Harbor, Pepperdine Bible Lectures

Teacher: Dori Lansbach Romantic relationships are in the forefront of every person’s mind at some point in their life. So much of our lives including our identity, our past, and our future are impacted by the partners that we choose to become involved with romantically, but how do we navigate these relationships in a broken world? How do we prepare our individual emotional and spiritual health to...

Teacher: Jeanette Duval A straightforward look at these three vital aspects of God and how our understanding of them impacts every level of our spiritual health. Especially relevant for our younger adults, teens, and children!

Teacher: La Shonda Coleman At times it can be challenging to love and show compassion for self in the many ways that we so readily do for others. We may have bought into the myth that self care is selfish. Yes, I named it a myth and if this is something you have bought into, extend yourself grace--while leaning into an opportunity to believe differently. An opportunity to experience love starting...

Teacher: Karl Ihfe The table is significant. It’s where Christians have broken bread, found fellowship, and extended compassion for centuries. It’s the place we still gather weekly to be reminded of our shared life in Christ. It’s also been the source of much controversy and contention, springing from the question, "Who gets a seat at the table?" That question almost split the church at the very b...

Teacher: Danny Quintero Unlimited knowledge, unlimited power, unlimited love. Billions of followers, billions of lives impacted. People talk about Him, but do they walk with Him? If you are interested in knowing the importance of planning with the Spirit and the change that you can experience in your life and even in your church, I invite you to join us in this class.

Teacher: Sara Young Jackson I have always loved the song sung by Miranda Lambert, “The House That Built Me,” because it so poignantly reminds me of the people in my life who have influenced who I have become today. In this class, I will reflect on the women, both in Scripture and in my personal history, whose lives of faith have “shaped” me.

Teacher: Kent Jobe This class will look at the underlying spirit that defined the early church and how intentional congregational care can transform the local church from the inside out.

Teacher: Kelly Haer 60:40. Why are there so often more women than men on college campuses and in your young adult ministry? How does this "man deficit" impact both men and women? What does faithful living look like amidst the current economics of dating? Demographics, statistics, game theory, and ambiguous loss will be used to make sense of--and provide a guide to navigate--the dating climate at s...

Teacher: Tim Spivey Even prior to the pandemic, the church was changing in dramatic ways. This class discusses, humorously, the expiration of several popular leadership principles, and offers a look at the prevailing church of the rest of the 21st century.

Teachers: Jacob Parnell, Bryan Schackmann Q: What do you get when you cross a Church of Christ preacher and a stand-up comic? A: Better punchlines than this one! Give your brain a break and come enjoy some all ages stand-up comedy. You'll learn absolutely nothing but you will laugh! (Notice: Laughs not guaranteed.)

Teacher: John Barton John will discuss his new book, Better Religion, and explore the following questions: How should Christians interact with followers of other religions? How would Jesus have us do interfaith work? Where are the lines between faithfulness and compromise?

Teacher: Chais DeMaggio A look into the research on religious trauma, and pathways to creating healthy and safe religious communities. After demystifying the subject of religious trauma this class proposes a transparent and inclusive approach to building religious community.

Teachers: Leonard Allen, Lauren White The Authority of Scripture in a Different Key: Incarnation and Sanctification The doctrine of Scripture’s authority and inspiration has tended to be distorted in two directions, the fundamentalist and the modernist. We propose an older view that is neither: that the Holy Spirit has sanctified or made holy the processes of Scripture’s incarnational production a...

Teachers: Leonard Allen, Lauren White Signs of the Times: Modernist and Postmodernist Readings of the Bible  Modern critical studies of the Bible tended to fragment its unity and question its historical accuracy. Postmodern approaches tend to deny the text any stable meaning and depend on the reader to create it—so now we commonly hear of “queering the Bible.”

Teacher: Esau McCaulley This session will examine New Testament passages that might inform how the police force ought to engage the populous. In the course of our time together we will analyze Romans 13, the ministry of John the Baptist, and the arrest and trial of Jesus, all of which have encounters with agents of the state.

Teacher: Rubel Shelly The church bears significant responsibility for hounding and humiliating gay people – thus leading them not only to be skeptical of Christians but to avoid and despise the church. We have been disrespectful in too many settings. Told too many denigrating jokes. Perpetuated ugly stereotypes. Can we reopen dialogue with the LGBTQ+ community?

Teacher: Andy Wall In every generation, God’s people must wrestle their way through a variety of faith tensions: pursuing justice versus practicing forgiveness; caring for personal needs versus caring for communal needs; prophetically challenging shortcomings versus pastorally tending hurts; enjoying God-given freedoms versus foregoing freedoms for the greater good; honoring time-honored tradition...

Teacher: Mike Cope Mike Cope will tell stories that help understand who Churches of Christ are. Mike is Pepperdine's Director of Ministry Outreach. In addition to being the Director of the Harbor Lectures, he directs three Lilly-funded initiatives for Pepperdine focusing on: ministers, congregational leadership, and preaching. He was a senior minister for thirty years, and taught freshman classes...

Teacher: Ron Clark Panelists: Carlos Isaziga, Daniel Jarchow, Addison Weaver, Brendin Williamson In Luke 10 Jesus encourages his disciples to pray for the Lord to ‘kick out’ workers into a field where the fruit is ripe; so ripe that the harvest is urgent. This panel discussion will explore stories from the ‘field’ as church and campus planters discuss the urgency of mission, evangelism, and outrea...

Teacher: Monte Cox In a culture steeped in pluralism and the relativism it brings, what are some "points of contact" with our non-Christian neighbors? Can we still claim that the Gospel is unique?

Teacher: Bobby Valentine  

Teacher: Josh Graves Jesus' understanding and commitment to love is what separates him from many of the great teachers in human history. This session will explore Jesus' passion for love--including the rejection of lame expressions of love-- and what it means for us today as local churches seek to embody love in a culture bent towards shame, deceit, competition, division, and hostility.

Teachers: Scott Lambert, Jim Martin Spiritual leaders need encouragement to keep pressing forward in challenging Kingdom work. Approaches and tactics to wrestle with burnout, stress and anxiety will be accompanied by words of blessings, courage and prayers over each person in attendance. Both nights will offer practical insights as well as the feeding of each leader's soul. End the Harbor day with...

Teacher: Bobby Valentine

Teacher: Doug Peters