Biblical Conversations

In this interview, Pesach and I discuss some of the unhelpful ways that certain people of faith have responded to the pandemic gripping our world. How does God want us to respond? Can we know what God is saying to us through these difficult times? Pesach critiques some of the interpretations being offered in Israel by certain rabbis there. He goes to Exod 33:21-22 to point out that

This episode seeks to engage in the terrible virus sweeping our country asking, “What biblical themes should we be thinking about? Where is God speaking to us? What lessons can we learn?" I talked with Todd Mueller, an (associate professor of business administration), Eric and Denise Van Meter (campus pastors at DWU) and I have some thoughts of my own. The sound quality is not go

Betty Oldenkamp is the Executive Director of Lutheran Social Services in Sioux Falls and Director of their "Center for New Americans" which helps refugees resettle into South Dakota. In this episode, Betty and I discussed the striking way in which the Bible in both testaments expresses tremendous concern for the refugee. One text actually declares a curse on those who misuse and mi

This episode is for students in my REL 141 course which is going online until Mar 30. I discuss Pascal’s Wager for those struggling to believe in God.

This is my second episode on the Bible and Immigration and is an interview with my friend and colleague Thomas Madut. Thomas was one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" who fled from the Janjaweed fighters who wrecked devastation throughout south Sudan in the mid-1990's. Thomas is an extraordinary marathon runner and ranked 46th in the Boston Marathon just a few years ago. Thomas is a Trio

This podcast examines a recent experience I had advocating for South Dakota HB 1212 which would have added clergy to the list of mandatory reporters of suspected cases of child neglect and abuse. 45 states already mandate that clergy report suspected cases. Reporting suspected abuse does not mean that anyone gets in trouble. It just means that a qualified professional checks in on

We now know that January 2020 was the hottest January since temperatures have been tracked. Let’s talk climate. What does the Bible say about our environment? How should we think biblically about the multiple human impacts on the created world? Besides a warming environment, insect populations and bird populations are in steep descent. This episode contains a biblical conversatio

This is the second half of the conversation I had recently with Vicky Vetter and Karl Kroger. Vicky is the Director of Student Ministries at Legacy United Methodist Church in Bismarck ND. She's very involved in helping resettle and educate immigrants in the Bismarck area. Karl is the Senior Pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Piedmont SD and has been passionate about immigra

What attitude should we take toward people who have entered this nation illegally? Should mercy and benevolence triumph over justice and the law? What about those who immigrate here lawfully or those who seek asylum? Vicky, Karl and I waded into this vast and complex topic using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral as our guide. We also call this the "STER analysis" which follows these 4 que

This is the first episode in Biblical Conversations on a “social issues” topic. We’re going to jump in deep. Let's talk about abortion. We can say with some confidence that this is the issue that got Trump elected - evangelicals loved his promise to select judges for SCOTUS that would be strongly anti-abortion. And, in the last several days, about 200 legislators signed an am