Coffee with Creamer

Barry talks about the process of and barriers to the maturation of our faith. We want it to be fresh, but not always novel, stable, but certainly not stagnant. When thinking of our spiritual past, we don’t need the same things we needed then, but we do need some of the things we found then. […]

The journey of faith in Psalm 41 begins with belonging, moves through knowledge of self and God, and ends in mercy. Our God walked this path first and now we have the chance to see people as more than what they can do for us.     Scriptures: Psalm 41 Lev 19:1-17 James 2:1-9 John […]

Many of us have traditions we maintain over Thanksgiving such as thanking God for those around our table or thanking him for something good that has happened to us over the last year. However, Barry throws a wrench in the thankful works, when he suggests that to the extent that our thanks is occasional, it […]

Barry walks us through five excellent poems about love, sorrow, and sacrifice. In doing so, he reminds us that good poetry not only reveals something about the universe, but also something significant about ourselves.       Poems: “Marvel No More” and “Description of the Contrarious Passions in a Lover” by Sir Thomas Wyatt, “Sonnet […]

Barry talks about the many influences on the development of beliefs in an individual, from genetics and environment to an existentialist’s will. However, most importantly, he points to the reason it’s worth wrestling to shape our beliefs: so that Christians attain to the unity and knowledge that leads to the stature of the fullness of […]

Ever thought of Psalms as just a book of hunky-dory descriptions about how lovely God is? Think again. Psalm 38 describes a journey from crushing discipline to deliverance. The surprising part is that the journey begins and ends in the same place.     Scriptures: Psalm 38 2 Cor 12:7-10 Luke 18:1-8

At times we can have a negative view of culture, especially as believers because we know this is not our home. Barry talks about why culture, and our respective communities actually hold us together.       Referenced Episodes: The Problem with Others Is that They Are Also People, Ep 8; Disagreeing to Agree, Eps […]

The idea that we have transmitted as much individualism and American heritage in our faith as we have gospel shouldn’t shock us. The early church faced the same challenge with Judaic tradition, which was delivered from God himself after all! So what does one do about this? Barry makes a few suggestions to manage this […]

Given the choice between duty and authenticity, Barry talks about faithfulness less as the power to overcome our old nature and more as living authentically as the person we are going to be than the person we used to be.       Book: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant Scripture: Rom 8:29 […]

Barry talks about the relationship between God’s faithfulness and our faith. Psalm 33 reminds us that miracles, deliverance, and the like are simply eruptions of God’s ongoing, underlying love and interaction with the world.       Scriptures: Psalm 33 Acts 17:25 Deut. 7:6-8 1 Cor. 11:23-26