Brian Zahnd—Year A Christmas 2-Epiphany 3
Welcome to the Gospel Reverb podcast. Gospel Reverb is an audio gathering for preachers, teachers, and Bible thrill seekers. Each month our host, Anthony Mullins, will interview a new guest to gain insights and preaching nuggets mined from select passages of Scripture in that month’s Revised Common Lectionary. The podcast’s passion is to proclaim and boast in Jesus Christ, the one who reveals the heart of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And now onto the episode.
Anthony: Hello friends, and welcome to the latest episode of Gospel Reverb. Gospel Reverb is a podcast devoted to bringing you insights from Scripture found in the Revised Common Lectionary and sharing commentary from a Christ-centered and Trinitarian view.
I’m your host, Anthony Mullins, and it’s my delight to welcome our guest, Brian Zhand. Brian is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He’s a pastor theologian who has authored 12 books, including Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, When Everything’s on Fire, and The Wood Between the Worlds.
Brian is enthusiastic about music, literature, mountains — amen — and long-distance pilgrimages. Brian, thanks for being with us and welcome to the podcast. And since this is your first time being with us, we’d like to know a little bit about you, your story, and especially what has you experiencing delight these days.
[00:01:31] Brian: First of all, thank you, Anthony. It’s a delight to be with you, speaking of delight. I am the founding pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, that a week from this Sunday will celebrate its 44th anniversary.
[00:01:48] Anthony: Come on. You’re getting old, Brian. Is that what you’re telling me?
[00:01:51] Brian: I am 66. I’ve been doing this 44 years of my life. If my math works out, I’ve been doing this two-thirds of my life.
Anthony: And thank you, Lord.
Brian: I’m pastor theologian. I write a lot. I travel, speak. I don’t necessarily … the church doesn’t depend on me these days, to run it day by day, although I just came from a three-hour staff meeting. We have a great team. I love being with them, but I can tell my story real long, but that’s not what we’re here for. My simple story is I’ve done one thing. And I’ve tried to pastor a local church and have done that for 44 years. And then other things swirl around that. I have three grown sons. I have eight grandchildren. They all live within five minutes or 10 minutes of us.
[00:02:43] Anthony: Oh, come on. That’s fantastic.
[00:02:44] Brian: Yeah. And my grandchildren are fifth generation students in the same school district. In other words, my grandchildren are in the same school district program that my grandfather was.
[00:03:00] Anthony: Wow.
[00:03:00] Brian: And so, Wendell Berry just gave me a high five.
[00:03:05] Anthony: Ah, there it is. Kentucky boy.
[00:03:08] Brian: He’s about place and having roots and yeah.
Anthony: Yes, yes.
Brian: So, that’s not much of my story, but maybe it’ll give you some idea of who I am.
[00:03:18] Anthony: Yeah. And speaking of the local church, because I know you, you hold the local expression in high regard. I wanted to ask you this. I imagine in some low liturgical settings that the Christian calendar, Revised Common Lectionary would be considered restrictive, maybe repetitive, but are they really? I’m curious for your thoughts because you’ve, as far as I know, you’ve used the calendar and RCL for years. Help us to under
Published on 1 month ago
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