Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell: Isaiah 9:2-7

Theology Upstream Podcasts are a series of conversations hosted by two young(-ish) clergy, Rev. Ben and Rev. Chrissy, who are convinced that good theology still has something to say to people living their lives in the real world. With that conviction, Chrissy and Ben seek to read theological books and put their learnings into conversation with lived-experience. Continuing our 2018-19 study, Awakening the Body, Chrissy and Ben are publishing a series of Advent conversations on Michael Frost’s book, Incarnate. Chrissy and Ben are back again for one final episode of Theology Upstream Podcasts (for a while).  In this raw and uncut episode they crack jokes and transition somewhat abruptly from one topic to the next, all the while working to weave together themes of rootedness and community.  True to form, Frost uses the most unpredictable stories to prove his points (um, hello Rev. Jim Jones), but always finds a way to bring us back to incarnational practices. Also, Merry Christmas, Happy Incarnation!

Theology Upstream Podcasts are a series of conversations hosted by two young(-ish) clergy, Rev. Ben and Rev. Chrissy, who are convinced that good theology still has something to say to people living their lives in the real world. With that conviction, Chrissy and Ben seek to read theological books and put their learnings into conversation with lived-experience. Continuing our 2018-19 study, Awakening the Body, Chrissy and Ben are publishing a series of Advent conversations on Michael Frost’s book, Incarnate. In these two special raw and uncut episodes (4 and 5), Chrissy and Ben are moving at warp speed, through four chapters in this action-packed episode.  You may have never realized how much James K.A. Smith, C.S. Lewis, theological anthropology, and click activism have in common. After listening to this episode, all of that will change.  Most importantly, Chrissy and Ben (pulling from Frost’s book of course) will leave you with an idea for a daily spiritual practice for Advent and beyond. Try it, if you dare!

Theology Upstream Podcasts are a series of conversations hosted by two young(-ish) clergy, Rev. Ben and Rev. Chrissy, who are convinced that good theology still has something to say to people living their lives in the real world. With that conviction, Chrissy and Ben seek to read theological books and put their learnings into conversation with lived-experience. Continuing our 2018-19 study, Awakening the Body, Chrissy and Ben are publishing a series of Advent conversations on Michael Frost’s book, Incarnate. This week Chrissy and Ben hit the fast-forward button to cover three chapters in one (45-minute-ish) episode. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 in Frost’s book are full of sociological and theological gems that lead us down paths of conversation from labor movement to military training, to elbow learning. Doesn’t that sound fun?!

Theology Upstream Podcasts are a series of conversations hosted by two young(-ish) clergy, Rev. Ben and Rev. Chrissy, who are convinced that good theology still has something to say to people living their lives in the real world. With that conviction, Chrissy and Ben seek to read theological books and put their learnings into conversation with lived-experience. Continuing our 2018-19 study, Awakening the Body, Chrissy and Ben are publishing a series of Advent conversations on Michael Frost’s book, Incarnate. Are you looking for an Advent podcast episode that covers everything from Descartes to the Zombie Apocalypse?  If so, this episode is for you! Listen in as Chrissy and Ben talk through chapters 2 and 3 dealing with false dualisms and (authentic and seasonally appropriate) incarnation.

Theology Upstream Podcasts are a series of conversations hosted by two young(-ish) clergy, Rev. Ben and Rev. Chrissy, who are convinced that good theology still has something to say to people living their lives in the real world. With that conviction, Chrissy and Ben seek to read theological books and put their learnings into conversation with lived-experience. Continuing our 2018-19 study, Awakening the Body, Chrissy and Ben are publishing a series of Advent conversations on Michael Frost’s book, Incarnate. Throughout the season of Advent, Chrissy and Ben are reading Michael Frost’s book, Incarnate, and exploring the trends toward disembodiment in culture as our lives become more digital.  Each episode in this series will include strategies and ideas for re-embodying your faith during this holy season of anticipating the incarnation of Christ.

Rev. Chrissy Tatum Williamson:  Luke 1:5-23 and 59-80If you want to end the war, then Instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending tanks, send pens. Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers. ~ Malala Yousafzai (17 year-old Noble Peace Laureate) If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation . . . . ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell: Luke 1:26-38 – When hope dies, the pregnant mother of time dies with the unborn child of a redeemed future. ~ J. Alfred SmithHope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the same.~ AugustineHope holds us captive; we cannot give her up, let go of her hand, lest we become utterly lost. Yet we know now that where she is to be found is not in the places of comfort and safety. Hope is the womb in which all our struggles are conceived and nurtured, and out of which they are all born into the world for the healing of the world. ~ Allan Aubrey BoesakLike a seedling, with sun, good soil, and abundant rain, the roots of our future will bury themselves in the ground and a canopy of hope will reach into the sky.~ Wangari Maathai

Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell: Mark 12:38-44 – The disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise or to neglect persons of poor and mean condition is the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our morality. – Adam SmithThe vast majority of Americans would not say that their God is Money–they’d say their God is Love. – Marianne WilliamsonThere’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.– Warren BuffettI do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare . . . if our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our commitment to giving excludes them. –  C.S. Lewis

Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell: Mark 12:13-17 – Jesus’ punchline meant: “Give Caesar nothing, God everything.” A cryptic way of saying that Caesar’s taxes were unlawful and should not be paid at all.Jesus believed no one could serve two masters at the same time (Mt. 6:24; Lk. 16:13) and followed the early Israelite tradition that since God was king, no one else could be (Judges 8:22-23; I Sam 8:4-7; Hosea 8:4).Richard Horsley, Jesus and the Spiral of Violence“The body and soul of man, however, do not bear Caesar’s image. Whose image they do bear we are told in Holy Scripture. It is the image of God. Obviously, therefore, as we are to render to Caesar what bears his image, namely, money, we are to render to God, not to Caesar, what bears not Caesar’s stamp, but God’s; namely, human beings.”Dorothy Day. “The Catholic Worker,” January 1943“Pay no attention to Caesar. Caesar doesn’t have the slightest idea what’s really going on.” Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle