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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.
What does the future of Christianity look like? If you're like me you see seismic shifts in our religious groups and wonder where they lead too. Brian McLaren and I discuss...
Turn on the TV at any moment in time and you'll see we have an obsession with the image of our bodies, but why? Are we not just the way we should be? What does life look like if we somehow transform ourselves to a different measurement of beauty? Should we even care too?
The story of creation and how this universe that we swirl around in is ordered is something that has always bubbled in my head. Each time I think I have it figured out I learn something new that entirely shifts my perspective. Can a historical study of the Old Testament help?
Question: Pain, heartache, fear...where do these leave us? Answer: Falling; continuously away from our core being and what we were created to be. So how do we stop? Well, we fall, the opposite way.
How do the books of Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Lamentations, and Esther impact the daily rhythms of your life? I'll be honest to say they usually don't because I forget they are there and because our churches don't regularly preach them; this must be addressed!
How do we learn to speak about God and the Divine in our world today when all words seem to have precious little meaning? Without using "church-speak" are you able to have an open conversation about the faith you profess?
You have a voice. And you have God's permission to use it. But how do we do so in a wise way? How do we find our purpose and the message that we are called to preach and then once we do, how do we speak and engage in a way to meet others in a place of understanding.
What is it like to actually practice our faith? How often do we sit in contemplation and meet God where He already is in true searching and in a truly Earthshaking moments of worship? Aaron and I discuss what it means to enter into the current of life that is practice-based worship of the Creator of all things.
Raise your hand if you think that you are nailing prayer? Good...now keep it raised if you feel like you are praying from a position of happiness, contentment, and joy? This is the goal, or one of the goals, of prayer. How do we do this? Rabbi Evan Moffic and I discuss.
In a world full of "positive and encouraging for the whole family" what do we do with our faith and life when it's anything but? When labels fail to offer a proper container for the emotions that are swirling around us? How do we deal with grief and honesty?
What is it like to live in a world where you never really know if you can trust and believe what you are being told. What happens when the train derails? How does our local church help and which local church should you be attending?
How does knowing our Enneagram number help us better navigate life? How could it help us all in really understanding each other better? This 8 got to sit down with Suzanne and it’s so good
For many Christians, the Bible is the only way to know anything about God. But according to that same Bible, everyone can know God directly through an actual relationship with Jesus. What happens when we begin to release Jesus from the Bible.
I had the great joy of sitting down with Sean to discuss a little of his story and how that's impacted his life and music. How do our life experiences impact our music and the true heart of our message?
Who was the Apostle Paul? We've all heard talk about him and around him but the man himself, rarely. Much of our New Testament is here today because of him but who was the man? What more can we learn from Paul separate of only his theology? NT Wright and I discuss in brief
Millions of Muslims have migrated into the West over the past 50 years. Their arrival has ignited a series of fierce public debates about religious freedom and tolerance, terrorism and security, gender and race, and so much more. As Muslims stream into the West, they confront modern democracies with more than an ancient religion, they bring an ancient question as well. How can diverse faiths live together?
Guest: Daniel Hill
How pervasive is white supremacy? How offended were you when you just read that last sentence? It's so pervasive that it's considered the baseline and that is part of our problem. How we does the Church and our culture learn to embrace theologies that aren't inherently elevating "whiteness". We as a church and a society have to stop ignoring race but must further educate ourselves and then act in accordance with that.
Guest: Bonnie Kristian
Every denomination has a tentpole issue that matters more than others, and so do most Christians. Do we really know all our options though? I know I didn't and I'm better for looking at the 'whole menu'. Bonnie has written a fantastic book on just this thought. The differences in the beliefs of some of the pillars of our faith.
Guest: David Zach
Some topics are supposed to be off limits. Race, gender, sex, slavery. But they are all more connected than we know. Except for a few weeks out of the year we in American tend to forget that today there are more slaves than at any other time in our planets recorded history; and we are happily ignorant. But we can't be any longer. David Zach, from Remedy Drive, and I discuss what it looks like to see humans being treated like simple commodities and how we are able to help.
Guest: Professor Soong-Chan Rah
What would it mean for our church to actually think and embrace a new way to Evangelize others. The future of our church is hinged on this question. How do we talk about Christ and Church when we have no justice, and we show graciously small amounts of love? How can we begin to address this? Professor Rah and I have the opportunity to discuss.
Guest: Mark Van Steenwyk
What does it look like for a church, and it's people, to truly be subversive. Not just subversive or activist-like for the sake of being so; but instead to try to further the Kingdom of God. Mark and I discuss what that looks like. What a society that is turned on it's head with the church doing the work that we are all to trusting of the government to do?
In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value "diversity" in their mission statements...do our words matter? How do we do this as a people and more importantly how do we begin to reconcile with each other. Sometimes we need to realize what is the 'right medicine'
The huge elephant in the room is this: how Christians can pursue justice that restores and reconciles, offering creative solutions and highlighting innovative interventions?
The church has the power to help transform our criminal justice system. Discover how you can participate in the restorative justice needed to bring authentic rehabilitation, lasting transformation, and healthy reintegration to this broken system.
For Christians atonement is somewhat of a lynchpin. It's our attempt to put to words what the death of Jesus stands for and further what that then means as we work our faith out daily. You are going to love this convo with Brad.
Thinking about my faith journey up to date I realized that I can't be in the minority wondering how many other Christians are only followers as a form of divine fire insurance. How though has this thought and practice actually impacted our walk with our Lord and what does that mean.
To discuss this a bit further I was able to pick the brain of Benjamin L. Corey and try to have some honest conversation about construction and deconstruction and what the light at the end of the tunnel means.
Guest: Chris Date
Hell will be a topic that I don't think I will ever tire of wrestling with; and if we are truthful what happens for good or bad at an infinite level indeed does matter. So to revisit it I was honored to be able to have a discussion with Chris.
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.