We're baaaaack! Almost. Next week we officially launch Season 2 of the pod. The following week I launch the FBWL Newsletter (https://davewoods.substack.com/welcome). And it couldn't arrive soon enough. The world is on fire. Babylon the great is crumbling. And yet here we are, tucked away in the shadow of that hideous strength. What a time to be alive, my friends.  What a time to follow Jesus. And what a time to pod! Good stuff is on the way, I promise. And if you make it through this little preview of coming attractions, you'll even catch the smooth new outro from the only house band that will survive the apocalypse, Lonesome & Muddy.  What more can I say?

The ones who will resist the spreading darkness of this historical moment and endure to the end... will be hobbits.  In Part 2 of our final episode, John and I talk about the Ring of Power currently tempting every group in our crumbling society and the surprising depths of those small enchanted folk from Buckland, Bree, and the Shire. It is time for true followers of Jesus to step forward, resist the false promise of political power, and lay hold of a true life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, a life marked by faith, hope, and most of all love.

Are you a person or a brand? Is political ideology at the core of your identity, or is Christ? Our current historical moment has revealed something that has been obvious to many for a while now--though evangelicals are great in number, we are not actually driven by our relationship with Christ. For our final pod of the season, Pastor John and I thought we'd try to tackle something worth chewing on over the Summer. We also decided (after we recorded it) to break it into two parts. In this first part, Pastor John and I talk about how the self got inverted and what it means to cultivate true personhood. Those who invest in their personhood will stand the best chance of fending off the darkening shadow of hateful politics and narcissism spreading over our land.

"We can't let such an inevitable thing as death stand in the way of enjoying life while we have it."  Here, my friends, is the stunning conclusion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz."

Behold, a free audiobook from me to you.  I present Part 1 of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz."  A truly American dream.

What if this historical moment is a turning point not only for ordinary life but for the Christian church? What if losing our normal freedom to conduct church as we have been doing for decades is an enormous blessing in disguise? What if this is a moment in which our excesses and distractions are finally burned away and the church can refocus itself on what actually matters? In this episode, I offer a 5-point manifesto on what is essential for the church moving forward. There may only be a remnant that keeps the faith when the dust settles on the age of pandemics, but that remnant will have committed itself to these things. Discipleship is all or nothing, according to Christ. And the Lord is seeking those people and those churches that are truly his to stand up and re-commit to what is most essential. Nothing else will remain.

In this week's episode, I dust off the prophetic hat of CARNAC THE MAGNIFICENT to peer into the near future and make 9 pronouncements about what life in the new age of pandemics will look like. Come for the 9 Theses, stay for the iPhone-level audio quality recorded in my garage! Don't fear the uncertainty of the new normal, my friends, and don't buy into the temptation not to take things seriously. Let me take things seriously for you by predicting the future in a way that reckons with the reality of the age of pandemics that has dawned but remains stubbornly hopeful about the possibilities change might bring... let's pod!

We're Back!  And what a time to be alive!  The world is on the cusp of so much change, of rethinking so many social and cultural formations. This is the PERFECT time to do some deeper thinking about the culture we live in and our place within it.  What does Christ have to do with culture?  What did the founders understand about the secular that is crucial to recover in our age?  How can Christians get back to having a presence in the public square that is not domineering, fearful, or unnecessarily antagonistic? These are big questions and big ideas and THIS IS THE TIME FOR BIG QUESTIONS AND BIG IDEAS!  This episode is at the heart of why we launched this podcast project to begin with...excelsior!

Last week, we reflected on what it means to be home during this crisis.  This week, we look outward from our homes and ask what it means to be a good neighbor in an uncertain time, a time when information is still scant and the temptation to hunker down and focus on our own tribe is strong.  Drawing together the ancient Greek concept of Xenia and Jesus' injunction to love our neighbors as ourselves, David asks how we can expand our circle a little more and welcome different people across the threshold.

How has it been being... home?  What is a home for?  Recorded on an iPhone, this is the first pod since the general lockdown, in which David reflects on what our homes are, what they welcome, what they keep out, and how we can repair the places that have worn down or grown dysfunctional over the years.  A home is a place as well as a goal, an atmosphere as well as an orientation.  What better time to reflect deeply on what our homes are and what we long for them to be.  Let's do some spring/quarantine cleaning!