The Uncensored Unprofessor

On the eve of America's election, what is at stake? I clarify and explain my answer to that now-historic question. Also, I explain what it means to vote on the basis of biblical values. Along the way I sing multiple versions of a popular children's song from the 1800s. . . hey, let's have fun while we ponder together! Near the show's ending I quote a diplomat to the USA who understands what is at issue for this election. And because so many Christians wonder about it, I explain why national borders are essential for the Common Good. Oh, and why is it that some 30 million Christians are not voting this time around? I offer some plausible reasons. Come laugh and think with me.

I am a theologian, so why am I of all people voting for Donald Trump? Shouldn't I know better than to vote for, as the progressives call him, Orange Hitler? After all, not only is Donald Naranja not my Lord and Savior, he's not even an Evangelical Christian. So, why? Interrupting my current series, I explain the Christian-worldview-reasons together with the historical-wisdom-reasons for voting how I am. Why is it that I (almostly entirely) know whom I'm going to vote for even before I see the names on the ballot? What are my core committments and how do they influence my vote? The Church is called to be salt and light, even when it comes to our participation in elections. At the show's beginning, from the book of Revelation, I offer a reflection on the power of prayer and why God honors our prayers. Come, let us reason together about a Christian participation in elections.

"If your right eye or right hand causes you to sin? Cut it off! Better to be dismembered in this life than to enter Gehenna with all your body parts," Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. But, in order to understand that billboard-loud statement we need to understand what Jesus is doing in his hill-side-y sermon. Was he issuing a new, once-and-for-all, covering-everything-for-all-times, new ethical code? Some say, "yes". And I work through that position, and its interpretive faults (and the ugly fruit it bears). Was he teaching us how we could earn our way into heaven? Was he, in the Sermon on the Mount, ending the Torah? Truth is, we cannot understand many of the outlandish things Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount unless we understand what his mission and purpose were. Come think with me about the genius of Jesus of Nazareth! In the show's opening I talk about why it feels like I'm living in a wilderness.

This is as important an episode as I have ever recorded. Jesus used "salty" imagery in three different Gospel stories. In this fourth episode on Jesus' tough sayings we explore what he meant by that useage, what first-century Jewish rabbis meant when they used salty imagery, and how being salt spills over into the political realm. On the cultural-assessment front we take the biblical and theological investigation and framing of the show's first half and apply it to American life here in pre-election 2024. Why should believers, no why should the Church, get involved in politics? What does culture tell the Church to keep her out of politics? What are some just-this-past week examples of how political policies wound our neighbor?

"There are different kinds of eunuchs," Jesus flashed back at them, "and some have so chosen for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." This followed the disciples' own astonished response to Jesus' teaching on the exclusive nature of marriage. So Jesus took their emotional blurt and turned it on them. What does "eunuchs for the kingdom" mean? What's it not mean? What was the first-century cultural context for such a saying? What are some contemporary applications? I work through those kinds of contexts and questions, and still more, in this third episode on Jesus' tough sayings. In the show's beginning I discuss both the future of A.I. and an injurious piece of legislation on the electoral docket here in Spudland. Together, let's fix our minds (phronéma) for the sake of Christ.

Jesus said harsh things. Sometimes they were tough because they were riddled even for Jesus' own listeners, other times they were tough because they were just so demanding! This episode? "I came for the sick, sinners." What did that mean in its social context? What did it mean in its literary context? What does it mean over against massively-widespread teaching in the church today? And then, what does all that mean with regard to Christian mission? At the show's beginning I review the newly released, in-theater, movie, "Am I a Racist?" We also dig into whether Matt Walsh and the production company were being ethical.

The first episode in a new series, this cast o' the pod is about John 6:53, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." What did Jesus mean by that? What does the chapter's context establish for us? What does the book of John establish for us? Was Jesus promoting cannibalism? What does Jesus say a few verses later that shines important light on his scandalous remark? Is Jesus teaching on the Lord's Supper here? Also in this episode, because the Lordship of Christ is not reserved for private matters, I briefly reflect on the Trump-Harris ABC tv interview.

Twenty-first century folk define flesh as being about the body. So the human body, in popular Christian thought, gets paired against the spirit. But that's not at all what the apostle Paul meant by flesh (sarx) in the book of Romans. He was being nuanced, technical even. He wanted to establish a comparison that remains critical even for believers today. In many ways, we are what we think about. In this shotgun of a theology-and-culture episode I also explain why governmental systemic machines hate populism. What we are seeing here in the United States—with our media's tarnishing, branding, and scolding of populism—is occurring around the world. To prove the point I describe recent elections in Italy, Germany, France, and Venezuela. Earlier, at the show's beginning, I offer three long-established definitions of theology and what I like about each one. Come think and laugh with me.

Following a 16-part series it's time for a happy-break! In this Theology-and-Culture shotgun I work through the following: a famous racist's plagiarism, a quote by the Chinese ancient Laozi, why I love Spudlandia culture (and why you won't want to move here!) (and why KS is angry at the I.D.!), how an embrace of divine determinism theology makes evil less evil, CNN's Dana Bash and her lengthy-28-whole-minutes!-long-piercing interview of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and a final reflection on St. Paul and the Old Testament law. This light hearted episode will make you think, laugh, and ponder what it means to follow Jesus Christ in the 21st Century.

Protestants focus, almost exclusively, on Salvation. (Who's against salvation? Not me! Praise God for salvation!) But that pressure-driven focus causes Protestants to look at every Bible passage or story as a matter of soteriology (salvation, pertaining to salvation). So we end up making the Bible say things it wasn't trying to say. And to that point? Election. Protestants think that election is always about salvation in eternity, or not. But that's not what election is in the Bible. I unpack the Bible logic about election, its wiring, its sweeping vision. Because the Lordship of Christ does not stop at the boundary of culture I reflect, in the show's beginning, on Church involvement in culture. Come think and laugh with me!

A classic prooftext for Divine Determinism is Romans 9. Especially verse 13, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated," is a pet verse for those who favor Divine Determinism. Across the last 500 years that verse has particularly been cited as an example of predestination: God chooses some for salvation and some for damnation. But is that what Paul was teaching in this passage? Was he saying God sent Jacob to heaven and Esau to hell? I spend the entire podcast unpacking the context, reasoning, and argument of the apostle Paul. He says several "insider baseball" remarks that make little sense to we twenty-first century westerners. Instead, Paul is going down a path that is rather foreign to us. Come join me as we plow through this significant chapter in Romans!

Significant to a notion of Divine Determinism is the Exodus. In chapters 7-12 we watch an ongoing interaction between Egypt's Pharaoh and Yahweh (via Moses and Aaron). What does that running exchange reveal to us? What does it reveal to us about freedom from slavery? About freedom of religious expression? About human agency? About how God deals with we, His creations? This is important because the pattern of Exodus is repeated elsewhere through the Bible, not least of which in the book of Romans. And then, because the Lordship of Christ does not stop at the boundary of culture, I examine and explain simulacra. We are surrounded, bombarded even, with simulacra. And that's more true in an election year than ever! Are reality tv shows real? Are piped-in video sermons authentic? Come think and laugh with me!

The Reformed's Westminster Shorter Catechism, point #1, "What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." That's a solid claim! I don't disagree, except it doesn't explain a deeper-still question, why did God create? What motivated Him? Was there a need in God to be glorified? Did God have a lack He needed to fill? Or does God express Himself through a kind of prodigal (wasteful, overspilling) love? I work through the traditional Protestant emphasis on the motivation of God and then suggest a better, more biblical, more Jesus-y answer. And then, because the majestic Lordship of Christ does not stop at the boundary of culture, I explain why I have been having numerous and regular dystopian nightmares where I awake in a fit of terror as demons lead me off into captivity. Come laugh and think with me!

God created the universe, and planet earth, with an inherent quality of free-play. Free-play is where energies, gravity, animals, weather and more all have their ability to move and be and impact reality. Given that, is life a matter of chance? Still more, is life a matter of unruly randomness? Both the Reformed and the Arminians have a high emphasis on the sovereignty of God; too often that is taken so that God is a kind of secrete puppet-master. But that doesn't jive with the existence of free-play. So how do we go about making sense of all those apparently competing elements? That's the aim of this show. I roll out a high view of God's sovereignty in light of the existence of free-play, chance, and even randomness. Let's laugh together as we think about complex matters!

Across my last five or so episodes I've put enormous weight on human agency in understanding a biblical theology. This cast O' the pod, following Reformed vs. Arminian constructions and the priority of prevenient grace, emphasizes both the 'that' and the 'why' of God's revelation (the Gospel) being the premise of salvation. We cannot save ourselves; cannot be compassionate enough; cannot be intelligent enough; cannot make ourselves live forever; cannot resurrect ourselves. God—alone—is the premise, the life giver, the source of salvation. In the show's opening I work through Jesus' warning to the Laodiceans: the hot water they had piped-in from some 6 miles way was now tepid, just like them. They were pretending to be Christian. What is a possible contemporary parallel? Come laugh and think with me.

The Reformed doctrine of Total Depravity rather necessitates their doctrine of Common Grace, or better, common graces. When I was in seminary I realized that most other Christians talked about life in terms of grace, whereas my tradition spoke about life in terms of God's Spirit. What are the benefits of each? What are important biblical frames for each? Against what was the Reformed doctrine of Grace reacting in the 16th century? Me? Because I reject the premises of Reformed theology I have other theological avenues by which to process life. Life is so magical! So personal! Why? Because of the omnipresence of God's Holy Spirit. But in the episode's opening I variously discuss: praying for the wounded, the care of my teeth (and a couple recent dental visits), rubbing respectable Christians the wrong way, Christianity and politics, and the amazing experience of watching philosphy books take incarnate form and springing to life. Come laugh and think with me!

The P of TULIP is Perseverance of the Saints. And so the question rises, "can you lose your salvation?" Just asking that question will get you kicked out of many in-home bible studies! Nevertheless, the Reformed and the Arminian Protestants answer this in ways that we note and unpack. And then me? The UU? Who takes Trinity (and so personhood, and agency, and mission, and love) as my theological foundation, what do I say? What bible verses inform my thinking? What theological commitments inform my thinking? At the show's opening I make a couple cultural reflections (because the Lordship of Christ does not stop at the boundary of cuulture) on judging evil vs. doing evil. Which of those two is worse? I also a question provocative for contemporary Christianity, was Jesus tame? Come think and laugh with me!

Is the grace of God resistible? Can the Holy Spirit's efforts be frustrated? When does the new birth (regeneration, justification) happen in time? In their historical context, why do Protestants, both Reformed and Arminians, so resist having works be involved in salvation? Those questions are all plowed-through in this eighth episode in this series. Once having set up the R'n'A dispute, and their respective answers (and mutual critiques), I offer other categories for framing salvation and grace and works. Do I believe works are saving? No, of course not. Do I think that rules works out of our missional calling? That is another question entirely. Then, because the Lordship of Christ does not halt at the boundary of culture, I variously discuss the Declaration of Independence and the way it grounds our human rights, the chaotic state of higher education, "normophobia", and how it is that today's religious impulse is manifesting itself. Come laugh and think with me for such a time as this!

Probably like me you hear it all the time, "everything happens for a reason." More than likely? Those who say that do not realize they are espousing Reformed theology, or drawing on Reformed sensibilities. But really, does the Bible teach that everything happens for a reason? And if so, doesn't that make God the author of evil, and so make him a moral monster? My essential problem with Reformed and Arminian theological framing is that they are not God-enough, not Trinitarian enough, not biblical enough. How so? Because the Lordship of Jesus does not stop at the boundary of culture I examine why American culture loves war so much. How do our international brothers and sisters perceive us in light of that love of war? What drives our nearly century-old love of war? This is difficult but important to think through.

The New Testament, from the Gospels to Revelation, proclaim Jesus to be the "lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." But how do the Reformed and the Arminians process the effective nature of Jesus' atoning death? I explore the logic of each divergent camp's theology. What does John Piper teach? What did John Calvin teach? What interesting thing do the Arminians teach about Christ's atonement and infants? Also, because the Lordship of Christ does not stop at the boundary of culture, I unpack still more about what is going on between men and women. There are measurable demographic studies that show important trends at work both in the United States and in Europe. Come laugh and think with me!

The Reformed and Arminians agree that God predestined the elect, but they don't agree together who the elect are. They also don't agree on what God decreed about the reprobate (unbelievers). Frankly, they don't agree on several important things: God's power and whether He can (or does) limit himself; the levels of mystery at work in life; or the theological emphases that should guide the Christian perception of life. In this fifth episode I address, compare, and contrast all of those most consequential elements. And because the Lordship of Christ does not stop at the boundary of culture, a two-fold cultural reflection comprises the show's first segment: what is happening at my alma mater, Fuller Theological Seminary? And what is our reigning culture pressing down upon women? Why are young women, particularly, so unhappy? Why is our nation's birth-rate plunging? Why—are you kidding me?!—are young men attending church at greater ratios than young women?

Predestination: it's a big topic of controversy. The Reformed and Arminians each emphasize predestination in varied ways. Why did God predestine? Whom did God predestine? I also explore the very common sentiment, "but, I only want to believe what the Bible says!" That sentiment has historic (and, gulp!, philosophic) roots that those who assert it do not realize. Still more, that "bible and me" sentiment only makes for worse problems. Then, in the cultural-reflection, I remark on the character of the recent Trump conviction. What does history clarify about such trials? What would it feel like if Joe Biden were tried in bright-red Rexburg, Eastern Idaho? But maybe most important of all? I unpack why the Trump conviction matters to the Church. Come think and laugh with me.

The Reformed and Arminians (R'n'A) seldom agree. But they do agree on the doctrine of total depravity. In this episode I work through what that means, respectively, to the R'n'A. What did Sproul say about it? What did Wesley assert? Then I ask questions about what it means to be human: a) do we still, after the fall, exist as the image of God? b) does the doctrine of salvation eliminate or build on the doctrine of creation? c) where do I (do I?) agree with the doctrine of total depravity? In the cultural reflection I work through still more of how SCOTUS has, across 60+ years, enforced their rulings in favor of compulsory feminism. What was it like, for me, to take compulsory sexual-training HR sessions? Who is against equality of the sexes? Not me! But unlike Lord Zeitgeist, I am not in favor of treating both male and female as non-existent and accidental qualities.

"God seeks glory." That is critical and foundational to both a Reformed and an Arminian theological perspective. But the two camps diverge on how it is, principally, that God seeks glory. And it finally comes down to a matter of premises. It's sort of like when you go hiking: you get to the trail head and you have a choice between different trails. And even though each trail will involve walking in your boots, elevation changes, scenic views of creeks and ponds and lakes, the destination varies. The Reformed and Arminian each set up their tents every night in a camp named "Salvation and Glory!" but they get there by different trails. Still more? I ask, do they each start hiking where the Bible does? That's a scary, but foundational, question. This show's cultural reflection delves still further into how our legal system (but not the marketplace of ideas) has ram-rodded a kind of compulsory feminism down our throats. No wonder we are seeing the dissolution of male and female across the land.

Let's compare the Reformed with the Arminians (no, not Armenians!). What are their emphases? Where, at surface level, do they disagree? Who are the famous leaders on each side? I'm betting that my listeners will be surprised to learn that the Arminians started out in the Reformed branch of the Church. One way (not the only way, as this series will make clear) to distinguish them is to posit the differences between monergism and synergism. This episode's first half continues a reflection equality of the sexes, and how that has morphed into compulsory feminism, and how that is eating (from the inside out) male, female, the hetero-family, and babies. University elites have foisted upon us categories and commitments through the court system; and that all happened outside of the marketplace of ideas. So this terminal absurdity we are all enduring is both strategic and intentional.

Because I taught college for 25 years I'm tracking the devolution of Pro-Hamas rallies on university campusi. But it wasn't that which provoked this show's one-off reflection. No, instead it was a couple articles in my denomination's quarterly ministers' magazine that smacked me upside the head. They accepted the premise. Accepted the definitions and premises of a progressive framing of reality. Uncritically, they took progressive (woke) terms and tried to run them through a Christian-coffee-filter in order to flavor (or baptize) those terms and make them Christian. In this episode I explain what is happening to pastors and churches who try to Christian-baptize progressive terms and premises. I also reflect on the recent water baptism of actor Russell Brand. Beautifully so, Brand seems to have been red-pilled not only by the madness of our era but by the work of the Holy Spirit. So come and think with me, laugh with me, and reflect with me on what being Christian means in our 21st century and its context.

In this, the last, episode of my series on God's Holy Spirit I present the theology of Kallistos Ware. A bishop in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Ware emphasizes that God's Spirit is encountered especially through other people. More particularly, through holy fools and seasoned soul-guides. What are those two types? How do we, might we, encounter such personalities in our Protestant world? In the show's cultural-critique portion I continue my reflections on why it is so brutally hard to have hetero-nuclear families today. What is the ideology that weighs down upon them? Why is there such structural and systemic oppression? Come laugh and think with me about being a Christ-follower in a century speeding toward terminal absurdity.

In the theological component of this episode we examine the unique contributions of Michael Welker to Pneumatology (God's Spirit). Why does Welker land where he does? Why does his presentation seem to take itself apart? What are his foundational commitments? Do they align with biblical commitments and teachings? Along the way I also unpack the significance of method for the doing of theology. So? Welcome, all you theology nerds! At the show's beginning I begin a multi-episode lament on what is happening to the hetero-nuclear family. Why is it so hard to do family life? Why do the hard-working, responsible, two-parent families take it so hard on the chin from our reigning and oppressive system? This is a little show about big ideas, so come and think (and laugh) with me!

He came through a resolutely Baptist upbringing. In that context he was taught that the gifts of God's Spirit ceased with the time of the Apostles. So he was shocked when, attending a revival meeting at the Toronto Airport Vineyard, Clark Pinnock was dramatically healed of an eye affliction. It spurred him to go on and write an entire systematic theology about the Holy Spirit. What'd he emphasize in the doing? What about his systematic theology makes me (and many others), as a theologian, uncomfortable? What do I admire about what Pinnock wrote? In this show I also talk about whether Christians are to be 100% submitted to the state. I also work through some remarks made by a 25-year experienced exorcist.

How is God present in and for His creation? Traditionally, that has been addressed through Christological categories. Our theologian for this episode, Wolfhart Pannenberg, presses us to consider that it is God's Spirit who is immanent (in, with, for, to) regarding creation. What does that look like? Is it biblically based? We also examine Pannenberg for his eschatological (end times) perspectives on Holy Spirit. Pannenberg was an intersting and courageous man; he stood for objective truth all-the-while he taught inside of ardently secular German universities. At the show's beginning I talk about a recent ban of Hillsdale College, share my reflections on the 2024 total solar eclipse, and reflect on what a Holy Spirit-driven earth care might look like compared to today's religious Green movement. Come think and laugh with me!

While he was a young man Jürgen Moltmann was conscripted into the Germany Air Force. After an Allied bombing of his city Moltmann then spent 3 years in a Scottish prison. While there he encountered the Gospel. But his own dramatic experience became foundational seedbed for his own theological career. What did that mean for his theology? What did that mean for his teachings about God's Spirit? In this episode I explore all of that, celebrate what I appreciate about Moltmann's scholarship, and describe what and why I reject some of his theological formulation. Along the way I also re-vist how American Church leaders were manipulated by the Federal Government when Covid 19 was hitting the planet. What did those Church leaders do that is grotesque? Why did they do what they did? What can we learn about the power of narratives? What does this all reveal about the power of power among the powerful?! Come laugh and think with me!

Christianity is grounded in God's revelation, and so in theology, and so in doctrine. But Christianity is not mere doctrine. It is a life, a life that can be felt and experienced. J. Rodman Williams was a Presbyterian theologian who experienced the profound presence of God's Spirit. He articulated what that meant for believers. I explain the whats and the whys of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) from the New Testament and for our twenty-first century context. Moreover, I explain why I pray in tongues. Along the way I also ask, "is Tik Tok the devil?" Why is our government seeking to ban Tik Tok? We also probe NYC's having installed the National Guard down in their subway system; what is going on with that? Oh, and did you see the State of the Union address? What kinds of things did we learn through that speech? Join me in this episode and examine all of reality, reality which falls under the Lordship of Christ.

What did the famous German theologian Karl Barth teach about God's Spirit? I highlight four of Barth's emphases. Particularly I land on Barth's teaching about how Christians, by the agency of God's Spirit, become disturbed sinners; I think it will help make sense of your own walk. I also admire what Barth taught about God's Spirit and mission: to be a Christ-follower is to be engaged in Christ's own gospel mission. Another revelation in this episode is that the 20th century saw an explosion on Pneumatology, the theology about the Holy Spirit. What surprising demographic drove that explosion? Along the way I also work through the Democrat to Republican ratios at universities and their different academic disciplines. Come and think carefully with me about life, all of which falls under the Lordship of Christ.

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a beautiful soul. He wanted to bring the grace and light of God to bear on all areas of life: families, schools, and societal institutions. And he even spent four years as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands working to implement the grace of God inside his Danish culture. Later, as a theologian, he had important things to say about the Holy Spirit. I unpack his two specific emphases, interact with those, and offer some critique. In the podcast's opening minutes I recount my attendance at a recent NGO meeting in downtown Boise. What'd that gathering provoke me to consider?

Theology walks a razor's edge: it seeks to be true to God's revelation in history but it brings that revelation to each successive culture. German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher did not like that his own 19th century culture was destroying Christian religion. So what'd he do? He made a very clever shift to invite that culture in for a conversation. It was a move that not only helped to burn the house of Christianity down to the ground, it established foundational roots for today's popular Christianity. In this episode I also unpack what NGOs do, what is down inside the Vatican's secret crypt, what Pope Pius XII did for the voiceless during the Holocaust, and what we've learned thus far in our ongoing series on God's beautiful Holy Spirit. Come laugh and think with me!

Praise God for salvation, right? But there's still more: God wants us to become like him. Traditionally that call to personal transformation is called sanctification: the gradual process both of loving what God loves and turning away from sin. John Wesley (1703-1791) taught that instantaneous sanctification—a full and complete turning away from sin—can happen in a moment. The Spirit of God comes, Wesley held, to make us like Jesus, and that can happen in a crisis moment. In this, third, episode on the work of God's Spirit we examine Wesley's position in its historical, biblical, and theological context. I also offer a reflection on Lent, our time to walk through the wilderness, and pray a prayer for those living inside spiritual wilderness. This episode also has a Cloward-Piven update and a quick though-piece on what belief means for our minds. Come and laugh (and sing) with me!

What happens when one person's interpretation of a bible verse goes off the rails? What happens when that same person claims to be operating in the presence or power of God's Spirit? In this, second, episode on Pneumatology (a study of God's Spirit) we look at some old errors in order to learn from them for today. The Anabaptists were radicals. Radical in the way they read their Bibles, radical in their view of history, and radical in their view of what constituted the Church. But they got some important things right. What were those? In this show's opening I reflect on Tucker Carlson's two-hour interview of Vladimir Putin. Just what on earth is going on in the Ukraine war? I also offer a Cloward-Piven update: what would a $50 per hour minimum wage do to the Golden State's economy? Come laugh and think, and pray, with me.

A new series! The theology of God's Spirit, first through the emphases of Martin Luther. Who was Luther? What was he doing? Why was he doing? What were his emphases about Holy Spirit? Why do I think we need a 21st century Reformation? How am I praying for that? What do too many contemporary Protestants do with Luther's emphases on the Holy Spirit? What can we learn from Luther? How do I critique Luther's emphases? All questions asked and answered on this "Theological Soaking in God's Spirit" episode. I also start the show with a devotional from Isaiah 40, "rise up on eagle's wings." Come think and laugh with me.

The number one reason people don't make decisions? Fear. Fear fogs our discriminating processes in a number of ways. I work through those painful ways in this episode. Then, as we all know, naming is powerful. I recently came across the name for a 50 year old social strategy: Cloward-Piven. With uncanny accuracy it describes the constant patterns we see at work in American society. Naming that strategy also helps us to realize, again, that we wrestle not with flesh and blood. Come think and laugh with me!

Just finished a book by an Ignatian spiritual mentor about discerning angels from demons, God's Spirit from evil spirits, and seeking God's will. Although tedious, it has some gems for both personal and communal decision making. I note those and then focus on the author's point that the Evil One loves to suggest some generous idea, an idea that then is used to draw a person and/or the church off the Lord's path, destroy purpose, and even ruin relationships. Then, the book of Daniel, as I learned 42 years ago, is also beautiful in its presentation of our own agency in light of God's revelation. Let's think through making discriminations in a biblical manner.

Jesus lived life in beautiful ways. He treated all people as images of God, respected their agency as full persons, never spoke down to them, and never treated people as though they were children. In this fifth episode on making necessary discriminations I talk about how beauty has been important in my own life: my marriage, my vocation, the art in my home, my church attendance, and even how I vote. Beauty—one of life's transcendent qualities—suggests more and therefore calls for more. Beauty doesn't play by the strict transactional rules of today's World Spirit. Come laugh with me as we think through the necessity of making decisions.

Most Christians worship a binity: Father and Son, and that's when their binity isn't merely Jesus and the Bible! The Holy Spirit routinely gets boxed up, put away, and ignored. Functionally, He is the Cinderella of the Trinity: only brought out on special occasions, like a baptismal service: "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." But the Scriptures, Old and New, have much to teach us about the third person of the Trinity. I expore how the New Testament builds upon but then expands what the Old Testament revealed about the Spirit. I also work through 5 different ways the Church (and culture) box up the Holy Spirit, keep him on the back shelf. Let's prayerfully welcome the dynamic, creative, and beautiful work of God's Holy Spirit into our lives!

This is a blast from the past, a least-worst, UU episode originally recorded for my premium subscribers. Why are fences and hierarchies and boundaries necessary? After all, they fly in the face of a raw democracy-style way of doing life, fly in the face of perfect equality. So how and why would a loving Christian ever embrace hierarchies and boundaries? I aims to explain their matter-of-fact nature and then explain how Christians should, because the Bible does, prioritize their own hierarchies and boundaries. Come think and laugh with me.

Mindful of how she and her husband raise their kids a listener and Patreon supporter of mine, Danielle, e-d me with a great question, are Christmas and Easter pagan holidays? After all, they both had pre-Christian pagan origins. I answer her great question by working through the way that God works, taking pre-existing forms and transforming them to his glory. Come and think with me in this least-worst blast-from-the-past.

On Saturday 12/16/23 my Dad died after a four-month long battle with acute Crohn's. What was that all like? What happens to us in death? In this personal episode I share some fun memories I have about my dad, experiences we shared, and even the funny obituary instructions he left behind. This is no systematic episode, just a mish mash of theological, existential, and biographical reflections. What was amazing about how Jesus went through death? Why do I seem surprised by the grief of death? What kind of tatoo does my son think he might get? What was interesting about my Dad and alcohol? What kind of service will my Dad get? What are some existential takeaways I have ensuing this experience? Come laugh and think and grieve and hope with me.

We can't always be serious, especially during the holidays, so I'm changing things up. I realize that on a theology and culture show it is easy to come across as having a resolute grasp on reality. Truth is, there are many things I do not know, do not understand. In this reflective, but light-hearted, episode I work through different elements of life: church configurations, mundane daily realities, the Bible, culture, politics, and history. Come laugh and think with me here in Advent!

What were the most important stories of 2023? I review those and offer commentary. Also tell the story of enduing medical-industry-chaos in the midst of all that. And yet, I recognize the medical industry is both overwhelmed and underpaid. So I begin the show with a prayer of blessing. Come reflect, laugh, and think with me about the year we just survived!

Like a classroom where a substitute teacher fills in for the regular, I am, here on the holidays, interrupting my series. How should believers go about our Christ-given mission? Maybe it is 33%, each, with an eye to the past, present, and future? Maybe it is a balanced 50%-50% mix of indigenous and ancient Jewish culture? Using my recent trip to Costco to fill my truck and the recent Roman Catholic Synod on Synodality I think aloud with you about how we ought to frame mission. Along the way I also describe the work of some of my Christian heroes: Mother Theresa, John Wesley, Phil Keaggy, and John Wimber. How did they go about Christian mission? Come laugh and think with me!

No one is born with diakrino, a Jesus-y street smarts. It has to be developed and trained. Last week I offered goodness as a telos for discernment. This episode tracks with truth as a guide for discernment. To contemporize the topic of discernment I ask the questions, "are you a racist?", and "are all whites racists?" Along the way we see what the Bible means by truth, and what history and empirical data have to say about racism. The show begins with a holiday reflection from the Bible, "it doesn't have to be like this." Come laugh and think with me.

Western Civilization is cracking and creaking. There are obvious signs—educated people celebrating rape, slaughter, and genocide—and there are subtle signs—someone being sent to prison for 10 years for posting a snarky meme. But we will miss both signs if we are lacking discernment. In order to catch nuance and practice discernment (a Jesus-y street smarts) we need a telos—a path that guides us toward a target—that informs the whole of our lives. The Bible holds out goodness for us as just such a telos. Come think and laugh with me.