Theology in the Raw

Helping believers think Christianly about theological and cultural issues by engaging in curious conversations with a diverse range of thoughtful people.

Religion & Spirituality
Christianity
101
#928 - The Scandal of Christmas, Part 2: Dr. Mi...
We often think of Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2 when we think about the Christmas story. But what about Revelation 12? Is this angle a strange, fringe way of looking at the birth of Jesus, or is a primarily lens?
64 min
102
#927 - The Scandal of Christmas, Part 1: Dr. Cr...
I talk with world renown NT scholar Dr. Craig Keener about Luke 1-2, the politics and sociological scandal of Christ’s birth, his earthly vocation (as a tekton...woodworker? mason? None of the above?), the location of Christ’s birth, Matthew 1-2 (and the differences between Luke and Matthew), the problem of genealogies, and much, much more.
65 min
103
#926 - Christ and Queer Marriage: Aaron and Liz...
In this podcast conversation, Liz and Aaron share their story and talk about what it’s like being in a queer marriage--a term they prefer over “mixed orientation marriage,” since their orientations aren’t really mixed.
64 min
104
#925 - Power and Privilege in Paul, Mark, and W...
Dr. Tim Gombis is a no-holds-barred honest scholar, who’s not afraid to go to the hard places and challenge the status quo. And that’s exactly what we do in this episode. We discuss the undiscussables; say the quiet things out loud, and push over sacred cows as we seek to get to know Jesus all over again. This episode is a mix of exegetical exploration and cultural analysis (or critique).
83 min
105
#924 - Sexual Abuse, Sexual Brokenness, and the...
Jay and I talk about the source of sexual brokenness--what causes people to watch porn or have an affiar. There are deeper, more complex, issues at work, and until those issues are addressed, we’ll only be putting out the the fires of behavior management. We also talk about the prevalence of sexual abuse--nearly ⅓ of people have been sexually abused and most have not healed from this trauma in healthy ways. This is a huge discipleship issue. And then you have the perpetrators of this sin--perhaps 5-10% of the people we preach to each week are the abusers. Have you ever thought about this? (The ⅓ have...probably every week.)
47 min
106
#923 - Active Listening and Thoughtful Nuance i...
In the midst of polarized conversations about race, Dr. George Yancey is a breath of fresh air. He’s a huge proponent of active listening--being genuinely curious about another another person’s perspective and getting outside your echo chamber to consider other points of view.
42 min
107
#922 - The Stability of Scandalous Adoration: D...
What does it mean to adore Jesus in a world that sees our adoration as scandalous? Taking our cues from a few of the Bible’s most notorious worshippers, we’ll celebrate together the stabilizing power of worship — a power no one can take from us.
21 min
108
#921 - Conversion Therapy to Sex Work to Affirm...
Strap on your seatbelts, folks. We’re going for a wild ride through Josh Proctor’s beautifully complex and honest journey.
80 min
109
#920 - Why the Church Needs LGBTQ People
This podcast is a recording of a talk I gave at this year’s Revoice conference in Plano, TX. In it, I talk about why LGBTQ people are not just needy but needed in the church. Specifically, there are four major things I’ve learned about Jesus and the Christian way of life from my LGBTQ friends: 1) friendship, 2) marriage, 3) faithfulness, and 4) masculinity.
32 min
110
#919 - NT Greek, Verbal Aspect Theory, Evangeli...
65 min
111
#918 - When a Trans Couple both Transition Back...
Cameron reached out to me a few weeks ago thanking me for my ministry and he told me a bit of his story. He’s a male to female back to male formerly trans-identified SSA Christian who has been a pastor/chaplain, and he’s married to a female to male back to female formerly trans-identified bisexual Christian. Let’s just say, I was beyond curious to hear more! This podcast episode is me “hearing more!”
51 min
112
#917 - Redemptive Kingdom Diversity: Dr. Jarvis...
Jarvis is a friend and an incredible scholar. He has written and spoken extensively on issues related to race, ethnic reconciliation, and the gospel--which is the focus of our conversation. 
65 min
113
#916 - Gay Identity, Gentile Christians, and Re...
58 min
114
#915 - Covid, Vaccines, Herd Immunity, and the ...
Martin Kulldorff was born in 1962 in Lund, Sweden. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a biostatistician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. He serves on scientific advisory committees to the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control.  In this podcast, we talk about the efficacy of the vaccine, the concept of herd immunity, the efficacy of natural immunity, the Great Barrington Declaration, who’s at risk of dying from Covid, and many other things related to the pandemic.
52 min
115
#914 - Biblical Counseling, Jesus and Gender, a...
In this conversation, we talk about her (or our) journey into a fuller understanding of grace, along with her perspective on the biblical counseling movement. We then discuss various issues related to women in the church, including the so-called Billy Graham rule.
70 min
116
#913 - Live No Lies: John Mark Comer
John Mark Comer is the founding pastor of Bridgetown Church, right in the center of the city (by Powell's Books if you've ever been to Portland) and is the author of six books: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, God has a Name, Garden City, Loveology, My Name is Hope, and the recently released Live No Lies, which is the topic of our conversation. He’s also currently starting a non-profit called Practicing the Way, which aims to create resources for discipleship and formation in local churches in post-Christian contexts (coming in Fall 2022).
60 min
117
#912 - Vaccines, Pandemics, and the Future of t...
Yup, we go there. Vaccines. I didn’t even intend to go here, but our conversation sort of spilled over into a conversations about the efficacy of vaccines, why there’s “vaccine hesitancy,” and how the unvaccinated are potentially enabling the creation of new variants that could be more deadly. We also talk about what the advent of the Covid pandemic means for the future world. Basically, our future will look vastly different and the church will need to make some serious changes.
60 min
118
#911 - Empire and Race in the Book of Acts: Dr....
In this episode, Dr. Jenning helps us understand how the book of Acts critiques empire and imperial values, and also how the early Christians in the book of Acts were wrestling with ethnic reconciliation and inclusion. Toward the end of the episode, we talk about the concept of “Whiteness”--what it means, what it doesn’t mean, and how it can be a useful tool for people to use to think through the history and politics of race.
68 min
119
#910 - One Christian’s Change in Perspective on...
Kimi is an artist, YouTuber, skater, musician, and a has been speaking out about her journey through the topic of race and racism. Kimi had absorbed a certain perspective on race that viewed many things as micro aggressions, but it created so much anxiety and depression in her life that she decided to have a more charitable and, in her words, Christian perspective on race, where forgiveness is the key to freedom and reconciliation. 
71 min
120
#909 - Pastoring People through Politics, Polar...
Matt Chandler is a pastor, speaker, and writer. He’s been pastoring The Village Church in Texas for 18 years and is the president of Acts29. In this podcast, we talk about how he’s handled the last couple of years of politics and Covid--and all the polarization that comes with this.
53 min
121
#908 - Disability and the Church: Dr. Lamar Har...
In this episode, Larmer tells his story and helps us understand how the church can better understand and include people with Disabilities.
63 min
122
#907 - How Should Christians Respond to Racism?...
Rasool Berry and Samuel Sey
107 min
123
#906 - Getting to Know My New Transwoman Friend...
Seda Collier is a transwoman with an interesting story. She had a radical encounter with God while tripping on acid in 1980. Has had several other “God moments” throughout her life. Started transitioning to a woman in 2006. Has a wife, kids, and attends a Baptist church in Eugene, OR.
102 min
124
#905 - The Gospel of Multiethnic Reconciliation...
In this podcast, we talk about the need of prioritizing a theology of race, looking to the Bible for guidance on the race conversation, rather than reading everything through the lens of partisan politics.
49 min
125
#904 - Theology, Film, and the Idolatry of Marr...
In this episode, we talk at length about a theology of film, looking at the deeper meaning of various movies and discuss how Christians should watch movies. Oftentimes, we get hung up on the big 3 sins: sex, violence, and cussing.
77 min