Glenn Hager
An Irreligious Faith
Speaking
1 Minute Movie
The Skinny on Tithing, Giving, and Offerings
Churches didn’t just come up with the offering idea, as a way to keep things going. The idea of religious donations has a long history. Tithing, or giving one tenth of your income is a very ancient practice, even predating the Mosaic Law. Abraham tithed to the mysterious King Melchizedek,…
If I Were King
I would abolish political parties. The founding fathers warned against them. They polarize the nation and corrupt politicians who have tow the party line to get the funding necessary to win an election. I would allow legislators to organize around coalitions, permitting them to work together on a couple of…
Repurposed
All of the photos of are of the vintage garden apartment where I wrote this post. Nothingness You caught me! I am doing nothing. Well, I am typing. But in general for the last couple of days, I have done nothing. It’s called a vacation, really, a three-day mini get-a-way. We came…
True Hero
My Grandpa made everything better. He was my favorite person in the whole world. Somehow, he merged a stern German demeanor with a tender, yet manly love. As I look back, I think I was special to him, like he was to me. Six-foot-tall, straight as a broomstick. Hair combed…
Noticing People
Living out your faith is not rocket science. You don’t need somebody to tell you to do it. You certainly don’t need an organization, or a program to be loving and caring toward people. You simply need to realize it’s up to you, and then, live your life with your…
How Can You Be a Christian without the Church?
Back in the day, this question would have seemed absurd to me, but not anymore. Millions of people are indeed holding onto their faith without being a part of the church, more all the time. But what does it look like when we don’t outsource our spiritual expression to an…
A More Normal Way of Being the Church
So, what does this “free range believer,” this “being the church, rather than going to church” look like? How can it have a relational aspect? First, there is a responsibility piece to it. Once you decide to no longer outsource your faith expression; it becomes a personal responsibility. Second, there is…
Why are Christians Avoiding Church?
There is a huge disconnect between faith in Christ and the very institution designed to develop and spread that faith. That’s like teachers who don’t like schools, or plumbers who dislike pipes, or writers who hate books. What’s going on here? Whether you attend church or not, used to, or…
Wassup?
Here’s what happening in my world of encouraging people through writing. New Look. I am proud to announce that glennhager.com has a completely new look. It is something I have been working on it for several weeks. Check it out, and let me know what you think. Special Offer. There…
Does the Church Provide Community?
My basic sticking point with the institutional church is that it doesn’t feel real! It’s separated from regular life! It’s internally focused upon growing the organization, or at least, trying to sustain it, rather than being focused on its mission. That mission is largely externally and carried out in the…
No Hands
Here is the possible beginning of novel, though this part is very rooted in reality. I’m flying! A ten-year old cruising down the hill of State Route O in Cosby, Missouri with no hands on the handlebars is flying. I was free. I didn’t feel that much in the city where…
Condensed Church History
Scholars understand the birthday of the church to on be the Day of Pentecost, as described in Acts 2. It was one of the Jewish feasts celebrating the harvest, so Jewish people from all over were in Jerusalem. The Apostle Peter began to preach to the crowd about Jesus and how…
Storytelling
I want to be a good storyteller. It’s a big paradigm shift for me. Most of my life I have been a nonfiction reader. As a pastor, I wanted to learn how to be a better pastor, so that’s what I read about. As a writer a writer, I…
The Death of Truth
Truth is dead. Apparently, we don’t need it anymore. Instead, we contort what little we know about an incident to support our preconceived viewpoint. Our minds are made up before we even become fully aware of the facts. Then, we speak up with great indignation, believing we are calling attention…
Things I Don’t Ever Want to Forget
It’s hard to remember, and it’s not just due to my age, or getting so lost in a thought that I forgot which route I took to get home. Our culture is not given to remembering. It’s more about what’s trending on Twitter at very this moment. So, this month’s…
Some People are Asses
PPerhaps, the best (and worst) thing about being a pastor was the people. Probably, everyone could say the same thing, not just pastors and church-going folks. But pastoring a small church is a relationally intensive endeavor. I loved so many of the friends I made in those years as a pastor,…
Trials and Tribulations
Within days, the sump pump quit, as did the furnace. The toilet overflowed. The car still won’t start, and the furnace went out again this morning when it was -9. There was also a big disappointment concerning a business opportunity, and a few other things happened that seemed to do…
Glenn Hager
I encourage marginalized people. That’s why I wrote a book called, An Irreligious Faith. After all, there are 38 million individuals in the United States who stopped attending church in the last decade alone. So, I mustered all of the honesty and wit I could to tell my story of…
An Irreligious Faith
Interested in Jesus, but not the church? Used to go, but not anymore? Find the whole church scene irrelevant? Good! You may be one of the 38 million individuals who stopped attending church in the last decade in The U.S. With honesty and a wry wit, Glenn Hager tells his…
Speaking
I believe that we should learn from our experiences, and then help others who are on a similar journey. So, I am drawing on over twenty years of experience as a pastor, fourteen years of experience in forging a faith that is real, and several years of helping people who…
1 Minute Movie
165 million Americans do not go to church. In the last ten years alone, 38 million people stopped going to church. 76% of the unchurched have attended church. They used to go, but stopped. They claim their faith, but avoid the institution.
A Churchless Faith
How do you live a life of faith without the help of the church? It is a relevant question many for the thirty-eight million people who have dropped out of church in the last decade, part of a total of 156 million unchurched Americans. Incidentally, most all of them have…
Christmas Prayer
God become man. Entering the world in the most humble manner. Defying religious preconceptions. Shocking people with his radical way of loving them in spite of their shortcomings. Suffering constant misunderstanding and persecution. Finally, he was tortured to death. But that was not the end, because… Now, his death is our redemption.…
My Addiction
Ah ha! Gotcha! You thought this post was going to reveal some deep, dark secret about me. It sort of does. I have a confession. Hello, my name is Glenn, and I am addicted to writing. Oh, the weight that was just lifted from my shoulders! I have been…
The Paradox of Christmas
Our culture’s way of celebrating Christmas is to cram as much in it as possible, while exhorting us to reflect on its deep meaning in relationship to faith and family. It’s like mixing oil and water, or Nat King Cole and Miley Cyrus. It’s impossible! “More” is the mantra of…
The Man of God Myth
It is hard to find grace when it is desperately needed, like when a pastor or other spiritual leader is discovered to have been abusive toward those who looked up to him and depended upon him. How can you possibly pull together an appropriate balance of accountability and restoration in…
The Death of Truth (Version 1)
We have suffered perhaps the greatest loss a society can bear. Truth has died. Politicians and pundits killed it. Spin won out over facts. Strident, closed-minded opinions trumped careful, open-minded consideration. Here in the U.S we have just endured another midterm campaign season of mudslinging. Unfortunately, it is nothing new,…
Labels
Labels are great for canned goods, but horrible when applied to people. Human beings are too complex to label, plus it is judgmental to try pigeon hole them. While it is helpful to have opinions and to assess situations, it is unfair to broadly assign traits to entire groups of…
Puppy Love
Boyd & Ava chillin’ in a chair I didn’t know if it would work. We had inherited two long-haired Chihuahuas. Due to no fault of their own, we were their fourth home. They are siblings, brother and sister. While they are off-the-charts cute, they are also needy, attention hogs,…
Was Jesus Religious?
Here is my most recent column in The Kenosha News. Don’t talk about religion or politics. People tend to have strong opinions about these matters, and they really don’t want to re-examine what they believe. Their minds are made up. Today, I am ignoring the sage advice to write about…
Don’t Tell Me What to Do
It has recently occurred to me that I am adverse to people telling me what to do. You may think I am just a rebellious, non-compliant, cranky old codger. And you might be right, but I think there is something else at play here. I grew up with an abundance…
When Mental Illness Strikes Home
I talked to my Dad last Saturday on his eighty-eighth birthday, and he was surprising like his old self, chatty and congenial. What a relief! For so much of his recent years he has lived in a state of agitation. Contentment has been something he rarely experienced. Hence, much of…
Why Are Bars More Accepting than Churches?
John Donne was right, no man is an island. Even a casual reading of scripture reveals God’s heart for connection with us, and how he hardwired us for linking with other human beings. Relationships are probably the source of our greatest joys, and our greatest heartaches. But, if we isolate…
Can We Even Talk About Racial Issues?
As I thought about this month’s synchroblog, focused on race, violence, and the need to talk about it, there were four really big issues came to mind. Working on them has to be part of a way forward that moves us violence and obliviousness to understanding and action. White people…
A Need to be Needed by Needy People
My wife and I have been foster parents for two long-haired Chihuahuas for a couple of months. I renamed them, Boyd and Ava, after two outlaws on the TV show, Justified. They have had a storied history in their brief lives and are now on their fourth home, due to…
Dealing with Parents’ Dementia
Yesterday, my Dad was kicked out of his nursing home due to bad behavior. Today, he is being transported to a Geriatric Psych Unit, a few miles from his home. His diagnosis: Vascular Dementia. Patty’s Mom had the same diagnosis. Mom’s was caused by a stroke induced by a common…
Nurture Your Soul
This is the end of the chapter in my new book (the one I am writing now) on nurturing your soul. Spiritual formation requires something of us. It requires discipline. In fact, ongoing practices that help nurture spiritual formation are called disciplines. They are things you do intentionally and repeatedly that…
Do We Live in the Last Days?
Does it really matter? In my pastor years I had a couple of very dear friends who focused upon biblical prophecy and current events. They were convinced we were indeed living in the last days, and that the rapture could well happen in their lifetimes. Yesterday, a lady at the…
Now It’s Your Turn!
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The Salvation Thing
I used to have this down pat. God loves man. Man rebelled against God. Jesus died for us. We need to put our faith him. Period. But then came the questioning of my faith, and a more objective look at the way it is represented by institutional Christianity. The institution…
“All You Need is the Bible.” ???
That’s what the lady said, repeatedly. It was really more of a pronouncement, as she made her opinion known in a loud voice from about twelve feet away. Last Saturday at the Harbor Market amidst meaningful conversations with people interested in An Irreligious Faith, I had an interesting encounter. A lady…
The Dog Days of Summer
It’s humid, sticky, sultry. It’s summer, the end of summer. For kids, the freedom of June has turned to into the boredom of August. They have resigned themselves to heading back to school. Parents are shelling out money hand-over-fist for clothes, school supplies, and hefty fees for every program imaginable.…
Where do you get all your faith?
It was fun meeting people the Harbor Market and talking about An Irreligious Faith. I had conversations with an atheist, a Unitarian, a missionary, and a young man grappling with his faith, among others. Someone asked me, “Where do you get all your faith?” I was stumped. I certainly, don’t…
It’s Not Your Fault
This post is part of the “Crash” synchroblog: Robin Williams Performances We Remember and Why. Twenty year-old Will Hunting (Damon) is an undiscovered mathematical genius who grew up being regularly beaten by his father. He too developed anger management issues and he had a way of torpedoing any serious relationship.…
Heartbroken
People around the world have become a part of the community of the shocked and heartbroken, as they grapple with the death of their beloved, frenetic comedian and Academy Award-winning actor, Robin Williams. We all loved this guy, the comedic genius who made our heads spin, the actor who melted…
At the Harbor Market in Kenosha
That’s right, tomorrow, and most likely, every Saturday, between 9 and two, from now and mid-October, I will be at the always fun Harbor Market with my book, An Irreligious Faith. It will be cool talking to people and personalizing their copy with a note and signature. The book has really…
The Days of our Youth
I just began watching the CNN series on the sixties. Then Friday night, I happened on to a documentary of Elvis touring the nation in 1972. I finished off the evening watching a portion of the 1956 movie, Around the World in Eighty Days on TCM. This is not normal…
On The Drew Marshall Show!
Yeah, I was on the radio, talking about An Irreligious Faith. The radio show host, Drew Marshall is a fun and fascinating guy who asks great questions and runs a fast-paced show, interviewing all manner of authors, musicians, and celebs on “Canada’s most listened to spiritual talk show,” broadcast live to southern…
Me and My Mantra
A mantra is an often repeated word, formula, or phrase, often a truism. Mine is: Nurture you soul. Love people. Pursue your heart. It’s my memo to me. It’s amazingly simple, but incredibly easy to stray from. When I don’t follow it, my life gets out of kilter, in a hurry. Nurture Your Soul Most often forgotten is…
Rebel
Christians don’t understand liberty…at all! Out of one side of their mouth, they speak of freedom in Christ, and, out the other, they tell you what they need to do and what you must avoid. In other words, like the Pharisees of old, they place a heavy bondage on the…
