New episode means more behind the scenes thoughts and insight.

This week, my wife and I were driving back from a quick trip to Grand Rapids and when we hit traffic and Don and I chatted we realized we were not going to be able to record a normal episode. So he suggested Jette and I do one together and she pick the topic. So this was a fun thing to record after a long day of traveling at our dining room table. She did not tell me any of the questions she was going to ask, so it unfolded in real time.

So as normal, a few thoughts and reactions from the recording:

• When she asked me what I was reading recently I couldn’t recall the name of Margery Kempe. Lately I’ve been really getting into learning about the mystics from the middle ages that are women, and right now I’m reading about Margery Kempe and Hildegard of Bingen. Part of my journey lately has been trying to find a balance of spiritually and study of the text, and so I’ve chosen to read the mystics. Specifically the women of this period, as I have found women have been shouting the truth since the beginning and it takes a long time for me to hear it.
  • The book about Kempe is called Skirting Heresy by Elizabeth MacDonald and is doing a great job (so far) painting the surrounding history to what was going on in Margery’s time.
  • The book about Hildegard is by Dr. Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook and is an annotated and explained (commentary almost) on Hildegard’s writings. Very thorough, very good.
• The question at the end about who do I know that represents Jesus in the skin today really caught me off guard. Normally I have been taught to look for the acts of Jesus in people, but not him as a whole. So now I will be more open to looking for the whole and not just pieces.
• I believe in the redemption of evangelicalism. This will probably be a long series in a blog post in the future, maybe even a book, who knows. This is not something that was easy to come to terms with, because I was done with it a long time ago (see the first episode we did on evangelism back in 2018). At the heart of it, evangelicalism is the idea that we believe in grace that can provide salvation through our faith in Jesus. If you are an avid listener of Evangebros you’d know that we have talked about salvation before and what that may look like. The idea of evangelicalism, I believe, is a good one that has been carried out in shit ways. This is something I am still working through and wrestling with and reserve the right to change my mind on it down the road.
• This episode became really personal, which I was not expecting. There were a few times I started to get teary and a lump in my throat because of the questions.
• I really enjoyed my time as a Covenant Member of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville Michigan. I am just sad that it wasn’t the church I always thought it was.
• Finally, it was just awesome to record with Jette. I love talking with her, so to have something recorded that I can listen to anytime is just gold for me.

What were your thoughts on the episode, I’d love to know! Comment below or email us at evangebros@gmail.com

Peace be with you.