Episode 16 (recorded 10 June 2021).  Bishop Jack Lumanog discusses pastors speaking out about politics.  Touched off by what was supposed to be a benign post on social media with a call to prayer for Myanmar and an observation that some Republicans are calling for a similar bloody military coup in America, Bishop Lumanog deals with some fallout about speaking out about politics.  

Even with audio and video evidence of Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell and a growing chorus of Trump supporters and this sudden interest in Myanmar by Republicans who seem to be hoping for a similar military style coup to happen in America to restore former President Trump to office, Bishop Lumanog urges pastors to speak out against the false Gospel of QAnon that is permeating our churches and the evangelical movement at an alarming rate.

The Bishop also responds to some 1 star reviews to Pod Bless Us because he spoke out against Eric Metaxas in Episode 14 (recorded 11 December 2020 - "Eric Metaxas and committing his life to dying for President Trump").

And, some commentary on dealing with puritanical Anglican priests on Twitter.  All in this one episode after a 5 month absence!  

Episode 14 (recorded 13 January 2021).  Bishop Jack Lumanog discusses the announcement from the Anglican Church of Kenya on 12 January 2021 that they will be going to be the second Gafcon (Global Anglican Future Conference) province to consecrate a woman as a bishop.  The Rev. Dr. Emily Onyango has been appointed Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Bondo in the Anglican Church of Kenya and affirmed by the Kenyan House of Bishops.  What are the implications for Gafcon and member provinces with this announcement from the Anglican Church of Kenya?  

It seems to me that Gafcon mostly depends on the unity of the primates.  Individual provinces are generally “episcopally led and synodically governed.”  Not sure what Gafcon’s next move as a whole will be since there isn’t a Gafcon synod per se.  Though the conferences look like a synod (with bishops, clergy and lay orders represented) the only “vote” taken at the conferences in Jerusalem (2008), Nairobi (2013) and Jerusalem (2013) is by acclamation to receive the communiqué at the close of the conference.  In reality, Gafcon is “primatially led and primatially governed.”  It will be interesting to see how they thread this governance needle.

As it is, Gafcon wants to be seen as a church at times, especially when consecrating a bishop for New Zealand, for example.  Or by trying to position itself as a parallel to Canterbury.  But, are all the Gafcon primates (especially the new primate of Nigeria) in agreement with this move by the Anglican Church of Kenya?

As one who was highly involved at the highest levels of Gafcon from 2011 to 2018, I’m interested to see how this is spun and how the movement goes on from here.

Episode 14 (recorded 11 December 2020).  Bishop Jack Lumanog shares his perspective on an interview that mild mannered conservative Episcopalian Eric Metaxas had with President Trump.  Metaxas publicly commits his life to Donald Trump and vows that he would die in the fight to keep President Trump in office.  This is a disturbing example of Trumpism not only taking over the Republican Party, but also what used to be sensible wings of the evangelical movement within Christianity.  Metaxas's publicly committing Jesus Christ to the coup against the Constitution and a democratically elected President, encouraging Christians to pray to God for an end to our election processes is scary and sacrilegious in equal measure and must be rebuked publicly.

Episode 13 (recorded 5 November 2020).  Bishop Jack Lumanog shares unscripted from the heart about his heartbreak about the 2020 presidential election results.  In light of mismanaging a global pandemic, insulting veterans and Gold Star families, undermining the democratic process, cozying up with foreign dictators and domestic white supremacists, he and his children treating The White House as their own personal enterprise, and dismantling the various parts of the governmental infrastructure through his Cabinet secretaries and breaking just about every presidential norm  --  that still quite so many Americans voted for President Trump.  This was NOT a repudiation of Trumpism that our country so desperately needs.  But, the good news is that as people of faith, "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken" (Hebrews 12:28a).  We are a pilgrim people with our eternal citizenship in heaven.  But, there is still a high calling for pastors and Christian leaders to speak out against the lies, falsehoods and dangerous misinformation being spread by President Trump  --  aided and abetted by evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham and Paula White.

Episode 12 (recorded 30 August 2020).  Bishop Jack Lumanog examines the curious case of Kyle Rittenhouse -- a 17 year old Illinois boy who killed two and shot a third person in Kenosha, Wisconsin is peacefully taken into custody.  However, the flashpoint for the unrest that brought Rittenhouse from Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin was Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, being shot by police 7-8 times in the back while trying to break up a fight between two women outside a home.  At issue is the disproportionate violence against Black people by police officers which has come to the fore this year during protests against systemic racism nationwide.   

Episode 11 (recorded 19 July 2020).  You know you're having a bad day when you are getting fact checked by Fox News.  Bishop Jack Lumanog breaks down President Trump's off the rails interview with Chris Wallace from Fox News and even Fox gets called "fake news" by Trump.  And even with the President's insistence that things are going great - even though they are so clearly not - with his lack of leadership or even grasp of basic facts on Coronavirus, Chris Wallace calls out President Trump for claiming "good" mortality numbers and that Vice President Joe Biden wants to "defund" and "abolish" the police.  Now when faced with this lack of moral leadership, will Evangelicals be bothered to care about President Trump's incompetence and/or malevolence that is costing American lives in this pandemic?  

Episode 10 (recorded 11 July 2020). President Trump's remarks on July 4th in Washington, D.C. in his "Salute to America," he seems more preoccupied with preserving the Confederacy than defeating Coronavirus (listen to Episode 9: "Time for some new statues and monuments!" for a discussion of his July 3rd speech at Mount Rushmore). 

After a disjointed speech that was supposed to commemorate our Independence Day, President Trump equated Iwo Jima with the Confederate "heroes" of the Civil War and his commitment to preserve this "legacy of heroes."  

Meanwhile, following President Trump's two back to back speeches on Confederate statues and monuments, U.S. Army General Mark Milley, Chairmain of the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified before the House Armed Services Committee and called the Civil War "an act of treason."  General Milley also regretted being part of President Trump's 5 minute photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in early June (listen to Episode 7: "Are Bibles props, churches circus tents and Evangelicals just pawns for President Trump?" for a fuller discussion about that incident).  

Bishop Lumanog also discussed how the President's preoccupation with Confederate statues and monuments is costing us the war on Coronavirus and how Jim Bakker and "Archbishop" Mark Grenon are getting into hot water with authorities for their miracle cures for COVID-19 aimed at people of faith.

Finally, Bishop Lumanog leaves us with hope from the Word of God in how we have not been left powerless or comfortless in this age of "alternative facts" and "fake news" with Good News from the Bible itself (John 18:33-38, Exodus 20:16, Ephesians 4:11-16, Ephesians 5:15-16 and II Timothy 3:1-5).  

Episode 9 (recorded 4 July 2020).  Following President Trump's speech at Mount Rushmore on 3 July 2020, Bishop Jack Lumanog responds to the President's tone deaf rhetoric and his odd commitment to preserving "our" heroes, "our" values, "our" most sacred memorials.  The Bishop discusses the history of Stone Mountain (outside of Atlanta) and proposes taking down every Confederate statue and monument and offers his suggestions for their replacements: General and 18th President Ulysses S. Grant, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, The Greensboro Four, The Little Rock 9 (especially depicting 15 year old Elizabeth Eckford), Rosa Parks, The Freedom Riders (especially Congressman John Lewis).  Happy Independence Day, from Pod Bless Us with Bishop Jack Lumanog!

Episode 8 (recorded 26 June 2020).  --  Bishop Jack Lumanog sits down for his first ever interview for Pod Bless Us!  8 days before today's recording, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 blocking the Trump administration from going ahead with its plan, announced in 2017, to end a program called DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).  For an Evangelical point of view following this recent Supreme Court decision and an in-depth discussion on how to think biblically about immigrants and refugees, Bishop Jack talks with Matthew Soerens, the US Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief and the National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition that advocates for immigration reforms consistent with biblical values.  Find out more at www.evangelicalimmigrationtable.com.

Episode 7 (recorded 24 June 2020).  --  Are Bibles props, churches as circus tents and Evangelicals just pawns to President Trump?  It would certainly seem so.  "Kung Flu!" shouted President Donald Trump on 23 June 2020 at a rally held at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona.  The President made racist jokes and the crowd went wild inside a Phoenix megachurch.  Bishop Jack Lumanog also takes us back to 1 June 2020 where peaceful protestors from Lafayette Square were met with militaristic tactics so that the President could have his 5 minute photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church on 1 June 2020.