"Feminism calls women to be like men, but the Bible calls us to be like God!"
Jeff and Jonny met Carolyn Custis James at the Missio Alliance Awakenings Gathering in Alexandria VA. Carolyn is soft spoken, but carries huge content! She has written books like Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women, and Malestrom: Manhood Swept into the Currents of a Changing World.
She is an author, thinker, teacher, and seminary president's wife. Carolyn thinks deeply about the role and mission of women in the Kingdom of God. She asks, "What is the Bible's message for women?" She thoughtfully answers that question both in her book and on this podcast with the guys. This conversation does not deal so much with the Egalitarian/Complementarian debate - but it is a call to action to mobilize women and girls in the church to look outward and say - How do I mobilize the Gospel to spread the Kingdom around the world? This is just one more of those head scratcher episodes that makes you think, and even question how you've viewed the church in regards to half of it... women! You'll enjoy Carolyn's kind and gentle nature, and her syrupy sweet affirmation of her husband in the outtakes! :-) Carolyn loves Frank!!
Have you struggled to help your people understand how and why to read the Bible? Have you ever wondered how to get your church family to read the same Bible passages together, on some kind of a unified reading plan? Are you tired of the worn out approach to "Read the Bible in a Year!"?
Glenn Paauw brings the HEAT and makes his case for reading - simply reading - the pure Bible, and just the Bible - not notes, cross references, charts and graphs, summaries, etc. Glenn is somewhat of a "The Bible and nothing but the Bible, Ma'am". Several hundred years ago some folks thought it was a good idea to chop up the Bible into an unrecognizable assortment of chapters and verses - and Glenn shares some of the history of Bible creation regarding physical versions of the Scripture. He shares some of the pitfalls of the chapters and verses creation and also the drawbacks of the Study Bible approach to Bible publication. Finally, Glenn Paauw, from the ImmerseBible.com project team and the Institute for Bible Reading, offers a fresh and creative approach to helping your entire church get on the same page, no pun intended, in their Bible reading together, emphasizing reading the Bible in community. You're going to like this episode! A little info on our buddy Glenn... Glenn Paauw has worked in Bible ministry for 28 years publishing, researching, speaking, and writing on the topic of reading and living the Bible well. He led the development of the revolutionary The Books of the Bible format that uncovers the natural literary form of the Scriptures, which served as the foundational piece of the Community Bible Experience church program. Glenn lives in Colorado Springs, CO and is the author of Saving the Bible From Ourselves - Learning To Read and Live the Bible Well... 
Kay Warren joins Jeff and Jonny to talk about mental illness and the church. How do we equip our churches to become mental-illness-literate congregations? Kay describes what her dream church would look like if she could snap her fingers and make it happen! In this episode there is a little humor and a lot of seriousness around this very sobering topic.
Let’s admit it, our churches should be the friendliest, most helpful, most encouraging spaces for people with mental illness. In this episode Kay will give you a plan to help your church arrive at just such a place! Pastor, there are people in your church who are suffering from mental illness, and they NEED your support, encouragement, prayer, and recognition. Kay will give you some very concrete and practical suggestions for doing these things. Below are the four books that Kay suggested that we as pastors buy, or pick up from the library, and read. We can dive into theological or ministry books ad nauseum, but Kay recommends these four as great primers on understanding people in our community and church who suffer with mental illness. You can follow all that Kay is doing as an advocate for mental health issues, HIV&AIDS, orphan care, and much more at www.kaywarren.com. Follow Kay on Twitter at @kaywarren1. Kay mentioned the following resources to help you as a pastor understand mental illness: Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church's Mission Resurrecting the Person: Friendship and the Care of People with Mental Health Problems
At one point or another, every pastor has run into the same problem: not enough volunteers! Maybe you're scrambling to find members for your worship team or teachers for Sunday school, but no matter what area you're trying to "staff," it can be difficult to find willing (and able!) people to help out.
On today's episode. we're joined by Zach Bauer, pastor of Red Door Church in Sioux Falls SD, and he shares his ideas for reimagining ministries throughout his small church and how he actually increased his volunteer base by changing the way his church approached their mission. For more with Zach, check out episodes 168, 173, and 180 where he talks about church planting, being bivocational, and working with volunteers in his small church. We also have a great episode with John Finkelde on "Keeping the Volunteer Pipeline Flowing" and the LEGENDARY Amplified Leadership series with Dan "the Animal" Reiland. We loved having Zach join us and we know you'll be as encouraged by this conversation as we were! 
Zach & Sarah Bauer - LoveBirds!
Race is one of the hottest of hot button issues in the world today, and when an issue is hot in the surrounding culture, it's usually hot in the church, too.
Some pastors will insist that we're living in a post-racial world. Others want us all to just be "colorblind.' Still others will have a vague notion of the idea of "racial reconciliation," but don't know what it entails beyond putting a few people of color on the platform and hoping for the best. We believe that our listeners are hard-working and thoughtful pastors and church leaders--but we also know what the topic of race and racism can be difficult for even the most conscientious individuals to navigate. There are real lives and real people involved, and even though we pastors might often have good intentions, our actions don't reflect those as well as we'd like. On today's podcast, we're joined by Jemar Tisby, president of the Reformed African American Network, Director of the African American Leadership Initiative at Reformed Theological Seminary, co-host of the Pass the Mic Podcast, and doctoral student living in the great state of Mississippi. Jemar brings some serious truth to today's episode and you are sure to be challenged by his words on race, reconciliation, and the work of the church. We were blown away by Jemar's willingness to be open with us and our listeners and so appreciate the wisdom he brings to the podcast. If you haven't already, we'd encourage you to check out the Reformed African American Network and check out more of Jemar's work over there. If you're hungry for more content on reconciliation and race, head all the way back toepisode 86 and listen to our incredible conversation with Christena Cleveland. If today's episode made you feel uncomfortable, we'd encourage you to sit with that for a bit and invite God into sorting out why. These are big and complex ideas and we both have listened multiple times to this conversation with Jemar seeking to understand and to grow in our knowledge. Our hope and prayer is that you would be blessed and challenged by this episode as much as we were and that we can all begin to think differently than we have before--allowing God to mold us into who He wants us to be and our churches into the congregations He intends them to be. 
Jemar Tisby
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