Two Fools on the Road to Emmaus Podcast -  Is God angry when we have doubts?  Can doubt be a part of healthy faith?  Today the guys talk about our definitions of faith, and how many of them limit our growth in Christ.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 34:17 — 15.7MB)

Two Fools on the Road to Emmaus Podcast – The guys conclude last week’s conversation by examining the parallel ditches of hyper-intellectualism and flakiness. They ruminate about the prominent trend in Western Christianity of having relationship with concepts and ideas about God, as opposed to the person of Jesus himself.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:52 — 8.2MB)

Two Fools on the Road to Emmaus Podcast – Why do we always seem to gravitate toward unbalanced extremes?  In life we relate to each other both intellectually and through shared experience.  In this episode Mark and Mike talk about their journeys through hyper-intellectualism and flaky ‘charismania’, and how God is leading them to find life somewhere in the middle.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:42 — 9.0MB)

I was pondering an old axiom the other day—can’t see the forest for the trees—and struck by how deep it runs in life.  In particular I was applying it to our contemporary big-box-Christianity models of ministry.  I wasn’t doing this specifically to pick on an easy whipping boy; no, I was examining it because the words of several ex-pastors still ring clearly in my ears.  All of them were considered good at their job (or call, if you prefer a less crass descriptor), yet all of them were eventually led out of that vocation by the same Spirit which led them in.  In hindsight every one of them has relayed something similar to me: at the time they couldn’t see how large a role ego played in their ministry.  It’s not that they thought of themselves as problem free during the ministry years—they didn’t, and they were all aware of their battle with ego—it’s just that they couldn’t see to what extent their egos were infiltrating all of the decisions and actions they were taking. Read the rest of this entry »

Two Fools on the road to Emmaus Podcast – The guys are back and feeling a little nettled by an email making the rounds that preys upon shame and fear.  This launches them into a discussion around the heart of institution and what they mean when they use that word.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:17 — 10.2MB)