Ask a Messianic Jew...

Can you believe we’ve been doing our interview seriesfor nearly a year now? We’ll be celebrating the one-year anniversary in a couple of weeks by revisiting all 24 interviews...so be sure to look for that. Thanks for making the series so successful! 

Today I am pleased introduce Rabbi Crystal Lutton of the Shema Congregation in Goodyear, Arizona for “Ask a Messianic Jew...”  

After earning her Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2000, Crystal went on to author two books: Biblical Parenting and Grace Based Living. The mother of five, she is the founder of the Arms of Love Family Fellowship, a ministry devoted to mentoring moms and dads in a positive discipline approach called Grace Based Discipline.

Theologically conservative*, Crystal is Senior Pastor at Shema Congregation, a Messianic Church of the Nazarene congregational plant that strives to understand and embrace the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith.  (*Her beliefs are in keeping with the Statements of Belief from Fuller Theological Seminary, Church of the Nazarene, and the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America.) Crystal also serves as a life coach, encouraging parents in their pursuit of discipline through relationship and working with couples on marriage and family dynamics.   

You know the drill: If you have a question for Crystal, leave it in the comment section. At the end of the day, I’ll pick the top seven or eight questions and send them to her. We'll post Crystal’s responses next week.  Be sure to take advantage of the “like” feature so that we can get a sense of what questions are of most interest to readers.

Ask away!

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Ask an egalitarian...

In preparation for next week’s series, One in Christ: A Week of Mutuality, we have a special addition to our interview series—Dr. Mimi Haddad, who has agreed to be our guest for “Ask an egalitarian.”

 (Note: The juxtaposition of this interview and “Ask a feminist...” earlier this week is purely coincidental...though kinda fun. It will be interesting to note similarities/differences in your questions and their responses.)

Mimi is president of Christians for Biblical Equality, a nonprofit organization of Christian men and women “who believe that the Bible, properly interpreted, teaches the fundamental equality of men and women of all ethnic groups, all economic classes, and all age groups.” She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and holds a Ph.D. in historical theology from the University of Durham, England.

Mimi is part of the leadership of Evangelicals for Justice, a founding member of the Evangelicals and Gender Study Group at the Evangelical Theological Society, and she served as the convener of the Issue Group 24 for the 2004 Lausanne III Committee for World Evangelization. She has written more than one hundred articles and blogs and has contributed to nine books, most recently Living Faith: The Fragrance of Christ, published by the Evangelical Fellowship of India and the Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief.   She is also an editor and a contributing author of Global Voices on Biblical Equality: Women and Men Serving Together in the Church.

In addition to all of this, Mimi serves as an adjunct assistant professor at Bethel University and an adjunct professor at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois. She and her husband, Dale, live in the Twin Cities.

You know the drill: If you have a question for Mimi, leave it in the comment section. At the end of the day, I’ll pick the top seven or eight questions and send them to her We'll post his response next week.  (Be sure to take advantage of the “like” feature so that we can get a sense of what questions are of most interest to readers.) Because next week’s focus will be on gender equality, it's probably best to focus questions on issues related to that....but, of course, it's YOUR interview!

You can check out the rest of our interview series, which includes an atheist, a pagan, a nun, a Mormon, a Mennonite, a Calvinist, anevolutionary creationist, a humanitarian, an environmentalist, a gay Christian, a Unitarian Universalist, an  Orthodox Christian, a Pentecostal, many more here. 

Ask away!

One In Christ: A Week of Mutuality

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Comment Policy: Please stay positive with your comments. If your comment is rude, it gets deleted. If it is critical, please make it constructive. If you are constantly negative or a general ass, troll, or hater, you will get banned. The definition of terms is left solely up to us.

Ask a feminist...

Our interview series continues today with “Ask a feminist...” 

“Feminism” is a lighting-rod word that is often maligned and often misunderstood. In fact, I find I am reluctant to identify myself as a feminist, partly because I fear being misjudged, and partly because I’m not entirely sure what it means. 

Whenever I have questions about feminism, I turn to my friend Dianna Anderson. Dianna is the creative mind behind the Be The Change blog. She may be young, but she is super smart, perceptive, and great at explaining what it really means to be a feminist.

Dianna is originally from Sioux Falls, SD, and has a BA in theology/philosophy from the University of Sioux Falls and a Master's in English Literature from Baylor University, in Waco, TX. After bouncing around to Japan and back to Sioux Falls, Dianna now calls Chicago her home. She works for the Christian Reformed Church of North America in the media ministry branch, though she is not Reformed herself. Her day job is as a line producer for a radio program aimed at ESL listeners around the world. She blogs about feminism and theology here, and you can follow her on Twitter here.

You know the drill: If you have a question for Dianna, leave it in the comment section. At the end of the day, I’ll pick the top seven or eight questions and send them to her for her response. We'll post her responses next week.  Be sure to take advantage of the “like” feature so that we can get a sense of what questions are of most interest to readers. Please remember the point of our interview series is not to debate or challenge, but to ask the sort of questions that will help us understand one another better.

You can check out the rest of our interview series, which includes an atheist, a pagan, a nun, a Mormon, a Mennonite, a Calvinist, anevolutionary creationist, a humanitarian, an environmentalist, a gay Christian, a Unitarian Universalist, an  Orthodox Christian, a Pentecostal, many more here. 

Ask away!

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Comment Policy: Please stay positive with your comments. If your comment is rude, it gets deleted. If it is critical, please make it constructive. If you are constantly negative or a general ass, troll, or hater, you will get banned. The definition of terms is left solely up to us.

Ask a Seventh-day Adventist...

I’ve had several requests to include “ask a Seventh-Day Adventist...” in our interview series, so today I am pleased to introduce J David Newman. 

David describes himself as an evangelical Adventist. He has pastoredNew Hope  Adventist Church for the past ten years, and is retiring at the end of June 2012,  after which he will enter a PhD program in London, England. He is the editor of Adventist Today, a progressive, lay-owned journal, and has served in various administrative posts for the Adventist denomination as well as an adjunct professor atAndrews University. For many years, he was the editor of Ministry Magazine, an international Adventist journal for pastors.

David was born in Cape Town South Africa of British parents.  He spent the first twelve years of his life in Nigeria and Sierra Leone.  He then completed secondary school in England and Scotland.  He met his wife, Phyllis, from San Diego, California, while studying at La Sierra University in Riverside California.  

I’ve never met David, but I suspect he has quite the accent.  

You know the drill: If you have a question for David, leave it in the comment section. At the end of the day, I’ll pick the top seven or eight questions and send them to him. We'll post his response next week.  Be sure to take advantage of the “like” feature so that we can get a sense of what questions are of most interest to readers. Please remember the point of our interview series is not to debate or challenge, but to ask the sort of questions that will help us understand one another better.

Check out the rest of our interview series here.

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Comment Policy: Please stay positive with your comments. If your comment is rude, it gets deleted. If it is critical, please make it constructive. If you are constantly negative or a general ass, troll, or hater, you will get banned. The definition of terms is left solely up to us.