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195: Dominique Gilliard on How the Church Can Rethink Incarceration & Advocate for Justice That Restores

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*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org

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Dominique DuBois Gilliard is the director of racial righteousness and reconciliation for the Love Mercy Do Justice (LMDJ) initiative of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). He serves on the board of directors for the Christian Community Development Association and Evangelicals for Justice. In 2015, he was selected as one of the ECC’s “40 Under 40” leaders to watch, and the Huffington Post named him one of the “Black Christian Leaders Changing the World.” An ordained minister, Gilliard has served in pastoral ministry in Atlanta, Chicago, and Oakland. He was executive pastor of New Hope Covenant Church in Oakland, California and also served in Oakland as the associate pastor of Convergence Covenant Church. He was also the campus minister at North Park University and the racial righteousness director for ECC’s ministry initiatives in the Pacific Southwest Conference. With articles published in the CCDA Theology Journal, The Covenant Quarterly, and Sojourners, Gilliard has also blogged for Christianity Today, Faith & Leadership, Red Letter Christians, Do Justice, and The Junia Project. He earned a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Georgia State University and a master’s degree in history from East Tennessee State University, with an emphasis on race, gender, and class in the United States. He also earned an MDiv from North Park Seminary, where he served as an adjunct professor teaching Christian ethics, theology, and reconciliation.

The United States has more people locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers than any other country in the history of the world. Mass incarceration has become a lucrative industry, and the criminal justice system is plagued with bias and unjust practices. And the church has unwittingly contributed to the problem.
Dominique Gilliard explores the history and foundation of mass incarceration, examining Christianity’s role in its evolution and expansion. He then shows how Christians can pursue justice that restores and reconciles, offering creative solutions and highlighting innovative interventions.
The church has the power to help transform our criminal justice system. Discover how you can participate in the restorative justice needed to bring authentic rehabilitation, lasting transformation, and healthy reintegration to this broken system.

-From the Publisher

 

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194 – Rebekah Lyons, on Hardship, Feminism, and More!

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Rebekah Lyons is the author of Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning and Founder of Q Women.

She is the mother of three, wife of one and a dog walker of two living in Nashville. Rebekah is an old soul with a contemporary, honest voice who puts a new face on the struggles women face as they seek to live a life of meaning. Through emotive writing and speaking, Rebekah reveals her own battles to overcome anxiety, depression, and consumer impulses – challenging women to discover and boldly pursue the calling God has for them.

Alongside her husband, Gabe, Rebekah serves as cofounder of Q Ideas, a nonprofit organization that helps Christian leaders winsomely engage culture. Her favorite pastime is spent with her nose in a book and a discriminating cup of coffee in hand.

Have you bought the lie? Many of us do. We measure our worth by what others think of us. We compare and strive, existing mostly for the approval of others. Pressure rises, anxiety creeps in and we hustle to keep up.

Jesus whispers, I gave my life to set you free. I gave you purpose. I called you to live in freedom in that purpose. Yet we still hobble through life, afraid to confess all the ways we push against this truth, because we can’t even believe it. We continue to grasp for the approval of anyone that will offer it: whether strangers, friends, or community.

Christ doesn’t say you can be or may be or will be free. He says you are free.

Dare you believe it?

In You Are Free, Rebekah invites you to:

• Overcome the exhaustion of trying to meet the expectations of others and rest in the joy God’s freedom brings.

• Release stress, anxiety and worry, to uncover the peace that comes from abiding in His presence.

• Find permission to grieve past experiences, confess areas of brokenness, and receive strength in your journey towards healing.

• Throw off self-condemnation, burn superficial masks and step boldly into what our good God has for you.

• Discover the courage to begin again and use your newfound freedom to set others free.

Freedom is for everyone who wants it—the lost, the wounded, and those weary from all of the striving. It’s for those who gave up trying years ago. It’s for those angry and hurt, brilliant and burnt by the Christian song and dance. You are the church, the people of God. You were meant to be free.

-From the Publisher

 

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193 – Austin Channing Brown, on Her New Book “I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness”, Why White People Have So Many Cats, and What Makes “Insecure” Such an Amazing Show

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*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org

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AUSTIN CHANNING BROWN is a writer, speaker, and practitioner who helps schools, nonprofits, and religious organizations practice genuine inclusion. Her writing has appeared in outlets like Christianity Today, Relevant, Sojourners, and The Christian Century.

Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age 7, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion.

In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value “diversity” in their mission statements, I’m Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America’s social fabric–from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations.

For readers who have engaged with America’s legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I’m Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness–if we let it–can save us all.

-From the Publisher

 

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192 – Bonnie Kristian, Author of A Flexible Faith

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Bonnie Kristian is a theological and political writer with a national following. She has columns and bylines at publications including The Week, Rare, Time Magazine, CNN, Relevant Magazine, Politico, The Hill, and The American Conservative. Bonnie is active in teaching roles in her church, a Mennonite community where she leads a study group and speaks regularly at Sunday services. She graduated from Bethel Seminary with a Master of Arts in Christian Thought, a theological studies degree with special emphasis on engaging culture with the gospel. Bonnie lives with her husband, two dogs, and two guinea pigs in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She keeps busy running, gardening, and fixing up her 100-year-old house.

It is all too easy to fail to grasp the diversity of the Christian faith-especially for those who have grown up in one branch of the church and never explored another. We fail to realize how many ways there are to follow Jesus, convinced that our own tradition is the one Christian alternative to nonbelief.
A FLEXIBLE FAITH is written for the convinced and confused believer alike. It is a readable exploration of the lively theological diversity that stretches back through church history and across the spectrum of Christianity today. It is an easy introduction to how Christians have historically answered key questions about what it means to follow Jesus. Chapters will include 17 big theological questions and answers; profiles of relevant figures in church history; discussion questions; single-page Q&As-profiles of more unusual types of Christians (e.g., a Catholic nun or a member of an Amish community); and a guide to major Christian denominations today.

As Bonnie shares her wrestlings with core issues-such as who Jesus is, what place the Church has in our lives, how to disagree yet remain within a community, and how to love the Bible for what it actually is-she teaches us how to walk courageously through our own tough questions.

Following Jesus is big and it is something that individual believers, movements, and denominations have expressed in uncountably different ways over the centuries. In the process of helping us sort things out, Bonnie shows us how to be comfortable with diversity in the Body. And as we learn to hold questions in one hand and answers in the other, we will discover new depths of faith that will remain secure even through the storms of life.
-From the Publisher

 

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191 – Derek Vreeland, on NT Wright, Atonement Theories, and The Day The Revolution Began

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Derek Vreeland is the Discipleship Pastor at Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is the author of Through the Eyes of N.T. Wright: A Reader’s Guide to Paul and the Faithfulness of God and Primal Credo: Your Entrance into the Apostles’ Creed. Derek lives in St. Joe with his wife, Jenni, and three boys, Wesley, Taylor, and Dylan. He earned a M.Div. from Oral Roberts University and a D.Min. from Asbury Theological Seminary.

The death of Jesus is the foundation of our faith, but what do we mean when we confess that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture? N.T. Wright’s book The Day the Revolution Began offers compelling answers to that question. His book is nothing less than a game changer. Just as Wright’s book Surprised By Hope changed our view of the end, so this book is changing our view of the cross. This reader’s guide offers a clear summary of Wright’s interpretation of the cross in the context of both history and the big story told by the Bible. Using this reader’s guide prayerfully will open up vistas of the love of God as you see the revolutionary cross with new eyes. Such a renewed vision will stir your thinking, prompt new conversations about the cross, cause your love for Christ to grow, and equip the Church to carry forth her gospel-shaped mission.-From the Publisher

From the show…

“The Christian Mission is to implement the victory that Jesus won on the cross.” -N.T. Wright

“First and foremost it looks like communities of followers of Jesus that deeply love one another, in spite of our differences. It has to be first within the household of God. We are a demonstration of the age to come, so within the church we have to love one another we have to practice forgiveness and reconciliation with one another. If we’re going to have any credibility in the wider culture we have to show them what love and reconciliation looks like then we will be the shining light on the hill.” – Derek Vreeland

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Seminary Dropout 84: NT Wright

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190 – Jo Saxton, on Being Who We Are Meant to Be, Not Who People Want Us to Be

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*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org

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Jo Saxton is a pastor, a church-planter, an author, and a speaker who travels the globe to address leadership organizations, children’s conferences, women’s events, and Christian festivals. She also serves on the advisory board for Today’s Christian Woman, co-hosts the Lead Stories podcast, and spends much of her time mentoring and training leaders through 3DMovements, an international discipleship operation. She lives with her husband and their two daughters near Minneapolis.

Let’s be honest, the life you lead isn’t what you’ve always dreamt. And maybe the person you’ve become isn’t who you’ve always imagined. Sure, you can clean it up. You can work longer, love harder, and eat better. You can scrub the surface of your life until it gleams and still never address the fact that somehow you lost sight of who you really are and what you’re living for.

Is this the life you were meant to live?

As the child of Nigerian immigrants in the UK, author and speaker Jo Saxton knows firsthand how quickly the world can cause us to doubt our dreams and question who we are. She understands how easily we can exchange our true child-of-God selves for an identity built on lies, guilt, and brokenness.
In this powerful book, Jo examines Biblical figures and shares her personal story as she invites you to turn to the One who knows you intimately and loves you deeply. He sees all you’ve struggled to hide. He hears the voice inside you that others have silenced. He knows the potential and purpose that no one valued. He longs to redeem the story of your life and set you on the path to reclaim The Dream of You.Are you ready?

-From the Publisher

From the show…

“I’ve seen how often women can edit their callings in the presence of guys, even if they know those guys are for them…”

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Seminary Dropout 179 – Amena Brown, Author of “How to Fix a Broken Record” on Poetry, Marriage, and Princesses

Seminary Dropout 177 – Tara Beth Leach, Author of Emboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in Ministry

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189 – Jean Johnson, Author of “We Are Not The Hero”, on Missions, and Colonialism

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*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org

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With over 32 years of ministry experience, Jean serves as a missionary and coach as well as Five Stones Global’s Executive Director. She is the author of We Are Not the Hero: A Missionary’s Guide to Sharing Christ, Not a Culture of Dependency. Jean holds a B.A. in cross-cultural communications from North Central University, Minneapolis, MN, where she also taught as a missionary-in-residence from 2009-2012.

Upon completing her education, Jean worked as a church planter for six years living and serving among Cambodians in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Consecutively, Jean continued her work serving as a career missionary in Cambodia for sixteen years (1992-2009). Jean trained Cambodians through modeling and facilitating how to plant churches that have the vision, God-given authority, and capacity to plant others churches. Her vision for and practice of church planting is encompassed in the Cambodian proverb, “Enter a river where it bends; enter a country by its customs.”

At heart, Jean is a cross-cultural communicator who specializes in worldview strategic church planting, oral strategies, and on-the-job pastoral training. Jean’s current role at Five Stones Global reflects her tenured missionary experience. Jean teaches, coaches, and trains missionaries, pastors, church committees, organizations, and short-term mission teams on how to intentionally build-in sustainability, indigeneity, and multiplication in missions and disciple-making efforts throughout the world.

Drawing from her unique life experiences serving Cambodians both stateside and internationally, Jean invites you on a learning journey to discover ways to contribute to self-sustaining and reproducing church planting movements that are biblically rooted and culturally relevant. Presently, Jean makes her home in Minneapolis where she enjoys reading, writing, spending time with family and friends, walks in nature, biking, and ice cream.


While globalization gives North American Christians unprecedented opportunities to influence the world, we need to take care not to slip into a type of postmodern colonialism in which we make ourselves the experts or the ‘hero come to save the day.’ Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations, not to spread Western cultural Christianity or solve the world with American dollars.

In We Are Not the Hero, the author invites you on a learning journey—through Cambodia and other parts of the world—to discover ways to contribute to self-sustaining and reproducing church movements that are organic to the culture.

If you are a student, missionary, church planter, missions-oriented church, or Great Commission-minded disciple you will find this book both inspirational and valuable to your experience.  -From the Publisher

From the show…

“We ourselves don’t know what is culture and what is Gospel.” -Jean Johnson

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137: Chris Marlow, Author of ” Doing Good is Simple: Make a Difference Right Where You Are”

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188 – Daniel Hill, on What it Means to be White

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Daniel Hill is the founding and senior pastor of River City Community Church, a vibrant, multiethnic church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. He is the author of 10:10: Life to the Fullest. Prior to starting River City, Daniel worked in the business world before serving five years on the staff of Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago suburbs. He has a business degree from Purdue University, an MA in theology from Moody Bible Institute, a certificate in church-based community and economic development from Harvard Divinity School, and a DMin from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Elizabeth, who is a professor of psychology, and they are the proud parents of two children.

Daniel Hill will never forget the day he heard these words: “Daniel, you may be white, but don’t let that lull you into thinking you have no culture. White culture is very real. In fact, when white culture comes in contact with other cultures, it almost always wins. So it would be a really good idea for you to learn about your culture.” Confused and unsettled by this encounter, Hill began a journey of understanding his own white identity. Today he is an active participant in addressing and confronting racial and systemic injustices. And in this compelling and timely book, he shows you the seven stages to expect on your own path to cultural awakening. It’s crucial to understand both personal and social realities in the areas of race, culture, and identity. This book will give you a new perspective on being white and also empower you to be an agent of reconciliation in our increasingly diverse and divided world. -From the Publisher

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167 – Ken Wytsma, Author of ‘The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege’

Seminary Dropout 117: Drew Hart, Author of “Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism”

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187 – Chris A. Hall on Living Wisely with the Church Fathers

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This Week on Seminary Dropout…

Christopher A. Hall (PhD, Drew University) is the president of Renovaré Institute of Christian Spiritual Formation. He is associate editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, and his books include Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers, Learning Theology with the Church Fathers, and Worshiping with the Church Fathers. Hall previously served at Eastern University for over twenty years in several roles, including chancellor, provost, dean of Palmer Seminary, dean of the Templeton Honors College, distinguished professor of theology, and director of academic spiritual formation. He and his wife, Debbie, live in Pennsylvania and have three grown children.

The first centuries of Christianity are like a far country. But despite their foreignness, they hold a treasury of wisdom for living. Early Christians struggled and flourished in a culture that was in love with empire and military power, infatuated with sex and entertainment, tolerant of all gods but hostile to the One. And from this crucible of discipleship they extracted lessons of virtue, faithfulness, and joy in Christ. Christopher Hall takes us to this distant time, where he interviews Christian leaders around the ancient Mediterranean world, inquiring how to live a good life as a Christ follower. The menu of topics wends its way through wealth and poverty, war and violence, marriage and sexuality, theater and the arena, as well as the harsh realities of persecution and martyrdom. Gathering around Basil or Chrysostom or Augustine, we are instructed anew in the way of discipleship. And as they grapple with issues surprisingly resonant with our own, this cloud of ancient witnesses both surprises and challenges us in the life of faith. -From the Publisher

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140: Frank James, Logos Video Course: “Introducing Church History”

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186 – AJ Swoboda on ‘Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World’, Plus the Best NT Wright Introduction You’ve Ever Heard

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*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org

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This Week on Seminary Dropout…

My guest A. J. Swoboda pastors Theophilus Church in urban Portland, Oregon. He is executive director of the Seminary Stewardship Alliance, a consortium of Christian higher education institutions dedicated to reconnecting Christians with the biblical call to care for God’s creation. Swoboda also teaches biblical studies, theology, and church history at Portland Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary, among others. He is an award-winning author or editor of nine books and speaks regularly at conferences, retreats, churches, and seminars. Visit his website and blog at www.ajswoboda.com.

We live in a 24/7 culture of endless productivity, workaholism, distraction, burnout, and anxiety–a way of life to which we’ve sadly grown accustomed. This tired system of “life” ultimately destroys our souls, our bodies, our relationships, our society, and the rest of God’s creation. The whole world grows exhausted because humanity has forgotten to enter into God’s rest.

This book pioneers a creative path to an alternative way of existing. Combining creative storytelling, pastoral sensitivity, practical insight, and relevant academic research, Subversive Sabbath offers a unique invitation to personal Sabbath-keeping that leads to fuller and more joyful lives. A. J. Swoboda demonstrates that Sabbath is both a spiritual discipline and a form of social justice, connects Sabbath-keeping to local communities, and explains how God may actually do more when we do less. He shows that the biblical practice of Sabbath-keeping is God’s plan for the restoration and healing of all creation. The book includes a foreword by Matthew Sleeth. -From the Publisher

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