Ryley Heppner Podcast

Church History, George MacDonald and the Diary of an Old Soul | Dr. Timothy Larsen

Today's conversation is with Professor of History and Christian thought, Dr. Timothy Larsen. Dr. Larsen's latest project is the reissue of a powerful devotional from the 19th century Scottish author and minister, George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul, in which Dr. Larsen provides an introduction and explanatory notes throughout the book. We talked lots about George Donald, about his Christian faith, his influence on people like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, the uniqueness and ongoing relevance of this devotional Diary of an Old Soul, and what exactly an Old Soul even is.
Dr. Larsen is McManis Professor of Christian Thought and Professor of History at Wheaton College, an Honorary Fellow, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, and an Honorary Research Fellow, School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.  He has been a Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, All Souls College, Oxford, and Christ Church, Oxford and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. He has been elected President of the American Society of Church History for 2025. He is the author or editor of twenty books including Crisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England, A People of One Book: The Bible and the Victorians, The Slain God: Anthropologists and the Christian Faith, John Stuart Mill: A Secular Life and The Oxford Handbook of Christmas (all with Oxford University Press).

Which Bible Translation is Best? | Dr. Mark Strauss

Today I was joined by New Testament Professor and Bible Translator Dr. Mark Strauss, to talk about his new book, 40 Questions About Bible Translation. Our conversation ranged from gender neutral decisions in the NIV, to the difficulties, challenges and ongoing debates in Bible Translation, to the differences between a translation and paraphrase. Hope you enjoy and that you are left both challenged and encouraged!
Dr. Mark L. Strauss serves as Professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary, where he has been since 1993. He is the author/coauthor of 20 books and many articles, and editor/co-editor of 40 volumes. His works include Four Portraits, One Jesus (Zondervan, 2007; 2020), commentaries on Mark’s Gospel in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series (2014) and Expositors Bible Commentary, vol. 9 (2010) and on Luke in the Illustrated Bible Background Commentary (2002); Jesus Behaving Badly (InterVarsity, 2015); How to Read the Bible in Changing Times (Baker, 2011) and The Davidic Messiah in Luke-Acts (Sheffield Press, 1996). He serves as Vice Chair of the Committee on Bible Translation for the New International Version and as an associate editor for the NIV Study Bible.

7 WAYS God Can Use Rejection For His Glory and Our Good

Rejection always hurts, no matter what I am being rejected from. It always makes me squirm; makes me want to disappear. And yet, I have come to realize through the years and over the course of many rejections that God can and does use rejection in my life to do a myriad of beautiful things. These days, even though rejection is still uncomfortable, I find myself almost eagerly anticipating it because of what I know God is going to do through it and how He is going to be glorified by it.
 
 
 

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What Was the Eye of The Needle? Was John the Baptist a Hermit? | Dr. James F. McGrath

In today's conversation I chat with New Testament Scholar, Dr. James McGrath, about his most recent books, The A to Z of the New Testament: Things Experts Know That Everyone Else Should Too, as well as Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Dr. McGrath discusses, among other things, whether the eye of the needle really was a gate in the city wall, if there is a book in the Bible called Revelations, and if John the Baptist was a lone hermit or a charming herald.
I hope you enjoy our conversation and that you consider picking up one if not both of these excellent reads!
Dr. James F. McGrath is Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He has a Diploma in Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge, a BD from the University of London, and his PhD from Durham University. He is the author of John’s Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John: Critical edition, Translation, and Commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.

The Soul Winning Church | J.A. Medders and Doug Logan Jr.

In today's episode I have the privilege of talking to Jeff Medders and Doug Logan Jr. about their new book "The Soul Winning Church: Six Keys to Fostering a Genuine Evangelistic Culture." In our conversation Jeff and Doug share about the their individual experiences in the church that led to this book being written; why they think we struggle so hard as churches to focus on soul-winning; and how we keep evangelism from just becoming another ministry in the church.
The book is published by The Good Book Company and will be on book shelves August 1st!
J.A. Medders is the Director of Theology and Content for Send Network, a preacher, podcaster, and the author of multiple books including Humble Calvinism and The Soul-Winning Church. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in biblical spirituality from the Southern Baptist Theology Seminary. Jeff is a native of Houston, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Natalie, and two children. You can follow his writing and ministry at spiritualtheology.net.
Dr. Doug Logan, Jr. is the President and Dean of Grimké School of Urban Ministry. He also serves as a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He is the Pastor of Church Planting at Remnant Church in Richmond, Virginia, and the author of The Soul-Winning Church and On The Block: Developing a Biblical Picture for Missional Engagement. In 2011, he planted Epiphany Fellowship of Camden, New Jersey, with his wife, Angel. They have three adult sons, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

10 REASONS to Not Have a Smart Phone (Or At Least Set Some Boundaries)

Are there any biblical reasons for Christians to at least get in control of their smart phone use? I think there are lots of reasons but I will just give you 10!

You Lucky Bums (Matthew 5.3)

Who are the poor in spirit and how on earth does the Kingdom of God belong to them?

A Conversation About Church: Is it Essential?

In part three of our ongoing series, "A Conversation About Church," Ben and I discuss where the local church should fit in our lives in terms of priorities. What should be our commitment level to the church? How involved should we be? Is the church important? Essential? Optional? What if we've been hurt by/in the church?

Demonology, Karl Barth and the Gospel of Mark | Dr. Peter Bolt

Today I was privileged to be joined by Biblical Scholar, Dr. Peter Bolt. In my conversation with Dr. Bolt we discussed, among other things, the Gospel of Mark, some of his work in the area of demonology, and a few of his favourite writings from Karl Barth.
Dr. Bolt is the Director of Academic Strategy at Sydney College of Divinity, the founding Director of the Centre for Gospels and Acts Research, the editor of the Journal of Gospel and Acts Research, and a member of the Editorial Board of SCD Press. His publications on the Gospels include Jesus’ Defeat of Death: Persuading Mark’s Early Readers (2003), The Cross from a Distance: Atonement in Mark’s Gospel (2004), Matthew: A Great Light Dawns (2014), and The Narrative Integrity of Mark 13:24–27 (2021). From 1990 to 2015 he lectured in Biblical Theology and New Testament at Moore College, Sydney, where he was also Head of the Department of New Testament and Greek.