Crackers and Grape Juice

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Our guest to close out the season of Advent is friend of the podcast, Matthew Milliner, Professor of Art History at Wheaton College. His new book is Mother of the Lamb: The Story of a Global Icon. Mother of the Lamb tells the remarkable story of a Byzantine image that emerged from the losing side of the Crusades. Called the Virgin of the Passion in the East and Ou...

Today we are sharing a special episode of our first class of our new series, The Anticipated Christ - A Journey Through Advent and Christmas with Brian Zahnd and friends. You can always join in on our classes, it's never too late!

On today's episode we have Bishop Ken Carter on to talk about his new book God Will Make a Way, Spiritual Life and Leadership in a Contested Season. Ken is on his 10th year as bishop in the great state of Florida. Make sure to check out his new book! Also joining in on the conversation is Will Willimon!

Thanksgiving is about gratitude, the product of grace, so this week's episode is our last installment of the podcasts Monday night online study of Paul Zahl's book, Grace in Practice, which PZ himself joined! We hope you enjoy it!

Chris Davis is the pastor of Groveton Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia and the author of the new book Bright Hope for Tomorrow: How Anticipating Jesus’ Return Gives Strength for Today. Hope is fuel. For Jesus' disciples, the hope of seeing their risen Lord again, face to face, powered their endurance through persecution, their patience in discipling new believers, and their courage to renoun...

Days after the Red Wave— I mean, Ketchup Fizzle— Christian Ethicist Robin Lovin is on the podcast to talk about what we are to do when no one is listening. More on Lovin’s new book: A trusted senior statesman in Christian ethics and ministry addresses the crisis of political polarization threatening the existence of the church. Polarization and political gridlock have been the norm in the United S...

It's All Saints Sunday this weekend so the podcast posse from Hermeneutics got together to talk about death, time, heaven, and how Christianity needs to reclaim its weirdness. Don’t forget to head over to https://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com Click on “Support the Show.” Become a patron Subscribe to CGJ+ For peanuts, you can help us out….we appreciate it more than you can imagine. Follow us on the...

This week we have the honor of getting to talk mid-term politics with our friend Gretchen Purser. We talk about the importance of democracy to Christians and where she is seeing hope in our nations political future.

Our friend Matt Milliner returns to the podcast to talk about his latest article at the Bulwark, Putin’s Outright Satanism. You can find the piece here: https://www.thebulwark.com/on-putins-outright-satanism/ Dr. Milliner holds an M.A. & Ph. D. in art history from Princeton University, and an M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is a six-time appointee to the Curatorial Advisory Board of...

Jason was recently a guest for the Weekend Edition of 1517's Christian History Almanac podcast, hosted by Dr. Dan Van Voorhis. Though no one elected him, Jason speaks here for all Methodists everywhere.

For this week's episode, we've got the second session from Jason's recent series of talks on Grace and Proclamation for the Anglican Church of Canada's Bishop's Clergy Conference.

Does Jesus need more celebrities tweeting and influencing on his behalf? Katelyn Beaty joins the pod to discuss her new book, ‘Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church’ ( http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/celebrities-for-jesus/406890) . Katelyn Beaty is the author of A Woman's Place: A Christian Vision for Your Calling in the Office, the Home, and...

Chris Nye is a doctoral student at Duke University's Divinity School and the author of several books, including most recently, A Captive Mind, which explores Christianity's relationship to ideologies. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and various other publications. He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon. To connect further, visit chri...

In this episode of our crossover podcast with Tripp Fuller and Homebrewed Christianity, Tolkien Heads, we talk all things Middle Earth with my very own Gandalf, Brian Zahnd.

Despite widespread skepticism on the matter, a significant number of people today have stories of religious experience - moments of inexplicable terror or rapturous joy, visions, near death experiences of the afterlife, encounters with angels, heavenly voices, and premonitions. How should rationally people respond? Our guest today is Dr. Dale Allison, Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theolo...

The third in a three part online study of the new book Don’t Look Back: Methodist Hope for What Comes Next

Our guest this week with Jason and Johanna is Bekah McNeel. Bekah is a journalist who covers education, immigration, and religion. A graduate of the London School of Economics, her new book, Bringing Up Kid When Church Lets You Down is a guide for parents questioning their faith. By touching taboo topics Bekah brings up ways to give your kids agency in discovering their own faith.

The second in a three part online study of the new book Don’t Look Back: Methodist Hope for What Comes Next

Our guest today is our good friend, David Zahl, who has written a great new book, Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others ( and Yourself). It'll help you find mercy. Dave is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries ( www.mbird.com ) and a campus minister at UVA through Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, VA. More about the book: Many of us spend our days f...

Here’s audio from our first of three live-stream sessions with our friend and mentor, Bishop Will Willimon, on his new book, Don’t Look Back. To join the next sessions, register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vU7WWmhCT4GcS1o6PgOFBw

Our guest today is my new friend, Jono Linebaugh who came on to talk about his new book, The Word of the Cross. This collection of Jonathan Linebaugh's most important work on Paul explores the merciful surprise at the heart of Paul's gospel: a grace that, while strange and weak in worldly terms, is nothing less than the power of God, full of comfort and promise. Through twelve messages - two of th...

Our guest today is Drew Ensz. Drew is a United Methodist Elder currently doing ministry at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In that capacity Drew presided at a same-sex wedding and has since been, in limbo, under complaint and facing charges for over 1,100 days. Drew joined the podcast to talk about his discernment process and his experience of that complaint process in the larger ins...

Rev. Tom Emanuel (he/him/his) was born and raised on sacred Lakota land in the Paha Sapa (Black Hills) of South Dakota, which is where his father first read The Hobbit aloud to him when he was too young to remember it. Tom was trained as a social scientist at the University of South Dakota and as a theologian at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. He is an ordained minister in the Unit...

Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Pugh joins the podcast to talk about his newest book, Cages: A Tale of Insurrection. The year is 1533. Elsbeth Joris is about to be executed for witchcraft when Andreas Wagner cuts her loose from the ducking stool. Exiled from family and village, Elsbeth accepts Andreas’s offer to accompany him back to his home in Münster, Germany—a decision that plunges her into a world of unhing...

For today’s episode, we’ve got the first installment of a short-term, crossover project with Tripp Fuller called Tolkien Heads. In anticipation of the new Rings of Power series by Amazon, we’ll be talking all things Middle Earth with a bevy of world class Tolkien scholars. If you’re interested in joining us, go to www.tolkienheadspod.com and sign up.