United? We Pray

Overview: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”-Matthew 23:23When considering the weightier matters of the law, nothing is weightier than life and death. Because we live in a world in which abortion and racism are both realities, we can expect that abortion would disproportionately affect minorities. While this is a heavy topic, we did not feel we could avoid talking about it. We hope to do so in a way that hopefully points to the grace of Christ. Links & Show Notes:Resources about abortionTo learn more about United? We Pray follow us on Twitter or our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!Produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview: “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”-Hebrews 10:24-25Moral clarity is a tricky thing, because most of us believe we already have it. In this episode, Austin and Isaac discuss what it looks like to have moral clarity, what works towards and against it, and ways we as saints can stir one another up towards it. Join us in praying for wisdom as Scripture instructs us. Links & Show Notes:On the Incarnation by Athanasius with introduction by C.S. LewisSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview: “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:Salvation belongs to our God,who is seated on the throne,and to the Lamb!”-Revelation 7:9-10Christians understand that diversity is good. We long for the day when all of God’s people will be gathered to praise the Lamb. What about now? In this episode, Austin and Isaac talk about diversity in our local churches. While ethnic diversity is a good thing, it can become an unhelpful metric if we love diversity more than we love God or His people. Listen and pray with us. Links & Show Notes:Race and Our Joy - Isaac AdamsSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Today on giving Tuesday, Isaac and Austin invite our listeners to consider giving to support the work of United? We Pray. Your donations make our ministry possible, and we appreciate you so much. To give, head to https://uwepray.com/donate. Thank you!Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview: “Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” - Ephesians 4:1-5In this episode, Isaac and Austin talk about how our shared identity as Christ’s people should help Christians be unified. Remembering the Gospel helps keep us from the errors of either ignoring unity or idolizing it. Pray with us that Christians have God’s wisdom about how we can pursue a deep, Christ-centered unity. Links & Show Notes:More Christian than Black or White (9Marks) - https://www.9marks.org/article/more-christian-than-black-or-white/To learn more about United? We Pray follow us on Twitter or our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!Produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview:“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.”-Matthew 18:20What does it mean for a church to be gathered in the name of Jesus? What is at the center of a church’s gathering and agreement? Are there things about which we need to agree? Are there things on which we can disagree?Race and racism make these hard questions even harder in our local churches. In this episode, Austin and Isaac talk through some different hypothetical scenarios and encourage listeners to pray for wisdom.Links & Show Notes:Season Six, Episode One: Should I Leave my White Church?Alicia Akins: Be Patient with Slow Growers, Late Bloomers, and Those Yet UnseeingRyan King: Saying Hard ThingsSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview:“When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.-Matthew 22: 34-37In this episode, Isaac and Austin talk about loving God with all our minds, specifically in regards to Critical Race Theory. They explore the field of study and Christians’ various reactions to it, with a few encouragements for how to foster good conversations and unity among fellow Christians.Links & Show Notes:How Should Christians Engage Critical Race Theory? (Part 1)Critical Theorists Help us Understand History (Part 2 of Series)Critical Theorists Draw Inaccurate Conclusions from the Facts (Part 3 of Series)Conclusion: Six Ways to Engage Critical Race Theory (Part 4)To learn more about United? We Pray follow us on Twitter or our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!Produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview:Would you consider your church a "white church" or just a "church"? Isaac and Austin discuss the dynamics around a minority member of a church leaving their predominately white church. We discuss:Why is it important to recognize the ethnic makeup of your church?What characteristics of your church's culture do you take for granted, but may be seen as starkly different for a person of color?For the minority member, what should I consider when deciding whether to leave my white church?How do you stay in a white church and not get angry?How do you leave a white church?Should you let your minority friend leave your white church?Links & Show Notes:A Quiet Exodus: Why Black Worshipers Are Leaving White Evangelical Churches (New York Times)Be Patient with Slow Growers, Late Bloomers, and Those Yet Unseeing (United? We Pray)Am I a Political Pharisee? (United? We Pray)Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview:We are back! As we start our sixth season, we take a minute to explain some of the changes with the ministry and in our personal lives. We also preview some of the topics for this season and ask for God to bring about a day when this ministry is no longer needed. Please join us in prayer.To learn more about United? We Pray follow us on Twitter or our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!Produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Overview:Isaac Adams gave a two-part lecture to a group of churches desiring to play a small role in bringing greater awareness to the historical roots and present forms of racism in Washington D.C. Their goal was not merely greater intellectual knowledge but greater compassion, so that they'd be better positioned to empathize and strategize toward the end of “adorning the doctrine of God our Savior.” (Titus 2:10) In Part 2, Isaac speaks to why Christians care about justice and injustice, why he's speaking about the injustice of systemic racism, what it is, and where it may be seen in Washington D.C.The handout for this talk can be found here.To learn more about United? We Pray follow us on Twitter or our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!Produced by Josh DengSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!