When does church leadership become spiritual manipulation? And how do you disagree with a pastor who says, “God told me”? Preston talks with New Testament scholar Joshua W. Jipp about how even well-meaning Christian leaders can cross the line from serving people to controlling them.

Drawing on his book, How (Not) to Be a Tyrant, Josh explores what the Bible’s worst rulers reveal about power, ambition, and the temptation to use God’s authority to advance our own agendas. We discuss why charisma and results aren’t enough to identify a healthy leader, how fear can become a tool of control, and what makes Jesus’ approach to leadership radically different.

We also wrestle with church leadership structures, Paul’s use of authority, Romans 13 and Revelation 13, and when Christians should submit, push back, or leave. Along the way, we consider the faithful pastors whose humility and service rarely make the headlines.

Joshua W. Jipp (PhD, Emory University) is associate professor of New Testament at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of several books, including his most recent book, How (Not) to Be a Tyrant: Ten Lessons on Life and Leadership from the Bible’s Worst Rulers (Brazos Press).

CHAPTERS

00:00 When spiritual authority becomes control

00:39 Introducing Joshua W. Jipp

02:19 Why study the Bible’s worst rulers?

07:04 Leadership and power throughout the Bible

09:55 Did God want Israel to have a king?

13:32 Sponsors

15:53 The temptation facing well-meaning leaders

17:47 Using God to advance a leader’s agenda

18:59 Why success and charisma aren’t enough

23:16 Does the Bible prescribe a church leadership structure?

28:29 How can a servant leader exercise authority?

34:58 Subtle warning signs of controlling leadership

37:57 When disagreeing with a leader means disagreeing with God

39:46 Can other leaders genuinely push back?

40:59 How fear becomes a tool of control

42:18 Submitting to bad rulers: Romans 13 and Revelation 13

47:30 When should you push back on church leadership?

51:13 The faithful pastors who don’t make headlines

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Are Christians being fair in how we understand Islam? Palestinian Christian scholar Dr. Daniel Bannoura joins Preston Sprinkle to explore Islam and Christianity, religious violence, what the Quran says about Jesus, and the treatment of women.

In the fourth and final episode of our Understanding Islam series, Daniel helps me process my conversations with Javad Hashmi, Gabriel Said Reynolds, and Fariza Gulomikova, including some of the pushback the series received.

Daniel grew up in the West Bank and earned his PhD in Islamic Studies at Notre Dame, focusing on the biblical subtext of the Qur’an. We discuss the relationship between the Quran and Hadith, Islamic teachings about Jesus and the Trinity, and Daniel’s interpretation of the Quran’s passage on the crucifixion.

We also wrestle with Christianity’s own history of justifying violence and how politics, culture, and education shape Muslim communities. And I press Daniel on whether Christianity and Islam offer distinct visions for the treatment of women.

It’s a challenging conversation about real theological differences, our own assumptions, and what it means to love our Muslim neighbors faithfully.

Watch or listen to Extra Innings at https://patreon.com/theologyintheraw, where Daniel and I tackle your questions: Is Islam animated by dark spiritual forces? Is it a Christian heresy or a separate religion? What can Christians learn from Muslims? And how should we respond to fears about Sharia law in America?

CHAPTERS

00:00 A Palestinian Christian’s experience of violence

00:31 Understanding Islam: The series finale

02:22 Meet Dr. Daniel Bannoura

05:13 Learning to love Muslim neighbors

08:31 Reflecting on the Islam series

12:31 Was Javad Hashmi representative of Islam?

18:22 The Quran, Hadith, and Islamic scholarship

24:22 What does Islam teach about Jesus?

28:27 The Quran and the Trinity

30:08 Does the Quran deny Jesus’ crucifixion?

35:43 How religious traditions develop

38:14 Why focus on violence and women?

40:27 Comparing Christian and Muslim violence

44:30 Muslim diversity beyond the stereotypes

45:43 Colonialism, politics, and religious extremism

48:37 Women, culture, and education

52:08 Do Christianity and Islam treat women differently?

55:00 Jesus’ countercultural treatment of women

59:41 Your questions answered in Extra Innings

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Watch our Extra Innings conversation on Patreon, where John Mark Comer shares his evolving views on women in church leadership and the questions he’s still wrestling with: https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw

What is constant noise doing to our souls? And why can being alone with God feel so uncomfortable?

John Mark Comer joins Preston to discuss his latest book, Into the Quiet: Following Jesus in a World of Noise. We explore how noise affects our capacity to love God and others, what surfaced during John Mark’s 21-day solitude retreat, and why silence often brings us face-to-face with the pain we’ve been avoiding.

John Mark also shares why quiet doesn’t come naturally to him, how to practice solitude within the demands of everyday life, the difference between solitude and loneliness, and the surprising structure of the small church he helps pastor.

John Mark Comer is the New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including Practicing the Way, which was named the 2025 Christian Book of the Year by the ECPA, and The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, which has sold more than a million copies and been translated into over 20 languages. His latest book is Into the Quiet: Following Jesus in a World of Noise, which forms the basis of our conversation. John Mark is a pastor and the founder of Practicing the Way, an organization working to see the renewal of apprenticeship to Jesus in our time.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Why solitude is so hard

00:49 Introducing John Mark Comer

03:57 Running, ministry, and friendship

07:24 Why your body matters for spiritual formation

10:27 Writing theology that people can understand

12:53 Noise is a threat to our souls

13:48 Sponsors

15:45 How noise affects our bodies and relationships

21:47 John Mark’s 21-day solitude retreat

24:32 What we learn when distractions are stripped away

27:36 Jesus’ rhythm of retreat and return

30:49 Becoming a person of quiet in an anxious world

34:45 Solitude for busy people and extroverts

38:39 Finding quiet within the life you actually have

42:08 The difference between solitude and loneliness

44:56 Inside John Mark’s small church community

47:51 Extra Innings: Women in church leadership

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What happens when the story you grew up believing meets the people whose voices were missing from it?

Peter Beinart joins Preston to discuss how spending time with Palestinians challenged his understanding of Israel, Jewish identity, and the relationship between safety and freedom. They explore his experience of October 7, the history of Palestinian displacement, his comparison with apartheid South Africa, and why he believes the conflict is bigger than Hamas. Peter also reflects on the personal cost of challenging his community’s assumptions and why he argues that nationalism can become a form of idolatry.

Peter is Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York, a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times, Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents, an MS NOW political commentator, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack. His latest book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning, is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction
• 08:00 Peter’s experience of October 7
• 10:35 Rethinking Israel after meeting Palestinians
• 13:52 The history Peter grew up believing
• 18:44 Understanding 1948: Independence and the Nakba
• 23:43 Grieving October 7 and opposing Israel’s response
• 26:40 Why this conflict is bigger than Hamas
• 32:01 Lessons from apartheid South Africa
• 35:05 Why Peter calls Israel’s system apartheid
• 40:59 America’s role and support for Israel
• 45:19 The personal cost of speaking out
• 48:19 Judaism, Zionism, and nationalism as idolatry
• 52:47 Is there hope for equality and freedom?
• 56:29 Extra Innings: American evangelicals and Israel

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What happens when immigrants who came to the U.S. legally lose their status and face deportation? And what happens to their American-born children when the country their parents could be sent to is considered too dangerous to visit?

Matthew Soerens joins Preston to unpack some of the biggest questions and misconceptions surrounding immigration. Why don’t immigrants just come legally? Do undocumented immigrants take American jobs? What does the evidence say about immigration and violent crime? And how should Christians weigh respect for the law alongside the biblical commands to love our neighbors and welcome strangers?

Matthew Soerens is World Relief’s vice president of advocacy and policy and is the co-author of three books: Welcoming the Stranger (InterVarsity Press, 2018), Inalienable (InterVarsity Press, 2022), and Seeking Refuge (Moody Publishers, 2026), which just released a second edition. Matt also serves as the National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition that advocates for immigration reforms consistent with biblical values.

Chapters:

0:00 Haitian families and the danger of separation

0:44 How should Christians think about immigration?

5:15 Starting with Scripture, not party talking points

10:34 Romans 13 and changing legal status

12:38 What’s happening to Haitian families in Springfield?

18:51 Why was temporary protected status withdrawn?

21:25 What can churches do for affected families?

23:58 Can people with temporary status apply to stay?

26:42 Why don’t immigrants just come legally?

35:54 Do immigrants take American jobs?

41:46 What about undocumented immigrants and the economy?

48:36 A proposed path to make things right

51:00 Do immigrants commit more violent crime?

55:25 What would mass deportation mean for the church?

58:26 What do evangelical Christians actually believe?

1:00:54 Seeking Refuge and the global refugee crisis

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Is the Book of Revelation a roadmap to the future, or was it meant to help Christians see their own world more clearly?

New Testament scholar David deSilva joins Preston to walk through Revelation from the seven churches to the New Jerusalem. They discuss why John wrote to real communities living under the Roman Empire, what the throne room reveals about Jesus’ authority, and how the seals, trumpets, and bowls speak to suffering, judgment, and faithful witness.

They also explore Revelation’s critique of empire and political allegiance. What did “Babylon” mean to John’s first readers? What does it mean to “come out of Babylon” today? And which parts of Revelation should Christians understand as future hope?

Dr. David deSilva is an ordained elder in the Florida Conference of the GMC and has served as Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary since 1995. He is the author of forty books, including Seeing Things John's Way and his recently released Archaeology and the Revelation of John.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

5:12 Who Was Revelation Written For?

10:21 Who Was John?

12:11 Jesus and the Seven Churches

16:19 Prophecy and John’s Authority

20:40 The Real Cities Behind the Seven Churches

26:49 Revelation, Empire, and Political Allegiance

35:19 Speaking Prophetically to Our Own Political Side

40:25 The Throne Room: Who Is Really in Charge?

46:21 What Does the Scroll Represent?

49:05 The Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls

55:17 Is Reading Revelation as Prediction Overrated?

58:34 How Should We Read Revelation Today?

1:02:44 Babylon and the Roman Empire

1:10:14 What Does “Come Out of Babylon” Mean?

1:13:23 The New Jerusalem and Revelation’s Future Hope

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Fariza Gulomikova grew up in a Shia Ismaili family in Tajikistan. As a child, she saw how much a person could lose by leaving Islam. Then her cousin became a Christian, and the kindness she encountered at his church challenged everything she thought she knew about Christians.

In part three of our Understanding Islam series, Fariza tells Preston about her childhood, her encounter with Jesus at age 11, her family’s response to her conversion, and the challenges of starting over in the United States. She also shares what she wishes Christians understood about their Muslim neighbors.

Chapters

0:00 Fariza’s decision to become a Christian

0:32 Introduction to part three of Understanding Islam

2:23 Growing up in Tajikistan during a civil war

5:31 Sunni, Shia, and Fariza’s Ismaili background

12:22 Growing up as a girl in a Muslim majority country

17:47 The pressures and dangers Fariza saw women face

26:41 Fariza’s people, language, and culture

29:10 Her childhood view of Christianity

31:34 The cousin who changed her view of Christians

33:32 The kindness that drew her toward Jesus

34:30 Fariza’s encounter with Jesus at age 11

36:45 What she was taught about Jesus in Islam

38:44 Fariza’s advice for Christians talking with Muslims

43:39 How her family responded to her conversion

47:33 Starting over in America

52:28 Islam, terrorism, and stereotypes

55:28 Searching for belonging in Christian communities

58:41 Fariza’s final word to Christians

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How does the Qur’an compare to the Bible? Do Muslims read it the way evangelical Christians read the Bible? And if the Qur’an is Islam’s sacred text, why are the Hadith so important for understanding what Muslims believe and how they live?

In part two of our series on Islam, Preston sits down with Dr. Gabriel Said Reynolds, a Catholic Qur’an scholar and the Crowley Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale University and is the author of The Qur’an and Its Biblical Subtext, The Qur’an and the Bible, and Christianity and the Qur’an.

Together, they explore how Muslims understand the Qur’an, where it came from, how it took shape, and how its form and use compare with the Bible. They also discuss Muhammad’s relationship to the Qur’an, the early Islamic conquests, passages concerning violence and women, and why reading the Qur’an by itself does not necessarily tell you how Muslims will interpret or apply it.

Gabriel’s books explore how the Qur’an engages earlier scriptures and what that relationship can tell us about the emergence of Islam. His latest book, Christianity and the Qur’an, was published by Yale University Press in 2025.

You can find more of Gabriel’s work on his YouTube channel, Exploring the Qur’an and the Bible.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Why reading the Quran alone isn’t enough

00:42 Introducing Dr. Gabriel Said Reynolds

02:15 How Gabriel began studying Islam

05:31 What is the Quran?

09:03 Where did the Quran come from?

12:24 Did Muhammad write the Quran?

14:13 How does the Quran compare to the Bible and Psalms?

19:13 The biggest differences between the Quran and the Bible

21:42 Violence and the early Islamic conquests

27:10 How early Muslims treated Christians and other conquered peoples

32:29 Does the Quran command violence?

39:32 How Muslims interpret difficult Quranic passages

43:28 Is Islam inherently violent?

47:25 What does the Quran say about women?

49:58 Polygamy and the disputed passage about striking wives

52:29 Modesty, honor, and women in Muslim societies

59:07 What are the Hadith, and why do they matter?

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