Seminary Dropout

This Week on Seminary Dropout… Matthew W. Bates (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is Assistant Professor of Theology at Quincy University. His main teaching area is the Bible and early Christian literature, especially the New Testament. He also teaches courses in Western Religion, Church History, and Christian Spirituality. Dr. Bates writes with a posture of faith seeking understanding, with a desire to serve the church, academy, and any reader of goodwill. A new book, Salvation by Allegiance Alone (Baker Academic, 2017) is now available for order. His recent The Birth of the Trinity (Oxford University Press, 2015) focuses on how certain reading strategies helped early Christians to see that the one God can be differentiated as multiple persons. He has also written on the Apostle Paul’s method of interpreting Scripture: The Hermeneutics of the Apostolic Proclamation (Baylor University Press, 2012). A current book project, to be published by Eerdmans, explores the process by which Jesus came to be enthroned as king, as well as the theological implications for us today. Dr. Bates co-hosts a popular podcast on biblical studies called OnScript. The podcast focuses on interviewing authors in the field of biblical studies about their recent books. He has hosted some of the most renowned biblical scholars in the world. We are saved by faith when we trust that Jesus died for our sins. This is the gospel, or so we are taught. But what is faith? And does this accurately summarize the gospel? Because faith is frequently misunderstood and the climax of the gospel misidentified, the gospel’s full power remains untapped. While offering a fresh proposal for what faith means within a biblical theology of salvation, Matthew Bates presses the church toward a new precision: we are saved solely by allegiance to Jesus the king. Instead of faith alone, Christians must speak about salvation by allegiance alone. -From the Publisher Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor:     Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. *Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org This Week on Seminary Dropout… Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, in the New York City. After leading worship at Mars Hill Church (Grand Rapids, MI) and Willow Creek Church (Barrington, IL), Aaron created A New Liturgy- a collection of modern liturgical worship recordings. Shortly after, Aaron started a discipleship-focused, formational, ecumenical, practice-based community at Willow Creek called The Practice. Since writing ‘The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning’, he’s continued to create resources to help us all flesh it out.  A call for Christians to move past the shallows of idealized beliefs and into a deeper, more vibrant, beatitude-like faith rooted in sacred practices and intimate experiences with God. When the limits of his own faith experience left him feeling spiritually empty, Niequist determined God must have a wider vision for worship and community. In his search, Aaron discovered that there was historical Christian precedent for enacting faith in a different way, an ancient and now future way of believing. He calls this third way “practice-based faith.” This book is about loving one’s faith tradition and, at the same time, following the call to something deeper and richer. By adopting some new spiritual practices, it is possible to learn to swim again with a renewed sense of vigor and divine purpose. Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on Seminary Dropout…   Atheist-turned-Christian Lee Strobel is the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and best-selling author of more than twenty books. His classic, The Case for Christ, is a perennial favorite which details his conversion to Christianity. His recent release, The Case for Grace, just won the 2016 Nonfiction Book of the Year from the EPCA. For the last twenty-five years, his life’s work has been to share the evidence that supports the truth and claims of Christianity and to equip believers to share their faith with the people they know and love. New York Times bestselling author Lee Strobel trains his investigative sights on the hot-button issue of whether it’s credible to believe God intervenes supernaturally in people’s lives today. This provocative book starts with an unlikely interview in which America’s foremost skeptic builds a seemingly persuasive case against the miraculous. But then Strobel travels the country to quiz scholars to see whether they can offer solid answers to atheist objections. Along the way, he encounters astounding accounts of healings and other phenomena that simply cannot be explained away by naturalistic causes. The book features the results of exclusive new scientific polling that shows miracle accounts are much more common than people think. What’s more, Strobel delves into the most controversial question of all: what about miracles that don’t happen? If God can intervene in the world, why doesn’t he do it more often to relieve suffering? Many American Christians are embarrassed by the supernatural, not wanting to look odd or extreme to their neighbors. Yet, The Case for Miracles shows not only that the miraculous is possible, but that God still does intervene in our world in awe-inspiring ways. Here’s a unique book that examines all sides of this issue and comes away with a passionate defense for God’s divine action in lives today. -From the Publisher   Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on 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 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 the Huffington Post 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 the campus minister at North Park University and the racial righteousness director for ECC’s ministry initiatives in the Pacific Southwest Conference. With articles published in the CCDA Theology Journal, The Covenant Quarterly, and Sojourners, Gilliard has also blogged for Christianity Today, Faith & Leadership, Red Letter Christians, Do Justice, and The Junia Project. He 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. The United States has more people locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers than any other country in the history of the world. Mass incarceration has become a lucrative industry, and the criminal justice system is plagued with bias and unjust practices. And the church has unwittingly contributed to the problem. Dominique Gilliard explores the history and foundation of mass incarceration, examining Christianity’s role in its evolution and expansion. He then shows how Christians can pursue justice that restores and reconciles, offering creative solutions and highlighting innovative interventions. The church has the power to help transform our criminal justice system. Discover how you can participate in the restorative justice needed to bring authentic rehabilitation, lasting transformation, and healthy reintegration to this broken system. -From the Publisher   Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on Seminary Dropout…   Rebekah Lyons is the author of Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning and Founder of Q Women. She is the mother of three, wife of one and a dog walker of two living in Nashville. Rebekah is an old soul with a contemporary, honest voice who puts a new face on the struggles women face as they seek to live a life of meaning. Through emotive writing and speaking, Rebekah reveals her own battles to overcome anxiety, depression, and consumer impulses – challenging women to discover and boldly pursue the calling God has for them. Alongside her husband, Gabe, Rebekah serves as cofounder of Q Ideas, a nonprofit organization that helps Christian leaders winsomely engage culture. Her favorite pastime is spent with her nose in a book and a discriminating cup of coffee in hand. Have you bought the lie? Many of us do. We measure our worth by what others think of us. We compare and strive, existing mostly for the approval of others. Pressure rises, anxiety creeps in and we hustle to keep up. Jesus whispers, I gave my life to set you free. I gave you purpose. I called you to live in freedom in that purpose. Yet we still hobble through life, afraid to confess all the ways we push against this truth, because we can’t even believe it. We continue to grasp for the approval of anyone that will offer it: whether strangers, friends, or community. Christ doesn’t say you can be or may be or will be free. He says you are free. Dare you believe it? In You Are Free, Rebekah invites you to: • Overcome the exhaustion of trying to meet the expectations of others and rest in the joy God’s freedom brings. • Release stress, anxiety and worry, to uncover the peace that comes from abiding in His presence. • Find permission to grieve past experiences, confess areas of brokenness, and receive strength in your journey towards healing. • Throw off self-condemnation, burn superficial masks and step boldly into what our good God has for you. • Discover the courage to begin again and use your newfound freedom to set others free. Freedom is for everyone who wants it—the lost, the wounded, and those weary from all of the striving. It’s for those who gave up trying years ago. It’s for those angry and hurt, brilliant and burnt by the Christian song and dance. You are the church, the people of God. You were meant to be free. -From the Publisher   Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on Seminary Dropout…   AUSTIN CHANNING BROWN is a writer, speaker, and practitioner who helps schools, nonprofits, and religious organizations practice genuine inclusion. Her writing has appeared in outlets like Christianity Today, Relevant, Sojourners, and The Christian Century. Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age 7, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion. In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value “diversity” in their mission statements, I’m Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America’s social fabric–from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations. For readers who have engaged with America’s legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I’m Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness–if we let it–can save us all. -From the Publisher   Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on Seminary Dropout…   Bonnie Kristian is a theological and political writer with a national following. She has columns and bylines at publications including The Week, Rare, Time Magazine, CNN, Relevant Magazine, Politico, The Hill, and The American Conservative. Bonnie is active in teaching roles in her church, a Mennonite community where she leads a study group and speaks regularly at Sunday services. She graduated from Bethel Seminary with a Master of Arts in Christian Thought, a theological studies degree with special emphasis on engaging culture with the gospel. Bonnie lives with her husband, two dogs, and two guinea pigs in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She keeps busy running, gardening, and fixing up her 100-year-old house. It is all too easy to fail to grasp the diversity of the Christian faith-especially for those who have grown up in one branch of the church and never explored another. We fail to realize how many ways there are to follow Jesus, convinced that our own tradition is the one Christian alternative to nonbelief. A FLEXIBLE FAITH is written for the convinced and confused believer alike. It is a readable exploration of the lively theological diversity that stretches back through church history and across the spectrum of Christianity today. It is an easy introduction to how Christians have historically answered key questions about what it means to follow Jesus. Chapters will include 17 big theological questions and answers; profiles of relevant figures in church history; discussion questions; single-page Q&As-profiles of more unusual types of Christians (e.g., a Catholic nun or a member of an Amish community); and a guide to major Christian denominations today. As Bonnie shares her wrestlings with core issues-such as who Jesus is, what place the Church has in our lives, how to disagree yet remain within a community, and how to love the Bible for what it actually is-she teaches us how to walk courageously through our own tough questions. Following Jesus is big and it is something that individual believers, movements, and denominations have expressed in uncountably different ways over the centuries. In the process of helping us sort things out, Bonnie shows us how to be comfortable with diversity in the Body. And as we learn to hold questions in one hand and answers in the other, we will discover new depths of faith that will remain secure even through the storms of life. -From the Publisher   Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on Seminary Dropout…   Derek Vreeland is the Discipleship Pastor at Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is the author of Through the Eyes of N.T. Wright: A Reader’s Guide to Paul and the Faithfulness of God and Primal Credo: Your Entrance into the Apostles’ Creed. Derek lives in St. Joe with his wife, Jenni, and three boys, Wesley, Taylor, and Dylan. He earned a M.Div. from Oral Roberts University and a D.Min. from Asbury Theological Seminary. The death of Jesus is the foundation of our faith, but what do we mean when we confess that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture? N.T. Wright’s book The Day the Revolution Began offers compelling answers to that question. His book is nothing less than a game changer. Just as Wright’s book Surprised By Hope changed our view of the end, so this book is changing our view of the cross. This reader’s guide offers a clear summary of Wright’s interpretation of the cross in the context of both history and the big story told by the Bible. Using this reader’s guide prayerfully will open up vistas of the love of God as you see the revolutionary cross with new eyes. Such a renewed vision will stir your thinking, prompt new conversations about the cross, cause your love for Christ to grow, and equip the Church to carry forth her gospel-shaped mission.-From the Publisher From the show… “The Christian Mission is to implement the victory that Jesus won on the cross.” -N.T. Wright “First and foremost it looks like communities of followers of Jesus that deeply love one another, in spite of our differences. It has to be first within the household of God. We are a demonstration of the age to come, so within the church we have to love one another we have to practice forgiveness and reconciliation with one another. If we’re going to have any credibility in the wider culture we have to show them what love and reconciliation looks like then we will be the shining light on the hill.” – Derek Vreeland If you liked this episode then you might also like… 147: N.T. Wright Talks about The Day the Revolution Began Seminary Dropout 84: NT Wright Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on Seminary Dropout…   Jo Saxton is a pastor, a church-planter, an author, and a speaker who travels the globe to address leadership organizations, children’s conferences, women’s events, and Christian festivals. She also serves on the advisory board for Today’s Christian Woman, co-hosts the Lead Stories podcast, and spends much of her time mentoring and training leaders through 3DMovements, an international discipleship operation. She lives with her husband and their two daughters near Minneapolis. Let’s be honest, the life you lead isn’t what you’ve always dreamt. And maybe the person you’ve become isn’t who you’ve always imagined. Sure, you can clean it up. You can work longer, love harder, and eat better. You can scrub the surface of your life until it gleams and still never address the fact that somehow you lost sight of who you really are and what you’re living for. Is this the life you were meant to live? As the child of Nigerian immigrants in the UK, author and speaker Jo Saxton knows firsthand how quickly the world can cause us to doubt our dreams and question who we are. She understands how easily we can exchange our true child-of-God selves for an identity built on lies, guilt, and brokenness. In this powerful book, Jo examines Biblical figures and shares her personal story as she invites you to turn to the One who knows you intimately and loves you deeply. He sees all you’ve struggled to hide. He hears the voice inside you that others have silenced. He knows the potential and purpose that no one valued. He longs to redeem the story of your life and set you on the path to reclaim The Dream of You.Are you ready? -From the Publisher From the show… “I’ve seen how often women can edit their callings in the presence of guys, even if they know those guys are for them…” If you liked this episode then you might also like… Seminary Dropout 179 – Amena Brown, Author of “How to Fix a Broken Record” on Poetry, Marriage, and Princesses Seminary Dropout 177 – Tara Beth Leach, Author of Emboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in Ministry Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org Our Sponsor: Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education. This Week on Seminary Dropout… With over 32 years of ministry experience, Jean serves as a missionary and coach as well as Five Stones Global’s Executive Director. She is the author of We Are Not the Hero: A Missionary’s Guide to Sharing Christ, Not a Culture of Dependency. Jean holds a B.A. in cross-cultural communications from North Central University, Minneapolis, MN, where she also taught as a missionary-in-residence from 2009-2012. Upon completing her education, Jean worked as a church planter for six years living and serving among Cambodians in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Consecutively, Jean continued her work serving as a career missionary in Cambodia for sixteen years (1992-2009). Jean trained Cambodians through modeling and facilitating how to plant churches that have the vision, God-given authority, and capacity to plant others churches. Her vision for and practice of church planting is encompassed in the Cambodian proverb, “Enter a river where it bends; enter a country by its customs.” At heart, Jean is a cross-cultural communicator who specializes in worldview strategic church planting, oral strategies, and on-the-job pastoral training. Jean’s current role at Five Stones Global reflects her tenured missionary experience. Jean teaches, coaches, and trains missionaries, pastors, church committees, organizations, and short-term mission teams on how to intentionally build-in sustainability, indigeneity, and multiplication in missions and disciple-making efforts throughout the world. Drawing from her unique life experiences serving Cambodians both stateside and internationally, Jean invites you on a learning journey to discover ways to contribute to self-sustaining and reproducing church planting movements that are biblically rooted and culturally relevant. Presently, Jean makes her home in Minneapolis where she enjoys reading, writing, spending time with family and friends, walks in nature, biking, and ice cream. While globalization gives North American Christians unprecedented opportunities to influence the world, we need to take care not to slip into a type of postmodern colonialism in which we make ourselves the experts or the ‘hero come to save the day.’ Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations, not to spread Western cultural Christianity or solve the world with American dollars. In We Are Not the Hero, the author invites you on a learning journey—through Cambodia and other parts of the world—to discover ways to contribute to self-sustaining and reproducing church movements that are organic to the culture. If you are a student, missionary, church planter, missions-oriented church, or Great Commission-minded disciple you will find this book both inspirational and valuable to your experience.  -From the Publisher From the show… “We ourselves don’t know what is culture and what is Gospel.” -Jean Johnson If you liked this episode then you might also like… Seminary Dropout 35: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor & Yourself – Brian Fikkert 137: Chris Marlow, Author of ” Doing Good is Simple: Make a Difference Right Where You Are” Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes