Theology in the Raw

Levi Lusko is the founder and lead pastor of Fresh Life Church located in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. He is the bestselling author of Through the Eyes of a Lion, Swipe Right, I Declare War, The Last Supper on the Moon, and Roar Like a Lion, the 2022 ECPA Christian Book Award winner for young people's literature. Levi also travels the world speaking about Jesus. He and his wife, Jennie, have one son, Lennox, and four daughters: Alivia, Daisy, Clover, and Lenya, who is in heaven. Levi’s latest book is Blessed Are The Spiraling: How the Chaotic Search for Significance Can Lead to Joy through Life’s Shifting Seasons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BONUS Q&A: Does God Allow Evil For His Glory?  0:00 Introduction 0:27 How should I respond to someone who says "Bad things happen for God's glory?" It feels irksome. 11:54 Thoughts and impressions on this year's Exiles conference? 20:06 How should we practice communion? Every week? Young people? Nonbelievers? 32:28 How does assurance of salvation actually work? 37:36 Should Christians do yoga? 41:33 Why respond to Christopher Yuan on 'X'?  46:27 My previous charismatic church claimed that 1 Peter 2:24 meant that Jesus literally carried our diseases as well as sins. Thoughts? 50:26 Can you steelman the argument against DEI, CRT, BLM, and then address its flaws? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew W. Bates (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is a professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. He is the author of Gospel Allegiance, Salvation by Allegiance Alone, and Why the Gospel?, which won a 2024 Christianity Today Book Award and was named the 2024 Resource of the Year by Outreach magazine, and Beyond the Salvation Wars, which forms the topic of our conversation. Bates also cofounded and cohosts the popular Bible and theology podcast OnScript.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com--a program that provides a sounding board of interest to all who are concerned about U.S. foreign policy and its implications. Follow his daily podcast “Antiwar.com.”  -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Prof. NT Wright is a biblical scholar, professor, former bishop of Durham, and an author who’s written 30 billion books. Over the last 25 years, he’s been one of the most influential and inspiring NT scholars in my life and in the lives of many others. Click HERE to gain FREE access to the course “Simply Good News” by NT Wright. https://www.admirato.org/enroll/3240824?price_id=4133065&coupon=preston -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Anleitner is a cultural theologian that writes and speaks on the intersection of religion, culture, philosophy, and science. He is the host of Deep Talks: Cultural Theology with Paul Anleitner, a YouTube channel and podcast featuring long-form discussions with leading voices and lectures on the cultural theology. Register for the Exiles and Babylon conference: theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan White Jr. is the Co-founder of The Kineo Center, a ministry that serves weary and wounded leaders. Dan is also the author of Love Over Fearand co-author of Church as Movement. Register for the Exiles and Babylon conference: theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Munther Isaac is a Palestinian pastor, theologian, author, and activist. He has an MA from Westminster Theological Seminary and a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. He pastors the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour. He is also the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College and the author of several books including the recently released: Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

0:00 Introduction 0:33 Any ideas on your next project after you complete your current book? 3:03 How should speaking in tongues be practiced in our churches today? 9:42 As a pacifist, how do you reconcile God's violent actions and his call to violence in OT and NT? 15:38 Since being saved, when have you felt least certain about the veracity of your faith? 22:07 Is there hierarchy within the Trinity? 24:25 What are you looking forward to the most in the new creation? 27:20 Who is the primary audience in the Sermon on the Mount? The disciples or the crowd? 28:47 Are the qualifications of elder conditional? Some of the "if" statements? 32:00 What would a good Christian response to Nazi Germany in 1935? What do we do if we feel like we're headed toward such times today?  34:06 Is it acceptable to pray imprecatory Psalms for our world leaders? 36:56 Do you believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Barr is the James Vardaman professor of history at Baylor University in Waco, TX, and is the author of several books including her recently released Becoming the Pastor's Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman's Path to Ministry, which forms the backdrop of our conversation. Register for the Exiles and Babylon conference: theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Eldredge is a New York Times bestselling author, counselor, and teacher who has inspired millions to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus. He’s the author of several books including The Sacred Romance, Wild at Heart, and his recently released Experiencing Jesus. Really:Finding Refuge, Strength, and Wonder through Everyday Encounters with God. He is also president of Wild at Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own hearts in God's love, and learn to live in God's kingdom. www.wildatheart.org. Register for the Exiles and Babylon conference: theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you would like to support Theology in the Raw, please visit patreon.com/theologyintheraw for more information! 0:00 Introduction 0:41 Will you respond to any critiques of "the Upside Down Kingdom Study Bible?" Is it "woke?" 5:49 How do you explain the difference between sexual attraction and sinful sexual lust? 9:35 Is the Kingdom a meritocracy? The gate is grace, but what about rewards and placement--based on works? 20:23 Is there any topic you find uninteresting or would prefer not to discuss? 26:45 My young adult trans kid is mentally and emotionally healthier after transition. I feel guilty that I like them better, but they need Jesus. Thoughts? 30:21 What are some things happening on the political right that you've aligned with? 45:15 How do you choose which Christian charities to support? 47:13 Do you love Satan? We're supposed to love our enemies! (from a 7-year old) 48:33 What do you think of the statement, "Hell was made for Satan and his demons, not for people?" 49:35 How can we inherit a sin nature if God knit us together in the womb? Isn't he creating sin then? 50:39 Do you think there are gender distinctives that men must embrace, like growing beards?  53:47 The Greek word for submit in Eph 5:24--is it a "command" or is it a "suggestion?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Robin Parry is the minor canon for eco-spirituality at Worcester Cathedral, UK. He is also an academic book editor for Wipf and Stock Publishers and the author of several books and articles including The Evangelical Universalist (under the name Gregory MacDonald) and an important article on Christian Universalism in the Four Views on Hell book, which I edited. In this conversation, I didn't bring Robin on for a debate but for him to unpack his biblical case for Christian Universalism. Register for the Exiles and Babylon conference: theologyintheraw.com  -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mark Thiessen Nation has authored and edited a number of books, including two books on Bonhoeffer: Bonhoeffer the Assassin? and Discipleship in a World Full of Nazis. For sixteen years he was professor of theology at Eastern Mennonite Seminary and before that was director of The London Mennonite Centre, London, England. Register for the Exiles in Babylon conference (Minneapolis, April 3-5, 2025) at theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Nijay Gupta earned his PhD in NT from Durham University. He currently serves as Prof of NT at Northern Seminary. He’s written several books including Strange Religion, Tell Her Story, and the recently released: The Affections of Christ Jesus: Love at the Heart of Paul’s TheologyRegister for the Exiles in Babylon conference (Minneapolis, April 3-5, 2025) at theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Ben Norquist is the director of the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East (NEME). Ben is a researcher and public organizer. Inspired by his study of higher education in Palestine, Ben currently works on the ways educational and epistemological structures develop responsively to physical landscapes, especially those that are highly configured and imposed. He us the coauthor of Every Somewhere Sacred: Rescuing a Theology of Place in the American Imagination coming out with IVP Academic, fall, 2025. -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Brickey has been a pastor for over 20 years and currently serves as lead pastor at Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, MN. Dave and his team are also the host church of this year's "Exiles in Babylon" conference (April 3-5, 2025). Find out more at theologyintheraw.com . Dave is a pastor of a church in the suburbs and has a radical, kingdom-minded heart. We talk about what this looks like in the context of church ministry.  -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patrick Miller is a teaching Pastor and Director of Digital Relationships at the Crossing Church in Columbia, MO. He has a master’s degree from Covenant Theological Seminary and he cohosts two podcasts: Ten Minute Bible Talks and Truth over Tribe, with Keith Simon. He and Keith are the authors of two great books: Truth Over Tribe, and their most recent book, Joyful Outsiders: Six Ways to Live Like Jesus in a Disorienting Culture. Register for the Exiles in Babylon conference (Minneapolis, April 3-5, 2025) at theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

-- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com 0:00 Introduction 0:28 How should churches handle bathroom situations for transgender individuals? Different for teens and adults? 8:18 Your recent video with Sean McDowell...I noticed increased tension. Did this affect your friendship? 13:19 Knowing what you know, how do you handle being around Pro-Israel Christians and/or are insensitive toward what's going in Palestine? 20:55 In the "Upside Down Kingdom Bible", yuoiur commentary on Genesis 9:18-27 surprised me. How do we know "rape" vs. "mockery" happened here? 25:13 If both sexes are called to be Christlike and exhibit the fruit of the spirit, does it make sense to be called a "Biblical Man or Women?" 37:13 Should we talk to our kids about masturbation? 39:00 While the Bible seems to approve of wine, does it suggest that beer and hard liquor lack the same biblical support? 43:09 Thoughts on the "Man of lawlessness" in 2 Thess. 2:3. Is it a future antichrist? I'm unsure. 46:48 Was Jesus as God capable of sin? 48:19 Any tips for preparing for a daughter's wedding? 52:55 Were Paul's letters written before the gospels? How do we know? 55:53 How would you address folks who disagree with fundamental theological convictions of a church community, but insist on remaining in the church and promoting disagreement? 58:55 Is it unbiblical for a woman to explain and lead communion? 1:01:55 What is the difference between Luke 12:19 and the American idea of retirement?  1:06:13 How do you respond to the criticism that the "Upside Down Kingdom Bible" isn't a study Bible, but a special-interest Bible? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jinger Duggar Vuolo grew up on TV. From the age of nine until twenty-seven, she appeared on her family's hit TLC reality shows, "19 Kids and Counting" and "Counting On." She is an author whose books include New York Times bestseller Becoming Free Indeed, her personal memoir The Hope We Hold and a children's book, You Can Shine So Bright. Jinger’s latest book is People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeremy, and their two daughters, Felicity Nicole and Evangeline Jo. In her free time, Jinger enjoys traveling, hiking, and anything to do with good food. Register for the Exiles in Babylon conference (Minneapolis, April 3-5, 2025) at theologyintheraw.com -- If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel! Support Theology in the Raw through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Or you can support me directly through Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Visit my personal website: https://www.prestonsprinkle.com For questions about faith, sexuality & gender: https://www.centerforfaith.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices