The Deep Thoughts Podcast with Matt Shantz

The issue of gender has roared onto the scene so quickly, the concept has evolved so rapidly, the level of importance deemed so integral, that you would be hard-pressed to find a more pressing, confusing and divisive subject. Enter Dr. Abigail Favale. Her book, The Genesis of Gender is insightful, wise and timely. Abigail is an expert in areas of post-modernity, gender studies, and feminism and her radical re-conversion to Christianity has led her to take everything she has learned about gender and apply it through the lens of the Bible.  ABOUT Abigail is a writer and professor whose work lies at the intersection of Catholic theology, literature, and women’s studies. Her abiding interest as a writer and scholar is the meaning and dignity of woman, and her work explores sexual difference and embodiment in the Catholic imagination. She holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, where she teaches on topics like Edith Stein’s Theology of Woman and Religion & Literature. Abigail has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from George Fox University, as well as a master's degree in Women, Writing and Gender and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the author of multiple books including, Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion (Cascade 2018) and The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory, which was published in 2022 and has already been translated into multiple languages. She lives with her husband, Michael, and their four children in South Bend, Indiana.

Andrew Wilson joins the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about special needs, the case for eucharistic and charismatic worship in the life of the church, and why the year 1776 was such a big deal and how the West is now post-Christian because of it. ABOUT Andrew Wilson (PhD, King’s College London) is the teaching pastor at King’s Church London and a columnist for Christianity Today. He’s the author of several books, including the three they talk about in this episode: Remaking the World, Spirit and Sacrament, and The Life We Never Expected. He’s a part of the Mere Fidelity podcast, co-hosts the “Post-Christianity?” podcast with Glen Scrivener, and regularly writes on the Think Theology website. Andrew is married to Rachel and they have three children: Zeke, Anna and Samuel. He is also a great follow on X/Twitter.

Statistically, only about 9% of those who make New Years Resolutions actually complete them, with the vast majority of people failing within the first week and month. David Mathis refers to the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, and commitment to a local church as habits of grace and asserts that they are paramount for relationship with and enjoyment of Jesus. As we embark on a new year, resolve to know and enjoy Jesus through these habits of grace. In this episode Matt sits down with David Mathis to talk about leadership in the church (6:30 mark) and habits of grace (31:00 mark). ABOUT David Mathis serves as senior teacher and executive editor at desiringGod.org, a pastor at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and an adjunct professor at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis. He and his wife, Megan, have four children. He is the author of several books, including the two talked about in this episode: Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines and Workers For Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders.

The nativity stories from the gospels of Matthew and Luke are familiar to everyone. Baby Jesus in a manger, Mary and Joseph, the little town of Bethlehem, the shepherds, and wise men. We’re less familiar with Revelation’s nativity story found in chapter 12 that includes a seven-headed dragon. But it is one of the Bible’s telling of the Christmas story nonetheless. In this brief episode Matt explains why this cosmic Christmas story is worth including in your nativity.

Today we’re told to be true to ourselves, look within for answers, and follow our hearts. But when we put our own happiness first, we experience record-breaking levels of aimlessness, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. In Don’t Follow Your Heart, Thaddeus Williams debunks the “ten commandments of self-worship” and points to a life beyond the self-defeating dogmas of self-worship to a more meaningful life centred on Someone infinitely more interesting, satisfying, and awesome than ourselves. Thaddeus Williams is back on the podcast, this time to tell us not to follow our hearts but to follow God’s heart!  ABOUT Thaddeus J. Williams (Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) loves enlarging students’ understanding and enjoyment of Jesus at Biola University in La Mirada, CA, where he serves as associate professor of Systematic Theology for Talbot School of Theology. His previous appearance on Deep Thoughts, to talk about Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth (episode 36) is one of the podcast’s most popular episodes. He has also taught Philosophy and Literature at Saddleback College, Jurisprudence at Trinity Law School, and as a lecturer in Worldview Studies at L’Abri Fellowships in Switzerland and Holland, and Ethics for Blackstone Legal Fellowship the Federalist Society in Washington D.C. He resides in Orange County, CA with his wife and four kids.

Let’s face it: When people complain that masculinity is toxic, they often point to evangelical men as their prime example. But findings from the social sciences debunk those charges. Research shows that committed Christian men who attend church regularly test out as the most loving and engaged husbands and fathers. These facts show that Christianity has the power to overcome toxic behaviour in men and reconcile the sexes—an unexpected finding that has stood up to rigorous empirical testing. We should be bold in bringing it into the public square. In her new book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, Professor Pearcey explains how secularism has villainized the concept of masculinity and how Christian men shatter the negative stereotypes. ABOUT Nancy Pearcey is the author of The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, as well as Love Thy Body, The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and Total Truth. She is professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. She has been quoted in The New Yorker and Newsweek, highlighted as one of the five top women apologists by Christianity Today, and hailed in The Economist as "America's pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual."

Evangelicals are known today for culture-wars, politics, conspiracy theories, and moral failures as much or more as the historic pillars of evangelical identity. In this brief episode Matt defines evangelicalism and explores how we might get that clear and compelling evangelical vision back. ABOUT Matt Shantz is the Lead Pastor of Central Community Church, a vibrant multi-generational church that meets across 5 campuses in the beautiful eastern Fraser Valley, BC Canada. Matt loves to introduce people to Jesus, teach the Bible, and raise up the whole church to be ministers of the gospel.

Unclear on God’s purpose for the family? This episode is for you! In 2012 Jefferson Bethke released a spoken word video to YouTube called, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” that went viral and changed his life forever. Viewed over 35 million times and followed up with New York Times bestseller, Jesus > Religion, now Jeff and his wife Alyssa have written a number of books and lead a number of ministries, including Family Teams, which they talk about with Matt in this episode. Alyssa and Matt are in a Western Seminary Global Masters Cohort together. Apparently Jeff was in the same cohort years ago but unlike Alyssa and Matt, he’s a quitter. Alyssa is the author of Satisfied, and together they’ve written, Love That Lasts and others. Jeff and Alyssa live in Maui, which was hit this summer with the deadliest wildfire in the US in over 100 years. For ways you can help right now and provide resources for those in need—go to hopechapelmaui.com  ABOUT Alyssa Bethke is a mother of three children, Kinsley, Kannon, and Lucy, and a dog named Aslan. She and her husband, Jeff Bethke, live in Maui, and are bloggers, YouTubers, and hosts of The Real-Life podcast. Alyssa is the author of  Satisfied and together with Jeff wrote, Love That Lasts. They are passionate about encouraging and strengthening families at familyteams.com, an online initiative equipping families to live as a multigenerational team on mission. They live in Maui with their daughters, Kinsley and Lucy, and son, Kannon.Jefferson Bethke is the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus > Religion and It’s Not What You Think. To say hi or to learn more, go to jeffandalyssa.com

What do we do with passages in the Bible that are strange or even troubling? Matt talks a bit about that while unpacking one of the weirdest stories in the Bible: A couple bears mauling a bunch of boys. This brief ‘A Deep Thought’ episode is a summary of a sermon he preached entitled, A Grizzly Scene, from 2 Kings 2.

Matt unpacks the parables of the treasure and pearl of great price and the astounding reality that Jesus treasures us. This brief ‘A Deep Thought’ episode is a summary of a sermon he preached entitled, Treasure Jesus, from Matthew 13:44-46.