Season 15 of the show dedicated to finding God's gold in every beautiful & baffling story. This season, Dr. Amber Hogan Jones will be companioning you through this new & often confusing world in which we find ourselves living in the Year of Our Lord 2025. This season is gonna hit a little different as we talk politics, world events, & hot topics. What will remain the same is that we will stay laser focused on finding God's gold in it all. The goal for Season 15 is to offer a place of encouragement, kindness, openness and humility in a...
info_outline
Finding the Gold in Post-Election Processing
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Season 14 has been dedicated to exploring Christian Nationalism and the doctrine of dominionism that has become increasingly normalized in evangelical, and some Catholic, religious spaces in America. Loren and Amber spend the final episode of the season discussing how they've been spiritually formed through the process of research, reflection, and dialogue regarding the nature of power and how Christians are called to steward it. Where is God's presence and activity in a post-election world, no matter what "side" one is on?
info_outlinePhilosopher and theologian Cornel West posits that the condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. That resonates, doesn’t it? What is our suffering saying to us? What truth is it offering?
Far be it from me to attempt to explain why things couldn’t have been different or how a good and omniscient God works with suffering. Theologians and philosophers and farmers and housewives have been pondering these questions since the dawn of time, and I have nothing novel to offer the debate on the problem of pain.
However, what I’m learning is that, if we can risk allowing our suffering to speak, we just might discover how pain can be helpful to the plan of our individual and collective lives.