Theology in the Raw

Janice Rosser Allen is CEO and President of International Cooperating Ministries (ICM), the global ministry founded by her father, Dois Rosser, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. She has served on ICM’s Board of Directors since 1986 and has led the organization as CEO since 2008. A graduate of the University of Virginia and Duke University, Janice worked in clinical and academic oncology nursing before God called her into full-time ministry with ICM. Widowed at 51, she is an ordained elder, author of God in the Crossroads, and she’s passionate about empowering indigenous Christian leaders worldwide.

00:00 — Introduction: How ICM Is Growing the Global Church
06:07 — Albert Schweitzer's Missionary Legacy and Radical Faith
08:09 — Indigenous Missions: Why Local Church Leaders Matter
11:46 — Cooperating with local, indigenous leadership in missions
16:12 — How Technology Is Transforming Christian Missions
18:07 — How Mission Organizations Vet Trusted Partners
22:07 — What the Global Church Can Teach Western Christians
29:37 — Powerful Mission Stories from Vietnam and Rwanda
34:31 — American Christianity vs. the Global Church
41:41 — Church Growth in Iran, Nepal, and Other Restricted Nations
45:54 — Why Christianity Is Growing in Thailand
47:03 — Prosperity Gospel and Persecution: Challenges Facing the Global Church
50:08 — Building local churches with local workers and materials
51:20 — Are Short-Term Mission Trips Helping or Hurting?
56:56 — How You Can Support Indigenous Missions
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Dr. O. Alan Noble is Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, a fellow at the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, and author of four books, including his most recent book: To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times.

Check out the Christ at the Checkpoint conference at: www.christatthecheckpoint.bethbc.edu

Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:46 Advice for Aspiring Writers
07:03 Moral Confusion and Living Well in Chaotic Times
10:47 Can Going Offline Fix Modern Life?
13:04 The Seven Classical Virtues Explained
14:28 On Prudence and Difficulty Making Decisions
22:49 Why Courage Is Hard for Young Adults Today
27:19 Justice, Social Media, and Virtue Signaling
36:07 Suffering, Courage, and Healing from Trauma
42:23 Which Virtues Are Hardest to Practice?
44:50 Politics, Institutions, and the Common Good
52:47 Are Big Corporations Inherently Evil? (Closing Thoughts)
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Lindsey Medenwaldt is an assistant professor of business and economics at Northwestern College in Iowa. Lindsey has written two books: Bridge-Building Apologetics and her recent (co-authored with Dr. Douglas Groothuis) What If Jesus Is Right? will be released in August 2026. Lindsey engages extensively on the topics of apologetics and worldview as a writer, editor, teacher, and speaker. She has a Jurist Doctorate, a masters in public administration, and a masters in apologetics and ethics from Denver Seminary.

Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:42 How Lindsay Became an Apologist
06:20 When you Don’t Know the Answer
07:49 Apologetics without being Argumentative
11:32 Making friends as Adults
14:20 Evangelism for Introverts
26:20 Moving from Small Talk to Big Faith Conversations
30:06 Evangelism on a Plane
35:47 When you can’t Figure out what to say
40:36 Political Division and Evangelism
45:49 Social Media and A.I impact on Relationships
49:37 Gen Z, Relationships, and Human Connection
57:39 What if Jesus was Right? Biblical reliability matters
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Dr. Ben Norquist is a writer, scholar, and serves as the Director of Communications & Development for Bethlehem Institute for Peace & Justice, bringing Palestinian Christian teaching into conversations within the global church. Dr. Brian Miller is a professor of sociology at Wheaton College, and his research interests include the American suburbs (particularly their development, culture, depictions in media, and housing), cities, religion and place and how it relates to American evangelicalism and culture. Together, Ben and Brian wrote a recent book together called: Every Somewhere Sacred: Rescuing a Theology of Place in the American Imagination
Time Stamps
00:00 Introduction
02:01 What is a Theology of Place?
06:56 Ethics and Place.
11:29 The Morality of Cities. Why do we build these places?
17:11 Patriotism, Christian Citizenship & Love of Place
23:54 Gentrification, NIMBYism & Who Is My Neighbor?
30:33 What Theology of Place Is Trying to Recover
34:40 Israel-Palestine Through the Lens of Land
40:34 Christianity in the Big City vs. Rural Christianity and the Suburbs
49:2 Where to Find More Brian and Ben
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Dr. Jeannine Brown is The David Price Professor of Biblical and Theological Foundations at Bethel Seminary, where she has taught for 26 years. She focuses her research on the New Testament, hermeneutics, and integration. She’s written a bunch of books and commentaries, including Scripture as Communication, Becoming Whole and Holy, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (editor), commentaries on Matthew, Philippians, and 1 Peter (forthcoming), and a couple books most pertinent to our conversation: Gospels as Stories and The Greatest Story Ever Retold (with John Anthony Dunne). Jeannine is a member of the NIV translation committee. In this podcast conversation, we talk about reading the gospels as narratives versus harmonizing the 4 Gospels, and we also talk about the portrayal of Jesus in film, including the popular The Chosen series.

Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:57 Why Read the Gospels as Narrative?
07:36 Are the Gospel Differences Contradictions?
11:45 Ancient Biography and the Gospels
21:45 Why John's Gospel Is Different
33:44 How Each Gospel Presents Jesus
39:15 How to Read the Gospels Well
44:15 Bible Movies and Portraying Jesus
54:20 The Chosen: Creative License and Biblical Faithfulness
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