Andy Opie
@andyopie.bsky.social
Director of the Center for Global Pentecostal Studies and Practice and Visiting Professor at Life Pacific. Researches Bible, disability, and mission. Husband and father.
Pinned
Andy Opie
@andyopie.bsky.social
· May 1
Stay tuned. I am starting a podcast, “Blind Faith”, exploring thoughts about God and life in this world. This allows me to subvert ideas about disability and being labeled blind in particular.
In light of conversations in our country about disabilities as something to eliminate, let me share some conversation on the #BlindFaith podcast as we wrestle with what it means to be human. 1/
September 25, 2025 at 5:58 PM
In light of conversations in our country about disabilities as something to eliminate, let me share some conversation on the #BlindFaith podcast as we wrestle with what it means to be human. 1/
Season 1 of #BlindFaith concludes with a wonderful conversation on disability with Tom Reynolds, professor of Theology at the University of Toronto . Get your notepad out as even our guest leaves taking notes. Link below
August 20, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Season 1 of #BlindFaith concludes with a wonderful conversation on disability with Tom Reynolds, professor of Theology at the University of Toronto . Get your notepad out as even our guest leaves taking notes. Link below
Lisa Powell joins the #BlindFaith podcast for a fascinating discussion on theology and disability. She helps unpack what it means for Jesus to take on humanity. Check it out below
August 14, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Lisa Powell joins the #BlindFaith podcast for a fascinating discussion on theology and disability. She helps unpack what it means for Jesus to take on humanity. Check it out below
Our latest episode is out as we get to hear from Lisa Powell, author of “The Disabled God Revisited”. So much worth chewing on in this discussion. #BlindFaith podcast
August 13, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Our latest episode is out as we get to hear from Lisa Powell, author of “The Disabled God Revisited”. So much worth chewing on in this discussion. #BlindFaith podcast
If you did not catch our latest episode of #BlindFaith podcast. Do not miss it. Carlos Thompson offers a compelling story on what happens when those with disabilities are excluded from ministry opportunities. 1/
August 12, 2025 at 6:38 PM
If you did not catch our latest episode of #BlindFaith podcast. Do not miss it. Carlos Thompson offers a compelling story on what happens when those with disabilities are excluded from ministry opportunities. 1/
What does it mean to be human? Carlos Thompson, professor of Christian ministries and disability at Western Theological Seminary, joins the conversation with #BlindFaithPodcast this week. He helps us grapple with this question. See details below
August 6, 2025 at 4:12 PM
What does it mean to be human? Carlos Thompson, professor of Christian ministries and disability at Western Theological Seminary, joins the conversation with #BlindFaithPodcast this week. He helps us grapple with this question. See details below
Education is part of Jesus’ call to make disciples of all nations: Teaching them all that I taught you. Let us be life long learners. #TeachingIsMission
August 1, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Education is part of Jesus’ call to make disciples of all nations: Teaching them all that I taught you. Let us be life long learners. #TeachingIsMission
All scholarship is biography, and what happens when you find something unexamined in theology? It sounds exciting. That is the story we unpack in this week’s conversation around disability and the mystery of our creatureliness in light of our creator. #BlindFaith The podcast links are in my timeline
July 31, 2025 at 4:38 AM
All scholarship is biography, and what happens when you find something unexamined in theology? It sounds exciting. That is the story we unpack in this week’s conversation around disability and the mystery of our creatureliness in light of our creator. #BlindFaith The podcast links are in my timeline
What?
Disability. Is it social or based on social barriers, or medical and based on medical cures or fixes? Or is it more embodied with a limits model as Deborah Creamer suggests. Check out our conversation on the #BlindFaith Podcast
See below for more deets
Disability. Is it social or based on social barriers, or medical and based on medical cures or fixes? Or is it more embodied with a limits model as Deborah Creamer suggests. Check out our conversation on the #BlindFaith Podcast
See below for more deets
July 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM
What?
Disability. Is it social or based on social barriers, or medical and based on medical cures or fixes? Or is it more embodied with a limits model as Deborah Creamer suggests. Check out our conversation on the #BlindFaith Podcast
See below for more deets
Disability. Is it social or based on social barriers, or medical and based on medical cures or fixes? Or is it more embodied with a limits model as Deborah Creamer suggests. Check out our conversation on the #BlindFaith Podcast
See below for more deets
When I read the parable of sheep and goats, I am grateful that I am not the king. I am not the one with the responsibility of sifting those who are righteous from those who are not? Let me work to not put myself in the place of the king evaluating who is in or who is out.
July 29, 2025 at 9:51 PM
When I read the parable of sheep and goats, I am grateful that I am not the king. I am not the one with the responsibility of sifting those who are righteous from those who are not? Let me work to not put myself in the place of the king evaluating who is in or who is out.
Welcome the stranger…Matthew 25 asks us to show hospitality…and I am stuck on the word stranger and the strangeness of the other. What makes somebody strange, and how do we embody welcome as Christ teaches?
July 29, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Welcome the stranger…Matthew 25 asks us to show hospitality…and I am stuck on the word stranger and the strangeness of the other. What makes somebody strange, and how do we embody welcome as Christ teaches?
Preaching today at Pasadena Foursquare. “Saved by Faith and Hospitality, drawing from Clemente’s comments that Abraham, Lot and Rahab were saved by faith and hospitality.
July 27, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Preaching today at Pasadena Foursquare. “Saved by Faith and Hospitality, drawing from Clemente’s comments that Abraham, Lot and Rahab were saved by faith and hospitality.
On this date in 1990, the US passed the Americans with disabilities Act. This landmark legislation aims to break down barriers for those with disabilities in terms of work, education, transportation, housing and more. One wonders why a law has not done more to make things better.
July 26, 2025 at 9:32 PM
On this date in 1990, the US passed the Americans with disabilities Act. This landmark legislation aims to break down barriers for those with disabilities in terms of work, education, transportation, housing and more. One wonders why a law has not done more to make things better.
Don’t miss this one…episode 6 explores disability and the Bible with Anna Rebecca Solevag,, author of “Negotiating the Disabled Body: Representations of disability in early Christian texts”, who joins the #BlindFaithPodcast see below for the details
July 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Don’t miss this one…episode 6 explores disability and the Bible with Anna Rebecca Solevag,, author of “Negotiating the Disabled Body: Representations of disability in early Christian texts”, who joins the #BlindFaithPodcast see below for the details
Misfits: I love this word…and not just ‘cause of the punk band that subverts the idea of fitting in … 1/
July 23, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Misfits: I love this word…and not just ‘cause of the punk band that subverts the idea of fitting in … 1/
The #BlindFaith podcast welcomes Anna Rebecca Solevag all the way from Norway. Her work on disability and the Bible brings wonderful insights to how we understand the stories of Jesus and Paul. Details below
July 23, 2025 at 4:52 PM
The #BlindFaith podcast welcomes Anna Rebecca Solevag all the way from Norway. Her work on disability and the Bible brings wonderful insights to how we understand the stories of Jesus and Paul. Details below
Do our churches have an imagination for those who are not “normal”. And why do we even want to fit people into that category in the first place? What is normal? Check out these and more questions on the #BlindFaithPodcast see below.
July 21, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Do our churches have an imagination for those who are not “normal”. And why do we even want to fit people into that category in the first place? What is normal? Check out these and more questions on the #BlindFaithPodcast see below.
Mission is not linear. Are there ways that our contemporary funding models for gospel work cause our work to focus on results over process? How?
July 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Mission is not linear. Are there ways that our contemporary funding models for gospel work cause our work to focus on results over process? How?
Do you ever think the way we think about humanity is overly idealized? Maybe it is more a mystery of our creatureliness in the creation as we walk with our creator. Disability theology gives us fresh insights into the mystery of God’s creation.
July 19, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Do you ever think the way we think about humanity is overly idealized? Maybe it is more a mystery of our creatureliness in the creation as we walk with our creator. Disability theology gives us fresh insights into the mystery of God’s creation.
Is our trust in our best practices and analytics…Proverbs 21:30-31 says this…
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
can avail against the Lord. 1/
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
can avail against the Lord. 1/
July 19, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Is our trust in our best practices and analytics…Proverbs 21:30-31 says this…
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
can avail against the Lord. 1/
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
can avail against the Lord. 1/
In 1998 I was Kevin Matthews blind intern. He joined the podcast for a fun bonus episode. Enjoy
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Blind Faith Podcast: Bonus Episode with Kevin Matthews
Podcast Episode · Blind Faith Podcast · S1 Bonus · 1h 1m
podcasts.apple.com
July 18, 2025 at 6:04 PM
In 1998 I was Kevin Matthews blind intern. He joined the podcast for a fun bonus episode. Enjoy
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Poetry in scriptures calls me to pause more and read slower. At first glance I catch one thing but am drawn to take another look and grasp other angles and layers to what these words speak to us about God.
July 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Poetry in scriptures calls me to pause more and read slower. At first glance I catch one thing but am drawn to take another look and grasp other angles and layers to what these words speak to us about God.
When we do disciple making why is it often a desire to find the right person to disciple? Is not the call to make disciples something that encompasses all? Why differentiate and seek only those who have certain traits?
July 17, 2025 at 11:11 PM
When we do disciple making why is it often a desire to find the right person to disciple? Is not the call to make disciples something that encompasses all? Why differentiate and seek only those who have certain traits?
Professor Sarah Barton enriches our thinking on the Blind Faith podcast. I love her occupational therapy background and how she brings practical lived experiences to bear on deeply theological issues such as baptism and new creation language in 2 Cor 5. Take a listen...the link is below
July 17, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Professor Sarah Barton enriches our thinking on the Blind Faith podcast. I love her occupational therapy background and how she brings practical lived experiences to bear on deeply theological issues such as baptism and new creation language in 2 Cor 5. Take a listen...the link is below
Jesus…question…when did we ever see you sick or in prison. Keith Green’s song reminds us the depth of this question as he adds the comment about how we surely would have recognized your face.
July 17, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Jesus…question…when did we ever see you sick or in prison. Keith Green’s song reminds us the depth of this question as he adds the comment about how we surely would have recognized your face.