Author

  1. 458: Prenter - Fundamental Difference Between Luther and the Enthusiasts

    book
    10/30/26
    20 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    The Long and Winding Road. In this episode, we sit with the Holy Spirit to discuss moral law, free will, Christ crucified, and one of the longest rabbit trails we’ve ever been on; tracking two medieval scholastics to God’s bathroom window. We ask questions of those who edit Jesus’ words, question the benefits of not declaring the forgiveness of sin, and look at what happens when the Holy Spirit is sent into exile. All this and much, much more on this week’s episode of the podcast.
    458: Prenter - Fundamental Difference Between Luther and the Enthusiasts

  2. 454: Elert - Church Fellowship in the Local Congregation

    book
    09/19/26
    8 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Let’s Stay Together. In this episode, we sit with Werner Elert’s study of Eucharist & Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries. We discuss ecumenism, fellowship, communion, church polity, and what constitutes “koinonia” in the New Testament and the early church. This and much, much more on this week’s episode of the podcast.
    454: Elert - Church Fellowship in the Local Congregation

  3. 451: Listener Question on the Work of the Holy Spirit

    book
    08/29/26
    13 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    All Apologies. In this episode, we respond to another listener question. What does it mean to “sit with a text” and yet be prepared at all times to give an apology for the hope that is in us? How does the Holy Spirit work in and through believers to testify to the truth about Jesus? Does the Spirit work through non-Christians, and if so, how and to what purpose? How has modern Christian evangelism differed from pre-modern evangelism and apologetics? What do the gospels teach us about the character of evangelism? This and much, much more in this week’s episode.
    451: Listener Question on the Work of the Holy Spirit

  4. 439: Rose - Explanation of UFO Phenomena

    book
    05/15/26
    12 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    UFOs are Rebel Angels. In this episode, we read Father Seraphim Rose’s “classic” text, Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future, about the true nature of UFOs and the nefarious origins of modern narratives about extraterrestrials, spaceships, what’s “out there” in the universe, and so on. What do Christians have to say to a culture that is awash with UFO sightings and prolifically promises to “reveal the truth about UFOS”?
    439: Rose - Explanation of UFO Phenomena

  5. 431: Kleinig - The Mystery of Christ and Cosmic Restoration

    book
    03/06/26
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Cosmic Debris. In this episode, we read Dr. John Kleinig on Christ and cosmic restoration. We then discuss how and why Christians confuse mysteries with secrets, what happened to the mystagogues, and why the mystery of the Christian faith has to do with the hidden presence of Christ with us here on earth and our restoration by his restoration of all creation. This episode, as Kleinig himself writes, is about how we can best commend the Christian faith to post-modern people, which is when we ourselves are captivated imaginatively by the wonder of it and live in the mystery of it.
    431: Kleinig - The Mystery of Christ and Cosmic Restoration

  6. Acts 19:1-20 (Episode 429)

    book
    02/24/26
    3 mins
    By Daniel Emery Price | Erick Sorensen
    Have You Heard of the Holy Spirit?
    Acts 19:1-20 (Episode 429)

  7. 424: Kleinig - The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Service

    book
    01/16/26
    8 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    In this episode, we learn about the Holy Spirit and the Divine Service from Dr. John Kleinig. In particular, we discuss how Christ gives the Spirit to the church through his word, how Christ institutes the divine service and empowers it with God’s Spirit, and how the church receives the Holy Spirit by faith in God’s word as it is proclaimed and enacted in the divine service. The conversation revolves around the central question: How then can we be sure that the Spirit is at work in our worship?
    424: Kleinig - The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Service

  8. 422: Post-Christmas and Post-New Year Debrief

    book
    01/03/26
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? In this episode, we gather for a post-Christmas, post-New Year pastoral debrief. We talk about symbols and meaning, Christmas and holidays, signs and seasons, and how modern churches quietly cleared the path for culture to push Christ out of Christmas without much resistance. We explore the strange and largely arbitrary ways the world measures time, along with the old Adam’s never-ending pyramid project. That is, his need to build meaning upward by effort, progress, and control rather than receive it as a gift. From there, we return to symbol and meaning. We ask why ancient liturgy’s nostalgia or ornamentation, but the distilled shape of reality itself, why the Lord’s Supper isn’t a side practice, but the beating heart of the Church, of worship, and of the Christian life. And why stories’ decorations for faith, but the way truth takes on flesh and finds us where we actually live. This is a conversation about time, worship, memory, and why the Church invents meaning but receives it again and again at the table.
    422: Post-Christmas and Post-New Year Debrief

  9. The CHA Christmas History Edition Presents: Hark the What? Angels and the Christmas Story

    book
    12/06/25
    6 mins
    By Daniel van Voorhis
    Weekend Edition for December 6-7, 2025
    The CHA Christmas History Edition Presents: Hark the What? Angels and the Christmas Story

  10. 415: Luther - The Mass is a dangerous thing, fabricated and invented without God’s Word and will

    book
    11/07/25
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Mass Effect. In this episode, we continue our reading of The Smalcald Articles, focusing on Luther’s critique of the Roman Mass and all its consequences for the churches and Christian life. We discuss mimetic desire, sacrificial religion, the exclusive work of Jesus.
    415: Luther - The Mass is a dangerous thing, fabricated and invented without God’s Word and will

  11. 414: Luther - God is extravagantly rich in His grace

    book
    10/31/25
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    An Arm-Twisting Confession. In this episode, we read Martin Luther’s Smalcald Articles on the gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Why did he have to have “his arm twisted” to write them? What is he trying to teach the churches about the gospel? How does the gospel circumscribe and define the Church, worship, and Christian life? Why does something written in the 1530s matter today? We look to answer all these questions and more on this episode of the Banned Books podcast.
    414: Luther - God is extravagantly rich in His grace

  12. The Gift of Holy Scripture with Jonathan Linebaugh

    book
    09/09/25
    9 mins
    By Kelsi Klembara
    Kelsi is joined by Jonathan Linebaugh to discuss his new book, The Well that Washes What it Shows: An Invitation to Holy Scripture.
    The Gift of Holy Scripture with Jonathan Linebaugh