Made for a Purpose with Roni Sasaki

Todd and Andrew welcome back Taylor Turkington to the podcast for a conversation about the necessity of equipping women for ministry. They think through why some complementarian pastors have been hesitant to encourage the women in their churches to get theological training, whether women are better than men at teaching women, and how the church can do a better job encouraging women to be theologically trained.Taylor is the director of BibleEquipping, an organization that supports women who follow Jesus to study the Bible and teach it to those around them. 

Todd welcomes Professor Bryan Warren to the podcast to talk about a model of Christian counseling that integrates both theology and psychology. They talk through the implications of holding up Scripture as the the Word of God while simultaneously learning from the insights of psychology to better understand people and the human condition.  Bryan is assistant professor of counseling at Western Seminary. Western's counseling program offers the unique integration of Christian theology and counseling in a seminary context.

Todd and Andrew discuss Andrew's upcoming book on a theology of response. Andrew unpacks how the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 and Paul's "therefore" in Romans 12 help us see how the Christian life ought to be framed as a response to all that God has done for us in Christ.

Todd sits down with Professor Stephen Stallard, PhD as they reflect upon their experiences preaching through Galatians in their churches this year. They explore the gospel clarity found in Galatians as well as some of the challenges they faced preaching through the book verse by verse.  Stephen is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry at and the director of the MDiv at Western Seminary. He is also the English Pastor of the Chinese Evangelical Church of Portland, and the author of 'Diverse Teams: Rediscovering an Ancient Approach to Urban Mission.'

Roni Sasaki is a former Paralympic gold medalist, speaker, author, and entrepreneur. She joins Todd and Andrew to share what it was like to be born with one leg, how she fulfilled her dream of becoming an Olympic athlete, and why her disability testifies to the goodness of God.Roni is a Western Seminary student studying in the MA in Biblical and Theological Studies program. 

Why would a good and powerful God allow evil and suffering? Todd welcomes Gerry Breshears to the podcast to talk about the problem of evil. Gerry summarizes the most common Christian responses to the problem of evil and explains how focusing on the incarnation can be a helpful place to start. Gerry has been a professor of theology at Western Seminary since 1980. He considers himself a "pastor's pastor" and loves to mentor men and women doing work for the Kingdom.

What do we do when our faith begins to feel stale? Daniel K. Eng, PhD, sits down with Todd to talk about what it looks like to grow spiritually at different stages of the Christian life. He explains that while many churches understand how to meet the needs of new believers, they often struggle to help mature believers continue in sanctification. He lays forth some biblical principles for how pastors and church leaders can help facilitate "spiritual growth 201."Daniel is Assistant Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Western Seminary. He lives in Portland with his wife and three daughters. 

Todd and Andrew sit down for a conversation with Chuck Conniry, Western Seminary's 12th president. Chuck talks about coming to faith, the impact of theological education on his own ministry as a pastor, and his passion for seeing seminaries advance the mission of the local church.Conniry is Western's 12th president and has worked in theological education for three decades. Before that, he spent 15 years in full-time pastoral ministry. He holds a PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary and is a preaching team member at Creekside Bible Church in Wilsonville, Ore.  

Taylor Turkington joins the podcast to talk about how Habakkuk helps us prayerfully respond to the brokenness of this world with lament and hope. What does real faith in the middle of chaos, wrongdoing, and suffering really look like?  Taylor is the director of BibleEquipping, a Bible teacher and a Western grad.

Todd and Andrew sit down with Jeremiah Peck, PhD, Assistant Professor of Counseling at Western Seminary, to talk about pastoral burnout. What is pastoral burnout? Why does it seem to be on the rise in the church? Why is it so difficult to prevent and what can the church do about it? Jeremiah discusses his research on this topic and provides his perspective as both a counselor and a pastor. In addition to teaching counseling at Western, Jeremiah is the lead pastor at Lexington Bible Fellowship in Kelso, WA.