In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland returns to Middle Earth to reflect on one of the most overlooked characters in The Lord of the Rings: Samwise Gamgee. While the story is filled with kings, warriors, and wizards, Derek makes the case that the true hero of Tolkien’s epic is not Gandalf, Aragorn, or even Frodo, but a humble gardener from the Shire.

Sam is not a typical powerful or ambitious hero. He never seeks greatness. Yet through his steadfast loyalty, courage, and humility, he emerges as the one who quietly carries the story forward. In moments of fear, darkness, and overwhelming evil, especially in Shelob’s lair and in the Land of Mordor, Sam chooses love over fear, service over status, and faithfulness over power.

This episode explores how Sam’s courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to do what is right in spite of it. His humility keeps him grounded, even when he briefly feels the seductive pull of the Ring. He resists the Ring’s temptation and chooses to remain who he is: a gardener, a servant, and a faithful friend.

In the end, Sam’s story reflects something deeply Christian. True heroism is not found in domination or self-exaltation, but in sacrificial love, humility, and the quiet strength to remain faithful. Sam shows us that the most unlikely people often become the most important because they refuse to abandon love.

Themes Explored in This Episode

• The contrast between cinematic heroism and quiet faithfulness

• Courage as action rooted in love

• Humility as resistance to the temptation of power

• The corrupting nature of power (the Ring)

• Mercy, loyalty, and friendship as transformative forces

• Sam as a Christlike figure in posture and character

• The importance of knowing who you are and remaining grounded

Books Mentioned

• The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R. Tolkien

• The Two Towers – J.R. Tolkien

• The Return of the King – J.R. Tolkien

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland invites listeners on a journey into the world of The Lord of the Rings. Not as an expert, but as a fellow traveler, Derek reflects on his first deep reading of Tolkien’s epic and the way Middle Earth reshapes how we think about power, mercy, and hope.

Tolkien built a world with its own languages, history, and moral imagination. And unlike fast-paced modern storytelling, this is a story meant to be walked slowly. As Derek explores the parallels between Middle Earth and stories like Star Wars. He highlights a familiar pattern which Joseph Campell described as “The Hero’s Journey”, the story of the unlikely hero drawn into a larger conflict.

At the center of the story is the Ring, a symbol of power that promises control but ultimately enslaves. Tolkien shows that no one is immune to its influence, not even the wise or the good. And yet, woven through the story is a surprising theme: mercy. Acts of pity, especially toward Gollum, become essential to the story’s resolution. In the end, evil is not overcome by strength or heroism alone, but through a mysterious interplay of mercy, weakness, and grace.

Derek reflects on how Tolkien’s story echoes deeply Christian themes: the danger of power, the strength of humility, and the quiet, often unseen work of grace. Even in failure, the story is not over. Middle Earth becomes more than a fictional world. It becomes a lens through which we can better understand our own.

Themes Explored in This Episode

• The Hero’s Journey and Tolkien’s unique twist on it

• Middle-earth as a fully developed world with language and history

• The contrast between Frodo and characters like Luke Skywalker

• The corrupting nature of power

• Mercy as a force that shapes the outcome of the story

• The role of weakness and failure in redemption

• The connection between Tolkien’s storytelling and Christian theology

Resources Mentioned

In Deep Geek YouTube Channel:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVTclEEyY1SKFumpT86h-y6jikkEUKIAH&si=TK7h1wSebJVOxf98

Books Mentioned

• The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R. Tolkien

• The Two Towers – J.R. Tolkien

• The Return of the King – J.R. Tolkien

• Hero with a Thousand Faces – Jospeh Campbell

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Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs

Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk

Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com

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In this Easter episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland celebrates the resurrection of Jesus and reflects on why Easter stands at the very center of the Christian faith. While many churches may not follow the traditional rhythms of the Christian calendar, nearly all Christians celebrate Easter, and for good reason. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the entire Christian story collapses. The resurrection is the lynchpin of our faith and the event that explains why Christianity exists at all. 

Drawing on insights from N. T. Wright, Derek explores the historical shock of the resurrection in the first-century Jewish world. In the time of Jesus, people believed resurrection would happen at the end of history not in the middle of it. That is why the empty tomb and the appearances of the risen Jesus stunned even his closest followers. As the apostle Paul insists in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ has not been raised, then Christian preaching and faith are meaningless. 

The resurrection also reshapes Christian hope. Easter is not simply about life after death. It is about God’s promise of new creation. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, God will one day raise his people and renew the whole world. The Christian hope is not escape from creation but the restoration of creation. Because resurrection is our future, what we do in the present matters. Our bodies matter. God’s creation matters. Easter proclaims that death has been defeated and that one day God will make all things new. 

Books Mentioned 

• The Resurrection of the Son of God — N. T. Wright 
• Surprised by Hope — N. T. Wright 

Scriptures Mentioned 

• John 11:23–24 
• 1 Corinthians 15:12–14 

 
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Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs 
Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk 
Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0 

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com 

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland sits down with Mark DeYmaz, the founder of Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas and a leading voice in the multiethnic church movement. They talk about Mark’s newest book, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace. Drawing from the Prayer of St. Francis, Mark offers a vision for becoming more like Jesus in a divided world.

Mark shares his spiritual journey from a Catholic upbringing and Jesuit education to a personal awakening of faith during his college years. They talk about their shared love for the music and passion of Keith Green and how formative it was for them both. Mark also reflects the challenging of leaving a successful youth ministry in order to plant a multiethnic church, which was anchored in his family’s motto: faith, courage, and sacrifice.

Together, Derek and Mark explore the church’s credibility crisis in a culture marked by division, the importance of embodying good works before speaking good words, and why peacemaking must hold together both love and justice. They also discuss the role of fear in fueling division and what it means for Christians to faithfully engage a fractured world without retreating into silence or reacting without wisdom.

Books Mentioned

• Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace — Mark DeYmaz

Scriptures Mentioned

• Matthew 5:16 • Isaiah 61

Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you? Support the show by:

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Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs

Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk

Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0

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In this Holy Week episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland concludes the Lenten journey through Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion. This episode reflects on the meaning of the cross through the final biblical motif Rutledge explores: recapitulation. Derek also offers his final thoughts on Rutledge’s book.

Recapitulation is the idea that Jesus “sums up” the human story and lives it again the right way. Where Adam failed, where Israel failed, and where we fail, Jesus succeeds. Drawing on the theology of Irenaeus and the apostle Paul’s description of Christ as the “second Adam,” this image shows how Jesus restores humanity by living a life of perfect covenant faithfulness and undoing the damage introduced by Adam. Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, a new humanity is born, one no longer ruled by Sin and Death but brought into the life of the new Adam.

The crucifixion reveals both the depth of humanity’s captivity to Sin and the power of God’s righteousness to set things right. God’s righteousness is God’s power to rectify what has gone wrong in the world. While Christians are called to pursue justice, the ultimate restoration of creation belongs to God alone. Derek closes the series by reflecting on why The Crucifixion remains one of the most important books he has read on the death of Jesus, while also noting the importance of recovering the kingdom implications of the cross, that is, how the crucified and risen Jesus is revealed as the true King of the nations.

Books Mentioned

• The Crucifixion — Fleming Rutledge

• The Day the Revolution Began — N. T. Wright

• N.T. Wright and the Revolutionary Cross — Derek Vreeland

Scriptures Mentioned

• Matthew 26:26–28

• Genesis 12

• Romans 5:14–15

• 1 Corinthians 15:22

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Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs

Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk

Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland continues the Lenten journey through Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion, focusing on substitution. While Rutledge explores eight major biblical images of the atonement, substitution receives the most pages and perhaps the most theological weight. 

Rutledge has suggested that all the biblical metaphors of atonement can be gathered under two headings: Christus Victor and substitution. Substitution means that Jesus died for us and in our place. Drawing from Galatians 3:13 and 2 Corinthians 5:21, the episode explores how substitution functions as a participatory exchange. Jesus becomes the curse so we might be freed from it. Jesus becomes sin so we might embody the righteousness of God. The emphasis is not transactional but transformational. 

Romans 8:3 becomes a key text: God “condemned sin in the flesh.” The Father is condemning Sin. He is not condemning the Son. The cross is the place where sin is judged and destroyed. Jesus dies as fully human because humanity is responsible for sin, and fully divine because only God can defeat death. 

To rethink substitution faithfully, Rutledge turns to Karl Barth. In Church Dogmatics IV and Dogmatics in Outline, Barth describes reconciliation as God putting himself in humanity’s place so that humanity might be put in God’s place. This vision echoes Athanasius of Alexandria: “God became man that man might become God.” Substitution, rightly understood, is relational, Trinitarian, incarnational, and resurrection-shaped. 

The episode concludes by affirming substitution as a biblical metaphor—but not the only one. The cross must be held together with incarnation, resurrection, and ascension. God does not turn away from humanity; even in judgment, God’s opposition to evil is the expression of divine love. 

Russell Moore’s interview with Flemming Rutledge is here: https://www.russellmoore.com/2023/03/29/fleming-rutledge-on-the-cross/ 

Books Mentioned 

The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge 

Stricken by God? edited by Brad Jersak & Michael Hardin 

A More Christlike God by Brad Jersak 

Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross by Hans Boersma 

Dogmatics in Outline by Karl Barth 

Scriptures Mentioned 

Acts 3:15 

Galatians 3:13 

2 Corinthians 5:21 

Romans 3:24–25 

Romans 5:12–21 

Romans 8:3 

 
Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you? Support the show by: 

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Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs 
Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk 
Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0 

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com 

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland continues the Lenten journey through Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion, focusing on two powerful chapters: the Christus Victor image of the cross and Jesus’ descent into hell. 

Christus Victor is the great battle metaphor of the atonement. At the cross, Jesus defeats the enslaving powers of Sin, Death, and the devil. These are not abstract ideas, but active forces holding humanity in bondage. Drawing from Colossians 2:15 and Romans 5-6, Rutledge frames the cross as apocalyptic, that is an an unveiling or revelation. The crucifixion reveals that Jesus is Lord. Authority has shifted. Sin and Death no longer reign. The Lamb who was slain now reigns at the center of the throne. 

Derek clarifies key biblical language surrounding. Gehenna as a metaphor for final judgment, Hades (and Hebrew Sheol) as the realm of the dead. Jesus did not descend into Gehenna to be punished; his suffering was finished at the cross. Rather, the descent proclaims victory. Death is personified as a prison master, and Jesus is the liberator. Rutledge pushes us to take judgment seriously without exaggeration or sentimentality. Hell is best understood not as literal fire but as a domain where evil reigns, a tragic reality of separation from the life of God. 

Finally, the discussion moves to the nature of evil. Following Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, Rutledge affirms that evil is not a created substance but a privation of the good (privatio boni). Evil is real and destructive, but it lacks actual substance. Evil is like a hole in the ground. It does not have substance but it can trip us up. It cannot be explained away, only denounced and resisted. The Triune God comes in Christ to overthrow the unholy trinity of Sin, Death, and the devil. The gospel is deliverance from the grip of evil and victory belongs to Jesus. 

Books Mentioned 

• The Crucifixion — Fleming Rutledge 
• Christus Victor — Gustaf Aulén 
• The Great Divorce — C. S. Lewis 
• Exclusion and Embrace — Miroslav Volf 

Scriptures Mentioned 

• Colossians 2:15 
• Romans 5:21 
• Romans 6:9, 14, 23 
• 1 Peter 3 

 
Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you? Support the show by: 

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Order Derek's new Bible Study Series, God in the Neighborhood: 
Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs 
Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk 
Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0 

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com 

Interact with Derek on Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, or Facebook 
 

In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland continues the Lenten journey through Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion, exploring four major biblical images for understanding the death of Jesus: Passover and Exodus, blood sacrifice, ransom and redemption, and final judgment. Derek insists that we do not begin with atonement theories or later theological debates. Rather we begin with the Old Testament. The cross only makes sense within the story of Israel, especially the Exodus, where salvation is framed not as abstract forgiveness but as liberation from slavery and deliverance from death. 

This episode also tackles the controversial question of propitiation. Rutledge argues that the Greek word hilasterion in Romans 3:25 should not be translated as “propitiation” (appeasing an angry God), but as expiation, that is the removal of sin. The barrier between God and humanity is not God’s anger but our sin. Redemption, then, is the Triune God’s loving work of buying back humanity from the enslaving powers of Sin, Death, and the Devil. Judgment, or what Rutledge calls “The Great Assize,” is not contrary to love but an expression of it. God’s righteous commitment to set the world right. 

Books Mentioned 

• The Crucifixion — Fleming Rutledge 
• The Day the Revolution Began by N. T. Wright 
• Centering Jesus by Derek Vreeland 
•On the Incarnation by Athanasius 

Scriptures Mentioned 

• Exodus 12–15 
• Leviticus 16 
• Isaiah 53:7 
• Romans 3:25 
• Romans 8:3 
• Hebrews 9:26 
• Mark 10:45 
• 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 
• Matthew 25 
• John 8 

Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you? Support the show by: 

Leaving a review 

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Order Derek's new Bible Study Series, God in the Neighborhood: 
Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs 
Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk 
Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0 

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com 

Interact with Derek on Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, or Facebook 

In this deeply theological episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland continues the Lenten journey through Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion by working through two chapters that bring Rutledge’s long introduction to a close. These chapters cover her reconsideration of Anselm and satisfaction theory and her exploration of the gravity of Sin. They both lay crucial groundwork for everything that follows in the book.

Derek engages Rutledge appreciatively but critically, clarifying where he agrees, where he wrestles, and where he remains unconvinced. Theology at its best does not simply settle questions but deepens them in faithful and prayerful ways.

This episode explores Anselm’s satisfaction theory, how it differs from penal substitution, and why Rutledge’s retrieval, guided in part by Eastern Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart, deserves careful attention. Derek also raises important questions about obedience, the life of Jesus, and whether “satisfaction” is best understood as a life faithfully lived rather than a transactional mechanism centered on death alone.

The episode concludes with Rutledge’s sobering chapter on the gravity of Sin, where sin is not treated as a collection of bad choices but as a dark, enslaving power paired with Death itself. Only when we take sin seriously, Rutledge insists, can we begin to understand why the cross had to be as ugly and costly as it was.

Key Takeaways

• Anselm’s satisfaction theory is distinct from penal substitution

• Satisfaction focuses on restoring God’s honor; penal substitution focuses on punishment.

• Rutledge does not defend a transactional or appeasement-based view of atonement.

• Jesus’ obedient and faithful life raises important questions about what truly satisfies God.

• Sin is not merely individual wrongdoing but a power that enslaves and destroys.

• In Scripture, Sin and Death function as ruling forces over humanity.

• The ugliness of the cross corresponds to the gravity and power of sin.

• The cross makes no sense unless we take sin far more seriously than modern culture does.

Books Mentioned

• The Crucifixion — Fleming Rutledge

• On the Incarnation — Athanasius

Scriptures Mentioned

• Romans 5:19

• 1 Corinthians 15:3

• Romans 6:12

• Romans 6:17

• Romans 7:11

Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you? Support the show by:

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Order Derek's new Bible Study Series, God in the Neighborhood:

Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs

Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk

Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com

Interact with Derek on Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, or Facebook

Lent is underway, and in this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek continues the Lenten journey through Fleming Rutledge’s monumental book, The Crucifixion. This episode takes a deep dive into chapters 2 and 3, confronting the ugliness of the cross and rethinking the meaning of the wrath of God.

Before the cross became a polished religious symbol, it was an instrument of terror, shame, and public humiliation. Rutledge insists that if we want to understand what the death of Jesus means, we must first face what it was: irreligious, degrading, and horrifying. Only by grounding the crucifixion in its historical reality can we begin to grasp how God’s justice and mercy meet at the cross.

This episode also explores Rutledge’s reframing of divine justice—not as punishment for punishment’s sake, but as God’s work of rectifying what is broken. God’s wrath, she argues, is not an emotional outburst, but God’s active opposition to sin and evil for the sake of setting the world right.

Key Takeaways

• The cross was not a religious symbol but an instrument of public shame and terror.

• The manner of Jesus’ death matters as much as the fact of his death.

• Roman crucifixion was designed to humiliate, dehumanize, and warn entire populations.

• God’s justice in Scripture is about rectification, not mere punishment.

• Forgiveness restores relationships; justice seeks to make things right.

• The wrath of God is not emotional rage but God’s active opposition to evil.

• God’s justice is restorative, aimed at healing what sin has corrupted.

Books Mentioned

• The Crucifixion — Fleming Rutledge

• The Day the Revolution Began — N. T. Wright

• The Cross and the Lynching Tree — James Cone

Scriptures Mentioned

• John 1:29

• Isaiah 1:16–17

• Matthew 12:18

Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you? Support the show by:

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Order Derek's new Bible Study Series, God in the Neighborhood:

Book 1: Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us || https://amzn.to/42jSZAs

Book 2: Crucifixion: 8 Lessons on How God Saves Us || https://amzn.to/459bNUk

Book 3: Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us || https://amzn.to/40T0sp0

Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com

Interact with Derek on Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, or Facebook