Ministry Deep Dive

Your work matters. God cares a great deal of what you do in the 9 to 5. Whether you are working as a mechanic in a garage, a C-suite executive, or a homemaker, God cares about your work. Listen in as Travis continues his discussion with Jeff Haanen on his book, Working from the Inside Out (IVP, 2023). Jeff is a writer, entrepreneur, and founder of the Denver Institute . It's a conversation about h...

Does your work matter to God? What does that look like? How do we glorify God in the 9 to 5? How much does Sunday influence our Monday? Travis welcomes Jeff Haanen to the show to discuss his book, Working from the Inside Out (IVP, 2023). Jeff is a writer, entrepreneur, and founder of the Denver Institute . It's a conversation about how we follow God in our workplace where we spend most of our live...

What does 1776 have to do with LGBTQ+? What does it have to do with expressive individualism? What does it have to do with the rise of atheism, agnosticism, and secularism? Plenty. Travis welcomes Andrew Wilson to the show to discuss his book, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West . It's a discussion of how we got WEIRDER: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic,...

Why do so many Christians and evangelicals in particular love C.S. Lewis so much? What is it about him that transcends borders of culture and denominational and theological tribes? Today's guest is historian Mark Noll. Mark and Travis talk about C.S. Lewis and his reception by Americans in the early to mid part of the 20th century. Unlike any author before or since, Lewis tapped into the imaginati...

What happens if we co-opt political power for godly means? Or what if we use evil people to do good things? What if we put people in political power whose character is awful? Is that good or bad? Is it so cut and dry? Of course, there have always been evil people in political office, but the issue is not whether there are low-character people in political office, the issue is calling Christians to...

Do you feel stuck? Are you frustrated that life is not working the way you thought it would? Are you angry with God because others are seemingly finding success and you aren't? Are you frustrated by your limits? What if your limits are not bad things, but good things? Have you ever wondered if your belief that you can do everything is not from God but from the devil? Have you ever wondered if God...

Do you know the biblical story? What role does the Kingdom of God play in that story? How has the modern church in America become culturally irrelevant? What is the modern Western story and how does it absorb many of our salvation stories? And what is the Gospel? These are just some of the questions that Mike and Travis talk about today. Dr. Goheen, drawing on the work of Lesslie Newbigin, takes u...

We all know that cultures such as those in India have their own pantheon of false gods that we often think of as statues, but idolatry is more than the worship of statues. And demons are not only at work in Majority World cultures. Idolatry and the demonic are just as much at work in our Western culture, they just go by more socially acceptable names. In the West, we have idols of materialism, con...

As we go about our missionary encounter with Western culture, we need instruction from the Scriptures. And we need to see the Scriptures from the vantage point of the audience it was written to. There have been more tears cried on the pages of the Psalms than any other book, because it is a book that instructs us about who God is, who we are, and what to do in times of crisis. In the Psalms, we ar...

How does social change happen? Can a movement like the Asbury Renewal spark real social change? What in our society causes movement? Is it just a changing of generations? What role does technology play? What role is Artificial Intelligence going to play? These are just some of the questions that we discussed in today's episode. Travis and Anne have a discussion of all things life: vacations, music...

What do the Beatitudes look like in a culture where politics rules in a zero-sum game? What role do the Beatitudes play in helping us with our anxiety? How do we hold this purifying vision of God in the Beatitudes in a world? Today's guest is Pastor and Theologian Chris Castaldo back to the show to discuss his new book, Upside-Down Kingdom . They discuss the Beatitudes and everyday life, but seaso...

How do we live in a culture obsessed with success? How has the Christian faith morphed from a countercultural movement to one that is obsessed with power and politics? These are questions we all wrestle with and the Bible speaks to the longings and ragings of our hearts, showing us a better way forward that seems counterintuitive, but is true. Today's guest is Pastor and Theologian Chris Castaldo...

Travis and Chris Martin continue their conversation on his new book, The Wolf in Our Pockets: 13 Ways the Social Internet Threatens the People You Lead? In this conversation, they discuss free speech, politics online, YouTubers, Facebook, the all-knowing algorithm, how these platforms are forming us, anxiety, the high school hallways, and what should and should not be posted online. It's a free-fl...

How much does social media affect you on a daily basis? How much is it threatening the people you lead? How much are they medicating themselves? What can we do about it? Chris Martin is here to help! Chris Martin is a content marketing editor at Moody Publishers and a social media, marketing, and communications consultant. He writes regularly in his newsletter, Terms of Service , and refers to Bib...

It's part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Mark Baker. We are talking about becoming a centered-set church. What is that? Most churches are bounded or fuzzy, but its the churches that are centered that see the greatest transformation. How do we know that? Because that's what we did! The question is: are sinners welcome at your church? Yes, we call people to repentance, but when does that happen? Do...

What does it mean to belong to your church? What are the standards? Who is in and who is out? Is there room for a process? What happens when someone sins? What about the person who is in sin and just starting to come to church and wants to learn? And what about the person who is considered an insider but whose personal life is a complete mess? What do we do? What is more important: believing? beha...

How do you reduce anxiety? What can you do to relax? What does the Scripture say? What does brain science tell us? What about holy noticing and multitasking to do with it? Plenty! Travis welcomes Charles Stone to the show today. Charles has been a pastor for over 40 years serving as a Lead Pastor, Teaching Pastor, Associate Pastor, and Church planter. He has an engineering degree from Georgia Tech...

Is Christianity in America on the decline? What does Christianity look like around the world in places like Mongolia, Italy, Oceania and the like? What are the biggest challenges facing the global Church today? Today we welcome Dr. Gina Zurlo for the second part of our conversation about Global Christianity. Dr. Zurlo holds a PhD in History and Hermeneutics from Boston University School of Theolog...

Is Christianity in America on the decline? What does Christianity look like around the world? How many Christians are there in the world? How do sociologists quantify that? Today on Apollos Watered, we welcome Dr. Gina Zurlo to the show. Dr. Gina A. Zurlo holds a PhD in History and Hermeneutics from Boston University School of Theology (2017). She is the Co-Director of the Center for the Study of...

How does our modern world obsessed with success jive with the New Testament world guided by the GPS of honor, patronage, kinship, and purity? What did grace really mean in the ancient world? Do we have an accurate understanding of grace the way that the audience of the first century understood it? Does grace come freely or with an obligation? If we are to fulfill the mission of God, we need to kno...

We talk about theology, but we live in a social world of status, slights, and social media. How does the world of the New Testament jive with our modern world? What does it mean to live an honorable life according to our modern culture? Can success be a synonym? Is modern success equivalent to NT honor? Or is it something else? In our world, today, is honor or success going to a great school? Maki...

Does history really matter in our modern world? What about Christian history? Is there a good way to understand history that relates to us? Is there a bad way of doing history? What can history show us about living as Christ-followers in our modern world? The answer is, of course, plenty! Travis welcomes Dr. Scott Sunquist , President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary , to the show to help us...

What do you do when you find yourself in enemy mode in your own family? With your spouse? With your kids? Travis welcomes Jim Wilder back to the show to discuss how to escape enemy mode in marriage, and this time, Travis' wife, Melissa, joins him! It's a conversation that helps equip us to recognize when we go into enemy mode in our marriage or with our kids, and how we can find a way out. This is...

In this second part of our discussion on discipleship in our multicultural world, we discuss suffering, technology, joy, insider movements, and culturally appropriate teaching methods as we delve into his book Discipling in a Multicultural World (Cross, 2019). Ajith serves as Teaching Director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka after being National Director for 35 years. His grassroots ministry has...

Does discipleship look the same in every culture? How does it look different? How has globalization made things similar? Is discipleship a program? A relationship? Or both? How do we disciple those who may come from a different background than us? These are just some of the questions that come into our minds whenever we talk about the subject of discipleship in our modern world with special guest...