The Learning Laborers

Taylor and Denver interview Tommy Preson Phillips, lead pastor and elder of Watermark Church in Tampa, FL. The discussion touches on various topics from ministering to those who are "deconstructing," staying up to date with scholarship, pastoral ministry, etc. But the primary topic of discussion concerns Paul's letter to the Romans. Tommy did his Masters in New Testament with Scot Mc...

What did first-century baptisms look like? How was it similar to other rituals of the time? How was it different? In this episode Taylor interviews Denver about baptism in the early church. Denver believes that a thoughtful examination of the historical and cultural context of this important ritual will lead to an even richer understanding of its theological significance for the church today. Toge...

Why do we need mission agencies? And how should churches relate to them? In this episode, Denver sits down with Dr. Robert Blincoe to discuss the two structures of the church: ecclesial bodies and apostolic bands. Bob believes there is good evidence that these two structures go all the way back to the first century, and he has studied their dynamic relationship throughout church history. As a lead...

Denver and Taylor have a chat with Nika Spaulding. They discuss her role as the resident theologian at her church, where she leads their midweek theology classes. They explore some topics in scholarship that Nika has incorporated in her teachings - things like Barclay’s work on grace and textual criticism. Nika also talks about how she inspires a culture of learning in her church. She gets into ho...

Referencing the work of John Barclay, Denver and Taylor discuss the notion of "grace." What is the grace of God? How does understanding gift-giving in the ancient world help us understand grace? How does the circularity or reciprocity of grace impact how we think about salvation and works? And if you are a ministry laborer that is interested in studying further, Taylor gives three sugges...

Grant Porter grew up in Australia but served with Operation Mobilization beginning in 1982 when he joined a short-term outreach in Singapore and Malaysia. Grant has a heart for mobilizing, evangelism and church planting. He has a PhD in Theology from the Vrije University in Amsterdam. He met his wife, Laura, while serving with OM, they have three children and three grandchildren. Grant has served...

Brenden is the Residency and Formation Minister at Third City Christian Church in Grand Island, Nebraska. Brenden is also in the DMin of New Testament Context program at Northern Seminary. His wife Rachel also serves at Third City as the Outreach Minister and they have two kids - Haden and Scotty.  In this episode, Denver & Taylor talk with Brenden about how to teach the Bible with a nod...

Denver and Taylor interview Matt Kimbrough. Matt currently serves at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri as the associate professor of theology inn the division of Christian Ministry. He earned a PhD in Biblical Studies from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing articles, blog posts, and academic papers, he is also co-author of Square One: Back to the Basics...

Denver and Taylor both share instances of how scholarship has helped their ministry. Denver shares how his study of parables has encouraged his missionary team to tell good stories as part of their evangelism. Taylor shares how scholarship has generally helped him to hold up the Bible as a beautiful book to explore, and more specifically he talks about how his study of Jewish interpretation has sh...

Denver and Taylor have a short conversation about why the Learning Laborers exists and what listeners can expect from the podcast.  Check out our website . Support us on patreon .

An introductory episode from Denver and Taylor. Taylor is a pastor and Denver is a missionary. Both are Doctorate of Ministry students. We love to study the Bible and theology, but we also feel called by Christ to labor in the fields of ministry. Sometimes people in our position are led to believe they must choose between being a capable scholar and having a fruitful ministry. But we believe that...