Our monthly NCB’s Radix Live event featured host Matthew Steem inviting Mark D. Baker to discuss his book, Centered-Set Church: Discipleship and Community Without Judgmentalism (IVP Academic, 2022). A "centered-set" was presented as an alternative to either a "bounded-set" (churches with hard boundaries that could repel newcomers or make it difficult for them to join) or a "fuzzy-set" (churches with so much inclusion that they lacked a vital sense of shared faith and identity).
This Radix Live event included a conversation between Mark and our two panelists, Steve Joh, with Arbor Communities (a ministry of Rewire), and Dustin Maddox, with North Fresno Church, who had implemented a centered-set approach in their ministries. Attendees were welcomed to ask questions – and, as you’ll see, there were some good ones!…
In this interactive event, Marilyn shared the art of reading poetry, something she is especially skilled at. She also discussed how fluidity of thought and shifting perspectives shape our understanding and reflected on the place of meditative, poetic writing in today’s world. After discussing her latest book (part of a lineage of works exploring language and spirituality, poetry and prayer, faith and public discourse), we invited questions from participants.…
In this timely—and thought-provoking!—conversation, Jackson addressed one of faith’s most challenging questions: how can we reconcile belief in a perfectly good God with the reality of suffering, unanswered prayers, and troubling depictions of God in Scripture? He also explored the character of God, the problem of evil, and the way Jesus Christ reframes our understanding of divine goodness.…