Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian and his wife, Peri, founded the church in 1981. Brian is also the author of several books, including, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Water to Wine, A Farewell To Mars, Beauty Will Save the World, and Unconditional?: The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness.In this podcast, we talk about his forthcoming book When Everything’s On Fire: Faith Forged ...
Sep 02, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 8Ep. 898
Netflix recently released a documentary on the so-called “Ex-Gay” movement, highlighting its lies and all the damage it’s done to gay Christians. What are the pros of the movie? And what are the cons? My good friend Tony Scarcello and I evaluate this provocative documentary. Tony Scarcello is a pastor, speaker, and writer located in Springfield, Oregon. He regularly speaks at churches, camps, retreats, and conferences. Tony is also the host of the Regenerate Podcast and the author of the book Re...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Season 8Ep. 897
Caleb Kaltenbach is a pastor and founder of The Messy Grace Group where he helps churches love and foster community with LGBTQ individuals without sacrificing theological convictions. He's the author of God of Tomorrow and Messy Grace (where he discusses being raised in the LGBTQ community, following Jesus, and how loving others doesn’t require shifting beliefs), and the recently released Messy Truth: How to Foster Community without Sacrificing Conviction , which is the content of our podcast co...
Aug 26, 2021•59 min•Season 8Ep. 896
"About 5% of what you see on the news reflects the reality of what’s going on at the border,” says pastor John Garland, who’s been living out the gospel at the border. In this fascinating conversation, Dr. Poe Hays and John Garland walk us through what it means to be a Christian and live out the kingdom of God toward a marginalized and misunderstood group of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And how the Psalms are a Spirit-inspired guide to trauma therapy. Learn more about your ad choices. ...
Aug 23, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 895
Dr. Brian Brock is a Christian ethicist and theologian who has become one of the leading experts in disability theology. What does it mean, theologically, to be dissabled? How much of the able-bodied assumptions about disability are misinformed and, potentially, dehumanizing? How do the Christian doctrines of creation, fall, redemption, and resurrection inform our understanding of disabilities? And what would it look like for the church to embody a robust Christian theology of disability? Learn ...
Aug 19, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 8Ep. 894
What is the Apocrypha and what isn’t the Apocrypha? Is it a Catholic set of uninspired books? Books vital for understanding the New Testament? Should it be included in our Bibles? In our...Canon? New Testament scholar and Apocrypha expert Dr. Joey Dodson guides us through this important conversation with wisdom, wit, and cultural relevance. You’ll see what I mean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy...
Aug 16, 2021•57 min•Season 8Ep. 893
What is Christian Anarchy? I sat down with my good friend, fellow Dodger’s fan, and BBQ expert Jay Newman to talk about this. He’s not only persuaded by Christian anarchy, but he’s convinced that I’m one too. We dive deep into the basics of Christian anarchy and how Christians should posture themselves in light of partisan politics and the government as a whole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy N...
Aug 12, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Season 8Ep. 892
My Patreon supporters sent me a ton of questions to respond to, so here’s my attempt! Is it inconsistent for homeschool parents to say “kids need to go back to school” during COVID, then they are not...in school. Does Gen 2 really give us a definition for marriage? What do I think of Milo Yiannopolos? Would I have have him on the show? What do I think of NT Wright and John Piper’s recent articles? Should we read books or listen to music by Christian leaders who have fallen into sin? Why have I h...
Aug 09, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 891
Jackie HIll Perry is a rockstar. Actually, she’s a Christian, poet, musician, artist, author, mother, and wife--in no particular order (except the Christian part is most important). Her latest book Holier Than Thou, releases on Aug. 17, 2021 and talks about how God is not like us, is different, is holy, and that’s exactly what makes Him trustworthy. In this conversation, we talk about God’s holiness and character, human sexuality, and Jackie’s personal life as a high profile Christian influencer...
Aug 05, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 8Ep. 890
Chris is a mother, wife, and Vice-President for The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. She also helps run Theology in the Raw and my personal ministry. Oh, and I’m sleeping with her. She’s my wife. And she’s an incredible mom, and that’s what we talk about in this uncut episode. Chris is very passionate about parenting our kids in the ways of Christ in such a way that sets them up to succeed in the world today. Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.comVenmo: @Preston-Sprinkl...
Aug 02, 2021•56 min•Season 8Ep. 889
Oh nelly, are you all in for a challenge! Propaganda (aka Jason Petty) is a musician, poet, activist, intellect, and an author who’s recently published his first book Terraform: Building a Better World. In this episode we talk about Prop’s new book and we talk about coffee. But the bulk of our time is spent talking about the race conversation and Prop’s got some passionate thoughts about the topic. Strap on your seat belts, folks! You’re going for a ride... Check out Prop’s new book: Terraform: ...
Jul 29, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 8Ep. 888
Yup, we talk about all of that. Not sure I need to explain more than what’s in the title. Our conversation is actually quite theological and it doesn’t shy away from the tough questions, the embarrassing questions, and the questions you didn’t know you had until you listened to this episode. Andrew is an assistant pastor at King's Church Hastings and Bexhill and is the author of Who In Heaven's Name Do You Think You Are?: Exploring Your Identity In Christ and People not Prounouns: Reflections on...
Jul 26, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 8Ep. 887
Abigail and I talk about all things related to gender, postmodern feminism, and the ontology of trans* identities. We discuss the meaning of sex and gender, the relationship between body and soul, the possibility of an intersex condition of the brain, whether brains are male and female, intersex conditions, gender stereotypes, and how all of this relatest to the anthropological understnading of trans* experiences. Dr. Favale is dean of the College of Humanities and Associate Professor of English...
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Season 8Ep. 886
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•58 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 13 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 12 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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jun 24, 2021•2 min•Ep. 1301
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, H...
Jun 14, 2021•1 hr 4 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 3 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 7 min•Ep. 870
