343 episodes

Conversations to help us develop a Christian spirituality rooted in love that fosters resilient faith in everyday life

Gravity Commons Podcast Gravity Commons

    • Religion & Spirituality
    • 4.8 • 207 Ratings

Conversations to help us develop a Christian spirituality rooted in love that fosters resilient faith in everyday life

    Shai Held: Why Judaism is Actually About Love (Not Law)

    Shai Held: Why Judaism is Actually About Love (Not Law)

    A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the West: Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religion of law. In the face of centuries of this widespread misrepresentation, Rabbi Shai Held, in his book Judaism Is about Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life, recovers the heart of the Jewish tradition, offering the radical and moving argument that love belongs as much to Judaism as it does to Christianity.
    Rabbi Shai Held--philosopher, theologian, and Bible scholar--is President and Dean at the Hadar Institute. He received the prestigious Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, and has been named multiple times by Newsweek as one of the fifty most influential rabbis in America and by the Jewish Daily Forward as one of the fifty most prominent Jews in the world. Rabbi Held is the author of several books, and is the host of Hadar's newest podcast, Answers WithHeld.
    Connect with Gravity:
    Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravitycommons.com.

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    • 1 hr 1 min
    Susannah Griffith: Forgiveness and Healing After Trauma

    Susannah Griffith: Forgiveness and Healing After Trauma

    In her book Forgiveness After Trauma: A Path to Find Healing and Empowerment, Christian minister and scholar Susannah Griffith explores what the Bible says--and doesn't say--about the biblical call to forgive. She helps readers understand a "trauma-informed forgiveness" that is healing and restorative, framing forgiveness within broader concerns around lament, anger, accountability, release and rebirth, and reconciliation.
    Susannah Griffith (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is an independent scholar whose work focuses on the intersection of biblical studies and trauma. She is also a licensed minister of the Mennonite Church USA, a role she embodies to advocate and care for the marginalized outside the walls of the church. Her first book, Leaving Silence, was a Christianity Today Book Award finalist for Christian discipleship. Griffith resides in Northern Indiana with her husband and three young daughters.
    Connect with Gravity:
    Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravitycommons.com.

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    • 1 hr 4 min
    Elesha Coffman: How Pivotal Events Shaped the American Church

    Elesha Coffman: How Pivotal Events Shaped the American Church

    American history has profoundly shaped, and been shaped by, Christianity. In her book Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith, Dr. Elesha Coffman tells the story of Christianity in the United States by focusing on 13 key events over four centuries of history. Elesha helps us understand our faith and the landscape of American religion.
    Elesha J. Coffman (PhD, Duke University) is associate professor of history at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She previously served as the editor of Christian History magazine and has taught at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. She spent a year as a fellow at the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University. Coffman is the author of The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline, Margaret Mead: A Twentieth-Century Faith, and numerous articles on American religious history.
    Connect with Gravity:
    Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravitycommons.com.

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    • 1 hr
    Ryan Post: Communities Formed by the Beatitudes

    Ryan Post: Communities Formed by the Beatitudes

    The Beatitudes are some of the most-quoted and least-understood words of Jesus. Pastor and author Ryan Post helps us hear the Beatitudes anew as good news to form us into Christlikeness.
    Ryan Post is the lead pastor of Village Church in Burbank, CA and the author of Healthy Prayer: Integrating Structure, Silence, and Spontaneity and the book we talked about in this converastion, Jesus People: Communities Formed by The Beatitudes.
    You can connect with Ryan and his work at ryanpost.com.
    Connect with Gravity:
    Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravitycommons.com.

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    • 50 min
    Michael Rhodes: Practicing Justice-Oriented Discipleship

    Michael Rhodes: Practicing Justice-Oriented Discipleship

    Many Christians and churches are rediscovering that God cares deeply about justice, but opinions abound as to what an approach to biblical justice might look like in contemporary society. We talk with biblical scholar Michael Rhodes about justice-oriented discipleship that is critical for the formation of God's people, which is the theme of his new book Just Discipleship: Biblical Justice in an Unjust World.
    JUST DISCIPLESHIP BOOK GIVEAWAY: In partnership with IVP, we are giving away two copies of Michael Rhodes' book Just Discipleship. Go to gravitycommons.com/justdiscipleship to register.
    Michael J. Rhodes (PhD, Trinity College/University of Aberdeen) is the lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College. He is the author of Formative Feasting: Practices and Virtue Ethics in Deuteronomy's Tithe Meal and the Corinthian Lord's Supper; Practicing the King's Economy: Honoring Jesus in the Way We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give (with Brian Fikkert and Robby Holt); and numerous articles in popular outlets such as Christianity Today and The Biblical Mind. Rhodes has spent more than fourteen years involved in community development and urban ministry work, and is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife, Rebecca, and their four children.
    Connect with Gravity:
    Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravitycommons.com.

    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gravity-leadership-podcast/donations

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    • 1 hr 9 min
    Ryan Stollar: Child Liberation Theology

    Ryan Stollar: Child Liberation Theology

    Children are marginalized in our churches, dismissed into Sunday school or silenced for lengthy sermons aimed at adults. Ryan Stollar has spent his career advocating for the rights of children, and in his book The Kingdom of Children: A Liberation Theology, he proposes a liberation theology of the child, whereby we can avoid stunting their spiritual growth and passing on trauma.
    Ryan Stollar is a child-liberation theologian and an advocate for children and abuse survivors. He holds an MHS in child protection from Nova Southeastern University and an MA in Eastern classics from St. John's College.
    You can connect with Ryan and his work on his website rlstollar.com.
    Connect with Gravity:
    Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravitycommons.com.

    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gravity-leadership-podcast/donations

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    • 52 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
207 Ratings

207 Ratings

Ms Zinnia ,

Consistently amazed!

I love this podcast! It never ceases to amaze me how these podcasts provide exactly the words or resources I need to assist with processing through a specific spiritual issue. I feel a solidarity with these people. I am grateful that they don’t shy away from the hard stuff. My faith continues to be nourished and stretched here.

Rachpach73 ,

Like a candy store

I stumbled on this podcast via someone's recommendation on Instagram. All of the topics and people on here are fascinating. I am so curious about them all I want to just be able to listen to all of them right away.
Thank you for making this podcast! It’s awesome!

If you haven’t already, you’ve got to get Dr. Stephen Backhouse on here as soon as you can!

FrannyZooey ,

Mostly great, but…

I love the guests and topics on this podcast, but many times I have been stopped from sharing specific episodes with others because of the long pre-show chatter and the dad jokes at the end. I feel like you assume everyone listening already knows and loves you and would find it endearing, but when I’m wanting to share with people unfamiliar with your podcast I think it’s a barrier. Most recent episode (Five Challenges) is perfect example, a thoughtful conversation was deflated by Matt’s dad joke. Maybe you could offer extended episodes with chatter and bonus jokes to Patreon subscribers or something? 😬

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