Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are diving in deep with Dr. Curt Thompson, who’s a board-certified, practicing psychiatrist who loves God and His Word and His people. I first met Dr. Thompson about ten years ago through a mutual friend who gave me one of his books called Anatomy of the Soul. I was immediately intrigued by the title because that’s my favorite descripti...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to explore one of my favorite pastimes, which is gathering around a table with a group of dear friends, sharing a great meal, and talking until the cows come home or someone starts flicking the lights! All too often meals in our post-post-modern culture are harried affairs that involve more staring at phone screens than looking at and...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to have an absolute – albeit perhaps convicting for the busy beavers among us – blast because we’re going to be exploring the biblical imperative of play. Dr. Brian Edgar, a professor at Asbury Seminary, explains it this way: Just as in everyday life work without play makes one dull, in the Christian life service without a playful rela...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to excavate what could loosely be called one of the crown jewels of the Hebrew Scriptures because out of all the passages of the Old Testament that are referenced in the New Testament, Psalm 110 is the one that’s repeated the most often. Jesus uses it in Matthew’s Gospel account to confuse a crew of condescending Pharisees; Peter uses...

We’ve titled today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology – How Do We Know When God Says Go – because we’re using the seasonal theme of “Back to School” to talk honestly about transition. Whether it’s graduating from one grade to the next, leaving home to strike out on our own, changing careers, saying goodbye to a relationship or a loved one, moving from one neighborhood to another, one city to an...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is the final episode, – the compelling caboose, if you will - of our sizzling summer series called If God Is Perfectly Good Then Why Did ______ Happen? The brilliant spiritual diamond we’ve been examining from all kinds of angles is theodicy – which means the vindication of our Redeemer’s absolute goodness and providence in view of the existence of physi...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is the second to last episode of our sizzling summer series called If God Is Perfectly Good Then Why Did ______ Happen? The weighty and wonderful biblical truism we’ve been exploring is theodicy – which means the vindication of our Redeemer’s absolute goodness and providence in view of the existence of physical and moral evil. Frankly y’all the fact that...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is the fourth episode of our sizzling summer series called If God Is Perfectly Good Then Why Did ______ Happen? We’re continuing our trek deep into the wild and wooly territory of theodicy – which is the vindication of our Redeemer’s absolute goodness and providence in view of the existence of physical and moral evil. Hillary Scott is back as our guest c...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is the third episode of our sizzling summer series called If God Is Perfectly Good Then Why Did ______ Happen? The spiritual rink we’ve been skating in for a few weeks is theodicy – a fancy word which simply means the vindication of our Redeemer’s absolute goodness and providence in view of the existence of physical and moral evil. In other words, how do...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is the second episode of our sizzling summer series called If God is Perfectly Good Then Why Did ______ Happen? The refreshing spiritual topic we’ve been swimming in is theodicy – a multi-syllabic theological term that means the vindication of our Redeemer’s absolute goodness and providence in view of the existence of physical and moral evil. And in this...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is the first episode of our sizzling summer series called If God Is Perfectly Good Then Why Did ______ Happen? We’re going to dive deeply into the biblical truism of theodicy – which is the vindication of our Redeemer’s absolute goodness and providence in view of the existence of physical and moral evil. The term theodicy was coined by a brainiac German...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is sort of like a great big, super friendly food-fight because Dr. Howard let Ally and I hurl any question we have about biblical conundrums and controversies at him without any advanced notice! If you’re new to this motley crew of a podcast – where we’re serious about our faith but not so much about ourselves – Dr. Howard is one of my professors and spi...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to mosey into a subject matter that is most definitely not my strong suit, and that is the theology of rest. Now if you’re like me and haven’t quite figured out that busyness isn’t a spiritual gift, don’t press delete yet because I promise we’re not taking you on a guilt trip today! Instead, we’re going to consider the wonderful and wi...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re continuing our trek through the lush theological landscape of Hebrews, that awesome New Testament treatise that highlights the glorious juxtaposition of the supremacy and accessibility of King Jesus! If you listened to last week’s episode, you probably remember that Hebrews was likely preached as a sermon before it was recorded as a book. An...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to hike into the beautiful New Testament landscape of Hebrews, a book that was probably originally preached as a sermon to a group of battle-weary believers who were seriously considering throwing in the proverbial towel because their faith journey was much more difficult than they had anticipated. As a result, their pastor – and the a...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is a bona-fide bonus episode because we’ve kicked our normal conversational parameters to the curb and are having a rollicking, revelatory good time with a really special guest today – best-selling author, renowned New Testament scholar, seminary professor, and one of our favorite theologians here on Back Porch Theology, Dr. Scot McKnight. Alli and I hav...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to wade deeply into the doctrine of baptism – sorry, I just couldn’t help using a cheesy wet metaphor! Contrary to popular belief, water baptism didn’t originate with John the Baptist - whose name is better translated John the Baptizer because his ministry was so closely associated with ceremonial soaking - but instead can be traced ba...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to explore a beautiful oasis called En Gedi, which was the geographical inspiration behind some of the most beloved Psalms that were written by David. Effectively making this spot, that slingshot-wielding hero’s Yoko Ono! En Gedi - which means “Spring of the Young Goat” - is one of only two freshwater springs along the western shore of...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to peruse a parable about 10 Bridesmaids that Jesus taught on the Mount of Olives – that beautiful hill overlooking Jerusalem - during a series of messages called The Olivet Discourse, which He preached just prior to the first Easter. And while this symbolic tale is set in the context of a wedding party, it’s more of a warning than a w...

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is going to be a little more animated than usual because we had the pure joy of recording it with a redemptively rowdy sisterhood of Jesus-loving chicks from 46 states & three countries at our recent Kerygma Summit here in Franklin, TN! And it was especially fitting to have this conversation in the middle of a cohesive community of ministry leaders f...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology – the final of three podcasts we recorded live in Israel – we’re exposing some stuff to the light that the enemy of our souls would rather us keep hidden because he has a better chance of tormenting us in the dark. Before we go any further, I’d like to encourage you to make sure there aren’t any kiddos listening today because this podcast includes...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology – the second of three podcasts we recorded live in Israel - we’ll discover how one of Peter’s prophetic dreams was fulfilled in a beautiful city overlooking the Mediterranean called Caesarea By The Sea, or Caesarea Maritima. This bustling harbor town on the coast of Israel was one of the most prominent cities in the ancient Roman world, built by H...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology – the first of three podcasts we recorded live in Israel - we’re diving deep – pun intended – into a pair of maritime miracles that took place on The Sea of Galilee, which is also referred to as The Sea of Tiberias, Lake Gennesaret, and Lake Kinneret in biblical narrative. During His earthly ministry Jesus lived, preached, and performed the majori...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re exploring how hardship and revival are like peanut butter and jelly in biblical narrative – in other words, they’re often sandwiched together. And Apostle Paul’s life exemplifies the symbiotic relationship between hardship and revival, which he testified to while imprisoned at the end of Acts when he said, “It is for the hope of Israel that...

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re talking about a true story in Acts that sounds like some kind of crazy Quentin Tarantino script. It involves a fortune teller, human trafficking, crooked policemen, an earthquake, and a jailhouse revival. Honestly, when people tell me they think the Bible is boring it’s all I can do not to burst out laughing because this divine love story is...