The Tim Ahlman Podcast

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Have you ever thought, “After all these years of following Jesus, shouldn’t I be better by now?”

Tim reconnects with Craig Parrott, his former high school Bible teacher and one of the people who helped encourage his calling into ministry. Drawing from more than 40 years of teaching and his book, We Are Engaged: Our Love Story with Jesus, Craig explores what Scripture’s picture of Jesus as the bridegroom reveals about God’s steadfast love.

Craig’s book: We Are Engaged: Our Love Story with Jesus.
https://wipfandstock.com/products/we-are-engaged-9798385248407?variant=59027820937551

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Dr. Jerry Pfabe, longtime history professor and former archivist at Concordia University, Nebraska, joins Tim for a conversation about the Lutheran history we’re at risk of losing—and why it still matters. From Concordia’s beginnings as a teacher-training school to the pressures German-speaking congregations faced during World War I, Jerry shares stories that bring our church’s past into focus.

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Lutherans are weird—and that might be a good thing. But how do we embrace what makes us distinct while staying humble, welcoming, and open to meaningful conversations?

Tim Ahlman welcomes Rev. Dr. Kendall Davis, assistant professor of New Testament studies at Concordia University, St. Paul, to explore Scripture, the early church, and the gifts of Lutheran theology. They discuss biblical themes we often overlook, why Greek and Hebrew still matter, and how studying the Bible is drawing curious college students toward Jesus.

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Pastor Dennis Matyas joins Tim Ahlman to share how his search for assurance led him into the Lutheran church—and why he believes preaching, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper keep pointing us back to Jesus. Along the way, they discuss celebrity pastors, the difference between powerful music and God’s promises, and why loving a congregation starts with understanding its traditions.

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What happens when a congregation chooses to close so a new ministry can begin? For First Lutheran in Towson, Maryland, that decision helped launch New Thing—a church connected to a Lutheran school and focused on helping people follow Jesus in everyday life.

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Tim sits down with Greg Henson, president of Kairos University, for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means for Christian institutions to remain deeply faithful while being willing to change.

Tim and Greg explore why following Jesus necessarily involves change, how Christian organizations become trapped by their own structures, the difference between knowing the right words and embodying the way of Jesus, and why AI may actually force the church and higher education to rediscover the importance of real human relationships.

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Laurie McClellan shares the remarkable story of La Mesa Ministries—a ministry serving home-cooked meals and building genuine relationships with hundreds of people experiencing poverty and homelessness each week. What began with a small group of committed volunteers helped transform Christ Greenfield from a financially anxious, internally focused congregation into a church energized by mission.

That same heart has now inspired Eden Village of Arizona, a 21-home community being built for chronically homeless people living with disabilities. Laurie recounts the extraordinary provision behind the project: sponsored homes, major grants, donated labor, unexpected breakthroughs—and no government funding.

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Branden Hempelman grew up Lutheran—but for years, it was simply the faith in which he had been raised. Then a theological conversation with a friend sent him back to Scripture with a fundamental question: What do I actually believe about salvation, baptism, election, and the work of Christ?

In this conversation, Branden joins Tim Ahlman to share how studying Scripture led him into a deeper appreciation of confessional Lutheran theology. They explore why salvation must remain entirely God’s work, what the Bible says baptism actually gives, how Christians can understand election without turning inward, and why the Lutheran distinction between Law and Gospel offers profound assurance.

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Tim sits down with Rev. Bob Hiller, senior pastor of Community Lutheran Church in Southern California, content editor for 1517’s Craft of Preaching, co-host of White Horse Inn, and a longtime friend from his Denver Lutheran days. Together they explore why preaching is both the work of the Holy Spirit and a craft that deserves serious preparation.

Bob and Tim discuss collaborative sermon writing, biblical literacy, preaching to a distracted culture, and why Law and Gospel should be the foundation of a sermon rather than a predictable formula imposed on every text. They also wrestle with one-point versus multi-point sermons, the danger of turning proclamation into a lecture, and the responsibility pastors have to honor the attention of their hearers by giving them Christ.

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Artificial intelligence can answer theological questions, draft sermons, automate difficult work, and increasingly imitate human conversation. But can it form a Christian, embody the love of Christ, or replace the church?

Tim sits down with Mark Junkans—author of *The Return of Mystery: Faith in the Age of Machines*—to examine the deeper spiritual questions surrounding AI. They discuss transhumanism, the dream of a “digital god,” AI-generated faith, the loss of critical thinking, and why instant access to information is not the same thing as spiritual formation.

Learn more about Mark’s work with Cross Connect at https://www.crosscm.org/

Mark's Book
https://www.amazon.com/Return-Mystery-Faith-Age-Machines/dp/B0GD7NDY6Z

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