Jubilee Freedom & Shalom

In this episode Daniel and Nate sit down with Pieter Valk and talk about human sexuality, discernment, marriage, vocational singleness, and how the Church engages these topics.

Here's the link to the article Pieter wrote that we are discussing today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/november-web-only/valk-case-for-vocational-singleness.html

If you are a church that is having a hard time talking about biblical sexual ethics, discernment, marriage, vocational singleness and how to have these conversations with parents and students, please check out https://equipyourcommunity.org/

If you are someone who is trying to discern whether vocational singleness is for you, please reach out to Pieter and the Nashville Family of Brothers.

Time parents spend raising children: https://www.bls.gov/charts/american-time-use/activity-by-parent.htm

Ratios of men and women in the church: https://ifstudies.org/blog/sex-ratios-in-the-pews-is-there-really-a-deficit-of-men-in-american-churches

Barna Group research about single christians: https://www.barna.com/research/trends-redefining-romance-today/

If you live in the Nashville, TN or Charlotte, NC areas and you are looking for a community of faith, please check out Madison Church of Christ or Providence Road Church of Christ. Let's keep these conversations going and get to work

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In this episode Nate preaches on the topic of God's Image and the impact that reality has on humans as we look in the mirror and ask, "Who are you?".  The sermon was a distillation of many things we discussed on the podcast.

This was recorded live at Madison Church of Christ on 11/15/2020

If you live in Nashville, TN, Charlotte, NC, or the surrounding areas and you don't have a church home, Nate and Daniel would love for you to join in the work going on at Madison and Providence Road as we pursue Jubilee, Freedom, & Shalom. 

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In this episode Daniel and Nate continue to talk about the phrase "Image of God". What does it mean when the Bible says we were created in the image of of God? What would the life of someone grounded in that worldview  look like? What meaning and direction would come out of believing that all humans are made in the image of God? What would the Church be up to on a day to day basis if every member of the body of Christ was acting like the Image of God?

In this episode we reflect on the "Character of God" and what He calls Himself in Exodus 34:6-7. If we want want to reflect Him, we have to know Him. To take a deep dive on the Character of God, check out this link from the Bible Project Podcast: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/series/character-of-god/

Here's a link to Nate's Sermon on the Image of God. The sermon starts at minute 26.

As you already know, we are heavily influenced by Jon Collins and Tim Mackie at the Bible Project and we would encourage you to check out their podcast series on the "Image of God" because they are true scholars and have a lot of great insights. For a quick overview check out this video they made: "Image of God"

Image of God Part 1: Humans as Middle Management
Image of God Part 2: God and Humans's Makeover
Image of God Part 3: The Garden Was Not Perfect
Image of God Part 4: Glory of God

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In this episode Daniel and Nate continue to  talk about the phrase "Image of God".  What would the life of someone grounded in that worldview  look like? What meaning and direction would come out of believing that all humans are made in the image of God? How should humans answer "I am...." statements? I am hungry. I am an extrovert. I am a Democrat. I am depressed. Are these the things that God has spoken over us? What has God called us and are we speaking those "I am..." things over ourselves?

As you already know, we are heavily influenced by Jon Collins and Tim Mackie at the Bible Project and we would encourage you to check out their podcast series on the "Image of God" because they are true scholars and have a lot of great insights. For a quick overview check out this video they made: "Image of God"

Image of God Part 1: Humans as Middle Management
Image of God Part 2: God and Humans's Makeover
Image of God Part 3: The Garden Was Not Perfect
Image of God Part 4: Glory of God

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In this episode Daniel and Nate talk about the phrase "Image of God". What does it mean when the Bible says we were created in the image of of God? How would an ancient reader have received that statement? What would the life of someone grounded in that worldview  look like? What meaning and direction would come out of believing that all humans are made in the image of God?

As you already know, we are heavily influenced by Jon Collins and Tim Mackie at the Bible Project and we would encourage you to check out their podcast series on the "Image of God" because they are true scholars and have a lot of great insights. For a quick overview check out this video they made: "Image of God"

Image of God Part 1: Humans as Middle Management
Image of God Part 2: God and Humans's Makeover
Image of God Part 3: The Garden Was Not Perfect
Image of God Part 4: Glory of God

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Bible Project: Shalom 

English Peace
1) freedom from disturbance; tranquility.
2) a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended.

Biblical Peace is not JUST the absence of something, but a proactive presence of something.

In Hebrew peace= Shalom

In Greek peace= Eirene

Shalom= complete, whole, nothing missing, wellbeing, healthy, a state of balance or equilibrium 

To bring shalom= to make complete, to restore, to repay, to reconcile and heal, working together, to cooperate 

To truly experience shalom, we as humans must consider what we were made for and what would make us shalom. We must live into the role that God have given us all; to be a keystone species of all keystone species. (Genesis 1:26-29)

What is a Keystone literally: top center stone of an arch. If removed it will crumble.

What is a Keystone species: a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically and cause a trophic cascade.

Trophic Cascade:  an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling. 

Wendell Berry and road builders: Page 8-13 of "Art of the Commonplace"
Humans can be anti-keystone species destroying shalom. We create trophic cascades in negative ways, but we don’t have to be. It’s not inherent to humans to be destructive, but in post industrial humans it is so common that it may make many of us believe that humans are always anti-keystone. 

Ex: Many native peoples learned to live more in line with shalom. The Amazon basin may be an example of native peoples creating a giant food forest.

Wolves in Yosemite 

Beavers in the UK

Allen Savory South Africa Elephants 

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In this episode Daniel and Nate talk about getting the church out of debt so we can experience more freedom to serve each other in love.
Jonny Rashid Pastor at Circle of Hope, PA
Marguerite McDonald Director of Debt Annihilation Teams
What are Debt Annihilation Teams and how can I start one in my local context?

Scripture behind the idea:
Leviticus 25 "The Sabbath Year"
Deuteronomy 15 "Release for Debtors"
Deuteronomy 23:19-20
Proverbs 22:7 "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."
Exodus 22:25
Leviticus 25:35-37
Galatians 6:2
Romans 13:8-10

Christian Organizations that teach financial wisdom, offer curriculum, and mentor
Dave Ramsey and the 7 Baby Steps
Thrivent Financial
Everence 

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In this episode Daniel and Nate talk about church architecture design inspired by their theology and how we could build buildings that preach loudly about who God is. From the atheistic of the space down to the behind the scenes utilities and everything in between. They even discuss what their faith in Christ compels them to do with their urine. Just listen to the podcast. It will make sense... hopefully.

Why build a dome:
Ancient Domes
Advantages of a dome
Benefits of a dome

Who is Michael Reynolds: What is an Earthship? What is the design?

Buckminster Fuller and geodesic domes:
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth
Everything I Know
What is passive solar heating and cooling? Cartoon
What is our daily "solar allowance"? Cartoon

John Hardy: Building with Bamboo

Wendell Berry:
The Art of the Commonplace
Sex, Economy, Freedom, & Community
The Unsettling of America 

Joel Salatin:
Documentaries
Fresh
Farmageddon
Books
The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs
You Can Farm

How are humans living outside of our God-created nature?
Watch the trailer for "Social Dilemma"

Paul Wheaton:
Rocket Mass Heaters
How they work

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In this episode Daniel and Nate talk about Architecture informed by Theology. What would a church building look like that fully reflects your theology? How would it take shape? Would it look high church, low church, mobile church, house church, permanent location church, what's popular church, or maybe a north bermed, monolithic dome, south facing earthship, eco church?

Paul Wheaton’s Podcast 495 Permaculture Handbook Review “Any time we design anything, it is a moral action. Whether we embrace that truth or not, we bake our morals into everything we design.”

So, what morals do you think the design of the churches you have been a part of espouse?

Have you thought about the shape of the church building you meet in and what it is saying that it values and what the morals of the people who gather there are? Does your church building give center focus to the table, the lectern, the band, the baptismal, or all of the above?

Do you think our church buildings address the triple bottom line? How does it affect the wallet, other people, and the environment?

What if our theology leads us to build buildings that are not "up to code" or illegal?

The Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, KY How did the Shaker's theology shape their buildings?

The Quaker's practice of silence, listening, and worship.

Here's a brief explanation of biblical holy space design by Bible Project: Temple

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Paul Wheaton’s Podcast 495 Permaculture Handbook Review “Any time we design anything, it is a moral action. Whether we embrace that truth or not, we bake our morals into everything we design.”

So, what morals do you think the design of the churches you have been a part of espouse?

Bible Project Video: Temple
Garden of Eden, Tabernacle, Temple: There is so much instruction for how to properly architect these places. Why? It seems like the spaces that God chooses to have his presence dwell are well designed and full of meaning/everything means something. So, why do we look at our sacred buildings differently? Why do we assume there isn’t meaning involved in what we build?

Do you think our church buildings address the triple bottom line? How does it affect the wallet, other people, and the environment?

Alternate Building Techniques
Bermed, Monolithic, Geodesic Domes

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