Ministry Deep Dive

If the supremacy of Jesus is to be seen in the church in the West, then it means learning how to live together as Christ's followers from those who come from different backgrounds than us. In the West, Caucasians still make up the majority of the culture, but as our culture becomes more and more diverse, it becomes imperative that we learn to listen and learn from our brothers and sisters from aro...

Are you bored reading your Bible? I know you feel guilty in saying that, but we all experience boredom every once in a while. We know that God is not boring, nor is His Word, but we get bored due to a variety of factors. We get confused, we don't know always what to read or what a text means and that's when we need a guide. Travis welcomes Old Testament professor Dr. Andy Abernethy to the show as...

Does God hate? What does that mean? How does God love the sinner and hate the sin when biblically the two seem connected (Revelation 21:8)? Does God get envious or jealous? God's jealousy disturbed Oprah so much that she left Christianity behind. But is God jealous? And if so, is that wrong? How does our jealousy differ from His? Travis and Dr. David T. Lamb continue their discussion on his new bo...

Does God get emotional? Does that sound strange? It isn't. We talk about God's emotions all the time. Isn't love an emotion? God is love, but the Bible also says that God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19). That begs the question: does God have other emotions? What are the emotions of God? Is there more than love and hate? Does God get sad? How does God feel compassion? Is God mad at you? Does God ever feel...

Travis and Nancy continue their conversation on the war on toxic masculinity. They discuss what biblical masculinity is and what it's not, what a "good man" is, the shape of the home, the industrial revolution, and some of the differences the data reveals between men and women. Nancy shows how the Bible gives a vision of masculinity that is actually not toxic, instead, it is healthy, wonderful, an...

Two words: Toxic masculinity. It seems to be everywhere, from secular newspapers to Christian bookstores carry articles discussing toxic masculinity and for many the root of it, or one of the biggest culprits anyway, is Christian men. Is Christian masculinity toxic? We know that pundits are saying so, but what about the actual data? And what about the data from those who are not Christians? What d...

In this second part of the conversation, Travis and Jeff discuss the mindset shift needed to embrace God's work in the world today. What is that shift? Can anyone make it? What are the ramifications if we do? They continue their discussion of Jeff's newest book, Once You See: Seven Temptations of the Western Church: A Novel (100 Movements, 2022). Jeff is an author, leader, speaker, missiologist, a...

What happens when Jesus refugees from the majority world enter into a megachurch in the south? Have you seen God work in churches in the West in similar ways that we hear about in the majority world? Are pastors in the West today more concerned about the Sunday experience and the metrics of growth that they really don't know how to "make disciples"? Jeff Christopherson addresses this and so much m...

Is the Christian ideal that we aspire to in our lives really Christian? In our families? In what we do pursue? How do we separate the Gospel from the evangelical culture? And what happens when you address these things in our evangelical institutions? This week on Apollos Watered, we finish off our conversation about Karen's forthcoming book, The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Me...

What is the "good life" to you? Is it the American Dream? Is it the kids getting a good education and job? What about the family? Taking a vacation someplace exotic on spring break? Where did we get these ideas on the good life from? Are they biblical? Karen Swallow Prior has some pretty good ideas! Travis and Karen discuss her forthcoming book, The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, an...

Travis & Chris Coursey continue our conversation from Part 1 , but this time, in Part 2, we go deeper into joy and how we cultivate it. What do we do when our joy switch gets turned off? What are some practical things that we can do to step back into joy? Listen in and find out! Chris Coursey is an ordained minister, pastoral counselor, published author, and international speaker. He is also t...

How is it that some people can know everything about the Bible and know zero about relationships? How do we actually engage with people when they annoy us? How do we tune out of relationships? What has joy got to do with all of this? And moreover, what does any of this have to do with the mission of God? Chris Coursey has an idea! Chris Coursey is an ordained minister, pastoral counselor, publishe...

Travis and Daniel continue their conversation about the magnetic points that are in every person and every culture that act as a bridge to the Gospel. They also talk about J.H. Bavinck, and how we all need to look at the methods of missiologists so that we might learn how to reach our friends and neighbors with the Gospel. Daniel Strange is director of  Crosslands Forum  and the vic...

How do you connect with people in the world who don't know Jesus and don't want to hear about Jesus? Daniel Strange gives us some magnetic points that provide us with the means by which people can and will want to know more about Jesus. Daniel Strange  is director of  Crosslands Forum  and the vice president of  The Southgate Fellowship . He is one of the inaugural fellows of&n...

What do freedom, kindness, progress, and equality have in common? We have them because of Christianity. Most don't realize that the very benefits that they have in our modern culture come directly as a result of the Christian faith-so says Glen Scrivener. It's those connection points that create a bridge that can help our unbelieving friends to cross to full faith in Jesus Christ. Glen Scrivener &...

Is theology a one-time thing? Or is it something that we do? How do we "do" theology? Part of following Jesus, and desiring to see His kingdom expand in the hearts and minds of men and women all over the world, means learning how to follow Christ and show Christ's love in various cultural contexts. It starts with the Word of God, the Bible, and when we learn the Word of God, we learn how to teach...

What did James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll, and Bill Hybels have in common? They were all guilty of spiritual abuse. We have all heard of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, just to name a few, but spiritual abuse? Spiritual abuse is the most incipient of abuses, but it happens all the time. What exactly is spiritual abuse? What are the signs? How do we differentiate spiritual abuse from true godl...

Can you have Jesus without the church? The answer is an unequivocal and resounding, "No." Travis welcomes Bishop Claude Alexander to the show as they discuss how we are becoming the church, how we have to allow room to process, not give up on the church but press on, and seek to be unified because that is one of the greatest signs to the world that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It'...

Imagination awakens knowledge and stirs the soul to seek God. We need to learn how to tap into this very powerful gift and tool that God has given us and learn how to use it for His glory. In this second conversation, Travis talks with Malcolm Guite about the imagination and how God desires to use it. Malcolm is an English poet, songwriter, Anglican priest, and recently retired professor from Camb...

Have you ever felt stuck? Like you can't go anywhere. You can't make progress, you can't go back, and you just are stuck where you are? Sometimes we need to tap into our imaginations as Jesus did. The imagination is a powerful tool-from running scared through potential hazards or leading us into a world of dreams, our imaginations can be used for good or for ill. But what does it look like to cult...

Dr. Allen Yeh joins Travis Michael Fleming to explore the concept of Polycentric Missiology, emphasizing that the center of Christianity has shifted from the West to the majority world. This transformation highlights how 78% of today's missionaries come from non-Western countries, showcasing the diverse and global nature of faith. As they discuss the historical roots and implications of this shift...

Is God still in the miracle business? What do the miracles of Jesus in the New Testament tell us about who God is today? What has that to do with us? And what role does the empty tomb have in us understanding what God wants to do in the world today? Additionally, what role do miracles play in our lives? What happens if God doesn't bring a miracle? Guest Joby Martin has an idea! Joby is a man who h...

Travis and Chris continue their discussion in Chris' groundbreaking book, Biblical Critical Theory. In this episode, they discuss the Exodus, sin, and judgment, bringing the Bible to bear upon culture, technique, and God's amazing story that contains all other stories. Learn more about Chris . Get the book . Chris referred to a couple of other resources: Get Graeme Goldsworthy's book . Check out N...

Travis welcomes Vishal Mangalwadi to the show. Vishal is India's foremost Christian intellectual. He is a social reformer, activist, author, and columnist whose writings and videos have been featured around the world. He has lectured in over 40 countries, written 17 books, and contributed to several others. He joined Travis to discuss his book, The Book That Made Your World , but quickly transitio...

Have you ever sat in a philosophy class and wondered, "How in the world does this fit within the Gospel?" or "How can I explain the Gospel when it has to answer all these questions?" If you have ever heard the names of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, or Friedrich Nietzsche, then you know that they have a huge role in shaping the thought currents and structures in our world today. Thoughts shape...