Rachel Dorset England I love this. blessings everyone.

a different and better perspective @Reformedlibertarians . Consider the alternative.

I’m a South African. We have huge incentives to pray here 🌈

💔 After nearly 40 years in the House Church, Pentecostal & Charismatic type churches in the UK I know what it is to be bullied & controlled by some leaders, who have over-extended their authority into too many areas of the lives of congregants, & been abusive. I believe 'heavy shepherding' is still happening here. However I agree that many pastors, elders etc do not go into ministry with this intention. It's something which creeps in gradually. Having so much influence, significant power over others, plus being up front, the focus of attention etc IS definitely addictive, & can turn a pastor into a predator, even a dictator. It's very easy to slip into threatening congregants that they are in rebellion against God if they do not submit to & obey you. It's also very easy to believe that the end justifies the means 🚨 💥 I believe it really needs to be emphatically stated too that outright abuse of power really does damage people, some of whom have had to remove themselves from church in order to survive. No one wants to go tell their doctor they're feeling depressed & suicidal because they've been abused by a pastor. How do you think that sounds to a GP or a Psychiatrist?! Do you want people to go missing from your church for weeks due to being hospitalized because of the effects of your abuse? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?! 💥 ♥️ I'd also suggest that pastors, elders etc who do this are damaged themselves & really need to become self aware & get help. And there IS help available. Ellel Ministries in the UK, for example, provides support for struggling pastors & there are retreats & discreet places pastors can go to for help or recharge. More mature congregants don't mind if you want to talk about a problem, if you're struggling. In fact it helps them feel you're 'human' & more approachable. They're happy to listen, to support YOU TOO. You should have adequate time off, holidays away, friends, all the help you need. No one has the right to expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be reasonable & to try to do the right thing ♥️ 📢 Please remember, if you want to be in this kind of position you have a solemn duty & responsibility before God & others NOT to damage those in your care. You're supposed to protect the flock from the wolves, NOT become one. Please - stop what you're doing. Get help. If you can't then it's time to step aside & let someone else take over ⚠️⛔

Keep waiting on jesus

I’m glad there are professional therapists who are trying to help the church, it’s not easy working with the church they have their own agenda and sometimes they are not very emotionally healthy with empathy for others so it can be very challenging to navigate, however thank you for trying Aimy! I actually think that there are many therapists and their practices are not full, so I don’t think the problem is that we don’t have enough Therapist. However, we probably do not have enough affordable cost Therapist because the agencies and insurance companies really burn out their Therapists and Therapists works so hard and sometimes get very little pay but have a lot of paperwork and a lot of stress managing the 30 to 40+ clients that these insurances and agencies want you to see, very high burn out rate. Thus Therapist are going into Private Practice but I understand it is expensive for clients. I’m not sure what the solution is. Perhaps the church with proper professional training can provide therapist interns who can be supervised to see some of the people for a shorter period of time, but for longer therapy and more severe needs, that should definitely go to a professional therapist. An important issue to keep in mind is that when there is therapy at the church clients and the pastoral staff need to understand the difference between Spiritual, Counseling, and Professional psychotherapy because they are very different and this has caused confusion in my past church - congregates, thinking that they were going to get psychotherapy, but they got more biblical counseling and didn’t feel that they were being empathized through their trauma , but just got a biblical scripture solution. Just a tip on communication Amy - you got a bit long-winded on many of the discussion points so I would try to keep some of it more concise, rather than repeating the same thing over and over. Appreciate the show!

I’m Dave Hall from Gainesville, Florida. I’m a member of Servants of Christ Anglican Church.

When you marry your politics with your religion it's called IDOLATRY. Thank you NT Wright

The irony here is that NT Wright believes the church is in a position to positively influence a fractured political landscape while it, itself, is hopelessly divided. How about tackling the mess in Church of England before taking on politics and politicians?

If N.T. Wright is on, I'm watching! Thank you! This makes me think of the U.S. election of 2000. During the campaign, the Bush camp partnered with faith-based charities and promised "compassionate conservatism". If elected, the Bush administration would funnel government funds to faith-based charities so that the church could administrate assistance to the widow, the orphan, the disabled, the elderly, etc. However, once Bush got into office, his administration stopped talking to these faith-based charities, refusing to make good on its promise. Instead, the resources were funneled to the war on Iraq (something they had planned to do before 9/11 ever happened). They even took money away from the Social Security Trust Fund for that war...and we are now living with the SSA under threat of financial collapse. I know for a fact that there is no church in America that is willing or able to take care of even one elderly parishioner to a dignified end. When I watched my mother's health start to decline in her 70's, how many times she had to be hospitalized and the medications she had to take, the long term rehab stays, etc...I knew that taking care of just one elderly person costs millions of dollars under our current health care system. Medicare shielded us from that cost. Social Security kept her in her home. Hospice was paid for, and allowed her to die at home. Not one church stepped up to offer her any financial help at all, even though St. Paul allowed for churches to provide such help to "true widows" like my Mom (she was a Baptist, and her church was down the street from her). The Church must rely on government help for this...every church has more than one elderly parishioner, and disabled people, as well.

My church is Freedom Fellowship in Pearland, TX

Lots of ridiculous psuedo-religious babble jardon.

In order for a pastor to receive care from the church when they need it, they would have to be humble enough to acknowledge their need and receive care. Many pastors I’ve rubbed shoulders with can’t or won’t do this- even when their insecurity and woundedness is plain to the “sheep” around them.

You are talking to a man that dies ministry inside of a literal empire. He is ordained within an apostate State Religion. Unqualified to speak to the problem he has helped create.

A House United "Jefferson said church and state need wallsof separation. But free expression cuts some windows of communication. And common interest opens doorways of cooperation. For less than this would be to pull shades of discrimination."

A fellow student at Kent State University quoted Lao Tze: "To organize is to destroy." I responded, "To organize with care, love, wiisdom, and understanding is to preserve and enhance." He replied, "I like that."

Tom is so right about how so many churches today are divided by race and economics, and we basically have accepted this as “normal.”

I am a retired recently minister who meets with the White Oak Christian Church near Ross, Ohio.

Excellent interview, especially now as we move into the election year in America. I’ve been trying to understand all of this since 2016. Thank you so much.

Patty Phillips from Valley Church, Vacaville, CA

Big fan of Tom Wright, but the Kyle Rittenhouse reference was a category error. Abortion, and the protection of personal property in the absence of an appropriate state response to a riot, cannot be contrasted.

There are several gifts Paul spoke of: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Teachers. Where is Pastor? And why is the "pastor" the most prominent and treated as the most important? Where does scripture teach or model this? Where does it teach that one person has authority over a group of people? Pastor gets a salary plus offerings, benefits, cars, homes, etc. Where does scripture teach that? It doesn't. THAT is the root of the problem. Organized religion and a booming business that has zero to do with the true church. Just read Acts. Bad root, bad fruit.

Pastor Chuck Baldwin talks about it! And Gods people from Israel and Palestine and all over the world have started satellite church's. Many are coming to Jesus.

Promo sm

Pacific NW in USA. Until we get the Money out of politics and elections, we will only get the candidates that Money wants.

A great faith building interview. Psa 34:10, Eze 38:13

It is so interesting to me how many Americans are on this channel seeking the way to go. What a blessing that you are here to help us find our way home!

Over here in the US we have the Trump people wanting to create a Christian Nationalist nation with Whites in charge based apparently on Hal Lynsey and the Left Behind crowd.

Thank you.

There is no legitimate judeo-Christianity. All judeo-Christianity is of the evil one. INRIX

I am a south african and was Dutch Reformed during apartheid. Toms take on this is not really accurately yet I get what he wants to say

The thing paul told the powers was that Jesus was raised from the dead, that they need to believe on him and submit to him. You only do that once or twice and you find trouble.

This is life changing. Thanks.

Thanks!

From St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church-San Jose, CA. I am a fan of N T Wright.

Great discussion… thank you both!

I have yet to see an American politician proclaiming or in many cases screaming, "I know Jesus", that I feel has the perspective, wisdom and personality needed to lead a small municipality, much less the country. Furthermore, if you see the fruit or qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and humility exhibited in any of these individuals, by all means, point them out. There are over 250 churches in my little community of less than 70, 000 people and they all claim to have the real answers, the answers to all the great questions of the faith and how this country must be administered. The USA was founded upon the best of principles and values and we have done a decent job of moving towards those in practice. History seems to indicate that, until Jesus appears, the best we can do is reflect Him to those around us and in power.

Those who guide themselves and their churches witness only to their own opinion. Christ's witness to politics is to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's. He proclaimed that His Kingdom is not of this world. And the Scripture warns us (Ps 145(146):3) "Trust not in rulers or in the sons of men". A Christian's center is not in politics.

Speaking truth to Power is to Vote for Trump. The democrats are lying and creating fear of man. This is not biblical. They are playing you...hahahaha "Why do people become Christians with the pesecution?" and the answer is reason? Really? It's the Holy Spirit

Wise words. Many thanks.

Thank you Dr N.T Wright, your message is useful for some one like me even though I am not an Amercian.

Be still.

Thank you for good talk together. What is teh limit for not good pastorship? I have been suffering from not getting engaged talks for 40 years, priests haven't dedicated themselves more than just during the talk,, not got to know me, not gone deeper where change and growth can happen. OK, normal ones can manage themeselves, but not when in dire need in harsher situations. But maybe it is I who am wrong in this respect? They themselves certainly have said they don't have to do anything further from some esae in the moment, support more superficially without engagement.MAybe itäs me needing sth outside their scope/task. And it should be the (Swed.) Diacon/helper (Idk the term of profession in English), since only they can interact with society..

I am not a pastor or leader, but these topics interest me greatly as I've watched our society unravel into polarized camps where to be on one side is to be the enemy of the other. This divide was created by a single issue and manipulated to gain power and control, leading to chaos and confusion, hatred, and the spread of violence as a means to force conformity to a toxic ideology akin to fascism. I so appreciate N.T. Wrights nuanced thinking about the Kingdom of Heaven being applied to political leadership to enact Christ's call for justice, rights of the poor, environmental responsibility, equity, and integrity in governance. Jesus is a King, not an elected official, but can call people of good character and service- minded priorities into position of leadership to create and enact laws that reinforce God's intentions to order society after His model given to man in the teachings of Jesus. I am looking forward to reading this book. The Holy Post guested Mr. Wright on last week's podcast, and I've since listened to two other fascinating interviews with this brilliant author. More of the same, please. This upcoming election in the U S. is fraught with danger. It has become a fight to remain a representative Democracy or a slide into authoritarian autocracy. God help us. The threat of violence over the outcome is very real. God bless.

Careful what you wish for in Kingdom theology because only Messiah Jesus is the Savior of Earth and humanity, the true King worthy of reigning over the vineyard because, Jesus warned that this world is running under Satan's sway for the time being and it culminates with the crowning of a false messiah a false savior a man made king and kingdom masquerading as the real thing!(heaven on earth) Hence the warning against THEOCRACY created by the minds hearts and hands of fallen man ruled by powers and principalities in high places. No thank you to a theocratic ruled planet by any other means than Messiah Jesus himself!(add emphasis) The inquisition/crusades/witch burning/ indigenous genocide under the banner of God is enough of a witness to say NO and HE11 NO!

Trump has changed his mind over the issues. Why should Christians tell nonChristians that their worldview is only one to accept.. The fasest demographic group in religion is that of the "nones"

The 'younger generations' that are as grey and drab as their elders.

Being 'Christ-centered' which is of-the-world-but-not-in-it power serving as usual.

I wonder is there any one issue that Christians could ever think would be the deciding factor on who to vote for? Would it be slavery, abortion, lowering the age of sexual consent to 4 years old, etc…..

Marilyn Staley Cherry Street Wesleyan Ottawa KS