Conversations with Matt DeLockery

So we believe Christianity is true. Cool. Now what? Do we just import our current version of Christianity? Buy Revelation and Renewal on AmazonPhoto by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

After you have gotten yourself together (at least somewhat), you can now begin to interact wisely with others. For more details, buy my book on Amazon.

To explain what's going on here, we have to start with Aristotle. For more details, buy my book on Amazon.

We've looked at what you shouldn't do. But, what about the positive stuff? For more details, buy my book on Amazon.

Why does Christian morality look the way it does? Why is it these things we're supposed to do or not do? Why not other things? Well, it all has to do with something called an “image.”For more details, buy my book on Amazon.

The NT has several lists of things we're not supposed to do. Well, why those things?For more details, buy my book on Amazon.

Why are Christians supposed to act a certain way? Why does God care what we do? The end of our series on Colossians will answer these questions and a whole lot more. For more details, you can buy my book on Amazon.

If Paul had written Mere Christianity, what would be in it?Buy on Amazon

Most church people know that when you pray for patience, God will teach us patience by making our lives difficult. So, why don't we pray for patience?

Thinking through faith rationally is really important if we don't want to have blind faith. That's what apologetics is all about.

Theology is great, but you’ll never truly understand it if you don’t live it out in real life.

We’re going to make a lot better progress if we stop shutting down conversations and think through where we’re headed. We need to stop reacting and start thinking.

Christianese needs to stop being a thing. But, we should also think about dropping a lot of our other big theological words. This Is Who I AmAmerican Christianity Is Broken

What is it about Crossfit that makes people pay a lot of money to get pushed to their absolute limits? And why can't church be like that?

If we're going to make progress, that means we're going to have to deal with some obstacles in our way. Ignoring problems doesn't make them go away. Apologetics books to get started: The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel​ The Case for Faith by Lee StrobelHow to have better conversations with people: Tactics by Grek Koukl

Sometimes in life, you run face-first into a brick wall. Wouldn't it be great if you didn't do that so much? - Looking for a God - The Moral Argument - New Testament Origins - Science and Christianity - Is There a God - The Kalam Cosmological Argument - This Is Who I Am

"You have to keep yourself pure!" This is a hot topic in a lot of Christian circles. But, what's REALLY going on here?Apologetics books to get started: The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel​ The Case for Faith by Lee StrobelHow to have better conversations with people: Tactics by Grek Koukl

More and more people are walking away from organized religion. Is this really a problem?Apologetics books to get started: The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel​ The Case for Faith by Lee StrobelHow to have better conversations with people: Tactics by Grek Koukl

It can really rock your boat to look at the world from someone else's perspective. So, how can we do that effectively?Apologetics books to get started:The Case for Christ by Lee StrobelThe Case for Faith by Lee StrobelHow to have better conversations with people:Tactics by Grek Koukl

Ben's bio: "I'm a complete mystery even to myself. How the hell could I write a bio?" Ben's Instagram: @thewathening Exodus 90*I apologize for my poor audio quality. I had a problem with my video and had to log out and back in just before we started. When I did, the program turned off my mic and decided to use my laptop’s internal mic instead.

BioDale Stephens has a B.A. in Pastoral Ministry, M.A. in Leadership & Administration, and currently a PhD student at AGTS. Dale and his wife, Andrea, have 3 girls, Saria, Jade, & Vera, and one grandchild, Niko. Dale began his vocational ministry as a student pastor in 2000. In 2004, he shifted to US missions with Chi Alpha at UGA. Later, planted Chi Alpha at Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, & what is now Kennesaw State - Marietta campus. Since 2015, he has been serving as the Lead Pastor for Riverside Church (now Pure Hope Church). Pure Hope Church: WebsiteYouTubeFacebookInstagramBooks Dale recommends for understanding the Bible better: The IVP Biblical Background Commentary by Creig Keener Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by O'brien & Richards Reading While Black by Esau McCaulleyReading the Bible with the Damned by Bob EckbauldReading the Bible for All It's Worth by Fee & StuartThe Upside Down Kingdom by Donald KraybillNT Wright's NT commentary seriesBooks Dale recommends for thinking politically: The Hauerwas Reader by Stanley HauerwasThe Pastor as Public Theologian by Kevin VanhoozerBowling Alone by Robert PutnamThe Fractured Republic by Yuval LevinFinal words from Dale: Christian Americans note the importance of biblically driven beliefs that shape their personal identity and public politics. As noted in our time together, what we hope for is some common elements in us all, a humility to find the distorted truths in us, a vision/effort towards togetherness (in contrast to us vs them), and a genuine curiosity matched with empathy for the other. This is how we position ourselves- selflessly. For me, I'm also driven towards a transformational hope for a better tomorrow on this earth and in its fullest in Heaven. Through reflection, education, books, travels etc...I've come to realize I have enculturated the gospel into "American". My aim is to see God more clearly, through my culture, the other cultures, and ultimately supra-culturally. I hope some of the above resources will help you towards that aim.

Adriana was born in Mexico City. She studied communication with a major in live TV production at Universidad Anáhuac del Norte, Mexico. She was married in 2006 and moved to Atlanta where her two girls were born. She has a passion for the arts, especially cinema, photography, singing, and dancing.

Angela Mathis is a Christ follower, extroverted introvert, artist, reformed Republican, Air Force veteran, daughter, sister, aunt, ally, and friend. For more information, Angela recommends: - https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/gilmoreprisonslavery.html - https://www.history.com/news/13th-amendment-slavery-loophole-jim-crow-prisons - https://www.splcenter.org/20180614/biggest-lie-white-supremacist-propaganda-playbook-unraveling-truth-about-%E2%80%98black-white-crime - https://m.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/slavery-colonial-georgia?amp

But before we finish this series and move on, I have one more topic to cover: Christian nationalism. I’ve saved this one for last - not because I think it is the least important, but because I think it is the natural result of all of the problems we have talked about for the last five weeks.This is who I am - https://youtu.be/oc5ilm_lYJ0 Support - https://purecharity.com/mattdelockery

Christians treat members of the LGBT community very badly, and we have no right to.

We are all broken people who need help. That is one of the foundational points of Christianity. Therefore, it is impossible to live a Christian life and at the same time think one race is better than another. Blog article on Paul and Slavery - https://mattdelockery.com/blog/paul-and-slavery-part-1 This is who I am - https://youtu.be/oc5ilm_lYJ0 Support - https://purecharity.com/mattdelockery

What is that one thing that will upset church people more than anything else? What is the one thing that if you do it, there will be no forgiveness? This is who I am - https://youtu.be/oc5ilm_lYJ0 Support - https://purecharity.com/mattdelockery

The only question that really matters when hiring a pastor is: “Does this person know God?” Instead, we’re trying to find rock stars who can bring a bunch of people in the door. With all the Christian leaders who have been falling lately, I think we’re finding out how well that strategy has been working. This is who I am - https://youtu.be/oc5ilm_lYJ0 Support - https://purecharity.com/mattdelockery

2020 was awful. Now it's 2021, and we're beginning a new year. How about instead of trying to put a bright face on everything we simply acknowledge some realities? In this series, I'm going to talk about some of the major things wrong with American Christianity. Simple solutions are usually not good solutions. So, if we want a good solution, then we need to address the real problems. This is who I am - https://youtu.be/oc5ilm_lYJ0 Support - https://purecharity.com/mattdelockery

This video tells you a little bit about who I am and why I do what I do. For further information, see links below: Conversations with atheists: - Problem of evil/God's actions in the OT - https://youtu.be/qxgUg_hYyew - Naturalism vs theism - https://youtu.be/4RY0G3SNG8w My thoughts on things: - Liberal or conservative - https://youtu.be/ldEYxCHTul8 - Why do bad things happen to good people? - https://youtu.be/5_YOK-C-ujs - Christianity is not a sports team - https://youtu.be/pKGc3QD2Rxo My donation page: https://purecharity.com/mattdelockery

The Gospel of Mark says Jesus is going to lead God's people into the promised land. But, they were already living in Israel. What's going on?

Why do bad people often seem to get away with things and have everything good while good people often get the leftovers? It would seem like an all-powerful and loving God should fix this.

Why in the world would a good and loving God not only just allow slavery but actually command it. Why would we worship a god who clearly doesn’t even have his own moral compass pointing in the right direction?

Yeah, I know this topic is not super fun, but I’m willing to bet a lot of you have been wondering about this and may not have ever heard a good answer. And that applies whether you’re Christian or not. So, let’s get into it.

Overall, technology is a very good thing. There are, however, some side effects - some unintended consequences that are not positive. My conversation with an atheist on the problem of evil/OT God

I can think of two main ways that we have to live by faith in our everyday lives. The first one is trusting God that He actually cares about us and will work everything out.

We're not supposed to have blind faith. OK, but what does true faith actually look like?

Faith is sometimes described as “believing something when you know it isn’t true.” That’s actually not faith. The technical term for that is “delusion.”

Really, what we’re asking when we ask this question is: Which translation is closest to the original? And the answer is...(Note: I apologize for the audio. I was trying something new with my video feed, and it didn’t work that well. Next week, I’ll be back to normal).

From time to time, most of us have had that feeling that something is wrong. Our gut just tells us that something is off and shouldn’t be the way it is. But, the question is: now what? Where do you go from here?

In this episode, I want to ask a question that is going to be a little uncomfortable for any church people who are listening, “Were the new atheists right?”

As I’m looking at where our country is right now and where things might be going in the future, it occurs to me that many of the old distinctions that have divided us may not be so important going forward. The categories of liberal and conservative, I think, are two of those.

The whole idea of a “right path through life” is enormous and complicated. Is there a right path? How would I know if and when I found it? What would a right path even look like anyway? These are really important questions, and they will take a lot of time to unpack. And, we’ll get to them. But, how about instead of trying to get there in a single magnificent leap, what if we took one small step? What if we do enough to get us started in the right direction, and then we can take other steps after that? I think that might be a little easier for all of us.

Before quarantine, many of us seemed to move from one temporarily fun thing to another. Now that our lives have been disrupted, we have a chance to remake them. What should they look like going forward?

It seems like these days, everyone is pretty much cheering for their own side like they’re watching a sporting event. You know, our side is always best, the refs are always unfair, and no matter what happens, we’re going to cheer for our side. Christianity should not be that way.

Why do you do what you do? Do you do something because it’s right? Or, do you do something because that’s what the people around you are doing? That’s a really important question with the way things have been going lately.

I'm going to start doing weekly live videos in addition to my longer podcast topics. What I'm really hoping to accomplish is to be able to have something like a conversation with the people watching. So, please ask questions, make comments, and tell me when I'm wrong. This is the first live video, and I basically just tell you what I'm planning on doing. If you want to watch the video, you can do it here: https://youtu.be/5uVmNgLPvkc.Also, I know the audio is bad in this video. The test went better, so idk what happened. I'll try to get it right next time.

Finally, we come to the end of Jesus’ life. In this episode, we look at his crucifixion and burial.Pontius Pliate bookYouTube Channel

Jesus finally goes on trial for his crimes. But what exactly had he done?

So, the people decided not to follow Jesus, and he knows he's going to die. Now what?

Here, we begin looking at the last week, and climax, of Jesus' life. In this episode, Jesus enters Jerusalem and cleanses the Temple.Picture From Episode:Model of the TempleWikipedia:Overview of the Siege of JerusalemJosephus and the Destruction of Jerusalem:Internal FightingBodies in the City and Desolation OutsideFamine - GeneralFamine - Woman Eats Her Own BabyFalse ProphetsRomans Kill So Many People That Their Blood Puts Out Some of the FiresThose Not Killed Are Sold to the Mines