InkleDeux Podcast

This is the recording of Brandon's lecture at his Church. We reviewed his outlines over the last couple of weeks and now we get to hear what he delivered.

Please note there were some technical issues:

1. The mic kept rubbing on his shirt, so there is some noise

2. The mic died before the end

3. The mic couldn't pick up the comments from the crowd

AJ and Brandon continue to look at Brandon's theology lessons. Last week was about theology as a spiritual discipline, but this week, it's a look at why theology is important, and looking at how theology can be practiced in our daily lives. How and why does historical context keep coming up in this discussion? Why is there so much talk about our assumptions and presuppositions?

This week, the guys walk through Brandon's outline for the class he's going to teach at his church. It's an invitation to practice theology as a spiritual discipline.

In this week's episode, AJ and Brandon take a closer look at Jesus as the New Adam. Jesus Not only undoes the damage from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but offers to elevate all of humanity to a truly perfect paradise in Heaven.

With Easter right around the corner, AJ and Brandon touch base and look back at their Lenten practices and try to look forward to what they'll carry with them past Easter.

This week, AJ and Brandon talk about directing their work towards God. Our work should bring glory to God, but how do we make that happen?

This week, AJ and Brandon take a look at the book of Jonah to see another example of the way a disordered view of things gets us away from God and how God offers us opportunities to come back.

This week, AJ and Brandon finish their discussion of Christ's temptations in the desert by looking at Satan's offer of worldly power in exchange for Christ's worship.

This week, AJ and Brandon discuss Satan's attempt to get Jesus to cast himself down from the Temple. Why would that have even been tempting?

This week, AJ and Brandon take a closer look at the temptations of Christ in the desert, starting with the temptation to change stones to bread.

This week, Brandon and AJ want to talk through the balance between individual, contemplative faith experiences and the communal, shared faith experiences.

In this week's episode, Brandon fights on through illness to join AJ in a discussion about Lenten practices and the importance of the fast, prayer, and almsgiving.

Building on Brandon's blog post about liminal experiences, he and AJ have a discussion about risks of spiritual binging and purging through the idea of Fat Tuesday and Lent. How do we properly fast and feast?

This week, AJ talks to Brandon about his first paper from his masters degree program. What is the point of a creed? Does it matter what you believe? Isn't just what you do that matters?

This week, Brandon brings a conversation about Maslow and two different types of fear to the table, then he and AJ try to make sense of the idea and its limitations in the Christian life.

This week, AJ and Brandon wrap up their look at the permanence of salvation. How do we reconcile the confidence that none who belong to Christ will be lost with St. Paul saying to work out our salvation with fear and trembling?

In this week's episode, AJ and Brandon talk through recapitulation. What does it mean to take Christ as our head? And why doesn't it seem to stick when we do?

This week, AJ and Brandon talk about sanctification. When a person is set apart, dedicated to God, why doesn't it always stick? Why isn't everything different about them?

This week, Brandon and AJ talk about what it means to be adopted into the family of God. What is different about our status as coheirs compared to Christ?

On this week's episode, Brandon hits AJ with a real puzzler. If we have actually had an encounter with Christ, where is the change? It should change everything, but sometimes it seems like nothing is different. Why is that?

After a brief chat about Thanksgiving, AJ and Brandon dive into the topic of sins of omission. What are they? Why do they matter? How do we avoid them and avoid being scrupulous about them?

This week, Brandon brings some questions about creation ex nihilo, the idea that God created out of nothing. It's a fun look at one of the unique aspects of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and then AJ talks about the dangers of zooming in too much on Bible verses.

This week, Brandon and AJ share their frustration with the way nuns are often portrayed in media. Is it possible to maintain a respect and reverence for the sacred while still allowing freedom of speech?

This week, Brandon and AJ try to understand the dual nature of Christ by looking at our own dual natures. Sometimes, we make things more complicated than they need to be.

We sit down with 2nd grade teacher Jocelyn to discuss how her faith has played a role in her life and how it impacts how she approaches her job as a teacher in a public school. It was fun to have two teachers (AJ and Jocelyn) together discussing this topic.

***If you missed part 1, be sure to go back and listen***

We sit down with 2nd grade teacher Jocelyn to discuss how her faith has played a role in her life and how it impacts how she approaches her job as a teacher in a public school. It was fun to have two teachers (AJ and Jocelyn) together discussing this topic.

***Be sure to catch part 2 next week***

Back to work! After a couple of Highlights episodes, AJ and Brandon get back into their conversation about Baptism and transubstantiation. Where is the need for baptism found? Where are its effects? What actually changes?

You know how you think you know where a conversation will go until you actually have it? Well, here, Brandon thought we were going to talk about transubstantiation and baptism. Guess again!

This week, Brandon talks to AJ about a conversation with someone about Baptism and its origin. Can Baptism be traced to the Garden? If not, where do we find its start?

As they bring a close to his book's topics, Brandon wants to get practical about the idea of temptation. What is temptation? How does it work? How do we distinguish between a spiritual attack and our own fallen state?

This week, Brandon brings an example of a bishop referencing the idea of people losing their baptism through soothsaying and other similar practices. What is a Sacrament? What are they for? And can they actually be lost?

In this week's episode, Brandon and AJ discuss the relationship between good and evil. Do they both need one another? Is it really true that evil is necessary for us to recognize what is good? If not, why does God allow evil?

Continuing to work through Brandon's book on witchcraft, he and AJ talk about the origins and justifications for persecution and our desire for control.

Brandon has picked up one of his old text books on the history of witchcraft. From there, he and AJ have a discussion about the shifting way the Church has viewed the devil over the centuries and try to understand the bigger picture.

In the Gospels, Christ lays out some strong statements about those who would follow Him. Specifically, about loving Him above all else and taking up our cross. It's not a long list, so why is it so hard to live up to?

This week, AJ and Brandon talk about the importance of knowing the history of the faith. We have 2000 years of Christ's followers learning how His teachings interact with human realities, so why try to reinvent the wheel with every generation?

This week, Brandon brings to AJ the news of Andrew Tate's recent conversion from Christianity to Islam. He converted largely because he felt that Jesus gets mocked too often with no real consequence. How true is that assessment? And why does it happen?

In John's letter, he says that those who don't love don't know God. This week, AJ and Brandon discuss whether the opposite is also true. How do we reconcile what John says and the examples of atheists who certainly seem loving to us.

In this week's episode, AJ and Brandon talk about Heaven. Is it possible to lose it once we're there? And if not, can we really say we're free there?

Before Brandon and his girls headed off for the long weekend, he and AJ have a discussion about patience and the value of being still, even if it wasn't our preference. Because things can never be that simple, they then continue with a discussion about the importance of being patient and waiting for the right moment without becoming idle and sedentary.

What is the difference between testimony and worship? Well, AJ and Brandon try to get to the bottom of it and understand the proper role for each in our journey to Christ.

Having listened to some of the debates in Peoria about bathrooms and school curriculum, Brandon brings his frustration with the way science is becoming political so that he and AJ can wrestle with it together.