From Babylon, With Love

With some sadness, Laura and I announce in this episode the impending end of the podcast...! But we also manage to tackle another chapter of Joshua Gibbs' book, How to Be Unlucky, as we head out the door. Much love to my patient peoples. Let's pod!

We're back with our second installment of podding through Joshua Gibbs's book How to Be Unlucky! Join Laura and I as we talk about what it means to pursue maturity.

In our first episode on Joshua Gibbs's book, How to be Unlucky, Laura and I tackle the place of goodness and the conversation around goodness in the life of Christian adults.

Well, I have never been accused of being punctual, but it's here! Join myself and my intrepid (long-suffering) co-host, Laura Hashimov, as we recap our summer and chart the pod path forward for this new season. It's good to be back. Put your feet up, pour a cup of something refreshing, and pretend, just for a moment, summer ended last week... Let's pod!

God bless Zak Salazar.

Lore! Lore! LORE! And some hot takes on the Rings of Power! The Only Dan Bellum brings us into the world of the Silmarillion, Tolkien's sweeping epic myth-history of Middle Earth which undergirds the better-known stories of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and yes, The Rings of Power. Let's follow Daniel into the ancient library as he blows the dust off this epic tome and tells us the tale of a thousand paths. Pour a strong cup of coffee, get out your maps and charts, find an old leather chair . . . and let's pod!

Pour yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea, my friends, stir the fire, put your feet up--it's time to return to the reading room. From time to time on the pod, we like to dive more deeply into a particular author or work of literature, and this season is no exception. Join myself and The Only Dan Bellum as we explore the roots of the world J.R.R. Tolkien created in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This is Part 1, with Part 2 soon to follow! Let's pod! Let's read!

On this episode, Laura takes over the hosting duties as she interviews me about my reasons for leading Zoe Church to be a house church. My hope and prayer, whether you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with my argument, is that Christians in general--and pastors in particular--might begin to really re-evaluate what we are meant to be giving our lives to and what form/s best allow us "to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness." (Eph. 4:13-14) God bless, my friends. Let's pod! Note: If you find yourself stirred in some way by this episode and would like to talk more about what it means to be a pastor in these times, feel free to shoot me an email at davewoods@skiff.com. I'd love to chat more with anyone who is interested.

Conjunction junction what's my function?! Today, we finally tackle a topic we teased at the start of this season: deconstruction and the Christian faith. Join Laura and I as we discuss the trending elephant in the room... and attempt to chart a path forward. Let's pod!

Come in out of the cold, fellow travelers, light a fire, pour a cuppa, and join Jordan Dobbins and I as we discuss Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet.

All of the best things come from England: Aslan, Hobbits, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit, Harry Potter, the Beatles, and, of course, Jordan Dobbins. Join me this week as I interview my dear friend, colleague, and Britain's leading export. Let's pod!

The long-awaited second part of my conversation with The Only Dan Bellum... Let's pod!

Happy New Year, Pod Fam! I am so happy to welcome you to the first part of THE IMPOSSIBLE QUEST TO THE HEART OF THE ONLY DAN BELLUM! Scientology, Thor, Breaking Bad, Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Chuck Norris, John Carter, high school hellscapes, and Jesus in your brain... buckle up... it's 2023... let's pod!

We conclude our series through Rebecca DeYoung's "Glittering Vices" with a conversation on Envy. Beware the green eye! Let's pod.

Black Friday? Cyber Monday? Giving Tuesday? What about SAD WEDNESDAY?! That's right! TWO sins for the price of ONE! What a deal. Join me and my resilient crew, Laura and Hayden, as we attempt a tour de force of two structurally similar vices--Gluttony and Lust. Let's Pod!

Join Laura, Hayden, and I as we tackle the deadly sin of Anger for our next installment on Rebecca Deyoung's "Glittering Vices." Let's pod!

Henry Ford once said, "Work is our sanity, our self-respect, our salvation. Through work--and work alone--may health, wealth, and happiness be secured." In the land of hustle culture and entrepreneurial culture how do we understand the capital vice of Sloth? Is it fundamentally laziness, and therefore is working harder, working more, the remedy? I am thrilled to be joined by BOTH Laura Hashimov and Fr. Hayden Butler to tackle this tricky, but deadly, sin. Let's pod!

This week we continue our series through the Seven Deadly Sins by looking at the ubiquitous sin of Greed! Yaaay! As Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon." Matt. 6:24

Join us as we officially kick off our series on Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung's Glittering Vices by going out of order immediately and taking a trip to Vanity Fair... Let's pod!

Fall is in the air . . . in the form of a soul-crushing California heat wave! But Laura and I managed to stay cool in Papa Billy's Bat Cave studio long enough to lay down our season opener. We've missed our pod family and are thrilled to be back in the saddle bringing you some sweet, sweet pod every other week till kingdom come . . . or graduation in the Spring. So gather your friends, family, neighbors, and ne'er-do-wells and join us for the start of Season 4. Let's pod!

We made it! Sort of. Thank you all for your herculean patience. We wanted to get the 'official' Season 3 closer out there so we can rest and regroup over the summer. So here it is. Laura and I chat about memory, summer plans, and, of course... Anne of Green Gables. Let's pod!

Minimalism, maximilism, or something else?  What is our stuff for? Join Laura and I as we try to practically sift through our cultural and personal disposition to our stuff. Let's pod!

What did Christianity look like at the edge of the world? In a land of wildness and deep magic, a land where the spirit world was known to be nearer and less controllable than many wanted to believe, Christianity took root by matching wildness to wildness, by overwhelming and directing these magical impulses to their proper ends. This St. Patrick's Day, Fr. Hayden and I revisit the story of St. Patrick and the form of Christianity that emerged from his mission to the Irish, asking if this might be the spiritual tradition we most need in our own time. Let's pod!

The Great Fast begins this week on Ash Wednesday, my friends, so I am particularly pleased to bring you this (timely!) conversation with Reverend Butler on the meaning of Lent, how to approach it, and why it is such an important season in the life of the church. We keep the fast so we can keep the feast! Let's pod!

Prof. Craig Hovey returns to talk about the very difficult set of questions that arise when Christians face, and participate in, a world of violence. Let's pod.

This week we're changing it up a bit, sharing a sermon I preached at Generation Church in South Oceanside earlier this year. Generation Church is pastored by Tim Parlier--friend and guest of the pod! Many thanks to Tim and his crew for the invite. I am blessed by the good work the Lord is doing in our brothers and sisters in South O (shout out to Nicole and Christiaan!). Wherever you happen to call home, though, I hope the word blesses you as you hear it. Let's pod!

You are riding in a trolley without functioning brakes, headed toward a switch in the tracks. On the current track stand five people who will be killed if the trolley continues on its path. You have access to a switch that would make the trolley change to the other track, but another individual stands there... On today's episode I am joined by Dr. Craig Hovey, Professor of Christian Ethics (and my former seminary prof), to discuss the strange world of Christian morality. Let's pod.

How does the contemporary Christian church recover its witness in a post-Christian society? How does the church resist falling prey to a futile and misguided culture war as well as the failed-but-well-financed McDonaldization of contemporary church forms (re: passive church *attendance*, performance-based "worship experiences," therapeutic programming, niche small groups, and personality-based leadership cults)? On this week's episode, Dr. Joel Looper joins me to discuss what it means for the church to recover its primary task of forming disciples whose whole lives are oriented around Christ for the sake of others. Let's pod!

This is the second part of my convo with the man himself, Daniel Leetch, wherein we head to Afghanistan, think through fatherhood, and grapple with living a faithful, ordinary life in suburbia.

How does a soldier and survivalist stomach suburbia?  To find out, dive into this two-part conversation with human swiss army knife, Daniel Leetch, as we talk discipleship from Christianland to Afghanistan and back again.  Let's pod!

On the newest episode of the pod, I am honored to talk with my friend, Maurice Woods, Field Director for Prison Fellowship in Southern California. This is Maurice's story. But it's so much more than that, as Maurice would say. This is Jesus' story. Let's pod!  

Recently, we have begun to experience the cultural and ecclesial reckoning of a certain kind of masculinity and the fallout of a spiritually fatherless generation. A fatherless generation is many things at once: hurt, needy, suspicious of authority, desperate for approval from authority, passive, aggressive, given to all manner of extremes. On the podcast today, I am joined by Pastor Tim Parlier for a conversation about humility, masculinity, and the type of leadership Christian men are called to pursue. Let's pod!

Ex-vangelicals. Nones. So much press has been given to the droves of people who have left or are leaving the Christian church in America. Numbers are down in every demographic, and dramatically so among the younger generations. Some few are remaining, though, working through the challenges of life, and growing with Jesus, in season and out. Those that keep the faith in this post-Christian moment are necessarily resilient disciples. And we need to hear more of their stories.  I am pleased to bring you one of those stories on today's podcast, the story of my best friend, Jess Carlucci. Let's pod!

On this episode we conclude our four-part series on C.S. Lewis's The Four Loves with a discussion of agape, the love that moves the sun and other stars. Agape is the goal of all human love, but it is also a love demands our complete vulnerability and surrender to experience it. I hope you'll join Rev. Hayden Butler and I for this important conversation. Let's pod!

"Eros ceases to be a demon only when it ceases to be a god."  Join resident Anglican Priest of the pod, Rev. Butler, and myself as we continue our series on C.S. Lewis's The Four Loves with a conversation on Eros. Lets pod!

Laura returns this week as we continue our conversation on C.S. Lewis's, The Four Loves, tackling the challenges and joys of Friendship. Let's pod! * * Photo: The Inklings

Season 3 is here, my friends! Join Laura and I as we begin our series on C.S. Lewis's, "The Four Loves." And I gotta say . . . it's good to be back. If you like what we're doing please rate and review us on iTunes so more people can discover the pod! All the love(s).

Thinking well is not easy. And it is coming at a premium these days. I hope you'll join the inimitable Laura Hashimov and I for this season-ending pod as we chat about Alan Jacobs' book "How to Think" and the joy of Summer reading!  Once more into the breach, my friends!

Millions of Christians in America are living in alternate realities.  The church has been contaminated by tribalism and individualism.  How do we move forward in a moment like this without losing touch with what's real?  On this second to last podcast of our second season, Pastor John Hallowell offers us a four-fold approach to finding God and living a real life in a land of alternate realities.  Let's pod!   Painting: Jacob Wrestling with God by Edward Knippers

Sometimes it's just good to take a moment to be thankful.

My friends, this is such an honest and important conversation I think many Christians will be able to resonate with and draw encouragement from. Ms. Laura Batstone (now Mrs. Hashimov!) gives us a candid tour-de-force about life being a single Christian woman into her 30s who is about to tie the knot! Listen in, my friends, there are pearls of wisdom here that every Christian needs to hear. Let’s pod!

Trained as voyeurs, consumers, and addicts of images from ever-younger ages, how do we (re-)learn how to see one another and the Lord Himself in a way that deepens our loves and attachments rather than obliterating them?  Rev. Hayden Butler joins us once again on the pod to think through this very challenging set of issues.  Let's pod!

Easter is the hinge of all reality.  But how do we enter into a deep observance and transformative remembrance of Easter (and Holy Week itself) when we have, we often feel, "heard it all before."  On this episode, resident Anglican priest of the pod, Hayden Butler, is going to help us think through what it means to truly enter into holy week this year--a year that has been like no other in our lifetime. Artist: Bonnie Bruno

Self-awareness. Self-improvement. Personal growth. Personal development. Personal progress. Personal productivity. What happens when the paradigms and strategies of self-improvement that have saturated our culture find their way into the church? On this episode, Rev. Butler and I discuss the goal and shape of spiritual growth in an age of self-reflection.

“In spite of the pain and its failures, I love the church.” On this episode of the pod, I am joined by my friend, Pastor Cole Beshore, a third-generation pastor who grew up in one of the largest megachurches in the country and now pastors Ranch Church in South Orange County. Here Cole talks honestly about growing up as a pastor’s kid and how he’s navigated the call of Jesus to love and serve His church without growing cynical. I hope you enjoy it!

In lieu of some technical difficulties with our previously scheduled episode this week (don't worry, it's still on the way!), I am rolling out an episode that was released previously on our patrons-only channel, Love in the Ruins.  It is just me chatting about the poetry of John Donne.  Hope you enjoy it!  And if you would like to support the podcast with a few bucks and become a patron, just sign up for the newsletter, Love in the Ruins, over at our website, www.frombabylonwithlove.com.

Every year, Rev. Hayden Butler teaches Dante's Divine Comedy to teenagers. Why? What does a 14th century poem that very few adults have ever read in full have to teach teenagers--or anyone else for that matter--about life? I'm thrilled to have Rev. Butler back on the podcast to guide us as we journey from earth to hell to heaven and back again.  Say it one more time for the people in the back--Dante! Is! For! Every! One!  Let's pod.

"Here am I, Lord, send me." Many have read these words in Isaiah, others have imagined their implications, or even said them aloud, a precious few have actually followed through and surrendered everything to the Lord's call on their lives. It was my great privilege to sit down with Pastor Ray Clancy, one of my true "anamchara" (the old Gaelic word for "soul friend"), to chat about what it was like to hear the Lord's call to take his young family, leave everything behind, and plant a church in Ireland.

A new year has dawned . . . and it's already off to a rocky start.  How should Christians approach and understand time and its passing?  How do we resist falling into a consumer/productivity experience of time?  What would it mean to experience time as a gift and creation of God?  In this episode, I sit down with Rev. Hayden Butler to think more deeply about a Christian sense of time and how to live within it.