The Ryley Heppner Podcast

In part three of our ongoing series, "A Conversation About Church," Ben and I discuss where the local church should fit in our lives in terms of priorities. What should be our commitment level to the church? How involved should we be? Is the church important? Essential? Optional? What if we've been hurt by/in the church?

Today I was privileged to be joined by Biblical Scholar, Dr. Peter Bolt. In my conversation with Dr. Bolt we discussed, among other things, the Gospel of Mark, some of his work in the area of demonology, and a few of his favourite writings from Karl Barth. Dr. Bolt is the Director of Academic Strategy at Sydney College of Divinity, the founding Director of the Centre for Gospels and Acts Research, the editor of the Journal of Gospel and Acts Research, and a member of the Editorial Board of SCD Press. His publications on the Gospels include Jesus’ Defeat of Death: Persuading Mark’s Early Readers (2003), The Cross from a Distance: Atonement in Mark’s Gospel (2004), Matthew: A Great Light Dawns (2014), and The Narrative Integrity of Mark 13:24–27 (2021). From 1990 to 2015 he lectured in Biblical Theology and New Testament at Moore College, Sydney, where he was also Head of the Department of New Testament and Greek.

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Today I was joined by pastor, professor and biblical counselor, Dr. Ernie Baker. Our conversation focused primarily on the topics in Dr. Baker's latest book and contribution to the biblical counseling world, Biblical Counseling and the Psychologies.  Dr. Baker (D.Min., Westminster Theological Seminary) serves First Baptist Church as the Interim Senior Adult Pastor. He is also a professor at The Master’s University (Santa Clarita, CA) where he continues to serve as the chair of the online biblical counseling program. He is a fellow with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and a certified conciliator with The Institute for Christian Conciliation. He has contributed to numerous books and is the author of Marry Wisely, Marry Well, a blueprint for personal preparation, Help! I’m in a Conflict, and most recently Biblical Counseling and the Psychologies. 

In Luke 10 Jesus encounters Mary and her sister Martha and it is a powerful picture of the distracting dangers of serving Him rather than sitting with Him.

I am joined by author and theologian, Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim, to talk about her new book "When God Became White: Dismantling Whiteness For a More Just Christianity." In our conversation Dr. Kim describes the origins of her new book, briefly unpacks the roots of and the damage done by painting God as a white, and speaks to how the Church can begin to correct the narrative of Whiteness. Grace Ji-Sun Kim (PhD, University of Toronto) is professor of theology at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana. She is the host of the Madang podcast and has published in TIME, Huffington Post, US Catholic, and The Nation. She is an ordained PC(USA) minister and enjoys being a guest preacher on most Sundays. She is author or editor of 24 books, including Healing Our Broken Humanity, Embracing the Other (Eerdmans, 2015), Christian Doctrines for Global Gender Justice (Pallgrave Macmillian, 2015), and Intercultural Ministry (Judson PR, 2017). She and her spouse, Perry, have three young adult children and live in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

When I was four my parents took me into my first skateboard shop and bought me my first skateboard. I tell you all that not for no reason, but because that has a lot to do with how and why I started really following Jesus and then how and why I became obsessed with His Word.

The church that does not know the purpose for which it exists will inevitably misplace its focus, misuse its resources, and miss out on so much of God intended for it. The church has got to know its primary purpose. Thankfully its in Ephesians 3, and it is truly a glorious purpose with mind blowing proportions.

What is God like toward His children? What is the extent of His goodness? How does He give us rest? Psalm 23 has something to say on it!

Before reading the genealogy in Matthew chapter 1, one might expect that it would be most boring passage in Matthew's entire book. But nothing could be further from the truth. It is simply incredible how many treasures Matthew packed into just 17 verses, and how he uses a genealogy of all things to so beautifully and poetically setup the rest of the story of Jesus.