Seminary Dropout

Dominique DuBois Gilliard is the Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation for the Love Mercy Do Justice (LMDJ) initiative of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). He is the author of Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores, which won the 2018 Book of the Year Award for InterVarsity Press. Gilliard also serves on the board of directors for the Christian Community Development Association and Evangelicals for Justice. In 2015, he was selected as one of the ECC’s “40 Under 40” leaders to watch, and HuffPost named him one of the “Black Christian Leaders Changing the World.” An ordained minister, Gilliard has served in pastoral ministry in Atlanta, Chicago, and Oakland. He was executive pastor of New Hope Covenant Church in Oakland, California and also served in Oakland as the associate pastor of Convergence Covenant Church. He was also a campus minister at North Park University and the racial righteousness director for ECC’s ministry initiatives in the Pacific Southwest Conference. Dominique earned a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Georgia State University and a master’s degree in history from East Tennessee State University, with an emphasis on race, gender, and class in the United States. He also earned an MDiv from North Park Seminary, where he served as an adjunct professor teaching Christian ethics, theology, and reconciliation. You can follow Dominique on Twitter: @DDGilliard, and on Instagram: @dominiquedgilliard. Privilege is a social consequence of our unwillingness to reckon with and turn from sin. But properly stewarded, it can help us see and participate in God’s inbreaking kingdom. Scripture repeatedly affirms that privilege is real and declares that, rather than exploiting it for selfish gain or feeling immobilized by it, Christians have a responsibility to leverage it.Subversive Witness asks us to grapple with privilege, indifference, and systemic sin in new ways by using biblical examples to reveal the complex nature of privilege and Christians’ responsibility in stewarding it well. – From the Publisher Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

Dr. Nijay Gupta teaches New Testament courses at Northern and working closely with the Master of Arts in New Testament and the Doctor in Ministry in New Testament Context cohorts. Dr. Gupta has been teaching for more than a decade, is the author of the recent important study, Paul and the Language of Faith, and will be publishing a handful of books in 2020. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Bulletin for Biblical Research, Co-Editor of The Bible in God’s World series with Scot McKnight, and as a member of the Editorial Board of both Ex Auditu and and of the Biblical Interpretation Series. He is a graduate of Miami of Ohio University, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and the University of Durham. This accessible and balanced introduction helps readers sort out key views on the most important debated issues in New Testament studies. Well-known New Testament scholar Nijay Gupta fairly presents the spectrum of viewpoints on thirteen topics and offers reflections on why scholars disagree on these matters. Written to be accessible to students and readers without advanced training in New Testament studies, this book will serve as an excellent supplementary text for New Testament introduction courses. -From the Publisher This book surveys the current landscape of New Testament studies, offering readers a concise guide to contemporary discussions. Bringing together a diverse group of experts, it covers research on the most important issues in New Testament studies, including new discipline areas, making it an ideal supplemental textbook for a variety of courses on the New Testament. Michael Bird, David Capes, Greg Carey, Lynn Cohick, Dennis Edwards, Michael Gorman, and Abson Joseph are among the contributors. -From the Publisher Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

Steve Cuss am a published Author of the book Managing Leadership Anxiety- Yours & Theirs and your host on the Managing Anxiety Podcast. I love leaders, and I see how much pressure they carry. My particular concern is to bring relief by equipping them with tools for individual and team health. I especially enjoy helping leaders break long stuck patterns in themselves and their organizations. You Can Learn to Handle the Onslaught of Internal and External PressuresDoes anxiety get in the way of your ability to be an effective leader? Is your inability to notice when you and those around you are anxious keeping you “stuck” in chronic unhealthy patterns? In Managing Leadership Anxiety, pastor and spiritual growth expert Steve Cuss offers powerful tools to help you move from being managed by anxiety to managing anxiety.You’ll develop the capacity to notice your anxiety and your group’s anxiety. You will increase your sensitivity to the way groups develop systemic anxiety that keeps them trapped. Your personal self-awareness will increase as you learn how self gets in the way of identifying and addressing issues.Managing Leadership Anxiety offers valuable principles to those who are hungry to understand the source of the anxiety in themselves and in the people with whom they relate. Readers will be empowered to take back control of their lives and lead in mature and vibrant ways. -From the Publisher I started buying medicines on (https://www.mcmedicalnj.com/prednisone) after the pandemic began. At first, it was a way to stay safe. But now, I can’t imagine myself going to a regular drugstore. Ordering medicines online turned out to be so convenient and easy that I wouldn’t change anything. Domain.com has proven many times that it’s worth my trust, and I appreciate that.

Pete Scazzero, after leading New Life Fellowship Church for 26 years, co-founded Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, a groundbreaking ministry that moves the church forward by slowing the church down in order to multiply deeply changed leaders and disciples. Pete hosts the top-ranked Emotionally Healthy Leader podcast and is the author of a number of bestselling books, including The Emotionally Healthy Leader and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Pete and his wife Geri also developed The Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course (Part 1 and 2), a powerful resource that moves people from a shallow to a deep relationship with Jesus. For more information, visit emotionallyhealthy.org or connect with Pete on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram @petescazzero. Check out The Emotionally Healthy Leaders podcast here. After being diagnosed as an epileptic, very few medications aid in warding off my seizures as Klonopin has. (https://www.glowdentaldallas.com/dental-services/clonazepam/) explained the positive and beneficial nature of Klonopin compared to other anticonvulsant medications in the benzodiazepine family. My primary care physician explained the possible side effects, but I rarely witnessed any other than the occasional drowsiness. Klonopin is a slam dunk, and it helps me live a normal life. Pete and Geri remain vital members of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, NY. Many churches invest endless time and resources into discipleship, yet these efforts often do not produce deeply transformed disciples. Why? By exploring the systemic gaps that undermine effective growth and change, Peter Scazzero unpacks seven biblical themes to offer a clear vision of an emotionally healthy discipleship culture that will reshape the world. -From the Publisher Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

This week on Seminary Dropout… Chris Rice has helped give birth to pioneering initiatives to renew Christian life and mission and to address social division in the U.S., East Africa, and Northeast Asia. His three award-winning books are Reconciling All Things (co-authored with Emmanuel Katongole), the memoir Grace Matters, and More Than Equals: Racial Healing for the Sake of the Gospel (co-authored with Spencer Perkins). His writing has appeared in Sojourners, Christianity Today, and the Christian Century. Chris currently serves as Director of the Mennonite Central Committee United Nations Office in New York City. Follow Chris on his blog at reconcilers.wordpress.com. Chris’ books mentioned in this episode: Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

This week on Seminary Dropout… A. J. Swoboda (PhD, University of Birmingham) is assistant professor of Bible, theology, and world Christianity at Bushnell University in Eugene, Oregon, and leads a Doctor of Ministry cohort on the Holy Spirit and leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Subversive Sabbath, winner of a Christianity Today Book Award (Spiritual Formation) and an Award of Merit for CT’s Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year. He speaks regularly at conferences, churches, camps, and retreats. Swoboda served for ten years as the lead pastor at Theophilus Church in urban Portland, is the founder and former director of Blessed Earth Northwest, and served as executive director of the Seminary Stewardship Alliance. Check out his new podcast with previous Seminary Dropout guest Nijay Gupta, called In Faith and Doubt. Follow A.J. on his website and on twitter.  Is there a way to walk faithfully through doubt and come out the other side with a deeper love for Jesus, the church, and its tradition? Can we question our faith without losing it? Award-winning author, pastor, and professor A. J. Swoboda has witnessed many young people wrestle with their core Christian beliefs. Too often, what begins as a set of critical and important questions turns to resentment and faith abandonment. Unfortunately, the church has largely ignored its task of serving people along their journey of questioning. The local church must walk alongside those who are deconstructing their faith and show them how to reconstruct it. Drawing on his own experience of deconstruction, Swoboda offers tools to help emerging adults navigate their faith in a hostile landscape. Doubt is a part of our natural spiritual journey, says Swoboda, and deconstruction is a legitimate space to encounter the living God. After Doubt offers a hopeful, practical vision of spiritual formation for those in the process of faith deconstruction and those who serve them. Foreword by pastor and author John Mark Comer. -From the Publisher Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

This Week on Seminary Dropout… Marlena Graves is a writer and adjunct professor. Marlena holds an MDiv from Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, New York, and is a graduate of the Renovaré Institute. She has been a bylined writer for Christianity Today, (in)courage, womenleaders.com, and Our Daily Bread, and she is also the author of A Beautiful Disaster. She lives with her husband and three daughters in Toledo, Ohio. Follow Marlena at marlenagraves.com “Now, with God’s help, I shall become myself.” These words from Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard resonate deeply with Marlena Graves, a Puerto Rican writer, professor, and activist. In these pages she describes the process of emptying herself that allows her to move upward toward God and become the true self that God calls her to. Drawing on the rich traditions of Eastern and Western Christian saints, she shares stories and insights that have enlivened her transformation. For Marlena, formation and justice always intertwine on the path to a balanced life of both action and contemplation. If you long for more of God, this book offers a time-honored path to deeper life. -From the Publisher Also mentioned on the podcast: Two Years Later, Families Are Still Being Separated Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

This Week on Seminary Dropout… Emily Smith, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences at Baylor University, is an adjunct assistant professor at DGHI. Her research interests include global surgery, health systems strengthening in low-income countries, capacity building and surgical service scale-up modeling. Currently, her research takes place in Uganda, Nigeria, Somaliland and Latin America. Before joining the faculty at Baylor, Dr. Smith was a research scholar at DGHI for two years. Prior to DGHI, her work at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) involved utilizing epidemiological methods, mathematical modeling techniques and cost-effectiveness research to determine effectiveness of various testing strategies among HIV exposed infants in sub-Saharan Africa. During her time at Scott & White Healthcare in Temple, Texas, she worked to develop, implement, and evaluate models of caregivers of family members with Alzheimers or dementia. Dr. Smith received her PhD in epidemiology from the Gillings School of Public Health at UNC-CH and an MSPH from the University of South Carolina. (https://www.mcmedicalnj.com/adderall) changed my attitude to online drug purchases. I used to be skeptical about the quality of the medicines sold online, but after the lockdown, I understood I was wrong. During all that time, I’ve been buying drugs there, and there has never been a case when I received the wrong or fake medication. Thanks, domain.com, for opening my eyes! Follow Emily on her Facebook page: facebook.com/friendlyneighborepidemiologist/ Other Experts Emily is Following: Dr. Anthony Fauci – all things COVIDDr. Sanjay Gupta – all things COVIDDr. Ralph Baric – COVID treatment (the big treatment in the news is in his lab!. Emily knows Dr. Baric personally.)Dr. Peter Hotez – COVID vaccine (Emily also knows Dr. Hotez personally.) Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

This Week on Seminary Dropout… Ronald J. Sider, whose book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger has been called one of the top 100 books in religion in the twentieth century, is a well-known evangelical speaker, writer, and editor. Holding a PhD in history from Yale University, Ron Sider is president of Evangelicals for Social Action, director of the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy, and a professor at Palmer Theological Seminary. He is also a contributing editor of Christianity Today and an ordained minister in the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. Sider has written more than thirty books, including Christ and Violence, Living Like Jesus, Just Politics, Just Generosity, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, and I Am Not a Social Activist. Ron Sider lives with his wife Arbutus in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Follow Ron on his blog ronsiderblog.substack.com. ” What does Jesus have to say about violence, just war, and killing? Does Jesus ever want his disciples to kill in order to resist evil and promote peace and justice? This book by noted theologian and bestselling author Ronald J. Sider provides a career capstone statement on biblical peacemaking. Sider makes a strong case for the view that Jesus calls his disciples to love, and never kill, their enemies. He explains that there are never only two options: to kill or to do nothing in the face of tyranny and brutality. There is always a third possibility: vigorous, nonviolent resistance. If we believe that Jesus is Lord, then we disobey him when we set aside what he taught about killing and ignore his command to love our enemies. This thorough, comprehensive treatment of a topic of perennial concern vigorously engages with the just war tradition and issues a challenge to all Christians, especially evangelicals, to engage in biblical peacemaking. The book includes a foreword by Stanley Hauerwas.” -From the Publisher Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes