Backstage is the Main Stage! What is the Apocrypha and Should Christians Read it? Abiding in Christ vs. Public Ministry + Irn Bru Scottish Soda Review. With Dr. Mike Stewart, Dr. Chris Smith and J.C. Thompson

Great pod today, with some fascinating topics and guest hosts and guest reviewers. We’ve got a review of a Scottish Soda - Irn Bru, made with steel girders, apparently, and a great guest reviewer there AND ALSO a listener question from Robin F., who asks about the Apocrypha - those mysterious books that are in some Bibles, absent from others, and are the centerpiece for tons of conspiracy theories about the church. What is the Apocrypha, and should you be reading it? WHY is it no longer in most Protestant Bibles? The Truth is out there…and today we begin a multi-part series on the Apocrypha. By the way - what Giant of the Reformation quoted a book from the apocrypha, and called the speaker, and the namesake of that book a “prophet” We will find out!

Before that, our main interview is with Dr. Chris Smith of the Great Commission Association, a former missionary to Spain, and current mission consultant with the GCA and president of the Great Commission Training Institution, which is an online training school that is VERY affordable for pastors and church leaders. Check out www.GCASBC.org for more. Dr. Mike Stewart, our co-host today and the senior director of California’s Great Commission Association, and I will talk to Dr. Chris Smith about front-stage vs. Back-stage ministry, and also his favorite food from Spain, and - perhaps most importantly- the difference between Spanish tortillas and Mexican tortillas.

Our focus today is on The roots that nobody sees vs the flower that draws attention. If the flower isn’t healthy, or it browns, or falls off - as long as the roots are healthy, the plant will be healthy, and that flower will grow again. But some flowers can persist for a time without any roots whatsoever - they can look healthy - for a time in a vase, or whatever, but their life is limited because their roots for accessing living water are gone. Similarly, there are times in ministry where leaders and pastors can have a healthy looking front stage or flower of ministry, but the back-stage or the roots are sick, failing or missing, and in that case, it is inevitable that a collapse will happen at some point. Most leaders pay more attention to the front stage - the flower of ministry - but we really should pay the far greater attention to our roots - our abiding in the vine of Jesus.

Our next two episodes are with Dr. Kristen Ferguson, VP Gateway Seminary, and we will discuss Christians and AI, Church leader education, online education, women in ministry and being a pastor’s wife. Also coming soon: Dr. Cathie Smith on women in ministry and missions and missional complementarianism, Pastor Humberto Hernandez, and many other interesting guests. Stay tuned!