From Babylon, With Love: Recent Episodes
David Woods
Our desire is to help Christians of any background craft a deeper Christian life for a post-Christian world.
Well, my friends, our regularly unscheduled podcast is being interrupted with the first sermon from a new church some of my friends and I have just started in the Costa Mesa/Newport Beach area called The King’s Chapel. Sermons from The King’s Chapel will be hosted here at From Babylon, With Love for the forseeable future. If you stayed subscribed to this channel for this long, well . . . that’s amazing. And God bless you!
With some sadness, Laura and I announce in this episode the impending end of the podcast…! But we also manage to tackle another chapter of Joshua Gibbs’ book, How to Be Unlucky, as we head out the door. Much love to my patient peoples. Let’s pod!
We’re back with our second installment of podding through Joshua Gibbs’s book How to Be Unlucky! Join Laura and I as we talk about what it means to pursue maturity.
In our first episode on Joshua Gibbs’s book, How to be Unlucky, Laura and I tackle the place of goodness and the conversation around goodness in the life of Christian adults.
Well, I have never been accused of being punctual, but it’s here! Join myself and my intrepid (long-suffering) co-host, Laura Hashimov, as we recap our summer and chart the pod path forward for this new season. It’s good to be back. Put your feet up, pour a cup of something refreshing, and pretend, just for a moment, summer ended last week… Let’s pod!
Lore! Lore! LORE! And some hot takes on the Rings of Power! The Only Dan Bellum brings us into the world of the Silmarillion, Tolkien’s sweeping epic myth-history of Middle Earth which undergirds the better-known stories of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and yes, The Rings of Power. Let’s follow Daniel into the ancient library as he blows the dust off this epic tome and tells us the tale of a thousand paths. Pour a strong cup of coffee, get out your maps and charts, find an old leather chair . . . and let’s pod!
Pour yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea, my friends, stir the fire, put your feet up–it’s time to return to the reading room. From time to time on the pod, we like to dive more deeply into a particular author or work of literature, and this season is no exception. Join myself and The Only Dan Bellum as we explore the roots of the world J.R.R. Tolkien created in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This is Part 1, with Part 2 soon to follow! Let’s pod! Let’s read!
On this episode, Laura takes over the hosting duties as she interviews me about my reasons for leading Zoe Church to be a house church. My hope and prayer, whether you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with my argument, is that Christians in general–and pastors in particular–might begin to really re-evaluate what we are meant to be giving our lives to and what form/s best allow us “to build up the body of Christ,until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.” (Eph. 4:13-14)
God bless, my friends. Let’s pod!
Note: If you find yourself stirred in some way by this episode and would like to talk more about what it means to be a pastor in these times, feel free to shoot me an email at davewoods@skiff.com. I’d love to chat more with anyone who is interested.
Conjunction junction what’s my function?! Today, we finally tackle a topic we teased at the start of this season: deconstruction and the Christian faith. Join Laura and I as we discuss the trending elephant in the room… and attempt to chart a path forward. Let’s pod!
Come in out of the cold, fellow travelers, light a fire, pour a cuppa, and join Jordan Dobbins and I as we discuss Shakespeare’s most famous play, Hamlet.
All of the best things come from England: Aslan, Hobbits, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit, Harry Potter, the Beatles, and, of course, Jordan Dobbins. Join me this week as I interview my dear friend, colleague, and Britain’s leading export. Let’s pod!
Happy New Year, Pod Fam! I am so happy to welcome you to the first part of THE IMPOSSIBLE QUEST TO THE HEART OF THE ONLY DAN BELLUM! Scientology, Thor, Breaking Bad, Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Chuck Norris, John Carter, high school hellscapes, and Jesus in your brain… buckle up… it’s 2023… let’s pod!
We conclude our series through Rebecca DeYoung’s “Glittering Vices” with a conversation on Envy. Beware the green eye! Let’s pod.
Black Friday? Cyber Monday? Giving Tuesday? What about SAD WEDNESDAY?! That's right! TWO sins for the price of ONE! What a deal. Join me and my resilient crew, Laura and Hayden, as we attempt a tour de force of two structurally similar vices--Gluttony and Lust. Let's Pod!
Join Laura, Hayden, and I as we tackle the deadly sin of Anger for our next installment on Rebecca Deyoung's "Glittering Vices." Let's pod!
Henry Ford once said, "Work is our sanity, our self-respect, our salvation. Through work--and work alone--may health, wealth, and happiness be secured." In the land of hustle culture and entrepreneurial culture how do we understand the capital vice of Sloth? Is it fundamentally laziness, and therefore is working harder, working more, the remedy? I am thrilled to be joined by BOTH Laura Hashimov and Fr. Hayden Butler to tackle this tricky, but deadly, sin. Let's pod!
This week we continue our series through the Seven Deadly Sins by looking at the ubiquitous sin of Greed! Yaaay! As Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon." Matt. 6:24
Join us as we officially kick off our series on Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung's Glittering Vices by going out of order immediately and taking a trip to Vanity Fair... Let's pod!
Fall is in the air . . . in the form of a soul-crushing California heat wave! But Laura and I managed to stay cool in Papa Billy's Bat Cave studio long enough to lay down our season opener. We've missed our pod family and are thrilled to be back in the saddle bringing you some sweet, sweet pod every other week till kingdom come . . . or graduation in the Spring. So gather your friends, family, neighbors, and ne'er-do-wells and join us for the start of Season 4. Let's pod!
We made it! Sort of. Thank you all for your herculean patience. We wanted to get the 'official' Season 3 closer out there so we can rest and regroup over the summer. So here it is. Laura and I chat about memory, summer plans, and, of course... Anne of Green Gables. Let's pod!
Minimalism, maximilism, or something else? What is our stuff for? Join Laura and I as we try to practically sift through our cultural and personal disposition to our stuff. Let's pod!
What did Christianity look like at the edge of the world? In a land of wildness and deep magic, a land where the spirit world was known to be nearer and less controllable than many wanted to believe, Christianity took root by matching wildness to wildness, by overwhelming and directing these magical impulses to their proper ends. This St. Patrick's Day, Fr. Hayden and I revisit the story of St. Patrick and the form of Christianity that emerged from his mission to the Irish, asking if this might be the spiritual tradition we most need in our own time. Let's pod!
The Great Fast begins this week on Ash Wednesday, my friends, so I am particularly pleased to bring you this (timely!) conversation with Reverend Butler on the meaning of Lent, how to approach it, and why it is such an important season in the life of the church. We keep the fast so we can keep the feast! Let’s pod!
Prof. Craig Hovey returns to talk about the very difficult set of questions that arise when Christians face, and participate in, a world of violence. Let's pod.
This week we're changing it up a bit, sharing a sermon I preached at Generation Church in South Oceanside earlier this year. Generation Church is pastored by Tim Parlier--friend and guest of the pod! Many thanks to Tim and his crew for the invite. I am blessed by the good work the Lord is doing in our brothers and sisters in South O (shout out to Nicole and Christiaan!). Wherever you happen to call home, though, I hope the word blesses you as you hear it. Let's pod!
You are riding in a trolley without functioning brakes, headed toward a switch in the tracks. On the current track stand five people who will be killed if the trolley continues on its path. You have access to a switch that would make the trolley change to the other track, but another individual stands there... On today's episode I am joined by Dr. Craig Hovey, Professor of Christian Ethics (and my former seminary prof), to discuss the strange world of Christian morality. Let's pod.
How does the contemporary Christian church recover its witness in a post-Christian society? How does the church resist falling prey to a futile and misguided culture war as well as the failed-but-well-financed McDonaldization of contemporary church forms (re: passive church attendance, performance-based "worship experiences," therapeutic programming, niche small groups, and personality-based leadership cults)? On this week's episode, Dr. Joel Looper joins me to discuss what it means for the church to recover its primary task of forming disciples whose whole lives are oriented around Christ for the sake of others. Let's pod!
This is the second part of my convo with the man himself, Daniel Leetch, wherein we head to Afghanistan, think through fatherhood, and grapple with living a faithful, ordinary life in suburbia.
How does a soldier and survivalist stomach suburbia? To find out, dive into this two-part conversation with human swiss army knife, Daniel Leetch, as we talk discipleship from Christianland to Afghanistan and back again. Let's pod!
On the newest episode of the pod, I am honored to talk with my friend, Maurice Woods, Field Director for Prison Fellowship in Southern California. This is Maurice’s story. But it’s so much more than that, as Maurice would say. This is Jesus’ story. Let’s pod!
Recently, we have begun to experience the cultural and ecclesial reckoning of a certain kind of masculinity and the fallout of a spiritually fatherless generation. A fatherless generation is many things at once: hurt, needy, suspicious of authority, desperate for approval from authority, passive, aggressive, given to all manner of extremes. On the podcast today, I am joined by Pastor Tim Parlier for a conversation about humility, masculinity, and the type of leadership Christian men are called to pursue. Let's pod!
On this episode we conclude our four-part series on C.S. Lewis's The Four Loves with a discussion of agape, the love that moves the sun and other stars. Agape is the goal of all human love, but it is also a love demands our complete vulnerability and surrender to experience it. I hope you'll join Rev. Hayden Butler and I for this important conversation. Let's pod!
"Eros ceases to be a demon only when it ceases to be a god." Join resident Anglican Priest of the Pod, Rev. Butler, and myself as we continue our series on C.S. Lewis's The Four Loves with a conversation on Eros. Lets pod!
Laura returns this week as we continue our conversation on C.S. Lewis's, The Four Loves, tackling the challenges and joys of Friendship. Let's pod!
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Photo: The Inklings
Season 3 is here, my friends! Join Laura and I as we begin our series on C.S. Lewis's, "The Four Loves." And I gotta say . . . it's good to be back. If you like what we're doing please rate and review us on iTunes so more people can discover the pod! All the love(s).
Thinking well is not easy. And it is coming at a premium these days. I hope you'll join the inimitable Laura Hashimov and I for this season-ending pod as we chat about Alan Jacobs' book "How to Think" and the joy of Summer reading! Once more into the breach, my friends!
Millions of Christians in America are living in alternate realities. The church has been contaminated by tribalism and individualism. How do we move forward in a moment like this without losing touch with what's real? On this second to last podcast of our second season, Pastor John Hallowell offers us a four-fold approach to finding God and living a real life in a land of alternate realities. Let's pod!
Painting: Jacob Wrestling with God by Edward Knippers
My friends, this is such an honest and important conversation I think many Christians will be able to resonate with and draw encouragement from. Ms. Laura Batstone (now Mrs. Hashimov!) gives us a candid tour-de-force about life being a single Christian woman into her 30s who is about to tie the knot! Listen in, my friends, there are pearls of wisdom here that every Christian needs to hear. Let’s pod!
Trained as voyeurs, consumers, and addicts of images from ever-younger ages, how do we (re-)learn how to see one another and the Lord Himself in a way that deepens our loves and attachments rather than obliterating them? Rev. Hayden Butler joins us once again on the pod to think through this very challenging set of issues. Let's pod!
Easter is the hinge of all reality. But how do we enter into a deep observance and transformative remembrance of Easter (and Holy Week itself) when we have, we often feel, "heard it all before." On this episode, resident Anglican priest of the pod, Hayden Butler, is going to help us think through what it means to truly enter into holy week this year--a year that has been like no other in our lifetime.
Artist: Bonnie Bruno
Self-awareness. Self-improvement. Personal growth. Personal development. Personal progress. Personal productivity. What happens when the paradigms and strategies of self-improvement that have saturated our culture find their way into the church? On this episode, Rev. Butler and I discuss the goal and shape of spiritual growth in an age of self-reflection.
“In spite of the pain and its failures, I love the church.” On this episode of the pod, I am joined by my friend, Pastor Cole Beshore, a third-generation pastor who grew up in one of the largest megachurches in the country and now pastors Ranch Church in South Orange County. Here Cole talks honestly about growing up as a pastor’s kid and how he’s navigated the call of Jesus to love and serve His church without growing cynical. I hope you enjoy it!
In lieu of some technical difficulties with our previously scheduled episode this week (don't worry, it's still on the way!), I am rolling out an episode that was released previously on our patrons-only channel, Love in the Ruins. It is just me chatting about the poetry of John Donne. Hope you enjoy it! And if you would like to support the podcast with a few bucks and become a patron, just sign up for the newsletter, Love in the Ruins, over at our website, www.frombabylonwithlove.com.
Every year, Rev. Hayden Butler teaches Dante's Divine Comedy to teenagers. Why? What does a 14th-century poem that very few adults have ever read in full have to teach teenagers--or anyone else for that matter--about life? I'm thrilled to have Rev. Butler back on the podcast to guide us as we journey from earth to hell to heaven and back again. Say it one more time for the people in the back--Dante! Is! For! Every! One! Let's pod.
To entice you even more to pick up the Divine Comedy and read, Rev. Butler has created a Lenten Reading Schedule beginning this Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17th, where we will read the entire Divine Comedy by Easter! I am very excited about this. You can get a copy of the reading schedule by sending us a request through our Contact page on the website or by emailing us directly at frombabylonwithlove@gmail.com. I hope you will!
"Here am I, Lord, send me." Many have read these words in Isaiah, others have imagined their implications, or even said them aloud, a precious few have actually followed through and surrendered everything to the Lord's call on their lives. It was my great privilege to sit down with Pastor Ray Clancy, one of my true "anamchara" (the old Gaelic word for "soul friend"), to chat about what it was like to hear the Lord's call to take his young family, leave everything behind, and plant a church in Ireland.
A new year has dawned . . . and it's already off to a rocky start. How should Christians approach and understand time and its passing? How do we resist falling into a consumer/productivity experience of time? What would it mean to experience time as a gift and creation of God? In this episode, I sit down with Rev. Hayden Butler to think more deeply about a Christian sense of time and how to live within it.
"Are we primarily formed by the community of the church or the community of the nation?" As we are poised on the tense precipice of Jan. 20th, I hope this question and the topic of “Christian” Nationalism and the witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in particular, is of interest to many. I am so pleased to be joined by the very thoughtful and winsome Dr. Joel Looper to navigate these waters!
Perhaps unbelievably, this was recorded the day before the deadly chaos of January 6th. Let that sink in as you listen to it. Something is well and truly over, folks. The fruit of the last few decades of contemporary Christianity's slide into an entrenched culture war, post-truth partisan politics, and the pursuit of power by any means necessary has been harvested before our eyes. And it is disgraceful, corrupt, and a betrayal of the reality of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Join John and I as we sift through the rubble and try to make sense of what we've seen, what we should have seen, and what we need to think through moving forward.
Advent is a time of fasting; Christmas is a time of feasting! In the spirit of the holiday, I am so happy to be able to bring you this conversation I had with my good friend--and master chef--Roshelle Simpson. We talk about life, faith, and Roshelle's experiences in the world of food and food culture in Southern California. Roshelle is the owner of Sote by Roshelle (http://sotebyroshelle.com/) and one of my favorite humans. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
Gather around, my friends, for one of the great ghost stories of this or any other age. On this Christmas Pod Special, Laura Batstone and I talk about that Victorian classic, Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol." So light a fire in the fireplace, pour yourself something warm and soothing, and let's get festive!
"Who we are is more important than what we have achieved." On this episode of the pod I talk to my friend, Eric Balmer, about fatherlessness and fatherhood, finding identity after fame, and what it means to be truly grateful. Let's pod!
"WAKE UP!" "CONNECT THE DOTS!" "STOP BELIEVING WHAT YOU HEAR FROM THE MEDIA!" From the Garden of Eden to the present day, human beings have shown a primordial desire to obtain "secret knowledge." In our own time, many have grown deeply bored with their ordinary lives and feel disconnected and excluded from the traditional centers of power. Others feel a lack of control over even the most basic aspects of their lives, especially during a pandemic. In that milieu, conspiracy theories can offer an easy path to significance and control, a way of belonging to an inner circle of knowers, a game-ified version of ordinary life where one is able to take up the role of an insider fighting a righteous battle of world-altering importance. How should Christians navigate this very-online space where conspiracy thinking has come to dominate so many quarters of social media, politics, and the minds of people we love? These are tough, big questions, and I am so glad Laura Batstone agreed to chat with me about them. Let's pod!
We live in a culture of relentless self-optimization. On the one hand, we are told to be ourselves, that no one is quite like us, that the world needs our unique brand of creativity and self-expression. But, on the other hand, we are also always being told that we should be the very best, best, best, best version of ourselves--that we can always be better, eat better, exercise better, look better, think better, succeed better, relax better, care for ourselves better. Better, better, better! Nowhere is this tyranny of the ideal more obvious and more taxing than in the way our culture views and advertises to women. On this episode of the pod, I am joined by my friend and colleague, Laura Batstone, to discuss how this relentless pursuit of better is experienced by women inside and outside the church. Don't miss it.
Illustration: Ari Liloan/The Guardian
What is being revealed about our world and ourselves at this particular cultural moment? Many have evoked the language of the End Times and the apocalyptic in light of the pandemic as well as in light of this coming election. How should we think about the work of the Lord in a moment like this? What hidden things are being made manifest in our world and in the church? What in our own hearts is being revealed? Is this the hour of the world’s last night? What should we fear? And where is our hope to be found? I hope you’ll join us for this conversation.
K-12 education has been disrupted at an unprecedented scale this year. Few options facing parents are straightforward or reliable or without obvious drawbacks. Virtual, in-person, hybrid? Parents are stressed, some are trying online school, others have opted to homeschool, others are just praying as their children head off to be in large groups for hours and hours each day during a pandemic. In this uncertain climate, I sit down with my friend, Beth Young, to talk about why this is a perfect moment for parents to take a deep breath and reflect on what education is all about and what we hope for our kids in the long-run. We talk about how Beth's own life shaped her educational philosophy, how she approaches educating her own children, and why Charlotte Mason is a name everyone should know. Be encouraged, parents! The Lord is good, our children are incredible, and the world is full of beautiful things.
There really is no hyperbole left. Evangelicalism is in its death-throes. We have lost moral credibility with our neighbors. We have lost intellectual credibility with our neighbors. And yet we claim to have the hope of all the earth, and we claim to want more than anything to share that hope with . . . our neighbors(!) Is it possible that we evangelicals have not yet truly understood and embraced the transformative power of the Gospel for ourselves and the world around us? In our first episode of Season 2, I sit down with Dr. Mark Labberton, the President of Fuller Theological Seminary--one of the largest evangelical seminaries in the world--to talk about the crisis of evangelicalism and the hope of the evangel. It’s not a conversation for the faint of heart, but I think it is an important one. Welcome to Season 2, my friends.
We're baaaaack! Almost. Next week we officially launch Season 2 of the pod. The following week I launch the FBWL Newsletter (https://davewoods.substack.com/welcome). And it couldn't arrive soon enough. The world is on fire. Babylon the great is crumbling. And yet here we are, tucked away in the shadow of that hideous strength. What a time to be alive, my friends. What a time to follow Jesus. And what a time to pod! Good stuff is on the way, I promise. And if you make it through this little preview of coming attractions, you'll even catch the smooth new outro from the only house band that will survive the apocalypse, Lonesome & Muddy. What more can I say?
The ones who will resist the spreading darkness of this historical moment and endure to the end... will be hobbits. In Part 2 of our final episode, John and I talk about the Ring of Power currently tempting every group in our crumbling society and the surprising depths of those small enchanted folk from Buckland, Bree, and the Shire. It is time for true followers of Jesus to step forward, resist the false promise of political power, and lay hold of a true life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, a life marked by faith, hope, and most of all love.
Are you a person or a brand? Is political ideology at the core of your identity, or is Christ? Our current historical moment has revealed something that has been obvious to many for a while now--though evangelicals are great in number, we are not actually driven by our relationship with Christ. For our final pod of the season, Pastor John and I thought we'd try to tackle something worth chewing on over the Summer. We also decided (after we recorded it) to break it into two parts. In this first part, Pastor John and I talk about how the self got inverted and what it means to cultivate true personhood. Those who invest in their personhood will stand the best chance of fending off the darkening shadow of hateful politics and narcissism spreading over our land.
"We can't let such an inevitable thing as death stand in the way of enjoying life while we have it." Here, my friends, is the stunning conclusion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz."
Behold, a free audiobook from me to you. I present Part 1 of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." A truly American dream.
What if this historical moment is a turning point not only for ordinary life but for the Christian church? What if losing our normal freedom to conduct church as we have been doing for decades is an enormous blessing in disguise? What if this is a moment in which our excesses and distractions are finally burned away and the church can refocus itself on what actually matters? In this episode, I offer a 5-point manifesto on what is essential for the church moving forward. There may only be a remnant that keeps the faith when the dust settles on the age of pandemics, but that remnant will have committed itself to these things. Discipleship is all or nothing, according to Christ. And the Lord is seeking those people and those churches that are truly his to stand up and re-commit to what is most essential. Nothing else will remain.
In this week's episode, I dust off the prophetic hat of CARNAC THE MAGNIFICENT to peer into the near future and make 9 pronouncements about what life in the new age of pandemics will look like. Come for the 9 Theses, stay for the iPhone-level audio quality recorded in my garage! Don't fear the uncertainty of the new normal, my friends, and don't buy into the temptation not to take things seriously. Let me take things seriously for you by predicting the future in a way that reckons with the reality of the age of pandemics that has dawned but remains stubbornly hopeful about the possibilities change might bring... let's pod!
We're Back! And what a time to be alive! The world is on the cusp of so much change, of rethinking so many social and cultural formations. This is the PERFECT time to do some deeper thinking about the culture we live in and our place within it. What does Christ have to do with culture? What did the founders understand about the secular that is crucial to recover in our age? How can Christians get back to having a presence in the public square that is not domineering, fearful, or unnecessarily antagonistic? These are big questions and big ideas and THIS IS THE TIME FOR BIG QUESTIONS AND BIG IDEAS! This episode is at the heart of why we launched this podcast project to begin with...excelsior!
Last week, we reflected on what it means to be home during this crisis. This week, we look outward from our homes and ask what it means to be a good neighbor in an uncertain time, a time when information is still scant and the temptation to hunker down and focus on our own tribe is strong. Drawing together the ancient Greek concept of Xenia and Jesus' injunction to love our neighbors as ourselves, David asks how we can expand our circle a little more and welcome different people across the threshold.
How has it been being... home? What is a home for? Recorded on an iPhone, this is the first pod since the general lockdown, in which David reflects on what our homes are, what they welcome, what they keep out, and how we can repair the places that have worn down or grown dysfunctional over the years. A home is a place as well as a goal, an atmosphere as well as an orientation. What better time to reflect deeply on what our homes are and what we long for them to be. Let's do some spring/quarantine cleaning!
The Corona Virus. Frozen 2. And Christian Sensationalism. Welcome to the new/old normal! Right before the ban, producer Zach Leetch and I snuck into the church to make one last studio recording before the National Guard escorted us out. So, here we are. How should Christians tackle a moment of amorphous anxiety and creeping dread? Where is the good to be found when life is shaken and our most basic rhythms and commitments are put to the test?
STAY PUT. Those two words mean something very different to all of us today than they did even three weeks ago. And while I can't claim any particular prescience here, it is surely not accidental that this week's pod explores the question of stability in a time of radical change. In this episode, I sit down with Rev. Hayden Butler to discuss how we live lives marked by growth and stability in a time of impermanence. If growth in the Christian life means being formed in love for God and neighbor, the role of the community of faith in the Christian life is central. What does it mean to be answerable to one another and to the church through history? What does it mean to take your place among the communion of saints, both living and dead?
Love Island. The Bachelor. The Bachelorette. Are You the One? Temptation Island. Love Connection. Blind Date. The Dating Game. Beauty and the Geek. Next. Love is Blind... In a culture out-of-its-mind obsessed with the idea of relationships and romance, what is the experience of being single through your 20s? Your 30s? Your 40s? More to the point, in an evangelical subculture that has notoriously not seen singleness as beautiful but as not-quite-whole-ness, as aww-poor-so-and-so-ness... how should single people understand their place in the church? In this episode, David sits down with Pastor Aaron Gomez to talk candidly about the church's failures, why singles ministries are dumb, and how walking with the Lord as a single person in a community of faith is meant to be a profound, mature spiritual experience. Come for Pastor Aaron's perspective as a single guy in his 30s who is also a senior pastor of a church... stay for the practical encouragement to walk steady with the Lord regardless of your relationship status!
You do you. Follow your desire. Seek your own perfection. Reality is something each of us constructs for ourselves by exerting our will and manifesting our desire. Or so we're told. But good fairy tales know better. In this episode, Justin and David turn to a luck dragon named Falkor and a German fairy tale written in 1979 to chart their way home through the nihilistic wastelands of consumerism and self-expression. How do we find our way home when The Nothing has invaded our land? How do we change when we discover The Nothing within ourselves? Pour a cup of coffee and join us for storytime in the Reading Room.
What are fairy tales and why do they matter? This is the question J.R.R. Tolkien took up in a lecture he gave at the University of St. Andrews on March 8, 1939. In our own time, fairy tales and fantasy stories have become something of an obsession for many people well into their adult years. Is this infantilism? A refusal to enter fully into adult life and responsibility? Is it escapism? Disenchantment with a disenchanted world? In this episode, David and Justin do a deep-dive into Tolkien's famous essay, "On Fairy Stories," to see what sorts of treasures can be found there. At one point in his essay, a very grown-up Tolkien very seriously writes, "I desire dragons with a profound desire." And so do we. ...But why?
When, as a child, were you overwhelmed by reality? What most decisively shaped your imagination as you grew up? Who were the teachers in your life whose love of their subject inspired you? In this episode, David sits down with Rev. Hayden Butler to discuss how we never stop growing up and how our longing for more, our ache to push past the walls of our world, is a fundamentally Christian impulse to love what is good, what is true, and what is beautiful.
In his book on Christian community, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, "The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children." If you haven't listened to any other episode, you should listen to this one. It's true. It's hard. It's good. It's beautiful. In this episode, David sits down with Angela Ward to talk about motherhood, adoption, suffering, and her mission to encourage all of us to love the ones who get ignored. As Bonhoeffer adds later in his seminal work, "The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from everyday Christian life in community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ." We pray you will be encouraged and inspired to pray prayers that scare you, to welcome in those who need homes, to love with a love that is deeper, wider, and more transformative than you feel capable of, to the glory of Jesus Christ, the face of God.
It is so easy to be misled. It is so easy to get caught up in someone's agenda or to mistake the power of this world for the power of God. Jesus warns his followers that a time of persecution and delusion is coming, but we are not to be afraid or misled. In this episode, Pastor John and David continue their deep dive into Jesus' teaching about the End Times in Luke 21, turning now to what is known as "The Time of the Gentiles." How do Christians avoid getting caught up in panic and delusion? How do we live for Jesus at the end of time?
The End is Near! Don't Be Left Behind! Prophecy. Anti-Christ. Israel. The Temple in Jerusalem. Wars and Rumors of Wars. The End Times has become a feverish industry of speculation, excitement, fear, and commerce. But Jesus tells his followers not to be misled. How disciples of Jesus think about the end affects how they live today. In this week's episode, Pastor John and Pastor David attempt to wade through some of the sensationalism (and burnout) of End Times speculation, taking a deeper dive into the historical context of Jesus' teaching about the end of time.
Wellness. Healing. Protection. Blessing. Transformation. Our age of anxiety has birthed an age of remedies, medication, rituals, and therapies whose promises are often breathtaking. As we feel the loss of control over our lives, we often grasp for either alternative or traditional forms of power to guard against pain, anxiety, and despair. In this episode, David describes one way of thinking through this cultural moment and its temptations by exploring the ancient uses of magic and some of its unexpected contemporary analogues. Is magic similar or dissimilar to faith? What is the path for the disciple of Jesus in an age of technique?
Flannery O'Connor described the modern world as one ruled by a "tenderness that ends in terror." Is empathy the same thing as love? Does the Gospel transport us, affirm us, or transform us? On this episode of the pod, David sits down with the Reverend Chris Stratton to discuss the increasingly unpopular idea that God's love both requires and effects our change.
We live in a time of incredible instability. Institutions are crumbling. The church's witness is faltering fatally. Now more than ever, the work of the Spirit in each person's life--the project of salvation, living a virtuous life, building stability in the world--must be the focus of any serious Christian ministry and any serious Christian minister. This is Part II of Pastor John and Pastor David's discussion of ministry in Orange County, California, turning now to the particular emphases John and David pursue at a small, pastor-led church like Zoe Church in the midst of a culture in crisis.
CHURCH-GROWTH STRATEGIES. THE MEGACHURCH MOVEMENT. THE SEEKER-SENSITIVE MOVEMENT. For the last 30 years, the contemporary evangelical church in America has been the subject of intense devotion, intense marketing, and intense ridicule. But sometimes one person's story is the most illuminating way into a big, complex topic. And sometimes, the most helpful--if less sensational--voices come from those who have seen the highs and lows from the inside but have not abandoned the church. This is Part 1 of the story of Pastor John Hallowell's ministry in the heart of Orange County, California, and the faithfulness of the Lord through it all.
What tempts you? Why are you tempted? What is so attractive about sin? In this final meditation on John Milton's Paradise Lost, David reflects on Eve's dream in Book 5 and explores what lies at the heart of Satan's attempts to seduce Eve to sin. This will be the last episode on Paradise Lost, at least for now, but we hope these reflections will have encouraged some interest in this beautiful poem. There are fully 12 Books in Milton's epic... so we have, intentionally, only scratched the surface. If it has encouraged even a few of you to read the poem for yourselves, it will have all been worth it! Godspeed, fellow readers.
How do we understand God in the midst of suffering? What does it mean to search for God and to have trouble finding him? In this meditation on Paradise Lost, we reflect on Milton's blind Speaker and his struggle to perceive the God he loves. Is his own blindness a curse from God? Is it an avenue of spiritual insight? Book 3 awaits...
The Fall of the Rebel Angels... Down through endless darkness and deep perdition. This week in The Reading Room, David plunges deep down into the abyss of the opening books of Milton's Paradise Lost for our second meditation on this masterpiece. Why does Milton begin his epic poem in hell? Why does Satan seem so... recognizable? Even beautiful? Or heroic? We will explore the satanic mind and its infernal, liberationist machinations, with an uncomfortable eye on our own minds and their operations before and concerning the God who made them. Take a deep breath, friends.
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Follow along by reading Books 1 and 2 of Paradise Lost, if you are interested. Any edition will do.
"Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste Brought Death into the World, and all our woe"
Gentle listener, for a moment this Advent season, allow me to coax you away from the bright cold neon onslaught of holiday cheer and into the candlelit sanctuary of the FBWL Reading Room. Pour yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and take a seat by the warm, crackling fire as we reflect upon THE FALL OF MANKIND. After all, how can we truly appreciate the hope of Christmas unless we have acknowledged the darkness into which that light has shone? So, for the next few weeks, I will be doing a series of meditations on John Milton's staggeringly beautiful epic poem, Paradise Lost. It is a story of sin and salvation, angels and demons, the creation of the world and, yes, the fall of mankind. You do not need to have read or even heard of this work in order to listen along. So don't feel anxious or guilty about having to do anything--just put your feet up and listen. If you should find yourself inspired, you can dip your toe in those crystalline poetic waters at your leisure. I think it happens to be a perfect read for Advent... This first episode is a general introduction to Milton himself and the poem itself, just a nice little stretch to limber up before the main event. Happy listening.
Telos. Nature. Plato's Cave. In-N-Out. John 8:31-32. And, of course, Giraffes. In this episode, Justin and I attempt to chart the last leg of our history of freedom as we turn to the Christian and classical understanding of freedom. Onward to human flourishing and the sun of the good! Onward to Sarah Smith of Golders Green! Onward to Giraffes with Long Necks!
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
"True Freedom is the realization of a complex nature in its proper ends, both natural and supernatural. It is the power o a thing to flourish, to become ever more fully what it is. But to think of freedom thus, one must believe not only that we possess an actual nature which must flourish to be free but also that there is a transcendent good toward which that nature is oriented. to be fully free is to be joined to that end for which our natures were originally framed, and whatever separates us from that end, including even our own personal choices, is a form of bondage... We are free, that is to say, not because we can choose, but only when we have chosen well."
--DBH
"Don't Tread on Me!" "Get off my lawn!" "'Merica!" We are a people obsessed with the idea of individual sovereignty and autonomy. We are also consumers at our core and children of the Enlightenment who have come to believe that the ability to choose--regardless of the content of that choice--is the one great high good for which we are willing to live and die. But what exactly is freedom? And what has freedom meant in the past? In this two-part series, Justin and I dive a little deeper into the history of the concept of freedom, beginning with some of its contemporary expressions and then moving backward in time to develop a genealogy that might help us better reflect, ultimately, on what we, as Christians, ought to understand when we read the words of St. Paul: "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5:1).
Demons. Frank Peretti. Stephen King. The Incarnation. What is the role of literature in the life of a Christian? Over the years, I have heard many Christians dismiss fiction as an unnecessary part of the Christian life. Even many pastors I know typically treat history and biography as the 'important' things to read, but fiction is a distant third or fourth, if it has any place at all. In this episode, Justin Lee and I take a deeper dive into the subject of Christians (particularly evangelical Christians) and literature. Why have evangelicals historically struggled to see literature as an essential part of a deep Christian life? Justin and I attempt to describe what good fiction aims to do, what bad fiction often does, and why evangelicals have had little patience with the good stuff. SO BEGINS THE READING REVOLUTION!
Here is a short list of some brilliant fiction to get you started if you haven't tackled these already:
-The End of the Affair by Graham Greene -The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver -Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy -Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov -Brave New World by Aldous Huxley -The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner -A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O' Connor
"Great. So, it's a massive problem. Now what?"
In the second part of my conversation with Justin Lee, we turn our discussion to how one resists a culture of fragmentation and cultivates habits that aid the development of a deep Christian life in our age of anxiety and distraction. There are certainly still some tough issues on the table, but in part 2 we set our focus more deliberately on the good, on the Christian life, in particular, on church, shared liturgies, and the resources available to Christians to craft a deeper Christian life. There is hope! There is beauty! And it is worth the struggle to be free.
Did Jesus dream of Electric Sheep? Probably not. But how should Christians think about their relationship to technology in an age of mass distraction? In this episode, Justin Lee (contributing columnist for the Independent and Literary Editor for ARC Digital) and I sit down for a candid conversation about attention, screens, device addiction, social media, passive consumption, and all sorts of other things that can distract us to death if we are not thoughtful and intentional about our practices. In this first part of our conversation, we focus on children, parents, and families before broadening the connections to everyone and everyday life. This is a practical, honest conversation I think anyone can benefit from.
Warning for Parents: We touch (very briefly) on some heavy things like adolescent suicide, bullying, and pornography use. So maybe listen first before deciding if your children should hear these things.
Here's a reading list:
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read, and Remember by Nicholas G. Carr The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood by Dr. Jean Twenge
In our Second Episode, Pastor John and I sit down to tackle the subject of Evangelicals and the Life of the Mind. Using Mark Noll's book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, as a jumping-off point, we do a deeper dive into the history of evangelicalism in America, describing the emergence of fundamentalism (and dispensationalism) and the growing strain of anti-intellectualism that so often marks evangelicalism in contemporary American life. We discuss how evangelicals' loss of power and influence in culture repeatedly leads to over-reaction, rejection of culture (rather than a deeper witness and engagement with ideas and issues in culture), and finally, legislation. A very real historical cycle of revival, dissolution/corruption, and reaction can be seen repeating through this history from the Puritans through the 19th century up to the present day. As we trace these patterns, we encounter such touchstone moments as the Salem Witch Trials, both Great Awakenings, the birth of Fundamentalism, the Scopes Monkey Trial, and the rise of the Moral Majority. Finally, gasps for air we attempt to encourage a way forward for Christians seeking to have a genuine, long-term witness to Christ in our culture, Christians who want to engage the life of their minds, who want to be able stay engaged in the important debates of their time for the sake of the world and the glory of God. Find a starting reading list below:
The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll
The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design by Ronald L. Numbers
Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism by George Marsden
Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism by George Marsden
In our first episode, Pastor John Hallowell and I sit down for a deep dive into how we ought to approach reading the Bible and the very real problems that arise when we approach the Bible too quickly or with bad reading habits and reflexes. Pastor John offers a clear, thorough approach anyone can use to help them engage the text in deeper and more accurate ways, a method of Bible reading that can be done in as little as 15 minutes or as much as several hours. We believe that daily Bible reading is of such value and importance in the life of a Christian that we ought to be willing to invest the care and effort needed in order to do it well.
Show Notes:
Here's a little outline you can return to to recall the IOWA method Pastor John lays out (which begins about minute 25:30):
First Pass: What did this mean when it was written?
Identify: Passages not verses, Genre, Textual Context (within the book), Historical Context Observe: The Author’s Intent and Language (voice, mind, heart, spirit) Write: A Creative Record (free form, mind map, diagram sentences, notations) Analyze: What did it mean? Summarize the passage
Second Pass: What does this mean for us now?
Identify: Differences between then & now. Your Context (both spiritual [New Covenant] and historical) Observe: What is going on inside of you/If the Holy Spirit is showing you something. Is there something healthy here the Spirit wants you to emulate, a warning he wants you to heed? Write: A formal expression of what the Spirit has done in you in relation to this passage: a journal entry, a song, a sermon, a prayer, a letter Analyze: The Big Picture: What does it all mean? And what has the Spirit planted in you now that you have encountered this Word?