NewCity's Equip Podcast

In this episode, Nate Claiborne sits down with Matthew LaPine, author of The Logic of the Body to discuss some of the chapters of his book. An earlier chapter outlines a view of our emotions called emotional voluntarism, which while common, is not a helpful way of construing our emotional life. LaPine's book does some theological retrieval to bring wisdom from earlier theologians into the present in order to offer a more holistic account of our emotional life as embodied creatures. He then illustrates this with a closer look at Matthew 6 and the command to not be anxious. 

Matthew LaPine is the Pastor of Theological Development at Cornerstone Church of Ames. He holds a PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL) under Kevin Vanhoozer. He writes on theology, emotion, and mental health. You can connect with him at his website here.

In this episode, Nate Claiborne asks Benjamin Kandt to give a rundown of the skills covered in the Following Jesus with Anxiety learning community at NewCity. This would have been the 6th week of the class, and is a summary of everything covered in the class, as well as the action plan moving forward.

Next week's episode features an interview with Matthew LaPine, author of The Logic of the Body, and then the following week, Nate and Ben will tackle some lingering questions from the learning community that they promised they would eventually cover.

In this episode, Nate Claiborne asks Benjamin Kandt to recap the fifth week of the Following Jesus with Anxiety learning community at NewCity. The focus of the week was on the self and leads Nate and Ben into some deep philosophical and psychological waters to unpack things. Ben lays out 3 ways that you can reframe your understanding of yourself as  self. In the latter of those 3 ways, he also offers 3 different ways you can reframe your perspective on yourself.

In this episode, Nate Claiborne asks Benjamin Kandt to recap the fourth week of the Following Jesus with Anxiety learning community at NewCity. The focus of the week was on presence and the importance of attending to our thoughts and feelings in the present moment. Ben walks listeners through Dan Siegel's method for present moment awareness, as well as Siegel's advice on how we take PART in secure interpersonal relationships.

We also mention the prayer of examen, which can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ailzs7eWpsuytHOMZjI0mDalT6veu8RKO5zRnKnfcCg/edit

In this episode, Nate Claiborne and Benjamin Kandt discuss a Christian approach to the field of psychology. Using the category of common grace, Christians are able to commend what is good, true, and beautiful in a field of study like psychology. Using the category of "antithesis," Christians are able to critique what is evil, false, and ugly in that same field. The error for many is to only do one or the other. Liberalism leans toward only seeing the good, fundamentalism leans toward only seeing the evil. With all this in mind, Ben explains what it would mean to "baptize" secular psychology.

In this episode, Pastor of Formation and Mission Benjamin Kandt recaps the third week of the Following Jesus with Anxiety learning community at NewCity. The focus of the week was on acceptance, in this case meaning accepting our emotional experiences, even as they may be unpleasant. Rather than living in experiential avoidance, which actually decreases our affective agility and numbs our ability to feel pleasant emotions, we can choose to give up resisting our emotions and instead compassionately accept them. 

In this episode, Nate Claiborne and Benjamin Kandt give some bonus material from the Following Jesus with Anxiety learning community at NewCity. While it functions as a stand-alone episode, it is the beginning of a conversation of the theological dimensions to not just dealing with anxiety, but dealing with life in a fallen world with fallen people. The pattern of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is not just a doctrine to be believed, but is a pattern that we participate in as we grow in Christ

In this episode of the Equip, Nate Claiborne sits down with Pastor of Formation and Mission Benjamin Kandt to discuss the second week of the Following Jesus with Anxiety learning community at NewCity. Ben explains what "defusion" is and how the process helps us manage our thought life.

Over the course of the fall, we will offer brief recaps of each week, as well as bonus episodes that expand on content from the learning community.

In this episode, Nate Claiborne and Benjamin Kandt discuss mindfulness. Ben gives a definition from one of its foremost researchers, as well as a list of 9 benefits of the practice. Nate and Ben then discuss how to understand practices like mindfulness in light of eastern religions, as well as secular psychology. Ben then gives a brief biblical theology of breath and notes that there is a long Christian tradition of breathing exercises like mindfulness.

In a future bonus episode, Nate and Ben will discuss more about how Christians can understand and benefit from the research of psychologists without denying the sufficiency of Scripture or the richness of the Christian tradition when it comes to contemplative practices.

In this episode of the Equip, Nate Claiborne sits down with Pastor of Formation and Mission Benjamin Kandt to discuss the first week of the Following Jesus with Anxiety learning community at NewCity. Ben explains what a learning community is at NewCity before giving a recap of some of the content covered in the first week.

Over the course of the fall, we will offer brief recaps of each week, as well as bonus episodes that expand on content from the learning community.