Ep 104: What has Ephesiology to do with Mars Hill?

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill has been one of this year's most popular podcast series. On this Ephesiology Podcast, we begin to unpack the issues in light of an Ephesiological framework for a New Testament movement. Andrew and Matt lead the discussion from places of personal experience with leaders who have abused their authority in ministry. Don't miss this longer than usual episode of the Ephesiology Podcast.

Ep 101: The Movement of God to Disciple the Nations

On this episode of the Ephesiology Podcast, we interview Dr. Randy Newman about his new book Mere Evangelism: 10 Insights from C.S. Lewis to Help You Share Your Faith. Dr. Newman walks us through Lewis' ideas of engaging our culture with the gospel. We talk about pre-evangelism which paves the way for evangelism. Randy suggests Lewis was a wonderful model of this pattern in his radio program and fiction writing.

Ep 100: Is there a Biblical Worldview?

This week on the Ephesiology Podcast Andrew, Matt, and Michael discuss the interesting topic of a biblical worldview. With more than 8,000 denominations and so many different expressions of Christianity, our podcasters rightly ask the question, "Who determines what a biblical worldview looks like?" To get there, they discuss a definition of worldview and consider …

Ep 98: The Changing American Worldview

On this Ephesiology Podcast, Andrew and Michael discuss the recent Barna study on the American Worldview. The shocking, but not altogether surprising, data revealed that only 6 percent of Americans hold an identifiable "biblical" worldview. Our podcasters talk about the survey as well as correlating factors that have impacted this phenomenon. In the end, to …

Ep 97: Mere Evangelism

On this episode of the Ephesiology Podcast, we interview Dr. Randy Newman about his new book Mere Evangelism: 10 Insights from C.S. Lewis to Help You Share Your Faith. Dr. Newman walks us through Lewis' ideas of engaging our culture with the gospel. We talk about pre-evangelism which paves the way for evangelism. Randy suggests Lewis was a wonderful model of this pattern in his radio program and fiction writing.

Ep 95: Church Planting Where the Church is Planted?

We continue in our series After Evangelicalism, What? with the provocative topic of church planting. Starting new churches has long been considered one of the most strategic methods of evangelism. However, with more churches closing than starting in 2019, we rightly reconsider its strategic nature. Should we plant a church where the church is already …

Ep 94: After Evangelicalism, What?

In this Ephesiology Podcast, Andrew, Matt, and Michael begin a conversation about what might come after evangelicalism. Many have been disenchanted by a distorted form of evangelicalism in the United States. The inclination toward nationalism, moral failures of high profile pastors, power struggles in prominent churches have led some evangelicals to reconsider their allegiance to …

Our Graves a Stepping Stone

In 1988, my best friend asked me to join him on a clandestine mission to smuggle the Jesus Film into Afghanistan. As our departure grew near so did our excitement. Backpacks, camping gear, thousands of dollars in cash, and 500lbs of film equipment boarded a plane for Karachi, Pakistan as did two young and idealistic …

Is critical race theory a threat?

American evangelicals are clearly divided over social justice. In one of its recent expressions, critical race theory (CRT) has garnered both the admiration and the indignation of those who claim a similar allegiance to Jesus Christ. The recent division among the staff of one of the world’s largest evangelical para-churches, Cru, only highlights the cultural …

Christianity, Critical Race Theory, and Relational Ethics

Critical race theory (CRT) is finding expression in various social issues around the world. Its renown recently received an unlikely boost by six Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) associated seminary presidents when they unilaterally denounced CRT as incompatible with the SBC's “The Baptist Faith and Message” (Schroeder 2020). The backlash among Black pastors in the SBC …

The Monkey and the Fish

During my doctoral studies in the early 2000s, Paul Hiebert shared a story that I have never forgotten.  Dr. Hiebert was a master at using illustrations and case studies to highlight essential missiological principles. His years of experience in India and as a world renowned missiological anthropologist made those attending his classes sit on the edge of …

A Reorientation to Discipleship

Could there not be a more important topic at the beginning of the third decade of the second millennia than social justice? Simply a cursory observation of the contemporary cultural landscape indicates there is not. Indeed, justice might rightly be described as a uniting hallmark for the struggle of all people. Whether one is seeking …

Team Essentials: Teacher

I am absolutely convinced that there has never been a genuine missional movement—the kind that has both exponential growth as well as transformational impact across a wide domain—that does not have APEST ministry. APEST, which stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher, comes from Ephesians 4, and I strongly believe movements need all five …

Team Essentials: Shepherd

I am absolutely convinced that there has never been a genuine missional movement—the kind that has both exponential growth as well as transformational impact across a wide domain—that does not have APEST ministry. APEST, which stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher, comes from Ephesians 4, and I strongly believe movements need all five …

Team Essentials: Evangelist

I am absolutely convinced that there has never been a genuine missional movement—the kind that has both exponential growth as well as transformational impact across a wide domain—that does not have APEST ministry. APEST, which stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher, comes from Ephesians 4, and I strongly believe movements need all five …

Team Essentials: Prophet

I am absolutely convinced that there has never been a genuine missional movement—the kind that has both exponential growth as well as transformational impact across a wide domain—that does not have APEST ministry. APEST, which stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher, comes from Ephesians 4, and I strongly believe movements need all five …

Team Essentials: Apostle

I am absolutely convinced that there has never been a genuine missional movement—the kind that has both exponential growth as well as transformational impact across a wide domain—that does not have APEST ministry. APEST, which stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher, comes from Ephesians 4, and I strongly believe movements need all five …

Hand washing and Politics

Jesus was often counter-cultural. He upset a lot of people because He would frequently break the status quo and do the will of His Father (Matthew 12:50) instead of “following the rules” society had established. On the heels of the vice presidential debate and the “super spreading” event that caused the hospitalization of the president …

No More Weeping

Yesterday was national daughter's day. I'm not sure when that national day came into being, but we have a daughter who merits being recognized for at least one day out of a year if not every day. Michaela and I were having another one of our great theological conversations. They are getting increasingly rare, not …

Fighting for Freedom of Religion?

If you have been following the news regarding Grace Community Church and its pastor John MacArthur’s battle in the courts of California, you might be thinking this is one of those complex issues confronting Christian churches across the country.  Watch the latest video at foxnews.com The claim that California is prohibiting the freedom to worship …

Who Would Jesus Vote for?

With less than 60 days until the 2020 presidential election, who would Jesus vote for? Both evangelical Democrats and Republicans would no doubt claim He would vote for their candidate. Even more, both sides would argue that their political party best represents the values of the Kingdom of God. Admittedly, there are those who see …

What is Social Justice Anyway?

Social justice has become a polarizing term that has set Christians against each other. Contributing to the confusion are social theories such as critical theory and critical race theory where social justice tends to focus on opposing systemic issues where an oppressor group has disadvantaged other groups. Such theories, when applied by Christians, tend to …

The Effect of Our Witness

During the course of my research for When Evangelicals Sneeze: Curing the American Church from the Plague of Identity Loss, I came across many comments about evangelicals. Some of them were from evangelicals in other parts of the world talking about American evangelicals. Some were evangelical Democrats talking about evangelical Republicans and vice versa. Others …

What would you do if you knew that one-third of your friends would leave church?

The July 8, 2020 release of the Barna Group’s latest study on the State of the Church has confirmed what some have suspected would occur as a result of COVID-19. The study revealed that 32 percent of practicing Christians stopped attending church, whether in person or online, since the outbreak of the virus. While the …

Is Movement Possible?

Many are wondering if a movement of churches is even possible in the United States. While the criticism of the movements we are seeing around the world has at times been sharp - accusations of theological shallowness, immature leaders, irresponsible evangelism - observers of the US evangelical landscape are beginning to recognize the same critique …

The Evangelical Identity, Part 1 of 4

Cultural fragmentation, pluralization and globalization have raised the issue of evangelical identity in fresh ways. These factors, along with the explosive growth of theologically conservative Protestantism worldwide as well as Trumpgelicalism and evangelical deconstructionism in the United States have prompted many to ask what it means to be “evangelical Christians.”  Western evangelicalism has tended to define itself …