Can I Say This At Church‽

There doesn't seem to have been enough time from the beginning of the show to episode 100. In this episode I do a Q/A with some of the listeners and discuss a little about Seth the host and the future of the show. Transcript for this episode You can also find all the musical selections from all our episodes on our  Spotify Playlist.  Check out all the things over at the store...it's a grea...

A conversation about how our past shapes us for today. The trauma that brings and the glory that it can help reveal. Guest Bio: Terry Wardle is a dynamic speaker who leads seminars and retreats designed to equip pastors, counselors, clinicians, spiritual directors, and many others in formational prayer, spiritual formation, and spiritual direction. The author of numerous books and teaching series,...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript The world is a crazy place. We are constantly pointing the finger at one another in an ever ceasing blame game; what happens when we instead of blame choose to love? Guest Bio: Jeremy Courtney is cofounder and executive director of the Preemptive Love Coalition (PLC), an international development and peacemaking organization based in Iraq....

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Patrons make this show a thing and I love the conversations I get to have with them. Everyone has a story and they are all beautiful.  Guest Bio: Matt loves to create music and does so whenever he has free time or is inspired. He is passionate about the process of producing an album from scratch and seeing it come to fruition. He has been writing...

It’s not always about what Jesus is calling us to, often it’s about how we get there. In the process how does one find our true name? Guest Bio: Following Jesus  is drawn from a series of lectures Nouwen gave that have not been available in book form. Following Jesus does not require dramatic gestures, Nouwen says, but rather small steps "away from 'me' and 'my fevers'" tow...

Support the show: Patreon l Glow l Episode Transcript We constantly, can't help it it seems, point fingers at everyone else...latching onto what we can use to throw stones at one another. David E. Fitch and I discuss what the church could look like if we didn't. Guest Bio: David E. Fitch (PhD, Northwestern University) is the B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary...

Few things, very few, are more important than raising the next generation. I sat down with Cindy to discuss how to approach this. Guest Bio: Cindy Wang Brandt is an author, podcaster, and speaker. Her book, Parenting Forward: How to Raise Children with Justice, Mercy and Kindness, was published in February 2019. She’s the founder of popular facebook group, Raising Children Unfundamentalist. She wr...

The Bible is something special, isn't it? I mean what other text have stood the tests of time as it has? But how do we know what we are reading is the correct way to be read? How can we trust translations and what the heck is a "Biblical Narrative"? Professor Robert Alter and I discuss... Guest Bio: Robert Alter is Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the Uni...

Last we we only just started. This week we begin to wrap this thought up. Though, as with any large topic, there really isn't ever a proper ending. Transcripts for this can be found at Brandon’s website: P7: https://brandonandress.com/2019/06/23/hell-7/ P8: https://brandonandress.com/2019/06/30/hell-8/ P9: https://brandonandress.com/2019/07/03/hell-9/ P10: https://brandonandress.com/2019/07/09...

It's time we talk about Hell... I'm honored Brandon would trust me with his words with these next two posts. Transcripts for this can be found at Brandon’s website: P1 https://brandonandress.com/2019/05/05/hell/ P2 https://brandonandress.com/2019/05/10/hell-2/ P3 https://brandonandress.com/2019/05/19/hell-3/ P4 https://brandonandress.com/2019/05/19/hell-4/ P5 https://brandonandress.com/201...

What in the world does it even mean to wonder what God's will, God's purpose or even our purpose is in our life. Let's discuss Guest Bio: Mike Donehey is an author and the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the award-winning contemporary Christian band Tenth Avenue North, whose new album No Shame releases August 2. Since 2000, he has been sharing the truth of the gospel in fron...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l Episode Transcript The Enneagram is a monster topic but I don't think it has to be. Ultimately, it boils down to better knowing yourself and then taking that further to how to better love one another. Clare Loughrige and I discuss how finding Harmony can do just that with a tool like the Enneagram Guest Bio: Clare Loughrige has been the founding colead pa...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Politics and religion are inescapable in the circles we all run in but how do we discuss it? How do we make space for it? I welcome Brad back on the show to discuss. It has been too long! Guest: Brad Jersak For Christians atonement is somewhat of a lynchpin. It's our attempt to put to words what the death of Jesus stands for and furthe...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Brandon and I sit down to discuss what it looks like to be honest with our doubts. If we can come to terms what does that mean for changing the way that we do church? Guest Bio: Brandon Carleton is a community organizer from Rock Island, IL, where he lives with his wife and son. He leads Connection Quad Cities, is the co-host the Ode to th...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Jared and I discuss truth, the Eagles, Old Testament and how we often make an idol of so many things that fall short of anything worthy of worship. Guest Bio: Jared, his wife Sarah, and their 4 kids Augustine, Tov, Elletheia, & Exodus (see below), live north of Philadelphia, where Jared enjoys rarely having to write his own bio. While...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Adam and I discuss the Bible through a lens of overarching narrative. How does stripping away the "format" we so often think of Scripture change the way we read it? Guest Bio: Adam Lewis Greene is a book designer who perceived an aesthetic problem with the most central text of his life, and of western civilization. Why does the Bib...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Clean and Unclean. Worthy and unworthy. Accepted and unaccepted. Our churches have had a habit of all to quickly throwing everyone and anyone into one binary or the next. But this is not the gospel of Jesus. Guest Bio: Brandan Robertson is a noted author, activist, and pastor, working at the intersections of spirituality and social renewal...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript   This world, if we let it, will strip us of grace. It will distort things that are holy and this is wrong. Join Darren and I as we discuss reclaiming grace and love.   Guest Bio:   Darren Calhoun is a justice advocate, worship leader, and photographer based out of Chicago. He works to bridge connections between people of differing perspec...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Karl and I sit down to discuss how fatherhood changes the way we view and think about God. Guest Bio: Karl was a bi-vocational pastor for 20 years until he suddenly realized that some things in his journey of faith needed reevaluated. He is the founder of Karl's coaching. Music for this weeks episode is by Justin Jarvis Tracks: Safe, Y...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Few faiths and practices call to me more than that of Buddhism. I think you'll find this conversation between myself and Paul entirely engaging. Guest Bio: Paul F. Knitter is the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. A leading advocate of globally responsi...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript The Bible, what is it? Why is it? How is it? The canon of our Bible is a huge topic and no way in hades could we hope to go to get in depth in one convo, yet, here is a start with Tim Mackie. Guest Bio: Tim is a creative writer and director for The Bible Project  and an adjunct professor of Old Testament at Western Seminary , both in Portl...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript I sit down and chat about immigration in our country and how possibly our "Biblical" view of "other" may need to shift; with Karen Gonzalez. Guest Bio: Karen Gonzalez is a native of Guatemala and immigrated to the U.S. as a child. She is speaker, writer and immigrant advocate, who lives in Baltimore, MD. Karen is the human...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript I sit down for Part 2 of our Patron conversations. Jim and I discuss so much here. Cultural bias, the future of the church and faith. How can we make room for others and a willingness to let go of certainty. Guest Bio: Jim is Recently retired from 40 years in healthcare and university administration, Jim now devotes his time to challenging...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript Race. Inclusion. Fear. Grace. Why do we struggle to talk about any and/or all of these? Could it be that we just don't know how? This week I sit down with Rev. Dr. Serene Jones in a deeply personal conversation about all of the above and the beautiful idea that Original Grace is entirely more important that Original Sin.  Guest Bio:  R...

Support the show:  Patreon  l  Glow  l  Episode Transcript It's been too long, but it is time to talk about what happens when we die, again. It's time to wonder what are all the options for the afterlife, heaven and hell. Guest Bio: Thomas Talbott is the Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He has published numerous articles and book chapters in defen...