35: Sermons We Hear: What are American Christians hearing from the pulpit?

November 3rd, 2021  |  1 hr 12 mins

We discuss a recent study about the content, length, and focus of sermons preached in American churches these days. Which churches talk about what? What does that say about them? What can we learn from the various types of sermon?

34: Who Wrote It?: Digging into false claims of authorship in the Bible with Trevor Thompson

October 27th, 2021  |  1 hr 10 mins

New Testament scholar Trevor Thompson joins us to discuss pseudepigraphic texts in the Bible. We talk about what they are, how they're determined, and we talk a lot about what that means for our faith in scripture and in God.

33: Multiple Heresies: Exploring some challenges to biblical inerrancy

October 20th, 2021  |  1 hr 26 mins

Yay! Nathan is back! In this episode we follow up with some explanation behind the claims Steve made in the previous episode about how the Bible is not as “inerrant” as we think, although we just scratch the surface. Unfortunately, Steve breaks the rule of only one heresy per episode.

32: Dissonance: How "biblical inerrancy" led to Trump & conspiracy theories

October 6th, 2021  |  22 mins 47 secs

Steve goes solo this week for his hot take on how the American Evangelical / Fundamentalist belief in biblical inerrancy (a relatively new concept, actually) has led to the era of Trump and conspiracy theories ruling the church

Book Club Announcement - "Faith After Doubt" by Brian McLaren

September 29th, 2021  |  58 secs

We're taking the week off, but we wanted to announce our next book for the book club: "Faith After Doubt" by Brian McLaren

31: Doppelgänger: The faith journey of ANOTHER Steve Martin

September 22nd, 2021  |  1 hr 4 mins

Steve couldn’t believe it when he came across ANOTHER guy named Steven D. Martin who is ALSO a podcaster, a paster, is passionate about social justice, and the similarities keep going. We just had to have him on the show to tell his faith story. It starts in small town Tennessee, goes through his time as a pastor, how he ended up at the Charlottesville race protests, and now running an institute for training churches to deal with our new reality.

30: Book Club: “The Making of Biblical Womanhood” by Beth Allison Barr

September 15th, 2021  |  1 hr 11 mins

Science & Faith 02: The Many Views of Creation

September 10th, 2021  |  27 mins 6 secs

The many different interpretations of Genesis chapter 1 are the source of almost all disagreements about Science & Faith that followers of Christ deal with. In this episode we talk about a lot of those views, from the very literal the the very abstract. We end the episode with the most important question to ask about this chapter of the Bible.

29: Know Thyself: How the Enneagram can help you grow in your faith

September 8th, 2021  |  1 hr 5 mins

Enneagram trainer and life coach Krista Cannon joins us today to talk all things enneagram. She clears up a lot for us, like: What it is, what it isn't, how to use it, and how not to. We also talk about how understanding who YOU are can really help you in your faith journey.

28: Don't Do It Alone: The spiritual impact of life-changing diseases

September 1st, 2021  |  1 hr 29 mins

In this episode Steve shares his story of being diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson's Disease at 41 and then being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at age 43. He talks about how dealing with those 2 diseases has impacted his faith and spiritual life.

27: Imaginary Other: Surviving arguments with relationships intact

August 25th, 2021  |  1 hr 12 mins

Probably none of you need to hear this episode, since none of you have ever had an argument, but in case you do find yourself in an argument, this episode is for you. Nathan, a self-appointed expert on arguing, gives us the ABC’s of arguments. How to approach them, how to diffuse them, and how to know when to stop pushing and let go. We also talk about true Scotsmen, belief vs. faith, and when losing on purpose is Christ-like.

26: Hippie Church: More adventures in the new and the different

August 18th, 2021  |  57 mins 59 secs

Today we’re celebrating a new milestone in Following the Fire history - we’ve passed 25 episodes! And it’s Steve’s turn to tell about his family’s first foray into the “other churches” world.

25: Book Club: "A Church Called TOV" by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer

August 11th, 2021  |  57 mins 18 secs

Today we have with us Laura Barringer, co-author of “A Church Called Tov”. We had a fabulous conversation with her and learned so much. If you haven’t read the book yet, don’t worry - Nathan gives a great summary before we get in to the discussion. Do be sure to grab a copy for yourself, though! Links are in the show notes.

24: Pushing Past the Weird: Getting back out there and visiting new churches

August 4th, 2021  |  52 mins 43 secs

Looking for a new faith community is gonna be weird at first, but that’s just part of the process, like it or not. Nathan decided to be an overachiever and visited two churches in one day and he tells us all about his experiences. We also start off the episode with some long overdue shout-outs.

23: NakedPastor: Artist David Hayward discusses his cartoons & his faith journey

July 28th, 2021  |  1 hr 3 mins

Nathan and Steve got to sit down with David Hayward, aka, “NakedPastor” for a fabulous conversation. David is an author, artist, cartoonist, and all-around super nice guy (not just because he’s Canadian). We got to hear of his journey from being a pastor for 30 years to being the cartoonist for deconstructing Christians, we talked about his motivations for doing what he does, and much more!

22: Trans-Christian: A conversation with Natalie Drew about following God as a trans woman

July 21st, 2021  |  1 hr 31 mins

Today we’re talking to Natalie Drew. Natalie is a devout Christian, pacifist, and kind of a theology nerd who also happens to be a trans woman. She shares her story with us of struggling with life before beginning her transition after having a wife and 2 kids, how her marriage weathered the storm, and she gives some great advice to other LGBTQ people in the church, as well as for the rest of the church. I do want to let you know that suicide does come up a few times in this episode.