Ministry Deep Dive

No one knows what the future holds, but we do know Him who holds the future! It is so easy to stress ourselves into silence; instead, I think we need to look at those who have gone before us-men and women of conviction and action-who were courageous and testified during uncertain and confusing times.

It is time to be courageous, although it will not be easy. We need boldness and Apollos provides us a great example. We battle the three-headed dragon at every turn (the world, flesh, and devil) and must not be distracted. As John Maxwell said, "Distraction is the enemy of direction."

Join Travis as he zooms in on the man and his message and how his example doesn't have to stay in history, it can be in your life! You can be like Apollos. As the world around you gets darker, allow the light of Christ within you to shine brighter!

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Join Travis as he talks with E. Randolph "Randy" Richards as they talk about all things culture, eating insects, and stuff like individualism, collectivism, patronage, kinship, brokerage, modesty, and the Godfather!?

Randy Richards is a Ph.D. who loves training students for ministry, both domestically and internationally. He has been teaching since 1986, originally at a state university and then abroad at an Indonesian seminary. Randy is honored to serve as the provost at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida's premier Christian university and seminary.

He is a popular speaker and teacher in churches and workshops. He has authored and co-authored dozens of books and articles including A Little Book for New Biblical Scholars, Paul Behaving Badly, Rediscovering Jesus, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, Rediscovering Paul, The Story of Israel and Paul and First-Century Letter Writing. He is currently writing What Went Without Being Said: Cultural Values in the Biblical World with Richard James and Rediscovering the New Testament with Capes and Reeves. He is also working on the new John volume in the Word Biblical Commentary series.

His wife Stacia has joyfully accompanied him from the jungles of Indonesia to rice fields in Arkansas to beautiful South Florida. They have two fine sons: Josh (Ph.D. 2012, University of St. Andrews, Scotland), an English professor in Arkansas, and Jacob (Ph.D. 2014, College of Medicine, University of Florida), in pharmaceuticals in Illinois.

Missions remain in the hearts of Randy and Stacia. Randy leads mission trips and conducts missionary training workshops and regularly leads tours of the Holy Land, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. He has served as interim pastor of numerous churches, but down inside, he is just an old Bible teacher. He and Stacia reside in Palm Beach, Florida.

Travis and Randy do a deep dive into Randy's new book, "Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes." You can get Randy's new book here. And be sure to check out Randy's author page!

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This is part 2 of a 2 part deep conversation that Travis has with Karl "KJ" Johnson. KJ is the director of the C.S. Lewis Institute. KJ grew up in Chicago, attended the Univ. of IL Urbana-Champaign, and served 20 years of active duty in the United States Marine Corps as an assault support helicopter pilot and weapons & tactics instructor. He’s a veteran of numerous deployments, including Operations Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and multiple humanitarian assistance missions—most notably Operation Unified Assistance (2004 tsunami) where he served as Air Mission Commander for former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2012 and returned to Chicago to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

KJ holds three master's degrees (military studies, philosophy of religion, and systematic theology). He and his wife, Nidia, live in Chicago and have two grown daughters. KJ oversees programs that foster discipleship of heart and mind for CSLI (e.g., C.S. Lewis Fellows Program). KJ’s focus and passion is discipleship, apologetics, and leadership. His desire is to see believers better understand the call to discipleship, to seek the mind of Christ, and live out their faith.

Travis and KJ keep the conversation on discipleship going, but this time they step into the subject of politics and the Christian. What should our involvement be? Have we substituted prayer for online protest? Are we trying to hold on to something? How do Christians in the UK go about living their faith in their country? Why is it so different? Are we in Babylon today? If so, how does that change how we go about the process of discipleship? Listen in and find out!

Travis talks a bit about the book Souls in Transition.

Check out the C.S. Lewis Institute and what KJ is doing at the C.S. Lewis Institute Chicago.

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This is part 1 of a 2 part deep conversation that Travis has with Karl "KJ" Johnson. KJ is the director of the C.S. Lewis Institute. KJ grew up in Chicago, attended the Univ. of IL Urbana-Champaign, and served 20 years of active duty in the United States Marine Corps as an assault support helicopter pilot and weapons & tactics instructor. He’s a veteran of numerous deployments, including Operations Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and multiple humanitarian assistance missions—most notably Operation Unified Assistance (2004 tsunami) where he served as Air Mission Commander for former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2012 and returned to Chicago to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

KJ holds three master's degrees (military studies, philosophy of religion, and systematic theology). He and his wife, Nidia, live in Chicago and have two grown daughters. KJ oversees programs that foster discipleship of heart and mind for CSLI (e.g., C.S. Lewis Fellows Program). KJ’s focus and passion is discipleship, apologetics, and leadership. His desire is to see believers better understand the call to discipleship, to seek the mind of Christ, and live out their faith.

Travis and KJ discuss all things discipleship, culture, life, movies, 90's basketball, how to navigate the world as Christians today, and have some laughs along the way.

Check out the C.S. Lewis Institute and what KJ is doing at the C.S. Lewis Institute Chicago.

KJ talks a lot about Transforming Discipleship. Check out the book here.

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Travis talks about all things Christmas-rocket launching angels, God's way of doing stuff is WAY outside of how we do things, Christmas ornaments, family, and how all of the madness of Christmas is a beautiful mess that shows how much God loves us.

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Join Travis as he talks about Christmas, cross-culturing, the necessity of Jesus being the God-man, and a simple way we can understand it with a homeless man, a Chicago cop, and the President of a sovereign nation. Not only is the incarnation the ultimate cross-culturing experience, but it also shows the depth of how far God was willing to go to redeem us!

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A conversation with Robert White from Care for Pastors on the absolute necessity of soul care, pastors, forced resignations, the state of the church, what it means to be worthy of God's love (it's not what you think!), STAY principle, boundaries, priorities, and some laughs and prayers along the way. It's really about how to help your soul feel whole.

Learn more about Care for Pastors.

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Tight rope walkers & wheelbarrows, Proverbs 3:5-10, Blind skiers, barometers, money, Romans 1, pornography's chemical effects, and the book of Haggai all talk about what happens when you trust in the wrong things. Who do you trust? How do we trust? Listen in as Travis takes us through the Scriptures and shows us how!

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What do baby showers, bouncy babies, babies tied on a back, Orange Fanta, packed out apartments, and John 17 have in common? Adventure, ceremony, and building relationships even when we don't understand one another's specific cultures. Spoiler alert! It is going to be awkward! Second spoiler alert, awkward is AWESOME!

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Time to go deep! Travis and special guest Derek Webster go deep discussing life, relationships, postmodernism, church planting in Europe, fame, celebrity culture, and they top it off with a discussion of Derek's new book coming out on January 26th, Your Mess, God's Masterpiece.

We talk about Joseph and his life and how no one is beyond God's redemption. If God can transform the messed up family relationships in Joseph's life, he can transform the messed up relationships in yours as well.

You can order your copy of Derek's book on Amazon. Follow Derek online and check out his site wenwyn.com and his church Grace Pointe.

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Help support the ministry of Apollos Watered and transform your world today!