Right now in SLC, UT state officials are conducting a large scale operation to close and open new homeless shelters and relocate the homeless population to new areas around the state. Regardless of what you think about the state's plan and its success and failures, it reminds us of the difficult situation our homeless neighbors live in every day. In Episode 10 of The Peoples Theology we interview Fred Liggin president of 3e Restoration a nonprofit that works to equip, empower, and encourage churches to equip, empower, and encourage homeless and displaced neighbors. 

We live in tension. We wake up and breathe the air tension every day and the question most of us will ask is, “what do we do in the tension?” Can we fix it? Make it better? Resolve it? These are questions we’ve been asking for all of human history. Questions that have driven our most significant culture projects. Our institutions, governments, and inventions begins with the recognition that, “all is not right” in the world but while at the same time innately believing that it can be better. We see a problem and build, dream, and experiment to solve it believing that tension can be resolved, that the world can be better. But, what happens when we overestimate our ability to solve the tension?

We live in strange days. It's not hard to see because the reality can be felt in nearly every domain of life and culture, but it can be hard to name why things seem so strange. For many of us we feel it in our political climate, for others we see it in our churches and religious environments, and for others the feeling pervades our neighborhoods and workplaces. Regardless of where it comes from, we are all trying to figure out why the world is as it is and more importantly, what we should do about it. 

Today in the podcast we explore three questions that, whether we realize it or not, tend to shape the way we see and understand the world and our role within it. At first glance, you might be thinking these three questions are politically motivated but they aren't. These questions are bigger than that. Yes, they influence our politics but they also influence the way we think things get done in this world. 

Most of us, if we’re honest, have a weird relationship with the bible. The Chief question underneath all of it, is can it be trusted? Does it have some kind of authority and if so,  where does it come from? What does it mean? What do I do with it? 

Ability is the power to make something of the world, the power to steward God’s gifts, and seek the flourishing of the world around you. Ability may be power to image God and fulfill the culture mandate, but actually fulfilling the culture mandate is a responsibility. But, what happens when ability and responsibility are separated, one overcoming the other? 

In order to read the Genesis 1 and 2 narratives we need to insert ourselves into their context. But, what is the context of Genesis? If these stories are not in conversation with our stories and understandings of the universe, than who or what are they in dialogue with? In this episode we continue our conversation with Dr. Tim Mackie.