Writer
Bryan Leyenbeck
afterpew.com ↗Came to Christ at 43, out of Unitarian Universalism. Writes on faith, formation, and apologetics at AfterPew — “the sermon ends, but the story doesn’t.”
AfterPew 2.0: The App I Wish Had Existed
For the past two weeks I have been working on something that might be the largest vision in scope I have ever attempted. I want to share it here because this space is where I think out loud about the things that matter most to me, and in a way, this matters more than anything […]…
My Journey from Unitarian Universalism to Christ
[A Note: This is my testimony. It lives on the About Me page for new readers, but for those of you who have been here from the start and haven’t heard it, I wanted to make sure it reached you too.] Growing Up Without an Anchor I grew up in the Unitarian Universalism tradition, a […]…
Hard Life, Good God: Dwelling in the Squeeze
As we begin to study the book of Psalms at church, we step into two truths that are not easily resolved: life is hard, AND God is good. Pastor John said we’ll hear that repeated so often in this Psalms study that we might get tired of hearing it. But, repeating it presses us to […]…
The Current State of my Draft Folder
My personal archives of half-formed thoughts and future manifestos—proof that I spend more time starting things than finishing them.…
a call to apprentices in meekness
(after e.e. cummings) listen— the hammers have fallen asleep & even the nails have forgotten their names somewhere (between a whisper and a workbench) the master is humming the silence that made you you— with your bright sharp explanations, your need to shine like an unblinking sun— put them down. (…
Riding Shotgun with James
Faith is never meant to stay an idea in our heads. Thoughts about God are meant to take root in our lives, shaping how we act, how we speak, and how we respond in the ordinary moments. Reflection without action dries up. Action without reflection burns out. The Word calls us to both. I haven’t […]…
The Secret of Enough: Proverbs 30
“Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name…
Love = Obedience (Part 2: Heaven’s Love Made Visible)
Written By: Dr. Shay Barrington [In Part 1, I wrestled with the gap between loving God and obeying Him, wondering what my failures said about my love. In Part 2, Dr. Shay Barrington reframes obedience as joy, not burden. Her Scripture-soaked words offer a hopeful way forward. Please enjoy.] We talk …
Love = Obedience? (Part 1: What if I Keep Falling Short)
“In the Bible, Love = obedience.”—Bryson Gray That might sound cold or rigid at first glance. At least, that’s what I thought when I saw this post. Maybe that’s because I grew up in a world that taught me that love means acceptance, support, and warm feelings. “Obedience” feels like the opposite of …
Esther’s Echo: Friends for Such a Time as This
When my wife prayed for a friend, it came from a place of quiet desperation. We were in a season of unraveling, both politically and spiritually. From 2016 to 2020, the foundations we had grown up with began to shift. We were lifelong Unitarian Universalists, progressive Democrats, and Bernie Sander…
So Act Like It: Pentecost, Presence, and Boldness
It was Pentecost Sunday this past weekend and Brian Wagers was preaching. Somewhere near the end of his sermon, he said something that didn’t make sense to me at all, but somehow I knew it was important. So I wrote it down. “That which is assumed is healed, because that which is united to the […]…
The First Rule of Fast Club
Hunger has a way of speaking louder than you expect. But hunger wasn’t the only lesson waiting for me. Shortly after I began my 72-hour fast, I picked up my first book on spiritual fasting and immediately learned something that made me laugh with mild embarrassment. I wasn’t supposed to announce my …
Read on afterpew.com →Christ vs. The System
We live in a world where outrage sells, distraction numbs, and the loudest voices often leave us emptier than before. But every now and then, an unexpected voice cuts through the noise and forces us to look honestly at the mess we’re in. Meet Tom Macdonald. His song The System hits with raw force, l…
Strumming God’s Design: Freedom in Boundaries
Reflections on Proverbs 20 We don’t usually think of boundaries as beautiful.But what if they’re what make beauty possible in the first place? This week at church, Brian, our pastoral resident, preached on Proverbs 20. I was serving in the nursery during the service, so I didn’t get to hear it live.…
What Am I Really Hungry For?
This weekend, I’ll begin a 72-hour water-only fast. I’ve never done anything like this before, but it’s something I’ve been considering, and it feels like the right time. I’ve been praying about this for a while and feel convicted to face the parts of my life that have too much control over me. I w…
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A Soul Without Sense: Integrity and Proverbs 19
We’ve been moving through the book of Proverbs one chapter at a time each week at church, and this past Sunday, our pastoral resident Brian Wagers preached on Proverbs 19. The theme was integrity. Proverbs 19 gives a rich and at times sobering picture of what that looks like. Proverbs 19:1—“Better i…
Drowning in Opinions: Proverbs 18’s Call to Listen and Understand
We are drowning in opinions. Having an opinion isn’t the issue. After all, God gave us minds and voices for a reason. But Proverbs presses deeper: do we speak to understand, or just to be heard? Scroll through X or Facebook, tune in to cable news, or just sit in on a casual conversation long […]…
Carrying the Grudge Sack: Proverbs 17:14–19
I’m often afraid of conflict, but I’m only sometimes a conflict avoider. The truth is, I find it very hard to conceal my displeasure when something’s wrong. I don’t always go looking for confrontation, but I also don’t tend to hide it well when tension shows up. My wife, Amy, grew up in a household …
Holding Plans with Open Hands: Proverbs 16
Some days, it feels easy to trust God. Life settles into a peaceful rhythm. The days feel steady and blessed. Plans unfold the way we hoped they would. Other days, the ground feels less certain. We map out the future carefully, only to find ourselves standing at unexpected crossroads. It is in those…
When I’m Right But Not Righteous: Proverbs 15
There are times I catch myself mid-sentence and wonder, Who am I trying to be right now? Not am I right?—because often I am—but is my “rightness” actually righteous? What’s the difference between being right and being righteous? Is it rooted in love—or in my need to prove something? Am I speaking as…
Praying for Open Doors: Sharing Faith Across a Family Divide
When Paul writes his letter to the Colossians, he’s literally in chains—imprisoned with few comforts and no promise of release. Yet in chapter 4, he reveals not only his priorities, but something essential about the early Christian mission. Colossians 4:2–4—“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping aler…
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Roots, Routines, Reach: What Proverbs 14 Is Teaching Me About Integrity
Lately, I’ve been sitting with an uncomfortable truth: the man I show to the world doesn’t always match the man I am when no one’s watching. In some intentional moments, I still choose distraction over devotion, comfort over courage, and myself over God. I’ve been a believer long enough to know what…
Part 2 The Umbrella We Share: Colossians 3:18-19
What does mutual trust look like in a Christian marriage? Amy and I never expected to embrace the idea of biblical submission. But two years into following Christ, we’ve found something surprising—freedom, purpose, and a shared rhythm of grace. Last time, I shared how Amy’s trust crowns my leadershi…
Modeling Christ, Building a Legacy: Proverbs 13
My dad once told me I’d end up homeless when he caught me smoking pot as a teenager. He wasn’t entirely wrong. Years later, I was living out of a backpack, couch-surfing across the country, chasing freedom but drifting from purpose. That season wasn’t the worst kind of homelessness, but it was a val…
Part 1 Crowning Trust: Colossians 3:18-19
I know how this verse lands for some people. Colossians 3:18—“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” To modern ears, this sounds oppressive—like a relic from a time when women had no voice, no rights, no agency. It’s been used to justify everything from control to outright abuse…
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The Discipline of Beginning: A Lesson from Proverbs 12
I’ve always been an ideas guy. As a kid, my friends and I would play a game where one person would think up an imaginary product and another would make up a jingle for it. Throughout my life, I’ve accumulated a mental warehouse of possibilities: inventions, novelty improvements on existing things, a…
Part 2 From Laughs to Love Eternal: Colossians 3:12-17
If the first half of Colossians 3 exposes my struggle with external validation, the second half of Colossians 3 reveals a deeper, internal battle: authenticity. In my last post, I reflected on how easily I let Facebook likes define my worth. But as I sat with verses 12-17 this week, I realized Paul’…
Part 1 From Likes to Love Eternal: Colossians 3:1-11
When I posted my first After Pew blog entry on Facebook, my heart raced as notifications lit up my phone—ten likes, then twenty, a comment from a friend saying, ‘Thanks for taking the time to share that.’ I was thrilled. It felt like people were connecting with what God put on my heart. But the […]…
Solomon’s Prayer: 1 Kings 8
When I was first exploring Christianity, I thought that following God was about seeking truth and trying to live in a way that earned His approvaI. I wasn’t trying to be perfect; I knew that wasn’t possible. But I thought that if I searched hard enough and did the right things, I could find God […]…
Losing The Game: And Finding Jesus
Ever play The Game? You know, that weird anti-memory thing where the rule is: if you think about The Game, you lose? I hadn’t thought about it in a while—until this afternoon. Probably because I caught myself doing the same thing with Jesus. I was folding laundry, not thinking about Him at all, and …
Sowing Truth, Reaping Life: Proverbs 11
I spent the better part of my childhood becoming an expert in deception. Not the clever kind, mind you, more like the desperate, “I’m caught, but if I stick to my story, I can still get away with it” kind. My strategy was to maintain innocence at all costs. Even when the facts were stacked […]…
Jesus+Nothing= Everything: Colossians 2:16-23
I grew up in a faith tradition that encouraged exploring many different spiritual paths, almost like a buffet where you pick and choose what resonates with you. The idea was that truth could be found in many places, leaving it up to each person to assemble a faith that felt right to them. While many…
Proverbs 10: Walking Wisely and Weighing Words
I have always been the kind of person who hates secrets and surprises. I want to know what people know, to have all the information laid out in front of me. But over time, I’ve had to learn that just knowing something doesn’t mean I understand it, and having all the facts doesn’t mean I […]…
The Temple and the Palace: Misplaced Priorities (1 Kings 5-7)
There’s something deeply revealing about how we allocate our time and resources. As I’ve sat with chapters 5 through 7 from 1 Kings, I’ve been moved by a sobering numerical contrast I noticed—seven years to build God’s temple, thirteen years for Solomon’s personal palace. This detail isn’t merely ar…
Worthy from the Womb: A UU Case Against Abortion
Life is a miracle, plain and simple. From the moment a child is conceived, an extraordinary process begins—a unique set of DNA is created, a tiny heart starts beating, a distinct set of fingerprints forms, and a one-of-a-kind person takes shape. It’s a process that fills me with awe every time I thi…
Rooted in Christ: Reflecting on Colossians 2:6-15
I’m still in Colossians, working through it little by little, leaning on sermon videos from Pastor John. My process has a steady rhythm—reading, listening, reflecting. Tonight, I’m studying in the quiet upstairs of my church, while the joyful chaos of AWANA and youth group rises up around me. My kid…
Wisdom at the Threshold: Lessons from 1 Kings 1-4
I try to keep a balanced diet in my Bible reading—Old Testament, Gospels, and Epistles. Right now, my wife and I are studying 1 Kings with our good friends. They are the same friends who first invited us to church and helped lead us to Christ. We’ve been doing weekly Bible study with them for […]…
Two Voices, Two Feasts, No Middle Ground: Proverbs 9
When I was a kid, my father was always trying to impart wisdom to me. He’d tell me not to do something or other because reasons—but for some reason, that was never enough for me. If it was something I wanted to do, I had to try it anyway. Almost without fail, I’d end up […]…
The Supremacy of Christ: A Deep Dive into Colossians 1:15-29
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how God holds things together—not just in the grand, cosmic sense, but in the details of life. If you had told me years ago that Amy and I—both raised Unitarian Universalist—would not only come to Christ, but do so together, I would’ve laughed. The odds of one o…
Faith That Bears Fruit: Colossians 1:1-14
I recently got this Scripture Journal Bible — the kind with the text on one page and blank lines on the other for notes. It’s a hefty thing, about 28 pounds of Scripture, but I love how it invites me to wrestle with the words. I’m starting with Colossians, studying it in my own time. […]…
The Rhythm of Wisdom: Proverbs 8
We’ve been going through the book of Proverbs, exploring its principles for life. This week, my pastor pointed out how Proverbs 8 is all about the rhythm woven into creation—and that stuck with me. He said creation has a rhythm, an order—a way things work best. Wisdom is woven into that design. Igno…
The Dangers of Small Compromises in Life: Proverbs 7
We like to think we make rational choices. That we see things clearly, know when to stop, and stay in control. But some of life’s biggest regrets don’t start with an obvious mistake, but with a small compromise. A glance. A thought. A rationalization. A slow drift toward the edge. And sometimes, we …
Undivided: Proverbs 5
My pastor said something yesterday that struck me as profound. He said that purity is not just about avoidance; purity is your undivided devotion to God. Purity is often misunderstood as simply refraining from sin, particularly in matters of morality and conduct. But true purity goes far beyond what…