The Deep Thoughts Podcast with Matt Shantz

Matt gets Aimee Byrd on the line to talk about her new book, ‘Recovering From Biblical Manhood & Womanhood’. We discuss some ‘fences' that have been built in the church that are extra-biblical and at worst harm women and at best hinder their flourishing in the faith and church. Aimee’s book seeks to serve as a corrective and help the church rediscover her purpose. *Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast…that we’re aware of. Season 3 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast informs the listener on many issues of faith and life today by engaging some deep thinkers on some of their deepest of thoughts. ABOUT: AIMEE BYRD What a gift Aimee is to us as a woman committed to the church, a wise theologian, and a clarion voice for biblical faithfulness in discipleship. You can follow her on Twitter — as she says in her Twitter bio, ‘Dogs gotta bark, Byrd’s gotta Tweet’ — read her articles on aimeebyrd.com, listen to her alongside Carl Trueman and Todd Pruitt on the Mortification of Spin podcast, and read her books, including her latest, Recovering From Biblical Manhood & Womanhood.

Matt sits down with Marie Baars for a candid conversation about infertility, adoption, foster care, and faith. We also uncover why her voice sounds like Jill’s. *Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast…that we’re aware of. Season 3 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast informs the listener on many issues of faith and life today by engaging some deep thinkers on some of their deepest of thoughts. ABOUT: MARIE BAARS Marie is married to Gary and they are a part of Central Community Church where Matt serves as Pastor. They have two adopted children, Noah and Hannah, and have fostered 6 children (currently 3) — that is a busy house! Marie’s journey through infertility and on to adoption and foster care involved a lot of grief, hardship and faith struggle and yet she has seen God’s hand of kindness and calling through it. These are the subject matter of our conversation. Here is some reading she highly recommends: Reframing Foster Care: Filtering Your Foster Parenting Journey Through The Lens of the Gospel and The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family.

Matt sits down with Jason Kovacs, co-founder of Together for Adoption and board member of ABBA Canada, to talk about foster care and adoption. *Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast…that we’re aware of. Season 3 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast informs the listener on many issues of faith and life today by engaging some deep thinkers on some of their deepest of thoughts. ABOUT: JASON KOVACS Jason has been serving individuals, leaders, families, churches and non-profit organizations in the areas of pastoral care, counseling, and orphan advocacy for over 20 years. He helped plant a church, started a non-profit, and served as the Pastor of Counseling at the Austin Stone Church in Austin, Tx where he founded and directed The Austin Stone Counseling Center. In 2018 Jason and his family moved back to Canada to start the Gospel Care Collective and Redemption Counseling. He has received specialized training in working with foster/adopt families and trauma, serves on the board of ABBA Canada (provides financial assistance for adoptive families in Canada), and co-founded Together for Adoption. He and his wife Shawnda have been married for 16 years and have 5 children (4 through adoption).

Matt gets Joe Carter on the line to talk about his walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays. 11-year-old Matt wishes that was the case. Instead, Matt talks with another Joe Carter about an article he wrote for The Gospel Coalition entitled, Christians Are Not Immune to Conspiracy Theories. *Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast…that we’re aware of. Season 3 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast informs the listener on many issues of faith and life today by engaging some deep thinkers on some of their deepest of thoughts. ABOUT: JOE CARTER Joe is an editor for The Gospel Coalition, a communications specialist for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and an adjunct professor of journalism at Patrick Henry College. He also serves as an executive pastor at the McLean Bible Church Arlington campus in Arlington, Virginia. He is the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible and co-author of How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator.

Matt gets Drew Dyck on the line to talk about his recent book, ‘Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science’. It may well be the most exciting conversation you’ve ever heard on the most neglected Fruit of Spirit. *Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast…that we’re aware of. Season 3 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast informs the listener on many issues of faith and life today by engaging some deep thinkers on some of their deepest of thoughts. ABOUT: DREW DYCK Drew is an acquisitions editor at Moody Publishers and a contributing editor at CTPastors.com. He wrote Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith and Yawning at Tigers: You Can’t Tame God, So Stop Trying. His latest book is Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science — which will be the subject matter of our conversation today. Follow him on Twitter @drewdyck, you will not be disappointed.

Matt gets Micah Fries on the line to talk about his recent book, ‘Leveling The Church’ about equipping the whole church for ministry. It’s the Chilliwack-Chattanooga conversation you didn’t know you needed. *Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast…that we’re aware of. Season 3 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast informs the listener on many issues of faith and life today by engaging some deep thinkers on some of their deepest thoughts. ABOUT: MICAH FRIES Micah is the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. Prior to that, he worked at LifeWay Christian Resources. He is the co-author of the new book, Leveling The Church. Supposedly, he is really tall.

Dr. Nancy Pearcey is the author of many books — including one of Matt's favourites — Total Truth. He gets her on the line to talk about her latest book, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality. She is the definition of a deep thinker who is full of deep thoughts. This is going to be great. Season 2 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast engages some deep thinkers on a number of topics that are gripping many of our current cultural conversations. *Disclaimer: Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast. ABOUT: DR. NANCY PEARCEY She is the author of many books, including The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and two ECPA Gold Medallion Award Winners: How Now Shall We Live (coauthored with Chuck Colson) and Total Truth. She is a professor and scholar in residence at Houston Baptist University. A former agnostic, Pearcey has spoken at universities such as Princeton, Stanford, USC, and Dartmouth — she’s even been to Abbotsford! She was highlighted as one of the 5 top women apologists by Christianity Today and was hailed in The Economist as "America's pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual.” (I wasn’t even nominated in the pre-eminent evangelical Protestant male intellectual category) and her latest book is the subject of our conversation today, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality.

Anxiety and depression are more common than ever. It’s more than likely that you or someone you love experiences depression. And yet, the church hasn’t always done a good job of supporting those with depression. In fact, sometimes the church has contributed to the pain, either by ill-timed advice or just plain bad theology. Matt’s guest opens up about his depression and clears up a number of these harmful missteps. Season 2 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast engages some deep thinkers on a number of topics that are gripping many of our current cultural conversations. *Disclaimer: Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast. In fact, some may have found it therapeutic. ABOUT: JEFF BUCKNAM Jeff Bucknam is the Lead Pastor of Northview Community Church, arriving in Abbotsford via New Zealand and born and raised in the great state of Washington. We all think he should have written some books by now but still hold out hope that it’s only a matter of time. (Just watch, he’ll start releasing a book or two a year once he’s in his fifties à la Timothy Keller)

Valentine’s Day doesn’t get much more romantic than this: Matt is sitting down with Emily for a candid conversation about being a pastor’s wife (swoon). Being a pastor’s wife may have the worst 'bad pay-high expectation' ratio out there. Emily gives us a window into the weird and (occasionally) wonderful world of the pastor’s wife life. Season 2 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast engages some deep thinkers on a number of topics that are gripping many of our current cultural conversations. *Disclaimer: Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast. ABOUT: EMILY Emily and Matt have been married for 12 years and they have two sons, a dog, and a great love for the indoors. Her gifts, passions, and studies have led her to work in various child, teen, and parent advocacy roles.

You ever see a self-professing Christian angrily criticize someone on social media who holds a different view? It has become commonplace and it’s just not helpful. How do we get back to our roots? How do we live as a compelling Christian witness with faith so irresistible that the world can’t resist? Matt gets Scott Sauls on the line to talk about this very thing. He’s the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville and the author of several books, including his latest, Irresistible Faith. Season 2 of The Deep Thoughts Podcast engages some deep thinkers on a number of topics that are gripping many of our current cultural conversations. *Disclaimer: Incredibly, no deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this podcast…although Scott Sauls might say otherwise. ABOUT: SCOTT SAULS Scott is pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN and is the author of several books including Jesus Outside the Lines, Befriend, and his most recent, Irresistible Faith.