unBetween

In this new chapter of the unBetween Podcast, we're exploring art - specifically, art made by people of Christian faith, and all of the ideas, issues, pitfalls, and mountaintops that go with it.

Throughout Season 2, we'll be talking to lots of artists of all different types about how their faith informs the art that they make, and how they navigate the difficult road between the "church" market on one side and the "mainstream" market on the other.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the next episode - we'll be talking to Josh Porter of Showbread.

It's an old cliche - "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." But it's especially true for followers of Jesus. Because sometimes our ignorance, apathy, lack of mindfulness, and general disinterest in loving God with our minds is just...plain...dumb. It's not all bad news, though!

Join us as we talk through the ways in which Christians sometimes act dumb, and what we as believers might be be able to do about it.

A lot of the talk revolving around loving God has to do with our actions and our emotions, and making sure that they're properly aligned with what He wants from us. But what about our thoughts? And more specifically, what about the mind the creates, stores, and catalogues them?

In this episode, we explore what the Scriptures have to say about loving God with our minds, and why allowing ourselves to be transformed as our minds are renewed by the Spirit is integral to the lives of followers of Jesus.

Lots of us make New Year's resolutions, and that's often not a bad thing. But if we're not careful, our focus going into a new year becomes more about us and what we want than what God wants to do in our lives. We're such buzzkills, we know. We try to land in a balanced spot by the end of the conversation but you'll have to be the judge of whether or not it worked!

We continue the conversation we started last week about leadership, but this time we turn our attention to what it means to be a follower. What kinds of expectations do we have for our leaders? Are they there to serve us, or the other way around? Or both? How responsible are we (if at all) for their mistakes?

We land on the thought that maybe we should be more worried about the planks in our own eyes.

Some prominent Christians have been in the headlines again, and not necessarily because of their witness. But what does that even mean for people of faith trying to live in the spotlight? They may not have sought a platform, but does that mean they shouldn't have one? And what happens when they fall off of it?

As always, we try to navigate these issues with grace and truth, but as you'll hear, it gets complicated.

We already see as through a clouded glass, but nothing seems more murky than politics in our current cultural moment.

In a continuation of the conversation we started in our Citizens of Heaven episode, we discuss putting our trust in God rather than people, the Spirit of God rather than our own thoughts and emotions, and the wisdom of God rather than our own knowledge and perspectives.

Sometimes it seems like the people around us don't want the same level of depth and faith that we feel called to - and it's challenging to truly participate in biblical community when it feels like you're the only one looking for it.

In the final episode of our 3-part series Entrench, Deconstruct, and Disengage, we talk about struggling with the desire to cut ties with faith, religion, and the cultural monolith that is Christianity in America.

In the second episode of our three-part conversation Entrench, Deconstruct, or Disengage, we talk about what happens when faith breaks down and deteriorates - both in terms of the core tenets of Christian belief, and also the religious structures of Christianity in which that faith is lived out. How do you make sense of the world when your "spiritual house" gets torn down?

The first in a three-part conversation about what happens when people of faith Entrench, Deconstruct, or Disengage, we talk about our experiences with people building spiritual or religious walls around themselves and what happens when the "enemies" outside find their way into the sanctuary.