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	Kid Dropouts: An Adult Problem Bill Milliken, founder of Communities in Schools org., highlights the poverty of relationship and what it means to believe in another person the Jesus way. His agency connects community resources with students in need.

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Grace Matters, 2008

January | February | March | April | May | June

June

• June 29, 2008 — Bill Milliken – Kid Dropouts: An Adult Problem
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  John 15:15
  
  Bill Milliken has his finger on the pulse of the high school dropout epidemic in America. And, it is an epidemic. “It’s not a kid problem,” he tells us, “It’s an adult problem.” Milliken is founder of the organization Communities in Schools, an agency that connects community resources with students who need attention and care. This program highlights the poverty of relationship that many live with, and what it means to believe in another person the Jesus way.
   

• June 22, 2008 — Rodney Clapp – Breath, Bone, and Body
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  Psalm 139:13-15
  
  Everybody seems to have their own definition for spirituality. But one definition that doesn't work well for those steeped in a biblical tradition is that which treats all things spiritual as inward and invisible. Rodney Clapp out to reclaim an important place for a more physical spirituality that refuses to ignore the body. In all of its messiness and confusion, the body can be a home through which the Lord of creation, incarnation, and resurrection goes to work. Clapp is author of the book, Tortured Wonders: Christian Spirituality for People, Not Angels.
   

• June 15, 2008 — Timothy Johnson – Facing the Big Questions in Life
  (Encore show from 2/18/07)
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  1 Corinthians 13:2
  
  Dr. Timothy Johnson, longtime medical editor for ABC news, is not afraid to ask the big questions of religion and science. As both minister and physician, he is intrigued by the interplay of two worlds that many people find hopelessly at odds. He brings his incisive mind and spiritual vitality to a conversation about the “hows” of science and the “whys” of faith.
   

• June 8, 2008 — Jeremy Langford – Good Soil
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  Psalm 65
  
  Christian faith that does not grow in an individual is not a living faith. Such lifeless or immature faith is certainly not a resource to rely on in the crises of life. This edition of Grace Matters explores the necessity of growing and nurturing the seeds of God’s Word that get planted in our lives. Host Peter Marty explores the strange phenomenon of growing many dimensions in our lives as we age, but leaving our faith presuppositions and knowledge at the third grade level. Jeremy Langford, a communicator for the Jesuit community in Chicago, is guest on the program.
   

• June 1, 2008 — Martha Stortz – Inside Out, Upside Down
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Matthew 5:1-12
  
  The most extensive preaching we have from the lips of Jesus is recorded in Matthew’s Gospel account, “The Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus opens this sermon not with command but with blessing. These blessings reveal some of the major themes that dot the ministry of Jesus. They propose that we turn our lives upside and inside out to catch the splendor of God. Martha Stortz, professor of historical theology and ethics at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, helps us navigate these blessings, or beatitudes of Jesus.

May

• May 25, 2008 — Steven Prothero – Religious Illiteracy
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  John 13:17

  Stephen Prothero has conducted an interesting study of religious literacy in America. What he has found is that while many people have a deep faith and a gut sense of spirituality, their Biblical and religious knowledge is very scant. In other words, their faith is formed more on feeling and sentiment than accurate knowledge of valued sources. Prothero is chair of the religion department at Boston University and author of the book Religious Literacy.
   

• May 18, 2008 — Wayne Muller – The Rhythm of the Christian Life
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Deuteronomy 5:12

  According to Holy Scripture, God built rhythm into the universe. Work and rest were meant to be fair players with one another. Something happened to this rhythm along the way, however. Rest got bumped to the periphery and work assumed center stage. Author and minister Wayne Muller reflects on how effectively we keep – and do not keep – the Sabbath commandment. Host Peter Marty looks at the distinctive rhythm of the Christian life.
   

• May 11, 2008 — Jules and Gedeon Naudet – Terror and Faith
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  1 John 4:18

  Jules and Gedeon are a pair of French-born brothers who enjoy working together. They also happen to be award-winning filmmakers. Not only did they produce the acclaimed documentary “9/11,” containing the only known footage of the first plane striking the first tower of the World Trade Center, they followed that up with a documentary on faith, entitled: “In God’s Name.” This edition of Grace Matters explores the place of terror in American public and private life, and the role of the Christian faith as a response.
   

• May 4, 2008 – Letter Writing from the Heart
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  2 Corinthians 3:3

  Otolaryngology is an important word, but a mouthful to pronounce. It happens to be shorthand for that branch of medicine that deals with ear, nose, and throat. Dr. Bruce Campbell, head and neck surgeon at the Medical College of Wisconsin, “sees it all” on the cancer ward where he works and in the classrooms where he teaches. Campbell practices a particular kind of medicine that includes a thoughtful inclusion of his own personal faith. His patients are the direct beneficiaries.

April

• April 27, 2008 — Stacey Jutila – "The Joy of Play"
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Zechariah 8: 4-5

  Hospital chaplaincy is calm and even in character, though occasionally high adrenaline in crisis moments. But what is a hospital like at nighttime, besides just nurses waking patients up for “checking vitals” when they don’t want to be awakened? And specifically, what does a hospital chaplain see happen at a children’s hospital at night? Host Peter W. Marty asks these sorts of questions of Rev. Stacey Jutila, a hospital chaplain in the Chicago area. Jutila brings valuable perspective to the conversation of illness and wellness, and an important reminder about the place of play in children’s lives.
   

• April 20, 2008 — Jim Wallis – A Revival In the Works
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  Isaiah 42:1
  
  We live in a day when individuals from all walks of life are trying to make sense of the intersection between religion and politics. Most of us know we are not enamored with the extremes, where strident know-it-alls dominate the airwaves, but what is the middle ground? Or better said, how can people of faith think deeply about the moral and justice issues of the day? New York Times best-selling author, and faith-based activist Jim Wallis is as poised as anyone to speak about this topic. He is encouraged by a new movement emerging among America’s religious faithful.
   
• April 13, 2008 — Robert Abernethy – Depth. Heft. Gravity.
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Psalm 139
  
  All of us want to live lives of meaning. No person seeks to drift through life with a purposelessness. Yet some individuals have the gift of thinking with clarity on matters of the heart. Some know exactly how to put their faith into words. These are people, by and large, who live and speak with depth, heft and gravity. Bob Abernethy is the executive editor and host of the PBS program "Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly." He joins the program to discuss why lives of meaning matter so much to him.
   
• April 6, 2008 — Bill McKibben – Treating Our Planet Courteously
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Isaiah 24
  
  Few subjects are more urgent than the crisis of our planet. The stresses we put on the natural resources of planet earth, not to mention the air we breathe and the water we drink, are growing each day. Our personal behaviors and global economies are all contributing to the crisis. Bill McKibben, author and writer-in-residence at Middlebury College in Vermont, is one of nation’s most articulate spokespersons on the environment, climate change and the need for all people to live more lightly. His personal faith powers much of his message.

March

• March 30, 2008 — Joy Newcom – When You Did Not Expect Joy
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  Psalm 16
  
  Joy Newcom is the mother of two boys, one of whom was born with multiple birth defects. That birth and that child has ended up transforming her life. Much of it has been an involuntary transformation, taking her places she never asked to go. But every step of the way, joy keeps giving shape to the transformation. It’s a hard but beautiful story of God working steadfastly with us through the circumstances of our lives.
   
• March 23, 2008 — Peter W. Marty – Easter Sunday – The Nonsense of Standstill Christianity
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Mark 16:1-8
  
  In this special Easter Sunday meditation, program host Peter W. Marty ponders the Easter story from St. Mark's Gospel. He takes a candid look at the Christian life lived in light of the resurrection. If Jesus has been raised from the dead, there is no such thing as a standstill Christian. Believing people must be on the move, open to new possibilities. They cannot park their faith in contentment with the past, or in coziness with the present. Living the Christian life well is all about trying to keep up with the risen Christ, who keeps showing up several steps ahead of us.
   

• March 16, 2008 — Peter W. Marty – Palm Sunday Special – A Life of Reconciliation
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  2 Corinthians 5:17-21
  
  Program host Peter W. Marty takes you from a street fair in Palm Springs, California to the dusty road in Jerusalem where Jesus made his final and triumphant entry prior to his death. Along the way, he stops to contemplate the silence of Jesus and what Jesus was willing to absorb. Reconciliation becomes the focus of Jesus' ministry in those final days, as he demonstrates that being in a relationship is much more important than being right.
   

• March 9, 2008 — Luci Shaw – The Crime of Living Cautiously
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Exodus 16-3
  
  God built risk into the universe. It is all over creation. It is part and parcel of the Christian life as well. There is no indication that Jesus of Nazareth promoted a safe life as the highest priority. In fact, his definition of discipleship encourages us to take paths that nobody may have ever walked before. Poet Luci Shaw understands life to be full of adventure and risk, with her own personal life as evidence. She joins the program to help distinguish faith from fear, and both from fanaticism.
   

• March 2, 2008 — Tim Wise – Insulating Your Attic
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Galatians 3:28
  
  Racism can be a tough thing to get our hands around, especially when the majority white culture struggles to even recognize the many unspoken privileges it enjoys. What does it mean to be born into privilege – not economic wealth, but all of the other perks and comforts that go with unseen advantages of being born white? Tim Wise, an author and anti-racism activist has a sharp mind for thinking creatively about this question. Host Peter Marty reflects on a Biblical word about our tendency to draw distinctions between people.
   

February

• February 24, 2008 — Carmen Richards – Stretched to the Limit
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Psalm 90:1-12
  
  Have you ever felt over-committed, over-scheduled, over-ambitious, over-eager or over-programmed? Most of us have been there sometime in the last week, or the last year. We "try to do it all" and find that strategy to come up short. In this program, host Peter W. Marty speaks to the limits that God puts upon our lives, not as drawbacks or defects, but as reminders of our mortality and finitude. These limits also happen to afford us an opportunity to draw closer to God. His conversation partner is Carmen Richards, national president of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

• February 17, 2008 — Peter Gomes – Be Transformed
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Romans 12:1-2
  
  Peter Gomes, Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University and pastor of the Memorial Church there, is often referred to as one of America's great preachers. In part, this acclaim is due to Gomes' witty use of words, his clever cultural insights, and his deep belief that Christians need transformation in Christ, not conformity to the world. If you have not thought about the transformation of your own spiritual life in a while, and what it would mean to put your life through a major overhaul, this program will get your creative juices flowing.
   
• February 10, 2008 — Eugene Peterson – Part II – The Perils of Ownership
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Luke 14:25-33
  
  Eugene Peterson returns for the second part of a two-part series. Here he discusses the Bible and our use of it. Nobody would seem better poised and more suited to converse about the place of Scripture in our lives than this prolific author and Bible translator. Peterson unwraps the drawbacks to our owning of Bibles, our over-study of Scripture, and our reading (instead of speaking) the Word. He speaks, however, with nothing less than a passionate love for Scripture and the difference it makes in our lives.
   
• February 3, 2008 — Eugene Peterson – Part I – Alphabet of Faith
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Luke 2:19
  
  It can be a joy to hear someone who writes extensively and well actually talk about the words that comprise his or her writing. That is the privilege of this edition of Grace Matters. Eugene Peterson, who translated the entire Bible into the contemporary translation, The Message, speaks to different words in the Christian vocabulary. He talks candidly about the power and gift of some words, and the detriment and misuse of others.

January

• January 27, 2008 — Immaculée Ilibagiza (Part II) – Forgiving the Unforgivable
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Luke 7:36-50
   
  Immaculée Ilibagiza returns for the second of a two-part series on the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. She is the author of the book, Left to Tell, a gripping narrative of the ordeal that left her family and most of her village dead. In this broadcast Immaculée relives the jail encounter that brought her face-to-face with the killer who stabbed her parents and brother to death. This woman of faith will reawaken the power of forgiveness for all who are seeking a new way of life.
   

• January 20, 2008 — Immaculée Ilibagiza (Part I) – Burning Hate
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  John 15:23-25
   
  Immaculée Ilibagiza is an amazing woman. She narrowly escaped death in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 by hiding in the bathroom of her pastor’s house for 91 consecutive days. In this compelling interview, the first in a two-part series, Immaculée gives an inside look at the faith that carried her through a horrific ordeal. She discusses the mystery of hatred and the necessity of Christian hope.
   

• January 13, 2008 — Jim Autry – Rethinking Miracle Stories
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  John 10:38
   
  Jim Autry is a former Fortune 500 business executive, a leadership consultant, poet and author. But he is something else too. He is the loving father of an autistic son. Raising this son has caused Autry to read the healing miracles of Jesus in a way that might surprise many conventional or orthodox Christians. If you are wondering whether or not to believe in miracles, and whether they might be pointing to something larger, this program is for you.
   

• January 6, 2008 — Philip Gulley – If Grace is True…
  MP3 | Podcast | RealPlayer Stream
  Romans 11:33-36
   
  One of the favorite questions many Christians love to ask is, “Who is saved? Is She? Is He? Am I?” The question grows in interest when people who do not profess Jesus Christ are included in the question. Philip Gulley, a popular author and Quaker minister, has some very important things to say about who gets saved. If grace is true, as a concept, a word, and as the defining characteristic of God, reasons Gulley, then it must be true for ALL people.