Theology in the Raw

Latest Episodes:

853: Rethinking the War on Drugs: Christina Dent Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

It makes sense. Illegal drugs should be criminalized. Period. The harsher a society is on drug use and drug dealing, the fewer problems it will have. Right? Not necessarily. As long as there are buyers, there will be producers. And as long as people experience pain and trauma, they will seek ways to numb it.

Christina Dent is a politically conservative Christian who supported criminalizing drugs until she became a foster parent and saw the negative effects up close. She researched why drug-related harm isn’t decreasing and became convinced it’s because the criminal justice system is the wrong tool for addressing drugs.

Check out more about Christina’s work at https://www.enditforgood.com/about

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852: Have We Neglected the Ascension of Christ? Dr. Patrick Schreiner Mar 25, 2021

Show notes

Oftentimes, we don’t know what to do with the ascension. I mean, we believe in it, but we don’t often appreciate the theological necessity of it. Get your Bible’s out for this episode, because Patrick and I dance through various passages of Scripture to reconstruct the lost doctrine of the ascension of Christ.

Patrick Schreiner is Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He previously taught at Western Seminary in Portland Oregon (2014–20) and received his Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (2014).

He is the author of a number of books, including The Body of Jesus: A Spatial Analysis of the Kingdom in Matthew (T&T Clark), The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross (Crossway), Matthew, Disciple and Scribe: The First Gospel and Its Portrait of Jesus (Baker), and The Ascension of Christ: Recovering a Neglected Doctrine (Lexham Press). He has also contributed chapters to God’s Glory Revealed in Christ: Essays on Biblical Theology in Honor of Thomas R. Schreiner (B&H) and Baptists and the Christian Tradition: Toward an Evangelical Baptist Catholicity (B&H).

He is married to Hannah and they have four children. They love good local food, the outdoors, sports, and he enjoys serving local churches through teaching and preaching. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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851: Disagreeing without Dividing the Church: Dr. Tim Muehlhoff Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

Is it possible for Christians to maintain unity when they are so divided over hot-button issues like politics, race, and points of doctrine? Do you have to sacrifice conviction for the sake of unity? Is it possible for a zealous Trump-supporter and an ardent Biden-supporter to worship together in the same church without thinking the other person is evil? There is no better person to help us navigate these issues than Dr. Tim Muehlhoff.

Tim Muehlhoff (Ph.D., University of North Carolina) is the co-author (with Rick Langer) of the recent book Winsome Conviction and is a professor of communication at Biola University's Department of Communication Studies in La Mirada, California, a speaker and research consultant for the Center for Marriage and Relationships, and an author of several books on communication. In addition to being an educator and author, he is the co-host of a podcast entitled, The Art of Relationships which is produced by Biola University and is currently heard in 100 countries. Tim and his wife, Noreen, are frequent speakers at FamilyLife Marriage Conferences. For more information, visit timmuehlhoff.com.

Check out the Winsome Conviction Project at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/winsome-conviction

Buy Tim’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Winsome-Conviction-Disagreeing-Without-Dividing/dp/0830847995

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850: Should Christians Care for the Environment? Dr. Sandy Richter Mar 18, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandy Richter is one of my favorite--and one of the most provocative--biblical scholars, and she comes back on Theology in the Raw for the second time in 10 months to help us think through this important question: should Christian care for the environment? The answer, of course--if you read the Bible--is yes. But why are so many Christians resistant to this question? (Pssst...it’s because we’re often shaped more by American political tribal identities than the actual Bible.) We also wrestle with questions like: What age will we be in the resurrection? Will animals be resurrected in the new creation? And why won’t there be marriage in the resurrection?

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849: How the Humanity of Jesus Redeems our Pain: Kurt Willems Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Kurt is the author of the brand new book: Echoing Hope: How the Humanity of Jesus Redeems Our Pain (https://www.amazon.com/Echoing-Hope-Humanity-Jesus-Redeems/dp/0593193504/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kurt+willems&qid=1613502655&sr=8-1) And his forms the bulk of our discussion. Do we believe Jesus was really human? Do we overemphasize his deity and therefore lose out on embracing the beauty of his humanity? When did Jesus realize he was God? Do his miracles prove his divinity or show that he was empowered by the Spirit?

Kurt Willems is a pastor, writer, and spiritual director. After several years in student and adult church ministry in Central California, he partnered with the Brethren in Christ to plant a Christian community in Seattle called Pangea Church. Kurt maintains a resource website, which hosts articles and podcasts, called Theology Curator (formerly called, The Paulcast). He is passionate about taking dense ideas and communicating them in ways that are empowering for people in all walks of life. He holds a master of divinity degree from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary and a master's degree in comparative religion from the University of Washington (where he focused on the historical Paul within Judaism and the Roman Empire). Kurt also completed a two-year training program to become a spiritual director called, Stewards of the Mystery. His wife, Lauren, is a special education teacher. They have two amazing, young daughters.

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848: Living Your Whole Life for Jesus: Clare De Graaf Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

Clare De Graaf is a cancer survivor, sort of “retired” businessman, a friend, a mentor, the chairman of the board for The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender, founder of many Christian non-profit ministries, and one of the most zealous, faithful, wise Christian leaders I’ve ever met. In this conversation, Clare talks about his journey in the faith--which involves many twists and turns, ups and downs--and his contagious outlook on the kingdom of God.
You can read more about Clare, his life and ministry, and his book The Ten Second Rule, on his website: https://www.claredegraaf.com

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847: Multiethnicity in the Church: An Optional Possibility or Gospel-Necessity? Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

As the title suggests, this episode is all about the question of multi-ethnicity in the body of Christ. And Dr. Gray is the right person to challenge us in this conversation. Dr. Derwin L. Gray is the founding and lead pastor of Transformation Church, one of the largest multiethnic, multigenerational, mission-shaped communities in the U.S., located in Indian Land, South Carolina, just south of Charlotte, North Carolina.

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846: Purposeful Sexuality: Ed Shaw Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

Ed Shaw is Associate Pastor at Emmanuel Bristol and part of the editorial team at Living Out. He loves his family and friends, church and city, gin and tonic, and music and books. He is the author of Same-Sex Attraction and the Church: The Surprising Plausibility of the Celibate Life (IVP) and the recently released Purposeful Sexuality: A Short Introduction (IVP).

Ed is attracted to the same-sex and has committed his life to celibacy and the ministry of the gospel. In this episode, we talk about his journey as an SSA Christian man and minister and about the themes unpacked in his latest book Purposeful Sexuality.

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846: The Gospel as Political Protest and Why Rom 7 Isn’t Talking About Christians Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

We discuss three issues in this podcast: (1) Imperial critical readings of the New Testament (i.e. how the NT critiques the Roman empire in its language), (2) the benefit of studying first-century philosophy for understanding the New Testament, and (3) why Romans 7:9-25 is not talking about a Christian or Christians.

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845: #855 - Behind the Scene of Christian Publishing Feb 25, 2021

Show notes

Don Pape is the master Yoda of Christian publishing. He has over 35 years of experience working for some of the biggest Christian publishers and has also been a literary agent. Don is responsible for finding a relatively unknown pastor from Simi Valley named Francis Chan and signing him to a book deal. In this conversation, Don and I talk about what it takes to be a successful writer, the pros and cons of Christian publishing, the role that having a platform plays in landing a book deal, what to do if you feel called to write a book, the kind of financial advances that new authors should expect, and many other things related to the industry.

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