Saving Faith with Eric Sentell of the Backyard Church Blog

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. This episode continues the series on the early history of the church. We focus on Paul's time in Ephesus, the semi-revolt of the cult of Artemis, and the work of the Spirit in Paul's ministry.  Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. This episode continues the series on the early history of the church. Eric focuses on Paul's second missionary journey as desribed in the IF Gathering study Anno Domini and the Acts 15-18.  Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. This episode picks up the history of the early church with Paul's first missionary journey, the Council of Jerusalem, and the inclusion of Gentile believers.  Eric puts special emphasis on the way Paul, Peter, and James creatively reinter...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. This episode continues to explore the history of the Christian church, using the IF Gathering study Anno Domini as a framework.  Eric discusses: the conversion of Saul;  the conversion of Cornelius the Centurion;  how the early...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Leave it to David French to make you think! French has been a columnist for Time Magazine, and he writes The French Press, a newsletter, for his website The Dispatch. In this episode, Eric reacts to and expands on some of David French's perspe...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. In this episode, Eric breaks down the recent survey studies, "The State of Theology" by Lifeway Research and Ligonier Ministries, and "Modeling the Future of Religion in America" by the PEW Research Center.  The " State of Theology " repo...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. When did the Christian Church begin? What were the key moments in its formation? Eric discusses some early Church history with the help of Anno Domini: The First 500 Years of the Church by the IF:Gathering women's ministry. This episode focuse...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. What are the obstacles to emotional, spiritual, and physical intimacy, and how can we overcome them? What does the research reveal about finding fulfillment in our sex lives?  These are some of the questions that Sheila Gregoire tackles i...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Metamorphosis will be taking a break for the rest of the summer. Eric will resume recording in late August or early September of 2022. Thank you for listening and supporting the podcast!  Learn more at www.umctrinity.org Contact Eric at j...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Jared Byas is the author of Love Matters More: Why Fighting to Be Right Keeps Us from Loving like Jesus. This is Jared's second time on Metamorphosis, and he discusses how his book is more relevant than ever in 2022 and how to apply the book's...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. What does the Bible say about LGBTQ people and relationships? It's more complicated than you might think when you dig into the historical, cultural, social, and linguistic contexts of the relevant verses. Why did King Asa and King Josiah expel...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Duane Anders is the senior pastor at First United Methodist in Boise, ID, the Cathedral of the Rockies . He shares his perspective as an affirming pastor and the father of a trans daughter.  Resources:  http://austenhartke.com/ http:...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Natalie Grace Drew served combat tours in Iraq for the U.S. Army. She also happens to be a trans woman. Trans issues garner a lot of media attention, but do you know any trans people? Have you heard the perspective of a trans Christian? Natali...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. May 8, 2022, was Mother's Day, and Trinity UMC hosted an intergenerational panel of women active in its ministries. Diane Kasten, Ronda Polk, Shelby Henson, and Jessica Polk Sentell shared their perspective on women in ministry, the Bible's de...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Mike Rosebush is a licensed counselor, a writer, and a committed Christian. He worked for Focus on the Family as a Vice-President for over ten years. Before that, he served in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot. And Mike happens to be gay....

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Bridget Eileen Rivera is the author of Heavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church . She holds to a traditional interpretation of the Bible on LGBTQ+ issues and therefore chooses to be celibate. Her book, and this...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Relevant Magazine is a Christian magazine aimed at Millennials and Gen Z (i.e., people 40 and under). Their daily email newsletter features their most popular articles for the day. Multiple days in a row, their most popular articles included t...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people's lives. Reading While Black: African-American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCauley garnered national attention for its insightful Biblical interpretation. Eric reviews some of the book's major themes and how Esau McCauley he...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the love of Jesus to change lives. Eric explains his journey to becoming an "open and relational theist." Open and relational theism, or ORT, is another option for people who want to believe in God and follow Jesus but struggle with some parts of traditional theology. That person whom you want to...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Jesus and John Wayne became a New York Times bestseller. Kristen Kobes du Mez surveys the history of masculinity -- how male gender identity was shaped, influenced, and promoted -- within American Evangelicalism from circa 1940 to 2016. She di...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. The Making of Biblical Womanhood was a USA Today Bestseller and a finalist for the Christianity Today 2022 Book of the Year. Beth Allison Barr puts scripture into its historical and social context, reviews the history of women preaching, and s...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Jared Byas is the cohost of the popular Christian podcast, The Bible for Normal People . In his book, Love Matters More: How Fighting to Be Right Keeps Us from Loving like Jesus , Byas explores how prioritizing love as "treating others as they...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Ben Sledge grew up in a Christian home, nearly lost his faith while processing his combat experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, and then returned to an even stronger, deeper faith. His memoir of war and spirituality, Where Cowards Go to Die , c...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Joe Smith, a theologian and co-host of the podcast Crisis of Faith , discusses whether he believes in God, the type of God he believes in, and how his beliefs affect his work as a pastor, theology doctoral candidate, and religious podcast host...

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives. Crisis of Faith with Joe and Drew is a podcast for people questioning their Evangelical beliefs, who want to hear someone say out loud what they may be thinking. Eric interviews Joe and Drew about their faith backgrounds and the perspectives t...