The Pastor Theologians Podcast

Nathan Chang joins the podcast to tell his story about becoming a Pastor Theologian. Nathan shares about his experiencing growing up with deaf parents and in a deaf church and the impact that had on his vision of and for the church. He explains his journey of faith, his passion for the word of God, and his journey of education and ministry. 

Collin Hansen, Editor-in-Chief of the Gospel Coalition, reflects on the political vision and legacy of Tim Keller. Politics is not the first subject anyone would associate with the life and work of pastor Tim Keller. And yet when you review his teaching, you find someone who may have written more deeply and insightfully about politics than any other contemporary pastor. In this session, Hansen explains what Keller believed the American church should do as politics increasingly shift from ideology to identity politics.

This is the first talk from the CPT's 2024 conference Kingdom Politics.

Ryan Fields joins the podcast again to share a sermon he preached on 1 Peter 2:12, calling the church to pursue commendable conduct "among the Gentiles" in the turmoil of a divisive moment in America's public and ecclesial life. What does God call us, the church, to pursue, both among fellow believers and in the public sphere?

Chris Ganski shares his story of faith and ministry in one of our Becoming a Pastor Theologian episodes. He shares how his journey has been a series of continuing conversions towards deeper faith and how the Lord worked through various experiences to lead him to the pastorate. How does a PhD relate to pastoral ministry? How can a liberal academic context help to foster faithful evangelical witness? What does it look like to preach faithfully in a politically divided age? All this and more on this new episode.

Coleman Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite join the podcast to discuss their recently published book Ancient Wisdom and the Care of Souls: Learning the Art of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers (Crossway, 2024). They talk about why the wrote the book and the need that it meets for busy pastors today. Why should we learn the art of soul care from the church Fathers? What corrections can they bring to contemporary models of pastoral ministry? What does riding a bike have to do with this conversation? All this and more on this week's new episode!

Carmen Joy Imes joins the podcast to discuss her books Bearing God's Name and Being God's Image, as well as previewing what she will be talking about at this year's CPT conference Kingdom Politics. Carmen shares her story of faith, ministry, and education, as well as her heart to serve the church. What does it mean to be made as his image? What does it mean to bear his name? What might that mean for theology, ethics, politics? All this and more on this fascinating episode!

Jack Franicevich, a parish priest in the Anglican Church of North America, joins the podcast to discuss his book, Sunday: Keeping Christian Time (Athanasius Press, 2023), that focuses on the nature of the Sabbath, what it means in the biblical narrative, and how the social imaginary of Christians might be formed by a deep understanding of the Sabbath. What does the Sabbath mean for rest? For the hope of Christians? For the rebuke of anti-God powers? All this and more on this new episode.

Dan Brendsel joins the podcast to discuss his recent book Answering Speech: The Life of Prayer as Response to God (Crossway, 2023). Paul commands the church to "pray without ceasing." What does that mean? In what ways do we misunderstand prayer? How might reframing prayer as a whole-life response reform and renew the lives of the saints and the life the church? All this and more on this new episode.

Joel is joined by Brad Gray, CEO of Walking the Text, a non-profit organization that specalizes in helping pastors and Christians understand the cultural, linguistic, and literary context of the Bible. What are the "lenses of context" for reading scripture? How does understanding this context correctly enable Christians to live out the vision of scripture and be conformed to Christ?

SPONSOR: The Living Church, The Human Pilgrimage Conference

livingchurch.org/events

Use code "CPT" for 10% registration.

For our July episode on books, we, the CPT staff, have been reading:

• Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (2024)
  
  
• Stephen King, 'Salem's Lot (1975)
  
  
• Cynthia L. Haven, Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard (2018)