During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we’re going to run further and faster in the thematic lane of giving ourselves away and talk about the healthy tension between self-care and selfless. One of my favorite pretend theological boyfriends, St. Augustine, said “Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God. For by it, we love Him.” In other words, generosity for the sake of Christ actually accelerates our awareness of His unconditional love. Therefore, giving yourself away in a healthy, biblical context comes with the penultimate payoff of increased intimacy with God. It’s what can never honestly be said about the stock market – choosing to live a generous, God and others-oriented lifestyle also means our investment comes with a perfectly secure dividend. Which is the theme of Jesus’s message in Luke chapter 6: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Speaking of pouring, how about pouring yourself a big cup of coffee and grabbing your Bible - unless you’re still trying to figure out how to fit those newfangled LED Christmas lights back into the box they came in so you can finally cram all of the holiday trimmings back into the attic until next November, of course – and come hang out on the porch with Alli, Dr. Howard and me! Find Allison's new video Bible study at ChurchSource.com/Hidden.  Join Team BPT at Convoy.org/BackPorch

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we get to hang out with one of my all-time favorite pastors and spiritual mentors, Max Lucado. Several years ago, Time magazine declared him to be “America’s Pastor” for good reason. Even though he’s sold 92 MILLION books and they’ve been translated into 54 languages worldwide, he’s one of those incredibly kind and humble shepherds who still smells like sheep! And today he’s going to bless us with some brilliant Old Testament exegesis wrapped in gentle humor. Remember, our overarching theme here on BPT for 2024 is “The Year of Giving Yourself Away” and I don’t think there’s anyone I trust more when it comes to teaching us how to give away our own agendas so that we can lean more fully into God’s redemptive plans for our futures than Max. So please grab a cup of your favorite caffeine and your Bible, unless you’re already cutting out homemade Valentines for your kid’s school because your brain was momentarily hijacked last August when you volunteered to be their homeroom parent for an entire year! – and come hang out on the porch with Max and me.   Find Allison's new video Bible study at ChurchSource.com/Hidden Join Team BPT at Convoy.org/BackPorch

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, we get to continue our conversation with Max Lucado about giving away our agenda so that we can lean more fully into God’s redemptive plans for our future. And as scary as it may sound to loosen your grip on your agenda – maybe because you’ve had to take care of yourself for so long it’s hard to fully trust in God’s faithfulness – Max will help all of us believe bigger in God’s providence and protection by venturing into the deep weeds of a colorful Old Testament narrative about a scoundrel named Jacob. If you feel like much of your life has been an uphill struggle and you’ve had to fight for anything good – and maybe, as a result, you’re just flat worn out and don’t have much more “get up and go” left in your bedraggled heart - this episode is tailor-made for you because as Max poetically writes: Our God is the God of those who struggle and scrape, sometimes barely making it, hanging on for dear life. We don’t have to be strong to be saved. We don’t have to be perfect to be redeemed. We simply need to trust the God of Jacob, believing in a God who sticks with the unworthy and underachievers until we are safely home. He is the God of second chances and new beginnings. You can take a deep breath and relax your shoulders y’all, because you’re able to be rinsed with genuine encouragement. So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re live-streaming a makeup tutorial, of course – and come relax on the porch with Max and me.   Find Allison's new video Bible study at ChurchSource.com/Hidden Join Team BPT at Convoy.org/BackPorch

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, Dr. Howard, Alli and I are happily diving into the seemingly heady subject matter of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics comes from the Greek word hermeneutic, which means “to translate” or “to interpret.” And in the context of Judeo-Christianity, hermeneutics refers to the science of interpreting the Bible and is the branch of theology that deals with the principles of exegesis. In the same vein, the term exegesis is etymologically related to the Greek word meaning “to guide” or to “lead out.” Therefore, the basic definition of exegesis is to draw knowledge out of something and in the Judeo-Christian context refers to how Christ's followers can understand and apply the holy Scriptures. Now before you hurl one of your earbuds against the wall in frustration because this is all starting to sound as confusing as the garbled voiceover from an old Godzilla movie, hang with me a minute longer and listen to what Peter said about Paul’s New Testament writing: His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). Even more startling is a verse in John’s Gospel account where surely the Pharisees’ faces got beet red when Jesus admonished them for being clueless Bible bangers with His observation in John 5:39: You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. In other words, those First Century religious elitists had pretty much “mastered” the text of Torah but they’d missed THE MESSIAH in the process! Unfortunately, modern Bible readers can get way off course and still miss Jesus in the text if we dive into Scripture without first praying for discernment, considering the author’s original audience, the socio-historical context, the literary format, and several other factors of sound biblical interpretation. It’s entirely possible to diligently study God’s Word – even memorize portions of it – and misappropriate or distort His promises. So while it’s not necessary to remember the academic definition of terms like hermeneutics or exegesis, much less how to spell them, it is important for us to learn how to wipe the fog off our proverbial lenses before we read this awesome, authoritative, supernatural love story called the Bible. I think today’s episode is going to invigorate our desire to engage with God through His Word. So please grab a mug of your favorite caffeinated beverage and your Bible - unless you’re chopping a slippery onion for homemade chili with a sharp knife, of course – and come hang out on the porch with Ally, Dr. Howard, and me! Join Team BPT at Convoy.org/BackPorch Find Allison's new video Bible study at ChurchSource.com/Hidden

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are talking about generosity under fire – in other words, how we can keep giving sacrificially giving even when we feel like a tube of toothpaste that’s been rolled so many times, there’s nothing left in the tube. Should our physical and financial resources be the final arbitrator of our generosity or should we maintain a “what’s mine is yours for the glory of God” posture when like the widow of Zaraphath, we’re down to our last bag of flour and bottle of oil. John Wesley, a renowned church father, and theologian, once preached: “When the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being and placed you in this world, he placed you here not as a proprietor, but as a steward.” In other words, if you’ve given your heart to Jesus, you’re supposed to give Him everything else too. No matter what name is listed on the title of your car or registered under your Apple ID, our stuff, our time, and even the ever-changing emotions that flow through our hearts and minds, they’re on loan to us to use for God’s kingdom purposes. Everything we have can be used as an asset in the preeminent business of loving God and loving people. Conversely, anything we’re hanging onto tighter than we’re holding onto Jesus can become an idol. Today’s going to be like a teaspoon of wasabi, y’all – it’ll probably go down spicy and might just make your eyes water. So please grab a tumbler of iced coffee and your Bible – unless you’re holding onto a bouquet of helium balloons for a clown friend, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us!  Join Team BPT at Convoy.org/BackPorch Find Allison's new video Bible study at ChurchSource.com/Hidden