Fearless Questions

Following our Questions to Freedom

About Me

What’s up?!  It’s so nice of you to pop in and visit my little corner of the web today.

Sincerely…I really do appreciate you taking a moment out of your day to discover a little about my life and see if it’s something that you find interesting enough to hang around a while.  If it’s not…no problem!  Stay chill and keep clicking…there’s AFV videos out there that aren’t going to watch themselves. But if you decide to stay around, I think you’ll find that we are going to have a great time together.

I’m a truth seeker…no matter where it leads me.  Sometimes I’ll be talking about hard truths and other times I’ll be talking about beautiful truths…often at the same time.  I’m fairly certain you’ll have a bit to add in the conversation that others will need to hear along the way.  Truth of the matter is…if you stick around…I’ve got a good notion that we’re going to end up being friends.  Because 1.  I could always use another friend and 2. I love making new friends and 3. I like you….so far.

The mission of Fearless Questions is to guide others towards God’s heart by engaging their real questions of faith.

Here’s what you can expect to see happening regularly around here:

  • Usually you’ll see 1 new podcast or blog post per week.  I’ll be digging into different areas of life, but you’ll notice me regularly coming back to issues of truth, faith, hope, and love.
  • Over time, I’ve discovered something I really enjoy is when conversations get thoughtful and REAL. Raw, honest conversation that isn’t afraid to talk about the sometimes neglected corners of faith that Christians often avoid.  I’m all about freedom….and it’s the truth that sets you free.
  • Whenever we get into topics that cause people to squirm a little, you’ll notice that I believe deeply in dialogue, but tire quickly of debate.  If you’ve got your skivvies all in a bunch and can’t breathe while engaging the conversation…I might encourage you to watch an episode of Treehouse Masters before continuing (because it’s hard not to smile thinking about someone building you an awesome treehouse).  After you are smiling again…keep reading.
  • Did I mention I like to laugh?  As a rule of thumb…I like to be one of the first 5 million people to see viral videos.  If I’m viewer #795,876,453 of Charlie Bit My Finger, I have no chance of posting it on my own social media with any sort of swagger.  One of your roles, if you choose to accept, is to help me out in this area.  You don’t want to feel responsible for me being swag-less.

Fearless Questions

A huge role in my life these days is helping people learn to wrestle with and through their own deep questions of faith and God in such a way that when they interact with others, they’ll be far more confident and effective in how they engage conversations of faith.  It’s a little like a gas station slushie made with 3 different flavors…one part coaching and facilitating folks through their questions, one part content / teaching, one part spiritual direction, one part shared fun experiences, and one part math.  You aren’t sure exactly what to call the flavor, but you’re positive that it tastes awesome!

If you aren’t asking…I’ll ask it for you:  Jeff…how did you end up doing something like this?  (Glad you asked.)

Quick Story

By the time I had graduated from University, I had played the role of perfect-as-possible Christian kid…cool-ish, funny, and a leader of sort in my church’s youth ministry.  I also played the role of potty mouthed, loud, demanding attention, look at me aren’t I funny, please affirm me, because I’m a Sophomore in high school and I look like I’m 9 years old.  I also did well in the game of school…decent academics, dabbled in the music and drama scene, good enough in sport to play a little in college and a few leadership roles along the way.

Actually I had played so many different roles, and often at the same time, that I wasn’t sure which one was really me.  So I did what every good performance oriented person in the world does, looking for validation…I just kept trying on more and more!  I was pretty good at keeping the show going and despite my issues, received the greatest gift ever when the cutest girl in the world said yes to marrying me.

 Jodie and me during break at one of  our training events.

My wife Jodie is a work of art that you will not be able to resist being around.  It’s not just my opinion either…it’s verifiably true.  Just ask anyone who has spent any real time around her.  (I love that she is a part of Fearless Questions training events…and I can promise you the participants are happy she’s around too.)

Cohort members driving across state lines to visit because Jodie is awesome and they just wanted to spend more time with her!

 

 

 

 

So I was happily married, a professional religious person, acquired a masters degree and genuinely liked my job. We had a perfect marriage with 3 perfectly amazing kids (that you would love too) and the suburban house on a cul-de-sac to prove it.  But after 10 years of perfect…suddenly it wasn’t…and we didn’t know why.  We knew we were both working our tails off for the goals and the roles.  But somehow we almost lost each other in the process.

Messy happens.  Brokenness happens.  And in the fertile soil of brokenness…watered with tears from the center or our souls…a miracle happened…and love returned.

With a sweeping wind of Grace…unfathomable love sprung forth.

As this new season of our life was emerging, some dear friends of ours who had been coaching and mentoring us in our marriage asked us a question that was more dangerous than either of us ever knew. They said…’We are praying that God would help you dream again…would you like to join us in that?’

So we did.  And dreaming about what God would have us do next exposed my deepest questions about Him.  And daring to ask the deepest most threatening questions to my faith brought Oxford University into the mix.  I was looking for answers…or at least a better explanation for life as I knew it.  Someone to help me make better sense of an allegedly loving God who somehow allowed for atrocities in the world, but also cared about my child’s skinned knee.  There were theological questions I had…personal frameworks I had come to trust that weren’t holding-up and experiences that simple answers would no longer satisfy. We believed that God was inviting us to go and so, simultaneously terrified and excited, we said yes.

In 2011 we sold our home, cars, and most of our other belongings and got on a plane with our 3 children (4th, 7th and 9th grade at the time) to move to Oxford, England. Amazing…and I mean really amazing things happened to get us there.  Strangers giving us money on a nudge from God.  An airline employee (possibly an angel), who had taken notice of our traveling circus came and asked to take our bags before even getting in line…checking in 15 large suitcases (all of which were probably over the 50 lb. limit) without weighing them and then inviting our friends at the airport to join us at the gate before our departure.  (I didn’t even think that was allowed anymore.)  Amazing friends who helped us pack up our home in Ohio and then brand new friends helping us settle into a home in Oxford. Through the entire process it seemed God was always one step in front of us paving the way.

In Oxford, our family grew closer in profound ways. To say it was easy would be untrue.  To say it was life-changing would be an understatement.  We found new levels of depth in our faith in God, while also significantly widening our view of what it looked like to be a follower of Jesus.

There is so much more I could say about our adventures overseas and the continuing adventures we are living today (and we’ll talk more about those stories later…remember…we’re going to be friends!).

But the thing that is just rocking our world right now is how much we want to help people all around us be fearless in the way they love and serve others in this world!

You need to know that Fearless Questions is the birthing of a dream that God put into our hearts.  Our deep passion is to see people at their very best!  And by their ‘best’ I mean that they are sharing the hope of freedom found in Jesus Christ with other people in such a way that they are chasing after Truth…wherever it may be found and not worrying about what discomfort that may cause some other people in the process.  

Our drive is to create space for you to sit with a group of other people who understand you.  They ‘get’ you and the unique circumstances, situations and questions that others don’t always appreciate. You get a chance, without hurry, to tell your story.  However much or little you want to, but your authentic questions of faith will naturally come out of that telling.  And those are the questions you really want to talk about. Frankly, they are the questions that you NEED to talk about.

Look…do I help people talk through issues about other world religions…about big theological questions…about creation and science…about suffering and pain in the world?  Yes…to all of these things…yes.  But we do it in the course of conversation and dialogue.  It’s a context that you will find deeply meaningful and extraordinarily helpful to your everyday roles in life.

Fearless Questions is about helping you along in becoming the best version of YOU, which will significantly impact the quality of your faith journey and life!

So that’s it….for now.  That’s a bit about me. A bit about what Fearless Questions is all about.  And me sharing my genuine desire for you to consider joining us in this journey together.  

Let’s talk again soon.

Regards,

Jeff