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During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology after the initial belly laughs we dive pretty deep – as is often the case with BPT - into a theme that’s been my heartbeat for the last several years, which is what it really means to live a Jesus-shaped life. To imitate Jesus authentically, not just with religious language and ethical ideology. Theology is anything but sterile subject matter, y’all – it was meant to be lived, not simply learned - because God isn’t a proposition to be examined, He’s a triune personhood with whom we get to engage! So please get yourself a yummy iced latte, and come hang out on the porch with us…we’re really glad you’re here!

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Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is an encore with Natalie Grant and Bernie Herms because we simply could fit all the wisdom bombs they dropped regarding hanging onto hope when the miracle you prayed for seems delayed into one episode! Plus, since we’ve had lots of DM’s and e-mails from y’all requesting content on how to have more Jesus-shaped relationships, we thought it’d be a good idea to ask Nat and Bernie a few questions about what they’ve learned from 20+ years of marriage, especially given the added stress of extensive travel, public scrutiny, and infertility. We’re so glad you’re here on the porch with us!

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During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, I have the absolute delight of diving deep into some real-life stuff with two dear friends, Natalie Grant, and her husband, Bernie Herms. Unless you’re living off the grid and are listening to BPT through a coconut and dental floss, you’ve no doubt heard Natalie’s stellar voice because she’s been a recording artist for over twenty years and has more awards – including multiple female artist of the year awards – than you could fit in the back of a truck. And Bernie’s success as a music producer is every bit as extraordinary as Nat’s; he’s also been honored with a plethora of accolades, including several Grammys. If you feel like you’re running low on hope this season because the miracle you’ve been trusting God for hasn’t happened yet, Nat and Bernie’s story is going to provide both empathy and encouragement and will help reframe our perspectives regarding God’s sovereignty and our expectancy.

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During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re wrapping up a 3-part series on Zephaniah in a series we called “The Theology of Compassionate Consequences”.

It may initially sound like an oxymoron – a contradiction in terms - to pair the words “compassionate” and “consequences” together, kind of like “jumbo shrimp” or “act naturally” or “climb down”. It begs the question, “If God really is unconditionally loving, then why do we have to suffer consequences at all?”

Here’s the deal y’all, God’s parameters aren’t punitive or pejorative…they are always promissory and protective. Psalm 16:5 says it best, “His boundary lines for me have fallen in pleasant places.” Alli, Dr. Howard & I are so happy you’ve chosen to carve out this time to hang out on the porch with us, please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible, then feel free to lean back and put your feet up.

This is a safe place to lean further into the unconditional love of our Creator Redeemer.

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During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, the second in a series on God’s severe mercy – which is kind of like saying His divine discipline ALWAYS takes place under a canopy of grace - we’re swimming in the deep end of a colorful, albeit very concise book in the Old Testament called Zephaniah.

His overarching theme regarding how our crooked hearts will consistently lead us off cliffs without God’s compassionate intervention reminds me of something one of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning, wrote: “If we gloss over our selfishness and rationalize the evil within us, we can only pretend we are sinners and therefore only pretend we have been forgiven.”

Come hang out on the porch with Alli, Dr. Howard, and me.

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During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology – the first in a series of three – we’re going to delve into some pretty spicy subject matter in the colorful Old Testament book of Zephaniah regarding the overt rebellion of God’s people.

We’re going to examine how our spiritual ancestors effectively thumbed their noses at God’s holiness, turned their backs on His kindness, and went out and did whatever nasty, selfish stuff their crooked little hearts desired.

Plus, they did so despite His gracious warning that there would be serious consequences for their wicked behavior. My guess is things are about to get a little hot up in here so you might want to bring an iced latte to the porch today!

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During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to bring this 4- part series on prayer to a close, which is kind of like taking the very last bite of the very last brownie in a pan. It’s left me wanting more. A few nights ago, I found myself rereading some of the material I’d studied on prayer in preparation for this series and got lost in an old book my dad gave me many years ago by a saint named, E.M. Bounds. He was an attorney and Civil War soldier, who then became a pastor after being seriously wounded in the war, and ultimately a devoted practitioner and prolific author on prayer. I’d almost forgotten that great man of prayer was the pastor of a church right here in Franklin, TN in the late 1800’s, just a few miles from our house. So I drove past his old church, the First United Methodist Church on Fifth Avenue yesterday, and pondered a few of his observations on prayer:

• Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet.
• Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens all prisons, and widens all straits by which God’s saints have been held.
• I would rather have prayer without words than words without prayer.

And finally it was E.M. Bounds who described Christoformity as the consummate shape of prayer, “When we see how the life of Jesus was but one of prayer, then we must conclude that to be like Jesus is to pray like Jesus.” We’re calling today’s episode - our swan song on The Theology of Prayer - “How God Himself Said Grace.” So please grab a cup of coffee, your Bible, and a prayer journal – or my favorite thing to write notes on, which is a neon sticky pad – and come hang out on the porch with us. We’re really glad you’re here.

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Today's episode on Back Porch Theology is really special. I mean, all of them are really special. It's kind of like choosing your favorite ice cream flavor, but this feels more like a real family episode, because I get to bring in some friends from the Found Collective. Found Collective is a new event for women to lean more fully into Jesus with Bible teachers and worship leaders. I've got three of my dear friends from the Found Collective, Hosanna Wong, amazing Bible teacher, spoken word artist, Kari Jobe, who's like a little sister, and one of my favorite modern-day psalmists, and Taya Gaukrodger. Taya is also just an amazing artist and worship leader, and we are just kind of hanging out on the porch talking about Jesus, talking about salvation and all that He's done for us. So, this is a little more testimonial than some of our other episodes, which means I hope you are wearing stretchy pants or something comfortable. I hope you've got some sweet tea or your favorite coffee. We want you to lean back, put your feet up, and just enjoy this time of leaning into the embrace of Jesus more fully on the porch. We are so glad you're here! 

For tickets to Found: Please visit https://foundcollective.com/

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What happens with the supernatural starts to become more natural?

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re peeling off whatever emotional Spanx are left and getting totally vulnerable in the praxis of prayer. This is our third conversation in a 4-part series we’ve titled The Theology of Prayer.

Our fervent hope and prayer is that the time we get to spend on the porch today will help demystify the glorious sacrament of prayer and serve as an encouraging catalyst for all of us to become more confident and consistent in our conversations with God.

So please grab a cup of coffee – although decaf might be the best option since we’re going to learn a few anxiety-pulverizing prayers – your Bible, and a prayer journal if you have one and come exhale into the kindness of King Jesus with us. We’re glad you’re here.

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How do you pray?

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we’re rolling up our sleeves in this second of a 4-part series on prayer and getting practical because we’re going to talk about the awesomely vast and varied praxis of prayer.

In my experience, far too many of us have been taught - overtly or tacitly - that there’s one “right” way to pray and unfortunately the implication we perceived is that we’re a square peg in the round hole of prayer and don’t know how to “correctly” commune with God. The prayers recorded in the redemptive history of God’s people are wonderfully diverse. There are short prayers and long prayers and quiet petitions and shouted pleas, they reflect both the rapture and the rupture of real people experiencing real life!

What IS a common denominator in the conversations people had with our Creator in Scripture is the awareness that we humans can’t make it by ourselves - we NEED His divine help!

So please grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea or thimble full of wheat grass juice, a couple of snacks, your Bible and a prayer journal if you have one - otherwise a couple of sticky notes will do - and come hang out on the porch with us. We’re really glad you’re here.