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Your Mansion Can Wait; Your Neighbor Cannot

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Manage episode 515482989 series 3544036
Content provided by Shelly Shepherd and Heather Drake, Shelly Shepherd, and Heather Drake. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Shelly Shepherd and Heather Drake, Shelly Shepherd, and Heather Drake or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

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A single billboard question haunted our childhoods and still shapes modern faith: Where will you spend eternity? We decided to take it apart—gently, honestly, and without losing the heart of the gospel. Together we trace how fear-based scripts formed our earliest images of God and how those scripts often create otherness, separation, and shame. Then we pivot to presence, asking what happens when we trade anxiety about the afterlife for the daring work of love, justice, and neighborliness here and now.
We revisit a familiar passage—“I go to prepare a place for you”—and explore a richer reading that centers God’s vast roominess rather than a gated heaven. This reframing loosens the grip of spiritual escapism and calls us back to the practices Jesus actually modeled: healing, freeing, welcoming, and making space at the table. We talk about empire thinking and why some religious messaging can function as social control, encouraging quiet compliance instead of courageous compassion. Through it all, we keep returning to the nearness of God, not as a concept in the clouds but as a living presence in our ordinary lives.
Our aim isn’t to win an argument; it’s to change the question. Instead of “Where will you spend eternity?” we ask, “How can I be a better neighbor to you?” Drawing on contemplative wisdom and Thomas Keating’s invitation to a new language of prayer, we name the kingdom as a present reality felt in influence, community, and daily choices. Love birthed us, love sustains us, and love will receive us. The task is to align with that love now—through equity, mercy, and attentive presence—trusting the Spirit to lead.
If this conversation meets you where you are, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thought-provoking episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show. Then tell us: What better question are you ready to ask today?

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Setting The Table For Big Questions (00:00:00)

2. The Billboard Question: Eternity (00:03:35)

3. Fear, Otherness, And Separation (00:07:45)

4. The Kingdom Is Here, Not Later (00:12:20)

5. Reframing Scripture And Mansions (00:18:10)

6. Empire, Control, And Compliance (00:23:30)

7. Choosing Presence Over Certainty (00:26:55)

41 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 515482989 series 3544036
Content provided by Shelly Shepherd and Heather Drake, Shelly Shepherd, and Heather Drake. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Shelly Shepherd and Heather Drake, Shelly Shepherd, and Heather Drake or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Send us a text

A single billboard question haunted our childhoods and still shapes modern faith: Where will you spend eternity? We decided to take it apart—gently, honestly, and without losing the heart of the gospel. Together we trace how fear-based scripts formed our earliest images of God and how those scripts often create otherness, separation, and shame. Then we pivot to presence, asking what happens when we trade anxiety about the afterlife for the daring work of love, justice, and neighborliness here and now.
We revisit a familiar passage—“I go to prepare a place for you”—and explore a richer reading that centers God’s vast roominess rather than a gated heaven. This reframing loosens the grip of spiritual escapism and calls us back to the practices Jesus actually modeled: healing, freeing, welcoming, and making space at the table. We talk about empire thinking and why some religious messaging can function as social control, encouraging quiet compliance instead of courageous compassion. Through it all, we keep returning to the nearness of God, not as a concept in the clouds but as a living presence in our ordinary lives.
Our aim isn’t to win an argument; it’s to change the question. Instead of “Where will you spend eternity?” we ask, “How can I be a better neighbor to you?” Drawing on contemplative wisdom and Thomas Keating’s invitation to a new language of prayer, we name the kingdom as a present reality felt in influence, community, and daily choices. Love birthed us, love sustains us, and love will receive us. The task is to align with that love now—through equity, mercy, and attentive presence—trusting the Spirit to lead.
If this conversation meets you where you are, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thought-provoking episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show. Then tell us: What better question are you ready to ask today?

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Setting The Table For Big Questions (00:00:00)

2. The Billboard Question: Eternity (00:03:35)

3. Fear, Otherness, And Separation (00:07:45)

4. The Kingdom Is Here, Not Later (00:12:20)

5. Reframing Scripture And Mansions (00:18:10)

6. Empire, Control, And Compliance (00:23:30)

7. Choosing Presence Over Certainty (00:26:55)

41 episodes

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