Hi! I'm Nathan!
Personal History: I live in Colorado, sometimes alone, and sometimes with my adventurous wife, Heather, and my son, Malachi. Heather is the newest addition to the family. Malachi and I agree she is also the best (and most likely to let Malachi roast s'mores). I grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado with a brief intermission in Belgium. I attended Oklahoma Christian University to pursue a career in politics and left with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering to pursue a life of not working as an engineer. My favorite color is grey and I refuse to throw out socks with holes in them.
Faith history: "Let me esplain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up." I am equal parts prodigal son and "other brother." I somehow manage to struggle with self-righteousness AND enough soundly-lodged eye-planks to build a porch. I facebook-stalk God. But I'm trying to have a relationship now so it isn't so creepy how much I know about him, and be more of a "follower" than a "believer".
My deconstruction happened a decade ago, when I was angry with God for not bestowing-unto-me a wife (after all, I didn't drink, swear, ogle, OR cuss, what the heck God?!). I struggled alone for years with lies I had accidentally learned about purity, about God, about relationships. I caused a lot of people a lot of pain. I hit rock bottom, and finally experienced the joy that humiliation can bring. Grace that is amazing. Righteousness that is not from me. Support and love from God's people. And I ended up with an awesome son out of the deal.
I inherited a multi-generational legacy of genuine faith: Stories and memories of my grandparents make it clear they made following Jesus their priority. My mom's love for and knowledge of scripture is inspiring. My dad has a heart for the underdog and speaks up when others are afraid to. My parents are the same people at church as they are at home and everywhere else. Their example of authentic faith is one of the best gifts they have given me. I strive to follow their example, and the example of Christ. I'm a work in progress, as you'll definitely hear as you listen along!
Nathan has hosted 65 Episodes.
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16: Aftershocks: Reactions to breaking up with your church
June 9th, 2021 | 1 hr 27 mins
Today we have a little bit of fun with a denomination personality quiz, then stick around until the end to hear Steve’s breakup letter to our congregation. And in the meantime, we talk about the emotions of this in-between space, community and lack thereof, and Nathan discovers #WeirdChristianTwitter
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15: Book Club: "Why We Can't Wait" by Martin Luther King, Jr.
June 2nd, 2021 | 1 hr 27 mins
We're joined by Nicole Magliore to discuss the book "Why We Can't Wait" by Martin Luther King, Jr. – Not only do we discuss the book, but what white Christians can do to make a difference in a country that is still so stuck in white supremacy and systemic racism. This, my friends, is a fantastic episode.
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14: Accidental Selection: Thoughts on finding a new church
May 26th, 2021 | 1 hr 20 mins
Today we’re talking about our personal criteria for what we’re looking for in a church. We’re both in this awkward stage of looking and it’s a bit like dating, except you only get to have a little bit of cracker and a little bit of juice. We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback! Email us at followingthefirepodcast@gmail.com
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13: Flip-Floppers: Engaging in politics and keeping your soul
May 19th, 2021 | 1 hr 43 mins
Today we’re discussing everyone’s favorite topic: Politics. We’ll be talking about how and why and if we should involve ourselves in politics, whether or not we all have to agree, and where our focus through it all needs to be.
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12: Don't Give Moses Horns: Are science & faith friends or foes?
May 12th, 2021 | 1 hr 19 mins
Today we're going to talk about science and religion. Big, big topics that have influenced our faiths for our whole lives. Studies show that Christians everywhere experience the tension between the two things. But is there really a conflict? Do we have to make a choice? Or can there be a harmony when these two ways of looking at the world align?
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11: Grieving Leaving: How to leave a church
May 5th, 2021 | 1 hr 31 mins
For better or worse, one thing that comes with all the faith deconstruction going on these days is that a lot of people are leaving or changing the church they attend. Nathan has some great advice for those leaving, those who are left, and the leaders of churches. Wherever you fall on that list, this episode is for you.
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10: Book Club: "With" by Skye Jethani
April 28th, 2021 | 1 hr 20 mins
On this episode of the Following the Fire Book Club we discuss the book "With" by Skye Jethani. Special guest: Heather Meyer!
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9: Huge Black Eye: Modern idolatry and the image of God
April 21st, 2021 | 1 hr 31 mins
Today Nathan’s return to a short story about Jesus healing 10 lepers leads us into the 10 commandments, idolatry, can we safely say “OMG”, then to masks, vaccines, the mark of the beast. We talk about being the image of God in this messed up spiritual desert, and we wish for brave leadership through it.
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8: Deconstructing Deconstruction: What it is and why it's happening
April 14th, 2021 | 1 hr 53 mins
In this episode Nathan learns what the word ‘heuristic’ means, and we talk a lot about ‘deconstruction’ — what it means, what it doesn’t mean, and what the process might be like for people like us who are going through it.
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Bonus Episode: The Leaven of Nathan
April 10th, 2021 | 14 mins 45 secs
The Problem: Nathan is judgmental and gets it wrong about music
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7: Bowling Without Bumpers: Rethinking the Restoration movement
April 7th, 2021 | 1 hr 22 mins
Is restoration of the first century church REALLY what we should be focusing on? Is there a danger in trying to do the right thing all the time? Is faith supposed to be scary? Should we all give dancing naked a try? These and other questions, if not answered, will at least be asked on this week's episode.
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6: It’s not about farming: Is the Bible everything we think it is?
March 31st, 2021 | 1 hr 24 mins
We’re going to talk about the B.I.B.L.E. and discuss whether it’s the book for us. Where’d it come from? Is it truth? What is truth? Then we get deeper and deeper. Come follow along as we try to figure this out.
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5: The G.O.D. Club: The problem of Christian moral superiority
March 24th, 2021 | 1 hr 16 mins
Nathan shares his thoughts on how misunderstanding "Good Guys vs. Bad Guys" can lead to an inverted gospel of moral superiority, and how it contributes to the problem of "Us Against Them." And, along the way, Nathan realizes that he's not the Jedi he thought, but he was the Sith the whole time.
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4: Flossing Deconstructed: More things we accidentally learned in church
March 17th, 2021 | 1 hr 2 mins
On this episode we continue our conversation of the list of some of the small things on Steve’s mind like eternity, the Old Testament and the New Testament and what things we’re supposed to get out of them, and what does it mean to talk to God.
We’re just barely getting in to these topics, but we plan on diving deeper on all of them in the future, and we really want to know your thoughts, comments, questions, and concerns. So PLEASE send us an email at FollowingTheFirePodcast@gmail.com - we’d love to hear from you, maybe answer your questions or work your comments into a future episode.
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3: Spiritual Pillows: Rethinking things we accidentally learned in church
March 10th, 2021 | 1 hr 6 mins
Today we start going down Steve's list of things he’s been thinking about and rethinking, and we don’t get too far. Also, we solve the issue of women’s roles in the church. Almost.
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2: Gnats & Camels: Pros and cons of growing up in the Church of Christ
March 3rd, 2021 | 1 hr 15 mins
Today we’ll be talking a bit about how growing up in the Churches of Christ impacted our faith. And to all of our friends and family in the Churches of Christ, hopefully this episode will be less awkward to listen to than it was for us to record it.