Theology.fm | Theology Centered on Jesus

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Ed Underwood is the newest addiction to our Theology.fm lineup, and I decided to introduce him to you by interviewing him. He is currently the CEO of Recentered.Life, which is a ministry devoted to helping pastoral teams recenter their lives on Jesus Christ so that they can move forward in peace, love, and unity for the sake of the Gospel.

Prior to this, Ed pastored the historic Church of the Open Door in California.

In our discussion we talk about church ministry, the gospel, and what Recentered.Life is all about.

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I was recently interviewed by Tom Walter for his Life Uncut Podcast. This is a replay of Part 1 of that podcast. Subscribe to his podcast to also listen to Part 2.

In this first part of the conversation, we discuss how chasing Jesus has changed the environments they find themselves in, and even how my honesty about my faith has presented unexpected challenges in my journey.

Connect with Tom Walter and the Life Uncut Show here:

• Tom Walter on Eeklee.com
• The Life Uncut Show Website
• Life Uncut on Facebook
• Life Uncut Podcast on iTunes

[app_audio src=”http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/277828364-redeeminggod-26-interview-with-thom-schultz.mp3″]Is biblical illiteracy really that big of a deal in the church today? Many believe so.

In this interview, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Thom Schultz, CEO of Group Publishing, and host of The Holy Soup Podcast.

We had a great discussion about why I don’t think biblical illiteracy is a problem in a church today.

Holy Soup Podcast

Thom Shultz, CEO of Group Publishing, Interviews me about Biblical Illiteracy (and why I don’t think it is a crisis in the church).

Listen and subscribe Here

[app_audio src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/redeeminggod/25_Kathy_Escobar_8_Ways_to_Shrink_a_Church.mp3″][contentblock id=kathy-escobar img=html.png]In this episode, Kathy Escobar and Karl Wheeler discuss their experiences in church planting, and discuss the 8 mistakes they made in their 10 years of pastoral ministry. If you are involved in church leadership, this humorous and insightful discussion will be helpful to you.

I hope you hear something useful in there and beneficial for your own ministry, whether you pastor a traditional church, or work with a house church, or just operate in a daily, relationship focused form of church.

Resources

• BibleWorks Software
• Subscribe on iTunes

[app_audio src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/redeeminggod/24_Darin_Hufford_Jesus_Camp.mp3″][contentblock id=darin-hufford img=html.png]Before you listen to this podcast, watch the following documentary:

Watch “Jesus Camp” for free here

As I watched Jesus Camp, I came to realize that what I was watching on the screen was spiritual child abuse. It was extremely sad for me to watch.

But more than that, as I watched it, I came to realize that what was being done to these children is nearly identical to what gets done to most adults in most churches today. It’s a little more subtle, it’s not quite as blatant, but it pretty much amounts to the same thing.

Many of our churches are little more than places where spiritual and religious abuse is heaped upon people week in and week out. People are manipulated and controlled in the name of God to act a certain way, think certain things, and live a certain way.

I know that what happens in this movie is not typical in most churches. I do know that. I doubt that the events which take place in this movie occur is more than 10% of the churches that are out there.

But even though the specific actions and activities might not be taking place in most churches, the underlying mindset and approach to people is.

And the mindset is this: You’re not good enough. You need to fix yourself up. God hates your sin and the sin of other people. If you want to have fellowship with God, you’ve got to stop sinning and stop doubting. You need to act a certain way, talk a certain way, live a certain way, eat only certain things, go only to certain places, and do only certain things, and if you don’t, then God is going to punish you.

You can’t be yourself, churches tell people, because you are evil. You are unrighteous. You need to be reformed and remade. You need to get fixed up. You need to pray more, pray harder. You need to read the Bible more and study harder. You need to attend church more and get involved in a home group so that you can truly become who God wants you to be. You must give more of your money to the church so that God can bless your home and your finances and your job. You need to witness and evangelize more because if you don’t, the blood of all your friends and neighbors will be on your own head.

And on and on and on it goes.

The movie shows in glaring colors what happens in a more muted way in most churches around the world.

Okay, maybe not at your church. But trust me when I say that it is happening in many churches, maybe even most churches, around the world. I get dozens of emails and comments through my blog every week from people all around the world who tell me the saddest stories about what they have been told and what they are experiencing in their churches. And as I watched Jesus Camp, I recognized that what was being done to these children was nearly identical to what is done to these adults who email me for help.

This is why I write at RedeemingGod.com. One of my primary goals is to help rescue people from the shackles of religion. I have a great burden and unceasing anguish in my heart for people who believe they are following God and doing everything He wants them to do, but who nevertheless go about in a state of constant fear and worry that maybe they haven’t done enough for God, or have said the wrong thing or done the wrong thing to make God stop loving them.

I also long to help rescue people from religion because religion kills. I don’t mean that religion physically kills—though it does that too. I mean that it kills psychologically and emotionally. Religion tells people that they are not good enough as they are, that they need to reject themselves and deny who they are and who they want to be and instead, become some sort of religious clone where they say the right things, wear the right things, eat the right things, and go to the right places.

Religious people cannot have a normal conversation with someone without feeling guilty for not bringing God into it. And that makes me sad.

Religious people cannot get together with friends for food and fellowship without feeling guilty for not turning it into a Bible study or opening with a time of prayer. And that makes me sad.

Religious people cannot help a neighbor or a coworker in need without feeling like they have to share the gospel or invite them to church. And that makes me sad.

I want you to live in the freedom for which you have been set free.

The scenes in the movie I remember most vividly is the one scene where the kid up front admits that he doesn’t know if he believes everything written in the Bible, and the camera then zooms in on the crowd to show their shocked and nervous faces.

Here is a poor kid who wants to know God and read the Bible and understand it, but so much of it is just too difficult to grasp, so in a moment of honesty he admits doubt. And what sort of response does he get? They were shocked that such doubt was even voiced.

Anyway, maybe you think your church is different.

I really hope it is. Truly, I do.

And I know that there really are churches out there that a different.

If your church is different, that is wonderful. I am not saying every church is like this. But many are. But if you think your church is different, let me invite you to take a little test. The next time you talk to your pastor, slip the word “shit” into your conversation. Or if you’re too uncomfortable with that, use the word “crap” a couple times. Then see what he says.

Or, better yet, tell your pastor that you are thinking of taking a break from church attendance for six months or so. Tell him you need to sort some things out with God and so you might not be in the Sunday morning service for a while. Then see what he says.

Or in your Bible study group, let it slip that you are not so sure that Genesis 1 teaches 6-day creationism. Or that maybe the Bible has errors.

Or maybe mention that you are starting to have feelings like you might be gay. (You might want to run this one by your spouse first.) Then see what sort of reaction you get.

If all of these are still too bold for you, just challenge your pastor about something he said in his sermon. Tell him he’s wrong. Just pick something. It doesn’t really matter what. Or if you don’t want to tell him, tell someone else that what your pastor said in his sermon was wrong. Tell an elder, or mention it to someone in your Bible study.

These sorts of experiences will show you that most churches, and probably yours included, don’t really want you to be you. They want you to be a better, fixed up, sanitized, sinless, happy, joyful version of you. They want you to toe the party line, sign on the dotted line, and not rock the boat with questions or doubts.

Resources

• BibleWorks Software
• Watch “Jesus Camp” for free here
• Subscribe on iTunes

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What is the basic guiding principle of the universe? Do you know?

It’s important to know, because if we are unaware of how God created this universe to function, and we try to go against the grain that God built into the universe, life will be more difficult for us. If we are trying to live life with God, then life with God is so much easier and more enjoyable if we are going with the flow that God built into life.

So are you curious to know what God’s guiding principle is? Do you want to know how you can go with the flow in God’s kingdom? In this episode, Brian Zahnd tells us more.

You have probably heard it said that “Love makes the world go round.” But this is more than just sentimental statement about love. This is a biblical and theological fact.

Love is built into the universe. It is the defining characteristic of God, and everything God says and does is from a motivation of love. Brian Zahnd says that love is the grain of the universe.

What this means is that if we want to cooperate with God in this world, then we too must begin and end with love. If we do not love, then we will be going against the grain of the universe, and even against the grain of God, and we should not expect good things to come from this.

One interesting point in this sermon is Zahnd’s point about the wrath of God. We often think of the wrath of God as God’s active punishment or judgment upon sinners. But this is not the wrath of God. The wrath of God, according to Brian Zahnd is the natural consequence of trying to live in a way that is opposed to love. Since the basic law of the universe is love, we should not be surprised when the universe tears us to shreds when we live in hate. It’s like gravity. The law of gravity pulls you down, and we could say that God created the law of gravity. But if I jump off a cliff, it would be foolish to say that God killed me when I hit the ground bottom. No, the law of gravity and my own foolish decision to ignore this law is what killed me. It is the same with the law of love and the wrath of God. Go against love if you will, but do not be surprised when your lack of love creates pain in your life. But this pain is not “from God.” No, it is from your own lack of love.

There is so much in this sermon about love, I invite you listen to it. The story at the end about the killings of communists in Indonesia was especially insightful, as it helps us understand how we can learn to love those we normally love to hate.

How are you learning to love others in your life? How are you learning to go with the grain of love?

Most importantly, if loving our enemies is a defining characteristic of the follower of Jesus, how are you learning to show love to your enemies? Give your input, ideas, and suggestions in the comment section below.

Resources

• BibleWorks Software
• Subscribe on iTunes

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Tim Nash and Dave Ward from the Nomad Podcast interviewed Wayne Jacobsen about his book, Finding Church. Listen to this interview to get all your questions answered about following Jesus outside of institutional Christianity.

Resources:

• Nomad Podcast on iTunes
• Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

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You likely have strong feelings about gay marriage, and you likely know that there are people who have opposite opinions. How can we love each other through these differences? This episode of Theology.fm discusses some ways.

Kathy Escobar and Karl Wheeler are co-pastors at The Refuge, and they discuss difficult subjects that often cause great problems in most churches, and then they propose ways that Christians can still love each other despite these differences.

In this episode they talk about the issue of gay marriage and look at some ways that Christians can navigate this subject with love for one another and those in the LGBT community.

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In this episode of Theology.fm, I interview Adam Ericksen about Mimetic Theory. If you want to better understand Scripture, theology, God, yourself, politics, culture, and pretty much everything else, listen to this podcast episode.

Adam Ericksen is the Education Director at the Raven Foundation, as well as a writer and frequent speaker at conferences and churches. His articles have been featured in Time Magazine and Sojourners. Adam recently delivered the Baccalaureate Address at his alma mater, Linfield College. In his writings, Adam explores the intersections of mimetic theory, current events, religion, and popular culture.

By subscribing to the free newsletter at the Raven Foundation, you can receive a free copy of his book, Dodging the Parenting Trap.

Resources:

• Subscribe to the One Verse Podcast
• The Raven Foundation
• The Atonement of God
• Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

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In this episode, Darin and Hans talk about … sex!

Well, actually, they talk about talking about sex.

For some reason, Christians think that talking about sex is taboo and so we are ashamed to talk about it in our preaching and teaching, and in our conversations with friends and families.

However, I firmly believe that it is because of this shame and fear that there are so many problems with sexual issues in the church today. If we cannot talk about sexual issues out in the open, then sexual issues and temptations can never be dealt with in an open and honest manner.

This is sort of what Darin and Hans discuss in this episode of Theology.fm.

So listen in as they talk about sex.

Resources:

• Sex, Food, and Animals
• Naked and Unafraid
• Boners in the Bible
• Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes