Crystal St. Marie Lewis is a writer, vlogger, theological rabble rouser, advocate for religious pluralism and strong believer in our responsibility to change the world for the better. She is a Jesus follower, a spiritual seeker and a lover of of Buddhist teaching.
E-mail Crystal here: CrystalSLewis@gmail.com
Crystal St. Marie Lewis is a writer, passionate public speaker, and empowerment coach. She lives with a rare, appearance-altering disease of the skin called icthyosis bullosa of siemens which caused her to suffer from severe depression and dangerously low self-esteem forseveral years.
In 2001, Ms. Lewis sought spiritual guidance concerning hercondition, the outcome of which changed her life forever. After severalyears of intensive self-reflection, in-depth study of Christianscripture, and a renewed sense of focus concerning her personal purposein life, Ms. Lewis has transformed her own life into one demonstrativeof self-acceptance, self-love, and God’s emotional healing power.
Ms. Lewis has dedicated her life to empowering women in places nearand far. “My story is every woman’s story,” she often says with apassionate smile. “Some of us wear our scars on the outside, some of uswear them on the inside... but we must all overcome our challenges andlay hold to the fullness of God’s purpose for us in this life.”
Ms. Lewis’s autobiographically-based self-help book, Naked & Not Ashamed: A Journey to God’s Mirror chronicles her dramatic path to inner peace and Christian self-love.
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Crystal St. Marie Lewis decides she cannot “agree to disagree” with her seminary classmates about same-sex relationships.
“Agreeing to disagree” is not the helpful or peaceful thing to do in a situation where oppression is the problem. The helpful and peaceful thing to do is to call oppression what it is: Bigotry. Socially violent. Absolutely and totally wrong. (Crystal St. Marie Lewis, January 17)
Fortunately, she seems to have the frame to hold it all in.
Emerging church:
The emerging church seeks a post-Christendom approach to being church and mission through: renouncing imperialistic approaches to language and cultural imposition; making ‘truth claims’ with humility and respect; overcoming the public/private dichotomy; moving church from the center to the margins; moving from a place of privilege in society to one voice amongst many; a transition from control to witness, maintenance to mission and institution to movement.
some in the emerging church believe it is necessary to deconstruct modern Christian dogma. One way this happens is by engaging in dialogue, rather than proclaiming a predigested message, believing that this leads people to Jesus through the Holy Spirit on their own terms. Many in the movement embrace the missiology that drives the movement in an effort to be like Christ and make disciples by being a good example. The emerging church movement contains a great diversity in beliefs and practices, although some have adopted a preoccupation with sacred rituals, good works, and political and social activism. Much of the Emerging Church movement has also adopted the approach to evangelism which stressed peer-to-peer dialogue rather than dogmatic proclamation and proselytizing
The movement favors the sharing of experiences via testimonies, prayer, group recitation, sharing meals and other communal practices, which they believe are more personal and sincere than propositional presentations of the Gospel. Teachers in the Emerging Church tend to view the Bible and its stories through a lens which they believe finds significance and meaning for their community’s social and personal stories rather than for the purpose of finding cross-cultural, propositional absolutes regarding salvation and conduct
The emerging church claims they are creating a safe environment for those with opinions ordinarily rejected within modern conservative evangelicalism and fundamentalism. Non-critical, interfaith dialog is preferred over dogmatically-driven evangelism in the movement. Story and narrative replaces the dogmatic:
While some Evangelicals emphasize eternal salvation, many in the emerging church emphasize the here and now. Participants in this movement assert that the incarnation of Christ informs their theology. They believe that as God entered the world in human form, adherents enter (individually and communally) into the context around them and aim to transform that culture through local involvement. This holistic involvement may take many forms, including social activism, hospitality and acts of kindness. This beneficent involvement in culture is part of what is called missional living. Missional living leads to a focus on temporal and social issues, in contrast with a perceived evangelical overemphasis on salvation
Apparently, icthyosis bullosa of siemens also robs one of the ability to use the “space” bar.