Seminary Dropout

Jen Pollock Michel is the author of  Teach us to Want: Longing, Ambition and the Life of Faith , Christianity Today’s 2015 Book of the Year. Jen also writes regularly for Today in the Word, a devotional, and is a regular contributor for Christianity Today’s popular Her.meneutics blog. You can follow Jen on Twitter  @jenpmichel  or you can find her at  jenpollockmichel.com .   As Christians, we’re...

Scott Sauls serves as senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Scott's planted churches, lived in the big city (NYC), and speaks at church conferences and retreats.   In his first book  Jesus Outside the Lines , Scott dissects the issues that keep us apart and points out that Jesus almost never fits within the lines of either side the culture wars. He cuts through the c...

Since growing up in the trauma of poverty, violence, and the inner-city landscapes void of opportunity, Romal Tune has triumphed to the heights of a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Howard University and Duke University School of Divinity, an ordained minister, and the author of an Award-Winning Book entitled, “God’s Graffiti”. Romal not only asks the question of WHY for many of the broken systems and...

If you've been apart of Christian culture for long enough you've probably suffered the indignity of a 'christian comic strip'; heavy-handed, ham-fisted, and most of all not funny. Dave Wilkie the creator of  Coffee With Jesus  is here to help. The comic manages to juggle cultural critique, poignancy, and oh yeah, it's super funny. You can find new strips weekly on  Radio Babylon's Facebook Page ....

On Pete's website it says that he is a "provocative writer, philosopher, storyteller and public speaker" , and it's true he is provocative, in fact his words can make some of us in the church squirm a bit, but you don't have to agree with Pete to find his thoughts and ideas insightful.     Rollins new book 'The Divine Magician' is about reimagining the message of Christianity. Using the illustrati...

For the last ten years, first at Mars Hill Church and now at Willow Creek Church, Aaron has been trying to invite people into a worship journey that moves beyond singing songs. As Aaron tried to create something "new", he discovered that many have had this figured out for generations and generations. They call it "The Liturgy". And so Aaron has been wrestling with the question: How do we bring the...

Lauren Winner teaches at Duke Divinity School as an Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality, and lives in Durham, North Carolina. Lauren is a writer's writer. If you've read any of her previous books: Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, or her memoir Still: Notes on a Mid-faith Crisis, then you know that. She took her effortless tone and intimate style and turned it towards the language of God...

Just FYI, you'll notice that I'm a little hoarse in this episode. It's worth it though.   Leroy Barber is the Executive Director of Word Made Flesh Ministries, and former president of Mission Year and of Focus Community Strategies (FCS) Urban Ministries. He is the author of two previous books, New Neighbor and Everyday Missions. He lives in Portland, Oregon.   affiliate link You don't have to have...

  Erin S. Lane works as an assistant program director for clergy and congregational leader programs for the Center for Courage & Renewal. Unlike me, she has a master of theological studies degree from Duke Divinity School. affiliate link Erin's book is a beautiful and shockingly honest look at her journey in being a part of a church. If you're looking for propaganda sanctioned by a large evangelic...

David Janzen  graduated from Bethel College and studied at Harvard Divinity School. In 1971, he and his wife helped found New Creation Fellowship, a Christian intentional community in Newton KS. In 1984, they moved to Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston IL, where David now runs an affordable housing ministry. affiliate link “This is a book that we’ve needed for a long, long time…. This is a book for...

M aking his second appearance on Seminary Dropout is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, and author or editor of over 50 books, Scot McKnight. affiliate link Scot’s latest book is ‘ Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church’, and in it he makes some controversial claims that have been met with a fair share of criticism as well as considerable praise. If...

Natasha Sistrunk Robinson is a leader, speaker, writer, and anti-human trafficking advocate. Natasha has studied education in racial reconciliation, prayer and fasting, and biblical justice.  She love's passionately serving God and his people, bringing Him glory, and pursuing His kingdom work by sharing and living as she puts it 'in the redemptive power of the cross'. In addition to being a wife a...

Odds are if you identify yourself any kind of follower of Christ and your around my age, you've read at least one book by Donald Miller. In 2003 Don released Blue Like Jazz, and it quickly became a modern classic. Even though Don is around 10 years older than me, I remember thinking it was the first book I read that felt like it was written by someone from my generation. He spoke our language. Sev...

M y guest today is Mike Bird. Dr. Bird is Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia, and author of ‘The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus’, and more recently was a contributing author of the book we’ll be discussing, ‘How God Became Jesus’. In his recent book How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee historian Bart E...

Joining me on the show today is Jordan Seng. Jordan is pastor of Bluewater Mission in Honolulu, Hawaii, and a speaker on issues related to healing & prophetic ministry, church planting and missions, worship, and small groups. Jordan's book is 'Miracle Work: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Supernatural Ministries. 

  If you've read Relevant Magazine you've probably read something written by Jesse Carey and if you've listened to the Relevant Podcast you've laughed out loud at something he's said.  Jesse joins me to talk about said magazine and podcast, also journalism, and being star struck when he met Lebowski himself, Jeff Bridges.   If you liked this episode then you might also like… Seminary Dropout 017:...

My guest today is Austin Channing Brown. Austin collaborates with various Christian ministries who are moving forward a vision of racial reconciliation and socioeconomic understanding. She also works as a Resident Director and Multicultural Liaison for Calvin College. Whether speaking, training, facilitating dialogue or planning strategies, Austin loves the messy work of reconciliation. You can fi...

Josh Butler is a pastor at Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon.  He oversees the church's city ministries in areas like foster care, human traffichikng, and homelessness; and develops international partnerships in areas like clean water, HIV-support, and church planting. Butler is also a worhsip leader who enjoys writing music for the life of the church. affiliate link Is God a sadistic tortur...

K aren Swallow Prior is a Professor of English at Liberty University inLynchburg, Virginia. She is a contributing writer for Christianity Today, The Atlantic, In Touch, and Think Christian. Her writing has also appeared at Comment, Relevant, Books and Culture, Fieldnotes, The Well, and Salvo. She has spoken at numerous writing conferences including the Festival of Faith and Writing and the Roanoke...

  Arleen Spenceley joins me on the show with a better way to talk about sex, singleness, and chastity. Arleen has a master’s degree in rehabilitation and mental health counseling from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the same university. On her blog  arleenspenceley.com  you’ll find posts designed to encourage critical thought about relationships and sex;...

  Kyle Canty is a married father of three. He works for Lifeway as the P2 Missions and World Changers City Representative for Philadelphia. He is also an assistant pastor at Great Commission Church located in Philadelphia. He holds a B.S. (Bible) and M.S. (Christian Counseling) Degrees from Cairn University and an MDiv (Urban Studies) from Biblical Theological Seminary (Hatfield, PA) and is curren...

Carl Medearis is an international expert in the field of Arab-American and Muslim-Christian relations. He acts as a catalyst for a number of current movements in the Middle East to promote peace-making, as well as cultural, political and religious dialog leading toward reconciliation. He is the author of the acclaimed book on these issues, Muslims, Christians and Jesus. Carl, his wife Chris, and t...

Maybe you know Shauna Niequist from one of her many books or maybe you know her from the Relevant Podcast. Shauna has been writing for awhile about faith, food, and life. We talk about all of  this plus her upcoming book and more. 

J ohn G. Stackhouse, Jr. is an award-winning scholar and public communicator who has spent years adventurously mapping our complex cultural terrain, identifying both its worthy achievements and its zones of confusion. He collects research from a wide range of sources, corrects currently popular interpretations, and connects audiences with information and insight they can put immediately into pract...

B rian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a Christian congregation located in the heartland of America in Saint Joseph, Missouri. For 31 years, Brian and his wife Peri’s vision for the church has been to be an authentic expression of the Kingdom of Jesus in a modern world. Brian is known for his focus on embracing the deep and long history of the Church and wholeheartedly...