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Grounded Podcast with Chuck Quinley: ReJesus Everything!

Grounded Podcast with Chuck Quinley: ReJesus Everything!

Written by: Learn to be rock solid even if the world around you is not
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 Millions are walking away from church but not from Jesus. Over 25 episodes, author and missionary Chuck Quinley diagnoses what's gone wrong with global Christianity and offers a radical solution: ReJesus everything. Restore the central authority of Jesus alone as chief theologian and leader of the mission. Strip away 2,000 years of accumulated traditions and return to the simple, powerful path of following Jesus himself—his words, his practices, his mission.

www.quinley.comChuck & Sherry Quinley Christianity Ministry & Evangelism Philosophy Social Sciences Spirituality
Episodes
  • Did Jesus Establish Christianity?

    Did Jesus Establish Christianity?
    Apr 21 2026
    Writers Note: This is a question with the power to set you free — or make you deeply uncomfortable. Maybe both at once, Please stick with us till the end. It’s a crucial discussion. Thanks for helping us spread this conversation widely so we can help others ground their faith.Did Jesus Found Christianity?Most people assume the answer is obvious. Of course he did. His name is in the title. But at the risk of being misunderstood, I still want to make the case that the answer is no — and that this is one of the most liberating thoughts you will ever consider as a devoted follower of Christ.I say this as a lifetime insider. I believe with everything in me that the life and teaching of Jesus is the most extraordinary gift ever given to this humanity. The principles he embodied are the very foundations of the civilization we inhabit today. The chaos we see in the world now is not caused by those principles. It is caused by our abandonment of them.But whether Jesus founded a religion called Christianity? That is a different question. Here are three reasons I believe he did not.Reason #1: History Simply Doesn’t Support ItThere is no historical evidence that Jesus founded any form of external religion. What the records show, consistently, is a man pushing against almost every institution of his day — family structures, Roman political arrangements, and most dramatically, the Temple of Judaism itself.He did not model how to build the best religion. He modeled a new way of living. Everything he said and did was about humans living in a direct, unmediated, loyal relationship with their Creator. His conclusion, demonstrated over and over, was that religion can actually become a barrier to the very God it claims to represent. When pious performance, priestly clothing, and theological gatekeeping replace direct encounter — Jesus doesn’t just disagree. He despises it.He was not anti-structure as an ideological position. He was anti-anything-that-comes-between-humans-and-God. That is not the posture of a man building a new religion. That is the posture of a man tearing down the walls that keep people from the presence they were made for.Reason #2: His Mission Was a War of Liberation, Not Institutional FormationJesus was not building an institution. He was fighting a war.He believed this planet had come under the influence of an intelligent, malevolent heavenly being whose strategy was hateful and relentless: push the leaders of every major pillar of society toward the accumulation of wealth, the abuse of power, and a fascination with physical pleasure at the expense of everything higher. The result is what we know well: disease, broken relationships, injustice, cruelty, death.Jesus spent his public ministry tearing down that kingdom piece by piece. He cast out demons. He healed people in the streets. He raised the dead. Every act of human restoration was a declaration of war.Does that sound like someone primarily concerned with founding a religion with creeds, hymns, ceremonies, temples, rituals, and liturgical practices?He didn’t build a religion. He didn’t teach his followers how to build one either.What he did build was people. An inner circle of three. Twelve. An outer network of five hundred. Community? Absolutely essential. A ceremonial structure of institution? Probably not. In his own words, those systems in Judaism had become tools of the enemy. He said the Pharisees’ determined religious efforts actually produced people who were twice the children of hell they were.Structure is never satisfied. It always wants more structure. Over time, the life gets squeezed out by the effort to control. That is why Spirit movements keep arising — hermits in the desert, prophets in the wilderness, reformers nailing documents to cathedral doors. Jesus himself regularly walked away from civilization into uninhabited places to be alone with God. That is not the behavior of an institution builder.Reason #3: “Christianity” Doesn’t Exist as One OrganizationThere simply isn’t one central thing called Christianity. There are more than 47,000 separated Christian groups — each with their own doctrines, mandatory practices, and expectations. Some believe Jesus is the only way. Others that he’s a noble example but that any sincere path will lead equally to God.Some believe Jesus was virgin born and raised from the dead. Others believe neither. Some believe in salvation based on works. Others through faith only. Others that it’s through mystical grace flowing through the sacraments. Some look for an eternity in the clouds. Others doubt there is an afterlife at all.Which of these did Jesus found? The answer, I believe, is none of them.Here is the formulation I keep returning to: Jesus is the standard. The Christianities are the attempts.The way of Jesus is not something you do alone — it demands community. To follow Jesus we have to build communities that align with his values and mission. The problem...
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    36 mins
  • Question & Response #2

    Question & Response #2
    Apr 14 2026

    Hi! Hope you’re having a great week!

    Since our last episode, we’ve got more great questions. I will answer three of them in this episode.

    The first one is: “What if someone has suffered so deeply in abuse from a church that they have difficulty separating Jesus from the abuse?”

    I will address this directly and offer to anyone wounded by their experience in a church or Christian organization the only path to healing I have ever discovered.

    We’re into a really great discussion, and I hope you’ll join us inside this week’s grounded podcast question and response session.

    If you send me your questions and comments, I will do my best to respond to each of them.

    Every Blessing!

    Chuck

    PS: I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but our Substack has this really cool feature so that if there’s even a sentence or paragraph that you like in a newsletter like this, you can highlight it and then right-click to share. It will create a really cool looking way for your friend to receive your message. Please help us grow the reach of this newsletter. No algorithm pushes it out. It depends on the people who read it to share it with their friends. Thanks so much!



    Get full access to Grounded Podcast at www.quinley.com/subscribe
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    17 mins
  • How Do You Even Define Christianity Anymore?

    How Do You Even Define Christianity Anymore?
    Apr 7 2026
    Writer’s note: I want to give my personal thanks to the 20 of you who recently signed up as paid subscribers. I really appreciate your support. It’s encouraging to know that people find value in the work, and it helps me build the team I need to continue and grow the podcast. Thanks again! Hi Friend! The hardest thing in discussing how to fix dysfunctional elements within Christianity is simply determining what Christianity even is today. What even is Christianity?It’s a question that sounds simple until you try to answer it. Most people assume the answer is straightforward. “Christianity is the religion about Jesus.” That seems clear enough.But when you begin to look closely at the actual landscape of Christianity, the answer becomes far more complicated.Christianity today is not just a religion, it’s also a cultural identity, a global movement, a massive institutional network, a political influence, and a sprawling economic ecosystem. It contains sincere discipleship movements, centuries-old traditions, humanitarian organizations, political activism, and millions of business ventures, to name a few elements. Let’s unpack this.The WarehouseIn my upcoming book ReJesus Everything, I describe Christianity as a giant warehouse.Picture the largest warehouse on earth — a building stretching miles in every direction. Inside are countless aisles, stacked floor to ceiling with everything associated with Christianity.Yes, Christianity is a Family of Religions If you walk into the section labeled Religions, you will find an astonishing number of shelves. Scholars estimate that there are roughly 47,000 distinct Christianities around the world.Walk the aisles and you’ll pass * Roman Catholicism * Eastern Orthodoxy* Greek Orthodoxy* Ethiopian Orthodoxy* Coptic Christianity* Lutheranism* Calvinism* Methodism* Presbyterianism* The Mennonites* Baptist denominations in every variety* Pentecostalism* non-denominational Christianity* Prosperity gospel churches* Liberation theology* Christian nationalism* Progressive Christianity* House church movements* Emerging church movements, and many moreThen you hit the fringe religion section (which grows every year): Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, Seventh-day Adventism, Christian UFOlogy, and hundreds of radical cult groups that claim Jesus while holding beliefs most traditional Christians would flatly reject. (Heaven’s Gate and Jonestown mass suicide cults had a Christian theology as their base).And if you keep walking, you’ll run into ancient Christian spiritual systems like Gnosticism, which portrayed Jesus as a messenger from the gods revealing a radically different version of the biblical story where the serpent is the good guy, the creator is not to be trusted, and Jesus is sent by the gods to be the one who reveals all this to us and delivers secret knowledge that helps us ascend to join the sky gods as spirit beings freed from our human shell. This group almost took over early Christianity. It’s still out there.All of this sits inside one section of the warehouse labeled Religions where* Every group claims the name of Jesus.* They read the same Bible.* All believe their understanding is correct.Christianity as a National IdentityChristianity is more than a religion. For hundreds of millions of people, Christianity is a national and cultural identity that has nothing to do with personal faith. This is the case in Europe. Those with a Christian cultural identity may have never prayed directly to God and only attend church for funerals and weddings. But they live in a historically Christian nation, and that makes them Christian in the same way it makes someone Iranian or Greek. Many nations enshrine this idea in their constitutions with the naming of a state religion. The King of Great Britain is authorized to rule by the Anglican Church. This is Christianity as ethnicity and civilization. To draw a parallel from largely agnostic modern Israel, Naor Narkis says, “What defines us (Jews) is our language, and our heritage, but doesn’t involve faith in a god.” 3.5 Million Parachurch OrganizationsThen there’s the parachurch universe. According to research from Gordon-Conwell University, there are 3.5 million Christian agencies worldwide — organizations addressing everything from lack of access to the gospel, to clean water, to inclusion of LGBTQ in clergy, to homelessness, drug addiction, human trafficking, orphan care, right to life, legal reform, and political action. It’s an industry. It’s hard to know where to draw the line on what is and is not part of Christianity. For example, is an orphanage run by Christians part of Christianity? Sure. How about the non-profit that runs the fundraising that runs the orphanage? Okay, that also. How about the Christian credit card processor that serves churches and non-profits so they can receive donations? Is that Christianity? How about the Christian investment company that ...
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    21 mins
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