ReGeneration Podcast

This episode is a very personal and poignant conversation between Isaac and his friend Christine Vatuone. Christine is the Executive Director of Informed Choices, a pregnancy resource and medical center in Gilroy, California. Recently, Christine has been covered by major media outlets such as NPR, Washington Post, AP, and Vice News, for her role in a Supreme Court Case regarding resource centers like Informed Choices. But in the midst of this very public work, Christine was hit hard with some personal news that would quite literally change her life. In this episode, Isaac chats with Christine about how we can continue faithfully following Jesus with courage and conviction even when life seems overwhelming and death itself seems to be knocking on our door.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Eric Bryant. Eric is a part of the leadership team at Gateway Church in Austin, Texas and serves as lead pastor for Gateway South. Prior to that, he served for 12 years as part of the leadership team with Erwin McManus at Mosaic in Los Angeles. Eric is also the author of Not Like Me: Loving, Serving, and Influencing Our Divided World. In this episode, we chat with Eric about the unique challenges of reaching unchurched people in a creative, young, very post-Christian city like Austin and what churches everywhere can do to create environments where younger generations feel welcomed in and invited to not only experience but also participate and lead.

In this episode, Dan Kimball chats with Evan Fu. Dan is the director of the ReGeneration Project. He also serves on staff at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, overseeing leadership and mission. Before moving to San Diego, Evan was a beloved and involved part of the Vintage Faith community. He was involved with creative arts, participated in a small group, and was an active part of the young adults ministry. But the most surprising thing about it? Evan is not a Christian. In this episode, Dan and Evan discuss how this unique relationship came about and what church leaders and those who aren’t Christians alike can learn about what the local can and should be.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Os Guinness. Os is widely considered one of today’s most important Christian voices. A renowned author, speaker, and cultural commentator, he’s written more than thirty books and serves as senior fellow at the Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics. He holds a doctorate degree from Oxford University. In this episode, we chat with Os about why he believes we live in an era of tremendous evangelistic opportunity, why in order to be effective, Christians must learn to become thoughtful, theologically-minded, and how church leaders can begin to lead their communities in this direction.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Steve Patton. Steve is a pastor, writer/speaker, and church planter. He serves on the leadership team of the ReGeneration Project and is currently leading a brand new church plant in Seattle called Reunion. We chat with Steve about what to do with the tension of the Bible seemingly condoning and even encouraging slavery. We discuss Steve’s personal and theological journey regarding the tension and how that’s led him to where he is today, helping to plant a church in Seattle, whose vision statement states, “We imagine a table, and even a city, where all races, genders, generations, socio-economic statuses, and cultures are gathered as one.”

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Chris Nye, author of the book “Distant God.” Chris is a pastor, speaker, and writer whose work has been featured in the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Books & Culture, Preaching Today and various other publications. In this episode, we chat with Chris about an increasingly common question we’re hearing these days from people: “Why is God so distant?” Have you ever had seasons of life like that, where God seems to be far off, aloof, unaware of our circumstances, or, even worse, aware but apathetic? Why does God seem so distant sometimes? And what are we to do in those seasons?

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with John Mark Comer. John Mark serves as pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown, a thriving young church right in the heart of urban Portland. He’s also the author of several books, including Loveology, Garden City, and God Has A Name. Since last year, John Mark has been leading Bridgetown Church through a series of intentional practices designed to help his community experience actual change in their lives. This is something we all want - to actually change, to actually become more like the people we think God made us to be. In American Christianity, the most common approach to this process is one of intellectual ascent. If we can know enough, learn enough, be smart enough, get inspired enough… we’ll change. Or so we think. In this conversation, we unpack this myth, get to the heart of the matter of change and explore some specific practices that will actually begin the process of change in our lives.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Scot McKnight. Scot is one of the most prominent Biblical scholars in the world. He is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary and has authored nearly 30 books, including The Jesus Creed, The Blue Parakeet, The King Jesus Gospel, Kingdom Conspiracy, and A Fellowship of Differents. Scot was also instrumental in the launching of the ReGeneration Project. In this episode we chat with Scot about the words “Gospel” and “Kingdom,” two crucial ideas in Christian theology which have been reduced to overly simplistic caricatures by many today.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Shamina Isaac. Shamina is a worship leader and singer-songwriter. She also serves on the leadership collective of the ReGeneration Project and has led the music at several of our annual events. Her music has made waves in the music industry over the years and has been featured in feature films. On the episode, we discuss the importance music in teaching theology (in both good and bad ways), as well as specific ways worship leaders can thoughtfully engage song selection.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Preston Sprinkle. Preston is a professor, speaker, and the bestselling author of several books, including Erasing Hell, Fight, and People to be Loved. He also hosts a popular podcast called Theology in the Raw. They discuss the various views on hell and Preston’s personal journey from one particular view on hell to the uniquely different view he holds today. For many people, the topic of hell poses one of the greatest challenges to embracing the idea that God is good and loving and just. We hope this conversation opens up the dialogue and helps to broaden your horizons as you think about the topic of hell.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Dr. Gerry Breshears, Professor of Theology at Western Seminary. Gerry also serves on the board of The Bible Project, as well as the elder board and preaching team at Grace Community Church in Gresham, Oregon. Additionally, Gerry serves as a mentor to numerous influential church leaders all over the country. He affectionately labeled a pastor to pastors. We discuss the main themes of Christmas, what we often miss about the Christmas story, the significance of the different genealogies in the various Gospel stories, snake venom in our veins and how Christmas introduces the remedy, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the finer points of drinking too much eggnog.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Joshua Ryan Butler, pastor, speaker, and author of "Skeletons In God's Closet," "The Pursuing God" and . They discuss the difficult topic of hell, why so many of us get it so wrong, and the surprisingly hopeful story that the Bible actually tells us about where the human story is headed.

In this episode, Jay and Isaac chat with Tim Mackie, co-founder of the Bible Project and professor at Western Seminary. They discuss how to read (and not read) the Bible. Specifically, they delve into the both human and divine nature of the Bible, its historicity, what we mean when we say that something is “true,” and a few practical tips for reading the Bible for ourselves.

In this preview episode of the ReGeneration Podcast, Jay Kim and Isaac Serrano chat with Dan Kimball, director of the ReGeneration Project, about the heart behind the ReGeneration Project, why it was started, and a story about a series of intense emails from a surprising individual that led to all of this. They also share what this podcast is going to be all about and how you can be a part of the conversation.