How to Follow Jesus in a Culture That Doesn’t with Jon Thompson

Matt Chandler (0:00)

Hey, we want to tell you about a ministry that's really close to our hearts, Global Christian Relief.

Around the world, our brothers and sisters are risking everything for Jesus, and often they're unseen and unheard. GCR exists to remind us that we're one church, one family, and that no believer should stand alone. They come alongside persecuted Christians with prayer, Bibles, and this is the thing, real help, food, shelter, trauma care, so the church can endure and shine as a light for the gospel. When you give, you're not supporting a cause, you're standing with family.

Jon Thompson (0:45)

And he doesn't come in unique power, but we're still called to be faithful. So what I was trying to work out in Presence is, if he doesn't come in great power, how do we use love would empower the gifts to do this? And if he does come, how do we adjust to that? And how do we live in that tension really well?

Matt Chandler (1:11)

Hey guys, welcome back to Between Sundays with The Chandlers. Elsie, you got a dad joke for us?

Lauren Chandler (1:19)

I do not. I came unprepared for the dad joke, but you have one.

Matt Chandler (1:24)

I mean, I am a dad. I do have jokes.

Lauren Chandler (1:26)

Let's just change it up.

Matt Chandler (1:27)

We can. That feels crazy to me, but I'm willing to do it. You're the dad and you got the jokes. So here would be one that I personally like.

What's worse than raining cats and dogs?

Lauren Chandler (1:41)

I don't know. You tell me.

Matt Chandler (1:42)

Hailing calves.

Lauren Chandler (1:45)

OK, that would hurt. That would be really bad.

Matt Chandler (1:50)

I think it's good.

Lauren Chandler (1:51)

Wow.

Matt Chandler (1:52)

This is why you do it.

Lauren Chandler (1:53)

I don't know.

Matt Chandler (1:54)

That's why I don't do it. I don't know. This is your thing. It's not a strength.

Lauren Chandler (1:58)

Hailing calves.

Matt Chandler (1:58)

That was pretty good. Our guest today, Jon Thompson, wrote a great book on Convergence. He talks in that book about gift tension.

Lauren Chandler (2:05)

Yes, yes, he does.

Matt Chandler (2:06)

And that really to align ourselves with gifts is the secret sauce. And I think the dad joke has not been given to me by the Holy Spirit. I think he gave that to you. It's been given to me, to Stuart. That's good. To equip the saints. That's right. Hey, this week we have a newish friend, but I consider a good friend, Jon Thompson on with us, all the way from the Toronto area in Canada.

And so, hey Jon, how are you?

Jon Thompson (2:35)

Great. Thanks for having me. It's great to be with your audience.

Matt Chandler (2:37)

Listen, I want to say this.

I don't know that anyone in this season of our lives is teaching us as well as biblically and as challengingly as you. I have just been devouring your books and handing them out to anyone who, to everyone. Just give me a box of those. And our elders, our exec team, friends. And so thank you for your good, faithful stewardship of what God's done there in Toronto and then through and in you. I'm just such a big fan. So thanks for being on.

Jon Thompson (3:28)

Thanks. That's the best intro to our podcast I've had. Thank you.

Matt Chandler (3:30)

Okay.

Jon Thompson (3:32)

Thank you.

Matt Chandler (3:33)

Yeah, we'll take it.

Jon Thompson (3:33)

Very kind.

Matt Chandler (3:34)

Man, I don't know if it was just you and me and Lauren sitting around the table. I've got billions of other questions, but I do know Presence just came out, which is a new book today. It's launching today when we're recording this. I was some of the happy few that got an early copy. And honestly, before I saw the tagline, I thought the book Presence was going to be about like John 15, Presence of God, just ordering your life around that goodness and that. So then when it came in and I read the tagline, I had to readjust my expectations for really what the book is about, which is basically if I was speaking to pastors, I would say it's about contextualization and evangelism.

But it's really about how to live faithfully in this current moment that we're in. And so I would love for you to kick us off.

Here would be my question, like, why this book now? What are you seeing in Toronto when you travel quite a bit? What are you seeing around the world that kind of stirred more of this up to write this as? Is this book five, book four?