Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are diving deep into the swirling waters of gender discrimination disguised as biblically-sound exegesis. Recent polls have revealed that for the first time in American church history, young women are leaving mainline Christian congregations at a higher rate than young men and one of the main reasons cited is their observation and/or personal experience with misogyny. With being treated as “less than” simply because they’re female. Thankfully, despite culture’s penchant for the prejudicial treatment of women, God’s redemptive plan reveals itself over and over again in the metanarrative of the Bible, as evidenced by several Old and New Testament stories we’re going to unpack on the porch today. And while we’re calling this episode “Let’s hear it for the girls” we sincerely hope that all of you amazing brothers who’ve pulled up a chair to the porch will stay; because gentlemen, we need you. You’re in a unique position and have more potential than you probably even realize to help broken hearted daughters in the family of faith heal. We need more than a few good and godly men who will stand up for what the Bible really says it comes to this painful, and often polarizing issue. So please grab an extra-large iced beverage and your Bible – unless, of course, you’ve got your hands full skimming frogs out of the pool as we get ready for summer - and come hang out on the porch with us. We’re really glad you’re here.

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is the part-two sequel of An Antidote to Self-Centeredness Disguised as Spirituality. The bottom line is, it’s more important than ever to embrace the gospel story as the ultimate lens through which we understand life or pretty soon everything’s going to become blurry. Which underscores the new for a new kind of catechism – a fresh way to understand and communicate the concrete, biblical scaffolding of our belief system as Christ-followers. Dr. Trevin Wax calls what we’re talking about today a disruptive discipleship tool…Alli and I can guarantee it’ll put fresh wind in your sails. So please grab your favorite beverage and your Bible and pull your chair right next to ours on this proverbial porch – we’re really glad you’re here!

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology Alli and I are diving into the swampy waters of ideology with Dr. Trevin Wax. Trevin will help us understand and learn how to better practice what some have called counter-catechesis – that is sorting out our Christian belief system in a thoughtful way that effectively says, “You’ve heard it communicated like this on a popular podcast or Instagram reel, but now let’s look at what the Bible actually says about that issue.” Grab a caffeinated beverage and a hearty snack, plus your Bible and a notebook if you’ve got one handy, and then come pull up a chair on the porch with us. We’re really glad you’re here!

You know that old, familiar ice-breaker question, “If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?” Well, during today’s episode of Back Porch Theology – which was taped live at our 2025 Kerygma Summit a few weeks ago. And yes, we happen to be hugely biased, but y’all this bevy of Bible scholars could aptly be described as Wonder Women. Dr. Lynn Cohick is the Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Director of Houston Theological Seminary. Dr. Eva Bleeker is assistant professor of Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care at Denver Seminary. Dr. Irini Fambro, she and her family reside in Dallas where she serves as president of The King’s University. Dr. Dorian Coover-Cox is a beloved Old Testament professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and has tutored hundreds of students in Hebrew over the years. And rounding out this dream team is Dr. Nicole Massey Martin. She’s currently the COO for Christianity Today, and served as a senior VP at The American Bible Society. Today’s episode is going to be FIRE, y’all ~ so please grab a great big iced mocha. Welcome to the porch – we’re so glad you’ve chosen to hang out with us today!

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is a part two, so if you haven’t listened to last week’s conversation with our friend Katherine Wolf, I encourage you to do so. Now before we dive in, I’d like to read a brief excerpt from Katherine’s latest book titled, Treasures in the Dark: “David taught me that laughter and worship aren’t so different. In fact, they are simply two of the shapes that hope takes. Both laughter and worship are most powerful when offered from full brokenness of body or of circumstance. Sure, it’s great to celebrate and praise God when life is good. But whooping with laughter when you can hardly speak or raising your hands in worship from the seat of a wheelchair…now that’s evidence of a soul who has found transcending security and joy in Divine Love. Suffering can harden us to the good things in life, or it can open us up to receive them with abandon.” Grab your Bible if you’ve got one and welcome to the porch…we’re really glad you’re here.

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is with my friend Katherine Wolf about God’s compassionate purpose with regards to our pain. Many of you have probably heard or read some of Katherine’s story – she suffered a massive stroke when she was 26 years old, not long after giving birth to her and her husband Jay’s first son, James. Her story is riddled with debilitating physical and emotional suffering – which she endures to this day – and yet she honestly oozes hope. Because she learned to find treasures in the dark by asking the hard and awkward questions pain prompts: Where is God in this? Am I alone? What is the point of all this suffering? Is hope just a cruel, false promise? Katherine dared to wrestle for answers without letting go of God. This is a rich and layered conversation so it’s best to listen slowly and give the tenderest places in your heart time to soak it all in. Thank you for carving out the time to be with us today…we’re really glad you’re here.

Today is a red-letter kind of day here on Back Porch Theology because Alli and I have the undeserved privilege and absolute delight of having a conversation with one of the world’s foremost experts on the New Testament canon, specifically the Gospels, Dr. Craig Blomberg. It’s not every day you get to sit down with a brilliant saint with a PhD from the University Aberdeen, read an excerpt from his classic book called: “The Historical Reliability of the New Testament” – which, by the way, is just one of almost twenty academic books and commentaries that Dr. Blomberg’s written – and then ask him this question: Will you please explain the term “hermeneutical spiral” as well as how it can be useful as we seek to not simply read and interpret the Bible but actually be read and interpreted by the Bible? Welcome to Back Porch Theology’s scholar edition…we’re really glad you’ve chosen to hang out with us today.

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology after the initial belly laughs we dive pretty deep – as is often the case with BPT - into a theme that’s been my heartbeat for the last several years, which is what it really means to live a Jesus-shaped life. To imitate Jesus authentically, not just with religious language and ethical ideology. Theology is anything but sterile subject matter, y’all – it was meant to be lived, not simply learned - because God isn’t a proposition to be examined, He’s a triune personhood with whom we get to engage! So please get yourself a yummy iced latte, and come hang out on the porch with us…we’re really glad you’re here!

Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is an encore with Natalie Grant and Bernie Herms because we simply could fit all the wisdom bombs they dropped regarding hanging onto hope when the miracle you prayed for seems delayed into one episode! Plus, since we’ve had lots of DM’s and e-mails from y’all requesting content on how to have more Jesus-shaped relationships, we thought it’d be a good idea to ask Nat and Bernie a few questions about what they’ve learned from 20+ years of marriage, especially given the added stress of extensive travel, public scrutiny, and infertility. We’re so glad you’re here on the porch with us!

During today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology, I have the absolute delight of diving deep into some real-life stuff with two dear friends, Natalie Grant, and her husband, Bernie Herms. Unless you’re living off the grid and are listening to BPT through a coconut and dental floss, you’ve no doubt heard Natalie’s stellar voice because she’s been a recording artist for over twenty years and has more awards – including multiple female artist of the year awards – than you could fit in the back of a truck. And Bernie’s success as a music producer is every bit as extraordinary as Nat’s; he’s also been honored with a plethora of accolades, including several Grammys. If you feel like you’re running low on hope this season because the miracle you’ve been trusting God for hasn’t happened yet, Nat and Bernie’s story is going to provide both empathy and encouragement and will help reframe our perspectives regarding God’s sovereignty and our expectancy.