TheoDisc Podcast

Why the church needs artists again
Our guest on this episode of TheoDisc, Martin Young, says that the seeds of prophetic re-engagement with the arts are starting to bloom within the church today. In this conversation, Kenny and Martin talked about his theme book for Spring Harvest called No Greater Life, how Mark’s gospel contains enormous dramatic potential, and how creatives can have a place in the church where their giftings contribute to and enhance our kingdom mission. We hope you enjoy this conversation around No Greater Life, the Gospel of Mark, and the prophetic potential of the arts.
SHOW NOTES
Get Martin’s book: HERE
Get the Leader's Toolkit: HERE
Visit Spring Harvest: HERE
Find out more about Saltmine Theatre Company: HERE
 

Dallas Willard’s Formational Theology and Missional Vision
The late Dallas Willard has had a profound impact on the way many Christians have understood the kingdom of God, discipleship to Jesus, and spiritual formation. His book, The Divine Conspiracy has been deeply revered and discussed ever since its publication. Yet, Dallas’ main concern, that Christians would belong to church communities where they would be taught as apprentices to Jesus, growing in Christlikeness in preparation for sharing in God’s good rule, has not always been fully embraced. Recently, Dallas’ work has increasingly been the subject of academic study, and one such example is the recent publication from Dr Keas Keasler entitled Kingdom Apprenticeship: Dallas Willard’s Formational Theology and Missional Vision. In this study, Keas draws together all of the strands of Willard’s work on formation to present a holistic picture of his vision for Christian discipleship.
SHOW NOTES
Find Keas' book HERE

'The Good Life' in Relation to the Christian Faith
When you think about the apostle Paul writing his letters to the churches, what do you think of as his primary aim? His letters are so filled with deep theological truth that they are often taught as if Paul’s main concern was that the churches believed the right things. This is almost certainly part of what Paul was aiming at. But to what end? What if Paul was not just teaching right belief, but how Christians should live ‘The Good Life’, and that good life as God defines it in Christ rather than how the surrounding philosophies and cultures defined it? That’s the contention of our guest on this episode of TheoDisc, Dr Joshua Jipp.
SHOW NOTES
Find Joshua’s books: HERE
Find out more about Joshua: HERE 
 

The Spirituality and Lived Experience of Black British Pentecostal Women
For those who are in the majority of a majority culture, practices, language and values are often considered to be the neutral baseline, the normal where everyone starts from. As a result, the experience, wisdom, and perspectives of people of different cultures can go unconsidered, or be framed as ‘outside the norm’. This is as true in the church as it is in wider society. One such perspective is that of Black Female Pentecostals, whose lived experience has much to teach the church about spirituality and vibrant faith. Our guest on this episode of TheoDisc, Dr Marcia Clarke, has worked to draw attention to the faith expression of African-Caribbean women in the Pentecostal tradition in the UK, and what we might learn from their powerful witness. We do hope you enjoy this episode!
 
SHOW NOTES
Get Marcia’s book: HERE
Visit Marcia’s website: HERE

What the Book of Numbers Teaches the Church About Leadership
We have all skipped Numbers when reading through the Bible, but in this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny speaks with Michael Morales about how the book of Numbers contains some of the most vital elements of Israel’s story. His two volume commentary on the book proves there is more to it than a series of lists! Michael maintains that at the core of the book are lessons on leadership, including crises and failure – something which the western evangelical church needs to heed in our present moment. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Michaels’ Numbers Commentary: HERE
Find Michael’s books: HERE

An exploration of the person of Blandina, martyrdom, and the visibility of the glorified Christ in witness of Christians.
On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined by Dr Amy Brown Hughes, who talks about early Christian martyrs, particularly a woman called Blandina. She helps us see that not only did these martyrs identify with Christ in their sacrifice, but Christ also identifies with them. Blandina shows us that, in our sufferings for Christ, He identifies so closely with us that people see him when they look at our faithfulness. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Purchase Amy's book, Christian Women in the Patristic World: HERE
Listen to OnScript podcast: HERE
 

A Scholarly Discussion on Women, Leadership, and the Church
Preston Sprinkle's latest book, From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search For What The Bible Really Says About Women In Leadership takes an exegetical journey through the Scriptures, and Preston’s consequent change of mind from a default complementarian position to the belief that women can lead and teach in the church without restriction. Some women responding have offered critique while remaining thankful for Preston’s overall work in the book, including Beth Allison Barr, who published a response on her Substack which Preston has engaged with. We wanted to invite both of them onto TheoDisc to have a scholarly conversation where agreements and disagreements could be aired, and Preston could respond and clarify. That’s the conversation we have on this episode of TheoDisc. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Get Preston’s books, including ‘From Genesis to Junia’: HERE
Theology in the Raw podcast: HERE
Get Beth’s books: HERE
Watch our previous interview with Beth: HERE

The Theology of Life as a Christian
The Christian world is awash with ideas around Spiritual Formation and what it means to live life as a Christian. Often, these ideas focus on our initiation of disciplines, practices and rhythms of life in order see Christ at work in our everyday living. But our guest on this episode, Kelly Kapic, says that our life in Christ must ultimately be grounded in the life of the Trinity, a life we are invited to share in through our union with Him. This is, Kelly claims, how Christian life, no matter your denomination or tradition, is sustained.
SHOW NOTES
Buy Kelly's books: HERE
Visit Kelly’s website: HERE
 

How the church participates in the ongoing healing work of the Holy Spirit
On this episode, Kenny speaks with Dr David C Wang about Trauma, the Holy Spirit, and Spiritual Formation. How does Trauma affect us as whole beings, and how does the Holy Spirit offer us hope for spiritual formation when we experience its long term effects? What if those effects include spiritual trauma that damage our relationship with the church and with God? May this episode be helpful to you.
Read David's paper 'Trauma, the Holy Spirit, and Spiritual Formation': HERE
Find out more about David and his work: HERE

Reclaiming the importance of the ascension
Jesus’ incarnation, death and resurrection are core to our understanding of the gospel. But his ascension can often be treated as a postscript, or even a kind of sad ending to the gospel narratives where Jesus disappears–to where we’re not entirely sure–and we are left with the hope he will one day return. Our guest on this episode, Ross Hastings, has observed that the ascension is not often taught or preached about, and consequently, we miss the magnitude and implications of all that it consummates in Jesus’ kingdom mission, all that it continues to mean for us now, and all that it promises in the future. His book, The Glory of the Ascension, threads numerous theological themes through this event in an attempt to reclaim its importance for Christian communities. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Find Ross’ books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Ross-Hastings/author/B00DWG2L3I
Follow Ross on Social Media: https://x.com/WRossHastings

The Assurance of Hope in Christ's Return
Terror and dread are often how we can still feel about Jesus’ return. Talk of the end times sounds either like the world’s worst conspiracy theory, or feels just too complex to figure out. And yet, the Scriptures talk about the coming day of the Lord... Kenny's guest on this episode of TheoDisc is Dr Sydney Tooth, and she says that 1 & 2 Thessalonians have a particularly rich message of hope in the coming of Christ, and that they are texts that should be opened more by the church. So they have been talking about Paul, Thessalonians, and the return of Jesus. Enjoy!
Show Notes
Read Sydney’s Thesis: https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/36797
The Two Cities Podcast: https://thetwocities.com

Spiritual Flourishing in a Productivity-Driven Culture
Wine isn’t instantaneous, and neither is our spiritual formation. This is why Jesus describes us as branches connected to him as our vine and our source. If Jesus uses this metaphor for our discipleship, then perhaps we should invest a little bit of time in learning how vine branches bear healthy fruit that is in season. That’s the focus of the latest book from Bette Dickinson, who has written The Art of Vinemaking: Spiritual Flourishing in a Productivity-Driven Culture as a call to disciples of Christ to discover or return to the rhythms and cycles that God intends for us to blossom in fullness of life. Her ultimate goal is to create safe and sacred spaces for people to encounter the boundless love of God, and that is evident from her chat with Kenny in this episode of TheoDisc. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Bette’s website: https://www.bettedickinson.com/
Get Bette’s books: https://bit.ly/3MSa3YV 
 

A Christian Response to Polarisation
How do we love our enemies in a polarised world? It’s difficult to engage with those we have deep disagreements with, and doing so can often feel like compromising on our own convictions. This is particularly true with religious or political groups, and Christians can often become entrenched in their positions and unable to meaningfully connect with those we disagree with. On this episode, Kenny is speaking to Dr David Stuart about his Doctoral thesis entitled: Learning to Love - a Theological Response to our Polarised World. He proposes a way to love our enemies as Christ commands us to, and open ourselves to seeing them and ourselves in a new, more clear light - even becoming more faithful to our own commitment to Christ in the process. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Read David’s thesis: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/32013
Find out more about David: https://wtctheology.org.uk/locations/scotland/ 
Contact David: david.stuart@wtctheology.org.uk 
 

How Interpretation Shaped Our View of Women
On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny's guest is Mary Thomason, who is currently engaged in doctoral work about re-establishing a trust in the divine voice within Scripture which undoes the common ways women have been made to feel less than men, and by telling a redeeming narrative of women who are chosen and trusted by God. Her heart is that women and men would be released to be empowered by God without the burden of harmful interpretation which harms both women and men. We know you will enjoy this episode!
 

Kenny's guest on this episode of TheoDisc is Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, who has been working to bring about unity between African, Caribbean, and majority-white congregations since the 1980’s. His book, Evangelical And African Pentecostal Unity, details the challenges and successes of such efforts up until the year 2005. Kenny and Hugh spoke about what has happened in the intervening years, and Hugh’s sense of next steps for a united church across the UK. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Hugh’s website: hughosgood.com
‘Evangelical and African Pentecostal Unity’: amzn.eu/d/4AGfcyg
Hugh’s books: hughosgood.com/books
Churches in Communities International: cicinternational.org/
 

Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist – whatever you call it in your church tradition, we’re asking the question today about the place it plays in our gathered communities and our expectation of the work of the Spirit in and through this sacramental meal. In this episode of TheoDisc Podcast, Kenny is joined by Florian Simatupang, a pentecostal theologian from Indonesia whose latest book, The Eucharistic Spirit, explores the ways the Spirit engages the people of God through our taking of the bread and wine. These are the ingredients, so to speak, that can empower us to remember the past, experience unity and missional purpose in the present, and look forward to the future coming of the Kingdom. Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES
Florian’s Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0F2ZB35ZY/
More about Florian and Christ the King Church: https://ctkchurch.id/oyan