Save your seat for Scot's Webinar on Re-Froming Church Culture to a Goodness Culture (Wed. 1 pm CT on 6/24) >>> https://bit.ly/KRwebinar

The Bible tells me so ... What does this common phrase thrown around in so many churches reveal about how we understand the Bible and the role it should play in our faith? Scot digs into why the Bible needs to have an overly prominent role in the life of the church. He also addresses how if we're not careful we could expect more than we should from our view of the Bible.

Suggested Resources:

The Bible Made Impossible by Christian Smith >> https://amzn.to/2BnLbUw

Racial tension is at a high point.

The embodiment of the Kingdom found in the New Testament and lived out through the Church was to be a vision of unity and diversity. The Church in America, unfortunately, has remained one of the most segregated organizations instead of being a vision for unity and diversity. Pastor Derwin Gray and Transformation Church is a shining light of how the Church can be the type of diverse community it was intended to be.

Hear about Pastor Derwin’s journey of planting Transformation Church, the challenges they faced from being a multiethnic church, and steps any church can take to become a richer expression of the diverse Kingdom of God.

Suggested Resources:

The High Definition Leader: Building Multiethnic Churches in a Multiethnic World by Derwin L. Gray (https://amzn.to/2XYWSbS)

The Fellowship of Differents by Scot McKnight (https://amzn.to/2XvuIGa)

Follow Pastor Derwin on his website (www.derwinlgray.com), Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Derwin-L-G…/117534411600257)

Twitter (twitter.com/derwinlgray)

Instagram (www.instagram.com/derwinlgray/)

Theologians and Bible scholars sometimes don’t realize how they’re not interacting with each other. In this episode of Kingdom Roots, Scot introduces 5 themes he wishes theologians would consider. Both disciplines are at their best when they are interacting well with each other. This is an important conversation that is happening. Check out Scot’s perspective today.

Is penal substitution theory the leading metaphor of atonement in the Bible?

Evangelicalism has some specific drivers that make penal substitution theory an attractive metaphor. In Scot’s fourth and final lecture in this series, he investigates what metaphors really are and how metaphors can and should help us understand the atonement. When the church takes the full message of atonement to heart, mission can help but flow.

Resources Mentioned:

The Nature of the Atonement (4 Views) - https://amzn.to/3bfIbWl

A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight - https://amzn.to/2YIIvKt

How you define “the gospel,” says a lot about how you will live out your faith.

Scot unpacks how the desire to see people saved has forced evangelicalism to see the gospel in a way different from the New Testament. Most evangelical views on the gospel lead to a salvation culture and not a gospel culture. In this lecture, Scot urges pastors to foster a community of good news that the gospel creates.

Want to dig deeper into Scot’s view on the gospel? Check out his book The King Jesus Gospel: https://amzn.to/3bjKE2I

Why did evangelicalism get so upset about Love Wins by Rob Bell and pay so till attention to Allah by Miroslav Volf?

Scot suggests that evangelicals have foundational beliefs concerning responding to God that goes against the grain of what universalism suggests. In this lecture, Scot compares and contrasts the texts and theories that seem to be open to universalism and the texts that seem to make judgment leading to hell a reality. What becomes clear in examining this topic is that evangelicalism had a very clear fault line that Rob Bell’s book revealed.

How did Evangelicalism get to where it is today?

Scot sketches an overview of the history of evangelicalism and the major moves the movement has made over the years. This history and the current cultural context has deep implication for pastors today. If the church hopes to continue to engage in a relevant way in the future we need to know from where we have come.

How can we pray like Jesus? The Jewish people Jesus grew up with were a praying people. Scot guides us on a journey into the depths of prayer in first-century Judaism and explains how Jesus anchors His understanding of prayer in Jewish prayer.

Prayer is an essential part of Kingdom living. This episode will help you allow prayer to build deeper roots in your life.

Suggested Resources:

Praying with the Church by Scot McKnight (goo.gl/09E1gy)

The Divine Hours, Pocket Edition by Phyllis Tickle (goo.gl/k8dTaK)

The Common Book of Prayer (goo.gl/43XpQu)

Lord, Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer and the Christian Life by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willmon (goo.gl/w34ZHl)

Join us to experience a taste of Northern from anywhere in the world here -> seminary.edu/taste

There is a juvenilization taking place in many places in the church and it is threatening the ability for the church to have a wisdom culture.

The church needs to move past the temptation to be relevant at all costs and focus on the value of wisdom. Paul calls his communities to value wisdom at all costs. This creates a culture that has a faithful tradition as its foundation and enables the church to move forward in mission.

Join us to experience a taste of Northern from anywhere in the world here -> seminary.edu/taste

The way of Jesus and His Kingdom is radically foreign to the way of the world.

There is a quiet revolution present with every community that possesses a culture of Christoformity. Pastors are called to be the first ones to invite and show their community what it looks like to follow Jesus. The only way to experience all of life as it was designed to be experienced is to join the quiet revolution of the church to subvert worldliness.