Everyday Theology

For many, practical theology just means discussing how people practice their theology, but practical theology is much more than putting to practice theology, it is a method of understanding why people practice the way they do and how theology plays a role. Dr. Mark Cartledge, Principal (President) of London School of Theology joins Aaron to talk about this as well as the role of the Spirit in public life.

Revelation for many seems to continue to be elusive. Is it left behind, is it just one big hallucination, or is it something more? Pentecostal scholar, Dr. John Christopher Thomas, joins Aaron to talk about how to read Revelation as a narrative and what that means for how we read and understand such an enigmatic letter. When we learn to read Revelation as a narrative, most of the preconceptions about John the Revelator have to take a back seat to what John is actually writing.

Who hasn't seen really hokey Christian art? Why is it that art and the Church seem to clash so often? In this episode, Aaron spends time with Scott Erickson (@scottthepainter) to talk about art, theology, the church, and where they come together, and where they don't. Art can be therapeutic, healing, and push people into better understandings of God, but they can also easily make God seem trivialized.

If you paid attention to the Christian Twittersphere in the last few weeks, you would be hard pressed to not have seen the controversy surrounding Josh Butler's article on the Gospel Coalition. More than just a comedy of errors, with endorsers retracting their endorsements, claiming they only read a small part of the book, TGC claiming if everyone just knew what Josh actually wrote, his fetishized language of sex and salvation would all be better! One of the most astute readers of the situation, Dr. Beth Feller Jones, chatted with Aaron about the article, its basis in complementarianism, and how the church can have a better theology of sex and equality.

Reading the Bible is not very easy, it is an ancient text that we have to work to understand. However, we only make it harder on ourselves when we ask questions of the Bible it was never purposed to answer. In this podcast, Aaron speaks with Marty Solomon, creator of the BEMA podcast, about his new book "Asking Better Questions of the Bible" and why this topic is so important. 

For many Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians in the west, Lent is a Catholic tradition. . . one that is not heeded or participated in. Yet, Lent is practiced widely and by many various traditions. In this Episode, Chris Green discusses his new book "Being Transfigured: Lenten Homilies" and why Lent is important for Christians everywhere.  Aaron and Chris go on to discuss the Asbury Revival - how to process is and who should even be speaking about it. Further, they discuss how revival and revivalism are opposed realities, and how revivalism is the death of revival. 

It sounds like the start of a joke, an evangelical, a charismatic, and a liturgical church goer walk into a bar. . . except only one of those would even go to a bar! In this episode, Aaron speaks with Bishop Page Brooks, a Bishop in the Anglican Mission International, about "three streams Christianity" - those who attempt to inhabit being a liturgical, charismatic, and evangelical. Is this possible? If so, what does it mean? Listen in to find out what this group attempts to do and why it matters for those seeking something different within the church.  To find out more about Bishop Page and the group of missional churches, pastors, and chaplains he leads, go to https://www.missiomosaic.org.  You can also learn more about Missio Mosaic's 2023 Convocation and sign up to attend here: https://www.missiomosaic.org/events

You might have seen that Gen Z is missing from the church, or that leadership is increasingly looking more trendy. Does correlation equal causation or is there something else happening? In this episode, Aaron chats with Dr. Mario Hood about leadership within the church, how it has been needing to be reevaluated, and what this means for future generations of the church. 

There seems to be three camps of Christians when it comes to the "gender of God" - those who believe that God is male, or at least masculine, those that make the claim that God is female, and the third way, those who work to not disavow the language of scripture, but find the ways in which scripture fully affirms women made in the image of God - recognizing God has no gender. Dr. Amy Peeler joins Aaron to discuss how to go about this third way. Surprising for many, the narrative of Mary provides a very helpful way forward in the discussion on gender and God.

Brad Jersak, a theologian and author of *Out of the Embers*, shares his pastoral insights on healthy deconstruction and support for those on this journey. He explores the importance of unmasking harmful doctrines and retrieving authentic faith. Jersak emphasizes the necessity of experiential connections with Christ during belief shifts and offers guidance for helping those whose faith has faced trauma. He advocates for a compassionate, non-coercive pastoral response and the need to present a beautiful gospel over mere attendance metrics.