Netarts Friends Church Podcast

Everyone hungers for real, concrete, lived experiences with the life-giving Spirit of God. We wish we knew what God was going to do next because we want to know what's going to happen next in every area of life. We all want to experience life in predictable ways. We live our lives by predictions. Our brains are wired to make predictions. This creates tension with a spiritual experience with the Spirit, whom Jesus compares to the wind. Credits & Sources: New York Post, Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Richard Rohrbaugh, Bruce Malina, Cyndi Parker, Ralph Lewis.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(8/20/23)

This is the story of Thomas Oden discovering that new doesn't always equal better. It is also an introduction to Historic Orthodoxy. It is an invitation to read someone ancient and discover a wisdom that is relevant for today. Credits & Sources:Thomas Oden, Chris Hall, Brian Ross, Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, Jesse Blasdel.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(7/23/23)

Shame is the most primitive and universal emotional experience of disconnection from self, others, and God that exists. This episode explores how shame affects us, helps us identify voices in our lives that are speaking messages of shame, and helps us identify the voice of God. Credits & Sources:Mark Baker, Peter Scazzero, Curt Thompson, Tim Jennings, Brene Brown, James Bryan Smith, Lewis Smedes, Lynn Jost, C.S. Lewis, St. Augustine.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(7/16/23)

When tragedies strike of evil happens people can be left asking extremely difficult questions. These five concepts certainly won't answer every question, but they can help. For a more in depth dive on these questions, check out our Perspectives on Suffering series at Perspectives on Suffering (2020) – Netarts Friends Church.Credits & Sources:Terrence Fretheim, Samuel Balentine, Jessica Kelly, Greg Boyd, Austin Fischer, Craig Broyles.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(7/9/23)

These experiences can become a very real crisis of faith. This is where a lot of people walk away from God. God isn't showing up in the way that they expect and so they conclude that God isn't coming, or maybe there isn't any God to begin with? This episode explores the anatomy of this kind of crisis of faith. It wrestles with the experience of calling out to God and experiencing no response from God. Credits & Sources:Austin Fischer, Greg Boyd, Peter Enns, Frederick Buechner. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(7/2/23)

This episode explores the way Christians relate to science when it comes to the origin of the universe and creation. It looks at the upsides and challenges of six of the different ways that Christians of deep and abiding faith understand the creation of the universe.Credits & Sources:Greg Boyd, Brian Zahnd, Rebekah Townsend, Brian Ross, Renee Durbin, Brian Moll, Eric Versluis, Paul Barber, Eric Miller, Francis Collins, Pew Research Center, Norman Geisler, Frank Turek, Kurt Willems, Andrina G. Hanson, Yancey Arrington, Gerald Schroeder, Austin Fischer, Charles Darwin, Jonathan Sacks, Vern Hyndman, Peter Enns, Jared Byas, Steven Hawking.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(6/25/23)

Faith & Dout Series Part 8.Everyone wants to ask about how the book of Genesis lines up with the theory of evolution? And did Noah load up a bunch of baby dinosaurs on the ark? Or if he didn't, why didn't he? Etc.These are questions that the ancient editors of Genesis couldn't have imagined. This episode looks at understanding the book of Genesis in light of the ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian origin stories that Israel's neighbors were telling. Credits & Sources:T. Desmond Alexander, Terrence Fretheim, Peter Enns, Walter Brueggemann, Jared Byas, Daniel Harlow, Kurt Willems, John H. Walton, John Goldingay, Janet Kellog Ray, Austin Fischer, Barna Research.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(6/18/23)

One of the very real cracks in people's faith comes when they read a story in the Bible that is just too bizarre to believe, or they watch a documentary where archaeology and history don't line up with the Bible? This episode explores these very real questions. Credits & Sources:Tim Geddert, Peter Enns, Terry Brensinger, Greg Boyd, Terrence Fretheim, John Walton, G.A. Klingbeil, Austin Fischer.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(6/11/23)

When the average person on the street in North America hears the word "repent", what does that word mean to them? How does this cultural understanding of the word "repent" affect their sense of faith and doubt? What did Jesus mean when he invited people to repent and how might this invitation be helpful to our sense of faith and doubt? Credits & Sources:Adam Grant, Robert Sapolsky, Jonathon Haidt, Richard Beck, Paul Rozin, Erving Goffman, Debra Hirsh, Mark Baker, Austin Fischer, Brian Zahnd, Peter Enns, Moises Silva, Greg Boyd, and Robert Cialdini.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(6/4/23)

What are we supposed to do with the fact that behind nearly every story of the Bible being used to hurt and harm; behind nearly every story of a church split; behind every story of Christians excluding Christians lies a story about someone(s) with a desire to get the Bible right? Getting the Bible right sounds like such a good a noble desire, and yet there are so many stories of harm. Credit & Sources: Gordon Conwell Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Peter Enns, Austin Fischer, Brian Zahnd, Brian Ross, Gregory of Nyssa, and Brad Jersak.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(5/28/23)

Many people have experienced the Bible being used as a weapon. They have seen it used to hurt others. For some, that's enough to walk away from the Bible. For many, walking away from the Bible means walking away from their spiritual community they were journeying with as well. This episode explores these challenges.Credits and Sources: Austin Fischer, Nell Irvin Painter, Jonathan Greer, John Hilber, John Walton, Karen R. Keen, Peter Enns, Esau McCaulley, J, G. McConville, Terrence Fretheim, and Kenneth Tanner.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(5/25/23)  

The story of "Doubting Thomas" has been used to make a lot of people feel like doubting isn't a very "Christian" thing to do. After all, didn't Jesus basically tell Thomas to knock it off with all of the asking for proof stuff? Didn't Jesus give props to anyone who stops asking questions and just accepts what their friends say? There's just one problem with this reading of the "Doubting" Thomas story, and it's kind of a big problem...Credits & Sources:Craig Keener, Frederick Dale Bruner, Dan White Jr., Writings of Josephus, Matthew Murray, Chris Keith, Larry Hurtado, Shaye Cohen, Paula Fredriksen, Gerhard Lofhink, William Barclay, Jerome, William Steuart McBirnie.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(5/14/23)

I wouldn't call this talk a sermon or a teaching. It's a discovery and it's based on data. It's based on answers that the Netarts Friends Church family provided to questions about their own faith and doubts. We all have ideas about the best way out of or through our doubts. But like a mountain climber trying to scramble up an impossible ravine at the wrong place, we can end up wasting a lot of energy trying to make our way out of our doubts in all of the wrong ways and at the wrong places. What we need is an invisible hand reaching out to guide us through our darkest valleys of doubt. What if this discovery might show you something about how God comes to you in your doubts?Credits and Sources:Austin Fischer, Brian Zahnd, Peter Enns.All answers shared by the Netarts Friends Church family appear as shared unless slightly edited to help retain anonymity. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(5/6/23)

This episode introduces the things that have rocked the faith of Netarts Friends Church family the most. We will spend the rest of this series exploring various aspects of these doubts. Credits: Tim Geddert, Brian Zahnd, Greg Boyd, Adam Grant, Austin Fischer, Peter Enns, Moises Silva, and Chris Thyberg.All doubts shared by Netarts Friends Church family appear as shared unless slightly edited to help retain anonymity. Music Credits: Tyler Chester and Michael GungorFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(4/23/23)

What if your life is mysteriously somehow a participation in the suffering death and resurrection of Jesus? How do you find your place in the various parts of the story? Music Credits: Tyler Chester and Michael GungorFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(4/09/23)

The question is not IF you put God into a box. It is simply HOW you put God into a box, and if you are aware of the ways you put God into a box. We aren't all rigid in the same ways, but we are all rigid in some way. We do not try to keep the same kind of order, but we all have a drive to keep order in some way. In some way, we all put God into a box. God is always somehow bigger/broader/different/other than the box we put God into. Credits & Sources: Brennan Manning, Rebekah Drumsta, Blaise Pascal, Tim Geddert.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(3/19/23)

We live in a world that expects educators and professionals to demystify the world and explain everything. We want to understand everything. We want the one right answer to every question. This episode invites you to explore the ancient path of learning that Jesus invited his disciples on. It invites you to embrace both the ancient and the new. Credits & Sources:Tim Geddert, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, M. J. Wilkins, Luise Schottroff, Adam Grant, Austin Fischer, Scot McKnight, Frederick Dale Bruner, Richard Gardner, Dallas Willard, N.T. Wright, Donald Hagner, David Wenham, Thomas Oden, Moises Silva, G. Thellman, D. Edmond Hiebert. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(3/5/23)

The stats say that the vast majority of people have nobody who they regularly confess their sins to. They are left carrying whatever sense of guilt, shame, and unforgiveness they carry alone. They are left to their own sense of forgiveness. Might we be suffering from that? What does it look like to imagine it differently? Credits & Sources: Justo Gonzalez, Brian Ross, Steve Cuss, Brian Zahnd, Terry Hargrave, Lewis Smedes, Herbert McCabe, Moises Silva, Vern Hyndman, Luke Timothy Johnson, Elsa Tamez, Christian Miller, Bessel Van Der Kolk, Herb Kopp, Greg Boyd and Pew Research Center.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(2/26/23)

People's faith gets shattered on this stuff. Lives hang in the balance....and lives are changed and enriched positively by healing prayers. There are beautiful stories and tragic stories. This episode is not so much a declaration of the one way to understand prayers for healing in the midst of suffering as it is an exploration of what Scripture says and how God might meet us together in our various human experiences of suffering.Credits & Sources:Fred Pratt Green, Willard Swartley, Michelle Jenck, National Institutes of Health, Tim Geddert, Craig Keener, Moises Silva, Steven Runge, Scot McKnight, Pheme Perkins, Herb Kopp, Luke Timothy Johnson, John Walton, Victor Matthews, Mark Chavalas, Roland K. Harrison, Edwin Yamauchi, Douglass Moo, Cornel Rempel, J.A. Motyer. Rodney Stark. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(2/19/23)

It isn't a conservative thing or a liberal thing. It's a human thing. We tend to give our loyalty to systems and authorities. We want a home team. There are upsides and downsides (even dark sides) to blindly following the advice, suggestions, and instructions of those in authority. What does ancient Christian spirituality have to say about blindly following those in authority? Credits & Sources: Robert Cialdini, Lindsay Morgia, Suzanne Bearne, Phillip Hallie, National Geographic, Richard Rohr, Adam Grant, Frederick Dale Bruner, Boyd V. Seevers, Craig Blomberg, Luke Timothy Johnson, Scot McKnight, Brian Zahnd, Martin Lindstrom, and Kara Alaimo.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(2/11/23)

We live in a world full of injustice. It's systemic, historic, personal, and private. It touches the food we eat, clothes we wear, financial systems, land we live on, and on and on. Facing injustice can be exhausting. It can be overwhelming. Sometimes you are caught in the middle of it. Sometimes you are looking on from the bleachers, from a position of privilege as other people's lives are torn apart. Either way, what are you do to and what does the ancient spirituality of James the brother of Jesus have to offer? Credits & Sources:Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid, Elsa Tamez, Craig Keener, Luke Timothy Johnson, Herb Kopp, Scot McKnight, Mark Baker, Mary J. Evans, Robert S. Fyall, Justo Gonzalez, John Walton, Victor Matthews, and Mark Chavalas.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(2/4/23)

Use this short reflection on silence as an introduction to your own spiritual experience of silence and mediation. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(1/29/23)

We all have things. Accumulating things is part of life. It's part of survival. Who's to say how much money you can have in the bank before it begins to destroy your soul? Who's to say how many pairs of shoes you can have before your heart begins to shrivel? Whether it's your vehicle, your home, or your bank account, we all have emotions underneath all of our "having". This episode explores these questions in a meditative way. Credits and Sources:Vern Hyndman, Mark Baker, Pedrito Maynard-Reid, Elsa Tamez, Craig Keener, Luke Timothy Johnson, Steven Runge, Herb Kopp, Scot McKnight, William Herzog, Prepare/Enrich. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(1/15/23)

Planning. It's the fabric of our lives. Things can go so right, and so wrong. We all want to live in a world that we design, yet life is fragile. It can change in an instant. How does our drive to make plans, be consumers, and have cool experiences intersect with our spirituality? Credits & Sources: Herbert Kopp, Steven Runge, Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid, Elsa Tamez, Craig Keener, Gerhard Lenski, Bruce Winters, William Herzog II., Scot McKnight, John Stott, Richard Bauckham, Craig Blomberg, and Moises Silva. Music Credits: Tyler Chester and Michael GungorFor more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(1/8/23)

The way we feel about judgement certainly is a paradox. It's a contradiction. We long and ache for judgement. We want the wrongs to be made right. We don't want others to get away with things. We want to think of ourselves as "the good guys". And....we hate being judged. We hate people tearing down our character and assuming they know why we did what we did. We hate being spoken down to. Is there a way to practice an honest, humble, and integrity-filled spirituality in the midst of this experience? Credits & Sources: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, David DeSilva, Charles Wesley, Peter Scazzero, Moises Silva, Luke Timothy Johnson, Scott McKnight, John Stott, Pheme Perkins, Kenneth Tanner, Vernon H. Alexander, Henry Montgomery, Mark Labberton.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(12/18/22)

Life is full of mixed experiences where we want God, and we don't want God. This episode explores God's response when we are sending God all kinds of mixed and painful messages. Credits & Sources: Herb Kopp, Craig Keener, Elsa Tamez, Pheme Perkins, Steven Runge, Peter Davids, Luke Timothy Johnson, Scot McKnight, John Stott, Craig Blomberg, Richard Rohr, Brad Jersak, Paul Young, Brian Ross, Moises Silva, Marva Dawn. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(12/04/22)

Everyone handles conflict differently. We are all so different. How could it be possible to boil all conflict down to any root cause? This episode explores the ancient wisdom that finds a similar set of sources in every conflict. See if you cannot find these root causes within the latest conflict you have faced. Credits & Sources: Moises Silva, Steven Runge, Mort Fertel, Herb Kopp, Brian Ross, Luke Timothy Johnson, David Allen, Scot McKnight, Craig Blomberg, Lesslie Newbigin, Dalton Reimer, United State Institute for Peace.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/27/22)

Life has a million new situations to navigate. Everyone wants to feel like they are smart and have a good plan. Everyone wants to tell themselves they are navigating with wisdom and expertise. But what if there are two different "wisdoms"? What if there is a wisdom from above and a wisdom from below? Sometimes what seemed like a good plan at the time turns lives into chaos and ruins community. When we are navigating, how do we tell the difference between the two different "wisdoms"? Credits and Sources: Moises Silva, Herb Kopp, Pheme Perkins, Luke Timothy Johnson, Peter Davids, Craig Keener, Scot McKnight, and Brian Ross.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/20/22)

Words collect in us. They grow. They reverberate. They echo. They twist and distort our view of reality. We fail to realize the lethal and lifegiving power of words, and to treat them accordingly. Credits & Sources:Brad Jersak, Steve Cuss, Brian Ross, Richard Bauckham Mark Baker, Moises Silva, Pheme Perkins, Herb Kopp, Luke Timothy Johnson, Peter Davids, Scot McKnight, Ben Okri, Aida Spencer, Craig Keener, Craig Blomberg, Eric Miller, Gregory Boyle, and Madeleine L'Engle.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/13/22)

You are on the path to spiritual maturity when you begin to recognize the gap between your stated values and your lived values. This episode explores this theme.Credits and Sources:Tanya Gazdik, Roger Dooley, Tom Stafford, Jack Loechner, Bob Smietana, Christopher Wright, Pheme Perkins, Luke Timothy Johnson, Scot McKnight, Peter Davids, Brian Ross, Steven Runge, Herb Kopp, Richard Bauckham, Aida Spencer, Craig Keener, Benjamin Cremer.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(11/06/22)

How many times down through history have Christians been the ones responsible for discrimination, prejudice, and bias that has excluded and wounded vulnerable people? The ancient letter of James makes it clear that this tendency is nothing new, and that there is absolutely no substitute for loving your neighbor, and yes; everyone, every single person is your neighbor. Credits & Sources: Moises Silva, Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid, Elsa Tamez, Craig Keener, Luke Timothy Johnson, Johnathan Haidt, Michelle Alexander. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(10/23/22)

There's a popular meme/reel "Tell Me Without Telling Me..." You can find this meme/reel for all kinds of people: teachers, parents, millennials, weightlifters and on and on. What if you had to answer the meme, "Tell me you're a follower of Jesus without telling me." How would your answer line up with the way ancient and authentic followers of Jesus answered that question? Credits & Sources:Michelle Ferrigno Warren, Moises Silva, Brian Ross, Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid, Elsa Tamez, William R. Herzog II, Gerhard Lenski, Scot McKnight, Peter Davids, Richard Bauckham, Pheme Perkins, John Stott, Craig Blomberg, Mariam Kamell, Brian Zahnd, Josiah Haken and Leonard Sweet.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(10/16/22)

Some people seem like they will never change no matter what happens, no matter who begs them to change. Have you ever known someone who you thought would never change? What is it that causes a person to change? This story examines the aspects of who we are that are innate, inborn, native to our spirit that can eventually help us find the strength and motivation to change. Story by Aaron CarlsonCredits and Sources: Chris Green, Howard Thurman, and Mark Baker.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(10/9/22)

Listening. It's hard work. We feel loved when others listen to us, and goodness, it's tough to give others the gift of our full attention! The even deeper layers dealing with our own ego and sense of right and wrong take the challenges of listening even further. In what way might the energy behind listening be connected to our experiences of God? Credits and Sources:Michael Frost, Herb Kopp, Brian Ross, Steven Runge, Scott Peck, Scot McKnight, Alan Jacobs, Joseph Dispenza, Klyne Snodgrass, Pete Scazzero, Jack Zenger, Joseph Folkman, Ralph Nichols, Leonard Stevens, and Sara Korber-DeWeerd. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(10/1/22)

We tend to either think of ourselves as good people who always do the right thing, or we beat ourselves up with shame. Do we ever really sort out what could actually help us find what is most lifegiving and sustaining for our well-being and the well-being of creation? Credits and Sources: Moises Silva, Lee Camp, Christian Miller, Thomas Merton, Brian Ross, Vern Hyndman, Ian Cron, Luke Timothy Johnson, Craig Keener, Herb Kopp, Craig Blomberg, Mariam Kamell, Aida Besancon Spencer, Scot McKnight, Richard Bauckham, Steven Runge, Peter Davids, Andreas Kostenberger, Pheme Perkins, and Richard Rohr.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(9/25/22)

Every culture has people who they elevate like mountains, and every culture has people who do not rise very far from the ground of society. There are those who are seen as impressive, valued, special, and unique. There are those who are set apart, marginalized, invisible, forgotten, denigrated, vilified, criminalized, and treated as less than. What does it mean to be a part of a counter-cultural community were solidarity replaces cultural hierarchies, celebration replaces competition, and sharing replaces hoarding? What does it mean for the church to not mirror the attitudes of the majority culture about "what" defines a person's worth and value? James 1:9-12Credits & Sources: Moises Silva, Luke Timothy Johnson, Nijay Gupta, Craig Keener, Herb Kopp, Craig Blomberg, John Stott, Elsa Tamez, Mariam Kamell, Aida Besancon Spencer, Robert Gilbert, Scot McKnight, Richard Bauckham, Steven Runge, Peter Davids, Andreas Kostenberger, Pheme Perkins, Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid, Robin Branch, Emerson Powery, William Herzog, and Gerhard Lenski. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(9/11/22)

It's no longer just Bob Marley and Helen Keller telling us that our mind is a universe. It's astrophysicists and neurologists. But how do you navigate the universe of your mind? How do you find your North Star to navigate your own black holes and dark matter in the universe of your mind? Everyone wants to know "Who am I?" But your sense of "true self" is often a moving target. Can such a thing as a divine encounter provide something deeper than you can find through science, psychology, sociology, and philosophy (all of which are good, important and helpful)? How might you experience a divine encounter? Credits & Sources: Richard Beck, Brian Ross, Moises Silva, Geoff Holsclaw, Luke Timothy Johnson, Nijay Gupta, Craig Keener, Herb Kopp, Craig Blomberg, John Stott, Elsa Tamez, Mariam Kamell, Aida Besancon Spencer, Robert Gilbert, Scot McKnight, Richard Bauckham, Steven Runge, Peter Davids, Andreas Kostenberger, Pheme Perkins, Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid, Fraco Vazza, Alberto Feletti, Tim Childers, and Don Riso. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(9/3/22)

There's a way to look at trials and endurance that is very American, and a way that is true to the author of the book of James. They are two very different approaches and the difference between the approaches can greatly impact whether or not local gatherings of Jesus-followers become who God intended for them to become.Credits & Sources: Luke Timothy Johnson, Nijay Gupta, Craig Keener, Herb Kopp, Craig Blomberg, John Stott, Elsa Tamez, Mariam Kamell, Aida Besancon Spencer, Robert Gilbert, Scot McKnight, Richard Bauckham, Steven Runge, Peter Davids, Andreas Kostenberger, Pheme Perkins, and Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(8/27/22)

We all have patterns of behavior we get into. We get focused on what the issue is. We miss the emotional processes happening underneath. This is where God asks us deeper questions. Credits & Sources: Steve Cuss, Murray Bowen, Erica Brown, Eugene Peterson, Phyllis Trible, Terrence E. Fretheim. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(8/13/22)

As friends, parents, and loving humans, we change our minds many times every day. We are adaptive, responsive, and flexible. Unchanging love for others requires us to change. What about God? Does God's mind ever change? Credits & Sources: Thomas Oden, Greg Boyd, Terrence Fretheim, Phyllis Trible, Marvin R. Wilson, TWOT, Erica Brown, Scot McKnight. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(7/30/22) 

Does God have your entire life mapped out down to the tiniest detail? Does God have one right decision for you to make every time? One right way? One person for you to marry? One college? One job? One toothbrush to use? Is God like a controlling parent who plans your life out for you? What happens if you deviate from God's plan for your life? What other alternatives to this view are there?Credits, Sources, Bits, and Pieces:Thomas Oden, Greg Boyd, Parker Palmer, Brian Ross. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(6/26/22)

We all need do-overs. We mess our life up. We mess other people's lives up. We struggle to recognize what parts we are responsible for and what parts other people are responsible for. We want God's help, but we aren't ready to face ourselves. We blame God. We blame others. We try to deflect. How can we even get clear on where we went wrong? We need the gift of a do-over, even before we have our life all sorted out. Where is God in the middle of messes like this? Credits, Sources, Bits, & Pieces: Terrence Fretheim, Scott Peck, John Walton, Victor Matthews, Mark Chavalas, Erica Brown, Phyllis Trible, Jacques Ellul, and Uriel Simon.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(6/18/22)

Have you ever found yourself weathering a storm of someone else's making? Suddenly the impact of their choices is affecting your time, finances, home, relationships, workplace, safety, or life? Sometimes the way they involve you in their situation leaves you with lose/lose decisions. They put you into a double bind. You are left making excruciating and complex decisions. After it all goes down you are left with haunting memories and regrets. You feel complicit in their self-destruction, and it all feels so empty and final. Where is God underneath it all? Credits, Sources, Bits, & Pieces: Julie Green, Brian McLaren, Terrence Fretheim, John Walton, Victor Matthews, Mark Chavalas, Erica Brown, Phyllis Trible, Jacques Ellul, Chris Green, and Uriel Simon.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(6/12/22)

Your cover story includes some of the basic facts of your experience, but rarely does it tell the complete truth about your experiences and how they affected you. Words sometimes fail when the world no longer makes sense, when meaning collapses, when it feels like God might be on the side of your oppressors. This is why we need more than to "know" that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love. We need to "feel" this. Especially those who have been impacted by traumatic events need more than words. Credits, Sources, Bits, & Pieces: Bessel Van Der Kolk, M. Scott Peck, Elizabeth Boase, Sarah Agnew, Carl Jung, Oliver Cooper, Steve Cuss, Bernard Ott, Terrence Fretheim, Jacques Ellul, John Goldingay, Pete Enns, Erica Brown, Uriel Simon, John Walton, Victor Matthews, Mark Chavalas, Eugene Peterson, D. Stuart, Phyliss Trible, Irene Nowell, Edward Davis, and James Limburg.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(5/21/22)

Have you ever felt that feeling down deep in your gut? A palpable truth. Reality. A feeling. A thought. An image. You know God is telling you something. It is comforting and full of empathy; and it is challenging, eye-opening, and scary. You want to run away, argue it away, sleep it away. But still, it is there, coming after you. Possibly swallowing you up. How do you determine what to do next? How do you sort out your own motives and anxieties? Credits, Sources, Bits, and Pieces:Terrence Fretheim, Jacques Ellul, John Goldingay, Pete Enns, Erica Brown, Uriel Simon, John Walton, Victor Matthews, Terry Brensinger, St. Bonaventure, Mark Chavalas, Eugene Peterson, D. Stuart, Phyliss Trible, Irene Nowell, Edward Davis, Brian Ross, John Gardner, Leonard Sweet and James Limburg.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(5/8/22)

The story of Jonah and the whale is fraught with questions of history, biology, archeology, and botany, etc. Some people avoid the questions, some people do mental gymnastics with the questions, and some people deconstruct their faith with the questions. All of these questions center around one big question: "DID THAT HAPPEN?" Is this the question that matters the most when it comes to the book of Jonah? Credits, Sources, Bits, & Pieces: Terrence Fretheim, Jacques Ellul, John Goldingay, Pete Enns, Erica Brown, Uriel Simon, John Walton, Victor Matthews, Terry Brensinger, Mark Chavalas, Eugene Peterson, D. Stuart. Phyliss Trible, Irene Nowell, Edward Davis, and James Limburg.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(5/1/22)

Life is full of situations where we get mixed up with people who may seem irritating, gross, lonely, or dirty. It's easy to think that "they" are the people who need to get their life together, and to think that "we" are the ones offering the help (if we can stomach it). Alternatively, we may simply try to get as far away as possible from these types of people ASAP. But what if underneath these types of situations God is doing something completely different, and potentially life changing? Here's a fascinating story from the book of Acts that may help you take a second look at what's going on in your own life. Credits, Sources, Bits & Pieces: Craig Keener, Willie James Jennings, Scott T. Carroll, Edwin Yamauchi, Marvin Wilson. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(4/23/22)

History is full of hundreds of millions of people who were born into cultures and religions who never heard the name of Jesus. They were left to patch together their way of life from their parents, their village, their culture, the religion and politics of their people, and the technology of their day. These days many who have heard the name of Jesus associate that name with something ugly rather than the self-sacrificing, other-oriented, enemy-loving way of Jesus. What is the ultimate plight of those people? What was Jesus doing on the day that his body lay rotting in the grave and what difference does it make to Easter? This is a meditation on the day known as Holy Saturday. The phrase, "He is risen!" takes on worlds more meaning as you explore the depths from which Jesus rose. Scripture References: Genesis 6:2; Genesis 3:6; Genesis 6:12; Mark 3:27; 1 Peter 3:18-20; 1 Peter 4:6; Acts 2:25-27; Ephesians 4:8-10; Colossians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 15:24-25; Luke 23:43; Matthew 27:51-52; Revelation 1:18; Luke 4: 18-19. Credits, Sources, Bits, & Pieces:Thomas Oden, Leonard Sweet, Matthew Lynch, Book of Common Prayer, Justo Gonzalez, Peter Beaumont, Brad Jersak, Matthew Emerson, Richard Murray, Nathan Jacobs, Scot McKnight, Nijay Gupta, A.J. Swoboda, Brian Zahnd.  For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(4/17/22)

Life is hard in different ways than we anticipate. The things that actually trip us up often come out of left field. They are things we were looking right past or didn't see coming. Rarely it is one thing, it's a deadly cocktail of events that come together and somehow, we end up saying or doing things that we never planned on. We look back on it all and say, "Well, I certainly didn't see that coming." We carry the weight of our words and actions that feel heavy, dark, and shameful. There is something cathartic about hearing the words, "You are forgiven." while receiving the symbol of that forgiveness. We need it more than we can say. Credits, Sources, Bits, & Pieces: Miroslav Volf, David DeSilva, Bruce Malina, Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Moises Silva, Frederick Dale Bruner, Ian Cron, Steve Cuss, A.D. Clarke, David Garland, Lewis Smedes.For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(4/10/22)

Have you ever felt like you had so much going on, or so many limitations that you couldn't even bear your own burdens, much less help someone else out? Does that make you useless in the kingdom of God, or is there another way of looking at it? For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org(3/13/22)