In the episode, we talk about many things related to New Testament theology including the meaning of the term “gospel,” understanding Paul’s letters in their historical and biblical context, the importance of resurrection (over the significance of “going to heaven when you die”), the meaning of “hell,” and other personal things about his spiritual and theological journey. We also talk about the polarization in American Christianity and other contemporary issues.

David and Myles recently wrote a book called A Field Guide to Christian Nonviolence and this is the topic of our conversation. We discuss a biblical case for nonviolence and some pushbacks including the conquest of Canaan. We also discuss the killer at the door, policing, nonviolent revolts, and pulling up violent systems by the roots.

I received a ton of questions from my Patreon supporters, many of which I answered through Patreon, but some of which I address out loud in this podcast.

In this podcast conversation, Liz and Aaron share their story and talk about what it’s like being in a queer marriage--a term they prefer over “mixed orientation marriage,” since their orientations aren’t really mixed.

Dr. Tim Gombis is a no-holds-barred honest scholar, who’s not afraid to go to the hard places and challenge the status quo. And that’s exactly what we do in this episode. We discuss the undiscussables; say the quiet things out loud, and push over sacred cows as we seek to get to know Jesus all over again. This episode is a mix of exegetical exploration and cultural analysis (or critique).

Is it a sin to be gay? Would you attend a church that has a gay pastor? What does it mean to be gay? There is still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the term gay and what it means to be a gay Christian. I discuss these issues at length, which leads into Misty Irons’ incredible talk she gave at this year’s Revoice Conference.

In this podcast, we talk about the efficacy of the vaccine, the concept of herd immunity, the efficacy of natural immunity, the Great Barrington Declaration, who’s at risk of dying from Covid, and many other things related to the pandemic.

In this conversation, we talk about her (or our) journey into a fuller understanding of grace, along with her perspective on the biblical counseling movement. We then discuss various issues related to women in the church, including the so-called Billy Graham rule.

John Mark is the founding pastor of Bridgetown Church, right in the center of the city (by Powell's Books if you've ever been to Portland) and is the author of six books: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, God has a Name, Garden City, Loveology, My Name is Hope, and the recently released Live No Lies, which is the topic of our conversation. He’s also currently starting a non-profit called Practicing the Way, which aims to create resources for discipleship and formation in local churches in post-Christian contexts (coming in Fall 2022).

Yup, we go there. Vaccines. I didn’t even intend to go here, but our conversation sort of spilled over into a conversations about the efficacy of vaccines, why there’s “vaccine hesitancy,” and how the unvaccinated are potentially enabling the creation of new variants that could be more deadly. We also talk about what the advent of the Covid pandemic means for the future world. Basically, our future will look vastly different and the church will need to make some serious changes.

In this episode, Dr. Jenning helps us understand how the book of Acts critiques empire and imperial values, and also how the early Christians in the book of Acts were wrestling with ethnic reconciliation and inclusion. Toward the end of the episode, we talk about the concept of “Whiteness”--what it means, what it doesn’t mean, and how it can be a useful tool for people to use to think through the history and politics of race.

Kimi is an artist, YouTuber, skater, musician, and a has been speaking out about her journey through the topic of race and racism. Kimi had absorbed a certain perspective on race that viewed many things as micro aggressions, but it created so much anxiety and depression in her life that she decided to have a more charitable and, in her words, Christian perspective on race, where forgiveness is the key to freedom and reconciliation.

Matt Chandler is a pastor, speaker, and writer. He’s been pastoring The Village Church in Texas for 18 years and is the president of Acts29. In this podcast, we talk about how he’s handled the last couple of years of politics and Covid--and all the polarization that comes with this.