Dr. Fred Meadows

Pastor. Teacher. Friend. Learner. Husband. Father. Grandfather (Papa). Christ-follower. Conversationalist … not in that order.

I have two millennial kids (and a millennial daughter-in-law) and two little “Generation Alpha” (kids who are born to millennials) grandchildren (I go by Papa and my wife goes by Mimi) and they are the finest part of my life … other than of course my marriage and Jesus being my Lord and Savior. Three generations meet together every time we see each other. We like to have conversations. We don’t always agree, but we respect each other in the process. My adult kids often have a different worldview than I do, but we find more common ground than not. We need to have more of these conversations in our lives … spiritual conversations … conversations that are formative and informative. We need to learn how to have these conversations without always feeling like our personal integrities are being questioned. We may have a different worldview, but I am relaxed to be myself and share what’s on my mind. I hope I can do that here … and I hope to hear from others who need a safe place to share their thoughts and minds … with respect … and feel valued in the end.

Why this blog?

Because people don’t talk about the difficult stuff of the faith. Why? How do we dare grow in our faith, knowledge, and understanding if we want to sweep under the rug spiritual topics. I have always heard you shouldn’t talk about money, politics, and religion. Well, I’m breaking that rule … we will talk about things that have to do with faith … religion if that’s how you look at it. We, in our culture, are afraid we are going to offend someone. Political correctness has stifled many good conversations because everyone is afraid he or she will say something that is the wrong way to say it. Sometimes, we are going to be offended, get our feelings hurt, and not agree with what is being said. That’s life. If you want to have cutting edge conversation, sometimes it gets “earthy.” Sometimes, it may not come off as “PC.” That said, having a good conversations requires listening, validation, and sharing mutual empathy. That’s the goal.

In an age where there is no absolute truth, I would like to at least pose the idea that there is Truth. I believe, personally, that Truth has a name: Jesus. One of the coolest things Jesus says is, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6) Even if you don’t believe in Jesus, I still want to have conversation with you … not to convert you or coerce you into a religion, but to hear from your heart and your mind. I want the conversation to be respectful. I respect you. You respect me. Some of the best conversations I have had were with students who were Muslim or Hindu and each of us learned from each other.

I’ve been a college professor for 13 years, teaching both in the classroom and online. I’ve taught Biblical Hermeneutics (fancy way to say, “Understanding the Bible”) and Christian Theology to people of Christian faith, atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and then some. Our conversations have never been argumentative, but mutually respectful and life-giving.

I’m also a pastor and have been for 37 years. I’ve seen a lot of people question their faith, especially through life challenges. You know what? I’ve questioned my faith too. I remember questioning my faith in seminary when I discovered things about God that I wasn’t sure I liked. What I found out was the more I didn’t know, the more I grew because I was challenged to deepen my discovery of the Almighty. I don’t have the answers but I feel that the Bible is more than adequate to lead us into right living.

• I’m writing this blog because I want to encourage spiritual conversation … no matter what you believe.
• We will talk about the hard things to talk about: Why do bad things happen to good people? Is there really a heaven and a hell? Does God not love me because I’m a homosexual? How do I really know God exists? How do I know the Bible is reliable? Don’t all religions lead to God? (and lot’s more ….)
• I would be honored if I had hundreds of millennials follow this blog. The accompanying podcast … the same. My daughter and son are going to help me with this so I can make sure I stay focused on being respectful in the midst of guiding us into conversation around what the Bible teaches.
• Again, my hope is that I can churn up the spiritual conversation in your life, in mine, and hopefully see life change happen because we have had conversation together.

I’m going to see where this all goes. It may fizzle in two months. Then again, I have a friend, who started his podcast for basically himself and a few others and it has turned into thousands of people following it. So, help me out. Spread the word. Join the conversation about faith matters that are real to our lives.