We are blessed to have Sam Van Eman, author of Disruptive Discipleship: The Power of Breaking Routine to Kickstart Your Faith (InterVarsity Press, 2017) on for two episodes. Here, right before Christmas, Sam shares with Bob and Brendan ways we can ignite Christmas hope in the midst of hardship. How can hope be defined by adaptability so that our days are full of Christmas wonder? Sam sparks our imaginations as to how we can do things out of the ordinary for those around us.
What are we saved for?
God’s inviting us to join his mission to reconcile all things back to himself. JR Rozko helps Bob and Brendan understand the connections between salvation, discipleship, and mission. Salvation is the embodied experience of participating in what God is now doing in the world. “Discipleship is less about me trying to be like Jesus, and more about me trying to live my life as though Jesus were me.” JR is the Executive Director of The Telos Collective, a national church leadership training organization of the Anglican Church in North America.
We are experiencing disunity in ever-increasing ways. We are feeling it especially in 2020. What is God’s grand plan? “To unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth!” (Eph 1:10). Dr. Mark Roberts, the Executive Director for the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, wrote a new commentary on Ephesians. He shares with us what Ephesians says the gospel accomplishes: The gospel reintegrates all things, which includes the reintegration of the human race.
Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw, authors of the excellent book, Does God Really Like Me? (IVP), explain that God is not angry with us or disappointed in us. These are severely warped understandings of who God is, what God has been doing and continues to do in our lives, and how we are meant to relate to God. God not only loves us, but actually wants to be with us, and he wants us to work with him in the “family business.”
Can we be dedicated Christians and still indulge in the pleasures of this earthly life? Can we go to the beach, eat at a great restaurant, watch an exciting movie, play our favorite video game or sport, and still be pleasing to God? Or as today’s guest phrases it, “Can you serve Jesus and still enjoy your life?” That’s the subtitle of Mike Wittmer’s book, Becoming Worldly Saints: Can You Serve Jesus and Still Enjoy Your Life? (Zondervan, 2015).