Saving Faith with Eric Sentell of the Backyard Church Blog

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a 2021 study of high school students. 60% of teen girls reported feeling "sad or hopeless." 30% reported "seriously considering" suicide. What can we do? Eric has ideas.

Time Magazine: Teen Girls Report the Highest Levels of Sadness and Sexual Violence in a Decade

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest protestant denomination in the United States. Yet the SBC has lost half a million members in the last year and 3 million since 2018. Why? Eric has thoughts.

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Eric ruins Genesis 1-3 by describing how he interprets it symbolically, not literally. He describes the history of the literal interpretation of the Bible and explains the strong reasons for a non-literal interpretation. In the second half of the episode, Eric breaks down Genesis 1-3 verse by verse and suggests different interpretations than you may have heard before.

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Eric "ruins" the Bible in this episode. He uses examples from the Bible itself to show that the Biblical authors were inspired, but their writing is not inerrant, infallible, a rule book, or life's instruction manual. Rather, the Bible, in Eric's view, is a source of wisdom and an invitation to conversation with God and fellow believers.

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Many people have very strong feelings right now about trans people. But how many trans people do we know? How many trans people have we listened to, read, or learned from? In this episode, Eric interviews Austen Hartke, author of Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians. Austen is also the founder and executive director of Transmission Ministry Collective, a resource for trans and gender-expansive Christians.

Austen debunks many popular misconceptions about the trans community, from the misperception that trans people are suddenly everywhere to the general misunderstanding of gender-affirming care. Austen and Eric also talk about how the Bible addresses issues of gender identity and expression.

Check out the earlier interview, "A Matter of Life and Death," with Natalie Grace Drew, a trans woman and activitist, if you'd like to continue exploring these topics.

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Happy Day After Easter! Last episode, Eric talked about how Christians tend to focus so much on the Crucifixion but not enough on the Resurrection. In this episode, he reflects on how Jesus' bodily resurrection shows that God cares about our bodies as well as our spirits.

Jesus' ministry shows that God cares about our physical, social, emotional, and pyschological needs as much as God cares about our spirituality. In fact, much of our spirituality can't be addressed until other needs are met.

Throw into the mix what we (think we) know about quantum physics, and perhaps we can imagine the reality behind the observations of the Resurrected Jesus recorded in the Gospels and the metaphors Revelation uses to describe God's ultimate intentions.

Eric mentions the following books and authors:

An Untidy Faith by Kate Boyd

Curveball by Pete Enns

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Atonement theories try to explain how sinful humans can be reconciled to a sinless, holy God. Christian atonement theories center around Jesus' death on the cross. But is the Resurrection of Jesus actually the more significant part of the equation?

In this solo episode, Eric discusses the popular atonement theories, Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA), Cristus Victor, and the Scapegoat theory. Then Eric ponders whether the Resurrection plays a bigger role in reconciling humans to God.

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Could it be that half of self-identified Christians don't imitate Christ because too many organized churches don't actually want them to grow spiritually? 

Eric shares and comments on an essay from former-pastor-turned-blogger, Dan Foster, called "The 10 Reasons Church Won't Help You Grow." Listen to the previous episode, "Research Shows that Being Christian Makes You Less Like Christ," and then return to this episode. 

Jim Palmer, a former megachurch pastor, posted 10 reasons why organized churches fail to help people grow. Dan Foster adds his commentary and perspective as a former pastor. Then Eric adds his views as someone involved in church leadership efforts in the past. 

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Eric shares and comments on a recent essay by pastor-turned-blogger Dan Foster, called "Research Shows that Following Christ Makes You Less Like Christ." Research by George Barna, founder of the Christian survey/polling firm The Barna Group, shows that 54% of self-identified Christians do not agree with statements that reflect the attitudes and actions of Jesus. Dan comments on why this might be, and Eric adds his own perspective. 

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO

Metamorphosis is the podcast of Trinity United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Missouri, where we share the unchanging love of Jesus to change people’s lives.

Randy Knie and Kyle Whitaker, cohosts of the podcast "A Pastor and a Philosopher Walk into a Bar," share their faith journeys and their perspectives on Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity. 

Randy pastors at Brew City Church in Milwaukee. Kyle's website is robertkwhitaker.com. Their podcast is available wherever people listen to podcasts, and they also post videos of their recordings to their YouTube channel. 

Learn more about Trinity UMC in Piedmont, MO, at www.umctrinity.org

Contact Eric at [email protected]

Podcast Author: Trinity United Methodist Church, Piedmont, MO