The Forest & the Trees

With great power comes great podcastibility! We welcome our first atheist guest - Michael Wiseman Author of The Bible Says What!? He also hosts a podcast of the same name. We discuss our own history with the church, christianity, and why we got into podcasting. We also debate who’s more loving - Jesus or Spiderman?Check out Michael’s WorkWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

Special Guest Kevin Garcia joins us to help wrap up Romans. We talk about female apostles, not being divisive, and how Paul’s actually pretty ok. Check out Kevin’s WorkResourcesCan You Ever Forgive Me?Bart Ehrman on the discrepancy between Paul’s letters as it relates to women in ministry After Jesus before Christianity by Erin Vearncombe, Brandon Scott, Hal TaussigForgotten Creed by Stephen J PattersonWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

The penultimate chapter of Romans! Jef pushes Jeremy one more time on animal ethics, we also discuss issues of parenting and indoctrination.TopicsWhy isn’t Jeremy vegan?Are non-believers unified?Why is God so needy in asking for praise?Should you just believe even if you feel nothing?We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

Is it okay to eat meat? A Christian Carnivore, a Vegan Atheist, and a Vegan Christian discuss dietary ethics.  Jeremy and Jef are joined by Pastor, Church Planter, Spiritual Pioneer, and Vegan Amanda Miller Garber to talk about it.TopicsAre vegans too judgy?Why don’t Christians care about animal rights?Why doesn’t God care about animal rights?Why care so much about a secondary issue?How does God get everyone to bow down to him without being coercive?Check out Amanda’s WorkWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

What is Love? Jef doesn’t seem to know but Paul is pretty confident you should shut up and pay your taxes. Also Jeremy has finally seen Pig and he loved it! Jer and Jef also get into end times stuff, human extinction, and the end of the world.TopicsPig is a great movie!Does God choose the politicians?Is Christian love any different from regular love?What is love?Is Jesus coming back or what?Global population and human extinctionRecommended ReadingPigJeremy’s Blogpost on PigDisarming Scripture by Derek FloodBetter Never to Have Been by David BenatarWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

Finally something we agree on. It’s easy to see why Jeremy calls this the most underrated chapter in Romans!TopicsHas Christianity become the villain?Spiritual GiftsProphecyDo We need Jesus to be non-violent?Book RecommendationThe Prophetic Imagination by Walter BrueggemannWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

Jeremy and Jef further discuss the distinction between the Person and the Principles of Jesus. We also explore idolatry, God making people jealous, whether or not Jeremy is ignoring the mean parts of God, and whether Jef can withdraw God's gifts for his life.TopicsThe Person or the Principles of Jesus?What’s so bad about Idolatry?Is God a Jealous Lover?Is Jeremy just ignoring the hard parts of scripture?Is Jef still being called by God?Book ReferenceThe Supper of the Lamb By Robert CaponWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

It’s Thursday night at summer camp. Time to make a decision for Jesus. Jeremy and Jef discuss the sinner’s prayer, religious diversity, the person of Jesus vs the principles, whether religion has broken Jef’s brain, and the Christian mission to take over the world. TopicsIs God Moving in the Ministry?The Sinner’s PrayerDo Christians want to Convert the world?Should Christians allow for Religious Diversity?Does Jef even understand what the Gospel is?We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

We have been predestined to talk about Calvinism in Romans 9 and we’ve brought a very special friend! Pastor, Theologian, and Author, Greg Boyd has been elected to lend some scholarly wisdom.TopicsIs Calvinism true? Do we have free will?Would you sacrifice yourself to save others?Are the Israelites God’s chosen people or is Everyone?Why does God choose some people over others?Does God Love everyone or Hate certain people?Can we choose to believe? Is God okay with us asking questions?What of those who are destined for destruction? Check out Greg’s workhttps://reknew.org/We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

We bring on our very first guest Ariel from Trans Regret Snoopy Presents the Bible. The three of us consult various translations, discuss the workings of the Holy Spirit, and possibly even find a solution for how Calvinism and Universalism can both be true!TopicsBible TranslationsWhat’s so great about Romans 8?What is the sinful nature?What are the groans?Does God work everything together for good?Will everyone be saved?BooksThe Pastor by Eugene PetersonThe Forgotten Creed by Steven J. PattersonThat All Shall be Saved by David Bentley HartThe Better Angels of our Nature by Steven PinkerCan a calvinist believe they’re not elect?We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

We look at divorce and remarriage, revisiting why we crave things that aren't good for us, we're going to try to make sense about when Christians sin, and we'll find out if Jef got rid of his sinful nature when he stopped being a Christian.Topics Divorce and RemarriagePersonal CravingsCan we blame the demons for our bad behavior?How does a non-believer understand sin? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

We’re back after an unexpected break. Jef complains about how repetitive Paul is getting, we disagree about how similar or different we are, and we dive deeper into the problem of slavery in the Bible. TopicsAre Jeremy and Jef so different? Is Paul Speaking literally or metaphorically?Did Jef miss out on a deeper version of Christianity?Why is the Bible still okay with Slavery?Media referencedThe Forgotten Creed by Steven J. PattersonHail Satan? DocumentaryWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

It’s Adam & Eve, not Apeman & Evolution am I right folks? Jeremy and Jef debate who’s better between Bob Dylan or Underoath, and which film is better, Tombstone or Pig. We also talk about the BibleIrresistible By Andy StanleyTopics Is Jef on an Epic journey towards salvation?What about those who feel disappointed in their salvation?Did Jesus come at the right time?Is Adam Literal? Does the resurrection need to be literal?Is original sin a thing?Are we born perfect? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

It’s the Abraham chapter! We Discuss faith, works, God’s command to sacrifice Isaac, hope, and relations between Islam and Christianity.TopicsShould Faith be effortless?Faith v WorksWhat’s the deal with God telling Abraham to kill Isaac?Is Hope Naive?Is it problematic for Christians to view Islam as a distortion of the true faith?We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

The line separating good and evil runs between Jeremy & Jef as we hit our first stop on the Romans Road.TopicsAre we focusing too much on bad Christians?Are we even allowed to ask if God is good?Are people basically good or evil?Paul’s low view of humanity and religious traumaWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

We’re settling into a groove here. Hopefully some lighter fare compared to last week. TopicsIs God Patient?Does God Play Favorites?Do we have a moral Conscience? What’s the Deal with Circumcision? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

Friends, Romans, Theobros, Lend us your ears! Paul saved the worst chapter for first? Jeremy and Jef discuss the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, General Revelation, where does an Atheist get their morality from and the dreaded Clobber passage where Paul shares some thoughts on homosexuality.TopicsWhat is the Good news for Jews today?Is general revelation enough to reveal God?Where does your morality come from?Is gay sex sinful in the eyes of God?We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

I’m thinking we're back! We have turned our listeners over to their evil desires and we'll be covering the book of Romans. Is the Apostle Paul the cranky old uncle Jef makes him out to be or is he in fact an arbiter of good news?We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

It’s the final episode on the book of Hebrews! Jeremy and Jef ask each other some final questions, and reflect on the podcast experience so far.TopicsKindness towards those in prisonWho is “The Person of Jesus?”Can you follow Jesus outside the church?Why is Christian media so awful?We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook

Jeremy and Jef go into the wild and walk the earth. TopicsWhat does it actually  mean to follow Jesus?God’s PunishmentJacob and EsauDoes an Atheist have room for God to speak to them?Holy Fear and AweReferencesPulp FictionInto the Wild BookInto the Wild MovieA Black Theology of LiberationWe’d love to hear from you. Email us at ​​forestandtreespod@gmail.com InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebook