Steve Brown Etc.

We have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that you're a lot worse than you think. The good news is that God's grace is bigger than you can think.

Join RJ Grunewald on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion of his new book, The Art of Law and Gospel. God has spoken two words, Law and Gospel, and we need each one for different reasons. Listen to hear the hopeful truth that God's mind-blowing love is only seen in the face of our unloveliness.

RJ serves as Associate Pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Troy, Michigan, and he writes to make deep theology accessible to non-theologians. Connect with RJ and read his writing online at rjgrune.com.

Don't you think adopting frozen embryos should get God's blessing? Things should go smoothly for someone who decides to offer her family and even her body to save lives, right?

That's not what happened when Tiffany Childs opened her heart and home to "snowflake babies." Instead her heart was broken, leaving her disillusioned and angry at God for not rewarding her selflessness.

Join Tiffany Childs on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion of her new book, Of Souls and Snowflakes: An Adoption Story. Seeing the darkness of our own hearts can open our eyes to God's unconditionally loving heart for us.

We all know we're going to die, but most of us try not to think about it much. That's too bad. Preparing for death can improve the quality of life for ourselves and those we love.

Join Chaplain Michael Mercer on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion of his new book, Walking Home Together: Spiritual Guidance and Practical Advice for the End of Life. God's grace really does change everything, from the way we live to the way we die.

Michael Mercer is a hospice chaplain, serving patients and families with end-of-life issues. Chaplain Mike has also been lead writer for the popular blog, InternetMonk.com.

This week on SBE, Kierkegaard: A Single Life. No, this isn't another book about Christian dating. It's about "the ultimate anti-Christianity Christian" like you've never seen him before.

Join Stephen Backhouse on Steve Brown, Etc. for a story filled with romance, betrayal, family curses, humor, and riots as he discusses his new book about the life of Kierkegaard. You'll see that "the father of existentialism" is as relevant as ever.

Stephen Backhouse is the Lecturer in Social and Political Theology at St. Mellitus College in London. He has published a number of books and articles on religion, history, and Kierkegaard.

We have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that you're a lot worse than you think. The good news is that God's grace is bigger than you can think.

Join RJ Grunewald on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion of his new book, The Art of Law and Gospel. God has spoken two words, Law and Gospel, and we need each one for different reasons. Listen to hear the hopeful truth that God's mind-blowing love is only seen in the face of our unloveliness.

RJ serves as Associate Pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Troy, Michigan, and he writes to make deep theology accessible to non-theologians. Connect with RJ and read his writing online at rjgrune.com.

When people think of heaven, they often picture a place "up there" with polished halos, fat, winged babies with harps, and lots of cloud-pavement. What if, instead, heaven will be on earth, but better?

Join Elyse Fitzpatrick on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion of her new book Home: How Heaven and the New Earth Satisfy Our Deepest Longings. 

Elyse holds an M.A. in Biblical Counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary. She has authored over 20 books on daily living and the Christian life, including Found in Him, Because He Loves Me, and Comforts from Romans.

The wild goose is a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit: noisy, unpredictable, beautiful, and free. For the past six years, the Wild Goose Festival has been all those things as a community of spirituality, justice, music, and art converges for four days in North Carolina.

Join Erik Guzman and his guest, Pastor Nar, on the GooseCast stage at the 2016 Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, NC.

In keeping with this year's festival theme of stories that shape us, Erik and Nar tell their stories of past experiences with the Goose and talk about how Pastor Nar's Burning Bowl and White Stone Ceremony can help transform old scripts into new stories. And, of course, Erik managed to take some time to talk about his story, The Seed: A True Myth.

It's easy for straight, conservative Christians to underestimate the importance of spaces like the Pulse nightclub to the LGBTQ community. Gay bars aren't just places to party, they provide sanctuaries from a hostile world, so a massacre like we saw in Orlando strikes at the heart of that sense of safety.

Join John Freeman on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion about the spectrum of violence the LGBTQ community has endured. Instead of being on that spectrum, what if conservative Christians left our sanctuaries to love and serve the LGBTQ community in theirs? Wouldn't that look a lot like Jesus being a safe place for all of us?

John Freeman is president of Harvest USA, an organization that works to communicate the truth and mercy of Jesus Christ to a sexually broken world.

The church is infected with a deadly disease. Symptoms include burdensome to-do lists, conformity to arbitrary rules, and sickeningly sweet self-righteousness. Left untreated, the infection will ultimately lead to the death of faith.

The good news is that the cure is free!

Join Marci Preheim on Steve Brown, Etc. for a discussion of her book, Grace Is Free: One Woman's Journey From Fundamentalism to Failure to Faith. If you're dying inside from all the striving and people pleasing in the church, this program's for you.

In addition to being an author, Marci is a Bible teacher and co-host of the podcast Fundyland Sees Red. Connect with Marci at MarciPreheim.com.

Submitted for your approval, it's the Steve Brown, Etc. Independence Day program! The movie Independence Day: Resurgence got the crew thinking about aliens, so they invited astrophysicist Dr. Hugh Ross to talk about his book Lights in the Sky & Little Green Men: A Rational Christian Look at UFOs and Extraterrestrials.

As an astronomer, Dr. Ross has firsthand experience investigating UFO sightings, and while 99% turn out to be hoaxes or natural phenomena, he claims 1% are real. Join Dr. Ross on SBE as he makes his case that alien encounters are actually experiences of malevolent interdimensional beings.

Dr. Hugh Ross is founder and president of Reasons to Believe (Reasons.org), an organization dedicated to integrating scientific fact and biblical faith. His books include Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, Navigating Genesis, and the must-read, Beyond the Cosmos: The Extra-Dimensionality of God.