God Says Their Names: What Four Unlikely Women Mean for Us All
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Release Date: 11/29/2023
How a Steady Diet of Calamity and Fear Forms Us
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
On this week's episode Loren recounts the story of a deep conversation he had with a person who leans toward Christian Nationalism (without labeling their beliefs as such). Together we explore the importance of learning to deeply listen to those whose beliefs are different from our own, and the surprises we may find as we try on someone else's lens for a bit. As we work our way through this controversial and divisive election season, on the heels of wars (and rumors of wars), as many in our country still reel from a series of natural disasters, and conspiracy theories are being heard...
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Eating Pets and Bomb Threats: Our Power Narratives Matter
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
A few weeks ago, former President Donald Trump made the assertion, from the Presidential debate stage, that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating citizens' pets. This was his attempt to underscore the need for immigration reform by using debunked conspiracy theories to incite fear. He received this pet-eating information from "people" who he did not name and, though the story was revealed to be completely unfounded and false, his running mate J.D. Vance continued promulgating the rumor after the debate. Since that time, Springfield has experienced bomb threats and school...
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Counting the Cost
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
This week, Loren and Amber discuss the cost of following Christ, especially when one's cherished way of life might be at stake. Is it wrong to defend our rights as Americans or to fight to keep the privileges we've always enjoyed? Is it wrong to allow others to infringe on those rights and privileges? What makes us truly Christian and truly patriotic? As we dig deeper into Christian Nationalism and the Doctrine of Dominionism, we're finding some profound theological questions popping up, ones that challenge our notions of "right" and "wrong" when it comes to God, politics, and love of...
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Christian Nationalism and the Doctrine of Dominionism (Take 2)
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Welcome to Season 14 of the show in which recurring favorite, Loren Romeus, and I take another -- more informed, more loving, and fairer -- stab at the exploration of Christian nationalism and the doctrine of dominionism which is enjoying a resurgence in America. On today's episode, we define our terms and explain why we think this is a conversation worth having again. Our relationship to power, safety, and control informs how we see the world, God, and ourselves. And the way we see all of that informs the way we show up and how we influence. Join us as we dig a little deeper for the...
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Honoring Others with Our Power
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
What happens when we use our power and authority to honor others, especially those on the margins? What is possible when we serve the "we" instead of the "I?" Join me in conversation today with Loren Romeus as we discuss stories in which we've been called to steward our power for the sake of those who have less power.
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How Does God Steward Power?
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
It stands to reason that Christians would want to model their leadership styles/stewardship of power after the example of Jesus. Yet, the One who taught us to wash feet, to use our power in service of others, to sacrifice the "I" for the sake of the "we" is often disregarded in churches, Christian homes and communities. Why do Christians resist the example of Christ? What can we learn from God's own stewardship of power? Join me in conversation today with Loren Romeus as we explore these questions and more.
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Servant Leadership
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
We all agree that servant leadership is the kind of leadership style that values the goodness and well being of all people within an organization. It's the goal, the aspiration, and the gold standard of leadership styles. Yet, we rarely see it sustained. We most often default to styles of leadership which are not in service of all. Why is this? What is it about servant leadership that is so difficult for us to sustain in the real world? Join me in conversation with Loren Romeus as we explore these questions and more.
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What is the Purpose of Power?
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
God gave humans limited power -- over self, the earth, and one another. What is the purpose of this power? What did God have in mind for its use and what can we know about how God sees its misuse? Christian dominionism is a popular teaching, growing more popular as our nation is further polarized across a number of issues. Did God give us power so that we could extend God's power on the earth? If so, what does that look like and what does it NOT look like? Join me in conversation with Loren Romeus as we explore these questions and more.
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The God of Power
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Join me today in conversation with a favorite guest, Loren Romeus, as we begin Season 13. This season is all about power/authority/dominion and how it intersects with American Christianity. What is the purpose of power? How does God steward power and provide an example for us? What is with the rise of Christian dominionism teachings and how do they fit in with the teachings of Christ? These are just a few of the questions we'll be exploring together as we try to make sense of our current cultural moment. On today's episode we introduce ourselves and tell the story of what sparked this...
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Pain and the Plan
Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story
Philosopher and theologian Cornel West posits that the condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. That resonates, doesn’t it? What is our suffering saying to us? What truth is it offering? Far be it from me to attempt to explain why things couldn’t have been different or how a good and omniscient God works with suffering. Theologians and philosophers and farmers and housewives have been pondering these questions since the dawn of time, and I have nothing novel to offer the debate on the problem of pain. However, what I’m learning is that, if we can risk allowing our suffering to...
info_outlineWith quaint creche Christmas scenes depicting Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus alongside shepherds, wisemen, and various farm animals, the raw and shocking hope of Advent is often reduced to sentimentality. We may quickly glance at the nativity scene on the church’s front lawn while narrowly making it to our Christmas Eve candlelight service, or we may conjure the familiar picture of baby Jesus in our minds while singing Silent Night, but the warm feelings this invokes aren’t in proportion to the paradigm-shattering message contained within the story of Advent.
This Advent season, here on the show and at my Substack, The Golden Thread, we’ll be taking a different approach by exploring some of the darker themes that are often overlooked in our pre-packaged Christmastime lessons.
Today our conversation partners will be an unlikely group of women who the gospel writer Matthew included in the genealogy of Jesus. Their names are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba (the wife of Uriah), and their placement in the genealogical account of Jesus’ descent is unusual because they are all women of questionable repute.
Biblical scholars, theologians, and everyday Bible readers have scratched their heads over why exactly Matthew would include women at all (which was not customary), much less four of “questionable repute,” in this genealogy which is supposed to be a matter of pride and critical importance in establishing Jesus’s title as “King of Israel?” Consider the dark and twisted nature of these women’s stories, which we will not gloss over today in our search for what’s real in this Advent story.
Join me in conversation with these four women today.
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