Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are diving into one of my favorite passages about thanksgiving found in the synoptic gospels. One of our theological heroes, the late, great Dr. Tim Keller, said: “It’s one thing to be grateful. It’s another to give thanks. Gratitude is what you feel. Thanksgiving is what you do.” In other words, thanksgiving is not simply the warm fuzzy feeling that bubbles up in Americans when we gather around a table laden with Turkey, sweet potato casserole, and cornbread stuffing in late November – mind you there is something truly glorious about a heap of hot, mashed sweet potatoes topped with brown sugar and melted marshmallows – but rather for Christ-followers the world over, thanksgiving is about developing the joyful discipline of celebrating the beneficence and compassion of our Creator Redeemer. And deliberate, actionable gratitude is a double blessing, y’all because it’s not just fruit of the Spirit, it’s fuel from the Spirit because the praxis and posture of giving thanks supernaturally propels us into deeper intimacy with God. Today’s conversation has the potential to transform your emotional trajectory so please grab a cup of coffee with a generous splash of Hazelnut creamer, and your Bible – unless you’re currently shelling pecans for homemade pie, of course – and come hang out on the porch with Ally, Dr. Howard and me.

Today on Back Porch Theology, Ally and I are continuing the conversation about sanctification – the ongoing process of becoming less like who we were before we fell in love with Jesus and more like Him. One of my pretend theological boyfriends, ancient theologian and church father Thomas Chalmers, uses the phraseology of the expulsive power of the new affection to describe spiritual maturity. He reasoned that the further we fall in love with Jesus, the less room there is for ungodly affections and entanglements in our hearts. He wrote, “We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our hearts than to keep in our hearts the love of God.” Much like the theme last week, Chalmers emphasized how sanctification is less about remediating our behavior and more about recognizing our belovedness. Checking off every item on some spiritual to-do list doesn’t have the power to transform our hearts and minds into the shape of Jesus, y’all! However, leaning into His unconditionally loving embrace will absolutely fertilize personal holiness and fuel our desire to obey the imperatives of God’s Word. Speaking of the symbiotic relationship between love and sanctification, in John’s Gospel account Jesus declared that people will recognize we’re His disciples by how well we love each other, which means we’re going to connect the dots between sanctification and community today too, baby! So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible – unless you’re rinsing your bougie yet clogged espresso machine out with stinky vinegar, of course – and come hang out on the porch with us! National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is November 13-20. Click HERE to learn more. 

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are dipping our toes into the transformative waters of sanctification. Sanctification initially presents in the Old Testament as a thing/object that is “set apart as sacred” – such as the Sabbath Day or utensils used for worship ceremonies in the Temple. However, in the New Testament, the concept of sanctification reflects the idea of how ragamuffins like us - who’ve put our hope in Jesus - are being progressively conformed into His image. In his book “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” from the iconic Narnia series, C.S. Lewis explains sanctification through a stinker of an adolescent named Eustace: It would be nice and fairly nearly true, to say that 'from that time forth, Eustace was a different boy. To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun. The “cure” C.S. Lewis wrote about wasn’t transactional, it was relational. I will surely step on some prim and proper toes with this assertion but sanctification is not primarily the embodiment of biblical ethics, nor is it accelerated by checking off more items on some proverbial religious “to-do” list. Spiritual maturity is less about our remediating our behavior and more about recognizing our belovedness. So please take a deep breath and relax – you’re not about to get a sanctimonious smackdown or lectured about how unholy you are! Now grab a steaming cup of coffee or apple cider or pumpkin spiced something and your Bible – unless you’re up to your elbows in alpaca wool because you thought handknit Christmas stockings would be a breeze, of course – and come hang out on the porch with Ally, Dr. Howard and me.     National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is November 13-20. Click HERE to learn more. Journey to Bethlehem Movie in Theaters.

Today on Back Porch Theology Alli, Dr Howard and I are continuing our candid discussion about the current conflict in Israel and how to best respond as concerned Christ-followers. In doing so, we’re going to peruse a relevant passage in Mark’s Gospel account that had First Century folks every bit as concerned about the conflict brewing in their culture as we are today. The overarching takeaway from this colorful chapter in Mark - which includes the same type of apocalyptic imagery that we’re seeing on newsreels right now – is that we need to be alert and prayerful, but we don’t have to be afraid. What’s currently going on in Israel has lots of armchair quarterbacks predicting eschatological consequences and we know that can be both confusing and disconcerting. But we want to encourage you to hang on to hope because while Jesus Himself said He didn’t know the exact hour of His return, the second advent, He did tell us that He’ll be coming back with God the Father and they’ll bring the conclusive end to the war between good and evil. When they come back for us, they’ll usher in the reign of perfect peace that all of humanity longs for and His peace will reign forever. There will be no more wars or rumors of wars. No more horrific abuse or human trafficking. No more dying or crying. But in the meantime - in this messy middle, the already but not yet time - as in we're already saved but not yet glorified - we have to stay alert, don’t let satan’s scaly dragon tail catch you off guard and cause a big bruise. Be ready to jump to the aid of others who are in danger of getting whacked by him too. We don’t have to live as victims, y’all because Jesus has already ensured the victory! So grab a cup of coffee, or an oat milk chai, or some fancy green juice and your Bible – unless you’re walking around the same circle in an increasingly claustrophobic corn maze - and come hang out on the porch with us.  National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is November 13-20. Click HERE to learn more. Journey to Bethlehem Movie in Theaters. 

Today on Back Porch Theology Alli, Dr Howard and I are having a candid conversation about the current, seemingly eschalating war in Israel and the Gaza area. We’ll be leaning on Dr. Howard’s academic expertise to explain the significance of how early in biblical history God established Israel as a theocracy – that is a people group He singled out for His favor and so as to represent the kind of convenant relationship He wants with all of humanity. Then we’re going to delve into why Israel’s favored status in biblical narrative still matters in our modern era. Please know we’re not going to tell you what to think – goodness gracious, there so many differing eschatalogical viewpoints and prophecies regarding how conflict in the Middle East may or may not usher in the end times, I don’t think anybody needs another incindiary op-ed. What we do need to be reminded of, however, is that when the disciples were alarmed about wars and rumors of wars during His incarnate ministry, Jesus encouraged them to be alert. In Mark 13, He actually counsels His follwers to be alert 5 separate times…what He does not encourage them to feel is fear. There’s a big difference between being alert and being anxious, between staying informed and staying amped up by 24 hour news reels. Regardless of what’s going on in the world, if you’ve put your faith in Jesus Christ, the New Testament describes us as His ambassadors, agents of reconciliation, and people of actionable prayer - and to that end we’re not simply to be consumers of hope, we’re supposed to be carriers of hope too, y’all. Handwringing is not an option for Christfollowers, no matter how messy life gets. So grab a cup of coffee, or hot chocolate, or some fancy vitamin B infused water and your Bible – unless you’re raking up a ginormous pile of Fall leaves for the neighborhood kids to hurl their little sticky, precious selves into - and come lean into safe community on the porch with us.  National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is November 13-20. Click HERE to learn more. Journey to Bethlehem Movie in Theaters.

In this special bonus episode, Lisa shares a guided prayer as we prayer for Israel and what's happening in Gaza. Join us as we lift of those in the Middle East.

During today’s Back Porch Theology session, I’ll be the one alternately laughing and crying because we have the pure joy of continuing a soul-stirring conversation about the heart of worship with none other than my dear friend, Brooke Ligertwood. Romans 12:1-2 says: Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. And those verses Paul penned are a great description of worship because it's not simply the songs of faith we sing in church or in the car or listen to while we’re gutting out a few more minutes on the elliptical at the gym – instead the act of worship should encompass the entirety of our lives when we’re living in obedience to God! I’ve learned so much about the wholistic – 24/7 - nature of biblical worship through Brooke. She’s one of the preeminent worship leaders of our modern era, she leads tens of thousands of people toward the throne of Jesus in stadiums all over the world, and she’s written or co-written some of the most God-honoring, faith-galvanizing, biblically rooted worship songs that are sung in almost every stream of the Christian faith including What a Beautiful Name, King of kings, Awake My Soul, Who You Say I Am, and A Thousand Hallelujahs. Christ-followers across the globe are familiar with her music, but what some people don’t know about Brooke is that she’s a passionately devoted student of God’s Word, a voracious reader of theology – we’re rabid fans of some of the same long dead church fathers like Saint Augustine, Brother Lawrence and Blasé Pascal - and in fact, Brooke is so serious about biblical fidelity that runs all of her lyrics by theological scholars before recording them. Every single time I have the pure joy of hanging out with Brooke, I walk away more in love with Jesus and today is no exception so please grab a great big mug of coffee or hot chocolate or green juice, and your Bible – unless you’re trying to get ahead of the Christmas curve and stuck in the attic untangling last year’s tangled strands of lights, of course – and come relax on the porch with us. Save 25% on Dwell  God is Able is available anywhere books are sold.  Journey to Bethlehem Movie in Theaters.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology we’re going to wade into the refreshing, invigorating, cleansing and sometimes even healing waters of worship. According to theological scholars – in the context of our Judeo-Christian belief system - worship is the reverential response of creation to the all-encompassing magnificence of God. In biblical narrative, worship includes activities like bringing an offering or sacrifice to God, bowing down in deference and obeisance, and of course proclaiming His transcendent holiness, omnipotent power, and compassionate faithfulness through song. It’s what Moses models in Exodus 15:11 when he asks in awed wonder: Who is like you, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? When it comes to worship leaders, it’s probably not too much of a stretch to call King David the perennial favorite because he wrote almost half of the 150 Psalms, all of which were originally written as songs – s-o-n-g-s. That means Dave’s tunes were all over some kind of ancient Spotify! And when it comes to modern-day worship leaders, our guest on BPT today is a perennial favorite, as well. She’s written and co-written some of the most God-honoring, faith-galvanizing, biblically rooted worship songs of this era that are consistently belted out in communities of faith all over the world including What a Beautiful Name, King of kings, Awake My Soul, Who You Say I Am, and A Thousand Hallelujahs. But what I love and respect most about my dear friend Brooke Ligertwood isn’t her Grammy-award winning musical genius or her gorgeous voice, it’s her humility-soaked heart. All it takes is a few minutes in her company and you can tell this woman spends a lot of time at the feet of Jesus. I think you’ll find yourself leaning more fully into His presence after hanging out with her today, too. So please grab a cup of coffee on this glorious Fall day, and your Bible – unless you’re learning the the ancient art of henna and practicing on a brave friend with indelible ink, of course! – and come prop your feet up on the porch with us.  God is Able is available anywhere books are sold. Journey to Bethlehem Movie in Theaters.

During today’s episode of Back Porch Theology, Alli and I are continuing a joy-saturated conversation with Dr. Curt Thompson, who’s a board-certified, practicing psychiatrist who loves God and His Word and His people. Dr. Thompson’s expertise in connecting neurobiology with biblically sound theology has been a game changer for me and his latest work – which connects suffering and the formation of hope – has helped me lean further into God’s restorative, healing compassion with regards to some of my oldest and deepest wounds. Just listen to this excerpt from his latest book, The Deepest Place: The creation of beauty and goodness out of carnage – the resurrected Jesus in the wake of crucifixion – opens the door to the most durable formation of hope. Hope that is sustainable because it has emerged from crucifixion, from suffering. Contrary to what some of us were taught in church, we don’t have check our emotions at the door of biblical fidelity – God wants us to bring everything – all of our disappointment and loneliness and shame and the fear that if someone actually looks under the hood of our life, they’ll leave - to His throne of mercy - pretending you’re okay is actually not a fruit of the Spirit, y’all! This episode is packed with potential freedom so please grab a cup of coffee or a tumbler of your favorite, albeit exorbitantly priced but oh so yummy - cold-pressed juice, and your Bible and come prop your feet up on the porch with us! Journey to Bethlehem Movie in Theaters.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are diving in deep with Dr. Curt Thompson, who’s a board-certified, practicing psychiatrist who loves God and His Word and His people. I first met Dr. Thompson about ten years ago through a mutual friend who gave me one of his books called Anatomy of the Soul. I was immediately intrigued by the title because that’s my favorite description of the Psalms, written by ancient church father, John Calvin, and I was also intrigued by how Curt connects his medical expertise in neurobiology with Christocentric theology. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, who’s a world-renowned Bible scholar, describes him as having remarkable agility between neuroscience and theological verities. In other words, God has given this incredibly kind man a gift to help the rest of us better understand what Paul was talking about in Romans when he encourages Christ-followers to renew our minds. This conversation blew redemptive gales of fresh wind in the sails of my heart and I really think it’s going to do the same for y’all. So please grab a cup of coffee and your Bible –unless you’re hollowing out a huge gourd for a Fall centerpiece, of course - and come allow your great, big, beautiful – albeit possibly weary - heart to exhale on the on the porch with us! Check out the Pour Over Podcast!