DRIVING THEOLOGY

For whatever reason, at some point, you will probably come to the realization that one aspect of your life, if not the whole thing, is no longer enough, no longer living up to the promise it once professed. It might be your job, your church, your marriage, but most likely, something in your life will lose the shine it once had. What do we do then?

What do the Globalization movement and The Kingdom of Heaven have in common? More than you might think, in my opinion. Have a listen!

Today, the church is so busy defining itself as victims, as marginalised, that we forget Jesus came and served those in the margins, those pushed aside by big government, religion, and business. Those are who he came for. But by his calling, we stepped into the light and left the margins. We found family and identity in Jesus. He saved us from the margins. Saved us so that we could save others. NO...

The first podcast of the new year for me, here I discuss traditional roles of women in the church and how my faith tradition, Church of Christ, has traditionally denied leadership roles for women. Why does this persist?

What does it mean, "Peace on earth"? In what way has peace come to earth? What is peace? How might it affect our lives if we let it?

A message for the third week of advent, or at least my advent, "joy". please en-JOY!

A loosely based podcast on the second week of Advent: Faith. How does the birth of Jesus, the salvation of Israel and the world, hope and faith intersect? I'm not sure. But I do explore it a bit here!

Note: "The Anticipated Christ: A Journey Through Advent And Christmas" by Brian Zahnd is the book which I couldn't remember. Also, I refer to Jeremiah as the builder of the wall of Jerusalem. I should have said Nehemiah... In this advent message, I speak a little about salvation and what salvation might look like on the ground, realistically. I would love to know your thoughts...

Prompted by an episode of Grey's Anatomy, I revisit the problem of suffering and try and bring some perspective to this very real and very mysterious subject.

In this episode, I explore the proposed idea to call missionaries something else, as the term/title missionary has become a mixed bag which brings up all kinds of images and emotions for different people, based on their experiences and their country's experiences with missionaries in the past. Will a name change change anything? Is it necessary?

After 262 plus podcasts, I, again, feel the need to explain why I do what I do, the way I do, Driving Theology. There are some new insights here, I think, that I haven't discovered before.

How much of what ails the church today can be traced to a lack of humility in leaders? How do we know we know what we think we know?

I recently became aware that I may have finally shed my christian programming. Good or bad? Not sure. But it's happening. At least on some level. My journey to shed the bad while focusing on the good has been a nearly 20 year journey and has led me down some interesting roads, mainly to organic church (whatever that means) and more freedom.

What does Jesus have to do with Jazz? More than you might think. In this episode I wax philosophic on jazz and the way that dissonant chords are resolved so beautifully in Jazz, and works beautifully as a metaphor for the resolution of the chaos which we face so often in life. That's Life!

I begin by talking a little bit about Jazz, and then get into the main topic of today: as teachers, parents, and clergy, do we know the difference between manipulation and inspiration? What are the differences? Is it possible that we have been manipulating, all the while thinking we have been inspiring?

I have another life as a solo singer, Opera and classical, among other styles. In this podcast, I explore what it means to be an artist and yet not giving in to self-centeredness and selfishness. It's not easy, of course. Being a soloist necessarily involves having the focus on you. So, how can we be like Jesus, who, though he often had the focus on him, remained humble and self-less?

Is your church a benign cult or a malignant cult? Neither? Both? Most churches develop cult-like tendencies if they are not there outright from the get-go. Here I brainstorm some ideas of what benign cult-like tendencies might look like and my experiences with them.

(Apologies for the background noise. It cuts out after a few minutes.) Fear is a part of life and it can be healthy in certain circumstances. But using fear as an educational tool has its drawbacks. Many drawbacks. And as a method of conversion is downright off the mark.

A sad week in Japan, former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, has been assassinated. In this episode, I delve back into the ways of violent conflict resolution, a bankrupt system which has run its course. We are all lucky to have survived it at all.

People have fallen in love with the Bible while missing Jesus. Possible? Yes. Even probably. This one thing explains so many of the ever increasing holes found in Evangelicalism today.

The church today, as a whole, is caught up in the ambitions of empire and all that it promises. Meanwhile, all those in need and brushed aside or trampled on. When is the church going to embrace it's Jesus-given mandate to take his GOOD NEWS to all the world? To love our enemies? To turn the other cheek?

A reiteration of a podcast I did two weeks ago, after going on a two-day trekking excursion with my friends, Pat and Cam. One thing that came to me during this podcast was that one definition of mankind, especially when compared to other living creatures, is "overcomer". That is what we do. We overcome obstacles, together and individually. We make up for our weaknesses through innovation and inven...

The media, on both sides, will tell you that you have to do one or the other. One side claims that evil is at fault. The other that easy access to guns is the issue. Truth is, it's both. We can work on one without neglecting the other. The children's blood is crying out to us from the ground: DO SOMETHING! Let's not let them die in vain. Let's work on the problem from every angle.

In today's world, leadership tends to hover and protect, instead of help and prepare, whether it's parents or pastors or presidents. One thing you can be sure of, disaster will strike; physically, mentally, socially, or spiritually. We will be hit with something which will cause us to question everything we thought we knew and believed. How can we prepare for that day of doom?

Again. Another shooting. Seems to be a weekly thing now. America is violent. That's just what we do. We shoot. There has to be a better way. Update: As of today, 19 kids and two adults-21 now, have died. WHAT IS GOING ON!