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What are Some Good Podcasts?

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Anybody know of some good podcasts?

For the last four years, I have had a 30 minute commute, which comes to an hour every day, or five hours per week, or over 250 hours per year.

For most of that time, I listened to talk radio, and usually, I get pretty worked up about what the radio hosts discuss. I recently realized that for me, listening to these talk shows all the time was spiritually, mentally, and emotionally harmful. I need to let my mind dwell on better things.

So, I am going to start listening to some podcasts.

christian podcasting image

I want them to focus on these areas:

  • Bible teaching
  • Discipleship
  • Church Issues
  • Missional Living

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Introducing Jonah

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writing commentaryI finished the rough draft of the Introduction to Jonah today.

The introduction is a little over 6000 words, which is longer than some full commentaries on Jonah… I hope I am not overdoing it… The final version of the full-length commentary will probably be about 50,000 words.

But I am really excited about some of the things I am learning from Jonah, and I think you will be as well. It is going to forever change how you read Jonah.

I will be posting all the sections of the Introduction over on the Grace Commentary site over the next two weeks, and then we will move into studying Jonah 1.

And don’t forget, everyone who subscribes to my free email newsletter will get a free digital copy of this commentary when it comes out. It is just my way of saying “Thank you for reading!”

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Am I an Evangelical?

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My online friend, Mike Keffer, who is also a contributor to our forthcoming book, Finding Church, sent me the following email and asked me to share it with you for your input…

Here is what he wrote:

I have been a Christian since May 1985…and I have never been evangelical…ever. I have tried, I really have.

evangelicalI realize some of you now think that I am not a “true christian” whatever that looks like. Believe me, I have had the same thoughts. I was not raised in a Christian home. My parents are still unbelievers. George, a friend in High School, witnessed to me for an entire year and then, on the last day of school, I placed my faith in Jesus. It was His love for me that won me over. I was a very, very damaged kid. I had done a lot of bad things and feared Hell more than anyone so I knew what I was saved from and how awesome it was to become a believer in Christ.

Still, I never thought about sharing my faith, I just didn’t want to. I still don’t. At least not like pastors and evangelists say I should. Sure I ordered tracts, in fact there is about 1000 or so in the back seat of my car right now. I just never went door to door to pass them out. I never stood at a bus station or visited hospitals or food banks in order to witness to someone about the glorious Person of Jesus Christ.

It gets worse, I used to be a “fundie.” That’s right, a fundamentalist. And I never shared my faith even when I was a member of a fundamentalist church. Never even thought about it.

It gets worse. I am a seminary graduate. I added up the number of academic hours I have logged in addition to the training I have received and it may exceed 500 hours. I have lost track of the books, syllabi, cassette tapes, videos, etc… I have a BA, a ThM, a ThD, and a PhD. Plus I have graduated courses of study from at least four bible institutes. I have learned from the late Zola Levitt, Jeffrey Seif, Mal Couch, Charlie Bing, and Arnold Fruchtenbaum among many others.

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4 Things NOT to be Thankful For

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unthankfulThe spiritual disciple of gratitude is tricky, because despite what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, there are some things Christians must not be thankful for.

Here are four things to NOT thank God for (but some of us still do).

1. Lord, I thank you that I am not like those sinners.

People do pray this prayer (see Luke 18:11-14). If you ever find yourself thanking God that you are not as sinful as other people, here is a newsflash: You are just as sinful. In fact, with a prayer like this, you may be even worse than those you judge and condemn.

2. Lord, thank you for making me so humble.

Hey, with a prayer like this, don’t give God the credit for your humility. It’s all you, baby! In fact, you should give yourself an award for being so humble. You could get a bumper sticker which says “The most Humble Person in the World” so that everybody can know how humble you are! You could write a book, “The Three Most Humble Men in the World, and How I Led the Other Two to Christ.” Since you are so humble, I am sure it would be a best seller.
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Did C. S. Lewis Ever Visit Narnia?

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This is Part 1 of a 4-Part series by Tyson Phillips on C.S. Lewis and Narnia. Tyson and his sister Tammy grew up in the Midwest. Tyson and his family now live discreetly on the West Coast, very near a large orchid tree.

If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, check out the guidelines here.

hummingbird

Humming Birds and Star Ships

As I settled into my lounge chair just below a wall of blooming passion vines on that sunny late autumn afternoon, I felt something alight on my arm. It was my friendly backyard hummingbird, or “Harry” as I usually referred to him.

“Harry, are you planning to spend this winter living in my back yard, like you did last winter? Why don’t you fly south with the other hummingbirds?”

When I sat in my lounge chair in my back yard to read, as I did almost every day, Harry would appear and sit nearby, or occasionally would sit on my arm for a few minutes.

When I casually mentioned this to an acquaintance, I immediately knew that she did not believe me. I had “crossed the line,” mentioning something she had never experienced and had never heard of this happening to someone else. She did not believe it was possible to have a hummingbird sit on one’s arm.

On another occasion, a good friend told me about regularly seeing unusual objects in the sky of the remote area where he lived. He sometimes saw them in the late afternoon, but most often after dark. One evening just after sunset, as he drove down a winding, abandoned country road, one of the objects came down from the sky and landed in an open space near him. He drove even closer.

“You’re the only person I’ll ever tell what I saw and what happened after I drove up by it. I’ll never tell anyone else, because they’ll think I’m crazy.”

True to his word, he has never told anyone else and I doubt he ever will. He is certain no one will believe him, which would affect his credibility in the community in which he lives and works.

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Bored with the Bible

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They say that familiarity breeds contempt.

Do you think this is true of the Bible as well?

If you become so familiar with a particular passage or book of the Bible, does there come a time in your life when you groan to hear yet another sermon on that passage, or when you are reading through the Bible in a year, you just hurry through that section because you are so bored by it?

I don’t think this has ever happened to me, and I hope it never does.

But then, I also believe that the Bible is infinitely fascinating.

I am convinced that no matter how much we study or learn about a book of the Bible, a passage of Scripture, or even a particular verse, there is always more to learn.

fractalTo me, every passage and verse of the Bible is like a fractal image. Each verse and passage is unique and beautiful by itself, but no matter how much you zoom in (or zoom out) on it, it continues to change and grow in beauty and complexity.

When viewed this way, I don’t think we can ever get bored by the Bible.

Nevertheless, I do think that there are some passages and books of the Bible which most of us think we know pretty well, and whether we realize it or not, we inwardly groan when we hear our pastor say, “Turn in your Bibles to [insert well-known passage here].”

For example, I think the book of Jonah is one of those books. Here is a story most of us have been hearing since we were kids. We have read various versions of the story 1000 times to our own kids. We have heard pastors preach on it. We have seen animated movies about it. We have told the story in Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, short-term mission’s trips, and children’s church. When the missionary speaks at the Mission’s Conference, he preaches from Jonah.

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All the Finding Church Authors

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Finding Church[scg_html_fc] is nearing publication! Sometime soon I hope to reveal a book cover and provide a publication date.

The process began almost a year ago, and I could not have put this book together without the help of all the contributing authors. Thank you! All of you are fantastic writers!

Here is a complete list of the contributing authors, with links to brief descriptions about each author and a summary the chapter they contributed for this book.

Leaving Church

1. Lew Ayotte – How Seminary Helped Me Leave Church

2. Carey Crawford – My Journey Out of Church

3. Michael Donahoe – My Road to Leaving Church

4. Glenn Hager – Epic Ecclesiastical Adventures

5. Wayne Hobson – Janette’s Church Crisis

6. Judith Huang – How Professor P.J. Gomes Helped me Question Evangelicalism

7. Mike Keffer – A Heretic Among Us

8. Travis Klassen – Leaving Church to Find Church

9. Tyson Phillips – Nevertheless

10. Tara Pohlkotte – Following the Gypsy King

11. Will Rochow – Leaving for Love

12. Brian Swan – A Recovering Drug Addict

13. Genevieve Thul – Leaving Church in the Age of Social Media

Switching Church

14. Shannon Brisco – Church Change

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Finding Church Authors 34-36

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church8In November, my book [scg_html_fc] will be published by Civitas Press. It contains the stories of 36 people and how they have followed Jesus in seeking to live and function within His church. The stories fall into three categories: Leaving Church, Switching Church, and Reforming Church.

Leading up to publication, I am writing several posts which give credit to the authors who made this book possible. Each post will include a short description of three authors and provide a preview summary of their chapters. Below are the descriptions and summaries of three authors in the “Reforming Church” category.

Finding Church Chapter 34 – I Hate the Church; I Love the Church

Aubry Smith is a freelance writer and stay-at-home mom to her two toddler boys. Aubry is an Arkansas native transplanted in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she and her husband are training for ministry. When not wrestling with her babies or writing, she enjoys reading, cooking, hiking, and camping.

In her darkest moment and deepest need, Aubry was abandoned and rejected by the church. For a while, she returned the favor and stayed away. But she eventually returned to help lead the church into maturity as faithful and loving followers of Jesus Christ.

Finding Church Chapter 35 – Focusing on People

John Walker and his wife are retired and enjoy gardening, walking their dogs, and cooking.

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3 Reasons Christians MUST Celebrate Halloween

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halloweenEvery year around this time, I read all sorts of posts and articles for why it is sinful for Christians to participate in Halloween.

So I decided to write a post about why Christians MUST celebrate Halloween.

No, I don’t have any Bible verses to back this up or deep theological ideas to prove it. I just have three reasons Christians should celebrate Halloween.

Christians Are Light in the Darkness

Christians often complain that Halloween is a day of death, darkness, and evil. I won’t argue this. For many people, Halloween is a day to celebrate witches, ghouls, ghosts, goblins, death, decay, murder, and many other such things.

But since when do Christians run away and hide from death and darkness? Doesn’t the Bible call us to be lights in the darkness, and to bring life and healing to those areas which are full of death and decay? Of course it does!

Look, you don’t have to dress up like a vampire to participate in Halloween. And definitely don’t judge and condemn those who do. But I would encourage you to go on out and have a good time. Let your kids get some free candy. Laugh! Have a good time. Enjoy life. Make some memories.

Or, if the kids are grown and gone, give out heaps of free candy to the neighborhood. They will remember you forever.

Which brings me to my second point.

Halloween is an Opportunity for Generosity

Halloween is a great opportunity to show Christian generosity. I still remember the two or three houses in my neighborhood that gave away full candy bars on Halloween. Not the little snack-size ones, but full-size candy bars! I couldn’t believe it then, and I still cannot believe it now.

We often bemoan the fact that we don’t know the families in our neighborhoods better, but Halloween is one night of the year where most of the neighborhood families will be knocking on your door. So make an impression on them! Be generous!

I was talking a guy this past week who said he was going to pass out Gospel tracts to the kids in the neighborhood when they came by his door. This also will make an impression on the families who knock on your door, but not in a good way… I tried to encourage him that if he was going to pass out tracts, he should include a huge handful of candy with each one. Let people remember you for being generous, and they might also read that tract that came with your generosity.

Or better yet, they might want to talk to you when they see you in the park, at the mall, or trimming your hedges.

But there is one last reason for Christians to celebrate Halloween….

Halloween Candy

Free Candy!

I am a candyaholic, so I had to include this…

But I am actually kind of serious.

For most children, Halloween is about one thing: candy.

If you have kids, they are going to go to school the day after Halloween, and everyone is going to be talking about how much candy they got. When the kids ask your child how much candy he/she got, do you want them to have to say that they didn’t get any candy because their mom and dad believe Halloween is evil?

As I wrote in a different post about a Trunk-or-Treat I attended, if you feel that Halloween is some sort of contest between Jesus and the devil, one sure way to “win” is by giving away lots of candy. On Halloween, candy is how kids keep score. This goes back to the previous two points. The devil loves it when Christians hand out Jesus stickers instead of candy on Halloween.

If you hand out Gospel tracts or “Jesus Loves You” pencils instead of candy on Halloween, you are actually bringing shame to the name of Jesus on this day.

Jesus is not glorified when we are cheapskates and killjoys in His name.

Let kids be kids! And if you are (rightfully) afraid of what they might see or what they might encounter, then go with them! Walk around the neighborhood with them, giving them that sense of parental security and safety that is so important for children to have.

And guess what? If you do this, I bet they will even share some of their free candy with you…

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