The Deep Thoughts Podcast with Matt Shantz
By Matt Shantz
The Deep Thoughts Podcast with Matt ShantzFeb 11, 2021
Episode 91. The Great Dechurching (w/ Jim Davis)
We are experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in North American history. It is faster than the First and Second Great Awakenings and revivals combined, but in the opposite direction. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that everyone listening to this episode either has people in their lives who have left the church in recent years or you've left the church yourself. Jim Davis, co-author of The Great Dechurching, chats with Matt about the findings of their major research project that spawned the book, who’s leaving, why they’re going, and what it will take to bring them back. The findings and opportunities are more hopeful than you’d think!
ABOUT Jim Davis (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church (Acts 29), and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He is the host of the As In Heaven podcast and coauthor with Michael Graham of The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?. He and his wife, Angela, speak for Family Life’s Weekend to Remember marriage getaways.
Episode 90. The One About Gender (w/ Abigail Favale)
The issue of gender has roared onto the scene so quickly, the concept has evolved so rapidly, the level of importance deemed so integral, that you would be hard-pressed to find a more pressing, confusing and divisive subject. Enter Dr. Abigail Favale. Her book, The Genesis of Gender is insightful, wise and timely. Abigail is an expert in areas of post-modernity, gender studies, and feminism and her radical re-conversion to Christianity has led her to take everything she has learned about gender and apply it through the lens of the Bible.
ABOUT
Abigail is a writer and professor whose work lies at the intersection of Catholic theology, literature, and women’s studies. Her abiding interest as a writer and scholar is the meaning and dignity of woman, and her work explores sexual difference and embodiment in the Catholic imagination. She holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, where she teaches on topics like Edith Stein’s Theology of Woman and Religion & Literature. Abigail has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from George Fox University, as well as a master's degree in Women, Writing and Gender and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the author of multiple books including, Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion (Cascade 2018) and The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory, which was published in 2022 and has already been translated into multiple languages. She lives with her husband, Michael, and their four children in South Bend, Indiana.
Episode 89. Eucharismatic Worship (w/ Andrew Wilson)
Andrew Wilson joins the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about special needs, the case for eucharistic and charismatic worship in the life of the church, and why the year 1776 was such a big deal and how the West is now post-Christian because of it.
ABOUT
Andrew Wilson (PhD, King’s College London) is the teaching pastor at King’s Church London and a columnist for Christianity Today. He’s the author of several books, including the three they talk about in this episode: Remaking the World, Spirit and Sacrament, and The Life We Never Expected. He’s a part of the Mere Fidelity podcast, co-hosts the “Post-Christianity?” podcast with Glen Scrivener, and regularly writes on the Think Theology website. Andrew is married to Rachel and they have three children: Zeke, Anna and Samuel. He is also a great follow on X/Twitter.
Episode 88. Habits of Grace (w/ David Mathis)
Statistically, only about 9% of those who make New Years Resolutions actually complete them, with the vast majority of people failing within the first week and month. David Mathis refers to the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, and commitment to a local church as habits of grace and asserts that they are paramount for relationship with and enjoyment of Jesus. As we embark on a new year, resolve to know and enjoy Jesus through these habits of grace. In this episode Matt sits down with David Mathis to talk about leadership in the church (6:30 mark) and habits of grace (31:00 mark).
ABOUT
David Mathis serves as senior teacher and executive editor at desiringGod.org, a pastor at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and an adjunct professor at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis. He and his wife, Megan, have four children. He is the author of several books, including the two talked about in this episode: Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines and Workers For Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders.
Episode 87. Revelation: The (Other) Christmas Story
Episode 86. Don’t Follow Your Heart (w/ Thaddeus Williams)
Today we’re told to be true to ourselves, look within for answers, and follow our hearts. But when we put our own happiness first, we experience record-breaking levels of aimlessness, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. In Don’t Follow Your Heart, Thaddeus Williams debunks the “ten commandments of self-worship” and points to a life beyond the self-defeating dogmas of self-worship to a more meaningful life centred on Someone infinitely more interesting, satisfying, and awesome than ourselves. Thaddeus Williams is back on the podcast, this time to tell us not to follow our hearts but to follow God’s heart!
ABOUT
Thaddeus J. Williams (Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) loves enlarging students’ understanding and enjoyment of Jesus at Biola University in La Mirada, CA, where he serves as associate professor of Systematic Theology for Talbot School of Theology. His previous appearance on Deep Thoughts, to talk about Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth (episode 36) is one of the podcast’s most popular episodes. He has also taught Philosophy and Literature at Saddleback College, Jurisprudence at Trinity Law School, and as a lecturer in Worldview Studies at L’Abri Fellowships in Switzerland and Holland, and Ethics for Blackstone Legal Fellowship the Federalist Society in Washington D.C. He resides in Orange County, CA with his wife and four kids.
Episode 85. (The) Toxic (War On) Masculinity (w/ Nancy Pearcey)
Let’s face it: When people complain that masculinity is toxic, they often point to evangelical men as their prime example. But findings from the social sciences debunk those charges. Research shows that committed Christian men who attend church regularly test out as the most loving and engaged husbands and fathers. These facts show that Christianity has the power to overcome toxic behaviour in men and reconcile the sexes—an unexpected finding that has stood up to rigorous empirical testing. We should be bold in bringing it into the public square. In her new book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, Professor Pearcey explains how secularism has villainized the concept of masculinity and how Christian men shatter the negative stereotypes. ABOUT
Nancy Pearcey is the author of The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, as well as Love Thy Body, The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and Total Truth. She is professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. She has been quoted in The New Yorker and Newsweek, highlighted as one of the five top women apologists by Christianity Today, and hailed in The Economist as "America's pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual."
Episode 84. Are You A (gasp!) Evangelical?
ABOUT Matt Shantz is the Lead Pastor of Central Community Church, a vibrant multi-generational church that meets across 5 campuses in the beautiful eastern Fraser Valley, BC Canada. Matt loves to introduce people to Jesus, teach the Bible, and raise up the whole church to be ministers of the gospel.
Episode 83. Family: A Team On Mission (w/ Jeff & Alyssa Bethke)
Unclear on God’s purpose for the family? This episode is for you! In 2012 Jefferson Bethke released a spoken word video to YouTube called, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” that went viral and changed his life forever. Viewed over 35 million times and followed up with New York Times bestseller, Jesus > Religion, now Jeff and his wife Alyssa have written a number of books and lead a number of ministries, including Family Teams, which they talk about with Matt in this episode. Alyssa and Matt are in a Western Seminary Global Masters Cohort together. Apparently Jeff was in the same cohort years ago but unlike Alyssa and Matt, he’s a quitter. Alyssa is the author of Satisfied, and together they’ve written, Love That Lasts and others. Jeff and Alyssa live in Maui, which was hit this summer with the deadliest wildfire in the US in over 100 years. For ways you can help right now and provide resources for those in need—go to hopechapelmaui.com
ABOUT
Alyssa Bethke is a mother of three children, Kinsley, Kannon, and Lucy, and a dog named Aslan. She and her husband, Jeff Bethke, live in Maui, and are bloggers, YouTubers, and hosts of The Real-Life podcast. Alyssa is the author of Satisfied and together with Jeff wrote, Love That Lasts. They are passionate about encouraging and strengthening families at familyteams.com, an online initiative equipping families to live as a multigenerational team on mission. They live in Maui with their daughters, Kinsley and Lucy, and son, Kannon.Jefferson Bethke is the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus > Religion and It’s Not What You Think. To say hi or to learn more, go to jeffandalyssa.com
Episode 82. A Deep Thought: Making Sense of Bears Mauling Boys
Episode 81. A Deep Thought: Jesus Treasures You
Episode 80. Q+A 3.0
Episode 79. A Deep Thought: 6 Excuses That Keep Us From Mission
The 6 excuses that keep us from participating in the mission of Jesus:
1. The task is too great
2. I’m not qualified
3. I’m not the type
4. I don’t feel called
5. I don’t have the resources
6. What if they say “No”?
Episode 78. Persecuted Christians & How To Help (w/ Jared Vander Meulen)
More than 360 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith in Jesus. Jared Vander Meulen from Open Doors Canada joins Matt to talk about what severe persecution looks like in the most difficult countries in the world to be a Christian and what Christians in the West can do to support them. This conversation is humbling, inspiring, heavy, and will equip you to pray effectively for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.
ABOUT
Open Doors Canada is a ministry that seeks to strengthen Christians where faith costs the most. As promised, here are links to the resources we referenced in the episode: The World Watch List, Sahar’s story on persecution and gender, and the Prayer resources.
Episode 77. Beautiful Union: God’s Vision For Sex (w/ Joshua Ryan Butler)
Matt had Joshua Ryan Butler back on the podcast to talk about his latest book, Beautiful Union. About 48 hours after Matt’s interview with Josh in early March, a social media firestorm erupted when an excerpt of Beautiful Union was released on The Gospel Coalition website (that has since been removed). Pushback about Josh’s unpacking of the biblical analogy between Christ and the Church came swift and strong, some calling it dangerous and others simply calling it gross. The uncharitable way in which people lambasted Josh aside, Matt believes that the evangelical church has a lot to learn from a more robust (and beautiful) theology of sex. So give it a listen and let us know what you think!
ABOUT
Joshua Ryan Butler is the author of Beautiful Union, The Pursuing God, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, and co-author of the forthcoming The Party Crasher. He loves shifting paradigms, to help people who wrestle with tough topics of the Christian faith by confronting popular caricatures and replacing them with the real thing. He has served as a Lead Pastor of Redemption, Tempe for the last number of years. You can find out more about Josh and his ministry here. Matt refers to an episode of the Theology in the Raw podcast that can be found here.
Episode 76. Myths About Singleness (w/ Sam Allberry)
Conversations around human sexuality are some of the most sensitive and complex in our culture today and around the church more specifically. Sam Allberry is a celibate, same-sex-attracted pastor/theologian who has written extensively and spoken all over the world on these topics. In this conversation, Matt chats with Sam Allberry about the tenth anniversary edition of Is God-Anti Gay? and 7 Myths About Singleness.
Is God Anti-Gay? is a sensitive exploration of the Bible’s teaching on sexuality that's been written to help both Christians and non-Christians struggling with the Bible's teaching on this issue, and how the gospel is good news for everyone, whatever their sexual orientation.
In 7 Myths About Singleness, Sam seeks to help Christians—married and unmarried alike—value singleness as a gift from God so that we can all encourage singles to take hold of the unique opportunities their singleness affords and see their role in the flourishing of the church as a whole.
ABOUT
Sam Allberry is a pastor, apologist, author and speaker. He speaks throughout the world at conferences, has recently transitioned from pastoring in the UK to a church in Nashville, TN, co-hosts a podcast with Ray Ortlund called, You’re Not Crazy: Gospel Sanity for Young Pastors, is a Canon Theologian for the Anglican Church in North America, is a Senior Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, and was named a Fellow at the recently launched Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He is the author of a number of books, including Is God Anti-Gay?; What God Has to Say About Our Bodies; Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With?; 7 Myths about Singleness; a commentary on the Book of James; and Why Bother With Church?
Episode 75. Satan, Demons, & Spiritual Warfare (w/ Gerry Breshears)
Here we go! We’re fascinated by the supernatural. Ghost stories, shows like Stranger Things, super hero movies with villains of cosmic proportions all intrigue us. But when it comes to the spiritual realm that the Bible describes we tend to either ignore that reality completely or have an unhealthy obsession with it. While we need not spend much time thinking about Satan and the demonic (far better to fixate on Jesus than the devil), it is important to have a biblical understanding of Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare. So Matt gets Dr. Gerry Breshears on the line to fill us in.
Links referenced in the episode: Live No Lies (John Mark Comer); 3 Crucial Questions About Spiritual Warfare (Clint Arnold); Gerry Breshears resources
ABOUT Dr. Gerry Breshears has been Professor of Theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon for over 40 years, served on the board and as consultant for the Bible Project, trained and mentored countless Christian leaders, co-wrote Doctrine, Death By Love, and A Gracious Theology (forthcoming) and speaks at conferences such as Exiles in Babylon this March.
Episode 74. Mental Health & The Church (with Helen Thorne)
In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental illness. By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have – or have had – a mental illness (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 2022). What does God and the Bible say about mental illness and how can we make churches places where those who struggle with mental health conditions are welcomed, understood, nurtured, and supported: a foretaste of the new creation. Matt interviews Helen Thorne, Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK and co-author of the new book, Mental Health and Your Church.
*If you are struggling in your mental health, please reach out to your local church, a loved one, or reach out to Talk Suicide Canada or CASP to speak with someone right away.
ABOUT Helen Thorne is Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK. She formerly worked with the London City Mission and has written Hope in an Anxious World: 6 Truths For When Things Feel Overwhelming; Purity is Possible: How To Live Free of the Fantasy Trap; Walking with Domestic Abuse Sufferers; and 5 Things to Pray for Your City: Prayers That Change Things For Your Church, Community, and Culture. Mental Health and Your Church: A Handbook for Biblical Care with co-author, Dr. Steve Midgley releases March 1, 2023.
Episode 73. A Deep Thought: Faith & Politics
A Deep Thought is a concise episode on a particular aspect of the Christian faith that we sprinkle in between full-length episodes. This one's on Faith & Politics and is a sermon Matt did at Central Community Church in the summer of 2021, entitled “Shaped By The Gospel: Politics". It serves as a helpful follow up and compliment to episode 72 and is something of "a theology of politics". It is not a partisan pitch but a vision for engaging politics Christianly.
Episode 72. Faith & Politics (with Chuck Strahl)
Episode 71. Art Through the Eyes of Faith (with Russ Ramsey)
Matt gets Russ Ramsey on the line to talk about art and faith. What is the role of art in the world? In other words, what’s the point of being creative and why is beauty itself important? Russ’s new book, Rembrandt Is In The Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith, helps us explore all of this while focusing on some of the most famous artists and pieces of art throughout history. Not only does Russ describe the work of Rembrandt, for example, but the faith of Rembrandt as well. Christians, especially in the Protestant (and more specifically, the evangelical tradition) would do well to wrap our minds and hearts around the place of art in life and faith. ABOUT Russ is a pastor and author living in Nashville, Tennessee. His books include Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death, and the Retelling the Story Series. His personal mission is to communicate the truths of Scripture in accessible ways to people in process. Aside from his books, Russ has written for The Rabbit Room, She Reads Truth, The Gospel Coalition, Crossway, The Art House, Lifeway, Parenting Teens, Dec 2015, The Blazing Center, among others. Follow Russ on Twitter @russramsey or Instagram @russramsey1 to fill your timeline with beautiful works of art, which will be a nice change from what usually clogs our timelines! You can access his weekly Art Wednesday column by going to artwednesday.fathomcolumns.com.
Episode 70. The Good & Evil of Christian History (with John Dickson)
ABOUT
Dr John Dickson works as an author, academic, and media presenter. In 2007 he co-founded (with Dr Greg Clarke) the Centre for Public Christianity, and has published 18 books and three TV documentaries. He teaches ‘Historical Jesus’ at the University of Sydney, and is a Visiting Academic (2016-2021) in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford. In 2019 he was appointed Distinguished Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Public Christianity at Ridley College, Melbourne. In all that he does, whether in the media or the church, creative or academic, he strives to be a public advocate for the Christian faith. His podcast Undeceptions seeks to promote clarity about Christianity in doubting times.
Episode 69. The Unwavering Pastor (w/ Jonathan Dodson)
ABOUT
Jonathan Dodson is the founding pastor of City Life Church in Austin, TX and is also the founder of Gospel-Centered Discipleship, which produces resources to help make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus. He is author of a number of books including Here in Spirit; The Unbelievable Gospel; and the brand new book that is the focus of this episode, The Unwavering Pastor. Just about any week you can catch Jonathan listening to M. Ward, watching sci-fi, and going for walks.
Episode 68. A Deep Thought: Christianity & the Isms
Episode 67. A Deep Thought: Making Sense of the Israelite Conquest
Episode 66 Standing In The Gap For Our Young People (with Heather Thompson Day)
If you’re a young adult I hope you feel seen and loved in this episode and if you’re desiring to make an impact in young peoples’ lives, you’ll find this episode super helpful.
ABOUT
Dr. Heather Thompson Day is an Associate Professor of Communication at Andrews University. She runs an online community called I’m That Wife which has over 200k followers.
She is also a speaker and has been a contributor for Religion News Service, Christianity Today, Newsweek and the Barna Group, and hosts a podcast with Christianity Today called Viral Jesus. Her writing has been featured on outlets like the Today Show and has been interviewed by BBC Radio Live and been featured in Forbes.
She believes her calling is to stand in the gaps of our churches for young people and is the author of 7 books; including two that we get into a bit in this episode: It’s Not Your Turn, and Confessions of a Christian Wife.
Episode 65. Q&A 2.0.
Episode 64. The Grace of Lament (with Mark Vroegop)
ABOUT
Mark Vroegop is the Lead Pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis and is the author of two books: "Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament" — which won the Christian Book of the Year award in 2020 — and "Weep With Me: How Lament Opens A Door For Racial Reconciliation”. Plus, Mark just released the “Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy Devotional Journal.”
Episode 63. You Are Not Your Own (with O. Alan Noble)
How can we be a disruptive witness to a distracted, secular culture? In a society that tells us that you are your own and belong to your self, how is the Christian paradigm that you are not your own but belong to Christ actually incredibly freeing and comforting?
ABOUT
Dr. O. Alan Noble is assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and cofounder of Christ and Pop Culture. He has written for The Atlantic, Vox, BuzzFeed, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and First Things. He is also an advisor for the AND Campaign. Plus, the simple pleasure of dressing nicely gives him sense of order in a disordered world.
Episode 62. Presenting the Christian Worldview (with Raphael Samuel)
ABOUT
Raphael Samuel is a Christian speaker, apologist and anesthesiologist. Born in Durban, South Africa, he obtained his medical degree and a Master’s degree in Medicine there. He further obtained Fellowships in Anesthesiology from the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is currently completing his Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, Southern California.
Having lived, worked and ministered in three different countries on three respective continents, he testifies to the transformative power of, and universal need for the Gospel of Jesus. By presenting evidence for the moral, logical, historical, and scientific coherence of the Christian worldview, he aims to help the fellow believer to love the Lord God with all his mind (Mk 12:30), as well as address barriers to belief faced by the skeptic.
Episode 61. A Deep Thought: Grief & The Gospel
Episode 60. The One With The Book-Writing, Home-Schooling Moms (with Sheri Hiebert & Cecily Dickey)
ABOUT
Sheri Hiebert co-wrote THINKING?: Answering Life’s Five Biggest Questions and RECLAIMED: How Jesus Restores Our Humanity In A Dehumanized World with Andy Steiger. Sheri is a freelance writer and homeschooling mother of three.
Cecily Dickey wrote RAISING GIRLS: Devotional for Mom: 60 Days of Uplifting, Faith-Filled Wisdom. She is a wife and mom, worship leader, writer, and cohost of The Boom Clap Podcast.
Episode 59. It’s 2022. Now What?!
Episode 58. A Deep Thought: The One About Christmas
Episode 57. Gospel-Driven Ministry (with Jared C. Wilson)
In this episode Matt interviews Jared C. Wilson, who has been a pastor and church planter and now trains them at Midwestern Seminary. He’s also authored over 20 books including The Imperfect Disciple; Your Jesus Is Too Safe; and his personal favourite, Gospel Deeps. They focus primarily on a couple of his latest books, The Gospel-Driven Church and Gospel-Driven Ministry but before getting there they talk about topics ranging from doppelgängers to depression; from book publishers to feeling “called"; from leading with a limp to what being “Gospel-Driven” actually means.
ABOUT
Jared Wilson is a former pastor and church planter whose now one of those guys with like 6 jobs. He serves at Midwestern Seminary as Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Author in Residence. He’s the General Editor of For The Church (and host of the FTC Podcast — they produce a ton of great resources for those in ministry). He’s the Director of The Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. He also co-hosts The Art of Pastoring Podcast published by Christianity Today.
Episode 56. The Intentional Father (with Jon Tyson)
They also talk about what Jon refers to as the three key pillars of discipleship: Tangible Presence, Counter-Formation, and Sacrificial Mission; The three modes of communication (prophetic, pastoral, persuasion) and how the art of persuasion is the need of the hour; The difference between cultural apologetics and traditional apologetics; and how 2020-2021 has been America’s first truly secular crisis.
ABOUT
Jon Tyson is lead pastor and church planter of Church of the City New York in Manhattan, NYC. Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Jon moved to the United States over two decades ago with a passion to seek and cultivate renewal in the Western Church. He is the author of Beautiful Resistance; A Creative Minority; The Burden is Light and his latest, The Intentional Father.
Episode 55. A Deep Thought: How Is Marriage A Picture of the Gospel?
Episode 54. Pursuing Right Relationship (with Chief Andrew Victor & John Johnstone)
Episode 53. A Deep Thought: Making Sense of Old Testament Law
What do we do with all the Old Testament Laws? Isn’t it picking and choosing and inconsistent to continue to keep some to this day and then seemingly ignore others altogether? In this brief episode Matt describes the place of the Old Testament Law in the Christian life and supplies helpful rules for interpreting Old Testament Law.
Episode 52. Training Pastors in Hard Places (with Jorge Salazar)
ABOUT
Jorge Salazar has his doctorate degree in Systematic Theology and is the Director for WorldServe Bible College which trains pastors and leaders of the church in difficult access areas and persecuted countries of the world. To support Jorge in his work training pastors in hard places go to worldserve.ca
His wife Aimee is a Biblical Counselor, together they have three adult sons, and great accents.
Episode 51. The Deeply Formed Life (with Rich Villodas)
ABOUT
Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary He enjoys reading widely, preaching and writing on contemplative spirituality, justice-related matters, and the art of preaching. He's been married to Rosie since 2006 and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan. His first book, The Deeply Formed Life is now available wherever books are sold.
Celebrating 50 Episodes!
Is a hotdog a sandwich?
With marijuana legalized in Canada, can Christians use CBD oils without THC?
Would you counsel a couple in an unhealthy relationship to stay married?
My friend lost her husband and has felt the most insensitive comments have come from Christians. What is biblical, nitty gritty, messy and God-honouring grief?
How should I approach conversing and living with family and friends from different religions and atheism?
If God is only God while being Trinitarian, then when the Father rejected Jesus, did God exist?
*No deep thinkers were harmed in the making of this episode of the podcast because no deep thinking happened in this episode
*Special thanks to Jordan Esau for sound editing episodes 1-45 and Andy Boldt for episodes 45-50.
Episode 49. A Deep Thought: Sharing Jesus With Others
Episode 48. Gospelbound (with Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra)
ABOUT
Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra is a senior writer for The Gospel Coalition where she oversees coverage of faith and work. She earned a BA in English and Communication from Dordt University and an Master of Science in Journalism from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Before working at TGC, she reported news for Christianity Today for more than a decade. Unfortunately, she doesn’t appear to be directly related to any Zylstras living in the Fraser Valley but we like her anyway.
Episode 47. A Deep Thought: Faith & Work
Episode 46. Born Again This Way (with Rachel Gilson)
ABOUT
Rachel Gilson currently live in the Boston metro area and works for Cru on the leadership team for theological development and culture. She holds a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the author of Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next. Her writing has featured in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and Desiring God, among other places.
Rachel loves Greek, Hebrew, theology, literature, and the transforming work of the Spirit in her messy life. She started following Jesus during her freshman year at Yale College after splitting up with her high school girlfriend. She has been married to Andrew for twelve years and they have a daughter.
Episode 45. Winsome Conviction (with Tim Muehlhoff & Rick Langer)
Episode 44. How To Question Your Faith Without Losing It (with AJ Swoboda)
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? Matt chats with AJ about his new book, After Doubt: How To Question Your Faith Without Losing It.
ABOUT
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.
Swoboda served for ten years as the lead pastor at Theophilus Church in urban Portland. It’s in the contexts of being a college pastor, a church planter in Portland, and a professor that he has had a front row seat to watch doubt and deconstruction play themselves out over and over again, giving him the opportunity to learn a lot about it. He considers After Doubt a manifesto of 22 years of his life.
His career really took off when he grew a beard and got the right glasses.
Bonus Episode (43). Racism & The Great Commission
This special bonus episode of the podcast is a talk Matt was asked to give for a Youth YouTube night on the topic of Racism & The Great Commission. While the talk is specifically geared toward Grades 6-12’s, we think it is worthwhile hearing Matt address racism from a theological perspective — how Christians should view human beings, nations, and ethnicities in light of what the Bible has to say about it.
Episode 42. The Right Hills To Die On (with Gavin Ortlund)
Matt chats with Gavin Ortlund about his book, Finding The Right Hills to Die On. “In theology, just as in battle, some hills are worth dying on and others are not. But how do we know which ones? When should doctrine divide, and when should unity prevail?”
Matt also asks Gavin if there’s any friendly competition in the family of authors. Plus, he tries to get to the bottom of what was in the water at the Ortlund household to raise not just a family full of wonderful theologians, but great, godly people. So they talk about parenting to start things off in the interview, before settling into figuring out which hills to die on.
ABOUT:
Gavin Ortlund
Gavin Ortlund is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai in Ojai, California and the author of books including Theological Retrieval For Evangelicals Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future; Finding The Right Hills To Die On: The Case for Theological Triage — the primary subject of our episode; and his latest book: Why God Makes Sense In A World That Doesn’t: The Beauty of Christian Theism. He blogs at Soliloquium.