Theology On Mission

Are we pursuing God, or is God pursuing us? And what does it matter if we reverse the emphasis? With special guest Joshua Ryan Butler, Geoff and Dave discuss talk about God's pursuit of us. Evangelicals of the contemplative lean or activist bent have their own set of practices they feel helps them pursue God. But often these lead to a dead end or burn out. Can we understand life with God as God’s pursuit of us, and what might this mean for our understanding of the atonement and the church, and even the uniqueness of Jesus. We end by talking about the different practices of being “found” by God.

Is it always great to experience revival? Or is there pain and waiting in the coming of new life? Mandy Smith and Cyd Holsclaw join Geoff to talk about the hopes and disappointments of the Spirit at work among us as things are torn down and built up.

Is there a future for Reformed theology? Yes, there is! But it might look different. This internationally diverse panel discusses how the Reformation can still impact the West. In this round table is Ruth Padilla Deborst, Carl Ellis, Jin Kim, Cherith Fee Nordling and David Fitch, hosted as ever by Geoff Holsclaw. Recorded at the Missio Alliance event, "The Young, Restless, and Always Reforming", around the panel titled, "The Reformed Tradition and the Christendom Legacy."

Is the Spirit at work in the world? Or in the Church? Yes, the Spirit is. The Spirit of Mission is at work in the neighborhoods in and through the local churches. With special guest Alan Roxburgh, Geoff Holsclaw and David Fitch discuss the church in Northern America, the God who is on mission, and the opportunity we all have to participate. Please check out Al's newest book, Joining God, Remaking the Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of Church in our Time, and see also Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood.

What does Pentecost have to do with leadership? And how does it look in a local church? Beyond Hierarchy (one on top) and Democracy (all on bottom) is a Spirit-guided leadership through gifts and calling. In this rebroadcast of "The Spirit of Leadership", Fitch and Holsclaw discuss the theological and personal reasons we tend toward unhealthy leadership structures, the difference between vision-casting and consensus-building, and the foundations of being led in Christ by the Spirit.

What does it mean that "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?" Is this messages distorted amid a culture of affluence and ease? Are we prepared for bad things to happen? Fitch and Holsclaw discuss what it means that God loves us and how this intersects with evil in the world. They talk about how God’s love is not for PROTECTION, but solicits our PARTICIPATION. And in a violent and selfish world, participating in the love of God will be costly and painful.

Does the Reformation help us engage in mission? Does typical protestant theology have a power problem and a context problem which work against mission? And what does it matter anyway? David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw discuss two different problems facing Protestantism and its theological framework (the problem of power and the problem of context).

(Rebroadcast) Is being a bi-vocational pastor a necessary evil or a positive opportunity? In this episode of “Theology on Mission”, David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw discuss bi-vocational ministry; how it is an opportunity to rethink pastoral vocation and church ministry, all wrapped in personal stories.

Does your understanding of salvation makes sense of the entirety of Jesus’ life? Does your theory of the atonement integrate every part of Jesus’ life, his life, his death, his resurrection? Or do we tilt toward just Jesus' death? Fitch and Holsclaw talk about a popular way of explaining salvation (the Bridge Illustration) and ask if it needs to be changed. Tune in if you wonder about how to connect Jesus' death with his life, and how Penal Substitution fits with Christus Victor.

What does complimentarianism and equalitarianism have to do with church planting? Is there a third way concerning women in ministry? And what is the role of the Holy Spirit in all this. Fitch and Holsclaw tackle the tangled issues of openness to the Holy Spirit, openness to women in ministry, and "opening" a new church.

Dread? Fear? Hope? Optimism? All words people are feeling about the current presidential primaries. But the truth is, whoever is in the White House is not the savior, nor the destroyer, of the world. Fitch and Holsclaw talk about different options for understanding politics (the Lutheran "Two-Kingdoms" view and the "Kuyperian" view), and ask "What is the Church to do?"

"Enjoy the Show!" and other things that shouldn't be said about a worship service. David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw talk about whether 1) a worship service is a central, peripheral, or complimentary part of a church (plant), and 2) if it matters whether people come to your worship service or not.

Is Lent a time of punishment or preparation? Is Lent at time for binding the flesh or building up faith? Remember that you will die. After Fitch confesses that he's been wearing the same clothes for three days, Holsclaw and Fitch talk about Lent as a time to remember how God builds faith in us, to remember that we will die, and to remember that we will live in Christ.

What is the core of discipleship? Is it information about Jesus? Is it following the actions of Jesus? Is there something missing from this equation? Fitch and Holsclaw discuss the important aspect of "seeing yourself in another story" in the process of discipleship. Only in a conversion of our imagination, immersed in a different story of the world and ourselves, can we truly begin to follow Jesus.

Have we lost the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr? Have we assimilated him into the American Dream, losing the Dream he had for America? David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw sit down with local pastor Pierre Keys and student-activist Josiah Daniels to talk about the past and future of the Civil Rights Movement.

What makes your community tick? What is the glue holding you together? Is it what you THINK of God or what you DO with God? Kicking off the New Year David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw talk about how church's can not longer merely gather around common beliefs but common practices (practices that promise the very presence of Christ).

FROM THE *MISSIONAL COMMONS* hosted by Northern Seminary and Ecclesia Network. In this special episode, Mandy Smith talks about the process of preaching to and through vulnerability.

FROM THE *MISSIONAL COMMONS* hosted by Northern Seminary and Ecclesia Network. In this special episode, Matt Tebbe leads us in considering that proclamation is much bigger than merely preaching, but that we need to get the gospel back into every proclamation.

FROM THE *MISSIONAL COMMONS* hosted by Northern Seminary and Ecclesia Network. In this special episode, Tara Beth Leach leads us through the slow process of letting the Holy Spirit brew in us the words we will preach (and she is quite funny too).

Should the church protest in the streets? Should the church engage in direct, non-violent action? And if so, how? These are some of the questions David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw discuss as they wonder about the violent world we live in. They end asking, "Has the church outsourced martyrdom as its witness against violence?"