Alt Txt: Image of our guests, Melissa and Ben Conner, with our co-hosts: Stephanie Kate Judd, Dr. Grace Sangalang Ng, Rev. Daniel Parham, and Dr. Madison Pierce. In this episode we talk about mutuality in ministry with friends and nature with Melissa and Ben Conner. Melissa Conner is executive director and certified advanced therapeutic riding instructor at Renew Therapeutic Riding Center in Holland, Michigan. Dr. Benjamin Conner is Professor of Practical Theology and Director of...
On this episode we discuss the ministry of women in the New Testament with Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee, who is Stewart Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity College, Melbourne, an ordained priest in the Anglican church, and the author of The Ministry of Women in the New Testament: Reclaiming the Biblical Vision for Church Leadership (published by Baker). In our conversation, Prof. Lee tells us about the shape and scope of the book,...
It’s been seven months since I have been involved in Biblical-Academic pursuit. In that time I’ve transitioned to a fairly normal blue-collar job, taken up interest in a career path in fitness (shameless plug: if you’re looking for coaching, I do Powerlifting, Bodybuilding and General Fitness!), got engaged and started planning a wedding. My primary focus has shifted away from scouring through libraries to making long-term financial goals, figuring out how to plan a date...
In John 15:1-17, Jesus talks about “bearing fruit” and “friendship.” This is a reflection on the meaning of “bearing fruit” in Scripture, the ways in which John innovates a relationship between fruit, friendship, and death in this passage, and an argument about the counter-intuitive places I think we should look for friendship in Scripture. Bearing Fruit in Scripture The Man and Woman in the garden are given the vocation to “be fruitful and multiply” at...
With only seven years of church ministry experience, I never saw myself as an expert in anything. If anything, I’m barely starting to hit a stride with my church! By the grace of God, I was invited to speak at the 4th annual Asian American Ministry Conference at Biola University. The topic that I was asked to speak on was Church Organization. While this topic was familiar to me, I was also concerned because I...
I never really thought I would be here, in this place wondering what is next. When we left Aberdeen it was in hopeful anticipation of the next step almost being an immediate thing. At first it was a bit disappointing…. ok really disappointing. I really didn’t have much time to reflect on what was next. It was a whirlwind of activity coupled with a sandstorm of tasks, list upon list of check boxes to tick,...
What is the local church? Not physically so much, but what is the point? I asked this question for years ever since I started going consistently of my own volition in my senior year of high-school. I really only went because I had friends there, and occasionally I’d hear an interesting point about some passage in Scripture or a funny story, but I mostly just went because it was just what you did as a...
I once attended a funeral for a man (lets call him “Joe-Bob”) who was renowned in our little town in South Dakota for his regular place at the local bar. It was a unique affair with testimonials that praised Joe-Bob’s happy outlook on life, his ability to hold his alcohol, and his consistent appearance at the third seat down from the tap. Joe-Bob’s widow poignantly pointed out that, even though Joe-Bob was dying of cirrhosis...
As I’ve shared on The Two Cities before I have been incredibly impacted by passages like Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man [who’s]… delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night… In all that he does he prospers.” This passage has incredibly impacted how I do ministry and how I live my life. If I want to be a fruitful Christian I ought to mediate on...
It’s 12 am and you are preparing a sermon for tomorrow. It’s 4pm and you are preparing for community group that will take place in your living room in a few hours. You have reached an impasse. You could take the easy route and give that nicely packaged sermon or group discussion that you have memorized. You could also take the easy path and deliver that spiel that you know sounds nice, but you know...
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