There are many applications of the definition of foundation. It is the underlying base of support that a building is built upon (see def. 4 and 5 above). It is an institution that donations can be made to (see def. 3 above). It is an act of establishing something (see def. 1 above). And it […]
Read More The Indispensable Worth of Discipleship and the Longevity of FaithWhat is worship? Can governments restrict worship? Can churches really be shut down? We talk about this and more!
Read More What is Worship? Can Churches Really Shut Down? Can Governments Really Restrict Worship?We live in a very politically divided time. Everyone sees the “other side” as the enemy. Conservatives see liberals as enemies and liberals see conservatives as enemies. Neither side seems very willing to work through differences, but instead want to paint with broad strokes and wide brushes the other party. To make matters worse, individuals have come to some conclusion that Jesus would’ve been a supporter of their party. But, would he? Is Jesus a conservative or a liberal? How about a socialist? Let’s talk about that!
Read More S3Ep5 – Political Jesus: Is Jesus Conservative or Liberal?In a time when racial tensions are high, people often want to bring Jesus into it. Not just from a “what would Jesus do” aspect, but also from “What race was Jesus?”. So, in this episode, we explore that a little. Was Jesus white? Was Jesus black? Tune in to find out where we land on this question.
Read More S3Ep4 – White Jesus Vs Black JesusI think some people assume that I’m anti-large church gatherings, or anti-a lot of things apparently, because of the stuff I often write about micro-church expressions. So, my hope is to offer some clarification in 4 areas: church gatherings, facilities, paid ministers, and education.
Read More Micro-church Misunderstandings: Clarifying My Position on Church Gatherings, Facilities, Paid Ministers, and Education.COVID has been a pain in our butts for the vast majority of 2020…this much is true. People have died (over 200k in the US). This is no small thing. However, perhaps one of the worst outcomes of the entire thing is how we have come to treat one another…our friends, family, and neighbors.
Read More COVID19 Has Turned Us Into ZombiesWas Jesus a legalist, an anarchist, neither, or both? Tune into this episode as we explore another facet of the character of Jesus and 2 more ways that Jesus is often portrayed by people who say they know him, or at least say they know about him.
Read More S3Ep3 – Jesus: Legalist or Anarchist?On episode 2 of season 3, we continue our discussion and exploration of who Jesus is by asking the question, “Was Jesus a Warrior, a Pacifist, neither, or both?”
Read More S3Ep2 – Jesus: Warrior or Pacifist?Please, understand the heart of what I’m about to share, and not take it as a slight against a movement that exposed serious problems in our nation…but I’m going to start a new #MeToo movement. It is a movement where we recognize and call out our own faults and humbly address the planks in our own eyes rather than seek to point out the speck in everyone else’s eyes and try to fix them, which, as we all know, can’t happen. We can’t fix others. But, we can address the issues in ourselves and hopefully help others see the issues in themselves by allowing them to see how we confront them in ourselves.
Read More The New #MeToo Movement: Spotting the Plank In My Own EyeEveryone has their own ideas about who Jesus is…but it is important that we actually know who Jesus is, and not just who we would like Him to be. Season 3 is dedicated to exploring the many ways people portray Jesus and comparing that to what the Bible tells us about Jesus. It’s sure to be an awesome season filled with great discussions and thought provoking nonsense (wouldn’t be an ACP episode without a little humor, now would it?) See you there!
Read More S3Ep1 – Who Is Jesus? Season 3 IntroYou see, we’ve spent countless years building our little castles in the sand, adorning them with seashells and other ocean matter, inviting people to come see what we have done instead of inviting people into a relationship with a mighty God and see what HE is doing, enjoying ourselves immensely as the masses are entertained, only to have 2020 come in and a virus come along and wash it all away.
Read More Churches and Sand CastlesIt’s 8PM on a Monday night, I’m sitting in the living room with my 4-year-old watching the Looney Toons version of “The Three (3) Little Pigs” and, of course, this gets me thinking about the message that is being communicated through this short little story. If you’re not familiar with the story (which, I REALLY […]
Read More The Gospel of The Three Little PigsThere is such a thing as an optimal environment for everything in life. Optimal environments for raising children. Optimal environments for pets. Optimal work environments. Optimal health environments. And so on. There is one thing I’ve been learning with my wife as we explore growing our own food that stands out pretty clearly in my […]
Read More Optimal Church EnvironmentThe Age of the Shopping Mall Perhaps I’m dating myself here a little, but I remember when shopping malls were all the rage and acted as the primary place where people of all ages would come and spend their weekends. Friday nights, especially, were spent roaming the halls of the malls. These malls were packed […]
Read More COVID19 – Shopping Mall Churches Face the MusicMinistry is not only a pastor thing. In fact, it’s not only an evangelist thing. Or a teacher thing. Or a prophet thing. Or an apostle thing. It’s an everybody thing.
Read More Ephesians 4: Ministry, for the Rest of UsGeorge Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and more represent recent unjust deaths in America that have led to protests and riots across the entire United States. The phrase “I Can’t Breathe” was part of the last words George Floyd spoke as he died under the weight of a police officer who had his knee in his neck […]
Read More BONUS: I Can’t Breathe Pt 2George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and more represent unjust deaths in America that have led to protests and riots across the entire United States. The phrase “I Can’t Breathe” was some of the last words George Floyd spoke as he died under the weight of a police officer who had his knee in his neck while 3 other officers watched on and did nothing. “I Can’t Breathe” has become the new cry of the black community that has been struggling for as long as American History itself to find their place in society and be heard, seen, and treated equally. On this episode Brad and Brian talk about these events, the protests, the riots, and what it’s like to be a black person growing up in America. It’s a hard conversation, but a needed one that we hope you’ll take the time to listen to.
Read More S2 Ep007 – I Can’t Breathe (Part 1)Yesterday (05/06/2020), a new social media storm began to brew as social media everywhere (from Twitter to Facebook) erupted in outrage over the fact that the killers of Ahmaud Arbery still have not been arrested or charged since they killed him back in February of this year. The details resurfaced as new video evidence was […]
Read More Racism: Does God Really Not See Color?Imagine with me, for a moment, a Church where… there is no paid staff, and the pastor and other staff do not rely on the local church to provide for their families. there is a pastor, and other leaders are organically raised up from within the body – including future pastors of more churches and […]
Read More All Has Been Stripped Away, But Will We Simply Come?It’s Saturday night. I’m laying in bed, everyone is asleep, and two incidents from the week keep replaying in my mind involving each of my sons oddly (well perhaps not too oddly) leading me to some thoughts about discipleship: Incident 1 – Declan (4 years old) came into my room last week with his glasses […]
Read More Discipleship: Sunglasses and Bike Rides“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20 [Brad] Hi, Brad Bates here, your friendly host of the Angry Christian Podcast, and today I’m doing a collaborative blog article here with […]
Read More Best Practices for Angry Christians on Social MediaWe are starting a new weekly segment called “Happy Hump Day, Tell Me Something Good Y’all” as we remind ourselves of the good things going on in the face of uncertainty and crisis. Join us!
Read More BONUS: Happy Hump Day, Tell Me Something Good Y’all! 03/25/2020Most churches are still putting a great deal of effort into making the 1 hour Sunday gathering viable over the internet for most of their church body. Some are making efforts to find discipleship opportunities outside of Sunday morning. And unfortunately, a great deal of people are still screaming that they want things to go back to the way they were.
Seeing all of these reactions, I can’t help but ask, should we go back?
Read More COVID19 Aftermath: The Church Cannot Go Back to EgyptAccording to Pew Research, about 15-20% of Christians in America are under the age of 30 leaving the mass majority of individuals identifying as Christian in America over the age of 30, with about 45-50% being over the age of 50.
Read More COVID19 – To Close or Not to Close – That is the QuestionI cannot hold others accountable for the wounds they did not inflict on me.
Read More Thoughts on Church HurtThere are many casualties with divorce that go far beyond just those who are splitting up. Join the Angry Christian Podcast, and guest host Cherie Bates, as we discuss just what those casualties are. If you are going through a divorce, been through a divorce, or thinking about a divorce, or know someone who has, this just might be an episode you’ll want to listen to!
Opening Music: “Angry Dance” by Simon Panrucker
Outro Music: “Clear Progress” by Scott Holmes
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Read More [Season 2] Ep003 – The Casualties of DivorceWhen I was a kid, unbeknownst to everyone, I would sometimes wonder about what would happen to me if my parents ever got divorced. Like…which parent would I live with, what would it feel like to live in two different homes, how would my friends see them or me, and so many other questions. I […]
Read More Divorce and The Space Between the Broken ThingsThe Democrat Debate took place the night we recorded this episode and it got us thinking about some things. Does God have a political party? Is it fair to say “Not My President”? Is it possible to agree with those on the “other side” on various things without supporting their overall political platform? How do we get to a better place in our political discourse? Does the Bible have anything to say about politics? These questions and more we discuss in this episode of the Angry Christian Podcast.
Read More [Season 2] Ep002 – Not My PresidentSticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!
Read More Sticks, Stones, Rubber and Glue – Words Matter For Me and They Matter for YouMatthew 19:13-14 NLT – One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”
Read More Let the Children ComeBefore The Mandalorian told us that “This is the way” as he protected that undeniably cute baby Yoda (spawning COUNTLESS memes), Jesus had already come before and shook up the world as he claimed and proved to be “the Way”, the Truth, and the life (John 14:6), and Paul who was once persecuting the followers of “The Way” was now claiming to be a follower of the teachings of “the Way” (Acts 24:14).
Read More This is “The Way”What is to follow is a response from me to the article, Why Churches Should Ditch The Projector Screens and Bring Back Hymnals that was posted to http://www.thefederalist.com back in June of last year (2019). I have seen this article numerous times before, and had debated on responding, but it seems to have resurfaced again, and so I felt a respectful push back would do the discussion some good. And that is what I intend to do.
Please note that this article is not intended to attack traditional churches, or solely support contemporary churches, but to directly address the points made by this author in his article. As a worship leader, I have a deep appreciation for all aspects of church musical worship, so I appreciate and see the value in it all.
Read More A Response to “Why Churches Should Ditch the Projector Screens and Bring Back Hymnals”I’ve started noticing a trend with some (not all or even most) Christians, especially male Christians, and even more specifically male Christians who would consider themselves “culturally engaged” or taking on cultural ideologies that conflict with Biblical principles and moral standards found in the Bible.
That trend is this…any time someone (like myself) mentions that we as believers need to love others better (not just those within the church, but also those outside of the church) and be kinder, more patient, and more gentle with people…there seems to rise up from the ranks of the individuals I mentioned above an immediate defensive posture, and their responses come across as almost a disdain for what is being said.
Read More When did the Fruit of the Spirit become trigger words for Christians?![eager for [truth]](https://eagerfortruth.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/cropped-truth.png)
