Coffee with Creamer

Psalm 122 is about going to Jerusalem, gathering with God’s people, and praying for peace. Which sounds lovely—until you remember that being around other people is sometimes…a lot. In this episode, Barry takes a closer look at this little psalm and its surprisingly practical vision for community. We must reconsider what it means to seek […]

It’s another conversation about what happens when philosophy and ministry start asking each other questions. And, as it turns out, they have quite a few. We get into sophistry, the ways people can become very good at making arguments without necessarily making good arguments, and the complicated relationship between doctrine and ethics. What we believe […]

Barry acknowledges there are some things you can learn by studying philosophy that ministry will never teach you—and some things ministry will teach you that you could never learn from a philosophy textbook. In this episode, he explores the surprising things learned on both sides of that divide, while admitting that philosophy and ministry have […]

Psalm 119 is basically 176 verses of the psalmist saying, “God, I really, really love Your Word.” And while that might sound a little intense, there’s something wonderfully practical underneath all of it: what gets into us eventually comes out of us. Our interaction with God’s word is less about simply reading it but rather, […]

We all have lines that tell us who we are—and who we’re not. Race, nationality, politics, and a whole host of other identities can shape us in ways we barely notice. In Part 2 of Self-De-Centered, Barry looks at what happens when those identities become walls, and at Jesus’ very different way: incarnation. If we’re […]

It turns out there’s a pretty big problem with making yourself the center of the universe: you’re not the center of the universe. But what does that actually mean for the way we understand ourselves? In the first episode of this series, Barry takes a look at the self from several different angles—biological, psychological, sociological, […]

Wouldn’t life be simpler if everyone just agreed with you? Maybe—but God didn’t build His kingdom that way. In Part 2 of …Who Needs Enemies?, Barry looks at why God intentionally created us with different gifts, personalities, and callings, and why even the people who drive us crazy may have something we need. Plus, what […]

We spend much of our lives trying to outrun our adversaries, but what if they’re actually one of God’s gifts? In Part 1 of the …Who Needs Enemies series, Barry explores why opposition isn’t always something to avoid. From the courtroom, where justice depends on opposing sides, to the political arena, where differing viewpoints can […]

In Part 2 of our exploration of Psalm 115, Barry concludes his look at the responsibilities a lawn gnome cannot fulfill, but you can. God has given us mouths to act so that his unseen presence becomes unmistakably visible through our praise—in other words we need to stop being like an idol and start acting […]

Barry takes a deeper dive into the lawn gnome theology of Psalm 115 as he revisits gratitude. Gratitude is one of those things we know we’re supposed to have: say “yes ma’am” and “yes sir” and remember to send thank-you notes. But this psalm shows us that gratitude is more than a simple courtesy; that […]