Episode 008: The Privilege to NOT Vote

Episode 009: Our 2024 Election Predictions!

Send a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2215758/open_sms] James Decker is a rural mayor. Dan Stewart is a rural pastor. Both care deeply about their local community and want to make Stamford TX better! This is not a podcast on politics or theology, but a conversation on how to be a good neighbor... Be sure to check out our bookshop.org book list [https://bookshop.org/lists/rural-church-and-state] to order the books we're reading! If you purchase from that list, it will generate a small commission to help grow The Rural Church & State Podcast. On this episode, we give our election predictions! It's a short episode, but we give our best guess based on election polls around the country! What We've Been Reading: (author - title) James Decker - J. Russell Smith - Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture - Louis L'Amour - The Man from the Broken Hills Dan Stewart - Willa Cather - Death Comes for the Archbishop - Montesquieu - Catherine Volpilhac-Auger - Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance

Episode 008: The Privilege to NOT Vote

Send a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2215758/open_sms] James Decker is a rural mayor. Dan Stewart is a rural pastor. Both care deeply about their local community and want to make Stamford TX better! This is not a podcast on politics or theology, but a conversation on how to be a good neighbor... Be sure to check out our bookshop.org book list [https://bookshop.org/lists/rural-church-and-state] to order the books we're reading! If you purchase from that list, it will generate a small commission to help grow The Rural Church & State Podcast. On this episode. Dan and James discuss the the false dichotomy that many people feel in national elections: picking the lesser of two evils. Instead, we should be involved in our local government and care for the community. What We've Been Reading: (author - title) James Decker - Willa Cather - Death Comes for the Archbishop.  Book Link here [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780679728894] - Louis L'Amour - Lando. Book Link here [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780553276763] - Norman Wirzba - This Sacred Life. Book Link here [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9781009012584] Dan Stewart - Charles Marsch - Strange Glory. Book Link here [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780307390387] - Arthur Herman - How Scots Invented the Modern World. Book Link here [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780609809990] - Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings. Book Link here [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780765365279] - James SA Corey - The Mercy of Gods. Book Link here [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780316525572]

Episode 007: Into the Kingdom

Send a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2215758/open_sms] James Decker is a rural mayor. Dan Stewart is a rural pastor. Both care deeply about their local community and want to make Stamford TX better! This is not a podcast on politics or theology, but a conversation on how to be a good neighbor... Be sure to check out our bookshop.org book list [https://bookshop.org/lists/rural-church-and-state] to order the books we're reading! If you purchase from that list, it will generate a small commission to help grow The Rural Church & State Podcast. On this episode. Dan and James discuss the need to have a Christian politick first, before we build our opinion on American politics. We look at the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus' guiding light for His followers to follow. The Sermon on the Mount is not some "pie-in-the-sky" utopia, but it is the way for Christians to reflect the Kingdom of Heaven. What We've Been Reading: James Decker - Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780143035008] - John Steinbeck - Cannery Row - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780140187373] - The Southern Agrarians - I'll Take My Stand - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780807132081] Dan Stewart - Andrew Root - The Pastor in a Secular Age - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-pastor-in-a-secular-age-ministry-to-people-who-no-longer-need-a-god-andrew-root/7726416?ean=9780801098475] - Marc Morris - The Anglo-Saxons - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9781639362110] - Fareed Zakaria - The Age of Revolutions - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780393239232] - Jacques Ellul - Spiritual Writings - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9781498288637] - Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780765365279]

Bonus Episode: Wendell Berry Primer

Send a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2215758/open_sms] Here is the bonus episode for The Rural Church & State Podcast. If you have interest in Wendell Berry, check this podcast out!

Episode 006: Political Season is Coming!

Send a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2215758/open_sms] James Decker is a rural mayor. Dan Stewart is a rural pastor. Both care deeply about their local community and want to make Stamford TX better! This is not a podcast on politics or theology, but a conversation on how to be a good neighbor... Be sure to check out our bookshop.org book list [https://bookshop.org/lists/rural-church-and-state] to order the books we're reading! If you purchase from that list, it will generate a small commission to help grow The Rural Church & State Podcast. On this episode, Dan and James discuss the upcoming election, and give an introductory episode into thinking about rural America in your political platform. In this introduction, James gives us a closer look into Wendell Berry and how Wendell has shaped his understanding of localized politics. What We've Been Reading: James Decker    John Graves - Goodbye to a River - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/p/books/goodbye-to-a-river-a-narrative-john-graves/8529784?ean=9780375727788]                                - Hard Scrabble - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/p/books/hard-scrabble-observations-on-a-patch-of-land-john-graves/7360067?ean=9781477309353]                                - From a Limestone Ledge - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/p/books/from-a-limestone-ledge-some-essays-and-other-ruminations-about-country-life-in-texas-john-graves/7360078?ean=9781477309360]    Myles Werntz - A Field Guide to Christian Nonviolence - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9781540960122] Dan Stewart    Robin Hobb - Assassin's Apprentice - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780593722824]                                - Royal Assassin - Book Link [ https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780553573411]                                - Assassin's Quest - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780593722848]    Tim Alberta - The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9780063226883] Localism Without Nostalgia - Adam Smith. Front Porch Republic [https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/01/localism-without-nostalgia/] Wendell Berry: 1. Jayber Crow - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9781582431604] 2. The Unsettling of America. - Book Link [https://bookshop.org/a/99891/9781619025998]