Today we’re so excited to welcome Katelyn Beaty to the podcast, author of Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church. We’ll be discussing Abigail’s resistance to corrupt power in 1 Samuel 25, and the ways her example can inform the modern Church. Katelyn will help us look at how we can interrogate our own stewardship of power and look with curiosity and honesty at the structures around us. There’s a lot to uncover about the Christian life and ordinary acts...
Jun 07, 2023•53 min•Season 2Ep. 26
In today’s episode we are tackling a giant topic for women: style, fashion and clothing. Women experience immense pressures from all directions about how we dress and what we wear. We’re expected to keep up with fashion trends while also being modest, to dress professionally but also look cute. Style is such a moving target for women in society and can be a source of fun and creativity, and also anxiety and shame. Today we’ll dig into the way the Bible talks about clothing, how some Biblical wom...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Today we’re in part 2 of our 2-part series on the Trinity. Last week we discussed the nature of and relationship between Jesus and God, and today we’re digging deeper into the nature of the Holy Spirit. This is the most mysterious and neglected part of the Trinity, and one that holds a lot of questions about femininity within the Triune God. We’re hoping to offer ideas, food for thought, and ultimately an exhortation for all believers to understand and seek the life of the Spirit. Read along wit...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Today we’re digging into a topic that we’ve referenced quite a bit in Season 1 and it’s finally time! We’re talking about the Trinity and how understanding of God has informed a view of gender and submission. The Trinity and our theology of God being three-in-one is complex and full of mystery. But for some, a heretical understanding of God has led to a permission and support for subordination of women. We’ll discuss how Scripture and historical orthodoxy affirm equity within Godself. In this ep...
May 10, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 23
In today’s episode we’re uncovering an often ignored story about a wise and courageous woman in the Old Testament, Abigail. Abigail becomes a wife of King David, but their meet cute has higher stakes than most first encounters. Her story has a great deal to show us about the legacy of wise women in scripture, the character of David, and a Godly process for confronting those in authority. Read along with us: 1 Sam. 25:2-42 Shop our Excavate merch store https://excavatepodcast.myshopify.com/ Follo...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Today we’re talking about a central woman of the church who was the first to declare the good news of the Risen Christ to the other disciples. We’re digging into the story of Mary Magdalene and her faithful devotion to Jesus. We’ll be living into our goal of excavating, brushing away what might have been added into the text by pop culture narratives, conspiracy theories, and early scholars. We’ll be encouraged by the true legacy of her deep faithfulness to Jesus as a pillar of the Church. Read a...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 21
On today’s episode we are so excited to have Sheila Gregoire join us. Sheila is the author of the upcoming book She Deserves Better: Raising girls to resist toxic teaching on sex, self & speaking up. In our episodes about purity culture we started a conversation about the way purity culture modesty codes created contempt of women’s bodies and harmful messages for young women and girls. This week we’re looking at what the Bible actually says about modesty and how we can raise girls with empow...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 20
We are recording this episode during Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter when the Church traditionally focuses on the events in the ministry of Jesus leading up to the cross in preparation for observing the crucifixion and celebrating the resurrection. So to honor the themes of this week in the Church calendar we’ll have a shorter episode discussion on the role of women surrounding the end of Christ’s earthly ministry, and a few things to meditate on in response to our previous episode abou...
Apr 05, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 19
In this episode we’re talking about a complex and often controversial issue in American society, our culture’s relationship with guns. This is a conversation that has become so muddied by political ideology and Christian nationalism that it can be difficult to have any kind of healthy dialogue. But it remains an urgent concern for our country. So we are trying to step back from the rhetoric and look at how the Bible describes idolatry, what constitutes something being an idol, and how God invite...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 18
As we continue in women’s history month we want to highlight the area of women’s health advocacy. There is still a great need for growth in research, taking women’s concerns seriously, and women having the tools we need to advocate for our health and care. When we contrast the continued minimizing of women’s health concerns with the life of Jesus, we see how radical He really is in demystifying and joining with our experience of our bodies. Male listeners welcome in this conversation! Read along...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Today we’re digging into a topic that we are both passionate about personally. We’re talking about mental health, the unique ways this relates to the lived experience of women, and how to navigate this as people of faith. We recognize that for some people the Church may have minimized or even demonized mental health care. So our hope is to discuss that stigma and how God meets us in our seasons of sorrow and struggle. Read along with us: Ps. 56:8 Luke 10:38-42 1 Kings 19:3-8 Shop our Excavate me...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 16
In this episode we’re doing our very first recording with a live audience at the Jubilee Conference! We’re joined by Dr. Carmen Imes, author of Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters and Associate Professor of Old Testament at Biola University. Dr. Imes is an expert on the book of Exodus so we are thrilled to hear her expertise on the many women who played a role in the story of deliverance in Exodus. This episode will give you inspiring new insights on the ways God raised up women and men ...
Mar 08, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 15
This episode is part 2 of digging into the impact of purity culture and God’s actual plan for human relationships. In episode 1 we discussed the shortcomings and harmful effects of the purity movement, as well as God’s call to fidelity and obedience that transcends misrepresentation and bad messaging. So we recommend that if you haven’t listened to part 1 yet, pause and go listen to that first. Now we’re following it up with digging deeper into what it means to follow God’s good commands for Chr...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 46 min•Season 2Ep. 14
For the next 2 episodes we’re going to be digging into the topic of purity culture and sexuality. Anyone who grew up in the 90s and 2000s heard about purity culture in evangelicalism, and even pop culture with plenty of pop stars wearing purity rings. Adult Christians in the last few years have begun deconstructing and reexamining the motivations and impact of purity culture. Today we’ll begin sifting through what drove that movement in the church, what aspects might still line up with the Bible...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 2Ep. 13
In this episode we are digging into the parables of Jesus that center the experiences of women. Part of what makes Jesus such a profound teacher is his ability to connect with every one of his listeners and to make us feel like the Word is for us. Jesus rejects the assumption that women are folded into narratives for men by teaching distinct parables that are about women and for everyone. Not only are women to see ourselves reflected in these teachings, but men are also to learn from the points ...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 12
This week we’re digging into an area of guidance and discipleship that is often overlooked for women. We’re talking about money, being a good steward, and the way that has uniquely impacted women. Christian women have often been socialized to depend on men in their lives to the detriment of our own financial literacy. We’ll look at women in Scripture that can inspire our stewardship journeys, including a seemingly hidden gem. Read along with us: 1 Chronicles 7:20-24 Luke 8:1-3 Mark 12:41-44 To j...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 11
This week we’re talking about the overwhelming and often scary topic of aging. Western society tends to idolize youth and prize youthful beauty and agelessness. We also praise those who achieve great success at young ages which can create pressure to live up to unrealistic standards of age and achievement. It’s easy to feel inadequate and behind the curve in our modern society, which is why we think it’s so important to frame this topic through a Biblical lens. We’ll be exploring passages that d...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 10
On today’s podcast we are so excited to welcome special guest Kaitlyn Schiess. Kaitlyn is the author of “The Liturgy of Politics” and the perfect person to help us dig into the story of Jezebel and her influence in Old Testament history. Jezebel has become a symbol for either maligning women as dangerous seductresses, or as a New Age feminist icon of women behaving badly. Her legacy is a complicated one which is why we’re eager to dig into her story to uncover what Jezebel has to teach us about ...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Last week we talked about the overall themes of Proverbs as one of the wisdom books. This week we’re focusing on Proverbs 31, “the virtuous woman.” This passage has often been a place of pressure or tension for women so we’ll excavate those layers and see the strength and dignity of this passage and the invitation for women and men to celebrate the valor of women around them. Read along with us: Proverbs 31:10–31 Shop our Excavate merch store! https://excavatepodcast.myshopify.com/ Follow us on ...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Today we’re beginning a discussion about wisdom literature in the Bible and this unique genre of scripture. Proverbs personifies Wisdom as a woman and contrasts Wisdom with Lady Folly. We’ll discuss how these are portrayed and how the proverbs discuss the roles of women in the home and world. Read along with us: Proverbs 9:1-7, 13-18 Prov. 12:4, 5:18 Prov. 19:13, 21:9, 21:19, 25:24, 27:15 Prov. 15:25 Excerpts of Prov. 7 Shop our Excavate merch store! https://excavatepodcast.myshopify.com/ Follow...
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 7
It's the week between Christmas and the New Year. This is the perfect time to reflect on the past year so we wanted to consider what it looks like to step into a new season as people of hope. We’ll look at two women in the Old Testament that may not be the first ones you’d consider at the new year, but who have much to teach us about courage and hope. Whatever time of year you’re listening, the Widow’s encounter with Elisha and a bold enslaved girl will encourage you to widen your prophetic imag...
Dec 28, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 6
It’s striking how little the men of the Christmas story speak and how much space is given to the women of this story. So this week we’re going to look at the women in and around the Advent story and the way that God elevates the voices of women surrounding Jesus’s birth. We’ll talk about the strength we can draw from their stories and the way these women may represent biblical types. This is a great episode as we move into Christmas week to prepare your heart in wonder at the wisdom and power of...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 5
We are so excited and honored to be welcoming Whitney Trotter to the podcast this week! In our previous episode we talked about a biblical theology of food and the body, and this week we’ll be digging deeper into how disordered eating can impact us and the ways that generational trauma connect to dynamics around food. We’ll discuss the story of the Israelites coming out of captivity in Egypt and how that shaped their relationship with food, and how God helped them rewire those patterns during th...
Dec 14, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In today’s episode we are beginning a conversation about our relationship with food. We’re starting with a discussion on the biblical and theological aspects of food, then in our next episode we’re welcoming Registered Dietician Whitney Trotter to lead us in a conversation about the ways eating and our relationship with food can become disordered and how to address that in healthy ways. This is a very delicate topic but because this is something that impacts literally everyone because we need to...
Dec 07, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Welcome to Season 2, we’re so happy to be back! As we’re all navigating the holidays we know that can be very emotionally complex and bring up loss, trauma and grief. Today we’re going to talk about grief and gratitude and the way they pair together. It’s also something that we think women in particular navigate often and can be leaders in for our communities. We’ll look at models in Scripture and how we can learn from them in our own lives. In Season 1 we really wanted to stick to the timeline ...
Nov 30, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In recent years there has been a rise in the popularity of witchcraft and feminist spirituality. This often goes hand in hand with other trends like astrology and manifesting. Things like Spooky Season and Halloween are also more popular than ever, especially among women. Today we want to dig into a few stories in the Bible about a witch and a ghost, and a fortune teller, and see how the Bible offers us guidance to navigate our culture. Read along with us: Deuteronomy 18:9-12 1 Sam. 28:3-20 Acts...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Season 2Ep. 1
This week we wanted to spend time talking about themes that jumped out at us as we walked through this first season of the podcast. You know we love the Bible but one of the reasons we love it is because there’s always something new to glean and things to uncover. In season 1 we very intentionally stuck to what helped us understand the metanarrative of Scripture and the role of women in it. In season 2 we’ll be digging into some stories of women that didn’t make it into season 1, a few more topi...
Aug 17, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 28
We’re concluding our conversation about the book of Revelation and the very good ending of God’s story. The resurrection of the body is not something that is often discussed yet it has tremendous implications for how we navigate our current relationships with our bodies. Especially for women who are often socialized and conditioned to have very ambivalent perceptions of our bodies, so this is such an important perspective shift. Plus we’ll talk about the culmination of the biblical wedding metap...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 27
We’ve been tracing the metanarrative of Scripture as we look at the consistent role of women and God’s heart for women. Like all of the best stories, the ending of God’s Story is very good. Jesus teaches us to pray “on earth as it is in heaven” so we should be consistently aligning our prayers and subsequently our lives with this reality! God’s endgame is to bring healing and wholeness to our experience of culture, work, emotions, and to ultimately expose the evil of patriarchy for what it truly...
Aug 03, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Today we are in part two of our episodes about women in the early Church. we’ll spend a little more time in Acts before shifting to Paul’s greetings at the end of his letter to the Romans. We’ll see a very clear picture of Paul regularly collaborating with and co-laboring with women in his ministry. These passages are such an important addition to his teachings on the role of women in the church and paint a much bigger picture of how his ministry played out and who was partnering with him. These...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 25
