The Antioch Podcast

In the past few weeks, the Trump administration has sent large numbers of Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement agents to Minneapolis in response to charges of fraud among a small number of immigrants in the Somali community there. This was not a targeted action, but a massive undertaking arresting many people who were, and who were … Continue reading Episode 339 – When Protesters Are K...

I grew up in a country church in rural America where we sang hymns from old navy-blue hymnals every Sunday. One of our congregation’s favorites was the hymn “This Is My Father’s World.” The first two verses celebrate God’s providence and majesty displayed through the natural world. And in the third verse, the tone of … Continue reading Episode 338: What is Economic Justice? – “Wh...

Scripture has a list of qualities that represent what it means to be a follower of Jesus known as the fruit of the Spirit. This is the evidence of a Spirit-filled life, a life focused on reflecting the qualities of Jesus to the rest of the world. Ideally, this list would describe what a Christian … Continue reading Episode 337: Goodness, Self-Control and Other Virtues – “Characte...

Character counts. I try to read at least one book every year about leadership in my role as a clinical director at a multisite therapy practice. Almost every book essentially talks about the characteristics of good leaders. These kinds of character traits impact how to listen, how to give feedback in a respectful and clear … Continue reading Episode 336: The Fruit of the Spirit for Leaders &...

John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, was a prophet with a short-lived period of influence. There had not been a prophet in Israel for 400 years before John showed up on the scene. During this period of silence, the Jewish people were first ruled by the Greeks and then the Romans. Now John was … Continue reading Episode 335: Prophetic Leadership – “Characteristics of Biblical Le...

Through much of my career, I have found myself being pulled into positions of leadership, whether it is leading small groups or teams, leading church congregations, or routinely sitting in meetings where policies are made that affect both staff and clients. I once worked for a pastor who wisely told me that leaders “never get … Continue reading Episode 334: Biblical Leadership – Charac...

What thoughts go through your mind when you hear of a politically motivated shooting? Does it matter to you who was harmed or killed? In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, some Christians are calling for revenge, and some are calling for restraint. In this episode, our team of Christian antiracism educators and friends have … Continue reading Episode 333: Christlike Resistance In the...

We are in a series where we are giving Biblical Counter-Narratives to anti-Christian messages being increasingly pushed in America. We are calling this series our “RILED” series, where we talk about Racial Justice, Immigration, Leadership, Economic Justice and Diversity. We are talking about them, because the Bible has a lot to say on these topics, … Continue reading Episode 332: Biblical Co...

We are in a series where we are giving Biblical Counter-Narratives to anti-Christian messages being increasingly pushed in America. We are calling this series our “RILED” series, where we talk about Racial Justice, Immigration, Leadership, Economic Justice and Diversity. We are talking about them, because the Bible has a lot to say on these topics, … Continue reading Episode 331: Biblical Co...

We are in a series where we are giving Biblical Counter-Narratives to anti-Christian messages being increasingly pushed in America. We are calling this series our “RILED” series, where we talk about Racial Justice, Immigration, Leadership, Economic Justice and Diversity. We are talking about them, because the Bible has a lot to say on these topics, … Continue reading Episode 330: Biblical Co...

It is not uncommon for people to have some level of apprehension about the unknown. I recall the first time I ate sashimi – beautiful slices of raw fish served in sushi restaurants. I had never eaten raw fish before, and had a suspicion that eating any uncooked fish would make me sick. However, I … Continue reading Episode 329: Biblical Counter-Narratives – “Immigrants are a Bles...

As a therapist, I spend my week listening to people’s stories. I’ve heard thousands of stories, and from listening to these stories, I have a number of thoughts about what makes certain stories powerful to people, and other stories more incidental. Often, it isn’t the events of the story that are most important, it is … Continue reading Episode 328: Biblical Counter-Narratives – &#8220...

What does it mean to be a podcast about Biblical Antiracism during a time when every week it seems that civil rights are attacked, people are being rounded up and arrested, and disagreement and speaking out is met with increasing levels of suppression. While some faith leaders are boldly speaking out, others are timidly wringing … Continue reading Episode 327: Biblical Counter-Narratives &#8...

Since January, we have been discussing Jemar Tisby’s latest book “The Spirit of Justice”, looking at the stories of Black Christians and their allies who were inspired by scripture to work for racial justice. Today, our team gathered around the mics to talk about what we have learned so far on our journey though this … Continue reading Episode 326: The Spirit of Justice – “Storie...

Harriet Tubman is one of the most recognized and celebrated figures in American History. After escaping from slavery, she returned across the Mason Dixon line 13 times to free individuals from slavery. Estimates range from 70-300 people who were freed because of her efforts, with dozens of others who found freedom following her instructions. In … Continue reading Episode 325: The Spirit of J...

John Williams is a frequent guest and friend of the Antioch Podcast known for his deep Christian faith and commitment to healing the church in America through truth telling, racial justice and repair. As the executive director of The Center for Restorative Justice in Pasadena, California, we are honored to have John join us today … Continue reading Episode 324: John Williams – “R...

What is worth fighting and dying for? For many people, it is the prospect of safety for those they care about which is more likely to happen when someone has the liberty to live in freedom from oppression. Captain Thomas Higgenson, a white abolitionist, led a nearly all-black unit in the Union Army. Writing in … Continue reading Episode 323: The Spirit of Justice – “Fighting for...

Listen to Psalm 36, the lyrics of which contrast the way evil people use power with that of God. 1 I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. 2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to … Continue reading Episode 322: The Spirit of Justice – “Radicals.”

Have you ever tried to read the Bible from cover to cover? I know that when many try, they do pretty well getting through the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but lose interest as they start Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books of laws can seem archaic and difficult to understand to the contemporary reader, … Continue reading Episode 321: The Spirit of Justice – “Resisti...

How long can you walk? I have a desk job, and because of that, I don’t get an opportunity to move around much. But I do walk when I’m not at the office, though when I am walking alone, I often grow bored and want to head home to be with people. I really want … Continue reading Episode 320: Sustainable Solidarity – “Considering Capacity.”

Have you ever been so moved by something in the news that you felt powerful emotions afterwards? In the age of social media and 24-7 news coverage, we may find that we have an overload of information that make us feel those emotions. But in the period leading up to the American Revolution, words similarly … Continue reading Episode 319: The Spirit of Justice – “The Language of Li...

Words change people. I remember when I was a young social worker, I was assigned to meet with a new client whom I had a strong bias about. I was convinced that this person and I had very little in common, and that this individual was someone potentially dangerous. So I was guarded as I … Continue reading Episode 318: The Spirit of Justice – “The Language of Liberty Part 1.”

Dates tell a story. My wife and I will often calculate the decades that we have known each other, and reflect on the fact that at this point in our relationship, we have been together longer than we have lived with our families of origin. As an inter-racial couple, sometimes this prompts questions about how … Continue reading Episode 317: The Spirit of Justice – “1619.”

What does it mean to be Black? From the time of Columbus to the time before the American Revolution, people with ancestry from Africa were present through every era of American history. Yet, what this meant varied over time. During the colonial period before the American Revolution, while ideas of superiority and inferiority were a … Continue reading Episode 316: The Spirit of Justice &#8211...

Today, we are going to be talking about whitelash. What is whitelash? According to Jemar Tisby, it is like a social version of Newton’s Third Law: for every antiracist action there will be an equal (or disproportionate) and opposite reaction. Historical examples: after the civil war freed slaves, Jim Crow laws oppressed these newly freed … Continue reading Episode 315: The Spirit of Justice...