Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to explore an argument that broke out among Jewish believers and Gentile converts to Christianity in the First Century that threatened to split the early church like an overripe watermelon. This chapter of church history recorded in the book of Acts is formally called “The Jerusalem Debate” and the hugely significant spiritual truism came out of those ancient theological fisticuffs is still a foundational wall of orthodox Christianity today. Early church fathers described it as: solo fide, which in Latin means “faith alone.” In other words, the Old Testament guidelines that the Jewish believers in Acts were so fired up about getting non-Jewish Christian converts to abide by couldn’t save them then and it sure can’t save us now because no human being has the capacity to attain moral perfection. Mosaic Law underscores our need for a Messiah. Furthermore, our gratitude for God’s grace – not the attempt to justify it – has to be the motive behind Christian morality, otherwise good doctrine and good behavior will soon digress into smug moralism, self-righteousness, judgmentalism, and even worse. Today’s conversation about our on-going need to be “re-Gospeled” is bound to be lively and hopefully life-giving so please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or wrapping banana leaves around a deceased pig for a backyard luau, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Learn more about Convoy of Hope’s Women’s Empowerment program at Convoy.org/LisaHarper  Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to spend some quality time with Apostle Paul, the chief bully of ancient believers who was so gob-smacked by grace on the way to Damascus that he experienced a radical conversion, went on to write at least 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament, and laid the foundation for what we now call systematic theology. Eminent Pauline scholar F.F. Bruce describes his dramatic transformation from anti-Christian crusader to Christian missionary like this: "With astonishing suddenness the persecutor of the church became the apostle of Jesus Christ. He was in mid-course as a zealot for the law, bent on checking a plague which threatened the life of Israel, when, in his own words, he was ‘apprehended by Christ Jesus’ and constrained to turn right round and become a champion of the cause, which up to that moment, he had been endeavoring to exterminate, dedicated henceforth to building up what he had been doing his best to demolish.” Paul’s striking turn-about proves that in the spiritual realm old dogs can most certainly learn new tricks and more importantly, our Savior can mold the hardest of human hearts into the beautiful shape of God and others-honoring humility. I think today is going to provide some much-needed fresh encouragement for those of you who’ve been tempted to give up praying for a precious, albeit hard-hearted, loved one in your corner of the world. So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or cleaning the keyboard of your laptop with a Q-tip, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Learn more about Convoy of Hope’s Women’s Empowerment program at Convoy.org/LisaHarper  Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to talk about the spirit of radical generosity that permeated the early church in the book of Acts. Those ancient Christ-followers were so gifted at giving, they made Santa look bush league! In fact, the very first time the Greek word koinonia – which means a close fellowship between people, emphasizing what is common between them and is defined by participation, sharing, and contribution – is used for the first time in the New Testament in the book of Acts to describe the benevolent community that existed among Christ-followers. Andrew Murray, who was a Scottish missionary, pastor, and author in the late 19th & early 20th century framed the theme of today’s conversation with his keen observation: The world asks, "What does a man own?" Christ asks, "How does he use it?" Whether at home, work, or church – true community is a place where people are generous and devoted to one another’s well-being. And if you haven’t found a community quite like that, we hope this episode might just motivate you to start one! So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or spray-painting Pickleball lines in your driveway, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Learn more about Convoy of Hope’s Women’s Empowerment program at Convoy.org/LisaHarper  Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s episode of Back Porch Theology we’re stepping into new theological territory after spending the last 8 weeks in our “Wild About Jesus” series where we explored His perfectly simultaneous divine and human nature – otherwise known as the hypostatic union – His historicity, His early life, His empathy, His atoning death and His absolute superiority as the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. Focusing on who Jesus is – shoring up the cornerstone of our orthodoxy, if you will – compelled us to ask ourselves the question posed by one of my favorite modern thinkers and theologians, Francis Schaeffer: How Should We Then Live? Because what we believe to be true about our Redeemer can’t simply recline in our minds as cognitive, spiritual information but must generate a Christophormic, Jesus-shaped, response to the world around us! Our sociology should reflect our theology! Which is why we’re going to spend some time in Acts - following the progression of those first Christ-followers who went from walking along beside incarnate Jesus – surely accumulating lots of information about Him along the way - to changing the course of history with the radical message of God’s unconditional love after witnessing that very first Easter. We’re about to put some serious skin in the game, y’all, so please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or organizing your junk drawer, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Learn more about Convoy of Hope’s Women’s Empowerment program at Convoy.org/LisaHarper  Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s episode of Back Porch Theology we’re going to talk about the most epic of all tattoos, which is the one John describes as being on Jesus’ thigh when He comes thundering through the sky on a white horse to claim His bride in Revelation 19: King of kings and Lord of lords. This divine, indelible ink includes not one, but two titles, that herald Jesus’ supremacy and authority over ever other king, emperor, president, prime minister, general or any other kind of ruler the world has ever seen. And those superlative titles are especially interesting when we remember that during the latter part of the first century when the book of Revelation was written, the Caesars were fond of being called king (Greek basileus) and lord (Greek kyrios) so when John shares that spoiler alert about Jesus coming back for us with a “King of kings and Lord of lords” tat – he’s letting us know that the victory of good over evil is a sure thing and that we can rest in the ultimate sovereignty of our Savior. Take a deep breath, baby, because our future is golden! So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or weaving Alpaca wool, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Sponsored by Talk About from Awana. Get 1 month free at TalkAboutDiscipleship.com keyword Lisa Harper Check out Lisa's new study on Luke at ChurchSource.com/Luke Save on the Dwell Bible App at dwellapp.io/LisaHarper See "Jesus" for free on Sight and Sound TV. Learn more at Sight-Sound.TV Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to talk about how captivating Jesus was as a communicator. Although our Savior was omniscient, He wasn’t obnoxious. He didn’t expound on Torah with elitist, multi-syllabic, proprietary language to prove His other-worldly intellect, instead He told stories. He talked about transcendent things like God and the Kingdom of Heaven with imaginative language and compelling metaphors that engaged His first century audience. In fact, almost half of His sermons were in parabolic – or story – form. The bottom line is, we wouldn’t be tempted to play Candy Crush on our phones if we were listening to Jesus preach! Plus, His stories are just as engaging and relevant today as they were two thousand years ago. In fact, I found myself so enthralled by one while preparing for this episode that I skipped dinner last night, which could almost qualify as a modern-day miracle. So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or rolling homemade sushi, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Sponsored by Talk About from Awana. Get 1 month free at TalkAboutDiscipleship.com keyword Lisa Harper Check out Lisa's new study on Luke at ChurchSource.com/Luke Save on the Dwell Bible App at dwellapp.io/LisaHarper  See "Jesus" for free on Sight and Sound TV. Learn more at Sight-Sound.TV Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re diving deep into the biblical concept of atonement – which the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible describes as: the act by which God and man are brought together in personal relationship. The term atonement is derived from Anglo-Saxon words meaning “making at one,” hence “at-one-ment.” It presupposes a separation or alienation that needs to be overcome if human beings are to know God and enjoy a relationship with Him. In Romans 5:11, Apostle Paul frames it like this: And not only that, but we shall also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement – which in many Bible translations is called the reconciliation. Now, we want to make a wee qualification before we commence conversating because there are as many theories of atonement as there are ice cream flavors at Baskin Robbins. We don’t have enough time or thick enough skin to delve into all of the nuances of atonement, much less whether it’s limited or universal so we’re taking the risk of being equal opportunity offenders to both hyper-Calvinists and enthusiastic Arminians! But the theological axis we are going to unify around today is how through His vicarious, substitutionary, and sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus atoned for our sin and satisfied the demands of God’s perfect justice. In other words, we believe Scripture clearly reveals that we can’t save ourselves so our Heavenly Father mercifully sent His only begotten Son to pay the price humanity couldn’t possibly afford so as to reconcile us to Himself. Easter was a “consequent absolute necessity.” This episode might feel a bit like drinking from a firehose, so please grab a big cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or practicing roping steers, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Sponsored by Talk About from Awana. Get 1 month free at TalkAboutDiscipleship.com keyword Lisa Harper Save on the Dwell Bible App at dwellapp.io/LisaHarper  See "Jesus" for free on Sight and Sound TV. Learn more at Sight-Sound.TV Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re discussing all things anthropomorphic – which in the theological realm involves the oft feeble attempt to use human context and metaphor to describe what is divine and transcendent. And we’re doing so to responsibly frame the thesis that our Creator Redeemer is not uniformly angry or solemn but instead expresses sheer delight within the perfect Trinitarian “perichoresis” kind of relationship that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit enjoy with each other, and also with us - His prone to wander people. If you grew up like me with the wrong assumption that the Bible is an altogether somber rulebook and our Savior is an unsmiling grump, then today’s episode might just help you understand how orthodox Christianity and the concept of a smiling Savior are not mutually exclusive! Praise God, some of y’all are gonna get free today, baby! So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or grinding your own wheat, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Sponsored by Talk About from Awana. Get 1 month free at TalkAboutDiscipleship.com keyword Lisa Harper Save on the Dwell Bible App at dwellapp.io/LisaHarper Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology – the fourth in our “Wild About Jesus” series – we’re going to talk about how Apostle Paul compared the Christ to the dude who started that whole fig-leaves-for-pants trend when he referred to our Savior as the “Second Adam.” Which sounds like he was casting Jesus as a sort of new and improved “version” of mankind, doesn’t it? Like adding Christological chorizo to queso or something to make it better. But that’s not Paul’s point at all, y’all. Instead, his systematic compare-and-contrast language leads to the theological truism that Jesus was God’s original gameplan to redeem humanity all along. We’re going to be pounding nails to shore up some awesome doctrinal scaffolding today y’all, so please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or trying not to fall over while peeling off a pair of Spanx in the narrow stall of a public restroom, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us.  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co  Save on the Dwell Bible App at dwellapp.io/LisaHarper Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology – the third in our “Wild About Jesus” series – we’re going to talk about the fact that Jesus is a proven historical figure. In fact, there’s overwhelming evidence about the work and person of Jesus Christ from numerous non-Christian sources from the earliest centuries of the Common Era! In his book, The Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, pastor and theologian Dr. Tim Keller writes about a man who told a pastor he’d be happy to believe in Christianity if the pastor could give him a watertight argument for its legitimacy. The pastor replied, "What if God hasn’t given us a watertight argument, but rather a watertight person.” Dr. Keller goes on to say that faith and certainty grow as we get to know more about Jesus – who He is and what He did. If someone you love has serious doubts about the historicity of Jesus and you feel like you’ve hit a dead end when it comes to talking with them about Christianity, today’s conversation might help you re-engage with them. So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re driving or changing the oil on your John Deere, of course – and come hang out on the porch with Ally, Dr. Howard and me!  Follow Us On Instagram! @BackPorchTheologyPodcast @LisaDHarper @AllisonAllen @Jim.Howard.Co Find out more from Hope For The Heart Here. Purchase NIV Application Bible here.