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God‘s story is the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. But it‘s also humanity‘s story, the story of a world fallen and blown apart and of a world reshaped and restored. It‘s the beginning of all beginnings and the end of all ends. Join Brent Siddall and the Rev Ian ‘Reido‘ Reid as they explore God, time, salvation and the cosmos. Explore the stories of Western culture as they pivot and interact with the main narrative of salvation history.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Brent and Ian talk with Kiwi musician Brett Wilson about his new book from Castle Publishing called ‘Let’s Back Up a Bit – Conversations with Pioneering Kiwi Christian Musicians’.
How have Kiwi musicians been inspired by God in the past few decades?
Brett Wilson is a musician and songwriter who lives in Hamilton and who is now Communications Co-Ordinator for CBS, a Hamilton based health IT company.
- (1:20) Are Christians afraid of music?
- (3:14) Jimmy Swaggart and Jerry Lee Lewis;
- (5:30) God glorified in all realms. What actually is Christian music?
- (7:05) Is there something of God in all music?
- (8:00) Dave White and the Rev’s;
- (10:26) Why Brett chose the interview format for the book;
- (11:20) How the Kiwi contemporary Christian music scene developed;
- (13:28) Evangelism at concerts;
- (14:27) Certain Sounds and the Youth for Christ movement;
- (19:00) Derek Lind – a godfather of Kiwi Christian music;
- (20:00) David and Dale Garrett;
- (21:50) Stephen Bell-Booth;
- (26:21) How much visual and audio material of these musicians survives;
- (27:00) Advice to young Kiwi musicians;
- (30:00) We need a good theology of music.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Let's Back Up a Bit - Vision College
Music featured in today’s podcast:
- Steve Apirana - ‘No Turning Back’ from his 1992 album of the same name;
- Derek Lind – ‘A Man Like Me’ from his debut album ‘Mixed Blessings’ (1986);
- Stephen Bell-Booth – ‘Wonderful God’ from his album ‘Food For the Journey (1999)
Thank you to the artists for permission to use their recordings.
Brett Wilson writes -
Derek Lind's last 3 albums are on Spotify plus his best of collection (the first 3 albums are yet to make it there - though his 2nd and 3rd album can be streamed from my YouTube channel alongside some other historical recordings Otherwise physical copies might be found here: https://www.dereklind.com/SHOP-ART--MUSIC
Steve Apirana's albums are on Spotify, Apple Music and amplifier, and also available from Koorong Books online and in stores on request.
Stephen Bell-Booth has one album on Spotify - Letting the People Know (1983)
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Saturday Feb 26, 2022
Saturday Feb 26, 2022
How does the metal man image of Daniel 2 relate to the book of Revelation? What does the Empire statue image mean?
- (0:49) The conflict of Empires established further. The Babel project again;
- (3:08) How the Empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome become God’s Empire for the Restoration period;
- (9:00) The Jewish people as faithful witnesses within the Empire;
- (9:45) What happens in the chapter. Political crisis and opportunity;
- (12:23) Significance of the image and the parts of it;
- (22:04) The significance of the clay – the Herod’s and the religious leaders;
- (24:10) The stone that smashes the statue. The Lord Jesus and the Kingdom He brings. The book of Revelation and the book of Daniel.
- (27:30) The metal man in Daniel 2 and the metal man in Revelation 1;
- (29:34) God’s sovereign control over human history.
- (35:30) James Jordan’s book ‘The Handwriting on the Wall’
Links mentioned in today’s episode:
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Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
A conflict of Empires and a Babel project examined.
Brent and Reido are joined by Dr Alastair Roberts of the Theopolis Institute in the USA who explains the background to the book of Daniel and explores chapter 1.
- (0’57) Who was Daniel?
- (2:03) Background of exile;
- (2:20) How Daniel recapitulates big theological themes;
- (4:12) Daniel about ‘new beginning’s;
- (5:14) The conflict of Empires;
- (11:12) The vessels of the Temple;
- (15:00) What happens in Daniel 1;
- (16:40) How chapter 1 recapitulates the creation account in Genesis;
- (19:20) The importance of Shinar and the Babel connection;
- (20:18) Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom as a Babel project;
- (24:30) Numbers in the book of Daniel – 5 the number of power and 4 – Daniel and his 3 friends as the corners of a new house;
- (27:00) Daniel as a chiastic structure and how it works. What is a chiastic structure?
Links mentioned in today’s episode:
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Saturday Feb 19, 2022
Saturday Feb 19, 2022
We talk with Nick Klinkenberg, founder of Vision Churches International. His book ‘How to Multiply Churches’ is published by Castle Publishing in New Zealand.
- (0:46) Covid’s impact on ministry. Importance of micro or small churches;
- (4:29) Micro churches and what they can do;
- (7:22) Why Europe was so central to the strategy;
- (9:56) Why we need to multiply churches. Church planting the best long term evangelistic method;
- (12:00) Why this book is published backwards;
- (14:27) How you can multiply your church;
- (17:12) Word, Worship, Community and Mission;
- (19:17) Has the church neglected evangelism;
- (21:00) How does a church handle evangelism in a time of Covid;
- (23:30) Interconnected micro churches. The early church was like the internet;
- (25:20) How was the early church planted?
Links mentioned in this episode:
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Wednesday Feb 16, 2022
Wednesday Feb 16, 2022
We're joined by Dalene Joy Fisher to examine the faith of Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell and Anne Bronte. How did they use their faith and their writings to improve women’s position in society?
Dalene Joy Fisher is Assistant Provost, Dean and Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Dalene’s book ‘Resisting the Marriage Plot – Faith and Female Agency in Austen, Bronte, Gaskell and Wollstonecraft’ is published by IVP America.
- (1:26) How Christianity was used by these authors to liberate women. The Fall of Man and Milton’s view of Eve;
- (5:00) Adam to blame!
- (5:55) How Christianity drove feminist thought in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries;
- (9:10) Coverture;
- (13:37) Jane Austen and the marriage market;
- (17:30) How the novel genre gave women a powerful voice;
- (19:33) How Anglican evangelicalism influenced many of these writers. Transformation of the heart and its importance to many of these women;
- (21:56) Jane Austen’s respect for evangelicalism;
- (22:20) Anne Bronte the most evangelical of these authors;
- (23:49) Elizabeth Gaskell and Unitarianism – reform minded;
- (25:31) How the novels transformed society.
Links mentioned in this episode:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/Resisting-Marriage-Plot-Wollstonecraft-Theology/dp/08308507
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Saturday Feb 12, 2022
Saturday Feb 12, 2022
In this episode we talk with Nicholas Piotrowski to learn how best to read the Bible and why our interpretative principles matter.
Nicholas Piotrowski is the President and Academic Dean at Indianapolis Theological Seminary in Indiana. His book, ‘In All the Scriptures – The Three Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics’ is published by IVP America.
- (1:01) What does ‘hermeneutics’ mean? How we interpret;
- (2:00) How our culture shapes the way we read the Bible;
- (4:30) How to be aware of our presuppositions;
- (5:30) Art and intuition in biblical interpretation;
- (9:08) Importance of the big picture of the Bible;
- (10:07) How to know if our interpretation is legitimate and ethical; (12:08) The gospel of John and the OT;
- (15:25) How Jesus and the New Testament writers read the Old Testament;
- (19:22) Why its important to understand the whole Bible points to Christ;
- (22:40) How does a preacher start thinking about how a text points to Christ and how do they apply it?
- (29:00) Chiasms and chiastic structures;
- (34:30) Resources.
Links mentioned in this episode:
https://www.amazon.com/All-Scriptures-Contexts-Biblical-Hermeneutics/dp/1514002183
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Wednesday Feb 09, 2022
Wednesday Feb 09, 2022
We talk with Michael MacKenzie to find out why so many pastors burn out and how we can care for our pastors and ministry leaders.
Michael is the clinical director of Marble Retreat, a Colorado retreat centre that specializes in ministry to pastors and ministry leaders in crisis. His book, ‘Don’t Blow Up Your Ministry - Defuse the underlying issues that take pastors down’ is published by IVP America.
- (1:20) Why pastors are blowing up their ministries;
- (1:42) Why pastors should recognize their brokenness;
- (3:00) Churches putting unrealistic expectations on their pastors;
- (3:47) Toxic ministries and churches;
- (5:40) Knowing your strengths and weaknesses in ministry;
- (7:27) Abusive church environments;
- (8:52) Issues of depression or addiction;
- (10:25) Advice for pastors who suffer from depression;
- (11:34) Why pastors commit suicide;
- (14:10) The NZ context;
- (15:10) Performance pressure;
- (16:37) How pastors can care for themselves and how churches can care for pastors;
- (19:16) Why pastors are ‘workaholics’;
- (22:00) The need for grace;
- (23:15) How we can love and support our pastors;
- (24:50) Setting boundaries in ministry;
- (27:40) Warning signs of burnout.
Links mentioned in this episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Blow-Your-Ministry-Underlying/dp/0830841687/
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Saturday Feb 05, 2022
Saturday Feb 05, 2022
Have you ever struggled to read the Old Testament? You're in good company! Brent talks to Eric Seibert, Professor of Old Testament at Messiah University in Pennsylvania, to find out how to enjoy the Old Testament and where to start.
Eric's book, ‘Enjoying the Old Testament – A creative guide to encountering Scripture’, is published by IVP America.
- (1:07) How Eric came to love the Old Testament. The Old Testament’s relevance to our lives;
- (1:54) Problems people have with the Old Testament;
- (2:25) How to deal with ‘troubling’ texts;
- (3:22) The depiction of God sometimes ‘problematic’ for people;
- (4:10) Why it’s important to study the OT;
- (4:53) Importance of preaching regularly from the OT;
- (6:24) How the OT points to Jesus;
- (7:12) We can’t make sense of the New Testament without the OT;
- (8:10) Some places people can start with the OT - Jonah, Ruth, Genesis;
- (9:11) The joy of Leviticus;
- (9:39) A ‘gutsy’ kind of faith in the OT – the prophets;
- (10:22) Life’s biggest questions – the Wisdom Literature;
- (12:10) How story helps us approach the OT;
- (13:03) Pointers in OT narratives;
- (15:00) Drama in the OT;
- (16:46) Why the OT prophets are important;
- (17:56) A job description for an OT prophet;
- (19:19) Some tools for exploring the OT;
- (20:34) Why Leviticus is worth studying;
- (22:12) The book of Exodus;
- (23:43) Recommendations for preachers who want to preach on the OT;
- (26:15) Reading the OT in a year.
Links mentioned in this episode:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Enjoying-Old-Testament-Eric-Seibert/9781574001202
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Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
How does detective fiction deal with good and evil? Brent delves once again into this fascinating topic and talks to best selling romance and crime novelist Elizabeth Goddard about her latest crime thriller, 'Deadly Target' published by Revell books a division of Baker Publishing Group in the USA.
- (1:40) Why presenting a podcast is a dangerous thing;
- (3:14) Writing with head and heart. The importance of inspiration;
- (4:00) The fascination of mystery thrillers and detective novels. We want answers;
- (4:35) Does the Christian faith give us a unique perspective on evil and crime?
- (6:00) Is this a novel about evil and how to overcome it?
- (6:51) How the past shapes the present in the novel;
- (7:36) How Erin’s past has defined her;
- (8:08) Should we sometimes leave the past alone?
- (9:10) The importance of redemptive stories;
- (9:22) How God is present in the book
- (12:08) How Erin and Nathan are flawed;
- (13:07) Peoples’ hometowns filled with secrets;
- (14:26) Landscape of Montana. Setting as a character;
- (15:51) What makes Elizabeth want to become a writer;
- (16:50) Inspiration of Oregon and Texas;
- (18:21) Books and influences;
- (20:14) Research required in writing suspense novels. Criminal minds and criminal psychology;
- (22:20) The process of crime writing. The stories lead you.
Links mentioned in today’s episode:
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Saturday Jan 29, 2022
Saturday Jan 29, 2022
How do we best think Christianly and how was Francis Schaeffer's L'Abri central to this movement?
In Episode 29 Brent and Ian talk to Charles Cotherman, pastor and planter of Oil City Vineyard Church in Oil City, Pennsylvania about his book ‘To Think Christianly – a history of L’Abri, Regent College and the Christian Study Center movement’ published by IVP America. We also learn about L’Abri, Regent College and the Christian Study Center movement.
- (1:10) How we best think Christianly;
- (1:59) What thinking Christianly involves;
- (2:29) Schaeffer’s view of Christian community;
- (4:00) Schaeffer marginalized;
- (5:54) How L’Abri worked;
- (7:27) Theology of beauty at L’Abri;
- (8:40) Reformed theology central to the Study movement;
- (9:40) Study movement about taking theology to the people – RC Sproul;
- (10:50) What a study center is;
- (12:20) Connections between the study center movement and the universities;
- (15:37) The formation of Regent College and engaging the University;
- (16:54) Why it’s important for Christians to engage with universities – the NZ perspective;
- (20:00) The importance of lay theological study;
- (22:00) Why Regent gave academic ‘heft’ to the Christian study movement;
- (24:25) Where the Christian study center movement is heading now;
- (26:47) Resources for creating a Christian study center
Links mentioned in today’s episode:
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