Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? Well you're not alone. 

In today's episode, we're going to unpack that question, exploring how the Bible helps us to process this contradiction. We'll also discuss how to weather the difficult moments in our own lives, and then how we can sit with others with empathy and love when they are moving through tough times. 

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Resources

• Sarah Bessey: Miracles and Other Reasonable Things
• Peter Enns: Odds and Enns Substack
• Bema Discipleship Podcast 
• Walter Brueggemann: Jeremiah and the Exile 

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Sometimes a shared felt experience is worth looking at in a new light. So in today’s episode, we’re looking at the coronavirus pandemic in the context of the Exile story from the Old Testament.

Walter Brueggemann says that when we go through a community-wide trauma like the exile, we tend to move through three stages: interpretation, reflection and anticipation. 

Together, we can consider what felt true in the collective trauma of Covid over the past four years; and how the Israelites learned to process Jewish law and evolve their thinking about God’s nature and the concept of suffering

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Resources

• Stanley Hauerwas: Unleashing the Scripture
• Peter Enns: Odds and Enns Substack
• Bema Discipleship Podcast 
• Walter Brueggemann: Conversations Among Exile
• Walter Brueggemann: Jeremiah and the Exile

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Get ready, we’re talking about all the things. Feminism, Sodom and Gomorrah, patriarchy, inclusivity, hell, sexual identity, and the Barbie movie.

It was a crazy emotional week and we found it impossible to talk about one thing without all the others. Ultimately, in today’s episode, we’re looking towards God's heart for the oppressed and his radical inclusion and empowerment of all people. This is how we know that God is good for everyone. And this is what we are so passionate about. 

We also share a challenge at the end of our conversation. If you are curious about a passage of scripture or “hot button topic” that makes you question the goodness of God, please send it to us! We may not have the answers, but we would love to investigate and be curious with you. Never hesitate to reach out. You can email [email protected] or reach out via social media @theexileproject.

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Resources 

• Jonathan McIntosh: Patriarchy According to the Barbie Movie
• Peter Enns: The Sin of Certainty
• Megan K Defranza: Sex Difference in Christian Theology - Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God
• Eric Berkowitz: Sex and Punishment - Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire

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Bible References

• Genesis 19
• John 4
• Matthew 8

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Here is a quick imaginative prayer exercise that you can try for yourself, in real-time, while you're listening. This is a method of connecting with God where you envision yourself stepping into a story from the Bible to encounter Jesus.

The beauty of this approach to prayer is that you don't have to say anything out loud, you don't have to be creative, or find just the right words. You don’t have to know the Bible inside and out. This practice we’re about to do together is meant for you to simply come as you are, right now.

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Things to Remember

• Fully engage with your imagination.
• Use your senses.
• God is always with you.
• God speaking to you is God’s delight, just receive.
• It can be simple and silly and still be with God.

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Resource Links

• Lectio 365 App
• The Pause App
• Jared Patrick Boyd: Imaginative Prayer
• Brian Zahnd: Prayer School 
• Seeds and Water Collective

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Elizabeth's Holy Spirit Chocolate Cake

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Share your ideas with us! You can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Have you ever gotten waxed, had a panic attack and then met God? Have you ever “prayed” about your partner and then realized you were complaining and that is why God gave you BFFs? Have you ever wanted so badly to pray like you were seven years old again? Well don’t worry because SO HAVE WE!

In this episode, we share some stories that have become cornerstones in our prayer life. We talk about how God is always present and pursuing us, so the entry point to prayer is super easy. Also, we laugh a lot, because we don’t think prayer needs to be so serious all the time.

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Key Takeaways 

• Stop stressing, it's not that serious.
• God is always near and always pursuing you.
• Prayer is about noticing.
• Experiment with prayer, find out what works for you now.
• Shift your expectations and experiment as needed.

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Resource Links

• Annie Dillard: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
• Tish Harrison Warren: Prayer in the Night — For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep
• Heidi Baker Book and Rolland Baker: Training for Harvest
• 101 Amazing Facts About Guam

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Bible References

• Psalm 51 (The Message)
• Psalm 63 (NIV)

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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It's our very first interview! We're honored to chat with Aaron Thomas, founder of Seeds and Water Collective, about his journey through prayer, the importance of Sabbath rest, and how deconstruction has shaped it all.

Over the past 22 years, Aaron has been a teacher, coach, pastor, and entrepreneur, coming alongside church planters, pastors, nonprofit leaders, and marketplace entrepreneurs across the United States and Europe. He is passionate about identifying and creating pathways for restoration and heavenly impact.

Aaron and his wife Karrie live in Zionsville, Indiana with their three boys, Tyson, William, and Sutter. He's a big fan of the Indiana Pacers, Notre Dame football, Chicago Cubs, and chocolate chip cookies.

Learn more about Seeds and Water Collective and follow their work on Instagram or Facebook.

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Resource Links

• Lectio 365 App
• The Pause App
• Brian Zahnd: Prayer School
• Jared Patrick Boyd: Imaginative Prayer

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Bible References

• Mark 5:24–34

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Share your ideas with us! You can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

We’re taking on the hermeneutics of self-creation, which is a fancy way to say how we interpret our self to ourselves. We all have a story that we believe about who we are, and that story impacts the way we present ourselves to others.

In today’s episode, we share some of our own stories and how we have chosen to “re-story” ourselves as we have looked for healing. We also share some of the pathways and tools we’ve used along the way, in hopes that they might be helpful in your own journey. Get ready for a celebration of neuroplasticity, the adaptive structural and functional changes to the brain!

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Key Takeaways 

• William Randal says that there are three things that story us: our context, unconscious choices, and deliberate self-creation.
• Our brains are made to change and rewire.
• Re-writing our stories takes a village. Don’t do it alone.
• The way we talk to ourselves impacts how we imagine God speaking to us.

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Resource Links

PDF: Resources from The Exile Project Episode 5

William Randall: The Stories We Are - An Essay on Self-Creation

Curt Thompson: The Soul of Shame - Retelling The Stories We Believe About Ourselves

Curt Thompson: Neurofaith Podcast

Masaru Emoto: Hidden Messages of Water

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Bible References

1 Corinthians 2: 8-10

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Share your ideas with us! You can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

The Bible offers an alternative or sometimes even opposing narratives to our post-modern culture context. While the world offers us value systems based on consumerism, nationalism, capitalism, and celebrity, the Bible is quite literally Gospel, which is from the Greek for “good news.”

In today’s episode, we compare and contrast these narratives and examine what Gospel means in our current context, with the help of Gabriel Fackre’s framework for narrative theology, which we will be unpacking over the next few episodes.

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Key Takeaways

— Jesus is a narrative writer
— Jesus declares and establishes the kingdom
— The kingdom is here and now
— Contextual narratives are evolving
— Our understanding of the Gospel is also evolving
— We become the good news for each other

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Resources

Kōsuke Koyama: Water Buffalo Theology

Howard Thurman: Jesus and the Disinherited

Gabriel Fackre: Narrative Theology

Netflix: The Trapped 13

The Bible Project: The Sermon on the Mount

Bema Podcast: Episode 93 - Blessed

Dallas Willard: The Divine Conspiracy

Systematic vs Narrative Theology

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Bible References

Mathew 5

Mark 7: 24–30

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Share your ideas with us! You can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In today’s episode, we explore theology, using Dorthee Soelle’s definition, “an invitation to think deeply about God.” Everyone has a theology, even if they don’t realize it. We want you to feel empowered to take ownership over your personal theology.

Throughout our discussion, we dig into the differences between orthodoxy and theology. We also look at personal stories that kickstarted the development of our own theology.

— Theology is ever evolving, even in the Bible
— God is safe
— God’s heart is freedom for the oppressed and garden like intimacy

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Resources

Dorothee Soelle - Thinking about God: An Introduction to Theology

Kat Armas - Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence and Strength

Marty Solomon - Asking Better Questions of the Bible

Brennan Manning - Ragamuffin Gospel

Donald Miller - Blue Like Jazz

Rob Bell - Velvet Elvis

Jeremy Meyers - Types of Theology (Blog: Redeeming God)

The Bible Project

Bema Discipleship

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Bible References

Genesis 18: 1-15

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Important Take-Aways

- The heart of an evolving theology is deconstruction and reconstruction
- We can embrace empowered theology
- God is always experiential
- Our current moment demands that theology is in the hands of everyone
- It’s okay to have questions but not answers
- The Bible is an important source for wisdom

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Share your ideas with us! You can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, we explore how we implicitly interact with our theology and how using different metaphors can give us a renewed access point with God. Sometimes we have to use our hard and painful moments to sense God’s nearness. This is a valid and important experience to note and be curious about in your life! That’s because God is so very near to our suffering, as we talked about in Episode 01. However, there is a case to be made for why and how we can also access God’s nearness in the best moments. Elisa shares a personal story about one of those moments today.

Throughout our discussion, we specifically look passages of scripture that depict God as a mother. We also talk about what it means to see God as a father in an ancient context. Lastly we talk about the two accounts of human creation (in Genesis 1 and 2) and what it means to prioritize the first.

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Bible References

Luke 13:34 (NIV): Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Isaiah 42: 14-16 (NIV):  For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back.But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hillsand dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Isaiah 49:15 (NIV): Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

Isaiah 66:13 (NIV): As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.

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Related Resources

Megan K. DeFranza - Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female and Intersex in the image of God

Henri J.M. Nouwen - In the Name of Jesus: Reflections of Christian Leadership

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Support the show

This podcast is a production of Worship Lab, and recorded in Brooklyn New York. Our executive producer is Armistead Booker. Our technical director and engineer is Gareth Manwaring. And our sound designer is Oleksandr Stepanov. Music by penguinmusic - *Better Day* from Pixabay.

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Share your ideas with us! You can email [email protected]. Thanks for listening!