Back by popular demand! John C. Bivona is an infectious disease expert and he gives us an update on all things pandemic related. The efficacy of vaccines, what we know and don’t know, should kids get vaccinated, are you immune if you’ve already had Covid, whether Covid was leaked from the Wuhan lab, what we know about the Delta variant (and other variants), vaccine hesitancy, and much more. John is a Senior Biosafety Officer for The University of Chicago – Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory, a Region...
Jul 19, 2021•59 min•Season 8Ep. 885
In this episode, I talk to Dan White about what it’s like burning out of ministry and how to cultivate healthier rhythms to prevent this from happening (again). Part of the problem is the internet and social media. Our prefrontal contexes never rest! We’re constantly bombarded with stuff to process. And COVID only exacerbated this problem. During COVID, many churches played into the consumeristic mindset of people by producing MORE content, more sermons, more stuff for people to consume. But now...
Jul 15, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 8Ep. 884
A.J. was the lead pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, a few years after Rob Bell left, and talks about how he approached ministry in this unique church. We also talk about different theological traditions, political division, patriotism vs. nationalism, and A.J.’s transition to pastor an Anglican church. AJ Sherrill (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) has more than twenty years of experience as a pastor, including as lead pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is now lead p...
Jul 12, 2021•56 min•Season 8Ep. 883
Samuel Sey is a Ghanian-Canadian who lives in outside of Toronto. He’s written extensively on race, racial justice, abortion, critical race theory, and other issues related to faith and culture. He challenges us with a perspective on race that’s different from what you will hear on most mainstream media outlets. He believes that critical race theory is profoundly problematic, that unequal outcomes does not necessarily mean there’s injustice in the system, that systemic racism is largely untrue, ...
Jul 08, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 8Ep. 882
Daisy is a YouTuber who used to identify as nonbinary, then transgender, and now reidentifies with her female biological sex. In this episode, we talk about her story, the nature gender dysphoria and social dysphoria, some of the gender ideology that she used to believe in but no longer does, the massive role that the internet played in her journey and transition, and what kind of advice she’d give to parents with trans identified kids. Check out Daisy's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/...
Jul 05, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 8Ep. 881
Scott is a fully transitioned 48 year old FtM transman with 3 teenage kids, and he’s pretty fired up about how the medical industry has failed our trans*-identified kids. Scott holds some pretty unpredictable views. Though he’s a transman, he believes that trans*-identified kids are in no position to transition, and that parents of trans* kids should not use their pronouns or do anything that would encourage their transition. In fact, Scott is very critical of several aspects of trans* ideologie...
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 8Ep. 880
Street Hymns is an Christian, artist, musician, leader, and a member an elite Battle Rap team called The IV Horseman. In this episode, we discuss how Street’s been able to embody the gospel in Battle Rap, reaching a culture where the gospel is not traditionally known. Upper middle class suburban versions of the gospel have little hope of making an impact in the urban context where Street and his team minister. Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.com Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Con...
Jun 28, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 8Ep. 879
My patreon supporters sent in a ton of questions for me to respond to, so I decided to respond to them publicly! Some really complex questions here. If you want to join the Theology in the Raw community, head over to patreon.com/theologyintheraw Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.com Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Connect with Preston Twitter | @PrestonSprinkle Instagram | @preston.sprinkle Youtube | Preston Sprinkle Check out his website prestonsprinkle.com If you enjoy the podcast...
Jun 24, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 8Ep. 878
Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.com Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Connect with Preston Twitter | @PrestonSprinkle Instagram | @preston.sprinkle Youtube | Preston Sprinkle Check out his website prestonsprinkle.com If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave a review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 24, 2021•3 min
Dr. Ed Uszynski currently serves as Senior Content Strategist for Family Life Ministry and as a Oneness and Diversity Consultant for Athletes in Action, with whom he has been training staff and ministering to college and professional athletes since 1992. He has an MA and M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Ph.D. in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. He and his wife Amy have four children and live in Xenia, OH. Ed is also an expert in CRT and has some ...
Jun 21, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Season 8Ep. 877
Greg grew up as a gay atheist in DC area and converted to Christianity at UVA in 1990. He has a PhD in historical theology and serves as the lead pastor of Memorial Presbyterian Church (PCA) in St. Louis. He’s also the author of the forthcoming book, Still Time to Care: What We Can Learn from the Church Failed Attempt to Cure Homosexuality (Zondervan, Sept 2021). Greg is 49 years old and has never touched another human in a romantic way, and yet he has been brought up on charges for being unfit ...
Jun 17, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 8Ep. 876
Dr. Heather Thompson Day is associate professor of communication at Colorado Christian University and an interdenominational speaker and contributor for Religion News Service, Newsweek, and the Barna Group. She runs an online community called I'm That Wife and is the author of six books, including Confessions of a Christian Wife, How to Feed the Mediavore, and the forthcoming It’s Not Your Turn. She resides in Littleton, Colorado, with her husband and their three children. In this episode, Heath...
Jun 14, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 8Ep. 875
In this invigorating conversation, Dr. Edwards discusses his views on race in the church, the pros and cons of how the church has handled this topic over the last year, and his mixed views on multi-ethnic churches. We then get into a discussion about slavery in the Bible and answer some difficult questions about a difficult topic. Dr. Edwards has long been inspired with a hunger to understand scripture. Growing up in NYC, Dr. Edwards attended a storefront church whose pastor was an earnest, fait...
Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 8Ep. 874
Darren was a teaching pastor at Willow Creek, then decided to plant a church in Franklin, TN, which ended up growing into another Mega Church. In this episode, we talk about his interesting and unpredictable journey, what it’s like pastoring mega churches and planting churches, and how he navigated the very difficult year of 2020. Originally from Australia, Darren has lived in the United States for over 20 years. He earned his Masters in Ministry from Wesley Seminary and his Doctorate from Capit...
Jun 07, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 873
Eli is the real deal. He not only understands the race conversation. He embodies it. In this episode, we talk about all things related to race, ethnicity, the church, and America, and we also discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. Eli is an emerging leader in the Next Gen space. He serves several national networks in varied roles. He is the Next Gen Regional Co-Chair for North America with Empowered21, and he also fills the position of National Millennial Director for the N...
Jun 03, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 872
Darrin W. Snyder Belousek teaches philosophy and religion at Ohio Northern University. He has taught previously at various church-related colleges: Bluffton University, Louisburg College, Bethel College, Lithuania Christian College, Goshen College, and St. Mary's College. He received a Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science from the University of Notre Dame (1998) and a certificate of theological studies from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (2017). Dr. Belousek has written an outsstan...
May 31, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 871
Should Christians use a trans* identified person’s chosen pronouns (i.e. ones that don’t align with their biological sex)? I (Preston) have argued for “pronoun hospitality,” that Christians should use a person’s pronouns. And Julie generally agrees with this perspective, but she believes that it’s sometimes better for the long term well-being for trans* identified children and adolescents when their parents don’t use their chosen pronouns. In case you didn’t know, this is super controversial! Wh...
May 27, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 870
Caleb Kaltenbach has become a leading voice in the conversation about faith, sexualtiy, and gender, and he’s spent many hours researching the Equality Act. In this episode, we discuss what the Equality Act is, look at its historical roots, the content of the act, its implications for religious liberty, and what it means for churches and Christian non-profits. Caleb Kaltenbach is a pastor and founder of The Messy Grace Group where he helps churches love and foster community with LGBTQ individuals...
May 24, 2021•53 min•Ep. 869
Dr. McLaughlin has a Ph.D. in English Literature from Cambridge University (U.K.) and has become a premier apologist for a new generation. Her book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion won Christianity Today’s book award for 2020 and her latest book The Secular Creed is bound to stir things up. In this episode, we talk about how most of the challenges to Christianity are more ethical in nature. People think Christianity can’t be true in light of its histor...
May 20, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 868
Dr. Thornton recently finished her Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where she currently serves as associate director of Ph.D. Studies and director of the Th.M program. Christy also served as a missionary in Morocco, which sparked her interested in the conversation about how best to reach Muslims (i.e. the C1-C6 spectrum). In this conversation, we discuss the C1-C6 spectrum, Moorocan culture, and missions, and then we discuss her shift from Missiology to ...
May 17, 2021•56 min•Ep. 867
Dr. Brooke Keels has Ph.D. in Psychological and over 10 years of counseling experience. She serves as the Executive Director of Counseling Services for Mercy Multiplied, nonprofit Christian organization that equips people to live free and stay free through Jesus Christ. In this episode, we talk about the rise in suicidality, anxiety, and depression especially among teens. We also discuss the widespread problem of sexual abuse and how people can find healing from trauma. Support Preston Support P...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 866
I first met Bert in Fall 1997 when I transferred in as a Junior at The Master’s College (now University). Bert was one of my roomates and we quickly began a mentoring friendship. For the next 3-4 years, Bert poured into and helped lay some vital spiritual foundations in my life. He has been, quite simply, one the most influential persons in my life. But Bert has his own tumultuous story, which involved getting saved out of a gang culture and thrust into the Christian spotlight as a singer, preac...
May 10, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 865
Dr. Laidlaw is a board certified Endocrinologist with an MD in Endocrinology from USC. He’s been involved in the conversation surrounding trans* identified teens and the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones (CHT). In this conversation, Michael gives us the the honest facts about what we know and don’t know about short term and long term effects of blockers and CHT. Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.com Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Connect with Preston Twitter | @Preston...
May 06, 2021•58 min•Ep. 864
Aaron Keyes has been a worship pastor for over 20 years, currently serving as the worship pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. Aaron is also the founder of Mere Worship, a network of worship pastors who are reimagining Christian worship, and the founder and director of 10,000 Fathers, a discipleship-orientated worship school. In this episode, we talk about all kinds of things related to Christian worship and worship leading, including the difference between subjective and objective...
May 03, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 863
Few people understand the intersection between faith and culture better than Gabe Lyons. In this conversation, we avoid all the easy topics and only discuss the highly controversial ones: Qideas (not Qanon), COVID vaccines, can we trust the government, how should we think through the “facts” about the pandemic, is censorship really happening, how to think through sexuality and gender questions, and much more. Gabe Lyons is the co-author of Good Faith (2016), unChristian (2007) and authored The N...
Apr 29, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 862
Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading widely, preaching and writing on contemplative spirituality, justice-related matters, and the art of preaching. He's been married to Rosie since 2006 and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan. His first book, The Deeply Formed Life,...
Apr 26, 2021•56 min•Ep. 861
In this conversation, we talk about his remarkable encounter with Benny Hinn, his recent thoughts on church unity, how he’s revisited his beliefs about the Eucharist, and we reflect on the pros and cons of being educated at The Master’s College (now University) and Seminary. Francis Chan is a pastor, writer, speaker, missionary, and evangelist. Most of all--he’s a Christian who loves to spend time with. Francis has written many books, including Crazy Love, Erasing Hell, and the recently released...
Apr 22, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 860
Grant Skeldon is a leading expert in understanding GenZ and has spent the last several years of his life raising up and discipling GenZ leaders. In this podcast episode, Grant walks us through an indepth look at GenZ and corrects some wrong assumptions older people have about this vibrant generation. Grant started Initiative Network when he was 23 with the goal to develop young leaders into Christ-loving, city-changing, church-investing, disciple-making local missionaries. Initiative has united ...
Apr 15, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 858
In this podcat episode, Preston and Lindsey talk about the beautiful complexity of female sexualtiiy and why so many teen girls today identify as bisexual (as opposed to lesbian or striaght). Lindsey is a a gay Christian woman committed to the historical biblical sexual ethic and is passionate about teaching the Church how to love and disciple LGBT+ people well. She is thrilled to get the opportunity to write content for EQUIP ministries, specifically for and about gay women. Lindsey graduated f...
Apr 12, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 857
A. J. Swoboda (PhD, University of Birmingham) is assistant professor of Bible, theology, and world Christianity at Bushnell University. He also leads a Doctor of Ministry program around the Holy Spirit and leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of a number of books, including the award-winning Subversive Sabbath. He is married to Quinn and is the proud father of Elliot. They live and work in Eugene, Oregon. In this podcast episode, we talk about his latest book After Doubt, ...
Apr 08, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 856
