Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology

During today’s conversation on Backporch Theology, we’re going to wade into the refreshing waters of eucharisteo – which is a Greek word sprinkled throughout the New Testament that means “to give thanks.” There have been numerous scientific and psychological studies that back up the Bible’s encouragement to develop our gratitude muscle – it’s actually been proven that people with higher gratitude...

Theology, we’re going to explore the theological concept of theodicy, which is defined as: the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil. In other words, our Creator Redeemer is good and does good even when our lives are anything but. I once had a surgeon tell me I was a bad patient because I tried to gut it out instead of being honest about the. pain I was exp...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to dive deep into the pool of desire and talk about how to get our emotional needs met by Jesus. Brennan Manning wrote: The deepest desire of our hearts is for union with God. From the first moment of our existence our most powerful yearning is to fulfill the original purpose of our lives – “to see Him more clearly, love Him more dearl...

During today’s conversation on Backporch Theology we’re kicking off the conversation with a profound observation from my imaginary theological boyfriend, the late great A.W. Tozer who said, “Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms.” About 15 years ago I came to the sad realization that I’d unwittingly sanitized and emasculated Jesus into a mild-mannered, passive, ki...

During today’s conversation on Backporch Theology, we’re going to consider the gentle command found at the top of Hebrews chapter 3: Consider Jesus. In other words, think about our Savior. Focus your attention on our Redeemer. Concentrate on the King of all kings. This simple command to meditate on our Messiah is the answer to every tangled relational web we’ve ever been caught in, every steep cir...

During today’s conversation on Backporch Theology, we’re going to explore how God’s supernatural sovereignty reconciles with our human understanding of the time and space continuum and we’re also going to explore a story in Mark’s Gospel account that proves Romans 8:28 – all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose – is not hyberbolic but 100% tru...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to talk about the difference between simply being delivered from our sins and God truly delighting in us. There’s a memorable scene in the movie Notting Hill when Julia Roberts says to Hugh Grant: Don’t forget, I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. The only time I’ve ever identified with Julia Robert...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to dive into some divine drama in the book of Acts and talk about risky faith, radical love and the willingness to kick comfort to the curb for the sake of the Gospel. Dr. Martin Luther King once lamented how the church used to be a thermostat that had the power to change the temperature of culture, but how it was losing its urgency an...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re talking about the necessary synergy between orthodoxy – that is what we believe to be true of God – and orthopraxy – that is how we live in light of what we believe to be true of God. Obviously, we’re all sinners and nobody’s faith walk is flawless this side of glory but the gap between what we profess and how we live is a seedbed of hypocri...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re talking about how God’s redemptive plan for humanity is set in the context of community. Our Creator Redeemer is a trinitarian God – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - and since we were made in His image, we are divinely hard-wired for relationship. Plus, the huge majority of biblical imperatives are about “we” instead of...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to explore the cultural context of a familiar story in John’s Gospel account, which includes one of my favorite Greek words in the entire New Testament cannon…this is one of two passages that taught me how to linger in God’s embrace. We’ll also be chatting with one of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Jim Howard, about the concept o...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re peeling off our emotional Spanx and diving deep into a couple of Psalms to talk about the necessary sacrament of confession. Of saying, “I’m sorry.” In his book, A Sacred Sorrow, Artist and theologian Michael Card explains it this way, “There can be no worshipful joy of salvation until we have realized the lamentable wilderness of what we we...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we’re going to explore an encounter in Luke’s Gospel account that illustrates how the heart of God is moved by the wounds of humanity…how our ache accelerates His compassion. We’re also going to have an awesome encounter of our own with one of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Jim Howard, who will explains how human dignity is a uniquely Judeo...

Before we begin our very first conversation, I want you to know that it’s a bit of an anomaly – kind of like me eating kale or pausing between sentences – because normally we’ll be doing deep dives into biblical narrative and chewy theology but since this is our first podcast date, I thought it’d behoove us to get to know each other before we start really tangoing with sacred text. In other words,...

You're invited to hang out on Lisa Harper's back porch and enjoy conversations about all things Jesus, theological anthropology, biblical orthodoxy, Spanx, the merits of Tex-Mex and more! We believe this podcast will help you dive deeper into God's word, understand that the gospel is good news for everyday life, not just when viewed in the light of eternity, and that God is for us, that He's alway...