Discover spiritual formation for real life in a world that never turns off. In this episode of Scripture Untangled, Rev. Mark Jefferson, Associate Professor at Acadia Divinity College, sits down with CBS Ambassador, Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling to explore how Scripture, worship, and Christian community shape us from the inside out, especially amid digital distraction and AI-driven culture.

In this episode, Mark and Andrew discuss:

• Being formed before you lead - why worship and community shape future leaders.
• Clarity as a spiritual gift and discerning what to carry and what to shed as your calling narrows.
• The “First Minutes” practice of dedicating the earliest part of the day to God..
• From curiosity to passion in Scripture, and moving beyond devotional skimming into “digging in.”
• Spiritual formation that begins by actually seeing young people and not just demographic data.
• Starting with the Gospel of Mark, a simple on-ramp to meeting Jesus in Scripture for new readers.

Read the transcript: https://biblesociety.ca/transcript-scripture-untangled-s13-ep4

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Rev. Mark Andrew Jefferson, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and the John Norris Gladstone Chair of Preaching and Worship at Acadia Divinity College, where he also serves as Dean of the Chapel. An ordained Baptist minister, he is a homiletician and theologian whose work explores Black worship, preaching, embodiment, and the formation of Christian communities amid surveillance, racial capitalism, and digital mediation.

His scholarship brings Black theology, sound studies, and ecclesial practice into sustained conversation with contemporary questions of technology and power. He has preached and lectured widely across North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East.

His forthcoming book, Rhythm and Algorithm: Preaching in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, examines Black preaching as a practice of rhythmic resistance and spiritual formation in an algorithmic age. Dr. Jefferson is a member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College and served as Bicentennial Preacher at Virginia Theological Seminary.

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