Episode 35 Drs. Justus Hunter and Phil Tallon on The Absolute Basics of the Wesleyan Way

In this week’s episode, Drs. Justus Hunter and Phil Tallon talk about their new book: Absolute Basics of the Wesleyan Way (Seedbed 2020). We focus most of our conversation on the meaning and experience of holiness of heart and life. Phil Tallon (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Houston Baptist University. He’s the author of The Poetics of Evil (Oxford, 2012) and The Absolute Basics of the Christian Faith (Seedbed, 2016). Twitter: @philiptallon Justus Hunter (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Church History at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of If Adam Had Not Sinned: The Reason for the Incarnation from Anselm to Scotus.  Twitter: @JustusHunter. Resources by Hunter and Tallon: The Absolute Basics of the Wesleyan Way https://my.seedbed.com/product/the-absolute-basics-of-the-wesleyan-way/ Hunter’s books: If Adam Had Not Sinned: The Reason for the Incarnation from Anselm to Scotus https://amzn.to/2IYZm6C Tallon’s books: The Absolute Basics of the Christian Faith https://amzn.to/362KRaq The Poetics of Evil: Toward an Aesthetic Theodicy https://amzn.to/361ri2g Connect with Brian: Twitter: @briandrussell Instagram: @yourprofessorforlife Brian's Book on Missional Reading of Scripture: (re)Aligning with God: Reading Scripture for Church and World https://amzn.to/3fxatPU

Episode 34 Dr Steve Rankin on Spiritual Formation and the Practice of Holiness

Dr. Steve Rankin (director of the Spiritual Maturity Project and retired chaplain of Southern Methodist University) takes us on a deep dive into spiritual formation and the practice of holiness. Connect with Steve:  Blogs: www.stephenrankin.com and www.spiritualmaturityproject.org under the name “Pressing On.” Search for Spiritual Maturity Project Facebook page.  Twitter: @StephenWRankin Connect with Brian: Twitter: @briandrussell Instagram: @yourprofessorforlife Deep Dive Spirituality Group Coaching for Pastors www.deepdivespirituality.com Books by Steve: Aiming at Maturity: The Goal of the Christian Life https://amzn.to/2ITS7MU Books Recommended by Steve: Robert Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism. https://amzn.to/2ISoCL3 Robert Roberts, Spiritual Emotions: A Psychology of Christian Virtues, https://amzn.to/35K9fgV Lesslie Newbigin, Gospel in a Pluralist Society https://amzn.to/35JkKW4 John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/a-plain-account-of-christian-perfection/ Bio: Steve's a retired university chaplain from Southern Methodist University.  Before that gig, he served as professor of religion and campus minister at Southwestern College in Kansas.  Pastoral ministry for 12 or so years before then, with a 3 year stint in an expatriate congregation outside Rome, Italy.  Started adult life (post-college) as a junior high teacher and basketball and track coach.  In some form or another, he has taught every age from Kindergarten through doctor of ministry students. He's married to Joni and they have four grown children and five grandchildren.

Episode 33 Dr Leonard Sweet on Contextual Intelligence, Semiotics and Holiness

In this week’s episode, Dr. Len Sweet shares deep insights from his new book Contextual Intelligence: The Ancient Secret to Mission on the Front Lines, practices for sustaining excellence over a lifetime, semiotics, and holiness in the 21st century. Bio: Author of more than two hundred articles, 1500+ published sermons and sixty books, Leonard Sweet’s recent publications include the groundbreaking textbook on preaching, Giving Blood: A Fresh Paradigm for Preaching, the best-seller From Tablet to Table, The Bad Habits of Jesus, and the fall 2019 release of the twenty-year successor to SoulTsunami, Rings of Fire: Walking in Faith Through a Volcanic Future.   Len often appears on the “50 Most Influential Christians in America” listings, and in 2010 was selected by the top non-English Christian website as one of the “Top 10 Influential World Christians of 2010”. His “Napkin Scribbles” podcasts can be accessed on leonardsweet.com or spotify. His Twitter and Facebook microblogs are ranked as some of the highest in the religious world.  Len works with graduate students at four institutions: Drew University, where he has occupied the E. Stanley Jones Chair, George Fox University, Tabor College, and Evangelical Seminary, where he currently holds the Charles Wesley Senior Professorship of Doctoral Studies. In 2015 he launched his own homiletics resource preachthestory.com. One of the most sought-after speakers in the religious world today, he resides on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands. Selected Books by Len: Contextual Intelligence (co-authored with Michael Beck) https://amzn.to/3nox6sH  

Giving Blood: A Fresh Paradigm for Preaching https://amzn.to/36qKw07 

Rings of Fire https://amzn.to/36k2YYc From Table to Table https://amzn.to/3kqxQvg The Bad Habits of Jesus https://amzn.to/2JRezGI Trilogy on Jesus mention during interview: Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ (w/Frank Viola): https://amzn.to/3ki6c3D Jesus: A Theography (w/Frank Viola) https://amzn.to/2ImLfan Jesus Speaks: Learning to Recognize and Respond to the Lord's Voice (w/Frank Viola) https://amzn.to/38Ajy9g Other books by Dr. Sweet: https://amzn.to/3lyXVJO Connect with Len: leonardsweet.com Preachthestory.com Twitter: @lensweet Previous Episodes with Len’s co-author on Contextual Intelligence Michael Beck Episode #24 https://youtu.be/U8r8c-F8oAQ Episode #2 https://youtu.be/u4fgeEuHKo0 Connect with Brian: Twitter: @briandrussell IG: @yourprofessorforlife Deep Dive Spirituality Group Coaching: deepdivespirituality.com Business or Life Coaching: drbrianrussellcoaching.com

Above links include Amazon affiliate links.

Episode 32 Dr JR Woodward Identity, Spiritual Formation and the Shaping of Missional Leaders

In this week’s episode, Dr. JR Woodward talks about the critical role of character and identity formation for missional leadership. We also engage in a rich conversation about the role of desire in spiritual formation. Bio: JR Woodward (PhD, University of Manchester U.K.) has been passionately planting churches on the East and West Coast that value tight-knit community, life-forming discipleship, locally-rooted presence and boundary-crossing mission for over 25 years. He is the author of Creating a Missional Culture (IVP, 2012) and co-author of The Church as Movement (IVP, 2016). He co-founded the Missio Alliance and currently serves as the National Director for the V3 Church Planting Movement. He is the co-founder of the Praxis Gathering and writes for numerous websites and journals. He also holds a Masters of Arts in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. He loves to surf, travel, read, skateboard and new people. He enjoys photography and film and tries to attend the Sundance Film Festival whenever he can. Books by JR Woodward Creating a Missional Culture (IVP, 2012) https://amzn.to/35UJcSS The Church as Movement: Starting and Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communities (with Dan White; IVP, 2016) https://amzn.to/320P0t6 ViralHope: Good News from the Urbs to the Burbs (and Everything in Between) (2010) https://amzn.to/321yedl Books Recommended by JR Rene Girard Deceit, Desire, & the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure https://amzn.to/3oJToGG Lesslie Newbiggin The Gospel in a Pluralist Society https://amzn.to/2HWi39O Peter Scazzero The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World https://amzn.to/3oURAuC James K. A. Smith Desiring the Kingdom (Cultural Liturgies) https://amzn.to/3kMtijX William Stringfellow An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land https://amzn.to/35P2Vn6 Van Gelder and Zscheile Participating in God's Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America (The Gospel and Our Culture Series (GOCS))  https://amzn.to/3mFsFZR Walter Wink Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination https://amzn.to/3ectI0q NT Wright https://amzn.to/2TFOhsT Brian's Book on Missional Interpretation (Re)Aligning with God: Reading Scripture for Church and World https://amzn.to/35TTuTo Connect with JR: Twitter: @dreamawakener Website: http://jrwoodward.net/ Connect with Brian: Twitter: @briandrussell IG: @yourprofessorforlife Website: www.drbrianrussellcoaching.com Deep Dive Spirituality Group Coaching for Pastors: www.deepdivespirituality.com Links to Amazon are affiliate links.