This week, we were joined By Rod Tucker to help us (re)think our ideas around Church. Rod says there is a better way, and it's time to start questions and rethinking our ideas. This turned out to be a great conversation, and we are excited to share it with you. Enjoy! RESOURCES: RodTuckerSays.Com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
If you are anything like we are, you know what it's like to feel overlooked, disconnected, and ashamed. Sure we might believe in God's love in the abstract, but we often live our lives without experiencing it in any deep or lasting way. This week Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw join the conversation asking the question "Does God Really Like Me?" The Holsclaws apply the good news of the gospel to the shame and disconnection that we all experience in our everyday lives. The truth is, God wants to be with u...
This week we had the opportunity to hang out with Matt Carter and Toby Morrell of Emery and The BadChristian Podcast. We reached out to them and asked if they would be willing to trace their faith journey with us, from growing up to where they are today. We cover all sorts of stuff from childhood to the starts of Emery; from Mars Hill to BadChristian. We even get down to ask the question, "where do you find yourself today?". Enjoy RESOURCES: Emery BadChristian Marriage Supply Learn more about yo...
It is no secret that the Church has done a very bad job loving the LGBTQ+ community. Churches in America are experiencing massive splits and mass exoduses due to their belief and attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community. This week, Colby Martin joins us once again to help others (re)think their stance on the LGBTQ+ community. Colby wrote a book called "Unclobber" where he reexamines what the Bible says (and does not say) about homosexuality in such a way that breathes fresh life into outdated and i...
A building crescendo of developments, culminating in evangelical support for the Trump presidency, has led many evangelicals to question the faith they inherited. If being Christian means rejecting LGBTQ persons and supporting systemic racism, perhaps their Christian journey is over. This week, David Gushee joins us to help us (re)thinking Evangelicalism. Gushee offers a new way forward for disillusioned post-evangelicals and proposes new ways of Christian believing, belonging, and behaving, hel...
Have you ever wondered why some people you know hold theological and political views that blow your mind but they find quite reasonable? This week John Sanders joins us to discuss two social science models, Nurturant and Authoritative, to explain this divide. Values are at the heart of our disagreements. Dr. Sanders explains the divide and makes the case that Jesus embodied the Nurturant way of life. He modeled empathy, grace, forgiveness, and care for those beyond his own tribe. The Nurturant a...
If we were to ask you to name some of the things you love the most... how long would it take you to say yourself? If you’re anything like us, you’ve tried to love God and love others without thinking too much about yourself. Wanting to avoid self-centeredness, perhaps you have doubted yourself and condemned yourself— maybe even hated yourself. This week, Jonathan Puddle joins the conversation to help us (re)think how we view ourselves. Drawing from Scripture, trauma-informed therapy, Christian i...
This week Tripp Fuller joins the show to help us (re)think our Christology. Tripp offers a robust constructive open and relational Christology. He offers us a three-pronged constructive Christology that engages historical Jesus studies and seeks to speak in both an existential and metaphysical register. Ultimately, Tripp offers a centering Christological metaphor for an open and relational vision: the self-investment of God. Enjoy! RESOURCES: Divine Self-Investment: An Open and Relational Constr...
This week we were joined by Scott Erickson to help us (re)think Advent this year. "For too many of us, Christmas has lost its wonder. Maybe for you, the joy of the season is painfully dissonant with the hard edges of life right now. Or maybe you feel wearied by the way Christmas has become a polished, predictable brand. Or maybe this sacred story feels too far removed from our world today, a world that's hard to make sense of. But what if the Christmas story is not just something that happened a...
Wow! 100 episodes! Thank you to everybody who has supported the show thus far. This week, Josh and Marty reflect back over the past 100 episodes. They discuss what elements they have rethought in their own faith, and where they hope to be after another 100 episodes. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week we were joined by Juanita Campbell Rasmus to help us (re)think how to BE. "It felt as though every nerve in my body was popping. Imagine large strong hands slowly applying pressure while breaking a family-size package of uncooked, dry spaghetti. I was the spaghetti. Breaking down one piece at a time." This is how Juanita begins the wise, frank, and witty account of what she later called "The Crash" and what her counselor labeled "a major depressive episode." This experience landed Juan...
This week we were joined by Biblical Scholar/Theologian/Former Bishop of Durham, NT Wright. Wright contends that there are a few 'signposts' that are inherent to humanity: justice, spirituality, relationships, beauty, freedom, truth and power. If we do not live up to these ideals, our societies and individual lives become unbalanced, creating anger and frustration—negative emotions that divide us from ourselves and from God, he contends. Using the Gospel of John as his source, Wright shows how C...
We’ve caused a turning point in the Earth’s natural history. Everybody Now is a podcast about what it means to be human on the threshold of a global climate emergency, in a time of systemic injustice and runaway pandemics. Scientists, activists, farmers, poets, and theologians talk bravely and frankly about how our biosphere is changing, about grief and hope in an age of social collapse and mass extinction, and about taking action against all the odds. During the week of October 19th 2020, Every...
Why does our theology of salvation focus on forgiving sinners, but not on healing those wounded by sin? Much of Western Christianity has subdued the narrative of Jesus as a Palestinian Jewish healer and liberator who served the sick and oppressed. But the Jesus of the Gospels is a revolutionary who stands with the sinned against, the wounded, and the marginalized. This week we are joined by Phuc Luu who re-narrates the life of Jesus to show how he made it his work to topple systems that privileg...
This week, Dr. Drew Hart joins us once again to discuss his latest book 'Who Will Be A Witness'. Who Will Be a Witness offers a vision for communities of faith to organize for deliverance and justice in their neighborhoods, states, and nation as an essential part of living out the call of Jesus. Drew provides incisive insights into Scripture and history, along with illuminating personal stories, to help us identify how the witness of the church has become mangled by Christendom, white supremacy,...
This week, Bonnie Lewis joins us once again to take a deep dive into her Idiomatic translation of the Bible, 'Timshel'. Bonnie was on the show over a year ago when this project was still underway. Now, you can get a soft or hardback copy to hold in your hands and enjoy. This was a fun and informative conversation. If you find yourself having a hard time reading the Bible because it has been weaponized against you in the past, give Timeshel a try. Enjoy. RESOURCES: TimshelTranslation.com The Tims...
This week Rob Bell joins the conversation to help us awaken to the reality that everything is spiritual... Josh tried to write an outline for the interview but quickly realized how silly of a thing that was to do. Outline an interview with Rob Bell? Yeah right! Enjoy. RESOURCES: Everything is Spiritual (Book) RobBell.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
"I'm just speaking the truth in love..." How many times have you head that common refrain? For years, Christians have argued, debated, and fought one another while "speaking the truth in love," yet we are no closer to the grace-filled life Jesus modeled. This week, Biblical scholar and popular podcast host of The Bible for Normal People , Jared Byas joins us and casts a new vision for the Christian life that's built not on certainty, but on the risk of love. Jared contends that a biblically-base...
This week, our good friend Dr. Thomas Jay Oord returns to the show once again. Previously he has been on to 'The Uncontrolling Love of God' and 'God Can't'. Tom is an open and relational theologian, and his work has helped so many. As he returns this week, he fields some questions about his 'God Can't' thesis. If you have not listened to the previous two episodes with Tom, we would highly recommend that you do that. If God can't control, why pray? If God's love is uncontrolling, how do we explai...
This week, Dr. Dennis R. Edwards joins the conversation making the powerful claim that the power of the Gospel is often most visible among those who are on the margins. God has empowered marginalized Christians to transform the church. The power of the gospel is often most visible among those who have been the least respected, including racial or ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women, and people who have been displaced from their homeland. Yet in many faith communities, these are th...
Is caring for the environment just a liberal, political concern? Dr. Sandra Richter says that environmental care is actually a Biblical mandate. Dr. Richter is an expert in ancient Israelite society and economy as well as biblical theology. She walks us through various passages, showing how significant environmental theology is to the Bible's witness. She then helps us to apply that message to today's environmental concerns. Well informed on present-day environmental challenges, Richter shares c...
The United States has more people locked up in Jails, Prisons, and Detention centers than any other country in the history of the world. This week we are joined by Dominique DuBois Gilliard to help us rethink incarceration. Mass incarceration has become a lucrative industry, and the criminal justice system is plagued with bias and unjust practices. And the church has unwittingly contributed to the problem. Dominique helps us explore the history and foundation of mass incarceration, examining Chr...
This week Dan Koch returns to the show to discuss the overlap of Psychology and Theology. Dan is the host of the 'You Have Permission' podcast, and is currently working towards his doctorate of clinical psychology. In some streams of the Christian faith, psychology is frowned upon, but Dan contends that psychology can be a great tool in the world of theology. This was a fun and helpful conversation, enjoy! Resources: You Have Permission Podcast The Righteous Mind (Book) Learn more about your ad ...
This week, Kevin Makins joins the conversation to ask the question... why would anyone go to church? When Kevin was 23 and didn't know any better, he founded Eucharist Church with some of his friends. There are plenty of reasons to criticize, judge, and even walk away from the church. Many of us have been hurt and rejected. We may see church as insular and irrelevant. Despite this, Kevin Makins believes that the church still matters--perhaps more than ever. If you've been burned or burned out by...
Hurt by the church. Healed by the journey. Questioning our faith and spiritual beliefs, while leaving the familiarity of our religious homeland, can be very painful. Loneliness, isolation, and fear of rejection--from God and others--can give rise to shame, guilt, anger, and sadness. Yet, paradoxically, this uncomfortable process can be a powerful catalyst that leads to tremendous emotional, mental, and spiritual growth. This week, theologian, therapist, and ordained pastor, Mark Karris joined th...
This week, Colby Martin discusses his latest work "The Shift: Surviving and Thriving after Moving from Conservative to Progressive Christianity." When Christians are kicked out of their conservative churches or leave because they no longer feel at home, they embark on a journey of freedom and fear, love and loneliness, empowerment and pain. The movement from conservative to progressive Christianity is a serious shift. Colby Martin has traversed this treacherous territory, survived its hardships,...
This week, we were joined by filmmaker and author Kevin Miller to discuss his latest film, J.E.S.U.S.A. His film is an in-depth exploration of the relationship between Christianity and American nationalism and the violence that can often emerge from it. Far from a new phenomenon, this documentary traces the co-opting of Christianity by the state all the way back to when the Christian faith became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Through interviews with a diverse group of scholars, past...
This week Kelley Nikondeha joined us to help us (re)think how we view the women of Exodus. In Kelley's most recent book, "Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us About Freedom", Kelley brings to light the overwhelming importance of the women of Exodus. If it weren't for the women in Exodus, there would be no Moses, no crossing the Red Sea, and no story of breaking the chains of slavery. Women exhibited a subversive strength to defy Pharaoh and lead an entire people to freedom. Kelley helps us...
Have you ever wondered what the Old Testament or the Old Testament Law has anything to do with your life? Have you ever thought about just ditching the Old Testament all together? You are not alone! This week, Carmen Imes (PhD) joins us to help us rethink our views of the Old Testament. Carmen argues that the Old Testament is very important and that we can't understand our calling as Christians without it. Specifically, she argues that we have misunderstood the command about taking the Lord's na...
We live in an extremely polarized society, especially when it comes to our political climate. This week, Pastor and founder of One Day's Wages (ODW) joins the conversation to help us (re)think how we engage with politics. Seek first the Kingdom of God... not the Kingdom of a Political Party. We don't need any more "jerks for Jesus". Eugene helps us think through finding points of agreement to work towards the common good. He helps us listen to each other, especially those amongst us who are most...
