On The Line

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Dr. Joel Biermann to talk about the future of the LCMS, pastoral formation, synodical leadership, and the theological convictions that should shape the Church in a moment of real opportunity.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. Joel Biermann serves as Waldemar A. and June Schuette Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he has taught since 2002. His work has focused especially on ethics, sanctification, vocation, the Christian life, and the proper role of the law for believers.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mailmemento70.com

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Rev. Dr. Jamison Hardy to talk about the Concordia University System, church work formation, the future of Lutheran higher education, and the opportunities standing before the LCMS right now. Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestRev. Dr. Jamison Hardy serves as President of the Concordia University System and previously served as Bishop of the English District of the LCMS.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Pastor David Ramirez to discuss generational fracture, family formation, and the real opportunity before the Church today. Why do older and younger generations increasingly struggle to understand one another? What happens when economic pressure, cultural collapse, political polarization, and the breakdown of family life all converge at once?Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestPastor David Ramirez serves as a thoughtful voice on questions of culture, family, and generational inheritance within the Church. In this conversation, he walks through extensive research on the growing divide between generations, the pressures facing young men and women today, and the practical ways congregations can better understand, support, and strengthen the next generation of Christian families.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mailmemento70.com

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Dr. Christian Einertson for part two of our conversation on the Formula of Concord, Lutheran identity, sanctification, pietism, and the question of adiaphora. When does Lutheranism stop sounding like Lutheranism, even while keeping the name? How should Christians think about sanctification, spiritual discipline, ceremony, and the use of the law without falling into reductionism or confusion? This episode explores the shape of faithful Lutheran piety, the danger of flattening doctrine into slogans, and the need for churches to confess clearly in both teaching and practice. From sanctification and fasting to pietism and church ceremony, this conversation presses toward a fuller understanding of how Lutheran theology is actually lived.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. Christian Einertson is a pastor and theologian with a deep interest in Lutheran confessional theology, catechesis, and the practical shape of the Christian life. In this second conversation, he reflects on sanctification, the third use of the law, spiritual discipline, pietism, and adiaphora—showing how Lutheran theology guards both Christian freedom and doctrinal clarity.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mailmemento70.com

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Dr. Christian Einertson to talk about catechesis, virtue, the Small Catechism, and the Lutheran logic of law, gospel, and good works. How is the Christian faith actually formed in people over time? Why do habit, story, liturgy, and repetition matter so much in raising children and teaching the faith? This episode moves from Paul, music, martial arts, and the saints into a deeper discussion of the Formula of Concord—especially the place of good works, the third use of the law, and the Lutheran tendency to fall off the horse in predictable directions. Rather than flattening the Christian life into slogans, this conversation argues for a fuller, more human, more scriptural account of formation, obedience, and sanctification. Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s Guest Dr. Christian Einertson serves as a pastor and theologian with particular strengths in catechesis, Lutheran doctrine, and the confessional tradition. In this conversation, he reflects on Christian formation through habit, prayer, story, and virtue, while also offering a careful introduction to the Formula of Concord and the distinctly Lutheran errors it was written to correct.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mailmemento70.com

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Pastor Josh Raber to talk about campus ministry, catechesis, biblical interpretation, and the hunger young Christians still have for serious theology. Why are so many people drawn to the Bible’s deeper patterns, older Christian thinkers, and a more robust vision of the faith? What happens when Lutheran slogans become substitutes for the full counsel of God? This episode moves from Genesis, giants, and demons to preaching, discipleship, paradox, and the future of Lutheranism—arguing that shallow Christianity will not hold, but real formation still can.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestPastor Josh Raber serves in campus ministry at Saint Cloud State, where he works closely with college students from both Lutheran and non-Lutheran backgrounds. In this conversation, he reflects on biblical literacy, catechesis, preaching, Christian formation, and the opportunities facing the Church as younger generations search for something deeper, older, and more substantial than modern religious minimalism.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mailmemento70.com

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Boyle to talk about the fundamental differences between Lutheranism and evangelical Christianity. How do these traditions approach Scripture, baptism, and the role of the human will? Why does the way we speak about faith—especially phrases like “choosing God”—actually matter? We dig into the theological roots behind these differences, exploring catechesis, the sacraments, and the structure of the Christian life. Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestRev. Dr. Geoffrey Boyle serves as a professor at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. His work focuses on pastoral formation, catechesis, and the theological depth of the Christian tradition, with particular emphasis on how Scripture shapes doctrine, practice, and the life of the Church.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Pastor Eric Bednash to talk about Christian discipline, brotherhood, and the recovery of intentional living in the modern world. What does it look like for men to live with purpose rather than drifting through comfort and distraction? How can practices like accountability, confession, and daily discipline reshape both faith and life? This episode explores the spiritual and practical need for structure, community, and intentionality—especially in a culture marked by isolation, distraction, and hidden struggles.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestPastor Eric Bednash serves in Baltimore, Maryland, where he ministers in a uniquely challenging and dynamic urban context. Alongside his pastoral work, he contributes to Memento, helping guide men through structured spiritual disciplines rooted in Scripture, accountability, and the rhythms of the Church. His work emphasizes intentional Christian living, brotherhood, and the recovery of practices that form both faith and character.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Dr. Scott Keith to talk about raising children in the Christian faith. What does it look like for parents to take their role seriously as the primary teachers of the faith? How do habits, conversations, and the rhythms of family life shape a child’s understanding of God, truth, and vocation? This episode reflects on the practical and theological dimensions of parenting, emphasizing that raising children in the faith is one of the most important callings entrusted to Christian families.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. Scott Keith serves as Executive Director of 1517 and has spent years teaching, writing, and speaking on Lutheran theology, culture, and Christian life. In this conversation, he reflects on the calling of parents to raise their children in the faith and the importance of forming the next generation through faithful teaching, example, and life within the Church.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we sit down with Dr. John Rasmussen to explore the enduring value of the Small Catechism in forming and defending the Christian faith. Rather than treating the catechism as a simple introductory text for children, Bryan and John examine how Luther’s catechetical framework continues to shape the Church's theological imagination. Moving through the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, we consider how catechesis forms Christians to understand sin, confess Christ, and live within the life of the Church.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s Guest Dr. John Rasmussen serves as pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. A faithful pastor and teacher within the confessional Lutheran tradition, he joins us to bring pastoral insight and theological clarity to the topics discussed in this episode.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we examine the state of the Church in Scandinavia and the broader trajectory of European Christianity. From state churches and cultural Lutheranism to secularization, immigration, and demographic decline, this episode explores what happens when Christianity becomes an inherited identity rather than a confessed conviction.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestBishop Torkild Masvie serves as a confessional Lutheran bishop in Norway and is a leading voice for historic Christian teaching in the Nordic context. Known for his public defense of biblical anthropology and ecclesial fidelity amid increasing secular pressure, he has been instrumental in strengthening confessional Lutheran witness in Scandinavia. 🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we explore the biblical doctrine of the Divine Council—God’s heavenly assembly, the “sons of God,” and the unseen spiritual governance revealed throughout Scripture. From Genesis and Deuteronomy to the Psalms, Daniel, and Revelation, this episode recovers the supernatural worldview of the Bible and considers how it reframes our understanding of nations, spiritual rebellion, and Christ’s cosmic authority.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s Guest Dr. Geoffrey Boyle serves as Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He brings exegetical precision and pastoral clarity to the doctrine of the Divine Council, helping listeners see how this biblical theme strengthens confidence in Christ’s lordship over every authority in heaven and on earth.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at New Saint Andrews College as we sit down with Dr. David Talcott, professor of philosophy, to discuss classical education, gender, family, and the renewal of Christian culture. From Genesis and natural law to modern individualism, contraception, IVF, and the collapse of marriage as a cornerstone institution, this conversation explores what has gone wrong in the modern West—and what faithful reconstruction might look like.If the family is the cell of civilization, what happens when we neglect it? And what might it mean to rebuild Christian community, education, and vocation with intentionality, courage, and hope?Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s Guest Dr. David Talcott serves as Professor of Philosophy at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho. His work focuses on ancient Greek philosophy, particularly Plato and Aristotle, while also engaging contemporary debates surrounding gender, sexuality, education, and cultural renewal. He previously taught at The King's College in New York City.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we hear a testimony of repentance, healing, and new life in Christ. From the promises and limits of modern sexual identity to the freedom found in submission to God’s Word, we explore what it means to leave a former way of life behind through repentance, forgiveness, and the daily work of sanctification under the cross.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestTracy Rugg shares her journey out of a homosexual lifestyle and into a life ordered by repentance, faith, and obedience to Christ. Her story is not one of instant resolution, but of daily dying and rising, bearing witness to the truth that Christian identity is received, not constructed, and that Christ is faithful to those He calls out of darkness into His light.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we examine wealth, usury, and Christian conscience in light of Scripture and the Church’s historic teaching. From the Church Fathers to Luther and Walther, we explore why lending at interest was long understood as a moral and spiritual problem. Pastor Shemwell calls the Church to recover economic teaching not as political ideology, but as faithful Christian formation ordered toward generosity, neighbor-love, and trust in God’s provision.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestRev. Vincent Shemwell is a pastor whose journey out of Roman Catholicism was catalyzed in part by Rome’s historical reversal on usury. In this conversation, he traces how Scripture, the Church Fathers, Luther, and the Lutheran Confessions shaped his conviction that lending at interest for profit is a first-commandment issue tied to idolatry and the love of money. 🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we examine how modern evolutionary narratives shape culture, morality, and the Christian imagination, and why recovering a biblical doctrine of creation is essential for faithful worship, education, and stewardship. Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. Gordon Wilson is a Senior Fellow of Natural History at New Saint Andrews College and a biologist by training, with advanced degrees in entomology and environmental science. With decades of teaching experience, Dr. Wilson is a leading voice in articulating a distinctly Christian approach to biology (one that rejects evolutionary naturalism in favor of creation, dominion, and the glory of God revealed in nature). He is the author of Darwin’s Sandcastle and Different Shades of Green, and the creator of The Riot and the Dance documentary series, which celebrates creation as God’s living art museum.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we hear a journey from modern Judaism to Christianity. From questions of law, covenant, and messianic expectation to the person and work of Jesus Christ, we explore how Scripture, history, and lived experience converge in a conversion shaped not by sentiment, but by truth.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s Guest Blake Skolnick is a recent convert to Christianity who was raised within Judaism. In this conversation, he reflects on his movement away from Jewish law, identity, and modern political Judaism toward the claims of Christ as the fulfillment of Israel’s Scriptures. 🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we reflect on pastoral leadership, congregational health, and the Church's calling in a time of institutional strain and cultural uncertainty. From parish ministry to district oversight, we explore what faithful leadership looks like when trust is thin, pressures are high, and the Church is called to remain steady, humble, and rooted in Christ.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestRev. Dr. Brady L. Finnern is President of the Minnesota North District of the LCMS. He provides pastoral and administrative oversight to congregations and clergy across the district. President Finnern speaks candidly about the challenges facing pastors, congregations, and church structures today, calling the Church to patience, clarity, and renewed confidence in Christ’s promises rather than institutional anxiety.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we embark on a journey out of Rome and into the confessional Lutheran tradition. From questions of authority, doctrine, and development to the sacraments, justification, and the nature of the Church, we explore why claims of unchanging tradition ultimately gave way to Scripture as the sure foundation of faith.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestRev. Vincent Shemwell is a pastor in the LCMS who previously spent a portion of his life within the Roman Catholic Church, including serious consideration of the priesthood. He recounts his departure from Rome as a slow unraveling of institutional authority claims, particularly in light of doctrinal reversals on usury, salvation, Scripture, and the teachings of Vatican II.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we examine the quiet forces reshaping belief in the modern world—from secularism and moralistic therapeutic deism to expressive individualism and cultural Christianity. We explore how catechesis, apologetics, beauty, and disciplined formation can help the Church speak truthfully and compellingly in an age shaped more by feeling than by transcendence. Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestRev. Dr. John Rasmussen is Lead Pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Kearney, Nebraska, and a pastor in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. He holds a Doctor of Ministry in Applied Apologetics and is deeply engaged in the work of catechesis, worldview formation, and cultural engagement within the Church. Pastor Rasmussen is also the co-host of the podcast Every Moment His, where he and his fellow pastors address theological, cultural, and pastoral issues that require more depth than a Sunday sermon allows—helping Christians think clearly, live faithfully, and remain rooted in Christ amid modern confusion. 🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we reflect on the mission of On The Line, give thanks for God’s blessings over the past year, and look ahead to what lies before us. In this special Christmas-week episode, we share why digital presence matters for the Church today, how young people are rediscovering Christianity online, and what it will take to ensure Lutheran theology is visible, compelling, and accessible for the next generation. Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected]🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us in Moscow, Idaho, as we consider the global Church through the lens of confession, mission, and formation. From Lutheran growth in the Global South to the challenges of theological education, cultural pressure, and faithful catechesis, we explore what it means for the Church to remain anchored in Christ while serving a rapidly changing world.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. Lennox Kalifungwa is a theologian, educator, and international Lutheran leader serving within the global confessional Lutheran movement. With extensive experience in theological education and church leadership, he works to strengthen pastoral formation, doctrinal clarity, and faithful mission across cultural and national boundaries. Dr. Kalifungwa brings a global perspective to Lutheran theology—highlighting both the vitality of the Church worldwide and the enduring need for confessional faithfulness rooted in Scripture.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we explore why Christ alone is the form, logic, and life of the Church. From liturgy to ontology, from beauty to sacrament, we examine how losing Christ as the center leads to confusion—and how recovering Him as the Church’s living reality restores clarity, joy, and identity.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. John Bombaro is a Lutheran pastor, theologian, and writer whose work focuses on Christology, liturgy, and the recovery of a sacramental imagination. Known for his clarity and depth, he teaches that Christ is not an abstraction but the living One who gives Himself bodily to His Church. Dr. Bombaro has served in parish ministry, the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, and various theological initiatives aimed at restoring beauty, reverence, and doctrinal solidity to the Church’s life today.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at St. John's Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin, as we confront the challenging demographic realities facing the Church today. From collapsing birthrates to declining confirmation classes, from cultural drift to weakened discipleship, we explore why so many congregations are struggling, and how reclaiming vibrant Lutheran identity, intentional formation, and strong community can renew Christ’s Church for the generations to come.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestRev. Heath Curtis is the District President of the Southern Illinois District of the LCMS and a leading voice on stewardship, demographics, and discipleship in the Lutheran Church. Drawing on pastoral experience, national research, and years of work in the Office of National Mission, he has helped congregations across the Synod understand the demographic forces shaping church life today. Rev. Curtis brings clarity, realism, and deep confessional conviction to the challenges facing Lutheran congregations—calling pastors and people alike to strengthen catechesis, reclaim Lutheran identity, and build disciples for life.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us in Moscow, Idaho, as we confront the rise of untethered empathy—the cultural force that rewards victimhood, shuts down truth, and manipulates compassion. Drawing on theology, psychology, and the failures of modern institutions, we examine how emotional reasoning influences everything from politics to parenting, and how Christians can cultivate sober-mindedness in an era dominated by feelings over facts.Visit Memento: https://memento70.com/Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. Joe Rigney is a theologian, cultural critic, and author of The Sin of Empathy, a work examining how sympathy becomes destructive when severed from truth. A longtime professor and college president, he writes and teaches on emotional maturity, Christian leadership, and cultural discernment, offering clear-eyed analysis of the forces shaping modern life. Dr. Rigney brings a steady, sober-minded voice to some of the most charged issues of our time—calling Christians to anchor compassion in conviction rather than capitulation.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

https://memento70.com/Learn More or Join Memento: https://memento70.comGive the Gift of Memento Memberships: Share discipline, devotion, and brotherhood with someone you love.Memento is a year-round devotional movement calling men to reclaim Christian masculinity, rebuild strong families, restore spiritual discipline, and reawaken the Church’s historic rhythm of fasting, prayer, Scripture, and fraternity. Through daily devotions, seasonal disciplines, and brotherhood, Memento equips men to resist passivity, strengthen their households, and live boldly under Christ.About Today’s GuestRev. Ian Kinney serves as a program lead and teacher on fasting and discipline for Memento, a movement and devotional platform dedicated to restoring the historic spiritual disciplines of the Church—fasting, prayer, Scripture, and fraternity—among Christian men. Drawing on Scripture, the Church Fathers, and Lutheran tradition, Ian helps men remember their mortality, resist passivity, and reclaim the virtues that shape faithful husbands, fathers, and leaders.ContactFor questions about Memento: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we rediscover the roots of Lutheran identity—not as a revolution that tore down the past, but as a recovery of the Church’s ancient beauty, order, and faith. From the Augsburg Confession to the Lutheran Missal Project, we examine how worship, doctrine, and continuity have shaped the living garden of Christ’s Church across the centuries.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/ Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/ Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s Guest Rev. Stefan Gramatzki is a Lutheran pastor and liturgical scholar working to recover the historic treasures of the Church for the English-speaking world. He serves with the Lutheran Missal Project, a collaborative effort to make the Lutheran liturgical heritage accessible to pastors and congregations today. A graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary, Rev. Gramatzki brings theological depth, historical insight, and a love for the beauty of the Church’s worship to his writing and teaching.🔗 Stay Connected with Us 📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_ 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod 𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we explore how C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien fused reason and imagination, Athens and Jerusalem—showing how truth, goodness, and beauty still shape the Christian mind. In an age ruled by cynicism, reductionism, and disenchanted science, we rediscover how myth, wonder, and virtue can restore a truly Christian vision of the cosmos.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] Today’s GuestDr. Louis Markos is a professor of English and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University, where he has taught for over three decades. A prolific author of more than thirty books, he writes and lectures on classical education, the great books, and the Christian imagination. Drawing deeply from Lewis, Tolkien, and the Western tradition, Dr. Markos calls Christians to recover a holistic vision of faith—where reason and imagination, truth and beauty, walk hand in hand once again.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we hear the story of persecution and faith in Nigeria, where thousands of Christians have been killed for confessing Christ. Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi bears witness to the cost of discipleship, the power of forgiveness, and the hope that endures even amid genocide.About Today’s GuestArchbishop Benjamin Kwashi is a global Anglican leader and former Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria, known for his courageous witness during periods of persecution. For decade,s he has led churches, built schools, and cared for orphans across northern Nigeria while speaking internationally on the plight of Christians in Africa. A survivor of multiple assassination attempts, Archbishop Kwashi continues to proclaim the gospel with unshakable faith—believing, as he says, that “the gospel is worth living for, and the gospel is worth dying for.”🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we retrace the forgotten corners of American religion, from frontier revivalism and folk magic to the birth of Mormonism, and ask what these movements reveal about faith, authority, and the hunger for revelation in every age.About Today’s GuestRev. Willie Grills is a pastor in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and co-host of A Brief History of Power with Dr. Adam Koontz. Known for his vivid storytelling and historical insight, he explores how theology, history, and culture intertwine in shaping the Church’s witness. With a background in both pastoral ministry and American religious history, Pastor Grills brings clarity, humor, and perspective to the strange and fascinating landscape of faith in America.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at St. John's Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin, as we rediscover the treasures of confessional Lutheranism, explore why beauty, truth, and order still matter, and confront what’s lost when the Church trades her birthright for the fashions of the age.About Today’s GuestRev. Evan Scamman is the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Greenwich, Conn, and a leading voice for the recovery of historic Lutheran worship and catechesis. A convert from a Pentecostal background, he speaks with clarity and conviction about the beauty and depth of Lutheran doctrine and liturgy. Pastor Scamman’s teaching calls Christians to rejoice in what they have received: to cherish the Church’s ancient faith, and to hand it on faithfully to the next generation.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us in Moscow, Idaho, as we recover a biblical vision of politics, family, and freedom—exploring how God orders nations and households, why secular neutrality is a myth, and how Christians can live publicly and courageously in the world without compromising their faith.About Today’s GuestDr. Jared Longshore is a pastor and theologian whose teaching focuses on political theology, covenant, and the Christian household. A former Southern Baptist who entered the Reformed tradition, he now serves in Moscow, Idaho, where he writes and speaks widely on law, liberty, and Christian culture. Known for his clarity and conviction, Dr. Longshore calls the Church to reject secular illusions and to confess Christ’s lordship over every sphere of life.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at Concordia University Wisconsin as we wrestle with the philosophy of mind, the challenge of materialism, and the promise and peril of new technologies—from AI to transhumanism—and ask what it means to be truly human in light of God’s design.About Today’s GuestDr. Angus Menuge is a professor of philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he has taught for over three decades. Born in England and educated in both the UK and the US, he earned his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a focus on philosophy of mind and action theory. He is the author of Agents Under Fire and a leading Lutheran voice critiquing reductionist views of human beings, defending human dignity, free will, and the Christian vision of personhood in the age of machines.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at St. John's Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin, as we talk about resilience in the pastoral life, the discipline of daily habits, and the courage to face adversity—not as exceptions to the Christian life, but as God’s very means of shaping His people for faithfulness and strength.About Today’s Guest:Rev. Jason Braaten is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tuscola, Illinois, and podcast host. A confessional Lutheran voice with a heart for liturgy and pastoral care, he brings insight into sanctification, vocation, and the daily practices that sustain faith. Through parish ministry, podcasting, and teaching, Pastor Braaten encourages Christians to embrace both the gifts and the demands of life under the cross.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected]🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at Concordia University Wisconsin as we enter a conversation that refuses to leave Christ as a vague center-point, but insists on Him as the very logic of theology, worship, and the Church itself. From liturgy to sacrament, from ontology to imagination, Dr. John Bombaro calls us to see Christ not as an idea, but as the living One who gives Himself wholly to His bride.About Today’s GuestDr. John Bombaro is a Lutheran pastor, naval officer, and theologian whose teaching and writing explore the intersection of Christology, liturgy, and culture. He has contributed widely to Lutheran thought, including with 1517, and currently serves as pastor of Saint James Lutheran Church in Lafayette. Known for his clarity and depth, Dr. Bombaro presses the Church to recover the sacramental imagination of her confessions—where all theology is Christology and all worship is grounded in Christ’s self-giving presence.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us in Moscow, Idaho, as we confront the shifting ground of culture and politics, consider what it means for Christ to be Lord over nations, and ask how households, churches, and schools can stand firm against the forces unraveling our common life.About Today’s GuestPastor Doug Wilson has served Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, for over four decades and is a leading voice in classical Christian education, cultural commentary, and Reformed theology. A prolific author of more than one hundred books, including Future Men and A Serrated Edge, he is also a founder of New Saint Andrews College and Canon Press. Known for his unapologetic wit and sharp cultural critique, Pastor Wilson speaks with conviction about the lordship of Christ over every sphere of life.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we trace the story of education from the Reformation to today, uncover how classical models form character and cultivate virtue, and ask what it means to recover wisdom, truth, and beauty in a modern age of confusion.About Today’s GuestDr. Susan Mobley is a professor of history at Concordia University Wisconsin, where she has taught since 1998. A historian of education and the Reformation, her research explores how Lutheran and Catholic schools shaped faith and culture in sixteenth-century Germany. She is a frequent speaker on classical education and its relevance today, helping students and teachers recover an approach that unites faith, learning, and character formation.🔗 Stay Connected with Us📷 Instagram: @otl_podcast_📘 Facebook: facebook.com/onthelinepod𝕏 Twitter/X: @otl_podcast_Send us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we open our debate series with a pressing question for the Church: What does it mean to speak of “Christian nationalism,” and how should Lutherans think about Christendom, the state, and our public witness in a fractured world?About Today’s GuestsDr. Joel Biermann has served for over two decades as professor of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where his teaching and writing focus on Christian ethics, vocation, and the two realms. A prolific author and respected voice in Lutheran theology, he brings deep pastoral and academic experience to questions of church and state.Rev. David Ramirez is a parish pastor, founder of the Bugenhagen Conference, and scholar of Martin Luther’s teaching on religious liberty. With years of experience teaching, preaching, and leading in the LCMS, he has been an active voice in current discussions on political theology and the Christian’s vocation in public life.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing confessional Lutheranism today, from sustaining faithful congregations in rural America to building institutions that serve future generations of the Church.About Today’s GuestRev. John Hill is president of the Wyoming District of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and a longtime parish pastor. With decades of pastoral experience and a heart for strengthening Lutheran identity, he has served congregations across the Mountain West while providing leadership to the wider church. Rev. Hill brings a steady pastoral voice and confessional clarity to the pressing questions of Lutheran life and witness in our time.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we explore the Lutheran confessional revival of the nineteenth century, uncover the lives and thought of its key theologians, and consider what their witness offers the Church today in an age of doctrinal confusion and historical amnesiaAbout Today’s Guest:Dr. James Ambrose Lee II is a church historian and theologian specializing in the nineteenth-century confessional revival, Lutheran worship, and German theology. He teaches courses on church history, religion in America, and Martin Luther, and is the author of Confessional Lutheranism and German Theological Wissenschaft (De Gruyter, 2022), along with numerous articles in leading theological journals. Holding degrees from Concordia Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School, and Saint Louis University, Dr. Lee brings scholarly depth and pastoral insight to his work in teaching, writing, and the study of Lutheran identity.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we take an unflinching look at the numbers shaping the future of Lutheranism—and consider how honesty, clarity, and confessional faithfulness can guide the Church through challenge and change.About Today’s GuestRev. Tim Wood is a pastor and data analyst serving the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod with a rare blend of theological conviction and statistical insight. With a sharp eye for demographic trends and a heart for the Church’s future, he helps Lutheran institutions read the signs of the times—faithfully and fearlessly. Whether interpreting numbers or proclaiming the Word, Rev. Wood brings clarity, candor, and care to the work of Christ’s Church.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we question the official story, explore the rise of conspiracy thinking, and ask how Christians can remain anchored in truth and humility while navigating a world of collapsing narratives and contested realities.About Today’s GuestRev. Willie Grills is an LCMS pastor and co-host of A Brief History of Power, where he brings historical insight and pastoral clarity to bear on the crises of modern life. Known for his deep knowledge of church history, American folklore, and the strange undercurrents of our cultural moment, he helps listeners connect the dots between the past and the present.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we recover the moral imagination, rediscover the wisdom of the ancients, and explore how story—rooted in truth, beauty, and goodness—forms the heart and mind for Christian living in an age of fragmentation.About Today’s GuestDr. Louis Markos is a professor of English and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University, where he teaches classical literature, Christian thought, and C.S. Lewis. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and is a prolific author and speaker, known for making ancient wisdom and Christian truth come alive for modern audiences. His books include From Achilles to Christ, The Myth Made Fact, and On the Shoulders of Hobbits. A passionate advocate for classical education and cultural renewal, Dr. Markos brings the voice of the ancients into dialogue with the Church today.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we explore how stories shape the Christian imagination, from the parables of Christ to the poetry of Tolkien, where beauty, suffering, virtue, and vocation meet in the narrative of redemption.About Today’s GuestRev. Jacob Benson is director of admissions and assistant professor of humanities at Luther Classical College in Casper, Wyoming. Ordained in 2019, he previously served parishes in Connecticut and Wyoming, and holds degrees from Concordia Theological Seminary and the University of Wyoming. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English at Trinity College Dublin, where his research explores how fiction and hagiography shape virtue. Known for his love of classical education and his deep pastoral care, Rev. Benson brings theological clarity and a joyful sense of vocation to both church and academy. He and his wife, Mary, have one son.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we dig into what it means to be wholly citizens of both heaven and earth, recover a robust Lutheran ethic, and consider how virtue, identity, and vocation shape Christian witness in a fragmented age.About Today’s GuestRev. Dr. Joel Biermann is professor of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and one of the LCMS’s leading voices on vocation, virtue ethics, and Christian identity in the public square. He holds a Ph.D. from Concordia Seminary and is the author of A Case for Character and Wholly Citizens. Dr. Biermann’s work challenges Christians to live faithfully in both the Church and culture, rooted in doctrine, yet active in the world.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we trace the roots of Christian tradition, wrestle with the legacy of the Church Fathers, and recover a vision of doctrine, discipline, and ministry shaped by the clarity and strangeness of the early Church.Dr. James Lee is a scholar of historical theology and teaches Church History and Religious Studies at Concordia University Chicago, where his courses range from Christianity and the Modern World to Lutheran Worship and Liturgy. He holds a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University, an S.T.M. from Yale Divinity School, and degrees from Concordia Theological Seminary and Concordia University Chicago. Dr. Lee’s research focuses on nineteenth-century German theology, the Confessional Revival, and the development of doctrine in modern Lutheran thought. A respected author and frequent speaker, he bridges deep historical scholarship with contemporary questions facing the Lutheran Church. Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Join us at the long table as we confront the seven deadly sins not just as abstract categories, but as real spiritual threats—and explore how humility, gratitude, and daily repentance lead us toward the virtues that shape faithful Christian life.Rev. Dr. David H. Petersen has served as Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, since 2000. A graduate of Central Michigan University and Concordia Theological Seminary (M.Div., S.T.M., D.Min.), he is known for his deep commitment to the Church’s liturgical and theological heritage. Dr. Petersen is a contributing editor for Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy, teaches D.Min. and continuing education courses at CTSFW, and serves on the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations. In addition to his pastoral and academic work, he has helped found both Redeemer Classical School and Agnus Dei Lutheran Church, and frequently contributes to Lutheran Witness, Issues, Etc., and conferences across the country.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Rev. Dr. David H. Petersen has served as Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, since 2000. A graduate of Central Michigan University and Concordia Theological Seminary (M.Div., S.T.M., D.Min.), he is known for his deep commitment to the Church’s liturgical and theological heritage. Dr. Petersen is a contributing editor for Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy, teaches D.Min. and continuing education courses at CTSFW, and serves on the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations. In addition to his pastoral and academic work, he has helped found both Redeemer Classical School and Agnus Dei Lutheran Church, and frequently contributes to Lutheran Witness, Issues, Etc., and conferences across the country.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Rev. Dr. Christian Preus is pastor of Mount Hope Lutheran Church in Casper, Wyoming, and Chairman of the Board of Regents for Luther Classical College. He holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Iowa and an M.Div. from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. A scholar and translator, his works include Philip Melanchthon’s Loci Communes 1521 and contributions to Luther’s Works. Dr. Preus is also editor of Christian Culture: A Magazine for Lutherans and a frequent contributor to LOGIA. He and his wife, Lisa, are raising their nine children at the foot of Casper Mountain.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail

Rev. Dr. Jamison J. Hardy is a former district president in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and a member of the President of the Concordia University System. A lifelong Lutheran, Hardy was born in Bay City, Michigan, and attended Lutheran schools before earning his bachelor’s degree from Concordia University Wisconsin and his M.Div. from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. He brings pastoral care, administrative leadership, and theological clarity to his roles within both church and higher education. Dr. Hardy is a passionate advocate for confessional fidelity, strong pastoral formation, and the future of Lutheran institutions.Check Out Our New Website: https://ontheline.net/Support the Launch of LIT: https://institute.ontheline.net/donation/📧 Contact Bryan: [email protected] us Fan Mail