The UpWords Podcast

Upper House
  • 5.0 (14)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

Each week, we sit down with scholars, authors, and leaders to explore faith, vocation, culture, and what it means to think and live well. For curious Christians and honest seekers. An initiative of SLBF STUDIO at Upper House in Madison, WI. 

  1. 1d ago

    A Quick Update on our Summer Release Schedule

    Thank you for listening to The UpWords Podcast. We wanted to send you a quick message to let you know that we will be moving to every-other-week podcast releases in July and August this summer, and returning to weekly podcast releases in September. Have a blessed summer!    Send us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    1 min

  2. Jun 29

    Israel, the End Times & the Evangelical Imagination | Dan Hummel

    What do evangelicals mean when they talk about “supporting Israel” — and how did Jewish–Christian dialogue evolve from centuries of suspicion into the conversations happening today? In the third installment of our series built around the Last Questions of Faith community lecture, host Jean Geran welcomes historian and author Dan Hummel for a wide-ranging conversation on Christian Zionism, evangelical theology, and the hard, patient work of talking across big religious differences. Dan traces the roots of Christian support for Israel — from post-Holocaust theology and the Second Vatican Council’s Nostra Aetate to Billy Graham’s 1969 meeting with the American Jewish Committee — and explains how dispensationalism shapes the way many evangelicals read Israel into biblical prophecy. Along the way: why Christian Zionists are an organized minority rather than the evangelical majority, how the U.S.–Israel relationship has been deliberately cultivated over decades, and what a more generous, substantive interfaith dialogue — one that includes the more conservative voices in each tradition — might actually look like. GUEST BIO Dan Hummel is a historian of U.S. religion and the author of The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle Over the End Times Shaped a Nation (Eerdmans, 2023) and Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations. He is the Director of the Lumen Center at the SL Brown Foundation, and is a co-host of American Evangelicals: A History Podcast. His research and writing focus on Christian Zionism, evangelical theology, and the history of U.S.–Israel relations. RESOURCES & LINKS Book — The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism (Eerdmans, 2023), foreword by Mark NollBook — Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli RelationsMentioned: Amy-Jill Levine (A.J. Levine), New Testament & Jewish studies scholar; earlier in this seriesMentioned: Nostra Aetate (Second Vatican Council, 1965); E.P. Sanders; N.T. Wright; Marvin Wilson, Our Father AbrahamSend us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    57 min

  3. Jun 22

    Rediscovering the Bible as Wisdom Literature — Tim Mackie of BibleProject

    What if many of us have been taught to read the Bible in a way it was never meant to be read? In this special live event recorded by Upper House, BibleProject co-founder Tim Mackie returns to Madison — the city where he earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at UW–Madison and pastored at Blackhawk Church — to share the story behind one of the most widely used Bible-teaching resources in the world. Tim traces the origins of BibleProject to a coffee-shop conversation with his old college friend Jon Collins, a successful maker of animated explainer videos who had quietly become a “post-Bible Christian.” Their shared question — how do you engage Scripture well? — became the heartbeat of the project. Tim contrasts the “reference book” Bible many of us inherited (turn to the right verse, find the answer) with a richer vision of Scripture as ancient Jewish literary art designed to form wise, mature human beings over a lifetime. Along the way, he unpacks seven core convictions that have guided BibleProject from the beginning — three about where the Bible comes from, and four about what it is for — closing with the practice of meditation (the Hebrew hagah) and an invitation to try again with Scripture, whatever your history with it. Whether you’ve loved the Bible, struggled with it, or aren’t sure what to make of it, this conversation offers a fresh invitation to see Scripture as a unified, beautiful, and transformative story that leads to Jesus. The Seven Convictions (At a Glance)Where the Bible is from: Collaborative literature — human authors and God’s Spirit meeting, not passive dictation.Unified literature — one interconnected story leading to Jesus.Ancient literature — written for us, but not to us; context matters.What the Bible is for: Messianic literature — every theme sets up and finds fulfillment in Jesus.Communal literature — designed to be read aloud together over a lifetime.Wisdom literature — forming us to discern good from bad, not just memorize answers.Meditation literature — hagah: slow, repeated reading that rewards a lifetime of return.About the GuestTim Mackie is co-founder and lead scholar of BibleProject. He holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a degree in theology from Western Seminary in Portland. His research focused on the manuscript history of the Bible and the formation of the biblical canon — including his dissertation on the book of Ezekiel, with particular attention to the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls. After years of ministry as a local-church pastor (including at Madison’s Blackhawk Church and later Door of Hope in Portland) and as a professor at Western Seminary, Tim now serves as lead scholar and creative director at BibleProject. He lives in Portland with his wife, Jessica, and their two sons. https://bibleproject.com/  Send us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    55 min

  4. Jun 15

    Water from a Deep Well: Recovering the Riches of Historic Christianity | Dr. Jerry Sittser

    Too many Christians, Jerry Sittser says, sit at a banquet table and eat only one food. In this episode, host Tressa Spingler talks with theologian, historian, and author Dr. Jerry Sittser — professor emeritus of theology at Whitworth University — about the newly revised edition of his book Water from a Deep Well and the spiritual inheritance many believers overlook. Drawing on the monks’ rhythm of life, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the mystics, and the great tradition of historic orthodoxy, Sittser invites listeners to rediscover something ancient rather than chase something new. He reflects on inhabiting time rather than spending it, beginning the week with rest, the practice of silence (“get up to slow down”), and what the early church can still teach a hurried, distracted age. The conversation turns honest and personal as Sittser — who lost his wife and a daughter in an automobile accident — describes suffering not as something to overcome or avoid but as something to step into and find God within. It’s an invitation to live in the tension of beauty and sorrow, and to take the small first steps toward a deeper, well-rooted faith. YOU WILL LEARN Why so many Christians “eat only one food” — and what the full diet of historic Christianity offersHow a January course at a snowed-in mountain camp became the seed of Water from a Deep WellThe monks’ gift of rhythm: inhabiting time instead of consuming it, and beginning the week with restThe Desert Fathers and Mothers — stranger, funnier, and wiser than they first appearUnion of relationship vs. union of absorption: a healthier way to read the mysticsSuffering as an inevitable part of discipleship — and the soul’s capacity to hold beauty and sorrow at onceWhere to begin when you feel spiritually dry: small, meaningful, deep first steps GUEST BIO Dr. Jerry Sittser is professor emeritus of theology and a senior fellow at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, specializing in the history of Christianity, Christian spirituality, and religion in American public life. The author of nine books — including A Grace Disguised, The Will of God as a Way of Life, Resilient Faith, and Water from a Deep Well — he has spent decades helping Christians recover the wisdom and deep roots of the historic church for everyday life. RESOURCES & LINKS Jerry Sittser’s website: https://www.jerrysittser.com/Water from a Deep Well (revised edition): https://www.jerrysittser.com/booksPracticing the Way podcast series with John Mark Comer: https://www.practicingtheway.org/podcasts/practicing-the-way More episodes & SLBF Studio at Upper House: https://slbf.org/studioSend us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    41 min

  5. Jun 8

    How Do Jews and Christians Read Scripture Differently? | Seth Whitaker

    In this episode of The UpWords Podcast, host Jean Geran sits down with biblical scholar Seth Whitaker to explore a question at the heart of Christianity's origins: how do Jews and Christians read Scripture differently—and what holds their interpretive traditions together? Drawing on his doctoral research at the University of St Andrews on the use of the Psalms in the book of Hebrews, Seth argues that the earliest followers of Jesus were Jews wrestling with their own religious heritage in light of the Messiah. Rather than a clean break, he traces a story of deep continuity — one in which the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead. Jean and Seth examine why the Old Testament can feel “more vengeful” than the New, and why that contrast is more caricature than reality. Seth offers a striking image: Scripture is not a flat plain where every verse carries equal weight, but a landscape of mountains and valleys, with high peaks of revelation — like God revealing himself as “abounding in steadfast love” at Sinai — that give us a vantage point on the harder passages. The conversation also draws on a previous UpWords episode with AJ Levine to consider what Christians might learn from Jewish interpretive practices: the “70 faces” of Scripture, a comfort with multiple readings, and the practice of reading sacred texts in community as a guard against going off the rails. Seth closes by tracing how rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity gradually defined themselves over and against one another — shaped by events like the expulsion of Jews from Rome, the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, and the Bar Kokhba revolt — and why he encourages readers to approach the Hebrew Bible less like a prophecy-fulfillment checklist and more like an ongoing dialogue. Whether you've wondered how Christianity emerged from Judaism, struggled with the difficult passages of the Old Testament, or simply want a richer way to read sacred texts, this conversation offers thoughtful insight and plenty to ponder. YOU WILL LEARN Why every New Testament author was a Jew making sense of an inherited tradition — and why that changes how we read Christian originsEschatology as a central interpretive lens: how “the last things” reshaped the way early believers read their ScripturesThe same God, not two: pushing back on the ancient Marcionite split between the God of the Old and New TestamentsSinai as a “mountain peak” — God's mercy to the thousandth generation versus judgment to the third and fourthScripture as mountains and valleys, not a flat plain of equal-weight proof textsLove and judgment appear in both Testaments — including in the Psalms and in the teaching of JesusThe “70 faces” of Scripture and what Christians can learn from Jewish interpretation in communityHow the early church's patience, love, and care across class lines set it apart in Rome Three historical turning points that drove Judaism and Christianity apart: the expulsion of Jews from Rome (49 CE), the destruction of the Temple (70 CE), and the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 CE)The Septuagint, Isaiah 7:14, and how competing authoritative texts shaped competing interpretationsReading the Hebrew Bible as a dance and dialogue rather than a prophecy-fulfillment checklistABOUT THE GUEST Seth Whitaker is a New Testament scholar who completed his PhD at the University of St Andrews, where he worked with David Moffitt on the Epistle to the Hebrews. His research focuses on Christian origins and how the New Testament authors interpreted the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint. His book, Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews: Songs for the Last Days, is published by Bloomsbury T&T Clark in the Library of Second Temple Studies. RESOURCES MENTIONED Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews: Songs for the Last Days — Seth Whitaker (Bloomsbury T&T Clark)The Patient Ferment of the Early Church — Alan KreiderPrevious episode of The UpWords Podcast with AJ Levine on Jewish and Christian readings of ScriptureSend us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    51 min

  6. Jun 1

    Bad Religion, Good News: Surviving Church Disappointment | Scott Bessenecker

    What do you do when the church — the very community that's supposed to reflect the love of God — becomes a source of real pain? Host Dan Johnson sits down with Scott Bessenecker, author of Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide to Spiritual Disappointment, for an unflinching conversation about church hurt, institutional failure, and the long road toward healing. Drawing on four decades of campus ministry with InterVarsity, Scott shares about being both a victim and participant in the church's sins, the role of self-examination in avoiding the spiral into deconstruction, and why honesty about the church's failures doesn't have to mean abandoning Christian community altogether. He also reflects on his own experience with disappointment with God — including his recovery from a stroke — and what it means to discover that God's presence in grief may be more powerful than miraculous rescue. Whether you've been wounded by a leader, disillusioned by an institution, or are simply trying to maintain an honest and hopeful faith, this conversation offers both clarity and compassion for the journey. IN THIS EPISODE What prompted Scott to write Bad Religion, Good NewsBeing both a victim and a participant in the sins of the churchWhy self-examination is essential to navigating disappointment without becoming toxicThe difference between deconstruction and honest disappointmentHow to talk openly about the church's failures without dismissing its goodThe hard work of forgiving an institution that may never apologizeScott's personal experience with a stroke and finding God in grief rather than rescueWhen it's time to leave a church community — and how to do it wellSigns of spiritual hunger in the current generation of young adultsWhat a healthier American church might look like in a decade GUEST Scott Bessenecker is a longtime ministry leader and author who spent four decades with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. His new book, Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide to Spiritual Disappointment, invites readers into honest conversations about the church's failures — and how to find deeper faith on the other side. RESOURCES https://heraldpress.com/9781513817644/bad-religion-good-news/ https://slbf.org/studio Send us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    41 min

  7. May 18

    Pastoring for Monday: Helping the Church Take Work Seriously | Matt Rusten

    What would it look like if the church took seriously the 80,000 hours most people spend at work over a lifetime? In this conversation, host John Terrill sits down with Matt Rusten — pastor-turned-vocational-discipleship-advocate and author of Pastoring for Monday: Help Your Congregation Integrate Faith and Work — to explore one of the most neglected dimensions of Christian formation: our everyday work. Matt shares the story of Tom Nelson — founder of Made to Flourish — who famously confessed to his congregation that he had been "committing pastoral malpractice" by equipping people for a minority of their lives while ignoring where they spent most of their time. That confession became the seedbed for an entire movement, and it shapes every page of Matt's new book. Together, John and Matt trace the biblical arc from creation to new creation and show why work — far from being a necessary evil — is woven into the fabric of what it means to be human. They discuss four postures Christians take toward workplace engagement (boxing gloves, latex gloves, camouflage gloves, and work gloves), unpack a powerful framework for pastoral care drawn from the stages of enchantment and disenchantment in Ecclesiastes, and offer practical handles for how sermons, small groups, and outreach ministries can begin integrating a theology of vocation — without creating new programs or hiring a "faith and work pastor." Whether you are a pastor, a church leader, or simply someone wrestling with purpose in your daily work, this conversation offers both grounding and hope. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN The origin story of Made to Flourish and the "pastoral malpractice" confession that launched a movementWhy faith and work discipleship is a biblical, historical, and pastoral priorityA creation–fall–redemption–new creation framework for understanding workFour postures for cultural engagement: boxing gloves, latex gloves, camouflage, and work glovesLessons from Lesslie Newbigin and Tim Keller on mission, vocation, and the local churchPractical tools for pastors: preaching, small groups, outreach, and vocational formationThe enchantment–disenchantment–re-enchantment cycle and how the Gospel reframes workMade to Flourish's three initiatives: Common Good Magazine, Scatter, and pastoral residencies GUEST Matt Rusten — Executive Director of Made to Flourish; author of Pastoring for Monday (IVP, 2026) LINKS & RESOURCES Pastoring for Monday (IVP Press) Made to Flourish Common Good Magazine More episodes & podcast offerings — SLBF Studio Send us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    48 min

  8. May 11

    A Jewish Scholar on What Christians miss when Reading the Bible | Dr. Amy-Jill Levine

    What does it look like when a Jewish New Testament scholar sits down with a Christian host to talk about how two ancient traditions read the same texts — and reach such different conclusions? That's exactly the conversation host Jean Geran has with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine in this wide-ranging episode recorded in Madison, Wisconsin. AJ Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School, and one of the most respected voices in Jewish-Christian dialogue today. She recently joined us for our Questions of Faith event in Oshkosh and spent time in Wisconsin as a scholar in residence at First United Methodist Church in Madison. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN How growing up Jewish in a Portuguese Roman Catholic neighborhood in Massachusetts led AJ to a lifetime of studying the New TestamentWhy the Torah is said to have "70 faces" — and what that means for how Jews and Christians approach interpretation differentlyWhat Jews and Christians share in terms of canon, prayer, and Scripture — and where they meaningfully divergeAJ's surprisingly practical take on salvation, Torah-observance, and whether Jews worry about getting into heavenWhy Jesus used parables — and why he rarely explained themThe difference between Jewish communal identity and Christian individualism, and what each tradition can learn from the otherBaseball vs. football: a memorable analogy for understanding Jewish and Christian orientations toward time, memory, and the futureThe Hebrew concept of tzaddik (the righteous one) and what it means to bless the city you're inWhether shared stories can bridge religious and cultural divides — and AJ's honest, unsentimental answerLament as relationship: what Tevye, the Psalms, and Job have in common, and why arguing with God keeps us in the conversation GUEST Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Science, and the author of numerous books including Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi and The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus. Send us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour

    53 min
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About

Each week, we sit down with scholars, authors, and leaders to explore faith, vocation, culture, and what it means to think and live well. For curious Christians and honest seekers. An initiative of SLBF STUDIO at Upper House in Madison, WI. 

Information

  • Creator
    Upper House
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    191
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The UpWords Podcast
  • Show Website
    The UpWords Podcast

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