Crackers And Grape Juice Podcast

In this episode, Jason talks with Amy Laura Hall of Duke University about her upcoming work on muscular Christianity, her most recent book “Laughing at the Devil,” Julian of Norwich, and their mutual affection for Stan the Man.

This week is a real treat! We are sharing Jason's unedited live talk from the Mockingbird Annual Conference in New York! A huge thank you to Mockingbird for having Jason speak and for recording it as well!

“Orthodoxy is historically defined according to the creeds, and there is nothing at all in the creeds about human sexuality.”Steve Harper, author of the new book, Holy Love, published today, is our guest for Episode #206. Steve is a former Professor of Historical Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary, which is— mind you— the UMC’s most conservative school. Steve was also a leader in traditionalist movements like Good News and the Confessing Church Movement. In 2015, though, Steve’s understanding of sexuality in light of scripture changed.His new book is a concise primer for all folks but especially those like his former self. He’s a warm and wise man with whom I felt honored to speak.Here’s the blurb I had the opportunity to provide for the publisher:In all our church fighting about what is and is not incompatible with Christian teaching, Christians seem to have forgotten the core of Christian teaching; that is, we’re all incompatible with Christian teaching. Not one of us is found compatible— we are made c

In a culture of performancism, virtue-signaling, and enoughness-chasing, Nick Lannon's new book tells us the good news that Life is Impossible (and that's the good news). Nick is an Anglican priest in Louisville, a movie buff and sports buff, and a contributing writer to Mockingbird Ministries and Liberate.

Martin Luther said that God loves to hide himself behind his opposites. Though we prove time and again to think we need to strive and succeed so that we might be found acceptable by God or, in succeeding, find God in God's glory, the God who condescends to us in the suffering Christ never stops so condescending, meeting us not in our triumphs but in our struggles, suffering, and failures. Friend of the podcast Chad Bird, is back to talk about his new book Upside Down Spirituality: The Nine Essential Failures of a Faithful Life.

Calvin said the human heart is an idol factory. Augustine said our hearts are restless until they find rest in God. DZ of Mockingbird Ministries and the author of the new book, Seculosity, says we’re more religious than ever before we’re church “in church” in different ways (love, politics, parenting, technology, fitness) searching for “enoughness” from gods that, without the promise of grace, cannot bestow it. Check out his work at www.mbird.com and grab a copy of his book over at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Jerry Herships joins the podcast to talk about his newest book, 'Rogue Saints: Spirituality for Good-Hearted Heathens.' In this episode, we talk about what exactly Jerry means by "shitty church," if you are looking for a church how you can avoid one, and if you are a pastor how you can avoid pastoring one. ---------------More on the book: The world is full of good-hearted heathens, those who love people and those who want to do good in the world. They're not against God--they just have little use for church. Church is boring and hypocritical. Plus, who wants to sit through a sermon every week? But while organized religion doesn't appeal to them, these heathens long for a connection to something bigger than themselves: meaning, community, mission.---------------Jerry Herships is the founding pastor of After Hours Denver, a faith community of rebels and misfits that meets in dives and pubs to talk God and the Holy over drinks while making PB&Js to pass out to the hungry and homeless of downtown Denver. A fo

200 Episodes!!! Say what?!? Listen as the guys take a trip down memory lane to talk about their favorite episodes, their white whale guests and what's to come for the podcast Crackers and Grape Juice!

Jason crushes on his hero Barbara Brown Taylor while talking with her about her new book, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others. The author of previous books like the Preaching Life and Leaving Church, Baylor University recognized Taylor as one of the most influential preachers in the English language.

Now that the sting of the UMC Special General Conference is lessening, what is next? How can those who are dissatisfied with the work done by the delegates in St Louis organize and be better prepared for GC2020?Rev. Mandy Sloan McDow is the Senior Minister at First United Methodist Church in LA and is the co-author of the forthcoming book, 'Out of the Depths: Your Companion After Divorce.' Follower her on Twitter - https://twitter.com/RevMama

The podcast team caught up with Emma Green to talk about the implications of what occurred at the Special General Conference in St. Louis. Emma argues the storyline coming out of #GC2019 is a common storyline being experience throughout the United States: a breakdown or inability to live in community with people who we disagree with. This struggle to maintain community is causing fracture throughout institutions that once held up our communities.Emma Green is a staff writer at ​The Atlantic, where she covers politics, policy, and religion. https://www.theatlantic.com/author/emma-green/https://twitter.com/emmaogreen

By a slim margin the 'traditional plan' was selected to be the way forward for the United Methodist Church. Disciplinary action against LGBTQIA clergy will be swifter and without the benefit of due process. In all reality, the plan selected by the Special General Conference does not meet the UMC's constitutional requirements. Just an hour after the Special General Conference was adjourned, Crackers & Grape Juice sat down with our favorite thoughtful pastor, Christy Thomas, the debrief and talk about what is next as the UMC becomes more divided, and LGBTQIA persons are delivered a legislative knife in the back.

The team caught up with Diana Butler Bass on the eve of the conclusion of the UMC's Special General Conference. She offers thoughts about the historical and theological significance of a denomination's discernment over human sexuality.

In an effort to provide honest conversations from the 2019 Special General Conference, the Crackers & Grape Juice team invited supporters of all of the plans being considered by the United Methodist Church’s governing body to explain why the plan they support is the correct plan.Former alumni of Bob Jones University and current members of the West-Ohio Conference, Rev. Jeff Mullinix and Steve Shamblin-Mullinix share their thoughts on the Special UMC General Conference, recalling their calling into ministry and forced removal because of their sexual identity.

In an effort to provide honest conversations from the 2019 Special General Conference, the Crackers & Grape Juice team invited supporters of all of the plans being considered by the United Methodist Church’s governing body to explain why the plan they support is the correct plan.Rev. Christy Thomas, author of the Thoughtful Pastor blog, offers her reflections after Day 2 of the Special 2019 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. Christy has been a vocal advocate for the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the UMC.

The team sat down to talk about day two from the Special General Conference in St. Louis...

In an effort to provide honest conversations from the 2019 Special General Conference, the Crackers & Grape Juice team invited supporters of all of the plans being considered by the United Methodist Church’s governing body to explain why the plan they support is the correct plan.Mark Tooley explains why the Traditional Plan from the Commission on the Way Forward is the best plan to help the United Methodist Church move forward in this ongoing conversation about human sexuality.Mark Tooley is an American Methodist layman and writer. He is a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, who became president of the Washington-D.C. based Institute on Religion and Democracy, in 2009, a conservative religious think tank noted for its opposition to religious and social liberalism.

If an effort to provide honest conversations from the 2019 Special General Conference, the Crackers & Grape Juice team invited supporters of all of the plans being considered by the United Methodist Church’s governing body to explain why the plan they support is the correct plan.Anna Golladay was removed from her appointment because she officiated a same-sex wedding. She has traveled to St Louis for the called General Conference as a lay observer, present to ensure the LGBTQ voices in her Bible-belt community are not ignored as the United Methodist Church meets to find a way forward.

The team talks about the early legislative session from Day 2 of General Conference 2019 as we prepare for the first debates about the proposed plans from The Way Forward.

The team had a chance to sit down with Bishop Will Willimon to talk about the Special General Conference, hopes, challenges, and the call to keep muddling.