Crackers and Grape Juice

"God's holiness to mend our brokenness. God's faithfulness to resolve our doubt. It was the exact reversal of Mormonism's worthiness-brings-blessings schema, and my heart sang out. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had come home."Katie Langston is the Director of Digital Strategy for Luther Seminary. Raised in a fundamentalist Mormon home, she became a Christian and was baptized not long ago. She's written a memoir of her journey from Mormonism to grace, Sealed. Check it out.

In a post-Christian, post-modern, post-truth society where Jesus' followers aren't often well regarded, modern evangelism approaches are eroding and increasingly ineffective. Christians often talk more than we listen, confront when we should converse, and demand that people believe before they belong. We need a compelling way to share our faith that combines the timeless practices of Jesus with timely perspectives about our post-everything era.Author and Executive Director of Alpha US Craig Springer believes that reaching non-Christians is possible, but only if we are willing to shift our perspectives, abandon ineffective methodologies, and consider the unique cultural moment in which we are living. In How to Revive Evangelism, he shares the often-overlooked evangelistic approaches of Jesus himself and demonstrates how returning to these fundamentals is key to reviving evangelism in the 21st century. Incorporating groundbreaking and often startling data, Springer offers Christians seven shifts in how to share their faith with friends and family members, neighbors, and coworkers which create greater potential for life change.Before you listen, do us a solid and help out the podcast.Head over to http://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com.Click on “Support the Show.”Become a patron. Subscribe to CGJ+For peanuts, you can help us out….we appreciate it more than you can imagine.Follow us on the three-majors of social media:https://www.facebook.com/crackersnjuicehttps://twitter.com/crackersnjuicehttps://www.instagram.com/crackersandgrapejuice

For this week's episode, we're giving you a sneak peek at a podcast we release only for our paid subscribers to our biweekly newsletter, Crackers and Grape+. We call it the Secret Podcast and we hope you enjoy the conversations between Jason and his Padwan, David King, a rising second year at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Our guest for episode #310 is filmmaker Chris White about his new film, Electric Jesus. CHRIS WHITE has written and directed three micro-budget features: showbiz comedy CINEMA PURGATORIO (2014, co-writer, director, actor), and broken family dramas GET BETTER (2012, co-writer, co-director, actor) and TAKEN IN (2011, writer, director). He co-wrote the screenplay for SIX LA LOVE STORIES (2016), and has written and directed for the multi-award-winning, web series phenomenon, Star Trek Continues. White has write-directed many acclaimed short films-collecting his most recent for a 5-film, "southern gothic comedy" anthology called UNBECOMING (2016, writer, director).About his fantastic new movie, Electric Jesus, Chris writes: "I was raised by devout Southern Baptist parents and fully immersed in (and committed to) Evangelical Christian youth culture—which included Sunday School, Bible studies, summer camps, retreats, choir tours, ski trips—all of it set to an ‘80s Christian rock soundtrack. This immersive religious culture is difficult to explain to many of my friends today—but it’s even more difficult to explain why I loved it. The fact that something so alien to most of the world is so vivid in my memory...and kind of embarrassing to talk about now... It makes me feel odd.Just listen to a Christian hair metal anthem of the era—let’s say Stryper’s “To Hell With the Devil”—and you’ll start to understand. Honestly, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I revisit that time in my mind, but either way, there’s no looking away.Turns out, my Christian friends and I were a lot more like all of you than I’d thought. Who can’t relate to being young and wistful, devoted to a big unifying idea…and in love? Who doesn’t remember the moment or the moments when you saw your youth, your naiveté...your hope slip away?We’ve all been young. We’ve all had plans and dreams and loves that didn’t work out the way we’d hoped. And from time to time, we think about it. We remember.ELECTRIC JESUS was born out of years of looking back, reconstructing, re-discovering moments and memories I’d long since left behind that suddenly fascinated me. I missed being a Christian youth group kid. I missed the certainty, the comfort…I missed Jesus. But then, as I wrote and eventually as we shot the film, a bigger revelation came to me. I’d been operating under the illusion that my churchy teen years were all about me—that I’d been the sole protagonist in an origin story about me…that coming of age was something that happened to me, while everyone else was just kinda along for the ride...my co-stars. So that’s what ELECTRIC JESUS came to be about to me: believing in something so much it all gets too big to fail, all the while completely missing the existentially huge story that’s happening right under your nose. And only being able to realize that several decades later when it’s too late to do it over."

Six months into a deep personal crisis occasioned by the unexpected end of his marriage, Jamie Howison traveled halfway across the continent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to engage in a unique and intense five-week contemplative retreat served in the context of the chapel community of the University of King’s College. Immersed in the liturgies of the Canadian Book of Common Prayer, mentored in the writing of an Orthodox icon of Christ Pantocrator, challenged to confront the hard truths behind his brokenness, and laid bare by the hours of silence and solitude, Howison discovered something of the power of the ancient spiritual traditions in the restoration of a twenty-first-century soul. A Kind of Solitude tells that story.Jamie Howison, an Anglican priest in Canada and pastor Benedict’s Table Church, is back on the podcast to talk about his new book. Friend and supporter of the show, Joshua Retterer joined me for the conversation.Before you listen, do us a solid and help out the podcast.Head over to http://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com.Click on “Support the Show.”Become a patron. Subscribe to CGJ+For peanuts, you can help us out….we appreciate it more than you can imagine.Follow us on the three-majors of social media:https://www.facebook.com/crackersnjuicehttps://twitter.com/crackersnjuicehttps://www.instagram.com/crackersandgrapejuice

This is Jason speaking... As a Christian, I've never understood the hang-up and/or obsession some Christians have regarding gay Christians. Maybe it's my age. Maybe it's because my first teacher- after my having just become a Christian- was Dr. Gene Rogers, who introduced me to Karl Barth and Thomas Aquinas and who happened to be gay. As a pastor, I'm both exhausted by the sexuality debate and heartsick over its many victims-- often anonymous, suffering in the pews. For all these reasons, it's a privilege to have Sally Gary as our guest for episode #308 to discuss her work with CenterPeace and her new book, Affirming: A Memoir of Faith, Sexuality, and Staying in the Church. Here's the blurb from Amazon:What is it like to discover that something you’ve believed all your life might be wrong? Sally Gary knew since her early adulthood that she was attracted to women. But as a devoted Christian, she felt there was no way to fully embrace this aspect of her identity while remaining faithful. Now, as she prepares to marry the love of her life, she’s ready to speak out about why—and how—her perspective changed. In this deeply personal memoir, Sally traces the experiences, conversations, and scriptural reading that culminated in her seeing her sexuality as something that made sense within the context of her faith—not outside of it or in opposition to it. Along the way, she addresses specific aspects of her journey that will resonate with many other gay Christians: the loneliness and isolation of her previously celibate life, the futile attempts she made to resist or even “change” her sexual orientation, and the fear of intimacy that followed a lifetime of believing same-sex relationships were sinful. Sally’s story—one of heritage, learning, courage, and love—is written especially for the generations of LGBTQ Christians after her who are questioning whether they can stay part of the church they call home. It’s a resounding reminder that, just like Sally’s own heart, things can change, and sometimes, when we earnestly search for the truth, we find it in the most unexpected places.

“We’ve got a list of questions, issues, stuff we’re dealing with. We want your input, your thoughts on this stuff.” Such were the origins of this little book. Two young clergy, early in their first call, imagined that I might have some useful wisdom to pass on based on my own years in ministry. Something like this was once standard preparation. Young people learned a profession like law, ministry, or medicine by apprenticing themselves to one seasoned in the practice. Not only has that way of learning largely vanished but we now live in times of increasing segregation and suspicion between different generations. Still, these two millennials bucked the trends. They thought they might have something to learn from an old boomer. The result is this collection of letters: personal, wry, direct, and honest. Full of both hope and realism about the church and ministry. This collection will be a welcome companion for young, and for many not so young, clergy trying to get a handle on ministry in the midst of a time that is full of change and challenge.Anthony B. Robinson has a ministry and writings that have spoken wisely and helpfully to thousands of clergy and hundreds of congregations. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, who has served four congregations, consulted with scores of congregations and their leaders, and taught in several different seminaries. He is the author of a dozen books including the best-seller Transforming Congregational Culture and the award-winning What's Theology Got To Do with It?

Our guest for this episode is Gerald Bray, whose new book is Anglicanism: A Reformed Catholic Tradition.Gerald Bray (DLitt, University of Paris-Sorbonne) is Research Professor at Beeson Divinity School and Director of Research for the Latimer Trust. He is a prolific writer and has authored or edited numerous books, including The Doctrine of God and Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present.What is Anglicanism? There are many associations that come to mind. Whether it is the buildings, the unique history, the prayers, or church government, often we emphasize one aspect against others. Is the Anglican church a Protestant church with distinctive characteristics, or a Catholic Church no longer in communion with Rome? In Anglicanism: A Reformed Catholic Tradition, Gerald Bray argues that some theological trajectories are more faithful than others to the nature and history of the Church of England. Readers looking to understand the diversity, nature, and future of Anglicanism will be helped by Bray's historical examination.

Kurt Willems joins the pod to share his new book Echoing Hope: How the Humanity of Jesus Redeems Our Pain.None of us live free of difficulties or hardships. But how can we learn to live richly in the midst of them? And ever grow spiritually because of them? The answer is found in the hopeful humanity of Jesus.Echoing Hope reveals how understanding the humanity of Jesus can radically transform our identity and empower us to step into our pain-filled world in a new way. Combining rich theological insight with personal stories and practices for response, learn how we can overcome despair and encounter the beautiful potential of our lives.Friend and mentor Pastor Brian Zahnd said, “Without resorting to worn-out clichés, Kurt Willems walks the reader through the problem of pain with the mind of a theologian and the heart of a pastor. This book will help many people.”Before you listen, do us a solid and help out the podcast.Head over to http://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com.Click on “Support the Show.”Become a patron.For peanuts you can help us out....we appreciate it more than you can imagine.Follow us on the three-majors of social media:https://www.facebook.com/crackersnjuicehttps://twitter.com/crackersnjuicehttps://www.instagram.com/crackersandgrapejuice

For eight years, Ellie Holcomb recorded and toured full-time with her husband’s band, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, before stepping off the road when her first child was born. Her solo debut, As Sure As The Sun (2014), landed her a Top 10 hit at Christian radio with “The Broken Beautiful” and a GMA Dove Award for “New Artist of the Year.” Her critically-acclaimed sophomore LP, Red Sea Road, followed in 2017. In subsequent years, Holcomb has released two children’s books—each with a companion EP of original music written specifically for kids, the second of which earned her a Dove Award for “Children’s Album of the Year” in 2020. She’s consistently writing, touring and performing while raising three kids with Drew in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. (They’ve been dancing in the kitchen to the new songs on C A N Y O N, and she can’t wait to share them with the world.)Ellie has performed with Third Day, MercyMe, Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant, Chris Tomlin, and more. She joins the podcast today to talk about faith, writing, and her new solo album, Canyons, due out 6/25.