In this episode my friend Derek and I speak with Vince Bantu who joined the Fuller faculty as assistant professor of church history and Black church studies in 2019. Dr. Bantu teaches primarily on Fuller’s Houston campus, where he also serves as a liaison to the William E. Pannell Center for Black Church Studies and networks with Black churches, pastors, and students.

Prior to coming to Fuller, Bantu taught in various capacities at a number of colleges and institutions, including Nyack College, New York Theological Seminary, North Park Theological Seminary, the Center for Early African Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Covenant Theological Seminary.

Additionally, he has years of pastoral experience in African American, Asian American, and Hispanic churches, as well as extensive involvement in multicultural urban communities.

Bantu earned his PhD in Semitic and Egyptian Languages from The Catholic University of America, and his dissertation married his interests in African Christianity and social identity. He also directs the Meachum School of Haymanot, which provides theological education for urban pastors and leaders.

He is the author of Gospel Haymanot: A Constructive Theology and Critical Reflection on African and Diasporic Christianity (2020) and A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity’s Global Identity (2020), as well as numerous articles on global Christianity, Syriac and Nubian Christianity, apologetics, justice, evangelism, and African American theology.

Kurt Willems is defiantly one of my favorite people to talk to!

This was a special treat to spend time with contemplative Father Nicholas Amato. In this episode we discuss the joy of Contemplative prayer and even discuss celibacy at one point! Father Amato was truly a joyous person to talk to, and a great teacher. We hope you enjoy this episode and share it!

Here are some of his books he's written! Please check them out!

Happiness and Joy: Can a Spiritual Life Have Both? (2020)

Living in God: Contemplative Prayer and Contemplative Action (2016)

Moving from Stress to Joy (2018)

This episode is the official Misfits book launch for my new book "God Speaks!" This was a long episode but we had a lot of fun, covered as lot of ground, and talk about some of the processes behind the writing process, as well as content from the book itself! 

Below are links to some of the things we mentioned in the episode:

If you liked the song "Lover boy" by local Grand Junction, Colorado's artist Crepe Girl check her out on Spotify!

If you want to learn about Open and Relational Theology here is a very accessible introduction by Thomas Jay Oord: https://www.amazon.com/Open-Relational-Theology-Introduction-Life-Changing-ebook/dp/B095QL8BSJ

And here is the link to the Center for Open and Relational Theology: https://c4ort.com

Rich Lewis show notes

In this episode we spoke with Keith Kristich. Keith is a commissioned teacher of Centering Prayer, leads contemplative prayer groups and retreats, and is a certified Enneagram teacher. He walks alongside those who wish to nourish and deepen their spiritual life and wellbeing through contemplative prayer, meditation, and personality study in one-on-one coaching settings, both in person and online. He the creator of an online course called Closer Than Breath, which helps people commit to a regular contemplative prayer practice and open to the peace of mind and the Divine Presence within.

In this episode we discuss John Sanders new book Embracing Prodigals. John Sanders is one of the rockstars of the theological world. It was truly a privilege to get to talk to him! Check out the episode and consider buying his new book from a local bookstore! If your more into serving our corporate overlords from my home state, use this URL to buy his book 

https://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Prodigals-Overcoming-Authoritative-Embodying/dp/1725264064?fbclid=IwAR2qpAZ1duOPoGggSnpXKj24TAjj3dWpP52oaAishZp4NobCsnHtJ1LpxW0

If you like what you just heard please consider sponsoring us. Its so easy you just got to copy and paste the link below and fill out some stuff. Have you done it yet? No but seriously we really appreciate any help.  

If you like what you just heard please consider sponsoring us. Its so easy you just got to copy and paste the link below and fill out some stuff. Have you done it yet? No but seriously we really appreciate any help.  https://anchor.fm/misfits-theology/support

Also you can support us by following the podcast and checking out our bloggers at misfitstheology.com

This was probably one of the best interviews we have recorded. Warren Carter is one of the top New Testament Scholars today. He's recently moved to Tulsa to work at Philips Theological Seminary. Since I live in Tulsa this was truly the opportunity of a lifetime for a theological and biblical nerd like me. In this episode we talk about Dr. Carter's home country of New Zealand, what fruit and book he would take with him on a deserted island, and probably most fascinating, his work on the New Testament and Empire studies as well as how the New Testament came to be canonized as the 27 books we have today. 

Please check out his books, especially the books he drew from in this episode: Seven Events That Shaped the New Testament World and Matthew and Empire Initial Explorations. If you can please support a local bookstore rather than our corporate overlords, but if you just love amazon to much make sure to support World Wildlife Fund through Amazon Smile. I have the links to his two books on amazon below:

https://smile.amazon.com/Matthew-Empire-Warren-Carter/dp/156338342X/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=warren+carter&qid=1598904587&sr=8-5

https://smile.amazon.com/Seven-Events-Shaped-Testament-World/dp/0801039169/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=warren+carter&qid=1598904587&sr=8-3

If you like what you just heard please consider sponsoring us. Its so easy you just got to copy and paste the link below and fill out some stuff. Have you done it yet? No but seriously we really appreciate any help.  https://anchor.fm/misfits-theology/support

Also you can support us by following the podcast and checking out our bloggers at misfitstheology.com