We assume you know the feeling.
The moment when encouraging words fall flat, sermons sound cliche, pastors seem disingenuous, Christians are annoying and your thoughts are constantly far from God. It’s the feeling we get when eternal truths seem elusive, life choices are doubted and sin patterns feel unbreakable. The passion, the allure, the joy of faith is now absent and you don’t know where to turn next.
Lost Magic is an initiative to seek out ancient wisdom, build honest relationships and explore the hard questions surrounding our current spiritual malaise.
We created Lost Magic as a resource for every single one of us who feel disillusioned and disenchanted with God, the church and Christianity in general. We want more than just the biting cynicism of ex-christians, the sugary platitudes of platform pastors and the endless listicles of performance enhancing habits. We want to acknowledge and examine the present Exodus taking place from the Evangelical Church and offer hope to those still clinging to their faith and friendship to those who don’t know what to believe.
Lost Magic began as a podcast telling the story of how Millennials in Orlando, FL lost their evangelical passion over the past decade. We ran out of money after 5 episodes. However, due to the response and support we received after our short run, it was obvious we touched on something important. We regrouped, dreamed bigger and voilà – Lost Magic 2.0.
Who is Lost Magic Community for?
Anyone who:
- Feels disenchanted with American Christianity.
- Has experienced spiritual abuse.
- Is becoming more disconnected from their faith.
- Feels guilty about not wanting to go to church.
- Is confused about what they really believe.
- Is tired of hearing recycled Christianese.
- Hates church as business.
- Has friends or loved ones who are lost magic.
Basically, Lost Magic is for anyone who has experienced loss and longs for something different.
FAQ
What’s the ultimate goal here?
To help you acknowledge what was lost and to provide you with community to regain something real.
What exactly does the online community provide?
Lost Magic currently offers three levels of membership that offer products and services to our community.
Why an online community?
There is a need for respectful discourse around the personal subject of human spirituality, and this is often not the experience we get in Church. We all know that social media doesn’t really get the job done.
In a world of ubiquitous smartphones, tablets, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – Lost Magic Discourse is an attempt to re-imagine what a modern Internet discussion forum should be today. The Lost Magic forum is an ongoing, honest, civilized conversation about things that matter.
Why member supported?
We believe that independent, member supported communities are the best and most interesting places to be online and beyond. Why? The users are invested and care about the quality of content, relationships, products and services. The administrators are free to focus solely on the members rather than advertisers and board members.
Who would be considered “Lost Magic”?
Lost Magic defines the spiritual state of a person who considered themselves lost, then found but now is questioning everything about their faith.
Lost Magic also describes the current spiritual state of Millennials in Orlando. Many have become disillusioned with the youthful expression of their faith in God. As a result, the enchanted Jesus feeling of their youth has been replaced with a cynical, skeptical and even angry disposition towards the church, it’s leaders and it’s followers. They are Christian exiles with no church home, former ministry leaders with no more faith and victims of abuse from spiritual authorities.
Meet Jeremy
I am a cofounder of Lost Magic and I have experienced the lost magic feeling in almost every aspect of American Christianity. Here is my timeline:
- Young Life in high school
- Campus Crusade at UCF
- Vagabond self discovery tour at Roadtrip Nation
- Ministry staff @ The Refuge at LSU
- Dabbled as a social justice connoisseur
- Cofounded a nonprofit to build an orphanage in Haiti
- Moved down to live full time as a missionary at Haitian orphanage
- Waded through the NGO tsunami following the Haiti earthquake
- Became an employee at MOH
- Left to help plant a multiethnic, A29 church.
- Graduated with an MDiv from GCTS
- Became an associate pastor for an inner-city church called The Ville.
- Consulted and worked for some the largest Christian organizations in the world.
- Currently processing my own Lost Magic thoughts.
- Considering moving to India.
In the meantime, I moonlight as the content creator and curator of Lost Magic.
Meet David
I am a cofounder of Lost Magic and I have experienced the highs and lows of Christendom, the last 16 years of which have been in Orlando.
- In high school, my pastor was fired for sleeping with the single mom of one of the kids in youth group, and that church was never the same.
- Campus Crusade at NCSU – amazing experience and I met the love of my life while on a summer mission project.
- Joined a good church in Huntsville, AL that was very supportive for 2 years.
- Moved to Orlando as new staff with Cru at UCF, and my first boss with Cru was fired for bad financial practices. I was told to just “figure it out” as a new staff.
- Led Cru at UCF for 9 years, where I met and served thousands of students in Orlando. I still miss it very much.
- In 2007, I cofounded a church in Orlando in partnership with Cru, but after 5 years of dealing with a deceptive partner who struggled with narcissism we had to leave.
- In 2008, I developed missions technology for social media platforms that spread to dozens of countries and produced hundreds of encouraging stories. Rather than getting the help I needed, I got chewed up and spit out by the politics of missions organizations.
- In 2012, I was removed from my post at UCF by campus ministry leadership because my wife was in professional school.
- In 2013, I joined a new “church plant.” It turned out to not be a church plant. It was actually a campus expansion plan to build the main pastor’s legacy.
- Planted a new church called The Neighborhood where we are currently working with friends to love people.
- Founded a non-profit to help build community for the dechurched.
- I consult for some the largest Christian organizations in the world in matters of creative direction and film production.
- Currently processing my own Lost Magic thoughts.
Full Disclosure
This community began in the summer of 2019 and we don’t know what’s going to become of it. As we grow and we discover what is needed to build a healthy community, we will adapt accordingly. If you are signing up to be a member with us right now, you my friend are what they call an “early adopter”. You’re someone who longs for good ideas to become reality. Please be patient with us and give feedback often.
Ethics Statement
We are a nonprofit and therefore accept grant money from foundations, other nonprofits and individuals in addition to paid subscriptions. The sole goal for Lost Magic is to create space and opportunity for people to engage their spiritual questions, concerns, and hopes.