The Awkward Apocalypse

Mike texted me:  "How do you interpret Jesus' command to love your enemies?"  Several long voice memos later, and we decided to schedule a date with some professional microphones and a competition Rubik's cube. This conversation dives into the depths of how we should understand Jesus' commands. Are they to be interpreted as wisdom or as black and white rules that must be kept under every circumstance? 

You are helping to run a ministry and you learn that one of the people you are trying to help has stolen all of the money that was donated to put him in school. That puts you in a weird spot. Do you let your donors know that their money was stolen? Or do you keep it a secret and press on, knowing that the secret is kept for the greater good? In this episode, we'll switch the perspective from those who need help to that of a helper who has learned of a secret and feels the tension both of speaking out and of keeping the secret for the sake of the ministry. 

We're called to suffer for Jesus, but how much is too much? How do we care for ourselves while also helping others? What do healthy boundaries look like and how do we balance sacrifice with self-care? 

Do the poor hurt those who are trying to help them because it's within their nature to hurt others? Do they lie, steal, or cause harm because they are inherently different? Or is it perhaps a bit more nuanced than that... Well, if you believe the latter then, congratulations, you're not racist. But the question remains... why would the poor sabotage an effort to improve their lives? If there isn't some intrinsic difference between us and them, why do they behave so differently?  You might be surprised at how much wisdom can be derived from a marshmallow. That's not a typo. 

We love to talk about how to help the poor without hurting them, but it's not nearly as common to talk about how to help the poor without them hurting you. It happens more than you might think, and I have a lot of experience with it. But why do they do it? Why do they hurt people who just want to help them? And how can we protect ourselves and set boundaries to ensure that both the helpers and the helped maintain a healthy relationship? 

"If you left the church because you had a bad experience with people, you didn't have a relationship with God, you had a relationship with people."  - A really dumb thing to say Let's talk.

Post modernism, apologetics, suffering, doubt, the universe, a burrito advertisement, and a debate about the existence of God. Enjoy. 

It's often tempting to interpret Jesus through our own cultural lens. But taking an honest approach to who Jesus was will require exiting our culture and stepping into his... if that's even possible.

Joshua Milton Blahyi (aka "General Buttnaked"), often referred to as the "Modern Day Saul" has been held responsible for around 20,000 deaths during the Liberian Civil War. But his story doesn't end there. After a dramatic, Damascus Road-like conversion in the midst of the war, Blahyi became a drastically different man with a different outlook on his role in this country. In this episode, I sit down with Joshua to hear his story and discuss how a society like Liberia can be changed for the good, just as a man can be changed for the good, despite a tragic and devastating history. 

The fundamentalist literal reading of the Bible leads to some pretty interesting views - one of them being an actual mark that followers of the antichrist receive that destines their souls to eternally serving this beast in hell. Crazy stuff. Unfortunately it's not really true... like at all... 

Back in the 19th century, the Dismal Dane went on a rampage against the church with the greatest and most deadly weapon he had - a pen, in the battlefield of his day - the newspaper column. What resulted was an attack that is just as much relevant for us as it was for the Dutch almost 200 years ago. 

Don't waste your life. Waste someone else's! 

This episode is not about long skirts or grape juice or hell (but we might get there eventually). For now, let's take a moment to go to the core of what fundamentalism is and where we might find it. 

Evangelical Christianity is often centered around the gospel message, which is often reduced to words spoken. Is this all that Jesus intended? Is there something missing? Is The Godfather overrated? I'll answer at least two of those questions in this episode.

Tearing apart, criticizing, and demolishing is easy, building is not. So as we are deconstructing elements of our faith, where do we begin the process of reconstructing that which is good? How do we put back together the Lego house, currently scattered across the floor in a million pieces, into something better than before? 

If you are flying in an airplane and decide to deconstruct it, don't be surprised when you crash. Deconstructing is insanely beneficial for the growth of a Christian, but where's the line? When is deconstruction dangerous? When does deconstruction become demolition? 

How does an atheist feel when they walk into a store and hear Christian music playing? In this episode, I sit back down with Mike to talk about Christian music. Although not a Christian, he grew up on Steven Curtis Chapman, DC Talk, Kirk Franklin, etc. The conversation leads us into the present, which deepens the conversation far beyond music and into the psychology of evangelism and Christian witness from the perspective of an nonbeliever. 

Apologetics is typically an intellectual approach to defending the "faith." Philosophy, logic, science, etc. But is this really what we should be defending? Did Peter know that his encouragement to believers to continue doing what is good despite pushback and persecution would be used to justify arguing with atheists centuries later? 

Mike, a pastor's kid who lost his faith while attending Christian college, shares his story, his struggles, and his own unique perspective on Christianity.  In this episode, I interview my long time best friend and cousin, the person who has influenced me more than anyone else, the one who taught me how to think deeply, and the person with whom I share a closer bond than anyone else on the planet. 

Doubt is authentic. It's real. It's something so many Christians struggle with. But is it good? Does doubt strengthen your faith or weaken it? And should we be praised for doubting or condemned? In this episode, we'll venture into the darkness of doubt, the silence of skepticism.