465 I'm a Believer Now, What's Next? Mission

475 Theology Uncorked|The Beauty of God's Judgment?

Our culture despises judgment. But it's not just judgments in a legal setting that are so disdained, it is discrimination—choosing anything over anything else—that our culture finds disgusting. That attitude has crept into the Church. In this vivid episode I work through how it is that we should look forward to the day of our judgment! The cosmos itself eagerly anticipates God's final judgment day, the Day of the Lord. To make my case I work through both some of Jesus' own sayings and what the book of Revelation shows us about judgment. At the show's beginning I muse on the recent election of Democratic Socialists in New York. I also make a rare pastoral challenge to all my listeners. Here near the 4th of July, I muse on the glory of America's Independence Day. Come think, wonder, and worship with me.

474 Theology Uncorked|Bible Alone? Who Gets to Decide?

Many Evangelical churches today are "Bible-alone" communities. Or, or they think they are. In this theology uncorked episode I explain both why the Bible-alone perspective is not why the Bible was inspired, written, or preserved and why it is actually an impossibility. To make the case, I give examples. First, when I, in junior high, was beginning to read the Bible "for me." And second, from my time in Bible school when another student, reflecting on his devotional, said, "I learned that God is like a motorcycle." Then, from my time as a prof, I note how Calvary Chapel students especially (but not at all only) wanted to take a Bible-alone position; what they didn't know but what I knew was that they had made Chuck Smith into their new Pope, or their new Vatican. Let's think through why God gave us the Bible, and what is the role of the Bible's authority in both the Christian life and the Church community. Oh, and in the pod's opening I reflect on a biblical perspective concerning civilization; does God care or does he only care about who goes to heaven and hell?

473 Theology Uncorked|Theology Good and Bad

First in a new series, let's uncork us some theology! Across the pod I will explain why "just the Bible alone" (Protestant) perspectives aren't possible, what are the time-tested definitions of theology (& why theologians like definitions), why reason plays a role in Christian theology, the long-standing interface between theology and philosophy, and the role of culture on and in theology. And then, what makes theology good, helpful, and edifying? What makes theology bad, destructive, and soul-poisoning? At the show's opening I work through—noting the Bible's own cues about government—the election debacle in Los Angeles. Come and enjoy a laugh along the way with me.

472 What's Next? Distilling Grace in Everyday Life

It is common Christian fodder to discuss grace in the role of our salvation. But what about grace for everyday living? What does that look like? Mark and I think through several different angles of grace: divine-enablement? Relational co-dependency? Death to the self (what does that look like)? What about grace and pride? By accepting God's grace does one just become a puppet on a divine string? It may be helpful to think of grace as space, making space for the other. If we consider grace as divine enablement rather than solely unmerited favor we can press in even further into following Christ across our lives.

471 What's Next? Walking Shoes Required—Active Faith

There's the faith of salvation and then there's the faith of daily life (two sides of the same coin). In this conversational episode Mark and I work through what it means to live by faith in our regular lives. For starters, Christian faith is submitting to the Lordship of Christ and his revelation, word, value system, and kingdom. Flowing out of that, faith means living toward something, or better toward someone. Along the way we rule out different things that Christian faith is not, those against common cultural and Christian sub-cultural assumptions. Just one of those "faith is nots" is pure subjective experience; faith is not reducible to a burning in a bosom. How? Why? What are both the objective and subjective elements of Christian faith? And then, do we balance or integrate the objective and subjective elements? Come and think about the Christian life with us in ways that run sometimes contrary to common assumptions.