Crackers And Grape Juice Podcast

Corey Nathan was raised in an observant Jewish household attending an Orthodox synagogue. His family is mostly from Brooklyn, NY; but Corey grew up on the Jersey side - Bruce Springsteen country! In his late 20s, much to the family's chagrin, Corey became a Born-again Christian. Not long after this epiphany, the new believer began to find many of the default social and political positions of contemporary American Evangelicalism to be at odds with the very Scriptures that are supposed to be Christians’ authority for how to engage in the world.Vocationally, Corey started out as a stockbroker (Series 7, Series 63) during the day while he was studying at a theatre conservatory at night. Since then, he’s been an entrepreneur with one foot in business and one foot in creative pursuits having built and managed such endeavors as:● a specialty headhunting firm● a theatre and film ministry● a residential and commercial service company● a 501c3 to help folks during the pandemic● and most recently a new media/content com

A book that marries the theologian of THE 20th century (Karl Barth) with THE philosopher at the turn into the 21st, Charles Taylor, and all for the practical application of pastors and congregations? What’s not to love? On the podcast once again is friend and fellow Princeton alum, Andy Root, of Luther Seminary in the Twin Cities. About his latest:Congregations often seek to combat the crisis of decline by using innovation to produce new resources. But leading practical theologian Andrew Root shows that the church's crisis is not in the loss of resources; it's in the loss of life--and that life can only return when we remain open to God's encountering presence.This new book, related to Root's critically acclaimed Ministry in a Secular Age project, addresses the practical form the church must take in a secular age. Root uses two stories to frame the book: one about a church whose building becomes a pub and the other about Karl Barth. Root argues that Barth should be understood as a pastor with a deep practical

“Barth’s attacks on the liberal theologians and what he regarded as their high humanism has led many to label him as anti-humanistic. Barth, however, never abandoned his presumption that to be a Christian is to be a creature on the way to being a human being. To be sure that way is one determined by Christ. “God is God and we are not” remains central to Barth but for Barth the God that is the other is the One that makes us capable of being human.”Our friend, mentor, and muse, Stanley Hauerwas, returns to the podcast to discuss his latest book, Fully Alive, which is a collection of essays on the apocalyptic humanism of Karl Barth. Along the way, we talk about English mysteries, nihilism, and parting forever with friends like John Howard Yoder and Jean Vanier whose work had been so central to his own.

Our guest for #341 is our friend Christy Thomas. Christy is a retired UMC Elder and journalist from Texas. She writes at the website The Thoughtful Pastor on Patheos. You may remember Christy from our coverage of the United Methodist Church’s General Conference in 2019. The pandemic has interrupted the UMC’s divorce proceedings, but that does not mean the schism has been event-less. Christy joined us to talk about her recent piece: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thoughtfulpastor/2022/01/09/the-umc-must-die-to-have-hope-of-life/

On the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Teer, David, and Jason reflect on the ignominious event from the perspective of the Feast of the Epiphany.

Our guest for #339 is Brad Jenson. A former pastor, Brad has a PhD in Theology from Luther Seminary. A former student of Gerhard Forde, Brad has edited a new edition and written a study guide for Forde’s classic book, Where God Meets Man. In this episode, we talk with Brad about his article on Fuerbach, Barth, and Forde, his time in the parish, Luther’s down-to-earth Gospel, and his work now thinking about longevity and retirement.

The whole gang (well, mostly) poured some libations and got together to talk about Christmas, the incarnation, doubt and the miracle of faith.

Back on the podcast is our friend, mentor, and muse, Fleming Rutledge. It’s our Christmas gift to you. Thanks to all our listeners!

Our guest for #336 is Dr. Thomas Millay, author of the new book Kierkegaard and the New Nationalism. Thomas is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and Baylor University and he currently serves a parish in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Nationalism is a globally resurgent phenomenon. From Britain to India to the United States of America, we find nations vociferously reasserting their own sovereignty, ethnic composition, and intrinsic superiority. Thomas J. Millay demonstrates how Kierkegaard’s ascetic voice speaks directly to our present crisis.Kierkegaard and the New Nationalism: A Contemporary Reinterpretation of the Attack upon Christendom analyzes the late writings of Kierkegaard in light of this new relevance, for Kierkegaard’s attack upon Christendom is also an attack upon nationalism. For Kierkegaard, taking on nationalism is not simply a matter of undermining false identity constructions. Attacking nationalism is a matter of renunciation: it requires ascetic discipline, such that the selfish motives at the

Pastor Brian Zahnd joins the podcast to talk about his newest book, "When Everything's on Fire: Faith Forged from the Ashes."About the book --Is it possible to hold on to faith in an age of unbelief?Intellectual certainty has long been a cornerstone of the Christian faith. But in an age of secularism, skepticism, and cynicism, our worldviews have been shaken. Various solutions exist―some double down on certainty, while others deconstruct their faith until there is nothing left at all. But Brian Zahnd offers a third way: what is needed is not a demolition but instead a renovation of faith.Written with personal and pastoral experience, Zahnd extends an invitation to move beyond the crisis of faith toward the journey of reconstruction. As the world rapidly changes in ways that feel incompatible with Christianity, When Everything's on Fire provides much-needed hope. A stronger, more confident faith is possible when it is grounded in the beauty and truth of Christ. Zahnd permits us to risk the journey of deconstru

Back on the podcast is our friend, Father Kenneth Tanner. Ken is the rector of Holy Redeemer in Rochester Hills, Michigan and a writer for Christianity Today, Mockingbird, Clarion, and The Huffington Post. Oxford High School, the site of the latest school shooting in the US, is in Holy Redeemer's parish, and Kenneth joined us on the podcast to talk about his experience of providing pastoral care to the students, families, and teachers in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.

While human existence in time is determined by the time of Jesus Christ, by the logic of the incarnation, passion, resurrection, and ascension, the predominant accounts of time in the modern West have proceeded from a very different basis. The implications of these approaches are not just a matter of epistemology, or of abstract doctrinal and philosophical claims. Instead, they have had, and continue to have, concrete ramifications for human life together. They have overwhelmingly been death-dealing rather than life-giving, marked by a series of temporal moral errors that this book hopes to address. As a counterexample, this book reads Søren Kierkegaard alongside Karl Barth to highlight the ways that both figures rejected a Hegelian approach to time that was, and is, not coincidentally intertwined with a racialized account of history and the co-opting of Christianity by the modern Western state.Our guest for #333 is Dr. Kara Slade. Kara serves as associate rector at Trinity Church, associate chaplain of the E

Ben Maddison is a priest at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in New Jersey, and Keith Voets is the rector at The Episcopal Church of St. Alban the Martyr, Queens, N.Y. They joined Jason and the Minion in a conversation about re-centering the Church on the Gospel. Here's the post that got the conversation started:There's some on-going ✨ Discourse ™️✨ in The Episcopal Church about ways to reverse decline. Some ideas are good, some not so good, some the same old nonsense that always comes up in the course of these conversations. So here's my one-step plan to revitalize decline:Proclaim the Good News of the Gospel: the transformative reality that Jesus Christ—in his life, death, and resurrection—fundamentally changes absolutely every aspect of who we are, how we live, how we love, and how we act in the world—a stark transformation that can only be described as a "death" of the old and resurrection of the new. Forgiveness, mercy, grace, love, and justice flow (by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit) from th

What does the cross of Christ have to do with the thunderbird? How might the life and work of Christian writer G. K. Chesterton shed light on our understanding of North American Indigenous art and history? This unexpected connection forms the basis of these discerning reflections by art historian Matthew Milliner. In this fifth volume in the Hansen Lectureship Series, Milliner appeals to Chesterton's life and work―including The Everlasting Man, his neglected poetry, his love for his native England, and his own visits to America―in order to understand and appreciate both Indigenous art and the complex, often tragic history of First Nations peoples, especially in the American Midwest. The Hansen Lectureship series offers accessible and insightful reflections by Wheaton College faculty on the transformative work of the Wade Center authors.Friend of the podcast, Dr. Matt Milliner, is back on the program to talk about his new work, The Everlasting People: G. K. Chesterton and the First Nations. Matt is a Professor

Gretchen Purser is the host of the podcast, The Mess is Mine.Gretchen is a recovering evangelical, former political hack and a Republican refugee. She built a 20 year career working for national Republican campaigns, candidates, and committees and their adorable baby brother, the religious right. She’s seen a lot of sh@t. She joins us to talk faith and politics on Election Day 2021.https://themessismine.com/Before you listen, do us a solid and help out the podcast.Head over to http://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com.Click on “Support the Show.”Become a patronSubscribe to CGJ+For peanuts, you can help us out….we appreciate it more than you can imagine.Follow us on the three-majors of social media:https://www.facebook.com/crackersnjuicehttps://twitter.com/crackersnjuicehttps://www.instagram.com/crackersandgrapejuice

On growing up in the American South of the 1960s--an all-American white boy--son of a long line of Methodist preachers, in the midst of the civil rights revolution, and discovering the culpability of silence within the church. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist for The Birmingham News."My dad was a Methodist preacher and his dad was a Methodist preacher," writes John Archibald. "It goes all the way back on both sides of my family. When I am at my best, I think it comes from that sermon place."Everything Archibald knows and believes about life is "refracted through the stained glass of the Southern church. It had everything to do with people. And fairness. And compassion."In Shaking the Gates of Hell, Archibald asks: Can a good person remain silent in the face of discrimination and horror, and still be a good person?Archibald had seen his father, the Rev. Robert L. Archibald, Jr., the son and grandson of Methodist preachers, as a moral authority, a moderate and a moderating force during the

In a post-Christian culture, parish clergy can find themselves at a loss, ill-equipped to deal with a reality for which seminary did not prepare them. As a result, the Church and its clergy can seem to flounder from one “program” to the next or get enamored with secular self-help strategies. To learn to lead well in this new context, the Church needs to help clergy refocus on what both works and is true to their tradition and theology. Enter Scott Benhase, whose Done and Left Undone proposes an ascetical theology of leadership based in St. Benedict’s Promise of Stability, Obedience, and Conversion of Life. The Promise helps clergy move forward from their inward identity to their outward askesis (discipline), their inner life experience of resting in the mercy of God’s grace in harmony with their outward role in the church. Benhase believes parish clergy can lead faithfully and well without following a program or leadership style that does not fit them. Leading from ascetical grace does not require parish cler

The host of Homebrewed Christianity, Tripp Fuller, shares his answers to a few of the questions Teer is considering for ordination in the United Methodist Church.Tripp is a proud nerd, but not just a Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica type of nerd, he is a theology nerd who is committed to bringing theology to the people. With a PhD in Philosophy, Religion, & Theology, Tripp is a special kind of theology nerd.Before you listen, do us a solid and help out the podcast.Head over to http://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com.Click on “Support the Show.”Become a patronSubscribe to CGJ+For peanuts, you can help us out….we appreciate it more than you can imagine.Follow us on the three-majors of social media:https://www.facebook.com/crackersnjuicehttps://twitter.com/crackersnjuicehttps://www.instagram.com/crackersandgrapejuice

Talk the talk and walk the walk.The challenge of the Christian life is learning to talk Christian. Somebody has got to tell us, give us the words that open the door to the faith called Christian. Each of us is due the delight of discovery that in submitting to God’s talk to us.God Turned Toward Us: The ABCs of Christian Faith is organized by the words the church teaches us to use to talk about ordinary life apprehended by a God who is Jesus Christ–short, meditative reflections upon key concepts that guide Christians, new or longstanding.Before you listen, do us a solid and help out the podcast.Head over to http://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com.Click on “Support the Show.”Become a patronSubscribe to CGJ+For peanuts, you can help us out….we appreciate it more than you can imagine.Follow us on the three-majors of social media:https://www.facebook.com/crackersnjuicehttps://twitter.com/crackersnjuicehttps://www.instagram.com/crackersandgrapejuice

Tony Robinson and Will Willimon reunite for round 2 of Q&A with the Crackers and Grape Juice Nation. The Hauerwas Mafia submitted questions Tony and Will to consider. To get the episode started Will responds to critique he and Stanley Hauerwas received for an article published in Christian Century (https://www.christiancentury.org/article/interview/dangers-providing-pastoral-care). Tony follows up his persspective on pastoral care in the middle of a pandemic.Then the two friends field questions from the Hauerwas Mafia.Before you listen, do us a solid and help out the podcast.Head over to http://www.crackersandgrapejuice.com.Click on “Support the Show.”Become a patronSubscribe to CGJ+For peanuts, you can help us out….we appreciate it more than you can imagine.Follow us on the three-majors of social media:https://www.facebook.com/crackersnjuicehttps://twitter.com/crackersnjuicehttps://www.instagram.com/crackersandgrapejuice