Zootown Podcast

Join Bryce, Jerilyn and Chad as they talk about the Heart of Church. 

This week we do a special Advent podcast with a man who is known for understanding the incarnation with the best of them. Father Kenneth Tanner talks about his journey, but most of all the importance of what the incarnation of Jesus actually is. In the evangelical tradition, it has been missed by a large portion of them, but the church fathers knew exactly the implications of the birth of Jesus Christ. May this podcast fill you with cheer, but also a deeper wisdom and appreciation for God becoming man.

This episode was one like no other. We set out to interview Jonathan Mitchell and his wife Linda, who after 60 years of studying Greek, realized something was off with our translations. Not that the translations were wrong per se, but they weren't giving us the big picture. However, that's not where this conversation went. We believe in the freedom of the Spirit, and obviously it wanted us to go a different direction. If you want to feel encouraged that you are feeling the right things, this is your podcast. We will have him on again to talk about this translation, but this is an important podcast for the weary.

Author and Pastor Brian Zahnd was ahead of Zootown Church in this reformation by about 20 years. Like us, it cost him dearly to return to the “faith handed down to us” and the message of the truly Good News. In this interview we cover a lot of topics, and Brian covers them with grace and compassion.

Dr. C. Baxter Kruger is a world-renowned theologian who specializes in his knowledge of the Trinity and the idea of no separation from God. Growing up in the Bible Belt, Baxter says he always knew there was more to this gospel he grew up with and the missing piece was the relationship between the Trinity. Dr. Kruger has gone on to write many books, but today we talk about the idea that union with Christ is the most important aspect of the human condition.

For the last 500 years there has been a rift between the Protestant Church and the Catholic Church. Both think they're right and both think the other are the heretics. The problem is there have been a lot of misconceptions when it comes to what Catholics actually believe and the history of the Church split. Pastor Scott sits down with local Missoula priest Father Hightower to talk about these differences in a fun yet informative way.

Our guest today is David Artman, who is the host of another podcast called “Grace Saves All.” This ancient Christian theology was advocated by prominent Christian leaders in the early centuries of the faith, and it is now enjoying a modern revival. It understands grace to be the effective saving presence of God in the lives of all people, and it anticipates that all persons will finally experience union with God.

Scott brings Archbishop Alexander Golitzin on the podcast to talk about the relationship of Israel in the Old Testament to the church now. Western theology has mixed up views on what Israel being “God's chosen nation” actually means, and it has caused disunity within the evangelical church. Bishop Alexander is an archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America and is a master of the Old Testament, so we are excited to hear his thoughts!(Disclaimer: There were some tech issues during the Zoom call, so the last few minutes of the recording may sound a bit…different.)

In this episode of the Zootown Podcast, Pastors Scott Klaudt and Bryce Dick talk about the reformation happening within the Church, as well as the good, the bad, and the ugly of evangelicalism.

Father Samuel Davis was not always a Greek Orthodox priest. He was in the Air Force, UFC training, and grew up Assemblies of God before he became Orthodox. Father Samuel has a unique understanding of the similarities and differences of Evangelicalism and Orthodoxy, and in this episode he breaks down why he chose Orthodoxy.

Pastors Scott and Bryce combine two of the most divisive issues right now in America - abortion and guns. In this podcast, they break through the noise and give actual statistics, and show how both sides not only make very similar arguments, but also won't budge because they are afraid of losing all the rights with it if they do.

In this episode, Father Andrew Jarmus joins Pastor Scott to chat about Eastern orthodoxy, breaking down its history, structure, and traditions. They also talk about some of the main differences between Eastern orthodoxy and evangelicalism, and also the importance of liturgy and unity within the church.

Pastor Scott sits down with Father Harman Thomas on the deck of Bayern Brewing to talk about Harman's journey to becoming an Anglican priest in Missoula, MT. They also discuss different theological views, yet being comfortable with mystery and okay with saying “I don't know.” Harman believes the main point is that Jesus wins, and in the end, it's not about having all your theological ducks in a row…it's “Do you have a living and vibrant faith with the King of the Kingdom?”

In this episode of the Zootown Podcast, Pastor Scott talks with special guest Peter Hiett - author, pastor, and founder of Relentless Love - about his background and the journey that led him to Universal Calvinism. By embracing the idea that Jesus actually wins, all the complicated things with Scripture go away and it becomes more beautiful…a beautiful truth that God is making us in His image and He won't fail. Peter also shares his thoughts on creation, Revelation, and the book of Romans.

Nate Larkin, author of "Samson and the Pirate Monks” and founder of the Samson Society,  joins us for a discussion about his personal story and struggles of being a “professional Christian”, fighting addictions and loneliness, and the importance of authenticity and vulnerability in relationships and the church.

Dr. Michael J. Gorman, American New Testament Scholar and author of "Reading Revelation Responsibly", joins Pastor Scott for a discussion about the book of Revelation.

Pastors Scott and Pete discuss atonement theories, particularly the most well-known one in the West -- penal substitution -- and how it dramatically changes the character of God.

The Uncharted crew joins Pastor Scott to talk about missions and the highs and lows of their movement over the past year.

Pastors Scott and Bryce talk about Covid, the past year, where we were and where we are now.

Pastors Scott and Bryce talk about the last year, Covid, what we thought then, and what we think now. 

Pastor Scott has a conversation with Brad Jersak, Baxter Kruger and Paul Young about Universal Reconciliation, Penal Substitution, and the Character of God, among other things.  Pastor Scott called this one a firehose of theology!

Pastor Scott, Thaiv, Bryce and Dan answer the question that came in during Zootown's Hell-ology series.

Episode 1 of a 2 part series on Hell-ology. Four of the staff members (Bryce, Thaiv, Dan and Scott) sit down and talk about the way they grew up believing about Hell. Part 2 will come next week with answers that were brought up to questions regarding the topic. 

Pastor Scott talks with author Keith Giles about his book Jesus Undefeated.

Pastor Scott, Thaiv and Dan sit down to talk about our iTunes Jesus sermon series! Take a listen and then go check out iTunes Jesus at our Zootown Church Podcast!

Pastor Scott, Bryce and Dan have a conversation at the supposed war between Faith and Science.

Pastor Scott, Bryce and Suzanna talk about sexuality in culture today!

Pastor Scott and Suzana sit down with Officer Ricardo Suazo, a police officer in Missoula Montana who was born in Central America and grew up in California. They talk about Race, equality, and the actions both good and bad of police in America.

Pastor Scott and Chad sit down with artist and political activist Ja'Ton Simpson and talk about his perspective on being black in America, the ongoing problem of racism, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement. (This podcast was labeled as explicit for the use of one word at the very end of the episode)

Pastor Scott and the Zootown crew talk with Mario about his testimony and what Death to Life does.

Pastor Scott, Thaiv, and Suzanna talk with Jamie Winship about identity.

We are told that the blood of Jesus “cleanses us of our sins” and is crucial for forgiveness but what does that mean? How does Jesus’ blood do this and was that the main point? In actuality, the blood of Jesus was meant to expose us; that we are bloodthirsty violent people who proved it with the ultimate act of violence towards God himself. The blood of Jesus was designed to prove to us that he has always forgiven humans, always wanted a relationship, not religions, so he gave himself over to our false religious, violent, and scapegoat views to make the most spectacular flip in history. Now that we can see that we have peace with God, and always have, we should now live as though we have peace with others. The blood was always a covenant of grace and God used goats and bulls to point us towards himself as the final agreement between a man and himself. Jesus did not need to spill his blood to forgive us, he spilled his blood to prove to us we are already forgiven! This should allow him to enter our lives and bring the Prince of Peace to our souls.

This a part of human sin that always leads to violence in order to relieve a person or a group of people of the anger that is inside of them. Every culture and every person on the planet does this it’s a matter if you're recognizing it or not. It is proven in science that there is a spiritual component to this where it does relieve people from their anger for a season but eventually a new scapegoat needs to be found again. The problem is eventually every person gets scapegoated which if not seen correctly will lead to more violence. The biggest problem with scapegoating is that people end up using God’s name to justify our scapegoating on other people. For centuries every culture has used the name of God to do horrendous things while feeling totally justified and the USA is no different. Jesus became the ultimate scapegoat by people who thought they were doing it for the country (Rome) and religion (Israel) in order to show us that scapegoating does not work and in fact, it killed God.

Pastor Scott, Pete, Dan and Mark discuss The Forgotten Gospel episode 3. (Penal Substitutionary Atonement)

In this episode of the Zootown Podcast, we're continuing the teaching series The Forgotten Gospel with part 3: Sacrifice.This week will break down what the Old Testament sacrifice system was for and who implemented it God or Man? Through the lens of Jesus, we see that sacrifice was a bad thing created by humans to relieve themselves of their bloodlust and scapegoating. We know this because every culture then and some even now have a form of the sacrificial system. Today that system has been turned into blaming others and scapegoating them for our own problems. For a time sacrifice was allowed by God to be performed on animals since that was better than humans but it was never his original design since blood cannot take away sin only a changed heart. He has always been a forgiving God and no transaction was necessary for him to forgive. Abraham is the greatest example of God not wanting a sacrifice since just when Abraham was about to offer his child up to God the Angel stopped him and pointed him to the goat in the bush. The point was God never needed a sacrifice to forgive us, we needed the sacrifice in order to cure us of our violence and bloodlust.

Pastor Scott, Bryce, Thaiv and Dan discuss the first two episodes of the Forgotten Gospel.

This week's episode is from The Forgotten Gospel, a teaching series by Pastor Scott Klaudt at Zootown Church. In this episode, Klaudt covers the theology behind The Law.The Law needs to be understood in the context of the definition of sin, which was given in order to stop rivalry, blame, scapegoat, and violence. However the law actually only increased these things because it allowed humans to rank their behavior against each other and other nations. One of the main problems in understanding the law is that most people don’t see the break up of the Civil law, which helped Israel govern as a Nation, Ceremonial law, which is what the priests did in their religious requirements and the Moral Law which was given to all people everywhere and throughout time. The issue is it does seem they are all dependent on each other so this can be tricky unless you look to the New Testament where they broke down the laws to follow and especially Jesus “Love God Love People.” The main point of the law was that it had to grow because they kept breaking it. They broke it because there was no love involved in keeping the law so law after law had to be added to try and close some loopholes but it never worked. God kept moving on to plan B knowing that eventually plan A would put in and to all of this….Jesus.

In this episode of the Zootown Podcast, we will be listening to the Zootown Church teaching series, The Forgotten Gospel. This episode of The Forgotten Gospel we're talking about sin. Sin was looked at as a disease that you could catch, not necessarily some spiritual thing on the inside of our hearts. This is why they believed in cleansing with blood when God’s laws were broken because the law exposed the sin in their life and the felt they were going to die or not be blessed if some sort of cleansing took place. From God’s perspective, he is a father so he is not necessarily mad that we broke some of his laws for his own ego but because it hurt others and us. The reason Jesus had to die for our sins was to give us an example that the only thing that will change the world is if we forgive those who hurt us and they forgive us. It was the place where our sins were brought to their fullest and we saw our God forgive us so therefore we in turn should forgive others. The main sins that God was concerned about were rivalry, blame, scapegoat, and violence.

Pastor Scott, Mark, Dan and Suzanna talk about their experience with the gifts growing up. (Specifically healing)

Pastor's Scott, Bryce and Pete interview Baxter Kruger and then discuss his thoughts on the Incarnation and Christ living in everyone!

Pastor's Scott, Bryce and Pete interview Baxter Kruger and then discuss his thoughts on the Incarnation and Christ living in everyone!

Pastor Scott introduces the new staff of Zootown Church

Abby Johnson -- pro-life activist, author, and former director at Planned Parenthood -- joins us to talk about her story, the reality of abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood, and dehumanization.

There is a debate in Christianity that the “Kingdom of God” and the “Kingdom of Heaven” are two different things. Some people say the Bible is talking about Heaven, while others say the Kingdom of God is right here, right now, infiltrating the Earth. The Zootown crew takes a look at the different views and discusses their thoughts on the subject.

Special guest Joey Svendsen, host of The BadChristian Podcast and Pastor With No Answers, joins us to talk about podcasting, cussing, diversity, and how he deals with the number of different voices and opinions in the world.

Special guest Brian Zahnd talks about his journey from believing in a God of merciless vengeance to believing in a loving God that is perfectly revealed in Jesus. He also highlights his recent book “Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God” and what led him to write it.

Pastor and author Brian Zahnd joins us to talk about the political climate in America, civil religion, and his love for Bob Dylan.

As Scott likes to say, "Movies prove that you have a soul." So today we're talking movies, favorite actors, and the blueprint for all future Christian films. And Nicolas Cage. And The Rock. And more Nicolas Cage.

Greg Boyd -- renowned theologian, pastor, and author of books such as Cross Vision and The Myth of a Christian Nation -- talks with us about the beauty of living a non-violent life and having a Christ-like view of the violence found in the Old Testament.