It’s been a whirlwind of emotions for me during these past few weeks. There’s been a lot to unpack in my mind, in our country, and even on a micro-level within my city and individual communities here. There’s a lot of anger lately. Anger, on essentially all levels, makes me feel uncomfortable—that discomfort leads to my own consuming thoughts—it’s a process. I know we’re all dealing with this stuff on some level. It’s tough.
I managed to sustain my mental health and deal with my subpar internet service long enough to get another episode of FTJ published. This is the first in a series about the Apostle Paul. I’ve been looking forward to this series essentially since I had the idea for the podcast last fall, so I’m super stoked to get into the text—to share and apply the teachings of Paul to a real life context.
I’ve loved getting to know Paul over the past few months. The realization about who he was and his ministry’s impact really made a big difference in my own coming back around to Jesus and the church—as well as my sobriety.
Paul wasn’t someone who had it all together from the beginning—even though I’m sure he thought he did. As a Pharisee, Paul was qualified to speak with the authority on The Law, as well as playing a part in enforcing that Law to the Jews in ancient Jerusalem.
While he was born into a Jewish family, he also held Roman citizenship, which meant he had a really unique ability to “speak two languages,” if you will—in regard to a cultural understanding as well as a literal role in which he belonged. This allowed him to be able to relate to people in a way that perhaps the other apostles would not have had an ability to do.
I relate to this on a number of levels. I have always felt like a bit of a social diplomat. When I was in high school, I had friends in many different “groups,” and this allowed me to relate to people on multiple levels. Hopefully, at least at some points, I helped these different groups to understand each other.
And that’s what I hope to be doing in this podcast. I am a former addict and I’m also a regularly-gigging musician (well, I was regularly gigging before the quarantine). I’m definitely more comfortable hanging out in a darkly-lit bar than I am in a church. So, in a number of ways, I “get it” when it comes to an understanding of the things that drive people away from the church. Because of this, I hope to avoid those pitfalls when I’m talking to others about what God has done in my life. I know what being brought down low feels like, and I hope to use that insight to lift others up.
I’m not coming from a place of judgement. Ever. It’s just about feeling compelled to share the difference and the positive change I’ve experienced in my own life. My life has exponentially changed in the last 8 months—more growth and strength and confidence has arisen from this time period than I ever imagined possible. And on my own, it wouldn’t have been.
So, here are the links to the latest episode. I study Pauline literature and commentaries a lot, so starting to actually talk about him on the podcast makes me really happy. I hope y’all are inspired by it, and find some good in this study, too. We’ll be talking more on Paul in the upcoming weeks, as well, so if that’s your thing—there’s more on the way.
Listen to Fumbling Toward Jesus
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Podchaser
Listen on Google Podcasts
Listen on Anchor.fm
Quick note on the links: I’m hoping to get back to sharing the podcast on DSound soon, but I’ve had some technical editing issues that prevent me from exporting my finalized show to a file I can upload to DSound. GarageBand has really let me down over the past few weeks, and as I’m working toward a workaround, please bear with me and check out the podcast on one of these above-mentioned platforms. Thx. <3
I am Jessamyn Orchard (@jessamynorchard), and I am a former youth pastor, worship minister, and church lay leader, who graduated from a Christian college. Most recently, however, I’m an addict in recovery who rededicated my life to Jesus about 6 months ago. I was raised in church, and saved at age 12, but I did a lot of straying over the past 10+ years, falling into pits of sin through addictions and self-pity. I’m no authority, just a believer in a big God and called to spread His word through as many conduits as present themselves to me. Fumbling Toward Jesus is a multi-media ministry campaign and includes a written blog of daily devotions on Steemit and an accompanying monthly podcast on Anchor.fm, and it represents years of study—both over the years and lately, and now combined with a whole load of human experience. I’m just a super nerdy sinner saved by a really awesome grace.
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Featured Past
Devotional Encouragement
Devotional Encouragement
A Sinful Woman Forgiven Series:
Part I,Part II, Part III, Part IV
Keeing Negative Thoughts In Check (Philippians 4:8)
When Depression Strikes (1 Kings 19:5)
The Discipline of Darkness (Matthew 10:27)
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Any bold or italics used in scripture quotation is of my own emphasis.
All stock photography is sourced exclusively from pexels.com, and is used with permission. All photo editing, text addition, and image alterations are original to me.
