Faith in the Folds

In today's episode I review a pair of editorials from The Christian Chronicle and a related blog post from The Doc File . Each article treats Christian responses to ICE and immigration enforcement attempts in Minnesota and elsewhere. My main point is this: we the Church must be honest when we critique political systems, agents, and representatives–we cannot fall into the trap (and idolatry!) of pa...

Today I share my own translation of Paul's letter to the Colossians. Whenever I present on a book of the Bible in a new setting, I try to translate the whole book first, before I write any of my lessons. This translation of Colossians is from 2023 when I spoke at Harding University's Lectureship.

Today's episode comes from a lecture I gave at Harding University's 2025 Inspire Lectureship. The theme for the entire conference was Oneness: An Ancient Vision for Unity , drawing on Paul's letter to the Ephesians. In this lecture I address Paul's use of "predestination" language in Ephesians 1.

Today's episode is a lecture I gave at the 2025 Inspire Lectureship at Harding University. The topic for this lecture was "Unity in the Body," going along with the theme for Lectureship, Oneness: An Ancient Vision for Unity .

We recently celebrated our first anniversary of being in Searcy ... but for vacation we went back to Corpus Christi where I preached at our old church. This last year has been filled with both blessings and challenges, and in my sermon I talked about how God sometimes calls us simply to endure well.

Internationally respected author and New Testament scholar Craig Evans joins me on the podcast today to talk about the current state of research into the life and teachings of Jesus.

Are the gospels legendary accounts of a normal person blown up to mythical proportions? Are they entertaining novels about a beloved teacher? Or, are they reliable accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth? What we think about the literary genre of the gospels matters for how we interpret them. In today's episode I discuss some of the work by Richard Burridge who argues that gospels a...

Today I share some thoughts on David Lipscomb's use of Scripture in his classic work titled Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission, and Destiny, and the Christian's Relation to It . Although this book is well over a hundred years old, it is surprisingly relevant today as Christians wrestle with how to understand the Bible and how to apply it.

Today I talk with Reverend Dr. Drew Holland, pastor of the Shaeffer's Chapel Global Methodist Church in Mississippi. Drew and I discuss his upcoming book, A Place for the Past , where he argues for the value of studying the Bible from a historical perspective.

On March 18, 2025, Brad East wrote a short but powerful post for Christianity Today in which he argued that the Church has taken too light a view of baptism for too long now. I respond to East's article here. "Baptism in Not Optional" by Brad East: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/03/baptism-is-not-optional-theology-church-salvation/

If you believe in the kind of predestination that rejects free will, I don't think you can take seriously Jesus's call to repent ... nor any other command in the New Testament.

What is the number of the Beast in Revelation 13? In today's episode I discuss the ancient practice of gematria and its relevance for uncovering one of Revelation's most intriguing mysteries.

Today I sit down with Casey Coston, Campus Missionary for the University of Delaware, with Blue Hens for Christ. Casey has been in campus ministry for 20 years, and he talks with me about how God has worked on him through the years to make him who God wants him to be. You can find out more about Casey and his new book Made Competent here: https://www.reflectmissions.org/made-competent

Alex Bernardo of The Protestant Libertarian Podcast joins us again, this time to talk about the inherent similarities of Christian Nationalism and Progressive Christianity. Check out his insightful article from the Libertarian Christian Institute: https://libertarianchristians.com/2023/10/09/progressive-christian-nationalism-left-right-authoritarian/

The podcast has been mostly dormant for a few months because we moved out of state and I started a new career. But now we're back! Today I share the twenty-year journey of how I got my dream job of teaching college Bible.

Today I had the great pleasure of talking with one of my favorite YouTubers, Sam of the channel Master Samwise. He is an insightful film and TV critic, and has created several video essays on the virtuous masculinity of some of my favorite fictional characters: Aragorn and Samwise Gamgee of The Lord of the Rings and Iroh of the Fire Nation from Avatar: The Last Airbender. You can find Master Samwi...

Dr. Steve Cloer joins me today to talk about a new and exciting Memphis-based venture with Harding University, the Center for Church and City Engagement. Steve's extensive urban ministry experience and his work with Harding School of Theology's Doctor of Ministry program provide the ideal combination for raising the next generation of city-based ministry.

Do the gospels really contradict each other? What does it mean for the Bible to be "inspired"? Michael Licona joins me again on the podcast to talk about these issues and his new book Jesus, Contradicted: Why the Gospels Tell the Same Story Differently (Zondervan Academic, 2024). You can find Mike's personal ministry Risen Jesus here: https://www.risenjesus.com/ Mike's new book Jesus, Contradicted...

Joining me again on the podcast is Smith Hopkins, a longtime friend and a church planter in the University district of Memphis, Tennessee. Smith works with Oikos Church, a church plant in partnership with Highland Church of Christ in Cordova, TN (greater Memphis area). Smith and I talk about the challenges of church planting in an urban area, and what he has learned in almost three years of workin...

Joining me on the podcast is Dr. Benjamin Shaw, President of CORE Apologetics and Adjunct Professor for Liberty University and Colorado Christian University. Today Ben and I talk about his interest and work in apologetics, a Christian ministry dedicated to helping others find meaningful answers to their questions about faith, God, Jesus, evil, reality, and so much more. CORE Apologetics, https://w...

In February of 2023, something extraordinary happened at Asbury University: worshippers stayed in the Hughes Auditorium, and students began to sing and pray non-stop for the next few weeks. Timothy Tennent, President of Asbury Theological Seminary, wrote of the events while they were taking place: “Several people have commented on some of the differences between these sacred days and the more well...

Four years ago, an EF 4 tornado devastated the I-40 corridor from Nashville, TN and eastward. While the physical damage was largely contained to Middle Tennessee, the loss of life was felt the world over. Four year old Hattie Jo Collins passed away when the tornado swept through Cookeville, TN. In the aftermath, Matt and Macy Collins began The Magnolia Foundation, a non-profit organization for hel...

In September 2023, I had the great honor of speaking at the Neller Preachers’ Workshop during Harding University’s Centennial Lectureship, and today I’m sharing part one of the series of lectures I gave on the book of Colossians. The workshop is named after the late Ken Neller who served as a Professor of New Testament at Harding for many years—I took Greek 3 and 4 with him during the 2006-07 scho...

Evertt Huffard joins me on the podcast today to share his unique perspective on the conflict in #Gaza. Having grown up in #Jerusalem and later worked in #Nazareth, Evertt has spent years working with church leaders and serving churches in #Israel. From the experience, he brings a careful, compassionate, and nuanced view to the Gaza conflict, and he urges us to “resist the impulse” to lose hope for...

Does God transform us through travel? Jeremy Daggett, missionary in Peru and director of Harding University's Latin America international program thinks so. Join me and Jeremy as we talk about "intercultural spiritual formation" through travel, and how God uses these experiences to help us grow in love for others. In our episode, Jeremy mentioned the following resources: Michael Frost's book, Surp...