vocational channels archives

Evangelical Christians often look to Christian celebrities and cultural strongmen for leadership and validation. And we have seen many celebrity pastors, ministry leaders, and cultural icons fall from their lofty celebrity platforms because they didn’t have the needed spiritual maturity or accountability. 

Award-winning journalist Katelyn Beaty‘s new book from Brazos Press, Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church. explores the ramifications of this phenomenon.

How is art an inroad to our experience of God? How does making things give us a more tangible knowledge of the love of God and the joy of being a human in God’s image? What role do imagination and creativity have in a full-orbed theology? Our guest has some profound thoughts on these things. We are deeply honored to have renowned artist Makoto Fujimura on this episode of the Reintegrate Podcast. 

Mako Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist in what is called the “slow art” movement. As a Japanese-American, he studied art at Bucknell University and then studied traditional Japanese painting in the doctorate program at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His art is a fusion of fine art and abstract expressionism utilizing the techniques of ancient traditional Japanese art. His art has been featured widely in galleries and museums around the world including collections in The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Huntington Library, and the Tikotin Museum in Israel. 

His latest book is Art and Faith: A Theology of Making (Yale University Press, with a foreword by N.T. Wright, 2021).

According to recent research, our brains go to the path of least resistance when we engage people who are unlike us. We perceive anyone different from us as a threat. In other words, we all have preferences and even prejudices. The Bible says that in our fallenness, we sinfully show partiality toward people who resemble us; we play favorites. According to Rodger Woodworth, overcoming our prejudices and bridging the cultural divide is the result of living out the gospel.

Dr. Rodger Woodworth was the founding pastor of two interracial churches, an adjunct seminary professor, and was the Director of Cross-Cultural Ministries for CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach). He has a Doctorate of Ministry in Complex Urban Settings, served on the Board of Directors for several Pittsburgh ministries, and is the author of the new book, Playing Favorites: Overcoming Our Prejudices to Bridge the Cultural Divide (Wipf & Stock, 2021). 

As we read the news, we are being not just being informed but we are being formed. Our news consumption easily shapes our sense of belonging and it can grind our minds into little bits as we are engulfed by so much information. We certainly should know what’s going on around us and so we should seek to know and understand the news. But how should a Christian do so? In a media world filled with pundits left and right, how can a Christian’s consumption of news be different? 

On this episode, our guest is Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro, the author of Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News (IVP, 2021), a book that won a 2022 Christianity Today Book Award of Merit. Jeff is Associate Professor of English at Grove City College.

Everything in Western society teaches us that we belong to nobody but ourselves. This sounds great! We can create our own identities, map out our own lives, and find significance in ourselves. This means that we are entirely responsible for ourselves. But Alan Noble says this overwhelmingly burdens us to try to justify our existence and to create and express our own identities. And society is more than happy to manipulate us as we do so. There is a lot of money to be had in people who are burdened with creating, sustaining, and projecting who they are.

Alan Noble (Ph.D., Baylor University) is Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University. He is the editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and the author of articles and books, including his latest, You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World (InterVarsity Press, 2021).

What is a Christian’s role in making cultural change? What is a Christian’s role in a polarized political society? Does the gospel of Jesus Christ inform us on any of this?

Dr. Bruce Ashford (Ph.D. in Theological Studies, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is an author, speaker, and columnist. He wrote or co-wrote nine books, including Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians, The Gospel of Our King: Bible, Worldview, and the Mission of Every Christian, The Doctrine of Creation: A Constructive Kuyperian Approach, and Letters to an American Christian. 

He is a Senior Research Fellow at The Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge, England.

How does our faith inform our public life? We know it addresses our personal lives, our personal holiness, our families, our churches. But does our faith inform our work? Our enjoyment of art? Of fashion? Of architecture? Instead of simply relying on the political pundits on the cable news channels, do we have access to theologically shaped ideas to issues like political ideologies, immigration, race relations, and economics? 

Our guest on this episode of the Reintegrate Podcast is Dr. Matthew Kaemingk. He is the Richard John Mouw Assistant Professor of Faith and Public Life at Fuller Theological Seminary where he also serves as the Director of the Richard John Mouw Institute of Faith and Public Life. His research and teaching focus on marketplace theology, Islam and political ethics, and public theology.

His latest publication is a book he edited as a festschrift to honor the life and work of Richard Mouw, Reformed Public Theology (Baker Academic, 2021).

What does it take for Christians to pursue “shalom” in every corner of society? How can churches be a blessing to their communities in practical ways to actually make life better for those who live there?

Our guest is Dr. Amy Sherman, the author of several books, manuals, and over 80 articles and essays. Her last book, Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good from InterVarsity Press, won Christianity Today’s 2013 Book of the Year in the Christian Living category.

We discuss how churches can make positive impacts in six areas: (1) The True, (2) The Good, (3) The Beautiful, (4) The Prosperous, (5) The Just and Well-Ordered, and (6) The Sustainable.

Are you experiencing loneliness? We drive to work. We drive back home from work. We watch some TV. When we have some free time, we are scrolling through something on our smartphones. No wonder we’re so lonely! We’ve been set up to not be connected to our neighbors. 

This episode features Dr. Eric O. Jacobsen. Eric is the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Washington, and received his Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary. His latest book is Three Pieces of Glass: Why We Feel Lonely in a World Mediated by Screens (Brazos Press, 2020). As the subtitle suggests, we are experiencing loneliness because we spend so much time not walking among people so that we can have authentic relationships. Rather, our world is mediated through our windshields, our televisions, and our smartphones. 

2020 has been an incredible year of turmoil. It is the first year of a decade that promises to have lots of challenges.  Tom Sine and Dwight Friesen are the authors of a fresh new book, 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerated Change. Brendan and Bob discuss with them how these three vital practices can prepare young people, ministry leaders, and marketplace Christians for a decade that promises to be incredibly challenging.

Dr. Vince Bacote has a lively conversation with Brendan Romigh and Dr. Bob Robinson on the multifaceted issue of racism, and how a biblical understanding of the gospel and of shalom (flourishing) can help white evangelicals think clearly about this issue. He is the author of The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life.

Brendan and Bob discuss the influence of “Critical Race Theory” on today’s understanding of racial injustice. If it’s based in Marxist theory, is it incompatible with Christian theology? Or can Christians hoping to understand the history of race in America learn truths from this academic line of thinking?