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Rev. Benjamin Cremer

This is my weekly newsletter called, "Into The Gray."

I have spent the majority of my life in Evangelical Christian spaces. I have experienced a lot of church hurt. I now write to explore topics that often are at the intersection of politics and Christianity. My desire is to discover how we can move away from Christian nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and church hurt to reclaim the Gospel of Jesus together. I'm glad you're here to join the conversation. I look forward to talking with you.

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Featured Post

The Myths We Believe

Hello my friends, I hope you have been able to find places of calm and rest in the midst of this election season. Know that you have all been in my prayers as we navigate what can be such a stress inducing season together. This week I wanted to talk about something I have been processing personally, specifically how I discovered how many myths made up my beliefs as Christian and what God taught me through that process. But first, here are some things that have me thinking. RESOURCES TO...

over 1 year ago • 10 min read

Hey friends! I really appreciate all your encouraging messages and prayers during this time of family leave. Reese has had some significant lip and tongue ties, along with other restrictions that has made feeding really difficult, especially for Rebecca. As you can imagine, this has made for some really long and difficult days and nights. But things are getting much better now and Reese weighed in at over 9 pounds this week! I can't believe she will already be a month old this Monday. Thanks...

5 days ago • 16 min read

Hello my friends, As my family leave continues, I'm honored to share a piece from my friend Meredith Miller. She is not only a gifted thinker and writer, but she provides excellent resources especially for those of us who are parenting children in our world today. Resources to Consider On top of her excellent book, she creates a Bible story podcast for kids called Ask Away as well as the Great Big Bible Story Walkthrough, which is a weekly resource to help adults feel more equipped to explore...

12 days ago • 8 min read

Hello my friends! Just as a reminder, I am on family leave, but I have asked several people I greatly admire to share their insight and heart on topics we've been discussing together while I am away. Today, I'm honored to share thoughts from Andrew Whitehead. He is an associate professor sociology at Indiana University-Indianapolis and He’s the author of the new book American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church. I first discovered Andrew through his...

19 days ago • 9 min read

Hello my friends! I'm really excited to let you know that our daughter Reese May was born on Good Friday, 3/29 at 9:51pm, 7lbs 14oz. Reese means “enthusiasm and fire” and May is after Rebecca’s mom. I’m still in disbelief! We are now in the thick of late night feedings and a taking care of a sick two year old. Thank you all for your support and prayers! It truly means so much. As I told you last week, I will be on family leave for the next few weeks as Rebecca, Foster, and I develop new life...

26 days ago • 10 min read

Hello my friends! As I mentioned last week, this is my first week on family leave! I have a group of some amazing people who have agreed to share their heart and expertise in the following weeks. But with today being Easter, I wanted to share the final page from my daily devotional I wrote for Lent, "When Love Gets The Last Word." I hope you find it encouraging, no matter how this day might find you and how you might find this day. Scripture: John 20:1-18 Early on the first day of the week,...

about 1 month ago • 8 min read

Hello my friends! Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week for many within the Christian faith. I just want to start by saying that I know this can be a very complicated time for many, especially those who have been wounded by the church and those who have no community at all. We can feel the longing for Christian community and the desire to protect ourselves from Christian community at the same time. We can feel the desire to participate in worship services this Holy Week and we can...

about 1 month ago • 11 min read

Hello my friends, I hope you are all having a wonderful March. Idaho is being its typical self. We had snow this week and its supposed to get up into the 60s all week next week! Seasons are changing. As I was looking over all the major social and political issues being discussed this last week, from IVF, abortion, Gaza, immigration, and more, I found myself thinking a lot about how we Christians are called to use our rights and our freedom in scripture. So, as with all my newsletters, I’m not...

about 2 months ago • 13 min read

Hello my friends! With the term "Christian Nationalism" being used so frequently and especially with it being an election year, it is a term that needs some clarifying and reflection, especially for us Christians. So, in an effort to bring clarity, I have provided many other voices below who are scholars and experts on this topic in the resource section. For our purposes here in this newsletter today, I just want to look at some characteristics of the movement that can help clarify our...

about 2 months ago • 10 min read

Hello my friends, Many of you have written to me about how to be ambassadors of Jesus in days like we are living in now. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this question in my ministry over the last several years. The overwhelming amount of people asking this question is a sobering reminder of the current moment we are in as Christians. A moment of upheaval, reckoning, and hopefully, a moment of reform. This topic is a complex one and one that deserves a complex answer, which is...

2 months ago • 11 min read

Hello my friends! I hope you are all having a wonderful last few weeks of February. I can't believe spring will be here soon. As a pastor, one of the most common things I will hear fellow Christians call someone when they think they are a hypocrite is a “Pharisee.” I have done this plenty of times in my own life as well. Yet, ever since my time in seminary and the more I spend time with scripture and converse with my Jewish friends, the more I am convinced that we Christians need to stop...

2 months ago • 7 min read
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