Is it time to refresh the old church planting playbook? In this forward-thinking episode, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore sit down with Dr. Eun K. Strawser to explore how church planting must evolve in a post-COVID world. Drawing on her work with the IWA Collaborative, her leadership at Ma Ke Alo o, and insights from her upcoming book You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone, Eun outlines a vision for leadership that is local, diverse, co-vocational, and built on discipleship, not metrics. 🎙️ In This Episo...
May 05, 2025•40 min
What happens when expository preaching meets jazz improvisation? In this musical and moving conversation, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore welcome Mark Glanville, pastor, jazz pianist, and author of Preaching in a New Key, to explore how preaching can meet the needs of post-Christian communities. From shifting cultural landscapes to the crisis of plausibility in faith, this episode unpacks how the preacher’s voice, imagination, and presence can open up space for beauty, belonging, and belief. 🎙️ In Th...
Apr 30, 2025•43 min
What does real resistance to an unjust state look like—and can the church still embody it today? In this episode, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore sit down with Bonhoeffer scholar Michael DeJonge to explore the famed theologian’s approach to resisting authoritarian power. Drawing from his article How to Resist an Unjust State and his books on Bonhoeffer's theology, DeJonge unpacks the Lutheran roots of Bonhoeffer’s political vision and why his legacy resists easy appropriation in today’s culture wars. ...
Mar 31, 2025•51 min
Is leaving evangelicalism really a departure—or just a shift within the same framework? In this provocative episode, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore wrestle with the deep similarities between evangelical and post-evangelical spaces. Are we just switching teams while playing the same game? From the role of the self in faith to justice work and power structures, they explore what truly changes (and what doesn’t) when people move from white evangelicalism to progressive or mainline Protestant spaces. 🎙️...
Mar 26, 2025•39 min
Is our understanding of salvation too small? In this thought-provoking episode, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore sit down with Matthew Bates, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary and author of Beyond the Salvation Wars, to challenge long-held assumptions about the gospel. From the pitfalls of individualistic salvation to the deeper call of allegiance to King Jesus, they explore what it truly means to be saved—and why both Protestants and Catholics need to rethink their approach. 🎙️ In This ...
Mar 07, 2025•36 min
What if the way forward in our polarized world begins at the table? In this compelling episode, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore sit down with Dan White Jr., author of Love Over Fear, to discuss the art of engaging in difficult conversations. They explore how compassion, curiosity, and a theology of the table can heal divisions in our churches, neighborhoods, and beyond. 🎙️ In This Episode: Dan White Jr. shares how the Kineo Center equips weary leaders to find healing. The four transformative practice...
Jan 27, 2025•46 min
What happens when revivalist faith meets political power? In this episode of Theology on Mission, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore sit down with scholar Matthew D. Taylor to uncover the startling rise of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)—a movement reshaping the landscape of evangelical Christianity and American politics. Taylor reveals how this influential network of apostles and prophets has grown from obscure beginnings to a force wielding colossal sway, intertwining charismatic zeal with far-righ...
Dec 09, 2024•51 min
What is the deepest emphasis of the prophets in the Bible? Prophets beyond Activism insightfully challenges the common progressive narrative that the prophets of ancient Israel were primarily concerned with social justice. Instead it daringly offers more life-giving ways of engaging the prophetic books for the causes of justice. The assumption that the prophets of ancient Israel were primarily concerned with social justice so permeates the thinking and the discourse of progressive Christianity t...
Nov 18, 2024•50 min
Mike Moore and David Fitch, discuss the post-election landscape following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. They delve into their reactions to the election outcome, explore the broader implications for the church, politics, and society, and consider how the church should engage in politics moving forward. The conversation includes reflections on the failure of the church to address key societal issues, the challenges faced under the new administration, and calls for ...
Nov 06, 2024•1 hr 1 min
The good news is bigger and better than we imagined. Is the gospel good news for us today? Many Christians—especially young Christians stepping into a world and a church devastated by division, scandal, and abuse—are asking this question and deciding it simply isn’t. For many, it seems like our faith has little to offer the world around us. Our gospel has become too small—it looks nothing like the Jesus who embodies good news in the flesh. How do we recover this gospel? When we turn to the parab...
Oct 29, 2024•34 min
We live in a culture that wants it all. More is seen as better—whether it’s more money, social media fame, choices, or power. For those chasing this way of life, “narrow” seems negative. Who wants to narrow their options . . . or be seen as narrow-minded? Jesus’ way is subversive and narrow. Yet, there is no more meaningful way to live. Mike and Fitch are joined by Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship and author of 'The Narrow Path'. Rich shares insights from his book, which challen...
Oct 21, 2024•44 min
In this episode of Theology on Mission, Dave Fitch and Mike Moore sit down again with Andy Crouch to dive deeper into the complexities of power in the Christian context. Building on themes from Crouch’s book Playing God, they explore the tension between creative and coercive power, framing the conversation around the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet. With lively debate and thoughtful reflection, Fitch and Crouch wrestle with authority in the church offering clarity and connection. The ...
Oct 14, 2024•50 min
How does God want His people to deal with power? Andy Crouch & David Fitch have nuanced ways in which they see God’s invitation to embrace and use power in the world. The discussion explores topics such as coercive versus creative power, idolatry and injustice, and the pervasive influence of systems like Mammon in modern Christian thought. This candid conversation over the implications of using power in the name of God. From the Genesis narrative and historical stances on ecclesiastical power. T...
Oct 05, 2024•41 min
There is a critical need for church leaders to engage with cultural issues. In the Season 10 opener of the Theology on Mission podcast, hosts Dave Fitch and Mike Moore reflect on the shifting role of intellectual leadership during transitional times for the church. It is important to integrate theological reflection with the practical struggles of everyday ministry. The conversation explores the changing dynamics within Christian education, the decline in church attendance, and the evolving land...
Sep 27, 2024•33 min
Listen to The Pastor’s Table on your favorite platform: https://pod.link/1661366136 In a world where we can see the abuses of power everywhere. David Fitch & Mike Moore from The Theology on Mission Podcast join Mark and Tara Beth to discuss power dynamics in the church's life. Church leaders must discern power and avoid its abuses and traumas. By learning from the church's historical pitfalls, Christians can be empowered to relinquish worldly power and make space for God to disrupt and transform...
Jun 14, 2024•37 min
Pastors face unexpected challenges all the time. Tara Beth and Mark talk about the many active struggles of ministry. Antagonism and all sorts of sources have created a polarized world. Often this blows up in the church. Mark and Tara Beth share their insights from mediating conflicts, understanding underlying issues, and knowing when it might be time to move on from a pastoral role. Pastors foster a reconciling presence as Christ was a reconciling force through his ministry. Listen to The Pasto...
Jun 08, 2024•43 min
Palestine is the birthplace of Christianity. Despite the generations-long crisis existing between Israel and Palestinian, there are followers of Jesus faithfully living out their faith. David Fitch and Mike Moore sit down with Reverend Jack Sara, President of Bethlehem Bible College and a native Palestinian pastor. They delve into the pressing issues Christians face on the ground in the Gaza crisis and beyond. Pastor Jack shares his deeply personal account of living and ministering in a land tor...
Apr 22, 2024•40 min
Countless hurdles stand in the way of people encountering the gospel. The religious trauma faced by so many people is clearly one of the largest obstacles to even hearing the gospel. Charles Kiser and Elanie Heath recover the God of love from the structures of hate that pervade Christian communities in America today. In their new guide, Elanie and Charles work toward bringing this reformation to fruition through ministering specifically to the spiritually traumatized. Fitch talks with Charles ab...
Mar 22, 2024•39 min
The constraints of the spiritual life, practiced in the community, are what set us free. Practicing spiritual disciplines can seem difficult, especially when we undertake them as isolated individuals. But we were never meant to practice them alone. Jared Patrick Boyd reveals how the constraints practiced in Christian community shape us into the way of Christ. He re-anchors the practices of constraint within the ascetic tradition of monasticism, religious orders, and the early church fathers. Boy...
Mar 16, 2024•40 min
We aren't always honest about how difficult normal human life is. For the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make―like the daily choice to get out of bed. In this deeply personal essay, Alan Noble considers the unique burden of everyday life in the modern world. Sometimes, he writes, the choice to ...
Mar 09, 2024•36 min
How did Jesus interact and weld power? In this thought-provoking episode of Theology on Mission Podcast, we dive deep into this riveting theological discussion with our special guest, Matt Tebbe. Matt Tebbe, a theologian and author of "Having the Mind of Christ," brings his unique insights to the table as we delve into the polarizing topic of 'power' as seen in theological perspectives. We grapple with intriguing questions regarding the nature of power, the difference between worldly and godly p...
Mar 01, 2024•45 min
What if we considered ourselves “exiles in Babylon” and turned to Scripture, not political parties, to shape our most passionate values? Politics are dividing our churches like never before. In his new book, Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire, Dr. Preston Sprinkle reminds us that the first-century church was not an apolitical gathering, where Christians left their Roman politics at the door. It also wasn’t where Christians mounted a Roman flag next to—or above—a Christian one. Church was...
Feb 24, 2024•43 min
How does God leverage power? In David Fitch’s new book, Reckoning with Power, he unpacks the difference between worldly power, or power over others, and God's power, which engages not in coercion but in love, reconciliation, grace, forgiveness, and healing. On today’s podcast, Mike and Fitch focus on the power found at the very beginning of Genesis and how that sets the stage for how the church should reckon with power.
Feb 16, 2024•26 min
In this episode, our friend Dr. Al Tizon unpacks his fabulous new book, Christ Among the Classes. In this discussion we explore the countors of discipleship, money, and how Jesus is prophetically present in the economy of God's kingdom. Rev. Dr. Al Tizon is an Affiliate Associate Professor of Missional & Global Leadership at North Park Seminary. An ordained minister of the Evangelical Covenant Church, Tizon has served churches and engaged in community development work, church leadership, holisti...
Jan 05, 2024•40 min
We are honored to have our friend and colleague Dr. Ingrid Faro on the podcast to discuss the church, Augustine, power, sin, and more. Before you listen to the episode go and buy her new book with InterVarsity Press, Demystifying Evil. If you want to study with us at Northern and other scholars like Greg Boyd, Beth Jones, Nijay Gupta, Dave Fitch, Ingrid Faro, and visiting lectures from theologians like Amos Yong, Jonathan Tran, and Jeannine Brown, then go to www.seminary.edu
Dec 29, 2023•23 min
We are honored to have our friend and colleague Dr. Ingrid Faro on the podcast to discuss the church, Augustine, power, sin, and more. Before you listen to the episode go and buy her new book with InterVarsity Press, Demystifying Evil. If you want to study with us at Northern and other scholars like Greg Boyd, Nijay Gupta, Jeannine Brown, Ingrid Faro, and visiting lectures from theologians like Amos Yong, Jonathan Tran, then go to www.seminary.edu
Dec 29, 2023•20 min
After years of doing the podcast together Moore and Fitch finally have a good ole fashion debate. Who wins? You won't be surprised. If you want to study with us at Northern and other scholars like Greg Boyd, Nijay Gupta, Jeannine Brown, Ingrid Faro, and visiting lectures from theologians like Amos Yong, Jonathan Tran, then go to www.seminary.edu
Nov 29, 2023•28 min
In this episdoe our friend, Eun (E.K). Strawser joins us to talk about discpleship and local church life. Eun is the co-vocational lead pastor of Ma Ke Alo o, non-denominational missional communities multiplying in Honolulu, Hawaii; a community physician at Ke Ola Pono; and an executive leader at the V3 Movement. If you want to study with us at Northern and other scholars like Greg Boyd, Nijay Gupta, Jeannine Brown, Ingrid Faro, and visiting lectures from theologians like Amos Yong, Jonathan Tra...
Nov 20, 2023•36 min
Join us as we talk with Reverend Dr. Amy Peeler, Associate Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and Associate Rector at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Geneva, Ill. You can find out more about Amy and her work here: www.amypeeler.com If you want to study with us and other scholars like Greg Boyd, Nijay Gupta, Jeannine Brown, Ingrid Faro, and visiting lectures from theologians like Amos Yong, Jonathan Tran, and more check us out at www.seminary.edu
Nov 07, 2023•33 min
Pastors and Christian leaders take on the burden of saving the world but eventually end up burnout, exhausted, and strained. Here are a few things to consider -It's not you that will save the world -Cultivate a "presence based church" -Practice the patience Join us here at Northern Seminary in one of our programs as we train leaders to engage the world and lead the church.
Oct 20, 2023•29 min
