North America has recently suffered a host of tragedies, both natural disasters and criminal atrocities. Such times lead people to ask where God is, or if God exists, or what we should learn about God from such events. In this Wingin' It session Mike and Wade discuss tragedy, suffering, God hidden and God revealed. They give a pastoral take on how to engage with people impacted by tragedy and misfortune and where people should look, and be pointed, in the dark hours of life.

Attributions for Music Used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.

 

00:00 - Introduction

03:54 - Scripture Narrative (Revelation 12)

17:57 - Free-for-all (Favorite Breakfast Food)

28:47 - Main Topic (No Apologies, Apologetics)

On episode TWENTY-SEVEN of Let the Bird Fly! the guys welcome back Rev. Dr. Michael Berg (he’s getting to be so regular, we’ll have to dismiss with the formalities soon). Dr. Berg joins us on this episode to discuss a favorite topic of his; namely, apologetics. All the guys are back together for this one along with a handful of their girls; we even have our first guest child on, as Dr. Berg brought one of his three daughters along to record with us. (I’m telling you, this guy’s getting far too comfortable around this podcast.) In our Scripture Narrative Wade takes us through a bit of Revelation and points us to Dr. Berg’s fantastic chapel sermon from the feast day of St. Michael and All Angels. The kids discuss their favorite breakfast foods with the guys, and Wade forces Oliva to wait for her turn to talk (it doesn’t go well). Finally we make it to the main topic, where Dr. Berg wonders why he agreed to come on the podcast….again; as the guys seem more eager to talk about their how Dr. Kerry Kuehn might be doing with the revelation that the earth may be flat, than to discuss the great work going on at International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, and Human Rights. (And seriously, they’re doing great work...and it’ a great excuse to visit France, so you should check it out!) If you can tune out the guys, however, and listen to Dr. Berg, you’ll recognize why he’s quickly becoming a fixture at Let the Bird Fly!

If you haven’t listened to Dr. Berg’s previous episode or Wingin’ It with us, make sure you check them out:

Episode 20: Vocation – The Masks of God

Wingin’ It 26.2: Mike and Wade Talk Collars

If you’re looking for more information on the Nain Lecture Series that Peter mentions as the end of the episode, you can find it here. If you’re in the Milwaukee area, come and hear Drs. Johnston and Berg present on Christian Freedom and Christian Vocation. The lectures are Saturday, October 14th, 2017 from 3:30 - 5:30.

And finally a handful of links from the episode that were mentioned:

International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, and Human Rights

Heiko Oberman’s Man between God and the Devil

Wade’s A Path Strewn with Sinners

Craig Parton’s Religion on Trial

...

In this Wingin' It episodette, Wade and Mike discuss why they wear clerical collars and why other pastors might find them beneficial. At the end of the day, both agree that they would rather have someone preach the gospel and administer the sacraments rightly, wearing whatever, than to have someone wear a clerical collar and not be about the gospel. That being said, Wade and Mike discuss how wearing the collar has provided some evangelism opportunities, fun conversations, and ministry experiences. Mike also demonstrates that he's more sanctified than Wade while driving and hits Wade right in the gut with some humor. (Don't worry, we're confident Wade will survive it, but it does go to show that we should have Mike on more often.)

Speaking of having Mike on, you may remember Dr. Mike Berg from Episode 20, where he came on to discuss vocation. Now that he's in the office next-door to Wade, we hope you'll be hearing from him more regularly (no pressure, Mike; but seriously we just told the world you'd be on more, so you kinda gotta do it now). And if you haven't listened to Episode 20 yet, do yourself the favor of downloading it now (it's definitely not one to be missed).

Attributions for Music Used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.

 

In this Wingin' It session Wade talks about a new book from Concordia Publishing House, The Necessary Distinction, a collections of essays about law and gospel. Check it out and, if you're interested, think about giving the book a read.

Attributions for Music Used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.

 

00:00 - Introduction

03:27 - Scripture Narrative (John 1:46)

05:15 - Free-for-all (Favorite Season of the Year)

16:28 - Main Topic (So, Where Are You From?)

On episode TWENTY-SIX of Let the Bird Fly! the guys take another stab at self-indulgent podcasting (is that redundant?). But this time they do it with four kids, which makes it more difficult for the listener to leave a scathing review (THINK OF THE CHILDREN!)

If this episode sounds a bit like one of our Wingin’ It session, that’s probably because we found ourselves wingin’ it after some technical difficulties. We had hoped to have Pastor Matthew Richard on to talk about his new book Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?: 12 False Christs, but with Ben out of the studio Peter and Wade found themselves with too many technological obstacles to overcome. We are extremely grateful to Pastor Richard for his patience and understanding. We are already working on new time to have him on, so stay tuned (and in the meantime, grab a copy of his book so that you can follow along when we do get him on).

Since they were left without a planned episode, Wade and Peter decided to take the opportunity to talk to the kids about where they are from, how that impacts them, and why they find it so important to identify with their “home.” Sophie and Oliva go toe-to-toe a couple of times, holding the most contentious (even if not the most intellectually rigorous) debate the podcast has seen to date. In the free-for-all (or the second attempt at a free-for-all…kids these days, you can’t podcast with them anywhere) we discuss our favorite seasons of the year. And Wade sets a record for the fastest Scripture Narrative yet!

This is far from our most polished episode, but we hope that you are able to look past the disorganization and the poor audio quality and still able to find something interesting or entertaining. If you feel like you need something a bit more meaty to listen to this week, you’re in luck. Wade mentions that he was on a couple of podcasts this past week, so you can give those a listen. The first is Virtue in the Wasteland; you can find Wade’s episode here. And the second is The Thinking Fellows; Wade’s episode can be found here. So if our last-minute attempt is insufficient for you this week, we’re sure those two will more than make up for it. Oh, and if you enjoy the interviews of Wade, make sure to subscribe to both podcasts, we think you’ll find them both very interesting.

As always, if you are enjoying the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebo...

In this Wingin' It episodette Wade discusses another topic from his book An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism’s First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today. In this session Wade final reaches Matthias Flacius Illyricus. During this debate over original sin, Flacius got caught up in some Aristotelean terminology that either leads him to be misunderstood, or for Flacius himself to misunderstand. Either way, this is a tough one for Wade (he manages to keep it together during the recording, though). This controversy with Flacius provides us with the remind that even great theologians can (and do) fall into error, which it is should always be remembered when being corrected by (or doing the correcting of) a fellow Christian.

During the episode Wade mentions 1517 The Legacy Project, where you can find more of Wade's writing including his two most recent books (A Path Strewn with Sinners and the book that is the basis for this Wingin' It episodette, An Uncompromising Gospel.) Wade also mentions The Thinking Fellows podcast. Wade was out in California to record with them recently; if you'd like to give it a listen, you can do so right here.

Peter interviewed Wade on his book in Episode 12, so if you haven't listened to that episode yet, it will provide a broader view of Wade's book. And, as promised in that episode, Wade provides a more in-depth discussion of one aspect of his book in this Wingin' It session. If you'd like to listen to Wade's other Wingin' It episodettes on his book, head on over to our Wingin' It page where you'll find them all.

Stay tuned for more Wining' It sessions on Wade's book!

Attributions for Music Used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 Intern

00:00 - Introduction

03:07 - Scripture Narrative (Luke 14:25-35)

12:00 - Free-for-all (Favorite fast food)

34:03 - Main Topic (The Guys Get Self-Indulgent: a retrospective)

On episode TWENTY-FIVE of Let the Bird Fly! the guys take podcasting self-indulgence to a whole new level by discussing the paths that led them to join forces on Let the Bird Fly! Before talking about themselves, however, Wade does a his thing with the Scripture narrative and Ben catches up and gives his thoughts on the 2017 NFL season (Wade and Peter discussed their thoughts on the NFL season on episode 24). Ben is also a bit salty that the Packers were playing their first game during the recording of this episode. And being a purist, Ben refuses to watch sporting events that have been recorded (Peter and Wade have no problem with this, but of course Ben does avoid this). In the Free-for-all (which bleeds over into the Main Topic for some inexplicable reason) reveals that Ben’s favorite fast food is a Wisconsin original (Culver’s), Peter’s favorite is a Texas original (Fuzzy’s Taco Shop), Oliva and Ally agreed on another Texas original (Rosa’s Cafe), and Wade for some reason admits his love for Arby’s (it might be simply due to their tagline: We Have the Meats®). Ben points out that Arby’s has a secret menu, which it turns out includes something call the meat mountain, and that the Simpson’s have had a fair amount of fun at Arby’s expense (this one is probably the most blunt, though). So the guys may just waste their time (and yours, if you decide to listen) on this episode, but they do highlight some of their favorite episodes so far. So if you’d like the Cliff’s Notes version of Let the Bird Fly!, you can get the guys thoughts on some of their favorite episodes (Ben, still being a bit salty, claims that this episode is his favorite because it was recorded during the Packers season opener).

If you’re wondering what the guys were thinking with this episode, you’re not alone. And if you want to make sure that this sort of thing never happens again, email us with some topics that you’d like to hear us discuss. We make no promises, but we always love to hear from our listeners. (Also, the [email protected] inbox seems to be filling up lately, so you may need to use [email protected].)

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook ...

00:00 - Introduction

09:20 - Scripture Narrative (Revelation 21:1-4)

13:16 - Free-for-all (MLB review / NFL predictions)

32:19 - Main Topic (Talkin’ Bacon)

On episode TWENTY-FOUR of Let the Bird Fly! Wade and Peter meet up in the backyard with six of their nine kids, countless crickets, and even a siren or two. But where they meet is not nearly as interesting (to them, at least) as what they discuss; namely, Bacon. But before you foodies out there get too excited, we mean Francis Bacon, the early modern philosopher. (Can you guess who picked the topic?) Wade finally gets to the Book of Revelation in our Scripture Narrative and the guys discuss the MLB season that is winding down and the NFL season that is revving up. As generally happens, though, they eventually make it to the main topic. On this episode they discuss Sir Francis Bacon’s utopian work New Atlantis. As Wade mentions, Bacon has been called the father of the scientific method (although others have also be ascribed that moniker as well), so even if you haven’t heard of him, he’s probably had an impact on your life. While Peter has done a fair amount of work with Francis Bacon, this was Wade’s first time reading any of Bacon’s works. Wade did, however, do a tremendous amount of background work (as any good scholar would), but watching a YouTube video. So if you’d like to be like Wade (#beLikeWade - that’s going to go viral!), you can also get your 60 sec (or a bit more in this case) biography of Sir Francis Bacon on YouTube, right here. And if you’d like to read New Atlantis, Project Gutenberg (what a fabulous site, by the way) has you covered right here.

So another longer episode where Wade and Peter talk too much, but we hope you enjoy at least some of the conversation. If it sparks any thoughts or questions, join us on Facebook to hash them out.

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two!

If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at [email protected], or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com.

Thanks for listening!

Attributions for Music Used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Horses to Water” by Topher Mohr and Alex Elena

“Gib laut” by

In this Wingin' It episodette Wade discusses another topic from his book An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism’s First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today. In this session Wade discusses the dispute with Caspar Schwenckfeld over Scripture. Schwenckfeld emphasized the spiritual exegesis of Scripture. Matthias Flacius (some guy that Wade seems to like to talk about) said spiritual exegesis fits Scripture like a fist fits into an eye….so not good, one might say. Wade points out that this controversy is one that is alive and well today. Perhaps not under the name of Schwenckfeld, but alive nonetheless. The confessional Lutheran position claims proper exegesis understands that Scripture interprets Scripture. This is a shorter Wingin’ It session, but a topic that impacts us still today.

Peter interviewed Wade on his book in Episode 12, so if you haven't listened to that episode yet, it will provide a broader view of Wade's book. And, as promised in that episode, Wade provides a more in-depth discussion of one aspect of his book in this Wingin' It session. If you'd like to listen to Wade's other Wingin' It episodettes on his book, head on over to our Wingin' It page where you'll find them all.

Stay tuned for more Wining' It sessions on Wade's book!

Attributions for Music Used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 Intern

00:00 - Introduction

06:59 - Scripture Narrative (Matthew 8:1-4)

15:22 - Free-for-all (Mayweather vs. McGregor)

37:09 - Main Topic (The Guys Get Disease)

On episode TWENTY-THREE of Let the Bird Fly! the guys welcome Dr. James Henkel into the studio to discuss everything diseased. From chlamydia to leprosy, and even to Wade’s altruistic refusal to visit the doctor’s office, we talk about just about anything we can think of. Before discussing too much disease, though, we discuss another of Dr. Henkel’s interests: martial arts. Dr. Henkel is a sixth degree black belt in tae kwon do, and Wade and Peter decide not to pick a fight him. Eventually the guys make it to the main topic, where Dr. Henkel manages to cause us to fear everything from chlamydia and leprosy to migrating armadillos and he even tries to ruin food (don’t worry, Wade and Peter decided to keep eating anyway). We are grateful to Dr. Henkel for a very fun episode (and for putting up with us). If you are interested in more information on Dr. Henkel, head on over to his faculty page, where you can also find his contact information.

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two!

If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at [email protected], or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com.

Thanks for listening!

Attributions for Music Used in this Episode:

“The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

“Horses to Water” by Topher Mohr and Alex Elena

“Gib laut” by Dirk Becker is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

“Whistling Down the Road” by Silent Partner

“Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.