{"id":5183,"date":"2016-05-16T16:19:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T22:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/?p=5183"},"modified":"2016-05-16T16:38:12","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T22:38:12","slug":"the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&#038;A with Joshua Ryan Butler"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/54\/2016\/05\/BC_JoshuaRyanButler_bio.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5184\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-5184\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/54\/2016\/05\/BC_JoshuaRyanButler_bio.jpg\" alt=\"BC_JoshuaRyanButler_bio\" width=\"178\" height=\"178\"><\/a>His first book was called <em>The Skeletons In God\u2019s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War<\/em>. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is one who clearly likes to wrestle with the tough questions of the faith and come out the other side with a new paradigm for seeing and understanding.<\/p>\n<p>In his newest book<em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/Books\/Book-Club\/Joshua-Ryan-Butler-The-Pursuing-God\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">The Pursuing God: A Reckless, Irrational, Obsessed Love That\u2019s Dying to Bring Us Home<\/a><\/em>, Butler flips the notion of us pursuing God to argue that really, God\u2019s the one pursuing us \u2026 and the big question is, do we want to be found?<\/p>\n<p>Preston Sprinkle calls <em>The Pursuing God<\/em> \u201c<em>the<\/em> book to read for 2016\u2033 and Scot McKnight says he\u00a0\u201ccommends this book front, left, and center.\u201d\u00a0I had the opportunity to chat with Josh about his book\u00a0and\u00a0a God who pursues us like \u201cthe Hound of Heaven,\u201d as well as\u00a0some of the truly inspiring ministries he\u00a0and his community\u00a0at Imago Dei Church in Portland, OR, are doing locally and internationally.<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MIS-wB3Knrs\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MIS-wB3Knrs<\/a>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>His first book was called The Skeletons In God\u2019s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is one who clearly likes to wrestle with the tough questions of the faith and come out the other side with a new paradigm for seeing and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[105,115,259,430,136,429,428,421],"class_list":["post-5183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-qa","tag-christian-books","tag-christianity","tag-crucifixion","tag-foster-care","tag-god","tag-imago-dei","tag-incarnation","tag-resurrection"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Pursuing God: A Video Q&amp;A with Joshua Ryan Butler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"His first book was called The Skeletons In God&#039;s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&amp;A with Joshua Ryan Butler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"His first book was called The Skeletons In God&#039;s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"{Take &amp; Read}\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-16T22:19:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-16T22:38:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/files\/2016\/05\/BC_JoshuaRyanButler_bio.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deborah Arca\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deborah Arca\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/\",\"name\":\"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&A with Joshua Ryan Butler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-16T22:19:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-16T22:38:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a622c83c6f34ff7abb06463e51081c\"},\"description\":\"His first book was called The Skeletons In God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&#038;A with Joshua Ryan Butler\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/\",\"name\":\"{Take &amp; Read}\",\"description\":\"&quot;I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library&quot; {Jorge Luis Borges}\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a622c83c6f34ff7abb06463e51081c\",\"name\":\"Deborah Arca\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45ef5b3bd5e9465897c2c3f973e0d324?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45ef5b3bd5e9465897c2c3f973e0d324?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deborah Arca\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/author\/debarca\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&A with Joshua Ryan Butler","description":"His first book was called The Skeletons In God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&A with Joshua Ryan Butler","og_description":"His first book was called The Skeletons In God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/","og_site_name":"{Take &amp; Read}","article_published_time":"2016-05-16T22:19:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-16T22:38:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/files\/2016\/05\/BC_JoshuaRyanButler_bio.jpg"}],"author":"Deborah Arca","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deborah Arca","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/","name":"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&A with Joshua Ryan Butler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-05-16T22:19:28+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-16T22:38:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a622c83c6f34ff7abb06463e51081c"},"description":"His first book was called The Skeletons In God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, The Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. The Rev. Joshua Ryan Butler is","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2016\/05\/the-pursuing-god-a-video-qa-with-joshua-ryan-butler\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Pursuing God: A Video Q&#038;A with Joshua Ryan Butler"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/","name":"{Take &amp; Read}","description":"&quot;I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library&quot; {Jorge Luis Borges}","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a622c83c6f34ff7abb06463e51081c","name":"Deborah Arca","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45ef5b3bd5e9465897c2c3f973e0d324?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45ef5b3bd5e9465897c2c3f973e0d324?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Deborah Arca"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/author\/debarca\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}