This episode is all about purity.  Which is why we chose an amazing piece of music to jump start our conversation.  In the book, Ched walks us through purity codes in the Gospels and helps us to see how Jesus chose to interact within his historical context.  Reading Ched’s exegesis quickly turns our focus to purity codes that exist in our own cultural/ social/ historical context(s).  What are the purity codes that are present in your life?  How and when do they show up?  Do they determine how you live?  Who you spend time with?  How you make your decisions? ​Listen in and let us know what you think!

Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell: Isaiah 61:1-11 – Advent Lovefeast – We fail at hospitality because hospitality doesn’t begin with a program, it has to begin in the heart. We routinely fail to notice that external walls originate with a failure of the heart; a wall erected within our souls, and hearts aren’t easily changed. You can’t change hearts with pep talks, protests, podcasts, Facebook rants, tweets, or a really good sermon. Hearts require spiritual formation through habits and practices that directly address the social and psychological dynamics at work that keep us from seeing and welcoming each other. Hospitality, before it can be anything else, begins as the emotional battle to widen the circle of our affections. ~ Stranger God, Richard Beck

Rev. Dr. Ophelia Garmon Brown: Luke 13:10-17 – She is an award-winning physician, an ordained Baptist minister, a preacher, a selfless volunteer, and a powerful civic leader, but above all else Dr. Garmon-Brown is a caretaker and advocate for the health and well-being of the Charlotte community and beyond. Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. – Nelson Mandela Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. – Nelson Mandela I am what I am because of who we are. – Desmond Tutu

Rev. Chrissy Tatum Williamson: Matthew 25:1-13 – Amos 5:18:  Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light…

We kick this episode off with another throwback-to-youth-minsitry tune by Audio Adrenaline, Big House, because these chapters (5 and 6) are all about God’s expansion of human concepts of inclusion and exclusion.  In chapter 5, Ched helps us understand that there’s even disagreement in the Bible about who should be allowed in the house of God; there has always been tension between “faithful covenant-keeping” and “self-righteous gate-keeping,” (p.105).  In the episode we explore some moments in our own lives where we’ve had to stand in that tension between “purity”/”dignity” and God’s call to welcome all outsiders.  In the next chapter, by Matthew Colwell, we meet Amalia Molina.  Her moving story calls us to consider how we are participating in the expanding love of God, even in our most difficult and challenging moments.   Enjoy the episode!  Send us your thoughts, we’d love to know how these stories are making an impact on your lives!

In this episode we encounter stories that are difficult to read.  From the Genesis call to protect the murderer, to the Judges account of the concubine who clings to the threshold as she takes her last breath, and finally to the heart-breaking (and yet inspiring) tale of Amalia and Gil… these two chapters were so difficult to read (and discuss) that they reminded us of our journey through Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy.  As disturbing as these stories are, we felt responsible to hold them up and to sit in the discomfort for a while, knowing that we live in homes and worship in a sanctuary with many “thresholds”.  These chapters force us to reckon with questions like: Who is on the other side of our thresholds?  Whose bodies do we blindly and ignorantly step over each day as we go about our lives with blinders on?  And, How might we begin to open those physical and metaphorical doors to welcome and love those who we find on the outside?Listen in… it’s rough, I’m warning you.  We’d love to know what you think!

Rev. W. Benjamin Boswell: Matthew 22:34-46 – The worship of the Golden Calf of old has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose ~ Pope FrancisMammon, n.: The god of the world’s leading religion ~ Ambrose Bierce

DC Talk kicks off our second conversation about Our God is Undocumented​, with their brilliant song “Colored People”.  After spending some time reflecting on our memories of youth group and DC Talk, Ben and I delve into the first two chapters: (1) Cultural Diversity and Deep Social Ecology and (2) Journey to the Margins: Delle McCormick. In this episode we talk about two well-known biblical stories: the Tower of Babel and Pentecost.  And then, we’ll hold up the themes from those texts along with the story of Delle McCormick’s life.  Finally, we wrap up the conversation by turning our attention toward you (and/or us).  Who are we (individually or collectively)?  Who is God calling us to be?  Where is God calling us to be?  And how are we (individually or collectively) pushed and pulled by the centrifugal and centripetal forces of empire and Spirit?Listen in and add your thoughts in the comments section!

Rev. Carrie Veal: Matthew 22:15-22 – Whatever alliances we may make with this world… [they] are ultimately directed by the One who created us and whose image we bear. ~ Davis Lose

On the day of Tom Petty’s death, Ben and I recorded this podcast episode, which begins with his song, “Refugee.”  We didn’t know that he’d had a heart attack; but his was the first “immigrant” song that came to mind.  You’ll hear us mention that in our opening comments on the episode. RIP Tom, thanks for helping us kick this off with your amazing music.In this introductory podcast about the book, Our God is Undocumented,​ we discuss the authors and the major questions that the book calls us to reflect upon.  How does the Bible speak to issues of immigration and boundless welcome?  How is God Undocumented?  What does it mean to be a church without borders?(Please forgive the shameless plug for Miguel De La Torre… we were experiencing technical difficulties earlier this month which prohibited us from posting when we’d planned to post.)