A question I have wrestled with is…what makes the CHURCH different in the midst of our modern culture? What makes our local churches different than what other organizations have to offer?
What happens when our local churches become oriented merely towards pragmatism?
That’s what I talk about with Pastor and Author Brian Zahnd. Brian is the pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, MO and is no stranger to the Beyond Sunday Podcast. He has a new book called Unseen Existences: Of Heaven, Earth, and the Divine Mystery in All Things.
This is a conversation about the church. About the Bible. About the sacraments. About wonder, mystery, awe, and what happens when we lose our sense of transcendence.
If you’re a pastor, a worship leader, a Christian artist, or a follower of Jesus…there is something here that will reorient you towards hope and beauty in an age of cynicism, nationalism, and deconstruction. There is another way.
Topics Covered:
- The alternative to Christian Nationalism and endless deconstruction
- How evangelicalism forsook mystery and embraced empiricism
- How the Christian Right and the Christian Left co-opt Christ for political ends
- Good vs bad apologetics
- A spiritual vs a literal reading of the text of Holy Scripture
- The value of trying on different interpretive lenses when it comes to Scripture
- Recapturing mystery
Resources Mentioned
- Atheist Delusions by David Bentley Hart
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
- Unseen Existences by Brian Zahnd
- Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark by James K.A. Smith
- Magnifica Humanitas by Pope Leo XIV
- Crucified and Resurrected by Ingolf Dalferth
Show Sponsor: Planning Center
This episode is brought to you by Planning Center, helping you sync all your ministry details across your whole church.
Planning Center has become so essential to how I manage a team, that it’s almost impossible to consider local church ministry without it anymore.
Today, I want to leave you with a PCO pro-tip.
Does this sound like a familiar situation? It’s the end of the week. You’re about to leave the office when you suddenly think: Did all of our volunteers confirm for Sunday? You scroll through the schedule and sure enough—there’s a gap.
Instead of allowing yourself to spiral into a panic, try this:
In Services, Planning Center has gap alerts. Turn them on, and you’ll get a heads-up days before service if positions are still unfilled or unconfirmed. No more end of the week scrambling.
Speaking of less scrambling, did you know you can access everything you need for rehearsals right from the Service media player on your phone? Lyrics, chord charts, arrangement notes—it’s all right there, so you’re not hunting for files in the middle of hitting those power chords.
To see what else you can do to make your Sundays easier, go to planningcenter.com/blog.
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