If you know Habakkuk at all (a big if!), it's almost certainly because of the way the Apostle Paul uses it to make his own argument about righteousness and faith, using one single verse of this minor prophet. But what was Habakkuk talking about in his own time? Did the apostle cut the verse out of context and distort it for his own purposes? Whose faithfulness are we talking about, anyway? In this…
How dare anyone say one life is better than another? or the living of a life is wiser than another? Say something and risk legalism; say nothing and risk nihilism; and neither of those lead to a good life, either. In this episode Dad and I compile our sum total of 125 years of living, plus a lot of shortcuts gleaned from reading and talking to other people, to tell you what's worth pursuing,…
You might just be able to hear the explosion of the fireworks over the explosion of rhetoric upon the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. Aiming to shed more light than heat, Dad and I discuss The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) from a theological perspective. Civic good is not the ultimate good, but it's not a negligible one, either. We find good reasons…
A discussion between me and Dad about Katie Langston's phenomenal memoir Sealed , tracing her life from Mormon upbringing to conversion to Christianity to discerning a call into ministry. A must-read for anyone interested in the Latter-day Saints as well as hope and healing for people scarred from high-demand religion. Be sure to get the new second edition , now in ebook and paperback !
Tradition is a buzzword in confessional polemics: Protestants (supposedly) say Scripture only, while Catholics and Orthodox (supposedly) say Scripture-and-Tradition without hierarchical triage between them. Of course, it has never been that simple! Luther and Melanchthon and the Formula of Concord all insist that they were in fact more faithful to the tradition of the church against Roman…
You foolish person! I Corinthians 15 isn't the place to come for an instruction manual, but for a redirection toward the one who was raised from the dead for the glory of God. In this episode Dad and I talk through what is—and isn't—the subject matter of the apostle's treatise on resurrection, where to be exuberant (i.e. doxology), where to be sober (i.e. the mechanics of the life to come), and…
Sarah discusses "The Water Bus," the last story to be covered from the collection Star Over Bethlehem by Agatha Christie Mallowan, with Kemper Donovan of the All About Agatha podcast!
Everything is authorized to me—but I will not let just anything have authority over me. And therein lies the path of discernment for a baptized Christian body in the world. Sex, marital and otherwise? Food, idolatrous or not? What has the promised resurrection to do with the mortal body in this life? In this episode Dad and I work our way through the 6th, 7th, and 8th chapters of I Corinthians to…
Where is the debater of this age? All over the internet, apparently. The Apostle Paul would not be impressed, and neither should you. If the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, how much more its folly! In the meanwhile, however, there is the real and contentious question of what, exactly, makes for God's wisdom and God's strength. Hint: if the answer does not include the cross…
A quick introduction to a new ebook from Sarah: sermons on all four Passion accounts from all four Gospels. Download your free ebook of Lenten Postil on the Passion here.
Transfiguration Sunday is coming soon -- the 15th of February! Arm yourself against the inevitable rehashing of the same with this, the second of seven ways of looking at the Transfiguration. Or better yet, treat yourself to all Seven Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration.