Missio Alliance is grateful for the opportunity to partner with several leading podcast producers. Our podcasting partners are friends of Missio Alliance who resonate with the aims and objectives of our ministry. Likewise, we see these podcasts as resources of unique value in terms of the kind and quality of conversations they are generating related to how Christians and the Church are seeking to participate in God's mission in the world.
“Christian life is not a life divided between times for action and times for contemplation. No. Real social action is a way of contemplation, and real contemplation is the core of social action.”
If you haven’t read these books yet, pick them up! Mike highlights our top 3 episodes from the past year and gives a list of corresponding reading. If you haven’t already read these fine books add them to your list for summer 2019.
S4: E6 Caught in the Middle: Human Sexuality
–Phenomenology of the Spirit by G.W.F.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Lucy Peppiatt (PhD, Otago) is the principal of Westminster Theological Centre. Her research interests are Christ and the Spirit, charismatic theology, discipleship, and 1 Corinthians, and her books include Unveiling Paul’s Women and Women and Worship in Corinth.
In the next two episodes, we will talk with two women about how action and contemplation work together for holistic Christian formation.
In today’s episode, activist Kathy Khang talks about action and her latest book Raise your Voice: Why we Stay Silent and How to Speak Up!
We are sitting down with our good friend C. Christopher Smith to talk about talking! Chris’ new book, “How the Body of Christ Talks,” explores how the church can recover the practice of conversation.
Thanks to Rachel for pointing to Jesus and making us all better. I had the pleasure of one lovely conversation with Rachel. I hope you benefit from it like I did.-
What is the culture of the multicultural church? How does it include and neglect the black experience in America? Fitch and Moore sit down with Rev. Dr. Joe Mitchell to discuss critiques of the multicultural church.
People often say, God is love. But when you think of God’s love, what does that mean to you?
My guest is Michael Card, author of the new book Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness.
Welp, at least the title of this podcast isn’t passive aggressive! Fitch and Moore talk about how modern individualism has tainted our soteriology. The tropes of guilt, legalism, and populist fundamentalism have led to a thin soteriology.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Ed Cyzewski is the author of Flee, Be Silent, Pray; A Christian Survival Guide; and other books. He helps anxious Christians learn about contemplative prayer at www.edcyzewski.com.
“Intersex is a broad label for people with differences of sex development (DSDs)—people whose bodies show physical characteristics of both male and female.” – Intersex and Faith
In this latest Betwixt Podcast episode, Deb Gregory talks with Lianne Simon about her experience as a Christian intersex woman.
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This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Michael Rhodes is the director of community development and an instructor at the Memphis Center for Urban Theological Studies, where he heads up efforts to equip urban pastors and community development practitioners with theologically informed tools for community transformation.
The church in the West is rediscovering the fact that God cares deeply for the poor.
Does it matter when we worship corporately? Midweek service? Saturday night? What about corporate worship over Facebook Live and YouTube?
Drawing from the work of Alexander Schmemann, Fitch and Moore discuss the cultural view of “flat” time that commodifies worship.
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This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Kathy Khang is a speaker, journalist, and activist. She has worked in campus ministry for more than twenty years, with expertise in issues of gender, ethnicity, justice, and leadership development.
On Maundy Thursday you leave in silence, totally bereft. There are no clergy left because they’ve abandoned the people. It is disorienting and it’s meant to be.
Jay Greener and Tara Owens join Deb Gregory at the Betwixt Podcast to tell a stunning Maundy Thursday story.
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This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Austin Fischer is the teaching pastor at Vista Community Church in Temple, Texas. He is the author of Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed.
“People don’t abandon faith because they have doubts.
Dave and Mike sit down at Missio Alliance 2019 (thus the background noise) to talk with Karen Swallow Prior about her new book On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books.
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This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Emily P. Freeman is a writer, creative director, and spiritual mentor who helps create space for the soul to breathe so people can walk in step with their calling.
In the last Betwixt Episode, artist Bruce Herman told the story about the house-fire in which he lost 25 years of artwork. Bruce described it as a “eu-catastrophe” – the good catastrophe that brought freedom amidst great loss.
In 1997 Bruce Herman watched his house burn down. And then he went dancing. Listen as Bruce shares this paradoxical story of freedom amidst great loss.
“A bunch of people have asked me over the years, ‘What was it like to have your house hit by three bolts of lightning, burn down and destroy 25 years of your work as an artist?
What do the public leadership failings of Harvest Bible Chapel and Willow Creek mean for the church? How should we respond and repent? Fitch and Moore talk about why it is hard for pastors to be vulnerable and how we can find guidance on this topic during the Lenten season.
When was the last time you told to a difficult truth to someone? How did it go?
In this Betwixt Podcast episode, we talk with Natasha Sistrunk Robinson about her journey to becoming a truth-teller in a divided world.
This is part three of our three-part series on Fitch’s upcoming book: The Church of Us vs. Them.
We talk about Canada, the cold, and privilege. Oh yeah, and we also talk about the title of this episode.
This is part two of our three-part series on Fitch’s upcoming book: The Church of Us vs. Them.
We talk about our first concerts, “making a decision for Christ,” and how to reimagine salvation in terms of witness and presence.
In this episode,Tish Harrison Warren shares her painful story of miscarriage. Because miscarriage was a wordless experience, she recognized her need for words from her community. She grasped on to liturgies of lament, wrapping time-tested words around her grief in the presence of community.
Is a hotdog a sandwich?
This is the first of our three-part series on Fitch’s upcoming book: The Church of Us vs. Them.
We talk about “clobber verses,” the narrative arc of Scripture, and how the Bible gets turned into an “enemy making machine.
Aaron Niequist helps launch Season 2 of the Betwixt Podcast!
Profound loosing and finding have marked Aaron Niequist’s faith journey. In this episode, he shares how practice-based faith saved him from drowning.
Dave and Mike sit down with Michael Gorman to talk about mission, the book of John and his new book, “Abide & Go: Missional Theosis in the Gospel of John.”
Michael Gorman is the Raymond E.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Carolyn Custis James is an award-winning author and international speaker. She blogs at www.carolyncustisjames.com, as a Leading Voice at MissioAlliance, and at Huffington Post, is an adjunct faculty member at Biblical Theological Seminary, and a consulting editor for Zondervan’s Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament.
In November of 2018, missionary John Allen Chau was killed attempting to meet and evangelize people on a remote Indian island. Reflections came strong and swift. But were they right?
In this episode, Sean and John look back on the actual events and – now with some distance – suggest some more helpful responses to situations like this one.
Just in time for Christmas, we talk about Advent! 😉
Fitch and Moore repurpose the four Sundays in Advent around the themes of God’s disruptive and generous presence in this world.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Matthew W. Bates (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is Assistant Professor of Theology at Quincy University. His main teaching area is the Bible and early Christian literature, especially the New Testament.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, in the New York City. After leading worship at Mars Hill Church (Grand Rapids, MI) and Willow Creek Church (Barrington, IL), Aaron created A New Liturgy- a collection of modern liturgical worship recordings.
What should church leaders do when caught in the middle of a conflict? Fitch and Moore discuss practices for navigating the conversation regarding human sexuality
A recent article from The Gospel Coalition observes the “slippery slope” of belief from Progressive to Atheist. Dave and Mike back it up one step to include Conservatives and contend that Progressives and Conservatives are essentially the same–just different teams unaware of the Christendom field they are fighting on.
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This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Atheist-turned-Christian Lee Strobel is the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and best-selling author of more than twenty books.
Is this even a question Christians should be asking? Does it reek of privilege and entitlement? Fitch and Moore discuss if/how Christians should vote in the upcoming election. Fitch does an average Hauerwas impression and examines how our culture means we now “vote for commercials, not people.”
Fitch is in Canada so Mike takes over the podcast!!!! He sits down with Jonathan “Pastah J” Brooks to talk about his new book “Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods.”
How should the church engage “elite culture”? Should our books be on the New York Times bestseller list? Our influence wielded in the halls of power?
James Davidson Hunter’s book “To Change the World” has a unique proposal for engaging “elite culture.”
New season! New co-host! Mike Moore joins Dave Fitch to talk about the B-I-B-L-E. How do we appeal to the Bible in midst of conflict? How does a pastor steward their leadership position?
In the wake of the Willow Creek news more and more church leaders are asking pressing questions about whether churches have become too corporate in leadership structure and style. Is that true?
Betwixt takes you behind the scenes to see how the podcast has been produced and what’s changing for Season 2!
We will continue to have fascinating guests and share compelling stories from the in-between spaces where growth and transformation happen.
But, Deb is taking a short pause to finish a linen-closet/isolation booth make-over and to spend time with her kids before they head back to school in September!
Over the next month, I’ll be recording, editing and producing new episodes with the hope of launching Season 2 late September!
In part two of the Betwixt Podcast conversation with Suzanne Stabile, we continue a discussion on the enneagram as a spiritual formation tool that can help shape the path between humans in relationship to one another and the path in our relationship with God.
The enneagram is a model of nine interconnected personality types that has become wildly popular among leadership trainers in both business and church circles. It’s used as a tool for strengthening interpersonal relationships and personal growth.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
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.
How Do You Treat Men Who Buy Sex? John School with Chris Stollar
(Part 2 in the Sex Trafficking Series)
Confession: This episode was difficult to produce. It has exposed how my desire for justice far outweighing my willingness to extend compassion toward men who solicit prostitutes and contribute to the horrific world of human trafficking.
Yet, Chris Stollar presents us with a compelling challenge to hold both justice and mercy in tandem as we engage the fight against sex trafficking.
“We will never end trafficking unless we reach the men who are
fueling the demand in the first place.”
Chris Stollar is the Demand Reduction Coordinator for She Has A Name, an organization that fights human trafficking in Ohio.
How do you treat women who sell sex?
In this first episode of a two part series looking at the Christians working to eradicate sex trafficking, we hear from a trauma counselor who works with prostitutes within the criminal justice system.
You can’t get where you want to go one your own. We need each other and every one needs a coach. The greatest athletes, actors, musicians and pastors have coaches. Guess what?
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This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Rebekah Lyons is the author of Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning and Founder of Q Women.
Jared Boyd discovered that children’s spiritual formation is rooted in the imagination.
“When we lead our children through guided times of imaginative prayer, they can experience a connection with God that transcends mere Bible knowledge or doctrinal content.”
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This Week on Seminary Dropout…
AUSTIN CHANNING BROWN is a writer, speaker, and practitioner who helps schools, nonprofits, and religious organizations practice genuine inclusion.
It’s often said “forgive and forget.” But what happens when two parties, offender and offended, come together and build a relationship in a space that never forgets?
In this episode of the Betwixt Podcast, Joel Kime shares his story of great tragedy and how the practice of forgiveness transformed that tragedy into something no one expected.
He thought he’d be better at this Christianity thing by now.
All his life, John Alan Turner has wanted to be different, to be better than who he is, to improve.
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Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Bonnie Kristian is a theological and political writer with a national following.
Does Pentecost overcome Babel?
Does baptism in Jesus obliterate all distinctions?
David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw talk about Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Is the church being feminized?
Is that a mark of decline?
Or of revival?
David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw jump into another episode talking about the supposed feminization of the church and what it means for you.
“What does it mean to be an embodied question mark wherever you are on your journey?” This was the question Dr. Larycia Hawkins presented to her students at Wheaton College. “Our bodies do work for us.”
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Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Derek Vreeland is the Discipleship Pastor at Word of Life Church in St.
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Sponsor a Child — At Compassion we take a committed, long-term approach to fighting child poverty. Our Holistic Child Development Model is made up of four comprehensive programs investing in children from the beginning of their lives until they’ve reached adulthood, and covering everything from prenatal care to university-level education.
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
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.
“Prayer is a wonderful and frustrating mystery.”
– Alice Fryling in The Art of Spiritual Listening.
Her first memory of prayer was a petition for God to bring the ice cream truck.