James Earley
pj-earley.bsky.social
James Earley
@pj-earley.bsky.social
Pastor in GR
Studying Spiritual Formation and Relational Neuroscience
Posting about church stuff, deconstruction, raising kiddos, maybe a little IPNB and ADHD content
banana for scale
In the last week I've been using the word "divination" quite a bit when I actually meant "divinization." And that may not seem like a big deal to you but I might have signed a few tickets to hell with that one... 😬
November 16, 2025 at 8:10 PM
During dinner, my kid climbs in my lap and whispers:

"Daddy, is the government giving our neighbors food yet?'

>> "No, buddy, they still haven't."

"Ohhhh but they are supposed to help!"

They are supposed to help. It's the whole point of government.

My kids get it; when will the adults get it?
November 8, 2025 at 1:17 PM
If we are satisfied with a faith that promises heaven “somewhere out there” but keeps hell alive and well on earth; if we are satisfied with increasing the tally at heaven’s gate, while continuing to gatekeep those things that could mean life for us on earth… it is not the faith of Jesus.
October 13, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Therapy is working.
October 8, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by James Earley
ICE agents arrest Alderperson Jessie L. Fuentes (26th Ward of Chicago city council) after she questions them on whether they have a signed judicial warrant to arrest a person at Humboldt Park Hospital.

“He has Constitutional rights.”

“No.”

ICE’s exact mindset: no one is allowed any rights now.
October 4, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Spent the last half of my session debating with my counselor about whether or not humans actually "make" choices.

So, anyway, therapy is going well.
September 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM
In the sermon today, I shared a phrase I learned from a mentor:

"Don't should yourself."

I have received several communications expressing concern over my language in church.

Someone pray for the Lord to help me enunciate more gooder.
September 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Hagar is the first person to name God. There are a plethora of implications to be made from this fact. Today, I notice:

Those who most accurately (read: honoringly) name God are experiencing deep distress.

But not only that:
September 1, 2025 at 12:11 PM
This morning in church, in a moment of distracted glory, I gave the wrong definition of a word I was trying to make an alliterative point with.

I saw a retired judge in our congregation slowly shaking his head.

I abandoned that line of argument promptly.
August 31, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by James Earley
Faith without works is dead children.
August 29, 2025 at 6:13 PM
*conventionally handsome man walking down the sidewalk*

my wife: "this guy is pretty."

me: "wow... I'm standing right here."

my wife, perturbed: "the. sky. is. pretty."
August 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Listen y'all... I do not want to commit libel. But the number of times I've seen weird uncles accidentally post their freaky searches to social media... It's "interesting."
August 17, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by James Earley
Wake up babe a new covfefe just dropped
August 17, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by James Earley
Even from a purely secular perspective, applying the term “racist” to a textual trace of a 1st-century Jew in Roman-occupied Palestine (i.e., Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman) risks projecting modern social categories backward. It is quite anachronistic.
August 15, 2025 at 12:56 PM
"this is purity of heart, that, when you see the sinners and the weak, you have compassion and show mercy toward them...there is no other way to be saved except through your neighbor."

--Macarius, "Homilies"
August 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by James Earley
If you could go back in time and give advice to a non-fascist German person in 1933 what advice would you give them?

Good, go do that.
August 11, 2025 at 7:58 PM
"This is true perfection: not to avoid a wicked life because we servilely fear punishment, nor to do good because we hope for rewards... On the contrary... Becoming God's friend is the only thing worth of honor and desire."

--St. Gregory of Nyssa, "The Life of Moses"
August 9, 2025 at 3:45 PM
"hope always draws the soul from the beauty which is seen to what is beyond, always kindles the desire for the hidden through what is constantly perceived."

-St. Gregory of Nyssa, "the life of Moses: eternal progress "
August 8, 2025 at 7:51 PM
WHO wrote the previous chapter, Russell?? ☠️
August 8, 2025 at 2:13 AM
"The heart itself is but a small vessel; yet dragons are there, and there also are lions. There likewise are poisonous beasts and all treasures of evil; rough, uneven roads are there, and precipices.

"But there too is God...
August 6, 2025 at 3:36 PM
"Abba Anthony, it is true, attained apatheia after long and somewhat spectacular congrats with demons. But in the end he concluded that not even the devil was purely evil, since God could not create evil, and all His works are good...[Anthony] thought the devil had some good in him...
August 6, 2025 at 2:10 PM
"I am...lowly and exalted, mortal and immortal, earthly and heavenly. I share one condition with the lower world, the other with God; one with the flesh, the other with the spirit. I must be buried with Christ, arise with Christ, be joint heir with Christ, become the son of God, yea, God himself."
August 6, 2025 at 4:36 AM
I won't be taking questions.
August 6, 2025 at 3:30 AM
The college intern said to me this week:

"Don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you need to start a podcast...?"

Bro WHAT! 😂
August 2, 2025 at 4:08 PM