Can I Say This At Church Podcast

This week I sit down with Rafael Polendo to discuss what it looks like to live and do things in life differently as a Christian; and what happens when we step out of comfort zones and love and engage with our family and community differently. Ultimately, what happens when we unmuzzle our faith?

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I sit down with the gracious Barbara Brown Taylor to char about her latest book, Holy Envy. This convo centers around faith, honesty, and a willingness to see the best in others.

I sit down with Steve, via the internet, to discuss what honesty in faith looks like. How do we make room for doubts and fears? How do we see this mirrored in Scripture and in the life of Jesus?

I get it, I do, we live in a world that is geared for some to start halfway down the track in the race to finish this mile. I'm a guy, happily born down the track, but this doesn't mean it is the correct view does it? So what do we do?

We have a gun problem here in America; but more importantly we have a heart problem. What could it look like for us if we possibly dealt with the trauma and pain they caused? When we realize we've idolized them and begin again, telling a new story of Jesus.

We all are longing and, if we are honest, looking for true touch. Not a sexual one, not a "compassionate one", but one that holds us at the core of who we were created to always be. How do we embrace this though? Luigi Gioia and I discuss.

James and I sat down to discuss what happens when truth is used as a weapon and how we can possibly better deal with truth. Is it absolute? Is it not? Does it matter? 

Do you ever find yourself reading the Bible and coming away going..."wait! what does this mean?"? Me too; which is why I'm so happy to release this weeks conversation with Pete Enns on How The Bible Actually Works*...

Alexander joins the show to discuss the radiance and beauty of Christ. How does our language impact our thoughts on Christ? 

What is God like? What is salvation like? What, then, is humanity like? Perhaps we are all depraved, born this way, perhaps we are simply wounded and know not any better. Is it possible though that what we are is more? A conversation on the Beautiful Gospel

Prayer is, at all times, more than we expect and less that we expect. Through self-reflection and communing with the Divine we see God in new ways and see ourselves through a lens of the eyes of the Divine as well. I hope you enjoy this convo with Justin and Scott.

A conversation on what it could look like to speak prophetically for today's culture, as a follower of Christ. More importantly-some honesty on how to be mindful not to become the new "christian machine" in doing so. 

Evil and all the problems it brings is the crucial point for all people. We turn away entirely angry at whatever God couldn't prevent it. But what if God Can't?

We like to think of ourselves, Americans, as the audience of the stories of the Bible. Tending to relate to the main characters of the Bible and often glossing over the fact that the Bible is written to a people that are underfoot of oppressive, militaristic, super-powerful nations. So America...we need to begin to wrestle with the fact that we aren't Israel we are most likely Babylon.

If we stop using the Bible as a weapon, if we literally stop throwing it at peoples heads trying to knock some Jesus into them...what would that look like? What if we were called to Survive the Bible? 

America is the greatest country on the planet! We are a bastion of hope and freedom! We are a Christian nation! Or are we?

This week I chat with John Dominic Crossan about Christmas and the birth of Christ. His views though are ones that in part resonate easily but at the same time hold my mind in tension.

As you listen and watch people discuss faith and God it always turns to "this says this!" or "you're taking that wrong". But what if we embraced the mystery? What if we reconnect to the mystical aspects of our faith? 

This week I chat with John Mark McMillan about what it looks like to be honest in music and how that impacts the way we think about and talk about God. 

So much of what we argue about is entirely, usually, worth it. But how do we do so while actually coming from a foundation of moral ethics. What does the term moral ethics even mean? 

We all want good things don't we? I know I do but here is the thing...that's not life. Life is messy, sometimes hateful, and often overwhelming. So how then do we search for God and find that God is indeed much better than good?

Prayer. We are all called to do it and regardless of our religion we all do some form of it. Meditation, Contemplative, Centering, there are many methods. But when it comes to most "western church" all we do is petitionary prayer. In and of itself this may not be wholly wrong but what does it say about God when He doesn't answer?

So many of us suffer from stress and anxiety and the world that we live in continues to press us down. How do we truly find peace and how do we see the Kingdom of God in a way that we can embody it and share it with those in our lives. Listen in as Brandon and I discuss just that. 

What is the narrative of scripture? How does liberation and oppression impact us today and tomorrow? How do we live out a call to be a prophetic voice in todays world? 

Too many people are overwhelmed and holding onto deep suffering, unable to catch their breath in a world that tells them to fake it till they make it. As the pressure of fear, pain, anxiety, and anger build, sooner or later these individuals are going to explode that’s no way to live.

So much could be said about Óscar Romero as he was so many things to so many people. But some stories are best laid out with purpose and intention. 

In this series of bonus episodes Paul Thomas reflects on the life and ministry of Saint Óscar Romero by way of providing context to this time in history of El Salvador.

It’s time to take it back by reclaiming the poetry of the ancient tradition of Scripture. And that’s what The Butterflies in God’s Stomach is all about. The Bible is so much more than piles of text of which we get dogma...it's a love story. 

Does your church practice inclusion in a way that is truly self evident? What does that even mean? If I'm inclusive what do I need to change and what, if anything, will that mean for my comfort zones? Join Pastor Brandan and I in this conversation.

What does it look like to actually focus on what it means to truly follow Christ. To look past just the text of the Bible and look for the heart of the gospel. When we are able to do this something shifts and the world cannot remain the same as it was yesterday; and this is good.

Too often, our honest questions about faith are met with cold confidence and easy answers. But false certitude doesn't result in strong faith—it results in disillusionment, or worse, in a dogmatic, overweening faith unable to see itself or its object clearly. Pastors and our church leaders are no different.