Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology - K-LOVE Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

Unlearning Inherited But Unbiblical Theology Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is part two with my dear friend, Kristi McClelland, because she’s kind of like a hot Krispy Kreme donut, one simply isn’t enough! Kristi’s a best-selling Bible teacher, author, and college professor – but I think the most fitting description of her is “revival coach” because she’s so saturated with Jesus that if you get anywhere near her, Gospel joy will inevitably slosh out on you! However, I should probably issue a good-natured warning before we dive in and let you know that Kristi and I are both very energetic, fast-talking windbags when it comes to matter of faith so you might want to tighten your seatbelts for this proverbial ride through all things redemptive because we’ll likely careen from raving about the beef jerky at Bucees to the practical theology of A.W. Tozer within the first few minutes! Frankly, if you’re listening to this while on a Peloton, you might pause and unclip out of those fancy biking shoes for a while because this isn’t going to be a passive-listening kind of podcast – it’s more of a hands in the air, hollering with glee gabfest because we’re exposing the difference between the performative, sin-avoidant, stale kind of religion some of us were brought up in and the vibrant, life-giving, Spirit-filled reality that an intimate relationship with Jesus gives us access to. So please grab some iced coffee and your Bible – unless you’re hanging onto a wakeboard rope with both hands realizing that you’re probably too old to be dragged behind a speedboat in your skirty bathing suit – oh wait, is that just me? - and come hang out on the porch with us.
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The Biblical Blueprint for Personal Freedom Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

It’s the first week of July here in the U.S. so lots of people are firing up their barbeque grills, putting watermelons on ice, and arranging lawn chairs in the grass to get ready to watch fireworks shows because for whatever reason, pyrotechnics are an integral part of North American culture when it comes to celebrating our country’s Independence Day on July Fourth! And while I thoroughly enjoy pyro and brisket, all of this nationalistic hullabaloo re: civil and political freedom got me to thinking about the infinitely superior freedom available to Christ followers the world over. Because regardless of your nationality – by the way, we’re wildly grateful that the porch has become an inclusive, pan-national place where God’s image bearers gather from all over the world. Our boss here at Access More recently showed Alli, Dr. Howard and me some listener data and we were thrilled to see how many Back Porchers we now have who listen from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and South America – Good Day, mates – Jambo friends – Buenos Dias, brothers and sisters. Thank you so much for hanging out with us and putting up with the fact that sometimes we communicate from a myopic American, First World, vantage point. We’re joyfully discombobulated that our Creator Redeemer has gathered people from around the globe to be part of this faith community and our huge hope and fervent prayer is that everyone feels a deep sense of belonging on the porch. Now back to the point of today’s conversation, it’s going to be all about the life-giving and galvanizing truism of freedom found woven throughout this divine love story we call the Bible. We’re going to attempt to answer the question – what did Paul really mean when he proclaimed to the Galatians that it was for FREEDOM that Jesus came to set us free. Today’s conversation is kind of like a cool breeze on a day that’s so hot, your thighs are sticking to the car seat, so please grab a tall glass of sweet tea, iced coffee, yak milk – or whatever beverage strikes your summer fancy – and your Bible – unless you’re too busy filling up old Coke bottles with bottle rockets, of course - and come prop your feet up on the porch with us…we’re really glad you’re here.
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From Dutiful Submission to Glad Surrender Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is kind of a Christmas come early for me because we get to hang out with my dear friend Kristi McClelland, who’s a Bible teacher, author, scholar, college professor, massive Narnia fan, as well as a human colander who leaks Gospel joy everywhere she goes! We’re covering a wide range of topics today eventually landing in Luke’s Gospel account and let me encourage you to lean in and turn up the volume a tad because some of what may initially sound like extraneous small talk is riddled with spiritual gold. Her experience and explanation regarding the transition from dutiful submission to God’s will – that is obeying what He tells us to do through the imperatives in His Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit – to surrendering to God’s will with peaceful agreement and anticipatory hope is a wise template for spiritual maturity and intimacy with our Creator Redeemer. This is another one of those “bring your notebook to the porch” episodes because much like you need two paper plates to carry the glorious weight of a burger and baked beans and corn on the cob and potato salad and a big slice of watermelon at a barbeque, the litany of biblical truisms Kristi shares are too heavy for most of us to carry with our memories alone! So please grab a tumbler of iced oat milk with a heavy splash of cream and mocha, or a Stanley filled to the brim with sparkling water and a squeeze of fresh lime, or whatever your favorite summer beverage is and your Bible – unless you’ve got both hands wrapped tightly around a steel wool scrubber trying to scrape barbeque grime off your Blackstone like I did this past weekend, of course – and come prop your feet up on the porch with us, we’re absolutely delighted to get to spend this time with you.

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The Secure Scaffolding of our Faith Jun 17, 2024

Show notes

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re back in the saddle with Dr. Trevin Wax. Okay, that’s the first time I’ve ever employed the phrase “back in the saddle” and I think I kind of like it! Anyway, Trevin is an old friend and former colleague who just so happens to be a brilliant leader, academic scholar, and theologian. Much like our beloved Dr. Howard, God has given him the refreshing gift of putting the proverbial cookies of profound biblical truisms on the lower shelf so that laypeople like us can better enjoy, understand, and apply them. His latest book, The Thrill of Orthodoxy, is a fantastic read because he expertly contrasts the dull, regurgitated principles of heresy masquerading as modern religious enlightenment with the radical and redemptive truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We’re living in an era when personal preferences are often paired with a pretty picture and a catchy tune and presented as sound doctrine on social media. But no matter how many likes our particular viewpoints get, if they’re not built on biblical scaffolding, they’re not really true, they won’t stand the test of time, they won’t satisfy our hungry hearts, and they certainly won’t bring living hope to a lost world. Today’s episode is sort of like a second honeymoon for orthodoxy because it's going to help us recapture the radical beauty of sound doctrine and more importantly, it’s going to help us fall deeper in love with Jesus. Because remember, the end game of good theology isn’t to acquire more cognitive information about God; instead, it’s about developing a more intimate relationship with our Creator Redeemer and as a result learning to extend some measure of the unconditional love He lavishes on us to the precious people around us. So please take a couple of deep breaths, then grab your favorite beverage and snack, prop your feet up, open your Bible and come hang out on the porch with us. We’re really glad you’re here.

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Kerygma Summit Scholars Panel Jun 10, 2024

Show notes

You know those party game questions where you’re asked if you could have dinner with anyone – dead or alive – who would you choose? Well, this is my party game answer come true because I had the hugely undeserved privilege of sitting down with seven of my theological HEROES – Dr. Jim Howard, my spiritual mentor and a Denver Seminary professor; Dr. Lynn Cohick, distinguished professor of NT and director of Houston Theological Seminary, formerly the provost of my alma mater – Den Sem; Dr. Scot McKnight, acclaimed NT scholar, author of more than sixty books, who’s been a seminary professor for many decades and guest teaches at Oxford; Dr. Dorian Coover Cox, a world renowned expert on Exodus and Israel’s journey from captivity to Canaan and beloved professor of Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary; Dr. Eva Bleeker, a licensed counselor and chaplain, bereavement expert, and professor at Denver Seminary as well as one of the kindest, most empathetic scholars you’ll ever meet; Dr. Craig Keener, a palpably humble, albeit world renowned biblical scholar, author of the IVP Bible Background Commentary which is on the shelves of pretty much every minister I know as well as eight Bible commentaries, 37 books and over a hundred academic articles, he’s a professor in the doctoral program at Asbury Theological Seminary; and finally the gentleman who’s the main reason I chose the doctoral program at Denver Seminary, Dr. Craig Blomberg, who’s a world renowned NT scholar, has authored and edited many, many academic works like The Historical Reliability of the New Testament and Interpreting the Parables, he was on the translatory team for the most recent edition of the NIV Bible, has served as a research fellow at Cambridge and recently retired from Denver Seminary but continues to teach a few classes in his role as professor emeritus of the NT. The credentials held by this dream teaching team are unstinkin’ believable y’all but their humility, kindness, and generous willingness to help the rest of us fall deeper in love with Jesus eclipses their academic resumes. This perfectly numbered crew of seven scholars became a family of spiritual big brothers and sisters to us at Kerygma and I trust you’ll come to feel that way as well as they open your eyes even wider to the God who loves us more than we can ever ask or imagine. You’ll want to bring a notebook along with something caffeinated and your Bible to the porch today, welcome to this special scholars edition of Back Porch Theology!

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The Little Bird Who Changed My Life Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

All of the conversations we have the undeserved privilege of engaging in on BPT are special to Ally, Dr. Howard, and me because the point of our conversations – even if it takes a while for us to get there – is always the immutable goodness and compassion of our Trinitarian Creator Redeemer, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. However, this particular conversation which we taped live at Kerygma a few weeks ago with one of my all-time theological heroes, New Testament scholar Dr. Scot McKnight, is a very personal and poignant milestone for me because God used one of Dr. McKnight’s books – The Blue Parakeet – like a merciful scalpel in my life to cut away some corrosive shame that had compromised my mind and heart and ministry efficacy for decades. The back cover copy of The Blue Parakeet reads: In this bold, engaging reexamination of reading the Bible, Scot McKnight calls all Christians from both ends of the spectrum to stop taming the Bible and to let it speak anew to our hearts. In other words, his exegetical brilliance will recharge our passion for both reading Scripture and relating to God’s redemptive narrative in increasingly intimate and personal ways. If you’re a Bible banger like me and your Bible is one of those precious possessions you’d be sure to grab if your proverbial ship was sinking OR if you’ve secretly and guiltily thought the Bible was boring and have a hard time engaging with it, this conversation is right up your alley, baby! So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – whether the pages still stick together from so little use or whether it’s tattered and stained – that is unless you’re swinging a broom at those nasty cicadas, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us.

Modern Day Deborahs May 27, 2024

Show notes

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I have the profound privilege of hanging out with two women who are spiritual heroines to us – Dr. Dorian Coover Cox, a professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, and Dr. Lynn Cohick, a Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Director of Houston Theological Seminary at Houston Christian University. I’ve known Dr. Cohick for many years because she was the provost at Denver Seminary and within five minutes of meeting her, I began plotting how to talk her into becoming one of my mentors! She’s one of the first people I shared my dreams about Kerygma to and has been part of it since the inception. In fact, I told her a few weeks ago that she’s now part of the proverbial living room furniture in my life, so she’d better never think about leaving! And while I’ve known of Dr. Coover Cox for years because she’s one of the spiritual mentors of BPT’s very own Dr. Howard, this year at Kerygma was the first time we got to hang out with her in person, and within 5 minutes she got grafted into the family too! Dr. Coover Cox is an expert on Exodus and Dr, Cohick is an expert on Ephesians so we’re going to glean from these two saints’ wisdom and camp out in those two books of Holy Writ today and let me encourage you to bring a notebook along with your coffee and your Bible, because you’re going to want to take notes on the porch today, baby!

How A Life Sentence Became Life Giving May 20, 2024

Show notes

During today’s episode – which is number 124, so we’re well past the two-year mark – I watched my “five-foot-twelve spiritual wing-woman” – it tickles me every time Alli says that but it’s a gracious exaggeration because she and I fly this plane called BPT together and I’d surely crash without her. Anyway, I watched my dear friend put her head on the table and weep because she was so overwhelmed by the palpable goodness of God. Alli’s a beautifully authentic woman y’all but she’s also a consummate professional and is rarely rendered mute. But you know how sometimes divine grace interrupts your consciousness in such a dramatic way that it forces a “selah” moment? A sacred pause when we can’t help but gape at God’s grace. Frankly, I think Christ-followers need to pause and gape at our Redeemer’s grace on a regular basis. In my experience, when too much time passes between gaping at grace sessions, our hearts become susceptible to the deadly virus of unbelief. Wonder is a necessary praxis if we want to actually experience the abundant life Jesus died to give us access to. We all need to be reminded of just how miraculous it is that the transcendent Creator of the Universe condescends to redeem and restore and unconditionally LOVE the likes of mistake prone yahoos like us. We recorded today’s conversation recently, at the very end of the Kerygma Summit here in Franklin, TN. It was kind of like our Swan Song of this year’s summit and it was the first time Alli met my friend Kyle. She said she’ll never be the same after hearing his story and I don’t think you will be either. So please grab a cup of coffee, your Bible, and a box of tissues and come gape at the amazing grace of God on the porch with us.
Want to send letters or prayer requests to Kyle? Connect with him here!
Chaplain Kyle Hebert c/o Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office
P.O. Box 1000 Livingston, LA 70754

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A Wise Woman Once Said – Live from Kerygma ‘24 May 13, 2024

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Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology took place very recently at The Kerygma Summit here in Franklin, TN and this particular conversation was kind of the “chips and queso” moment of the whole weekend for me because I had the undeserved privilege of sitting down with some of my favorite female Christian leaders from around the country and gleaning from their collective wisdom. I framed the question that I posed to all of them like this: At sixty I know much less about God than what I thought I knew about Him at forty and what I pretended to know about Him at twenty. But what I now know to be true of God – namely His unconditional love and immutable faithfulness – I know in the very marrow of my bones. Then I asked each of them – many of whom are leading large ministries – what they now know to be true of God in the marrow of their bones. Their answers were gut-level honest, deeply encouraging, appropriately convicting at times, and always God and others honoring. This conversation was a living example of Psalm 68:11 - the Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng. Plus, since these saints came from various streams of the church, it was also a master class in unity and it reminded me of Jesus’s response to John’s question in Mark 9: “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Christian unity is not the same thing as uniformity, y’all. We don’t have to agree on every, single jot and tittle of what is theologically nuanced, but if we can agree on the fact that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way sinners like us can be reconciled with God, as well as the authority of God’s Word, we’re family. Remember the Bible also reveals that a divisive spirit is one of the six things that God hates (Proverbs 9) and whenever possible He calls us to be at peace and harmony with each other (Romans 12). Today’s conversation is going to be like spiritual Gorilla Glue, it’s going to fasten us tighter to our Creator Redeemer and tighter to the community of faith so please grab a cup of coffee or a glass of sparkling water with a wedge of lime or a thimbleful of wheatgrass juice and your Bible – unless you’re trimming your roses, of course; mine have sprouted out with more enthusiasm than Einstein’s eyebrows during the past few weeks of warm weather – and come hang out on the porch with us.

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Embodied Theology – Live from Kerygma ‘24 May 06, 2024

Show notes

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is a really special one and it’s especially rowdy too because it took place just a little over a week ago at The Kerygma Summit here in Franklin, TN where almost 1,500 women from across the country – as well as some other countries, I got to meet a lovely backporcher from Tanzania – gathered together to learn more about God and His Word. The teaching team at Kerygma this year was a veritable Who’s Who of Bible scholars, seminary professors and theologians including some of the engaging and enlightening friends we’ve previously connected with on the porch like Dr. Craig Keener and Dr. Scot McKnight. Brooke Ligertwood led worship all weekend, and y’all I can’t wrap words around what happened when she ushered us toward the throne room of Jesus on Friday night, except to say it felt almost transcendent. God’s Spirit revealed Himself to us in a way that left a redemptive mark on my heart, which I hope never fades. You know those moments in time when God effectively wipes the blurred glass that Apostle Paul says exists between us and Glory in a way that allows us to see Him more clearly? He made His presence so accessible this weekend, I’m still in kind of a discombobulated fog of wonder and gratitude. In retrospect, I should have taken off my shoes because it was just that holy. Well anyway, this conversation took place during the course of Kerygma, so I need to warn you that there’s a lot more ambient sound than usual because we were smack dab in the middle of a giant family of faith instead of a controlled studio environment. And I also want you to know that we delved into sensitive subject matter because I explained in detail about how God used a community of believers to save my life when I wasn’t sure I could keep living it. Which means some of the moments we’ll share today are too mature for little ears, therefore I encourage you to wait until after you’ve dropped the kids off at school to join us. That being said, please bring your Bible and a big cup of coffee – unless you’re up to your elbows in suds because that darling Doodle tangled with a skunk again - and come hang out on the porch with us!

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