The Puddcast

If you were a Christian teenager in the late 90s or early 2000s there’s little chance you escaped the message of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” Twenty years on, author Joshua Harris has re-evaluated his message due to the fruit it brought out in people’s lives. Joshua and I discussed the purity culture, the positive and negative effects of encouraging abstinence, his role in the wounding people experienced, and what the church can do better to prevent these powerful fads in the future.

I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye documentary
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Our church doesn’t teach tithing but we do believe in generosity. Why? Because God is generous. He creates all of the universe and offers it to us as a gift, then he just keeps on giving, and invites us to do likewise. The early church understood this and gave to everyone in a way that turned both heads and hearts. This episode includes a sermon I preached on the subject of generosity and how God’s model of giving everything, at all times, to everyone, sets a standard that goes way beyond Israel’s tithe.

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Brian Zahnd joined me on the Puddcast to discuss the multi-faceted nature of the church, the richness of spiritual diversity, and how to be faithful witnesses to Christ while living inside a dominant empire. Brian told me that scripture maintains a sustained critique of empire, because what empire claims for itself (to have the divine right to rule others and the manifest destiny to shape history), is the very thing God has promised us through his son. Sounds like a great premise for a book! Oh wait…

Resources:

Postcards from Babylon: The Church in American Exile, by Brian Zahnd
Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, by Brian Zahnd
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Two years ago, popular teacher and author Lysa TerKeurst announced that her husband had had an affair. Her latest book chronicles her agonizing journey of disappointment, and the wrestling with God that we are all invited to, in times of deep pain and overwhelming confusion. If their marriage wasn’t trauma enough, Lysa was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly afterwards, and had to journey through much of it without the support she had been used to her entire life. We talked about pain, forgiveness, and how God uses our very dust to create new life.

Resources:

It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way, by Lysa TerKeurst
Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely, by Lysa TerKeurst
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Sheila Walsh is a well-known singer and songwriter, television host, author and speaker, and much more, originally from Scotland and now living in the US. Sheila and I talked about brokenness, pain, mental health, suicide, gender roles in church, the God who loves us through it all, and of course her new book: It’s OK Not To Be OK. Sheila dropped some of the most quotable quotes of any guest I’ve had yet on the show. Check it out below.

Resources:

It’s Okay Not to be Okay, by Sheila Walsh
In the Middle of the Mess, by Sheila Walsh
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