Hi, I'm Susie Larson. Here's the podcast from Susie Larson Live. Enjoy the conversation.

You're listening to an encore presentation of Susie Larson Live.

Welcome to Sissy Larson Live. I'm Sissy Larson, and always honored to get to spend this time with you.

In fact, I look forward to bringing new conversations every single day that hopefully inspire you in your faith walk,

the deep in your understanding of God's Word, and that heightens your awareness of his very real presence in your life.

I want you to imagine how strange it must have been for the first Christians to break with

culture norms, to follow a God they could not see, a God that asks for full devotion, for their

whole lives, for complete surrender and trust, and one that promised to perform miracles in and through them

and transform them from the inside out. Imagine how that must have looked to the bystanders

all around them. Have we watered down what it means to follow Jesus to such a degree that it's

no longer compelling, intriguing, or even fascinating to the outside world? Dr. Nijey Gupta joins me today

to talk about his really amazing new book, Strange Religion, How the First Christians Were Weird,

Dangerous, and Compelling. We're going to get them on in a moment, but I have a quick

announcement for you. We've got an app. It's free, and we're upgrading it all the time,

and you can live stream the shows from anywhere, listen to podcasts later on after the fact.

It's really a great way even to listen in your car, because if you hit one of those pockets where your radio signal kind of gets weak, the app keeps it nice and strong.

It's free. Did I mention that? Go to your app store and just search for Faith Radio Network, and you'll find it there.

All right, let me tell you about my guest. We'll get him on the show. Dr. Nijey Gupta is a professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. Previously, he was a professor of New Testament at Portland

Seminary, where he also oversaw the master's thesis program and advised doctoral students.

He's the author of several books, commentaries, and over a dozen academic articles and

theological journals.

He's a brilliant man, but what I said before the show is praying for him.

...