Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are hanging out with a gang of girlfriends in Belle’s living room - if you’re new to the porch, Belle’s like everybody’s favorite aunt, and we’ve had a neighborhood Bible study at her house every week for almost 15 years in a row so I’m pretty much a piece of the furniture there now. The theme of this taped-with-a-lively-group episode i...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we’re taking a road trip to the First Christian Church of Colossae, which was started by an unlikely pastor named Epaphras who got saved while tagging along with a friend who had an extra ticket to an Apostle Paul Crusade at the Ephesus Arena! This church started out with a bang but then came perilously close to veering off course and getting stu...

During today’s episode on Back Porch Theology, we’re talking about intellectual humility, which could be loosely described as giving away the need to always have the right answer. I spent way too many years afraid that someone would look under the hood of my life and discover everything I was ashamed of. During those years that I was consumed with shame, I used what modest intellect I have as a de...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we’re going to be swimming in the cleansing waters of divine restoration and double portions. Isaiah 61:7 says: Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. And that extravagant promis...

The title of today’s episode is The Theological Anthropology of Generosity, and while that’s admittedly a lofty mouthful (which underscores the fact that Alli and I are both certified logophiles), the main point of today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is that God is the genesis of generosity. Quite frankly, as created beings, it’s almost impossible to understand, much less extend, authentic...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are talking about generosity under fire – in other words, how we can keep giving sacrificially giving even when we feel like a tube of toothpaste that’s been rolled so many times, there’s nothing left in the tube. Should our physical and financial resources be the final arbitrator of our generosity or should we maintain a “what’s mine i...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, Dr. Howard, Alli and I are happily diving into the seemingly heady subject matter of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics comes from the Greek word hermeneutic, which means “to translate” or “to interpret.” And in the context of Judeo-Christianity, hermeneutics refers to the science of interpreting the Bible and is the branch of theology that deals with th...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we get to continue our conversation with Max Lucado about giving away our agenda so that we can lean more fully into God’s redemptive plans for our future. And as scary as it may sound to loosen your grip on your agenda – maybe because you’ve had to take care of yourself for so long it’s hard to fully trust in God’s faithfulness – Max will help a...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we get to hang out with one of my all-time favorite pastors and spiritual mentors, Max Lucado. Several years ago, Time magazine declared him to be “America’s Pastor” for good reason. Even though he’s sold 92 MILLION books and they’ve been translated into 54 languages worldwide, he’s one of those incredibly kind and humble shepherds who still smel...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we’re going to run further and faster in the thematic lane of giving ourselves away and talk about the healthy tension between self-care and selfless. One of my favorite pretend theological boyfriends, St. Augustine, said “Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God. For by it, we love Him.” In other wor...

I’m so stinkin’ excited about today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology because it’s going to be a banner year here at BPT and the banner over all 53 episodes of BPT in 2024 is: “The Year of Giving Yourself Away”! We’re going to delve deeply into what it means to live Christoformic lives – how to be shaped like Jesus in everything we do. We’re going to explore the theology of generosity. We’re g...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, the whole gang – Alli, Dr. Howard, Belle, and I - have gathered together to celebrate Christmas! We’re talking all things Yule with y’all – okay, I know that was so cheesy but eggnog and fruitcake tend to activate my dorky sentimental side! And while we are going to take a stroll down memory lane today, we’re also going to talk about how the mira...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re exploring a messianic prophecy in the Old Testament to excavate a treasure worth more than all the gold in Ft. Knox, all the pearls in Japan, all the cheese in Wisconsin, and all the turkey legs at Dollywood! Isaiah chapter 9 is one of the most memorable of all the Old Testament prophecies and it’s especially familiar during the Christmas se...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’ve got the whole gang in the studio – Alli, Dr. Howard, Belle – from Ring My Belle – and me – and we’re going to spend some time gawking at God’s faithfulness and how He’s gotten us to our 100th episode – which is today, December 11th! We’re two years into this podcast adventure and we’re still pinching ourselves that we get to do this and get...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, Alli and I are still neck-deep in all things Advent but the itinerary we’re taking to the Christmas creche is much more scenic than Waze would route you. We’re going all the way back through the family tree of Jesus to a little boy named Obed, who was also born in a little town called Bethlehem, in the Old Testament. The New Testament gives us tw...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are happily diving into all things Advent! And we’re focusing on a few ancient outliers in biblical antiquity who would naturally have been invited to clean out stalls in some First Century barn but would never have been invited to anyone’s party. Well, anyone except the Creator of the Universe! What does it mean for us today that 2,000...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are diving into one of my favorite passages about thanksgiving found in the synoptic gospels. One of our theological heroes, the late, great Dr. Tim Keller, said: “It’s one thing to be grateful. It’s another to give thanks. Gratitude is what you feel. Thanksgiving is what you do.” In other words, thanksgiving is not simply the warm fuzz...

Today on Back Porch Theology, Ally and I are continuing the conversation about sanctification – the ongoing process of becoming less like who we were before we fell in love with Jesus and more like Him. One of my pretend theological boyfriends, ancient theologian and church father Thomas Chalmers, uses the phraseology of the expulsive power of the new affection to describe spiritual maturity. He r...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are dipping our toes into the transformative waters of sanctification. Sanctification initially presents in the Old Testament as a thing/object that is “set apart as sacred” – such as the Sabbath Day or utensils used for worship ceremonies in the Temple. However, in the New Testament, the concept of sanctification reflects the idea of h...

Today on Back Porch Theology Alli, Dr Howard and I are continuing our candid discussion about the current conflict in Israel and how to best respond as concerned Christ-followers. In doing so, we’re going to peruse a relevant passage in Mark’s Gospel account that had First Century folks every bit as concerned about the conflict brewing in their culture as we are today. The overarching takeaway fro...

Today on Back Porch Theology Alli, Dr Howard and I are having a candid conversation about the current, seemingly eschalating war in Israel and the Gaza area. We’ll be leaning on Dr. Howard’s academic expertise to explain the significance of how early in biblical history God established Israel as a theocracy – that is a people group He singled out for His favor and so as to represent the kind of co...

In this special bonus episode, Lisa shares a guided prayer as we prayer for Israel and what's happening in Gaza. Join us as we lift of those in the Middle East.

During today’s Back Porch Theology session, I’ll be the one alternately laughing and crying because we have the pure joy of continuing a soul-stirring conversation about the heart of worship with none other than my dear friend, Brooke Ligertwood. Romans 12:1-2 says: Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and ple...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to wade into the refreshing, invigorating, cleansing and sometimes even healing waters of worship. According to theological scholars – in the context of our Judeo-Christian belief system - worship is the reverential response of creation to the all-encompassing magnificence of God. In biblical narrative, worship includes activities like...

During today’s episode of Back Porch Theology, Alli and I are continuing a joy-saturated conversation with Dr. Curt Thompson, who’s a board-certified, practicing psychiatrist who loves God and His Word and His people. Dr. Thompson’s expertise in connecting neurobiology with biblically sound theology has been a game changer for me and his latest work – which connects suffering and the formation of...