Can I Say This At Church Podcast

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. 

This week I talk sister Elizabeth Johnson about the relationship between science, ecology, evolution, and Jesus. When exactly did the Church lose it's relationship with creation and once realizing it what do we as followers of Christ have to lose if we learn to engage in an honest conversation about science? 

Guest: Kaitlin Curtice

This week I talk to Kaitlin about what is it to be a Christian and at the same time embrace Native American Heritage at the same time. Our world is full of thin spaces where we can touch, see, and feel the divine; what will we do with that. 

There is no greater moment in our faith, arguably in the world, than the resurrection of Jesus. In a moment in time the world swapped its axis and forever changed. So too has our knowledge of the beautiful history surrounding our celebration with our brothers and sisters in the faith in Easter. How should we posture our hearts, daily, in reflection upon a magnificent moment in time. 

What is open theism? What is it's purpose and when we discuss what is our future and what is reality where does that leave us? Do we have control or does God? Let's get into it. 

Greg Boyd is an internationally recognized theologian, preacher, teacher, apologist and author.

He has been featured on the front page of The New York Times, The Charlie Rose Show, CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC and numerous other television and radio venues.

Have you ever wondered how we became the country and the church and the way that we are today? What is the true history of our nation. Ask almost any person on the street and they will quote to you Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln or further back Columbus. But that's not the history, at least, not the true history. The Doctrine of Discovery is absolutely fascinating and all-together important to understand; especially through a lens of how it impacts every portion of our lives. 

Links to the articles referenced: 

http://wirelesshogan.blogspot.com/2017/07/where-augustine-goes-off-rails.html, http://wirelesshogan.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-abhorrent-lie-of-white-supremacy.html

This week I had the great pleasure of speaking with Professor (PhD) James McGrath from Butler University about religion and the intersection with sci-fi as it relates to thought experiments around ethics and all other aspects of our lives.

Connect with James on Facebook, Twitter at @ReligionProf, and his blog on Patheos at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof/