The Deep Thoughts Podcast with Matt Shantz

Matt chats with Gavin Ortlund about his book, Finding The Right Hills to Die On. “In theology, just as in battle, some hills are worth dying on and others are not. But how do we know which ones? When should doctrine divide, and when should unity prevail?” Matt also asks Gavin if there’s any friendly competition in the family of authors. Plus, he tries to get to the bottom of what was in the water at the Ortlund household to raise not just a family full of wonderful theologians, but great, godly people. So they talk about parenting to start things off in the interview, before settling into figuring out which hills to die on. ABOUT: Gavin Ortlund Gavin Ortlund is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai in Ojai, California and the author of books including Theological Retrieval For Evangelicals  Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future; Finding The Right Hills To Die On: The Case for Theological Triage — the primary subject of our episode; and his latest book: Why God Makes Sense In A World That Doesn’t: The Beauty of Christian Theism. He blogs at Soliloquium.

A Deep Thought is a concise episode on a particular aspect of the Christian faith that we sprinkle in between full-length episodes. This deep thought is on how to study the Bible.

Matt and Matt talk about heart postures for Bible-reading before delving into a discussion about Deacons. They also talk about Mark Dever’s internship program and his office (which are both the stuff of legends) and a bonus conversation at the end on what it’s been like being a part of The Gospel Coalition in such polarizing times. *Warning: Deep thoughts not guaranteed. ABOUT: Matt Smethurst Matt is the author of books including Before You Open Your Bible and Deacons (which is in the fantastic 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series), is the managing editor of The Gospel Coalition, and served as an elder at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. But he just recently announced a big life change: He will be planting a church in Richmond, Virginia in the coming months.

Matt chats with Martin Smith about his songwriting career, worship leading, the early days of Delirious?, and what he thinks is lost when the church doesn’t gather for corporate worship for a year, before finishing things off with some fun rapid-fire questions. *Warning: Deep thoughts not guaranteed. *Special thanks to Integrity Music and Capitol CMG Publishing for permission to use the songs in the episode. ABOUT: Martin Smith Martin Smith was the frontman of a band called Delirious? from 1997 until their final show together in 2009. A number of their songs reached the Top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. Many of their songs are quintessential worship songs in the church. Check out their music on Apple Music or Spotify and check out Martin’s solo music on Apple Music or Spotify. During the pandemic, Martin found himself remotely leading worship for some churches and that turned into GloWorksTV where he and some of his worship leader friends lead worship from home that churches can use for their online services all over the world.

A Deep Thought is a concise episode on a particular aspect of the Christian faith that we sprinkle in between full-length episodes. This deep thought is about the claim on which Christianity rises or falls: The resurrection of Jesus. And why—if Jesus did in fact rise—it changes EVERYTHING.

Join Matt and J.T. English for a conversation about deep discipleship in the local church. J.T. skillfully helps us diagnose and treat our discipleship disease. This episode is a must-listen for anyone thinking about discipleship in the local church context and anyone longing to grow in your discipleship to Jesus. Matt also attempts to convince J.T. that people call Colorado "the poor man’s British Columbia” but he’s not buying it. *Warning: Deep thoughts not guaranteed. ABOUT: J. T. English You might recognize the voice of my guest from the Knowing Faith podcast he co-hosts with Jen Wilkin & Kyle Worley. He was on staff at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas and started The Village Church Institute where he prioritized making the Bible and theology accessible to everyone through transformative learning environments within the church. He now serves as the Lead Pastor of Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colorado and is the author of the new book, Deep Discipleship — which is all about forming deep disciples in the local church.

Thaddeus Williams is convinced that social justice is one of the most epic and age-defining controversies facing the 21st-century church. In this episode Thaddeus chats with Matt about his new book, Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth, bringing biblical faithfulness and timely clarity to issues such as racism, Black Lives Matter, Intersectionality, and Critical Race Theory. By distinguishing 'Social Justice A' (biblically required and socially necessary) from 'Social Justice B' (our culture’s present definition), Thaddeus shows us that while Social Justice B contains some truth, it represents a completely different worldview. This may be the most important episode you listen to this year. *Warning: Deep thoughts not guaranteed. ABOUT: THADDEUS WILLIAMS Thaddeus Williams loves enlarging students’ understanding and enjoyment of Jesus at Biola University in La Mirada, CA, where he serves as assistant professor of Systematic Theology for Talbot School of Theology. 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. His latest book, Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth is the subject of this episode.

A Deep Thought is a concise episode on a particular aspect of the Christian faith that we sprinkle in between full-length episodes. This deep thought is on the three universal problems that we can’t solve, but Jesus can.

In an episode about Harry Potter as much as anything else, Matt chats with Rebecca McLaughlin about her 2020 Book of the Year, Confronting Christianity and forthcoming, 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (And Answer) About Christianity. In the interview Rebecca responds to some tough questions including: “Why is Christianity accused of being anti-intellectual?”; “Doesn’t Christianity denigrate women?”; “Isn’t Christianity homophobic?”; “How should we understand transgender identities?” *Warning: Deep thoughts not guaranteed. ABOUT: REBECCA MCLAUGHLIN Rebecca holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University and a theology degree from Oak Hill College in London. She spent 9 years as VP of Content with The Veritas Forum where she had the privilege of identifying and equipping Christian professors to speak about their faith in relation to their work. She co-founded Vocable Communications in 2017, which is a speech-focused, data-driven communications firm dedicated to helping leaders deliver messages that change minds. Follow ups to her Christianity Today Book of the Year, Confronting Christianity are 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (And Answer) About Christianity (March 16, 2021) and The Secular Creed: Engaging 5 Contemporary Claims (Spring).

A Deep Thought is a concise episode on a particular aspect of the Christian faith that we sprinkle in between full-length episodes. This deep thought is on the inclusive exclusivity of Jesus.