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Today we sit down with Rev. Dr. Emily McGowin to ask why so many of us feel trapped between “family first” slogans and the weight of church, work, and politics pressing on our homes. Emily’s vision is both bracing and kind: stop chasing a biblical blueprint that doesn’t exist, and start practicing love in households that actually look like ours—single, married, multigenerational, adoptive, blended, roommates, and everyone in between.

We dig into how Jesus relativizes cultural gender norms and invites women as disciples, how early Christian communities disrupted hierarchy, and why mutuality—rather than rigid roles—better reflects the kingdom.

We'll discuss the loss of SNAP benefits and that misuse of Scripture while ignoring real families who are working, caregiving, or simply hungry.

Households of Faith: Practicing Family in the Kingdom of God

You don't eat, you don't work.

"Nobody gets to heaven without a letter of reference from the poor." - James Forbes

If this episode challenged or encouraged you, tap follow, share it with a friend who cares about church and home, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find it. Got a question or pushback? Email hello@theologypieces.com and join the conversation.

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.

Send us a Question!

What if the most radical thing you could do this week isn’t another hot take, but a habit that holds? We open with the “No Kings” rallies and ask a tough question: are we organizing for change or outsourcing our hope to cathartic moments? Drawing on Martin Luther King Jr.’s four steps of nonviolent direct action, 1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action.

King Went on to say, "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue." Did the #NoKings protests miss this opportunity?

From there we pivot to reclaiming Scripture by reading it to meet Jesus. We challenge the empty badge of “Bible-believing” when it turns the text into an idol or a weapon. Jesus says the Scriptures testify about him; life is found in Christ, not in mastering pages. So we offer a clear, practical path to rediscover beauty.

We also push back on “revival by metrics.” Bible sales, app downloads, and playlist counts aren’t the fruit the Spirit promises. Renewal smells like repentance, reconciliation, generosity, and enemy love. If you’re exhausted by outrage and spectacle, consider a counter-liturgy: prayer, fasting, silence, and small acts of obedience. Those practices don’t weaken you; they open space for God’s strength. Over time, beauty forms us—reordering our fears, reshaping our loves, and making us the kind of people who can bear goodness in a fractured world.

Terrible Tweet brought to you by "Saving God/Saving Christianity"

If this episode helps you breathe a little deeper and walk a little steadier, share it with a friend and leave a review. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, and tell us: what passage are you wrestling with—and how is Jesus meeting you there?

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.

Send us a Question!

What if loving your Christian nationalist neighbor is the most political thing you’ll do this year?

Can a stadium memorial where “forgive your enemies” and “hate your enemies” share the same stage?"

Today we invited pastor and author Caleb Campbell (Disarming Leviathan) to help us name the powers discipling our age—and offer a way back to love with a spine.

We trace Caleb’s decade pastoring in Phoenix as culture-war catechisms flood the church, Turning Point rallies fill calendars, and neighbors learn to see each other as threats. Caleb names Leviathan—the biblical image of predatory, chaos power that dresses itself in righteousness—and shows how anxiety, not policy alone, is the engine of Christian nationalism.

We also talk about grief and honesty around public tragedy, why militarizing the Lord’s Prayer profanes God’s name, and how to practice discernment without getting trapped in bad‑faith quarrels.

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.

Send us a Question!

Dr. Mika Edmondson, pastor of Koinonia Church in Nashville, joins us for a profound conversation about redemptive suffering and denominational identity. What can Job, MLK, and the african spirituals teach us about redemption and hope amidst incredibly dark times?

"It's not the suffering in and of itself that is redemptive, it is actually our engagement with it," Mika explains. Instead of fight-or-flight as a response to evil—there's a 3rd way, a way exemplified by Jesus himself.

Then, the 3 debated the benefits and costs of denominations. There has been no declared winner, so we need you dear listener to write in and make your case or let us know who won! (hello@theologyinpieces.com)

Also go read James Cone's The Cross and the Lynching Tree.

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.

Send us a Question!

What if becoming like Christ means something far more profound than we've imagined? In this week's episode Malcolm and Slim dive into one of Christianity's most transformative yet often overlooked doctrines.

The ancient Christian understanding of salvation extends beyond forgiveness to actual participation in divine life. "What Christ is by nature, we become by grace."

Before that, you'll want to hear about the CIA's Operation Acoustic Kitty & why Christians are done turning the other cheek as a Texas Congressional Candidate burns the Quran inviting christians to support her political aims.

Want to go deeper on this topic and learn more about these crazy Eastern Church Fathers? Check out:

The Doctrine of Deification - Norman Russell

Theosis. The True Purpose of Human Life - Archimandrite George

The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church - Vladimir Lossky

Union With Christ: Reframing Theology and Ministry for the Church - J. Todd Billings

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.

Send us a Question!

Where does God stand when empires claim His name? This urgent question anchors our conversation about Christian responsibility in the face of violence happening in Gaza.

We dive deep into the theological underpinnings often used to justify unwavering support for the modern state of Israel. Genesis 12:3 – "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" – has become a rallying cry for Christians supporting Israel's military actions. But does this represent faithful biblical interpretation or dangerous theological sleight-of-hand?

Malcolm and Slim challenge the collapse between biblical Israel and the modern nation-state, exposing how colonial logic portrays "the colonizer as victim and the colonized as aggressor." We examine President Biden's revealing statement that "if there were not an Israel, we'd have to invent one" to protect American interests in the region – demonstrating how geopolitical aims often drive theological positions.

The conversation takes us to Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac's powerful book "Christ in the Rubble," which asks where Jesus would be amid Gaza's destruction. The answer? Under the rubble with the suffering, not blessing the bombs that create it. This prophetic voice calls Western Christians to recognize their complicity through silence or uncritical support of violence.

While condemning all violence, including Hamas' October 7th attack, we question whether killing over 40,000 Palestinians represents a just response or betrays the teachings of Jesus, who commands us to love our enemies.

If these questions challenge you, join us in seeking answers through Palestinian Christian voices and the nonviolent resistance training offered by the King Center. How will you answer when future generations ask where you stood in this moment of moral crisis?

We also answer the Question, "Will those whose names were not written in the book of life ever have an opportunity to be redeemed, and escape the lake of fire?" And recommend you try The 4 Views of Hell Book to explore this further.

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.

Send us a Question!

The millennium debate often gets mired in abstract timelines, but Revelation 20 demands we focus on a different question: who actually reigns with Christ during this period? Malcolm and Slim unpack questions from Mosaic Waco's sermon series on Revelation.

In review of Slim's sermon on Revelation 20, we discuss: pre-millennial, post-millennial, amillennial, and Pan-millenial views. In a moment when many Christians seek political power without the cross, Revelation offers the path to reigning with Christ necessarily involves suffering with him.

We address other pressing questions like: what happens immediately after death? Will physical disabilities remain in eternity? How Christians should care for creation while maintaining eternal perspective. What about the RAPTURE? All of this...and... we have a NEW POPE! But is that news as important as the world records being broken? You'll have to listen to see.

World's Smallest Dog?

Hanging by your hair world record

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.

Send us a Question!

The "t" in LGBTQ (Transgender) has become one of the most heated cultural flashpoints of our time, leaving many Christians struggling to respond with both theological faithfulness and Christ-like compassion. How do we understand gender dysphoria through a biblical lens while genuinely caring for those who experience it?

Enter Dr. Mark Yarhouse, Director of the Sexual and Gender Identity Institute at Wheaton College and author of groundbreaking works like "Understanding Gender Dysphoria" and "Emerging Gender Identities." With over two decades of clinical experience and research, Dr. Yarhouse brings a rare combination of psychological expertise and Christian conviction to this complex conversation.

Warning: Before this convo, Malcolm and slim tackle a polarizing debate going around the online community. Sadly, this topic has divided even our hosts. Will they stay friends after seeing the world so differently?

Also, good news and bad news for Christians regarding anti-christian bias!

We hope you'll give this a listen.

If this conversation helps you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your support helps more people find thoughtful, grounded faith in a loud, fearful world.

For more information, you can follow us at
https://www.theologyinpieces.com/
Theology in Pieces on Instagram - @theologyinpieces

Email us by emailing hello@theologyinpieces.com

Malcolm Foley - on twitter @MalcolmBFoley
Slim Thompson on twitter @wacoslim

For more information on the church,
check us out at www.mosaicwaco.org or on instagram.