Shifting Culture: Recent Episodes
Joshua Johnson
Conversations about the culture we create and the impact we can make. With different guests each episode, we dive into what it looks like to impact the culture around us.
In this episode with Natalia Terfa we talk about her book It All Counts, why questions deepen faith instead of eroding it, how to tell human authority from God's, what love looks like when a protest turns ugly, and why the prosperity gospel falls apart at a child's funeral. We get into loneliness and the risk community asks of us, the incarnation as an argument for the goodness of bodies, and how breath and creation return us to who we are.
Natalia is a Lutheran pastor, podcaster, and author who lives in Minneapolis with her her loves, Sam and Layla, and kitty babies. When she’s not working or writing, you’ll find her reading in her couch nest, ideally with a cat on her lap, watching Turkish television, taking walks in the neighborhood, looking at trees, or making good food for the people she loves.
Natalia's Book:
It All Counts
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In this episode with Scot McKnight, we ask whether the perception that the Pharisees were hypocrites, legalists with a religious spirit is the right way to view them. We move the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees from one of theological debate to one in response to charisma, the crowds, and power. We talk about what charisma actually is, why economic justice sat at the center of Jesus' movement, the seven things the Pharisees really were, and what it means to stop weaponizing the word against anyone we disagree with.
Scot McKnight (PhD, Nottingham) has been a Professor of New Testament for more than four decades. He is the author of more than ninety books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as The King Jesus Gospel, A Fellowship of Differents, One.Life, The Blue Parakeet, Revelation for the Rest of Us, and Kingdom Conspiracy.
Scot's Book:
Jesus, People, Pharisees
Scot's Recommendation:
Furious Minds
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In this episode with Matthew Soerens and Issam Smeir, we touch on something that has shaped my faith - sitting across a table from refugees until a statistic became a person with a name. A decade after the first edition of Seeking Refuge, the number of forcibly displaced people has doubled to roughly 120 million, yet care for the vulnerable has become one of the most politicized issues in American culture and the American church. We work to untangle fear and misinformation from biblical conviction, dig into the parable of the Good Samaritan, and ask what it looks like to stop, come closer, and respond.
Matthew Soerens is the Vice President of Advocacy and Policy for World Relief. Dr. Issam Smeir is a psychologist focused on trauma treatment for victims of persecution and torture who also works at World Relief. They're coauthors, along with Stephan Bauman, of the newly updated book Seeking Refuge: The Human Face of the Global Refugee Crisis (Moody Publishers, 2026).
Matthew and Issam's Book:
Seeking Refuge
Matthew's Recommendation:
The Faithful Innkeeper
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In this episode with Joshua Luke Smith we sit with the idea that the life in front of you is the main event – even when it is limited, when it is unglamorous, when it’s not what you hoped for. We talk about lament and shame, consecration and wonder, what the cell and limits teach us about freedom, how we need to put ourselves in the way of beauty to bring us back to who we are. It’s a conversation about attention and presence.
Joshua Luke Smith is a poet for the people. He’s a songwriter, community builder, podcaster and author. He’s the founder of The Psalmists, a charity cultivating creative practice in prisons and among those on the margins of society.
His new book "This is The Main Event" comes out in July 2026.
He lives with his family in London, UK.
Joshua's Book:
This is the Main Event
Joshua's Recommendation:
The Odyssey
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In this episode, Graham Joseph Hill joins me to talk through how every culture tends to read Jesus through their own lens and how we tend to remake Him in our own image. And when we do that, we tend to follow idols rather than Jesus. In his latest book Ten Movements of the Jesus Way, Graham maps ten typical idols and the turn we need to make to follow Jesus instead. Are we following Jesus, or just following our own culture with Jesus attached?
Graham Joseph Hill (PhD, Flinders University) is an adjunct research fellow and associate professor in the School of Theology at Charles Sturt University. In 2024 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to theological education. His books include Global Church, Healing Our Broken Humanity, and World Christianity, shortlisted for the 2025 Australian Christian Book of the Year. He lives in Sydney with his wife, Shyn.
Graham's Book:
Ten Movements of the Jesus Way
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In this episode, Jessie Cruickshank and Julia Schmaltz join me to talk about Becoming Good News and the argument at its center: that discipleship is less about acquiring information and trying harder and more about receiving; receiving a name and a story. We get into what happens in the brain when something finally gets named, why the sentences we say about ourselves function as theology, and how autobiographical memory shapes the story we think we're living in. We talk about the difference between receiving an identity and constructing one, why "receive" sounds like laziness to American ears, how healthy spiritual authority flows out of knowing who you are, and why loving your enemy turns out to be a requirement that starts in infancy rather than a skill reserved for the mature.
Jessie Cruickshank is a Harvard-trained expert in the neuroscience of transformation. She founded Whoology to equip churches and leaders worldwide in brain-based discipleship. Author of Ordinary Discipleship and a sought-after speaker, Jessie weaves story, science, and faith to inspire lasting change. She lives in Colorado, where she enjoys mountain adventures with her husband.
Julia Schmaltz is a storyteller and leader with three decades of ministry experience and serves as the chief operating officer of Identity Exchange, equipping others to live fearlessly in their true identity. Julia holds a master’s in evangelism and leadership from Wheaton College and is shaping discipleship efforts across the globe. She lives in Orange County, California, with her husband and three adult children.
Jessie & Julia's Book:
Becoming Good News
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In this episode, Paul Anleitner traces how a culture that once watched Rocky in full-throated sincerity learned to read everything through suspicion. We talk about the modern story we inherited, the postmodern anti-story that dismantled it, and the meaning crisis left in the rubble. There is a vibe shift happening as people reach for nostalgia and re-enchantment. We get into the three pillars of meaning, mean world syndrome, why Top Gun: Maverick and Project Hail Mary landed the way they did, and Paul's central claim: that kenosis, self-emptying love, is the shape of reality.
Paul Anleitner is a cultural theologian who writes and speaks on the role of culture and story in our quest for meaning.
He is the author of "Based on a True Story: Vibe Shifts, the End of Deconstruction, and the Reboot of Meaning" (Nelson Books)
His unique interdisciplinary approach integrates theology, philosophy, and science to help individuals and institutions navigate cultural shifts and address perennial religious longings.
Paul's Book:
Based on a True Story
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In this episode, Randy Woodley argues that the church has been asking the wrong question. Not whether the story happened, but what the story asks of us. And to start to ask better questions, we have to go back to the root - where did this all come from? And how did Western Christianity get it wrong? We talk about Platonic dualism made belief more important than action, producing hierarchy, empire, and harm. We talk about reading scripture as story rather than evidence, replacing the word salvation with healing, and what repentance actually costs. If you've felt the distance between what you believe and how you live, this conversation names where that came from and what it takes to close that gap.
Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is a dynamic writer and speaker with a deep passion for creativity and Indigenous spirituality, justice, and earth empowerment. His diverse background and experiences have uniquely equipped him to bring about positive change in Indigenous communities for four decades. With his wife, Edith, (Shoshone) they have four children and six grandchildren.
An award-winning author and a tribally recognized Keetoowah descendant (UKB), the author of 15 books, Randy weaves together Indigenous wisdom, ecological sustainability, and spirituality. Randy is both an active farmer and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He is respected by Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities worldwide and has been featured in The New York Times, Politifact, Time Magazine, and The Huffington Post. Randy publishes a weekly Substack at https://rwoodley7.substack.com/ and is a faculty member at Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation.
Together, the Woodley’s co-sustain Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds, https://www.eloheh.org/ a non-profit, regenerative farm and school determined to assist others grow healthy food and combat the climate crisis. The Woodley’s are founders of Sho-Kee Cultural Consultants https://www.sho-kee.com/ where they bring Indigenous knowledge and cross-cultural expertise to clients nationwide, working with organizations, educational institutions, and creative projects.
Randy's Book:
How Western Christianity Got it Wrong
Randy's Recommendations:
Erased
The Dawn of Everything
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In this episode, Merideth Hite Estevez joins me to talk about what happens when a lifetime of chasing excellence quietly empties out the joy that started it all. We dig into the idols hiding inside performance and perfectionism, why she redefines art not as a talent for the gifted few but as something anyone can do out of love, and what it means to create as an act of worship instead of proof of worth. It's a conversation about shame, recovery, and the spiritual thread running through every creative act - whether you call yourself an artist or not.
Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez is a coach, educator, oboist, and author of The Artist’s Joy. Through her workshops, her award-winning podcast Artists for Joy, and her one-to-one coaching, she is a spiritual space-maker for artists, leading thousands in various fields to creative recovery. Dr. Estevez has performed with top orchestras and holds degrees in oboe from The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music. Her writing, which Publishers Weekly calls “expansive and joyful,” illuminates the spiritual journey of the artist. Her next book, Art Is How God Loves Us, debuts in July 2026. She hails from Abbeville, SC, but now lives in Metro Detroit, Michigan, with her husband, Rev. Dr. Edwin Estevez, and their two children.
Merideth's Book:
Art is How God Loves Us
Merideth's Recommendation:
Counterweights
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America turns 250 this year, and we'll tell the old story again. But where does it actually start? Daniel Hawk traces our founding back past 1776 to the Doctrine of Discovery that gave Christian powers the right to seize "unclaimed" land, and to a reading of Genesis that turned wilderness into property and the people already here into obstacles. We talk about the myth of innocence: the belief that we are fundamentally good, that the brutal parts didn't happen or didn't count. It let us justify almost anything, and it left violence in our bones. We talk about how Scripture was used to take land and how it reads differently from underneath empire, about Canada and South Africa beginning to face their histories, and about what real repair asks of us - slow, relational, measured in generations. As we mark 250 years, this is an invitation to be honest about the first half of the story before we write the next.
L. Daniel Hawk (PhD, Emory University) is professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. Aspects of his work on biblical narrative take a postcolonial turn in books such as Joshua in 3-D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny and as coeditor of Evangelical Postcolonial Conversations.
Daniel's Book:
Undoing Manifest Destiny
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In this episode, I talk with Kristin Lee about what happens when a faith begins to crack, and whether the breaking might be the start of something truer. We get into kintsugi, the art of mending broken pottery with gold, what it costs to ask the questions we've been warned against, and what the church on the margins can teach the rest of us about following a marginal Jesus. What emerges is a picture of faith that doesn't hide its fractures but lets them become the places where the light gets in.
Kristin T. Lee is a writer whose work has appeared in Christianity Today and Sojourners, and a primary care physician serving Boston's Chinatown community. She writes about faith, culture, books, and solidarity at The Embers. Her passion all the best books you've never heard of (and some that you have) via book reviews and reading groups on Instagram @ktlee.writes. Lee's work is informed by her experiences as an adoptive mother, host to refugees, and friend to those affected by incarceration.
Kristin's Book:
We Mend With Gold
Kristin's Recommendation:
The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran
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In this episode, I talk with Kyle Strobel about what's actually happening when God feels distant. Most of us start with passion - prayer comes easy, Scripture comes alive - and then a season arrives where the lights go out and we assume we've failed or been abandoned. Kyle offers a different reading than abandonment: the dryness isn't punishment or absence, but the desert where God weans us off the feeling and teaches us to abide. We get into the moralistic temptation that follows - how we turn disciplines, service, and even devotion into ways of managing God rather than meeting him - and why we have to relearn to live by faith and not by sight.
Kyle Strobel is the director of the Institute for Spiritual Formation at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, who writes and teaches in the area of spiritual formation. He is the author of many books, most recently the co-author of the book, When God Seems Distant: Surprising Ways God Deepens Our Faith and Draws Us Near (with John Coe). Kyle regularly speaks at conferences, church trainings, and serves on the preaching team at Redeemer Church. He can be found at KyleStrobel.substack.com.
Kyle's Book:
When God Seems Distant
Kyle's Recommendation:
A Lifting Up for the Downcast
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In this episode, Michael Rhodes claims the gospel is inherently political, and "the Lord reigns" was never just a private comfort but a statement about who actually runs the world. We name the two instincts that keep so many of us stuck: retreating into a safe bubble or chasing the halls of power, and why a more holistic approach is necessary. And we get practical: city council meetings, speed bumps, a libertarian business owner whose whole politics quietly rearranged once he started hiring single moms. In a moment when faith and politics have collapsed into the culture war, this feels like a third way, or a faithful way - a politics you can practice this week, on your own street, as a small taste of the beauty of the Kingdom of God.
Michael J. Rhodes (PhD, Trinity College / University of Aberdeen) is lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in Aotearoa New Zealand. He is the author of several books, including Reimagining Biblical Politics, Just Discipleship, Formative Feasting,and Practicing the King's Economy (with Robby Holt and Brian Fikkert). Rhodes (an ordained EPC pastor) and his family currently live in South Auckland, where they are part of an intentional community engaged in Christian community development.
Michael's Book:
Reimagining Biblical Politics
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In this conversation, Amar Peterman and I get into the slow, local, unglamorous work of becoming neighbors across real difference. We talk about the table as the place where the common good gets built, and why so many of us are far more comfortable playing host than being hosted - flinging our doors open without ever considering who actually walks through them. We get into hospitality as displacement, an accompaniment that refuses to leave, Thomas learning you can't reason your way to resurrection, and an imagination that can see life where everything around us insists there's only division. Here's the challenge: we have to learn to receive before we can ever give, to love people beyond their labels, and to start right where we are, with the one neighbor in front of us.
Amar D. Peterman is a constructive theologian working at the intersection of faith and public life. He is the founder of Scholarship for Religion and Society LLC and the former assistant director of civic networks at Interfaith America. Peterman holds an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and is currently a PhD student at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His writing and research have been featured in Sojourners, Christianity Today, The Christian Century,The Fetzer Institute, The Berkley Forum, and more. He also publishes regularly on his Substack, This Common Life.
Amar's Book:
Becoming Neighbors
Amar's Recommendations:
Make Your Home in this Luminous Dark
Glimmerings
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In this episode, Ben Norquist and Brian Miller make the case that American Christians have become a placeless, rootless people and that we are shaped by inherited land stories. That our land is exceptional. That property is something to wall off. That the ground exists to be taken and turned into wealth. We dig into where these stories came from, how they affect our faith, and why it matters that Scripture opens with God calling place good. We talk about how to read the place you actually live, whose stories get monuments and whose get erased, and what better land stories, ones shaped more like Jesus, might look like.
Dr. Ben Norquist is a writer, researcher, and communications strategist whose work explores how Christian understandings of land shape mora/l imagination and public life. He serves with the Bethlehem Institute for Peace & Justice, engaging American Christians on questions of theology, justice, and the realities in Palestine. He is co-author of Every Somewhere Sacred: Rescuing a Theology of Place in the American Imagination (InterVarsity Press, 2026).
Brian Miller (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is professor of sociology at Wheaton College and regularly teaches about and publishes on Christian residential and cultural patterns. His books include Sanctifying Suburbia: How the Suburbs Becamethe Promised Land for American Evangelicals and Building Faith: A Sociology of Religious Structures, coauthored with Robert Brenneman.
Ben & Brian's Book:
Every Somewhere Sacred
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In this episode with Aaron Cline Hanbury, we think through how we relate to technology and the things we make. We tackle the question underneath the whole AI moment: not just what it means to be human when machines can do more and more, but what it means to be alive. We get into whether any technology is really neutral, where our attention is going and who's buying it, raising kids in a screen-saturated world, and what it takes to stay awake to wonder.
Aaron Cline Hanbury is a writer and editor whose essays and profiles have appeared in various publications, including The Atlantic. He is the founding editor of the award-winning magazine Common Good, and a past editor of RELEVANT magazine. He lives in the metro Atlanta area with his wife, Hannah, and their daughters.
Aaron's Book:
Wired for Wonder
Aaron's Recommendations:
The Science of Storytelling
Moby Dick
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In this episode, Brant Hansen argues that holding onto offense is killing us - spiritually, physically, and relationally. He had to decide whether the offense he experienced as a young person should be held on to or if he should release it. It led him to a simple, uncomfortable conclusion: righteous human anger doesn't exist in scripture, and the anger we carry, however justified it feels, is not what faithful people are called to hold. We talk about forgiveness, hypocrisy in the church, and what Jesus actually intended when he told us to love our enemies.
Brant is an author of several bestselling books, including Unoffendable, and a syndicated radio host on more than 200 stations. His podcast, “The Brant and Sherri Oddcast” has more than 20 million downloads. He’s been featured many times on outlets like Focus on the Family, Family Life Today, and Good Morning America.
Brant and wife Carolyn live in South Florida. His latest book, Living Unoffended releases June 9.
Brant's Book:
Living Unoffended
Brant's Recommendation:
The Matter With Things
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There's no shortage of voices telling men who they should be right now and most of them are answering the wrong question. In this conversation with Zachary Wagner, author of Men of Virtue, we get underneath the culture war noise around masculinity and into something more substantive: the four concrete crises facing men and boys today, why virtue formation is better than role definition as a response, and how the fruit of the Spirit offers a more deeply human, and more countercultural, vision of manhood than anything the manosphere or the stoics are selling. This is a conversation about character, embodiment, fatherlessness, meaning, and what it might look like for men to be formed into something more Christ-like.
Zachary is an author, ordained minister, and New Testament scholar.
He grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in a homeschooling family as the fourth of six siblings, an environment that sparked his lifelong love of languages, ideas, and reading.
After completing degrees from the Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College. Zachary and his family moved to Oxford, England, in 2020 for him to pursue a DPhil (PhD) in New Testament studies. His research focused on the theme of reward in the letters of Paul and the Gospel of Matthew, and he successfully defended his thesis in 2025.
He published his first book, Non-Toxic Masculinity: Recovering Healthy Male Sexuality, in 2023 with InterVarsity Press. His second book, Men of Virtue: How the Fruit of the Spirit Forms Male Character in the Modern World, will release from Brazos Press in May 2026. He is currently pursuing publication for his DPhil thesis, as well as a further writing and research projects on Christianity and Stoicism.
Zachary was ordained for gospel ministry in 2022 and has over a decade of nonprofit leadership experience. He currently serves as the director of programs at the Center for Pastor Theologians, where he also co-hosts the Pastor Theologians Podcast.
He lives just outside Chicago in an intentional community with his wife, three kids, and two additional housemates.
Zachary's Book:
Men of Virtue
Zachary's Recommendations:
Against the Machine
Babel
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In this episode, Fr. John Dear joins me to explore his latest book, Universal Love: Surrendering to the God of Peace and one of the core convictions at the center of it: genuine peacemaking begins not with better strategy or more effort, but with total surrender to the God of peace, to the will of God. We talk about what it looks like to take the Sermon on the Mount seriously, why following the non-violent Jesus is the way, and how the daily practice of "not my will, but yours" carries not only inner transformation, but political implications that go all the way to the streets.
Fr. John Dear is an American peace activist, lecturer, author and Catholic priest residing in the Diocese of Monterey in California. Dear has written 40 books on Jesus, peace and nonviolence, and has been arrested 85 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war, injustice, poverty, racism, executions, nuclear weapons, and environmental destruction. He is the founder and director of the Beatitudes Center, where he offers the "Nonviolent Jesus Podcast".
Fr. John's Book:
Universal Love
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What are you actually doing when you read the Bible? Interpretation. Every time we open the text, we're already choosing which questions to ask, which lenses to bring, and whose interests get served by the answers we land on. In this episode, I sit down with Jennifer Garcia Bashaw and Aaron Higashi, authors of Serving Up Scripture, to talk about what responsible interpretation looks like, why certainty works against it, and how the same passages have been used both to enslave and to liberate. We also walk through different types of questions to ask while reading scripture.
Jennifer Garcia Bashaw is a professor at Campbell University and an ordained Baptist minister. She has a PhD in New Testament from Fuller Seminary and is the author of Scapegoats: The Gospel through the Eyes of Victims and John for Normal People: A Guide through the Drama and Depth of the Fourth Gospel.
Aaron Higashi is a public Bible scholar with a PhD in biblical interpretation from Chicago Theological Seminary. He writes Bible commentaries, including 1 & 2 Samuel for Normal People: A Guide to Prophets, Kings, and Some Pretty Terrible Men, and answers Bible questions on Instagram at @abhigashi.
Jennifer and Aaron's Book:
Serving Up Scripture
Jennifer's Recommendation:
Reading the Women of the Bible
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What does joy look like in the midst of pain and grief? K.J. Ramsey's memoir, The Place Between Our Pains, was written while she was fighting for her life - and in this conversation, she talks about what that actually means. We get into how dependence on others opens us to love in ways independence never could, why grief is a gate into aliveness rather than a place to get stuck, and what it looked like to launch a book about joy while facing a tumor diagnosis and an IV drip on launch day. This is a conversation about the kind of joy that doesn't require a tidy resolution and why that might be the kind we're searching for.
K.J. Ramsey is an increasingly feral mystic who is utterly devoted to the joy of being alive. She is a body-centered licensed professional counselor specialized in trauma recovery and an acclaimed author of prose and poetry, including The Book of Common Courage, The Lord Is My Courage, and This Too Shall Last, as well as the bestselling essay Substack Embodied. KJ advocates for fellow autoimmune patients and lives in Colorado with her husband Ryan, a hospice chaplain, and their two velcro dogs.
K.J.'s Book:
The Place Between Our Pains
K.J.'s Recommendation:
Project Hail Mary
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In this conversation, Tim opens up about the wound that shaped his early life, the silence that followed, and what the long road toward healing has actually required. We get into what secrets do to the body, the difference between vertical confession and horizontal healing, why accountability that feels like parole isn't really accountability, what grief work demands and what gets stuck when we skip it, and what it looks like to stop letting a younger, wounded version of yourself run the show.
Tim Ross, bestselling author and host of the popular podcasts The Basement and Wide Open, was born in Inglewood, California, and went to college to study administration of justice to become a law enforcement officer. But God had other plans and Tim gave his life to Jesus Christ on January 14, 1996, and he started preaching on February 25, 1996. He's been walking with Jesus ever since. In June of 1997, he moved to Dallas, and in the time he's spent in the great state of Texas, Tim served in several ministry capacities, including youth evangelist, young adult pastor, director of student ministries, associate campus pastor, executive pastor of Apostolic Ministries, and lead pastor. Tim now occupies his time as a podcaster, social media influencer, bestselling author, and preacher.
Tim's Book:
The Missing Peace
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In this conversation with Richard Beck, author of The Book of Love, we explore what it actually means to read Scripture through the hermeneutic of love. Richard helps us see that we have to reckon with our attachment to God - whether we actually believe he's for us - because that fear or security shapes everything about how we read. We get into the violent texts of the Old Testament, why both conservatives and progressives have their own blind spots, how the Bible raises hard questions, and what seeing the cross through a hermeneutic of love looks like.
Richard Beckis professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, where he also lives. He is a popular blogger and speaker and the author of several books, most recently The Shape of Joy and The Book of Love.His published research also covers topics as diverse as the psychology of profanity and why Christian bookstore art is so bad. Beck leads a Bible study each week for inmates at a maximum-security prison.
Richard's Book:
The Book of Love
Richard's Recommendations:
What it Means to be Protestant
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Brian Zahnd joins me to talk about his new book Unseen Existences — and we get into why modern Western people suffer a kind of spiritual homelessness, how philosophical materialism has convinced us the spiritual world isn't real, and what it looks like to recover a sense that heaven and earth actually overlap. We also dig into the Incarnation as a doorway into mystery, wonder and awe as non-negotiables for living faith, and what it means to hold onto a God who intervenes without turning prayer into a transaction.
Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Known for his theologically informed preaching and his embrace of the deep and long history of the church, Zahnd is a frequent speaker at conferences, universities, and seminaries around the world. As a pastor-theologian, he is the author of numerous titles, including The Wood Between the Worlds, When Everything's on Fire, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, A Farewell to Mars, and Beauty Will Save the World.
Brian's Book:
Unseen Existences
Brian's Recommendation:
Wendell Berry
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Elizabeth Berget joins the podcast to explore the maternal heart of God — tracing how the Hebrew word rakum, often translated simply as "compassionate," is linguistically rooted in the word for womb, and what it means that God reaches for that word first when describing himself to Israel. The conversation moves through pregnancy, labor, and the crucifixion, the theology of secure attachment, what scripture's birth language reveals about salvation, and why expanding our image of God isn't a departure from orthodox Christianity but a return to something ancient that's largely been lost in translation.
ELIZABETH BERGET is a speaker and author of Love like a Mother: How the Sacred Work of Motherhood Reveals the Maternal Heart of God. Her work has appeared in Christianity Today, Coffee + Crumbs, Mothering Spirit, and other online spaces where mothers gather to find meaning in the mundane. She shares her thoughts in her Substack newsletter, Back of the Flock, where she explores the image of God in the everyday work of motherhood. Berget has lived in Africa and Asia but now resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, three kids, and one mischievous dog. And yes, she'd love to hold your baby.
Elizabeth's Book:
Love Like a Mother
Elizabeth's Recommendations:
Nervous Systems
Living Easter
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Light is a language, and learning to read it - in a darkened theater, in the stories of your neighbors, in the films you were told to avoid - helps us see clearly. In this conversation, Jeffrey Overstreet and I talk about cinema as a spiritual practice, what it looks like to love your neighbor by actually watching their films, why the filmmakers he was told to fear have shaped his faith far more than he was told they would, and why pursuing truth and beauty on the big screen has a way of leading us back to Jesus.
Jeffrey Overstreet is the author of two film-focused memoirs—Through a Screen Darkly (2007) and Lost and Found in the Cathedral of Cinema (2026)—and the four-volume fantasy series The Auralia Thread. He has served as Senior Film Critic at Christianity Today, a film columnist for the literary arts journal Image, and has been published at Paste and Bright Wall/Dark Room. In 2024, students at Seattle Pacific University voted him Undergraduate Professor of the Year for his work teaching creative writing and film studies. You can find more than 25 years of his writing on film, music, and faith at JeffreyOverstreet.com
Jeffrey's Book:
Lost and Found in the Cathedral of Cinema
Jeffrey's Recommendations:
Scott Cairns
Tania Runyan
Delicate Machinery Suspended
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Paul wasn't just helping people get to heaven. Nijay Gupta joins me to make the case that Paul's letters were written for people trying to figure out how to live, not how to escape. Drawing from his new book Paul for the World, Nijay walks through the Greco-Roman world Paul was writing into - its economic disparity, its philosophies, its hunger for meaning - and shows how we can see our world similarly. The conversation moves through economics, the arts, the Stoics, and the resurrection to land on a grounded, new creation vision of the Christian life. This is a conversation about meaning, hope, and what it looks like to be fully alive in the world God hasn't given up on.
Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham University) is Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is the coauthor (with A. J. Swoboda) of the book Slow Theology, cohost of the Slow Theology podcast, and founder of the popular Substack newsletter Engaging Scripture. Gupta is an award-winning author of numerous books, including Tell Her Story, Strange Religion, and commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He is also a senior translator for the New Living Translation. Gupta lives in Portland, Oregon.
Nijay's Book:
Paul for the World
Nijay's Recommendation:
God's Homecoming
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In this episode, Tia Levings returns to talk about her new book I Belong to Me - a guide to healing and recovery after high-control religion and other controlling environments. Tia walks through what she calls the steps before the steps: the audacity, the centrality, the willingness to want something different before you're even ready to name what happened to you. We talk about why language can free you and trap you at the same time, how cult-hopping happens and why, what developmental stages get stolen in high-control systems, and how somatic and body-based modalities opened up healing that talk therapy alone couldn't reach. This is a grounded, honest conversation about what it looks like to start to become the protagonist of your own story.
Tia Levings is the New York Times Bestselling author of A Well-Trained Wife, her memoir of escape from Christian Patriarchy and I Belong to Me: A Survivor’s Guide to Recovery and Hope after Religious Trauma. She writes about the realities of religious trauma, evangelical patriarchy, and the Trad wife life, decoding the fundamentalist influences in our news and culture. Her work and quotes have appeared in Teen Vogue, Salon, Newsweek, and the HuffingtonPost. She is an experienced interviewee, speaker, and podcast guest, and has appeared in the hit Amazon docu-series, Shiny Happy People. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, she is mom to four incredible adults and likes to travel, hike, paint, and daydream. Find her on social media @TiaLevingsWriter.
Tia's Book:
I Belong to Me
Tia's Recommendation:
Heart the Lover
Everything in Color
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What do you do when the fire won't start - when life is full but God feels distant, when faith is intact but the soul is running on empty? In this conversation, I sit down with Tish Harrison Warren, who draws on her new book, What Grows in Weary Lands, to explore acedia, the ancient concept usually translated as sloth but better understood as a sadness that the good is difficult. We trace how the desert fathers and mothers were grappling with the same exhaustion and spiritual languishing that defines our moment and what their practices have to teach us about endurance, formation, and encounter with the living God.
Tish Harrison Warren is a writer and an Anglican priest. She is the author of several books, including Liturgy of the Ordinary, which won Christianity Today’s 2018 Book of the Year, and Prayer in the Night, which won Christianity Today’s 2022 Book of the Year and the 2022 ECPA Christian Book of the Year. She formerly wrote a weekly newsletter for The New York Times, which focused on faith in public discourse and private life. She was also a columnist at Christianity Today. Her articles and essays have appeared in Comment Magazine, the The Point Magazine, Religion News Service, and elsewhere. She currently serves as the C.S. Lewis Theological Writer-in-Residence for The Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. She is a senior fellow with the Trinity Forum and an assisting priest at Immanuel Anglican Church. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three children.
Tish's Book:
What Grows in Weary Lands
Tish's Recommendation:
Liturgies of the Wild
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In this episode, I sit down with Eric Clayton to explore the spirituality of Star Wars and why these stories still shape how we see ourselves and the world. We talk about the cave on Dagobah, the pull of the dark side, nonviolence, discernment, and how stories can become spaces where God meets us and forms us - if we’re paying attention. We get into holy indifference, the tension between action and waiting, and what it means to choose a different way in the middle of chaos. This conversation is about learning to notice what’s stirring in us and to embody a better story in our everyday lives.
Eric Clayton is an award-winning author and the deputy director for communications at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. His books include, Finding Peace Here and Now: How Ignatian Spirituality Leads Us to Healing and Wholeness, My Life with the Jedi: The Spirituality of Star Wars, and more. His writing has appeared in America Magazine, National Catholic Reporter, US Catholic, among others, and he is a frequent contributor to Give Us This Day and IgnatianSpirituality.com. Eric lives outside of Baltimore, Maryland, with his family. Learn more at ericclaytonwrites.com.
Eric's Book:
My Life with the Jedi
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In this episode, I talk with Scot McKnight and Adrienne Gibson about their new book Traumatized Church, and what it looks like to read Paul, and our congregations, through a trauma-informed lens. We explore what trauma actually is, how it lives in the body, and why so many people are being quietly re-traumatized in the very communities meant to heal them. The conversation moves between Paul's raw letter in 2 Corinthians and the practical work of building churches that are safe, full of mutuality, and honest about the pain in the room.
Scot McKnight (PhD, Nottingham) has been a Professor of New Testament for more than four decades. He is the author of more than ninety books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as The King Jesus Gospel, A Fellowship of Differents, One.Life, The Blue Parakeet, Revelation for the Rest of Us, and Kingdom Conspiracy.
Adrienne Gibson is a licensed professional counselor (LPC), clinical supervisor for the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners (AZBBHE), and the owner of Valor Counseling. She has been licensed for over two decades, working with children, families, and adults, and has served as a clinical supervisor and clinical director for two large community based mental health agencies in Arizona and Oregon. She has master’s degrees in counseling and New Testament. She regularly speaks on the topic of trauma and healing and consults with denominations on implementing trauma-informed care practices.
Scot & Adrienne's Book:
Traumatized Church
Scot's Recommendation:
Complicity in the Holocaust
Adrienne's Recommendation:
The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog
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We’re living in a fractured world, pulled in a thousand directions, unsure what it actually means to live a good life. In this episode, I talk with Alan Noble about virtue, telos, and how prudence, justice, courage, temperance, faith, hope, and love reorient us toward a life that is whole, grounded, and shaped by the way of Jesus. We explore decision-making, suffering, agency, and hope - and what it looks like to actually embody these virtues in everyday life.
Dr. O. Alan Noble is Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, a fellow at the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, and author of four books, including: To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times, On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living, and You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World. Dr. Noble has published articles at The Atlantic, The Gospel Coalition, First Things, and Christianity Today. He lives in Oklahoma City with his wife and three children.
Alan's Book:
To Live Well
Alan's Recommendation:
The Quest for Community
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What do you do when the world refuses to become what you know it should be? In this conversation, Steven Garber introduces the concept of "the proximate" - learning to make peace with what is nearly, but not yet, true - in our marriages, our work for justice, and our longing for God's kingdom to come. Drawing on Tolkien, Augustine, the Clapham Society, and the surprising cry of a postmodern novelist, Steven helps us understand the difference between hope and optimism, what it means to carry our wounds into the world as healers, and why the question of what it means to be human may be the most urgent question of our age. His new book is Hints of Hope.
Steven Garber has been teacher of many people in many places for many years, a professor for undergraduates, graduates, and people at work in the world. The founder of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture, he now serves as the Senior Fellow for Vocation and the Common Good for the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Senior Advisor for the Economics of Mutuality and Senior Fellow for the Institute for Marketplace Transformation; and for several years was the Professor of Marketplace Theology at Regent College, Vancouver BC. The author of several books, his most recent are Hints of Hope: Essays on Making Peace with the Proximate, Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, and The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning, Worship and Work. With his wife Meg, they are the parents of children and grandchildren, and have long lived in Virginia among family, friends and flowers. A native of the mountain valleys of Colorado and California, a geography of people and place which is still a deep home to him.
Steven's Book:
Hints of Hope
Steven's Recommendations:
A Christmas Carol
Les Miserables
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I sit down with Andrew Root to talk about his new book Baal and the Gods of More and the ways fertility idols still shape how we think about growth in the church. We explore how the drive for more - more people, more influence, more momentum - can pull us away from the way of Jesus, even when we think we’re being faithful. This conversation moves from Elijah to Mary and reframes growth as being formed into Christ, not building something bigger.
Andrew Root (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He writes and researches in the areas of theology, ministry, culture, and younger generations and is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the six-volume Ministry in a Secular Age set. Root is also the coauthor (with Kenda Creasy Dean) of The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. He serves as staff theologian at Youthfront, is a frequent speaker, and cohosts the Ministry in a Secular Age podcast.
Andy's Book:
Baal and the Gods of More
Andy's Recommendation:
The Logic of the Spirit
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In this episode, I talk with Jason VanRuler about why we keep missing each other in conversation and what’s actually going on beneath the surface. We explore the five communication types - peacemaker, advocate, thinker, harbor, and spark - and how our upbringing, attachment styles, and even shame shape the way we speak and listen. Jason offers a practical way forward: growing in self-awareness, understanding the person in front of you, and shifting from trying to win or convince to actually connecting.
Jason VanRuler, MA, CSAT, is a psychotherapist, author, and nationally recognized speaker specializing in communication, attachment, and relationships. He’s the author of Discovering Your Communication Type and Get Past Your Past and founder of a thriving private practice. Known for blending insight, story, and strategy, Jason leads workshops, retreats, and intensives that explore the patterns shaping how we connect, lead, and thrive. His work creates space for clarity, growth, and lasting change. He lives with his wife and three children and enjoys travel, cycling, and fly fishing.
Jason's Book:
Discovering Your Communication Type
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Forgiveness is one of the hardest, but most crucial parts of the Christian life. In this episode with Amy Orr-Ewing, we talk about why forgiveness matters right now, especially in a culture shaped by outrage, cancellation, and competing visions of justice. Amy helps clarify the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, why real forgiveness doesn’t minimize harm or remove consequences, and how the cross makes a way to take evil seriously while still offering grace. We also get into trauma, shame, enemy love, and what it looks like to practice forgiveness in our lives and communities without cheapening it.
Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing is an international author, speaker and theologian who addresses the deep questions of our day with meaningful answers found in the Christian Faith. She is the author of multiple books including bestsellers ‘Where is God in All the Suffering?’, ‘Why Trust the Bible?’, ‘Mary’s Voice’, and her latest ‘Forgiveness Reclaiming its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear’ releases in 2026.
Over the last twenty five years, Amy has spoken in more than 40 countries as a public advocate for the Christian faith including public lectures and open forums on university campuses, and addressing Politicians and Parliamentarians in the UK Parliament and staffers on Capitol Hill, the Senate and the West Wing of The White House. Amy speaks at conferences, businesses, banks, and churches about how theology connects with the deepest questions of life.
In 2023, Amy was awarded the Alphege Medal for Evangelism and Witness by the Archbishop of Canterbury. She holds a D Dphil (doctorate) from the University of Oxford and is Honorary Lecturer at the School of Divinity, University of Aberdeen, Distinguished Scholar at Wheaton College Illinois and Founder of Advocate Collective. Amy is married to Frog and they have three wonderful sons.
Amy's Book:
Forgiveness
Amy's Recommendations:
The Mind of the Maker
The Body Keeps the Score
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Malcolm Guite joins me to talk about his new epic poem Galahad and the Grail and why these ancient stories still matter. We explore how myth and poetry can help us see what’s real, how we’ve lost a sense of wonder in a mechanized and disenchanted world, and why imagination is essential for meaning. Malcolm shares how the story of the wasteland speaks to our cultural moment - from ecological crisis to the rise of technology - and how beauty, story, and the recovery of the sacred can begin to heal what’s been broken. This conversation moves from Arthurian legend to theology, from poetry to modern life, and invites us to see the world again with clarity, depth, and hope.
Malcolm Guite is a poet, scholar, and Life Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. He has published five collections of poetry and many other books including Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Hodder, 2017).
In 2023 he was awarded the Lanfranc Medal for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He lives in Norfolk and travels extensively to give poetry readings and lectures and also has a popular YouTube channel he calls “A Spell in the Library.”
Malcolm's Book:
Galahad and the Grail
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Desire is shaping your life more than you think. In this conversation, I talk with Jay Stringer about why desire often feels like a civil war within us and how our longings are deeply connected to our story - our wounds, our past, and the formation we’ve received. We explore five core desires that lead to human flourishing, how shame keeps us stuck, and why paying attention to what you want can become a roadmap to healing. This conversation will help you understand your desires, uncover what’s beneath them, and begin to move toward a more whole, integrated life.
Jay Stringer is a licensed mental health counselor, researcher, and speaker who helps people uncover the unexpected meaning hidden in life’s hardest challenges. He is the award-winning author of Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing and lives in New York City with his wife, Heather, and their two children.
Jay's Book:
Desire
Jay's Recommendations:
Beowulf
Crossing the Unknown Sea
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Mark DeYmaz - pastor, author, and longtime leader in building multi-ethnic, economically diverse churches returns to talk about what it actually means to be a peacemaker in a divided world. We center the conversation on the Prayer of St. Francis and explore the difference between claiming the name of Christ and embodying his way, why nuance and listening matter, and how to hold tension without trying to escape it. Mark shares practical ways to pursue peace in everyday relationships and in the broader culture, and we wrestle with how to live with both hope and despair at the same time. If we’re going to reflect Jesus in the world, this is work we can’t avoid.
A thought-leading writer and recognized champion of the Multiethnic Church Movement, Mark planted the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas (mosaicchurch.net) in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. In 2004, he co-founded the Mosaix Global Network (mosaix.info), with Dr. George Yancey, today serving as its president and convener of the triennial National Multi-ethnic Church Conference. In 2008, he launched Vine and Village (vineandvillage.org) and remains active on the board of this 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on the spiritual, social, and financial transformation of Little Rock's University District.
Mark has written several books, The Coming Revolution in Church Economics (Baker Books, 2019); Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community (Thomas Nelson, 2017); and Multiethnic Conversations: an Eight Week Guide to Unity in Your Church (Wesleyan Publishing House, 2016), the first daily devotional, small group curriculum on the subject for people in the pews. His book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass, 2007), was a finalist for a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (2008) and for a Resource of the Year Award (2008) sponsored by Outreach magazine. Other works include, re:MIX: Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon, 2016); Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (formerly Ethnic Blends; Zondervan, 2010, 2013), and the e-Book, Should Pastors Accept or Reject the Homogeneous Unit Principle? (Mosaix Global Network, 2011). In addition to books, he is a contributing editor for Outreach magazine where his column, "Mosaic" appears in each issue.
He and his wife, Linda, have been married for thirty-two years and reside in Little Rock, AR. Linda is the author of the certified best-seller, Mommy, Please Don't Cry: There Are No Tears in Heaven (Multnomah, 1996), an anointed resource providing hope and comfort for those who grieve the loss of a child. Mark and Linda have four adult children and three grandchildren.
Mark's Book:
Make Me An Instrument of Your Peace
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Creativity isn’t optional in this moment, it’s essential to what it means to be human and to follow Jesus in a rapidly changing world. In this conversation, I talk with Al Gordon about why imagination is under threat, how AI is reshaping our creative lives, and why the church is called to recover its role as a place that ignites creativity rather than suppresses it. We explore how the Holy Spirit fuels imagination, why wonder has faded in our culture, and what it looks like to move from inspiration to actually creating something that matters.
Al Gordon leads SAINT, a thriving church on a mission to bring hope to the people of East London. He’s the founder of RENAISSANCE, a global movement helping people encounter their Creator, be equipped as creatives, and empowering churches to become cathedrals of creativity. He is a trustee of Alpha International and is married to Olivia, an architect. Al is the author of SPARK: Ignite Your God-Given Creativity.
Al's Book:
Spark
Al's Recommendation:
Hamnet
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Marty Solomon joins me to talk about what it actually means to be human and why starting with belovedness changes everything. We explore how the stories we believe shape our view of God, ourselves, and others, why certainty can get in the way of real faith, and how to hold both our brokenness and our belovedness at the same time. This conversation moves from theology into practice - how we listen to the Spirit, see our enemies as human again, and participate in the shalom God is already bringing in the world.
Marty Solomon is a theologian, the president and director of discipleship for Impact Campus Ministries, and the creator and executive producer of The BEMA Podcast. He and his wife, Rebekah, live in Cincinnati with their two children. Marty’s previous book is titled Asking Better Questions of the Bible: A Guide for the Wounded, Wary, and Longing for More.
Marty's Book:
The Gospel of Being Human
Marty's Recommendation:
N.T. Wright
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Kevin Burrell joins me to talk about what it means to pay attention again - to consider the birds, as Jesus says, and to see how creation can lead us deeper into the life of God. We walk through Philippians, a letter written from prison yet full of joy, and explore how joy and suffering can coexist, how anxiety is reshaped by trust, and how rootedness, unity, and discernment are formed in us over time. Kevin shares how birdwatching became more than a hobby, opening up a way of seeing that reveals God’s presence in the ordinary and invites us to slow down, notice, and live with greater awareness of what God is doing all around us.
Kevin Burrell is the co-lead Pastor of StoneBridge Church Community in Charlotte, North Carolina. An avid birder, Kevin’s pastoral heart and avian interests united with the formation of his blog, Ornitheology, where he utilizes birds as illustrations of the Christian life. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Beverly, three children, and five birdfeeders.
Kevin's Book:
Considering Sparrows
Kevin's Recommendation:
East of Eden
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In a world of misinformation and uncertainty, we’re often tempted to think our way out of our problems. But what if more knowledge isn’t the answer? In this episode, I talk with philosopher and author James K.A. Smith about his book Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark and why the pursuit of certainty can easily become an idol. We discuss his personal journey discovering the wisdom of silence, solitude, and surrender after a season of depression forced him to confront problems thinking alone couldn’t solve. We explore the insights of the medieval mystics, what it means to let go of the need to win arguments, why our bodies matter in spiritual practice, and how discovering our belovedness reshapes the way we live and engage the world.
James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin University and author of Make Your Home in this Luminous Dark: Mysticism, Art, and the Gift of Unknowing (Yale, March 2026). His popular writing has appeared in magazines such as Christianity Today, Christian Century, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, as well as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He lives in Grand Rapids, MI.
James' Book:
Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark
James' Recommendation:
Mussolini Son of the Century
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In this episode, I sit down with Bethaney Wilkinson to talk about the pressure so many of us feel to move faster, do more, and carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Bethaney shares her own story of burnout and how that crisis forced her to rethink the pace of her life, the way she pursued justice, and what it means to live faithfully in a chaotic world. We explore why constantly staring at the problems of the world can slowly deform our souls, how beauty and attention can help reorient us toward love, and why slowing down and tending to our inner lives might actually be one of the most important ways we can become a healing presence in the world.
Bethaney B. Wilkinson (MA, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a writer, spiritual director, podcaster, and facilitator who is passionate about slow, sustainable, and soul-nourishing living. She has led conversations on spirituality, race, and social change at Google and the Chick-fil-A Foundation, and her work has been featured on Getaway House, The Plywood podcast, and Pantsuit Politics. Bethaney is the author of The Diversity Gap and lives in rural Georgia.
Bethaney's Book:
A More Beautiful Way to Live
Bethaney's Recommendations:
Against the Machine
Pride and Prejudice
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Josh Nadeau, author of Heaven Meets Earth, joins me to explore what it looks like to move beyond intellectual faith into something embodied and transformative. Drawing on the Nicene Creed as a 40-day guide, Josh makes the case that goodness, truth, and beauty are the doorways into a faith that actually forms us - shaping our loves, our attention, and how we see the world around us. We talk about why the Western Church has largely lost its sense of wonder, what the ancient spiritual practices do that head knowledge alone never can, and how the ordinary moments of everyday life are already full of divine invitation - if we have eyes to see them.
Josh Nadeau is a writer and illustrator from Canada's West Coast, working to recover ancient ways of seeing God's Reality in a disenchanted age. He believes Beauty is an apologetic; a call to rediscover the holy ordinary of everyday life by participating in God's transcendent work.
He is husband to Aislinn and father to Ransom and Cassian. He holds an undergraduate degree in physics, a master's in theological studies, and a doctorate from the school of hard knocks.
Josh is the founder of Sword and Pencil and Every Day Saints.
Josh's Book:
Heaven Meets Earth
Josh's Recommendations:
For the Life of the World
Slaughterhouse-Five
Mother Night
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In this episode, I talk with theologian Jared Stacy about why conspiracy theories have taken such deep root in our cultural moment and why they often find unique traction within American Christianity. We explore how an overload of information, fear, and ideological certainty can distort the stories we tell about the world and about God. Jared reflects on the Columbine martyrdom myth, the difference between ideology and the living story of Christ, and why presence, community, and faithful storytelling may be the church’s most important response in an age where reality itself often feels contested.
Jared Stacy is a theologian and ethicist and former pastor to evangelical churches in New Orleans and the Washington, DC, metro area. He received a PhD in moral & practical theology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. His research focuses on the intersection of theology and politics. Specifically on ethics, extremism/conspiracy theory and US evangelicalism. Jared’s work and his story have been featured on platforms like Time, NPR, NBC News, the BBC, and Christianity Today.
Jared's Book:
Reality in Ruins
Jared's Recommendation:
Joining Creation's Praise
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In this episode, I’m joined by Shannon Martin to talk about her new book Counterweights and how we keep moving forward when life feels overwhelmingly heavy. We explore grief, collective trauma, and why quick fixes and toxic positivity fall short, alongside the small, ordinary practices that help us stay grounded and human. This conversation moves through faith, paradox, community, and the kingdom of God, not as something we wait for, but something we practice together here and now. If you’re carrying more than you know what to do with and looking for a way to remain present, honest, and hopeful, this conversation is for you.
Shannan Martin is the bestselling author of several books, including Start with Hello, The Ministry of Ordinary Places, and the popular Substack The Soup. Shannan is a wannabe gardener, a news geek, a fighter for justice, and a thrift store stalker. She and her family live as grateful neighbors in Goshen, Indiana, where Shannan is on staff at the local community kitchen. Find her on Instagram @shannanwrites.
Shannan's Book:
Counterweights
Shannan's Recommendations:
Shrinking
Where Do We Go From Here
Cherished Belonging
Love Walked In
All About Love
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Justin Ariel Bailey joins me to talk about his book Discipling the Diseased Imagination and why imagination plays a crucial role in spiritual formation. We explore how the stories, habits, and media that capture our attention quietly shape our discipleship, and why following Jesus requires learning to behold what is good, beautiful, and true. We also discuss hope, idolatry, attachment, and how the imagination can be healed as we live more deeply in the story of God.
Justin Ariel Bailey (PhD, Fuller Seminary) is dean of chapel and professor of theology at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church and has served as a pastor in diverse settings. Bailey is the author of Reimagining Apologetics and Interpreting Your World, and he is a sought-after speaker. His new book is Discipling the Diseased Imagination.
Justin's Book:
Discipling the Diseased Imagination
Justin's Recommendations:
Piranesi
That Hideous Strength
Broken Bonds
Everything is Never Enough
The Theological Imagination
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What do you do when your faith no longer fits the formulas you were given? In this episode, I sit down with Kendall to talk about what she calls “soul friction” — the holy discomfort that surfaces through disillusionment, infertility, adoption, racial awakening, purity culture, and watching the church miss the way of Jesus. We explore anger, courage, embodiment, and what it really means to pray “on earth as it is in heaven.” This is a conversation about tending the fire instead of letting it burn everything down and choosing courageous faith over easy certainty.
Kendall Mariah is a lifestyle content creator, photographer, and brand strategist whose honest storytelling has cultivated a deeply connected online community. As a business owner, military spouse, and adoptive mom, she speaks authentically about the intersections of faith, identity, and everyday life. Her debut book, THIS LITTLE FIRE OF MINE, releases in February 2026.
Kendall's Book:
This Little Fire of Mine
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In this episode, I sit down with Sarah Bessey to talk about editing Braving the Truth, a curated collection of blog posts and essays from Rachel Held Evans that feel as timely now as when they were first written. We explore Rachel’s legacy, her refusal to give in to dualistic thinking, and her commitment to telling the truth without surrendering love. This conversation is about long-term faithfulness in a time of backlash, how to plant hope in our own patch of earth, and what it looks like for us to carry the baton forward, so that we can brave the truth.
Sarah Bessey is a Canadian writer whose work creates spaces of welcome where questions are honoured, stories matter, and resilient hope is practiced, one small faithful act at a time. She is the bestselling author of five books including Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith and the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer. Sarah also writes the bestselling weekly Substack newsletter Field Notes.
Living in Calgary with her family, she writes from the ordinary rhythms of life with warmth and theological generosity.
Sarah's Book:
Braving the Truth
Sarah's Recommendations:
Wild Dark Shore
One Day Everyone Will Have Been Against This
Christ in the Rubble
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In this episode, I sit down with Preston Sprinkle to walk through one of the most debated questions in the church: women in leadership. We trace the story from Genesis to the prophets, through the ministry of Jesus, into Romans 16, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy 2, asking what the whole sweep of Scripture actually says about authority, teaching, and the nature of leadership in the kingdom of God. Preston shares his multi-year journey of wrestling with the text, where he lands, and why he believes we need deeper study and better conversations around this issue for the sake of the church and our witness in the world.
Dr. Preston Sprinkle is a biblical scholar, speaker, podcaster, a New York Times bestselling author, and is the co-founder and president of The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. He earned a Ph.D. in New Testament from Aberdeen University in Scotland (2007), and has taught theology at Cedarville University (OH), Nottingham University (U.K.), and Eternity Bible College (CA). Preston is an international speaker who’s written over a dozen books including Does the Bible Support Same-Sex Marriage? and his most recent book: Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire. Preston currently serves as the president of The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender, an organization that equips Christians to engage questions about faith, sexuality and gender with theological faithfulness and courageous love. And he’s also the president of Theology in the Raw, which includes the popular “Theology in the Raw” podcast and the annual “Exiles in Babylon” conference.
Preston's Book:
From Genesis to Junia
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What happens when a poet and a theologian decide to write letters to each other about faith? In this episode, I sit down with Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf to discuss their book Glimmerings and talk about the language we use for God and why it so often falls short, the tension between God's presence and absence, what the Book of Job has to say about suffering, and whether faith can survive, even deepen, without easy answers. It's a conversation about holding paradox, paying attention, and what it looks like to keep believing in the middle of real life.
Miroslav Volfis the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and the founding director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. His books include Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation, winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. His Gifford Lectures (2025) are titled Amor Mundi: God and the Character of Our Relation to the World.
Christian Wiman is the Clement-Muehl Professor of the Arts at Yale Divinity School. He is the author, editor, or translator of fifteen books, including Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair and Hammer Is the Prayer: Selected Poems. His work appears regularly in Harper’s, The New Yorker, and Commonweal.
Miroslav & Chris' Book:
Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian
Chris' Recommendations:
The Banquet Years
Miroslav's Recommendation:
The Cost of Discipleship
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In this conversation, I sit down with Kristen LaValley to talk about the complexity of growing up in the church and what happens when faith both forms us and harms us. We talk about spiritual trauma, shame, neurodivergence, fear-based theology, and the moment when the frameworks we were given stop holding. Kristen shares her story of growing up in ministry, leaving church leadership, and slowly rebuilding a faith centered not on performance or fear, but on the love of God. This episode is about healing, asking honest questions, and the long work of moving toward wholeness—trusting that flourishing is possible, even after faith has hurt you.
Kristen LaValley is a writer and storyteller whose words offer a refreshing perspective on faith and spirituality and resonate with those who carry tension in their faith. She offers insights that intersect doubt and belief, hope and suffering, beauty and heartache. With a deep love for the Christian faith and a willingness to explore its complexities, Kristen's writing offers nuanced conversations that challenge readers to think deeply and wrestle with important questions. Kristen lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Zach, and their five children.
Kristen's Book:
Growing Up Saved
Kristen's Recommendation:
Monk and Robot
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Chris grew up Catholic, lost his faith in college after his twin brother nearly died and he was later diagnosed with stage three cancer, and spent years immersed in atheism shaped by thinkers like Bertrand Russell and the New Atheists. In this episode, we talk about the limits of scientific materialism and romantic idealism, the problem of suffering, the reality of consciousness, and why atheism is never just disbelief but always carries a worldview. Chris shares why he ultimately returned to Catholicism, how he holds faith and doubt together, and why hope, transcendence, and human dignity still matter in a culture shaped by fear, anxiety, and self-interest.
Christopher Beha is former editor of Harper's Magazine; the author of a memoir, The Whole Five Feet; and the novels Arts & Entertainments and What Happened to Sophie Wilder. His most recent novel, The Index of Self-Destructive Acts, was nominated for the 2020 National Book Award.
Chris' Book:
Why I Am Not an Atheist
Chris' Recommendations:
Madame Bovary
The Dying Grass
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A few weeks before leaving to pursue mainstream music, Tim Timmons was told he had five years to live. In this episode, we talk about the story behind his song “Even If,” how that confession was forged in the middle of stage-four cancer, and how his journey is now portrayed in the film I Can Only Imagine 2. We explore what it means to hold grief and gratitude together, to surrender outcomes without giving up hope, and to resist contempt through enemy-love in a divided culture. This isn’t a polished victory arc. It’s a conversation about paying attention to Jesus in the 10,000 ordinary minutes of our lives — and discovering that even if the healing doesn’t come, God himself is still our hope.
Tim Timmons is a singer-songwriter who has spent over two decades in ministry, writing songs born from personal experience with pain, cancer, hope, and joy. In 2001, he received a terminal cancer diagnosis with a five-year prognosis—he's now 24 years into that journey. "The gift of cancer is perspective," he shares. "It's really the open door to speak into people's stories."
Since his 2013 debut "Cast My Cares," Timmons has been creating what he calls "prayers set to music," including co-writing MercyMe's Grammy-nominated "Even If." His latest work with Integrity Music explores themes of God's presence through struggle, including singles like "You Never Let Go" and "Roar"—songs that put praise into action even in the midst of hardship.
After 15 years leading worship in Orange County, California, Timmons now tours full-time, carrying a message forged in the fire of his own battle with incurable cancer. "I hear so many stories after every show where people are just stuck in religion—exhausted, shame-filled, powerless, and joyless," he notes. "I want to have songs that actually help them through their journey and invite them beyond fear."
When home in Nashville, Tim, his wife Hilary of 23+ years, and their four children live out their faith in everyday moments. Six years ago, he founded the non-profit 10000 MINUTES with a weekly podcast inspiring people to practice Jesus in all 10,000 minutes of their week, not just the 80 spent in church. He is also the author of the forthcoming book, Waking Up Again: A Journey of Grief and Gratitude (March 3, 2026).
Tim Timmons' greatest desire—whether through his cancer story, his theology, or his songs—is to help people discover the real life found with Jesus, one day at a time.
Tim's Book:
Waking Up Again
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Jason Green was serving in the Obama White House when a phone call from his mother sent him home to sit with his grandmother in the hospital — and into a story he never knew was his. In this conversation, we talk about the hidden history of Quince Orchard, a Black community founded after emancipation, and three segregated churches that chose to merge in 1968 after Dr. King’s assassination. We explore remembrance before reconciliation, the communal strength of the Black church, breaking cycles of harm, and what it actually costs to build resilient, integrated community in a divided time. If you’re asking where we go from here — chaos or community — this episode is for you.
Jason G. Green is a Maryland-born community organizer, attorney, entrepreneur, and storyteller whose work sits at the intersection of economic opportunity, community trust-building, and democratic renewal. He is the author of the forthcoming book Too Precious to Lose (One World | Penguin Random House, 2026), an intimate narrative that blends a personal, community history with a broader call to repair the connections that bind us together.
Green served as Special Assistant to the President and Associate White House Counsel to President Obama, advising on domestic and economic policy during the recovery from the Great Recession. He later co-founded SkillSmart, a pioneering workforce and economic-impact software company that has helped quantify more than $100 billion in economic development activity and supported a talent pipeline of more than 50,000 skilled workers across the United States.
He is the President and CEO of EverGreen Labs, a strategy studio that helps organizations deepen stakeholder alignment, improve market positioning, and drive measurable business outcomes. Green previously served as Executive-in-Residence at Zeal Capital Partners, supporting early-stage companies focused on the future of work, financial technology, and health equity.
A civic leader deeply committed to history, memory, and reconciliation, Green is a trustee of the Pleasant View Historic Association and a founding commissioner and former chair of the Montgomery County Commission on Remembrance and Reconciliation. His award-winning PBS documentary, Finding Fellowship, explores the intertwined Black and white history of Quince Orchard and the community-led fight to preserve its legacy
Green has served several corporate and nonprofit boards, including Daivergent, Flare, Clear Impact, Per Scholas, the Arena, the Washington University Alumni Board of Governors and Regional Cabinet, and the Yale Law School Executive Committee and is a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis.
His work—spanning technology, public service, storytelling, and community leadership—is rooted in a belief that our shared future depends on our capacity to connect and build together. Green currently lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife Ritu and their son Aidan.
Jason's Book:
Too Precious to Lose
Jason's Recommendation:
Great Expectations
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In this episode, I sit down with Hannah Miller King to talk about hope when life doesn’t resolve neatly. We explore what it means to live in the now and the not yet, how grief, loss, and unanswered prayers shape our faith, and why Christian hope isn’t the same thing as optimism. We talk about the table, the Eucharist, and the idea that salvation is less about transaction and more about union with God. This conversation wrestles honestly with suffering, expectancy versus expectation, and the courage it takes to keep loving and hoping in a broken world - without rushing past the pain.
Hannah Miller King is an Anglican priest and writer in western North Carolina. She is the associate pastor of the vine Anglican Church and author of “Feasting On Hope: How God Sets a Table in thr Wilderness” (IVP)
Hannah's Book:
Feasting on Hope
Hannah's Recommendations:
Between Two Kingdoms
The Teacher of Nomad Land
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In this episode, I sit down with Michael Leach for a thoughtful conversation about fear, faith, and what it looks like to keep moving forward when clarity is hard to come by. We talk about his journey from growing up on the South Side of Chicago to working in the NFL and serving in the White House, but more importantly about how faith is formed through practice, resilience, and trust in uncertain seasons. We explore purpose and identity, calling versus assignment, burnout and boundaries, and why connection matters more than simply having the right words. This is an honest, grounded conversation about choosing faith over fear and learning how to live with courage and moral clarity in a complicated world.
Michael Leach is a distinguished leader whose career spans the NFL, national politics, and the White House. Born on the South Side of Chicago, his journey has shaped him into one of today’s most trusted and relatable voices on faith, leadership, and resilience. He began with the Chicago Bears, advanced to NFL Headquarters, helped lead and build the most diverse presidential campaign team in U.S. history, culminating in a historic victory, and later made history as the first-ever Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of the White House. Now Founder & CEO of BridgeTrust Partners, Leach helps leaders and organizations strengthen trust, purpose, and impact across industries.
Michael's Book:
Faith Over Fear
Michael's Recommendation:
The One Thing
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What if Christianity was never meant to be about escaping earth for heaven, but about God coming home to the world? In this episode, I sit down with N. T. Wright for a wide-ranging conversation that reclaims the Bible’s larger story: heaven and earth meant to overlap, God dwelling with humanity, and new creation beginning now. We explore temples and tabernacles, resurrection and judgment, what it truly means to be human, and how the church is called to reflect God’s presence in a fractured world. Drawing from Wright’s latest book God’s Homecoming, this conversation invites youto rethink faith, hope, justice, and the future of the world and to rediscover a gospel that is far bigger, richer, and more grounded than we thought.
N. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and one of the world’s leading Bible scholars. He is Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University, and Senior Editor at Saint Andrews. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline, The Colbert Report, and NPR’s Fresh Air. Wright is the award-winning author of many books, including Paul: A Biography, Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, The Day the Revolution Began, Simply Jesus, After You Believe, and Scripture and the Authority of God.
N.T. Wright's Book:
God's Homecoming
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We live in a world flooded with stories, opinions, and noise, and I find myself wondering which ones are actually worth giving our attention to. In this conversation, I sit down with mythologist and storyteller Martin Shaw to explore why some stories shape us toward life while others quietly hollow us out. We talk about myths that function like prayers rather than spells, why Jesus taught through parables, and how stories still have the power to form us into more loving, grounded human beings.
Martin shares his own unexpected journey back to Christianity through a long wilderness vigil and reflects on grief, evil, beauty, and the kind of attention that makes something holy. This is a conversation about becoming human again, about learning how to see clearly, and about allowing the story of Jesus to break our enchantments and draw us toward love.
Martin Shaw is a writer, mythographer and Christian thinker. He’s Visiting Scholar at the Divinity Faculty of Cambridge University, and a Fellow of the Temenos Academy. Author of seventeen books, Dr Shaw is the director of the Westcountry School of Myth and founder of the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University. His book Bardskull was described as “rich and transgressive” by Erica Wagner in The Sunday Times and was Book of the Day in The Guardian. A hugely respected oral storyteller, Shaw has toured internationally numerous times, and led symposiums at both Oxford and Cambridge University, Robert Bly describing him as “a true master, one of the very greatest storytellers we have.”
His more recent work is what he describes as a developing “Christian mythopoetics”—a reminder of the depth and mysticism latent in this middle-eastern mystery religion. Shaw converted to Eastern Orthodoxy after a 101-day vigil in a Dartmoor forest. He still lives nearby to the wood, writing and teaching. The Irish Times call Martin “a seanchaí, an interloper from the medieval.”, Charles Foster adding, “there’s Shaw and there’s everyone else.”
Martin’s Book:
Liturgies of the Wild
Martin’s Recommendation:
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives
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In this episode, I talk with Father James Martin about his new memoir Work in Progress and the ways our ordinary jobs shape who we become. We explore summer work, vocation, grief, perseverance, and how faith is formed not just in churches, but in kitchens, factories, offices, and everyday life. Jim reflects on loss, discernment, and the slow work of becoming human, and together we talk about where God shows up in suffering, in work we enjoy, and in work we endure. This conversation is an invitation to look back on your own story, pay attention to the unfinished edges, and notice how grace has been present all along.
The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author and editor at large at America, the national Catholic magazine. Martin was born in Plymouth Meeting, PA. He attended Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School. He received his Bachelor's Degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He worked in corporate finance for General Electric for six years before leaving and joining the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits). Martin was novitiate in Boston where he worked with seriously ill at a hospital in Cambridge. He also worked with hospice patients at the Missionaries of Charity in Kingston, Jamaica and at a school for poor boys, Nativity Mission School, in New York City. He was ordained a Catholic priest in June 1999 in Chestnut Hill, Ma. On Nov. 1, 2009, he pronounced his final vows as a "fully professed" Jesuit in New York City. Martin is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller, "Jesus: A Pilgrimage".
Fr. Martin's Book:
Work in Progress
Fr. Martin's Recommendation:
Sacred Fire
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In this episode, I talk with Lori G. Melton, author of Journey with a Giant, about the practice of walking with spiritual giants from history as a way of formation. We explore slowness, silence, pilgrimage, and what Lori learned by walking with Fred Rogers, including why listening is love, why presence matters more than productivity, and how paying attention to the person in front of us reshapes faith. This conversation offers a grounded, countercultural vision of discipleship rooted in companionship, attentiveness, and trust.
Lori G. Melton is an author, spiritual director, podcaster, and retreat leader with a life-long passion for walking with God and helping others grow in their relationship with Him.
She and her husband Bryan are the founders of the Sanctuary at Bear Creek Retreat Center in Allegan, Michigan. Lori is the host of the Sanctuary Stirrings podcast.
Raised as an Episcopalian and educated in Catholic schools, Lori came to Christ through an Assembly of God youth group and has spent her adult life in non-denominational Bible churches. One of her greatest strengths is her appreciation for diverse Christian denominations.
Lori was born in Niagara Falls, New York (Yes, one of the Eight Wonders of the World!), played competitive badminton in high school (Don’t laugh, it is a sport), and is the other half of a twin-sister combination. When she’s not writing, speaking, or welcoming retreat guests, she loves spending time with her six grown children and three adorable grands.
You can find Lori on Facebook and Instagram, and at her website, lorigmelton.com.
Lori's Book:
Journey with a Giant
Lori's Recommendation:
In Search of God's Will
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The Desert Elders didn’t flee the world to escape it. Some left because Christianity had become comfortable, aligned with power, and disconnected from real transformation. In this episode, I am joined by Lisa Colón DeLay to explore the wisdom of the early Christian desert mothers and fathers and what their lives teach us about spiritual formation today. We talk about attention and restlessness, judgment and humility, silence and prayer, and how habits slowly form, or deform, the soul. You’ll hear the story of Abba Moses, who moved from violence to mercy, and learn why real change doesn’t come through information or performance but through patience, repentance, and faithfulness over time. This episode is for anyone trying to take Jesus seriously in a noisy, restless, and divided world and looking for a way of life that actually leads to transformation.
Lisa Colón DeLay is an author, the podcast host of Spark My Muse podcast, consultant, teacher, Substack writer, and spiritual companion known for focusing on spiritual growth, the inner life, and connection. She holds a Masters Degree in Spiritual Formation
Lisa's Book:
The Way of the Desert Elders
Lisa's Recommendation:
The Holy Ordinary
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In this episode, I sit down with neurosurgeon and author Dr. Lee Warren to talk about how our thoughts shape our brains and, over time, our lives. Lee draws from neuroscience, Scripture, and his own story, serving as an Army surgeon, living with PTSD, and walking through the loss of a child, to help make sense of why so many of us feel stuck in anxiety, fear, or reactivity. We talk about what Lee calls “self-brain surgery,” the practice of learning to think about our thoughts instead of being ruled by them. We explore the difference between the mind and the brain, why most of our daily thoughts aren’t actually true, how trauma rewires us, and how healing can too. We also talk about gratitude, attention, habits, and spiritual warfare and why slowing down and responding with intention matters more than trying to fix everything at once. This conversation is about building resilience, telling the truth about what’s happening inside us, and finding a more hopeful way forward.
W. Lee Warren, MD, is a neurosurgeon, an award-winning author, an Iraq War veteran, and the host of The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast. He teaches the art of connecting neuroscience, faith, and daily practices for leading a healthier, better, and happier life. www.DrLeeWarren.com
Lee's Book:
The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery
Lee's Recommendation:
Gradually Then Suddenly
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In this episode, I sit down with J.R. Briggs, author of The Art of Asking Better Questions, to talk about why questions matter in a culture shaped by certainty, polarization, and the pressure to always have the right answer. We explore how questions shape our relationships, our faith, and the stories we tell ourselves, why Jesus so often chose questions over direct answers, and how the questions we ask can either wound or heal. We talk about curiosity, humility, power, and what it looks like to ask questions that lead to connection instead of control, and the conversation turns personal as J.R. puts me in the hot seat to reflect on desire, vocation, and what it means to slow down and really listen.
J.R. Briggs (DMin, Missio Seminary) is the founder of Kairos Partnerships, an organization committed to serving hungry leaders through coaching, consulting, and speaking. He serves on staff with the Ecclesia Network and Fresh Expressions, and as guest instructor for Friends University in the Masters of Spiritual Formation and Leadership program. His books include The Sacred Overlap, Fail, and Eldership and the Mission of God. He and his wife and two children live in the greater Philadelphia area.
J.R.'s Book:
The Art of Asking Better Questions
J.R.'s Recommendations:
King: A Life
The Accidental President
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In this episode, I sit down with Nathan Clarkson, author of I’m the Worst, for an honest conversation about brokenness, shame, confession, and freedom. Nathan shares what it was like growing up in a well-known Christian family, learning how to perform moral goodness while hiding the parts of himself he didn’t know how to face, and how confronting that reality became the beginning of healing rather than the end of the story. We talk about moral superiority, cancel culture, and the ways fear turns both politics and church life into tribes instead of communities. We also dig into the difference between shame and conviction, why confession and forgiveness matter so much for spiritual formation, and how dehumanization always leads to harm. This conversation is for anyone who is tired of polarized Christianity and is looking for a more honest, freeing, and love-shaped way forward.
Nathan Clarkson is the author of I’m the Worst, and an award-winning actor, a Netflix-trending filmmaker, and best-selling author of several books, including Different and Uniquely You. He is a podcast philosopher on the award-winning show The Overthinkers. Nathan writes regularly on the intersection of faith and culture for the Patheos column Cross Cultural and has been featured in outlets such as the Today Show, LA Times, Variety, and Relevant Magazine. Find out more at nathanclarkson.me.
Nathan's Book:
I'm the Worst
Nathan's Recommendation:
The Hidden Habits of Genius
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In this episode, I sit down with Winfield Bevins to talk about beauty and why it matters for everyday life, the church, and spiritual formation. We discuss his book How Beauty Will Save the World and how beauty shapes attention, formation, and the way we live, work, and follow Jesus. Winfield shares his own story, including seasons of burnout and vocational transition, and how art and creativity became central to his faith and calling. We talk about creativity beyond the arts, the pace of modern life, and how beauty helps form us spiritually, reorient our desires, and shape communities of faith. This is a grounded conversation about renewal, formation, and learning to see the world with care and hope.
Winfield Bevins is an internationally recognized author, artist, and the founding director of Creo Arts, which is a non-profit that exists to bring beauty, goodness, and truth to the world through the arts. Winfield is also artist-in-residence at Asbury Theological Seminary where he champions the integration of art, theology, and mission. Over the past decade, he has helped start numerous initiatives and academic programs that have trained leaders from around the world. He is the author of several books, including, How Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Power of the Arts for the Christian Life.
Winfield's Book:
How Beauty Will Save the World
Winfield's Recommendation:
Surprised by Joy
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In this episode, I talk with David Dault about his book The Accessorized Bible and the ways the Bible is actually used in our churches, institutions, and public life. We wrestle with how the Bible can be taken seriously without being turned into a prop, a weapon, or a justification for harm. Our conversation moves through questions of power, responsibility, and interpretation, and keeps returning to a simple but difficult concern: whether or not our ways of using the Bible are making life more possible for the people around us.
David Dault is an assistant professor of Christian spirituality in the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University of Chicago. His previous faculty appointments were at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, and at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN. He began his teaching career at American Baptist College in Nashville, TN, where he served as chair of the department of theology and biblical studies.
He is the host and executive producer of Things Not Seen: Conversations about Culture and Faith, an award-winning radio show and podcast, and is the podcast editor for Commonweal magazine, the Paulist Fathers, and GIA Publications.
David received his Ph.D. in religion from Vanderbilt University, and he holds an M.A in religion from Vanderbilt, as well as an M.A. in theological studies from Columbia Theological Seminary.
He lives with his family in Hyde Park, a neighborhood on the south side of Chicago.
David's Book:
The Accessorized Bible
David's Recommendations:
Midnight Mass
The Essays of James Baldwin
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com
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In this episode, I’m joined by Craig Detweiler and Elijah Davidson for our Best Movies of 2025 conversation. We count down our top films of the year and explain why each one made our list. We talk about the themes that stood out in 2025 movies, including grief, violence, faith, memory, creativity, and what it means to be human. We also discuss overlooked films, shrinking theatrical releases, genre storytelling, and how personal experiences shaped the way we watched and ranked these movies. This episode offers a thoughtful, honest look at the year in film and the cultural moment behind it.
Elijah’s List:
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Hamnet/Predator: Badlands
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Frankenstein
-
Avatar: Fire and Ash
-
Train Dreams
-
Sinners
-
Presence
-
One Battle After Another
-
Black Bag
-
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
-
28 Years Later
Craig’s List:
-
The Phoenician Scheme
-
Roofman
-
Weapons
-
Wake Up Dead Man
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The Ballad of Wallis Island
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It Was Just an Accident
-
Train Dreams
-
Sinners
-
One Battle After Another
-
The Testament of Ann Lee
Joshua’s List:
-
The Ballad of Wallis Island
-
The Life of Chuck
-
Blue Moon
-
28 Years Later
-
Sinners
-
Train Dreams
-
One Battle After Another
-
Sentimental Value
-
It Was Just an Accident
-
Wake Up Dead Man
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com
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What’s actually happening to the church in America and why does it matter beyond Sunday morning? In this episode I’m joined by Ryan Burge, a social scientist who studies religion in the U.S. and brings long-term data, charts, and lived pastoral experience into a conversation often driven by fear or nostalgia. We discuss his book The Vanishing Church, the quiet decline of the moderate church, the rise of polarization inside Christianity, and how broader cultural tribalism has reshaped faith communities. We also explore the growth of the religious “nones,” why church closures are happening steadily but largely unnoticed, and what’s lost when the church can no longer function as a space where people learn how to live together across difference.
Ryan Burge is professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. Before that he was an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, and was also the graduate coordinator. He has authored over thirty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters alongside four books about religion and politics in the United States. He has written for the New York Times, POLITICO, and the Wall Street Journal. He has also appeared in an NBC Documentary, on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, as well as 60 Minutes which called him, “one of the country’s leading data analysts on religion and politics.” He served as a pastor in the American Baptist Church for over twenty years, leading First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, IL for 17.5 years until its closure in July 2024. He has been married to his wife Jacqueline for over seventeen years. They have two boys.
Ryan's Book:
The Vanishing Church
Ryan's Recommendation:
Dominion
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com
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What does it mean to take Jesus seriously when he announces good news to the poor, freedom for the captive, and release from debt? In this episode of Shifting Culture, I’m joined by theologian and practitioner Kelley Nikondeha to talk about her new book Jubilee Economics and the disruptive, concrete vision of Jubilee found in Scripture. We explore why Jubilee was never just a spiritual metaphor but a real economic practice involving debt forgiveness, land, labor, and community restoration. Kelley shares stories from her work in Burundi—where economic collapse forced hard, human decisions about care, reentry, and neighbor-love—and helps us reframe Jesus’s sermon in Luke 4 as dangerous, embodied good news. This conversation asks what Jubilee might look like today, and what it might cost us to love our neighbors well in a debt-saturated world.
Kelley Nikondeha is a liberation theologian, community development practitioner, and author of First Advent in Palestine and Defiant. She is Co-founder of Communities of Hope in Burundi.
Kelley's Book:
Jubilee Economics
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com
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As 2025 comes to a close, I wanted to pause and look back, not at what was loud or polarizing, but at what people actually stayed with. This episode gathers the 10 most listened to conversations of the year, and together they reveal something honest about this moment: a deep longing for a faith shaped by humility instead of power, a discipleship rooted in real life, and a way of Jesus that resists fear, shame, and easy answers. This episode counts down from #10 to #1. I introduce each clip, then step back and let the voices speak for themselves. You’ll hear excerpts from conversations with John Eldredge, Sheila Gregoire, Trevor Hudson, Michael John Cusick, Kerry Burnight, Matthew Bates, Beth Allison Barr, Andrew Root, and John Fugelsang voices that helped shape Shifting Culture this year and, judging by the listens, shaped many of you as well.
Episodes featured:
Ep. 280 Andrew Root - Hope Beyond the Failed Promise of HappinessEp. 287 Sheila Gregoire - The Marriage You WantEp. 327 Dr. Kerry Burnight - JoyspanEp. 281 Beth Allison Barr - Becoming the Pastor's WifeEp. 259 Trevor Hudson - Discerning God's Will in Our LivesEp. 314 Daniel Hummel - The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism Ep. 257 Michael John Cusick - Sacred AttachmentEp. 279 Matthew Bates - What Does the Bible Really Say About Salvation?Ep. 278 John Eldredge - Experience Jesus. Really.Ep. 341 John Fugelsang - Separation of Church and HateConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com
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In this episode, I am joined by Lore Wilbert and Byron Borger for a roundtable countdown of our top ten books of 2025. Moving from number ten to number one, we reflect on the novels, memoirs, theology, and cultural criticism that most shaped our reading year. Along the way, the conversation opens into deeper questions about faith and doubt, grief and hope, community and isolation, and what it means to stay human in an anxious, mechanized world. Rather than chasing trends, this episode lingers with books that slowed us down, challenged empire, and pointed toward love, imagination, and faithful presence. This is a conversation about reading as formation and why the stories we choose matter more than ever.
Go to Hearts and Minds Books to order any of these books and let Byron know you heard about them from Shifting Culture.
Lore’s List:
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The Serviceberry
-
The Signature of All Things
-
Heating and Cooling
-
Great Circle
-
Nervous Systems
-
Wild Dark Shore
-
Monsters
-
The Names
-
Circle of Hope
-
The Correspondent
Byron’s List:
-
Becoming God’s Family
-
The Core of the Christian Faith
-
You Can Trust a God with Scars
-
Liturgies for Resisting Empire
-
The Violent Take it by Force
-
Bear Witness
-
Rags of Light
-
Good Soil
-
The Last Supper
-
World of Wonders
Joshua’s List:
-
Making Time
-
We Tell Ourselves Stories
-
Wild Dark Shore
-
Spellbound
-
The Anti-Greed Gospel
-
The Teacher of Nomad Land
-
Twelve Churches
-
The Correspondent
-
Christ in the Rubble
-
A Beautiful Year
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com
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In this episode, I sit down with Bill and Kristi Gaultiere for a thoughtful conversation about empathy - what it really is, why it’s so often misunderstood, and why it matters for the way of Jesus. We talk about God’s great empathy for us and how the incarnation reveals a God who enters our experience, not just intellectually but emotionally and bodily. Together, we explore the role of emotions in the spiritual life, the weight of shame and grief, the reality of compassion fatigue, and how empathy, truth, and responsibility belong together. This conversation is an invitation to receive God’s love more deeply and to learn how that love reshapes the way we live, love, and care for others.
Bill is a psychologist (PhD) and ordained pastor and Kristi is a licensed professional counselor (PsyD). Together they lead Soul Shepherding, which is a nonprofit ministry to help pastors, leaders, churches, and others to go deeper with Jesus in emotional health and loving leadership. They lead immersive retreats that integrate Jesus-centered psychology and spiritual formation. Participants have the option to earn a Certificate in Spiritual Direction to improve their relationship skills and earn side income as a spiritual director or coach. They are authors of a number of soul care books, including Journey of the Soul, which was #1 on Amazon in Christian Counseling, and Healthy Feelings, Thriving Faith. Their newest book is Deeply Loved: Receiving and Reflecting God’s Great Empathy for You.
Bill & Kristi's Book:
Deeply Loved
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In this episode, I’m joined by theologian and storyteller Leonard Sweet for a deep conversation on the imagination of Jesus and why imagination is central to faith, discipleship, and what it means to be human. We talk about how Jesus doesn’t simply explain reality but reshapes it through story and metaphor, and why Jubilee sits at the heart of his vision for the world. We also explore what it means to move beyond fear-based, information-driven faith toward a life where Christ is formed in us. This conversation is an invitation to move from knowing about God to truly knowing God, and to live with an imagination shaped by goodness, beauty, and truth.
Leonard Sweet is one of the most prolific Christian authors in the world today, with over 70 books to his name—and a dozen more on the way–and 2000 published sermons. A theologian of imagination, a semiotician of Bible and culture, and a prophetic voice to the church, Sweet defies easy categorization. His works span genres and generations, challenging readers to see the world—and the gospel—with fresh eyes. While others chase bestseller lists, Sweet charts a different path: one defined not by sales, but by depth, creativity, and theological daring.
Len's Book:
Jesus: Maker, Mender, Minder, Master
Len's Recommendation:
They Flew: A History of the Impossible
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In this episode, pastor and author Kate Murphy shares the surprising story behind Lost, Hidden, Small, a season when ministry fell apart, illusions shattered, and the only way forward was surrender. Kate reflects on discovering that God often does His deepest work in places that look like failure, weakness, and smallness, and how her congregation learned to see again, love their neighbors without transaction, and trust God for resurrection they could not manufacture. This conversation offers a hopeful reminder that faithfulness, not success, is the true metric of the kingdom, and that the quiet and hidden work of God in ordinary communities still creates life beyond anything we can imagine.
Kate Murphy serves as the pastor of The Grove Presbyterian Church, a multi-ethnic congregation in Charlotte NC. Originally from Louisville, KY, she studied biology and music at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN. She received her Masters of Divinity and Masters of Sacred Theology from Boston University and accepted her first call to be an Associate Pastor at Fourth Presbyterian, a multicultural, inner-city church in South Boston. She's just published her first book, Lost Hidden Small. In her free time, Kate enjoys running, reading, writing, drinking coffee, and watching pointless reality television. She and her husband Colin have three daughters.
Kate's Book:
Lost, Hidden, Small
Kate's Recommendations:
Looking Inward, Living Outward
Field Notes for the Wilderness
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Journalist and author William J. Kole joins me to unpack the deep and often hidden ties between white evangelicalism, politics, fear, and America’s gun culture. Drawing from his new book In Guns We Trust, Bill shares how his own ministry collided with concealed weapons, why fear has shaped so much of the church’s response to gun violence, and how Christian nationalism and the idolizing of the Second Amendment have influenced our national crisis. We talk about the shift from historic Christian nonviolence to the embrace of firearms, the political power that keeps common-sense reforms stalled, and what other countries have done to reduce mass shootings. We also explore why “thoughts and prayers” aren’t enough and what a truly pro-life ethic demands of us today. If you long to break cycles of violence and return to the nonviolent way of Jesus, this is an essential and challenging conversation.
William J. Kole is a veteran journalist and a former foreign correspondent who has reported from North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. As Vienna bureau chief for The Associated Press, he wrote extensively on the nexus of crime, the weapons trade, arms trafficking and terrorism across Eastern Europe.
His evangelical credentials are as extensive as his journalistic ones: He’s a former lay missionary for the Assemblies of God, a worship leader at evangelical churches in Europe and around his native New England, and served as board president of Dorcas USA, an international Christian relief and development agency.
Kole was AP’s New England bureau chief when a gunman armed with a military-style assault rifle massacred 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Earlier in his career, he was a lead writer on the car crash that killed Britain’s Princess Diana, and he also covered the arrest of former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic, the death of Pope John Paul II, and Kosovo’s independence. His many awards include one from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers for an investigation into the exploitation of undocumented immigrants by the Walmart retail chain.
Kole, who speaks French, Dutch and German, studied journalism at Boston University and was a journalism fellow at Columbia University in New York and the National Press Foundation in Washington, D.C. Now an editor for Axios, he lives in Providence, R.I., and Paris.
Bill's Book:
In Guns We Trust
Bill's Recommendation:
Jesus and John Wayne
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In this conversation, I sit down with Dorothy Greco to explore misogyny not just as individual prejudice, but as a system that shapes our culture, our institutions, our churches, and even our closest relationships. Dorothy walks me through how misogyny shows up in medicine, economics, purity culture, pornography, and the daily lives of women, and why it remains so difficult to see and name. We talk about the ways entitlement and distorted power sustain this harm, and how the way of Jesus offers a radically different vision, one rooted in dignity, equality, and mutual flourishing. This episode invites all of us to look beneath the surface, recognize what’s been hidden in plain sight, and imagine what healing and justice might require from us moving forward.
Dorothy Littel Greco has worked as a photojournalist for more than forty years. She is the author of three books, including the recently released, For the Love of Women: Uprooting and Healing Misogyny in America. When Dorothy is not writing or making photos, she loves to bike, kayak, and share food with friends.
Dorothy's Book:
For the Love of Women
Dorothy's Recommendation:
This is Happiness
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In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Valentyn Syniy, president of a theological seminary in Kherson, to explore what it means to lead, shepherd, and hold on to hope in the midst of war. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Valentyn lost almost everything - his home, his church community, and the entire seminary campus he helped build. Yet in the chaos of evacuation, the trauma of displacement, and the destruction of his city, he discovered a deeper sense of calling and a renewed understanding of God’s presence in suffering. We talk about spiritual leadership under siege, the impossible decisions families face when war arrives at their doorstep, the wound and weight of leaving or staying, the formation of pastors for a traumatized nation, and the surprising ways God rebuilds what has been shattered. Valentyn’s story, captured in his book Serving God Under Siege, is both heartbreaking and hopeful - a gripping reminder that faith can survive the fire and that the voices of Ukrainians must be heard. This episode invites you into a story of resilience, courage, and a theology forged under pressure.
Valentyn Syniy holds master’s degrees in theology and history and a doctorate in theology. Since 2006, he has served as president of Tavriski Christian Institute, an evangelical seminary in Ukraine.
Valentyn's Book:
Serving God Under Siege
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The church is in a moment of honest reckoning. Attendance is shrinking, institutions are thinning, and many who once belonged now stand on the outside looking in. In this conversation with author and priest Stephanie Spellers, we explore what the “nones” and “dones” are teaching us about faith, community, and the way of Jesus. Stephanie invites us to look directly at decline, name the shame we carry, and listen to the prophetic longings rising from a generation hungry for authenticity, belonging, and spiritual depth. We talk about Christian nationalism, idolized structures, meeting God outside our buildings, the table as a site of renewal, and the possibility of becoming a true Jesus movement again. If you care about where the church is headed, or whether new life can emerge from the dry bones, this episode offers clarity, courage, and hope.
Rev. Stephanie Spellers is a renowned author, Episcopal priest and change agent. Her newest book, "Church Tomorrow?: What the Nones and Dones Teach Us About the Future of Faith," explores the stories of nonreligious young Americans and their prophetic charge to traditional, declining religion. She recently completed nearly a decade leading The Episcopal Church's work on evangelism, racial reconciliation and environmental justice. Today she serves as canon in residence at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York City.
Stephanie's Book:
Church Tomorrow?
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In this episode, I talk with Dr. Mark Yarhouse and Dr. Julia Sadusky about the rapidly expanding language of emerging sexual identities and what it means for the young people we care about. We explore why new terms keep appearing, how identity forms in adolescence, and what teens are actually trying to express when they use language many of us have never heard before. Rather than reacting with fear or reducing anyone to a label, Mark and Julia help us rethink our posture, moving toward curiosity, presence, and trust instead of anxiety and quick judgments. We dig into discipleship, belonging, and how to walk with teens in a way that reflects the steady, un-fragile heart of God. If you’re a parent, pastor, or leader trying to navigate this moment with wisdom, compassion, and clarity, this conversation offers a hopeful and deeply grounded way forward.
Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist who specializes in conflicts tied to religious identity and sexual and gender identity. He assists people who are navigating the complex relationship between their sexual or gender identity and Christian faith. He is a Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, where he runs the Sexual and Gender Identity (SGI) Institute and the Mental Health Collective. He is an award-winning teacher and researcher and is the past recipient of the Gary Collins Award for Excellence in Christian Counseling. He was a past participant with the Ethics and Public Policy Center think tank in Washington, DC, and he was named Senior Fellow with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities to conduct a study of students navigating sexual identity concerns at Christian colleges and universities. He has served for over a decade as the Chair of the task force on LGBT issues for Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association.
Dr. Julia Sadusky is a licensed clinical psychologist and the owner of a private practice in Littleton, CO. She is also an author, consultant, speaker, and adjunct professor. Dr. Sadusky has done extensive research and clinical work in sexual and gender development and specializes in trauma-informed care. She earned a bachelor's degree from Ave Maria University and a master's degree and doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Regent University. She has authored several books around human sexuality and gender with Dr. Mark Yarhouse and has authored several books herself helping equip parents to teach kids and teens about sexuality in developmentally-appropriate ways.
Mark and Julia's book:
Emerging Sexual Identities
Mark's Recommendation:
The Anxious Generation
Julia's Recommendation:
Tenderness
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In this episode, I’m joined by Faith Womack, known to many as Bible Nerd Ministries, for a deeply refreshing conversation on how to read Scripture with clarity, curiosity, and joy. Faith shares her own story of growing up with mishandled and misapplied Bible teaching, and how learning the basics of hermeneutics transformed everything for her. We talk about context, genre, the big story of God’s redemption, why so many of us default to reading ourselves into the text, and how Scripture becomes truly alive when we allow it to reveal who God is rather than simply serve our needs. If you’ve ever felt bored, intimidated, confused, or stuck in your Bible reading, this episode is a hopeful path back toward awe, depth, and worship. And as Faith reminds us, understanding the Word isn’t reserved for scholars, it’s an invitation extended to every follower of Jesus.
Faith Womack is the founder of Bible Nerd Ministries and a content creator who aims to inspire Christians to get back into the Word of God. Her courses, including “Bible Study Bootcamp” and “Theology Bootcamp,” have reached thousands, and her Bible study content has reached over 10 million people on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Faith aims to empower Christians not only to understand the Bible but also to enjoy it. Her debut book, No More Boring Bible Study: Why Taking Scripture Seriously Is Easier and More Exciting Than You Think releases from Zondervan in November 2025.
Faith has a B.A. in biblical and theological studies from Covenant College and a M.A.T.S. from Erskine Seminary. When she’s not filming or teaching, Faith spends her time with her family going on hikes, crafting and drinking way too much coffee.
Faith's Book:
No More Boring Bible Study
Faith's Recommendation:
The Incarnate Christ and His Critics
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In this episode, I talk with Brian Recker about his new book Hell Bent and the ways fear-based theology has shaped so many of our spiritual imaginations. Brian grew up learning about hell and God in the same breath, and he unpacks how that fusion created a system built on binary thinking, punishment, and spiritual insecurity. We explore his journey from fundamentalism to evangelical ministry to a reimagined faith centered on love, liberation, and a vision Jesus preached. We get into Gehenna, apocalyptic language, why evangelicals cling to certainty, how fear distorts our understanding of God, and what it means to live as people who bring heaven to earth rather than create hell on it. This is a conversation about reclaiming our belovedness, deconstructing fear, and rediscovering a spirituality that looks like compassion, justice, and the radical welcome of Jesus.
Brian Recker, M.Div, is a public theologian, speaker, and writer on Christian spirituality without exclusionary dogma. The son of a Baptist preacher and an alum of the fundamentalist Bob Jones University, he spent eight years as an evangelical pastor before deconstructing his faith to find a more inclusive spirituality. He now speaks about following Jesus without fear of hell on his popular Instagram account and his Substack, Beloved. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has four children and a rescue pup named Maev.
Brian's Book:
Hell Bent
Brian's Recommendations:
Reason, Faith, and Revolution
Acts
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In this episode, I sit down with Jenny Marrs, author, adoptive mom, and co-host of HGTV’s Fixer to Fabulous, for a tender and deeply human conversation about grief, waiting, restoration, and the steady presence of God in the middle of it all. Jenny shares openly about a season of profound loss, the long and miraculous journey to bring her daughter home from the Congo, and the everyday choice to trust God when life feels overwhelming or out of control. We talk about compassion in a divided world, what it means to “go with the strength you have,” and how the smallest moments, from heart-shaped stones to a stranger’s kindness to a child’s simple confession of faith, can become markers of God’s faithfulness. This is an honest and hopeful look at what it means to live out Trust God, Love People in real time, and I believe her story will be both grounding and deeply encouraging for you.
Jenny Marrs is a designer, author, and passionate advocate for community transformation, family preservation, and orphan care around the globe. She is the author of House + Home = Love, and co-hosts Fixer to Fabulous with her husband, Dave. She and Dave live on a small farm in Bentonville, Arkansas, with their five kids and too many animals to count.
Jenny's Book:
Trust God, Love People
Jenny's Recommendation:
Heartland
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In this episode, I talk with Diana Butler Bass about her new book A Beautiful Year and the deeper story that sits beneath our experience of time. We explore how the Roman calendar still shapes us with the imagination of empire - militarism, consumerism, and control - and how the Christian calendar offers a counter-formation rooted in love, hope, peace, and a circular sense of time that keeps drawing us deeper into God. Diana walks us through Advent’s darkness and silence, the meaning of waiting in an age addicted to noise, the subversive beauty of St. Martin’s Day on November 11, and the power of saying “no” to imperial narratives through the ordinary practices that shape a life. We talk about storytelling, grief, Candlemas, the parables of Jesus, and how the Christian year can help us embody a different kind of presence in the world - one marked by compassion, courage, and light. This is a conversation about time, but really, it’s about learning to live a better story.
Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D. (Duke University) is an award-winning author of eleven books, a speaker, preacher, and a trusted commentator on religion and contemporary spirituality. Her bylines include The New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, CNN Opinion, On Being, and Readers Digest. She has appeared on CBS, CNN, PBS, NPR, and other global news outlets. She currently writes The Cottage, one of the most widely-read Substack newsletters. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
Diana's Book:
A Beautiful Year
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In this conversation, I talk with Justin Giboney, cofounder of the AND Campaign and author of Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around, about how we can follow Jesus faithfully in the midst of the culture war. Justin shares how the civil rights generation embodied both conviction and compassion, and what it looks like to recover that kind of moral imagination today. We talk about seeing the sin in ourselves and the image of God in our opponents, moving from blind certainty to humble conviction, and bearing the cross in the public square. This episode calls us to reimagine public faith beyond partisanship and to embody the way of Jesus with courage, truth, and love.
Justin Giboney is an attorney, political strategist, and civic leader based in Atlanta, GA. As the co-founder and president of the AND Campaign, a Christian civic organization, Justin focuses on the intersection between faith and politics. In 2012 and 2016 Georgia’s 5th congressional district elected him as a delegate for the Democratic National Convention. He’s the co-author of Compassion (&) Conviction – The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement and the forthcoming book – “Don’t Let Nobody Turn you Around: How the Black Church's Public Witness Leads Us out of the Culture War.” His work has been featured in publications such as including the New York Times and Christianity Today.
Justin's Book:
Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around
Justin's Recommendation:
Believe
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In this episode, I talk with Dr. Chris Hoklotubbe and Dr. Danny Zacharias about their book Reading the Bible on Turtle Island and how Indigenous wisdom invites us to see Scripture through a different lens. We explore how the Bible, written by tribal people deeply connected to land and kinship, calls us back into right relationship with Creator, creation, and one another. Chris and Danny share stories that connect the Trail of Tears to the exile in Babylon, the teachings of Jesus to the call of Jubilee, and how truth-telling and reconciliation are part of our ongoing discipleship. This conversation challenges the transactional faith that has shaped so much of Western Christianity and reclaims a relational vision of faith grounded in love, harmony, and gratitude. It’s a reminder that reading the Bible through Indigenous eyes doesn’t just reveal something new about the text, it helps us remember who we are and how to walk the bright path of Jesus together.
H. Daniel Zacharias (PhD, Highland Theological College/Aberdeen) is a Cree-Anishinaabe/Métis and Austrian man originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba (Treaty One territory), with ancestors also residing in Treaty Two, Treaty Three, and Treaty Five territories. He lives in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia) with his wife, Maria, and four children in Wolfville, NS. He is associate dean and professor of New Testament studies at Acadia Divinity College, where he has worked since 2007. He also serves as an adjunct faculty for NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community.
T. Christopher Hoklotubbe (ThD, Harvard) is a proud member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is the director of graduate studies of NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, the first accredited Indigenous designed, developed, delivered, and governed theological institute. He is also assistant professor of classics at Cornell College (Mount Vernon, Iowa). He is the author of Civilized Piety: The Rhetoric of Pietas in the Pastoral Epistles and the Roman Empire, which was awarded the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise. He and his wife, Stephanie, have two daughters and live near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Chris & Danny's Book:
Reading the Bible on Turtle Island
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Glen Henry, the creator of Beleaf in Fatherhood, shares his story of how resistance turned into calling - how learning to father himself helped him become the father his children needed. We talk about the inherited baggage we carry, the control we try to hold, and the grace that grows when we choose presence over perfection. Glen opens up about fatherhood as a form of cultural resistance, the power of family to heal generational wounds, and the daily work of creating a home rooted in love and faith. It’s a conversation about wholeness, Black fatherhood, and the beauty of learning to be fathered by God while raising children in a complicated world.
Glen Henry is the creative force behind the beloved YouTube channel Beleaf in Fatherhood, where he blends humor, honesty, and heart to uplift and inspire families around the world. A devoted father and visionary storyteller, Glen uses his platform to champion positive parenting and redefine what modern fatherhood looks like. Beyond
YouTube, he connects with audiences through social media, workshops, and speaking engagements — encouraging dads to show up with love, purpose, and presence. With his relatable voice and unwavering passion, Glen has become a leading advocate for strong families and meaningful father-child relationships.
Glen's Book:
Father Yourself First
Glen's Recommendation:
Successful Failure
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Kat Armas joins Shifting Culture to talk about her new book, Liturgies for Resisting Empire, a powerful exploration of how empire shapes the way we think about God, community, time, and ourselves. She names the ways control, hierarchy, and productivity have distorted our faith and imaginations, and invites us into practices of resistance rooted in love, rest, and belonging. Kat offers a vision of wholeness that embraces paradox over dualism, kinship over domination, and peace over violence. This conversation points us toward a more human way of living. One where we belong without conditions and find God in the places empire forgets.
Kat Armas is a Cuban American writer, speaker, and theologian from Miami, FL. She holds a ThM from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and a dual MDiv and MAT from Fuller Theological Seminary where she was awarded the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing.
Her first book, Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, Persistence and Strength, sits at the intersection of women, decolonialism, the Bible, and Cuban identity. Her second book, Sacred Belonging: A 40-day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture invites readers to encounter the Bible through a decolonized lens, lifting up themes of creation, wisdom, spirit, the body, and the feminine.
Kat has spoken at seminaries, universities, and conferences nationwide and her work has appeared in the National Catholic Reporter—where one of her essays was shared by the pope!, Plough Magazine, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Sojornours Magazine, and more.
Kat currently lives on a small farm in middle Tennessee with her family—which includes her spouse, young children, chickens, goats, pigs, dogs, and cats. Her forthcoming third book Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World examines the ideologies of empire that infiltrate daily life and offers a pathway toward liberation. It releases November 4th.
Kat's Book:
Liturgies for Resisting Empire
Kat's Recommendations:
The Correspondent
Tell Me Everything
Resident Alien
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Pastor and author Mark Batterson joins me to talk about his new book Gradually, Then Suddenly, a powerful invitation to dream God-sized dreams, start small, and stay faithful long enough to see legacy take root. We explore what it means to move from imagination to action, how to live with long vision and long obedience, and why true success often looks like quiet persistence over time. Mark shares stories of transformation from Washington, D.C., turning a crack house into a coffeehouse, a dream into a citywide ministry, and faith into a generational story. This conversation reminds us that what looks like slow progress may actually be sacred preparation. Join us for an inspiring look at how to live, lead, and love with purpose over the long haul.
Mark Batterson is the New York Times bestselling author of two dozen adult and children’s books including Win the Day, Chase the Lion and A Million Little Miracles. His newest book is Gradually Then Suddenly, How to Dream Bigger, Decide Better, and Leave a Lasting Legacy(Multnomah; on sale 11/4/25). He’s also the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. One church with multiple campuses, NCC owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse, the DC Dream Center and the Capital Turnaround—a 100,000-square-foot city block that includes an event venue and child development center. Mark holds a doctor of ministry degree from Regent University. He and his wife, Lora, reside on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit markbatterson.com and https://twitter.com/markbatterson & Instagram.com/markbatterson
Mark's Book:
Gradually, Then Suddenly
Mark's Recommendation:
The River of Doubt
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Sara Billups returns to Shifting Culture to talk about her new book Nervous Systems: Spiritual Practices to Calm Anxiety in Your Body, the Church, and Politics. Together we explore the anxiety running through our lives, our churches, and our culture and what it means to find peace that’s deeper than control. Sara shares how Ignatian spirituality and the practice of “holy indifference” can help us let go, stay present, and love well in a restless world. We talk about caregiving, community, mental health, and how the embodied way of Jesus leads us toward healing, trust, and wholeness.
Sara Billups is a Seattle-based writer and cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Christianity Today, Aspen Ideas, and others. Sara writes Bitter Scroll, a monthly Substack letter and co-hosts the podcast That’s the Spirit. She earned a Doctor of Ministry in the Sacred Art of Writing at the Peterson Center for the Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary.
Sara works to help wavering Christians remain steadfast through cultural storms and continues to hope for the flourishing of the Church amid deep political and cultural division in America.
Her first book, Orphaned Believers, follows the journey of a generation raised in the 80s and 90s of evangelicalism reckoning with the tradition that raised them and searching for a new way to participate in the story of God. Her second book, Nervous Systems, will be released November 4, 2025, from Baker Books.
Sara's Book:
Nervous Systems
Sara's Recommendations:
Slow Horses
Semi Permanent by Molly Parden
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Fr. Ronald Rolheiser joins me to talk about his new book Insane for the Light, the final part of his spiritual trilogy that began with The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire. Together, we explore what it means to live faithfully through every stage of life from getting our lives together, to giving them away, to finally giving our deaths away. Fr. Rolheiser shares profound insights on the difference between resignation and surrender, how helplessness can become holiness, and why love is sustained not by emotion but by fidelity and presence. We talk about aging as a spiritual practice, the call to move from bitterness to gratitude, and the deep grace found in letting go. This is a conversation about surrendering in love, learning to live with open hands, and allowing the light of God to shine through us, even as everything else fades.
Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I., is President-Emeritus of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio Texas, where he remains a full-time faculty member and Professor of Spirituality. In 1982, he began writing a column “In Exile” which is carried in Catholic newspapers worldwide. He is the author of many award-winning books including The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire, and his newest book Insane for the Light releases in 2025.
Ron's Books:
Insane for the Light
Sacred Fire
The Holy Longing
Ron's Recommendations:
All the Way to Heaven
Rachel Held Evans
Richard Rohr
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In this episode, Carmen Imes joins me to explore her new book Becoming God’s Family: Why Church Still Matters. We look at why the church, despite its failures, divisions, and imperfections, remains central to the way of Jesus. Carmen traces the story of God’s people from Abraham and Sinai to the early church, revealing how God has always chosen to work through community. She offers a compelling vision of what it means to belong to one another, to wait together on God, and to become a family formed by grace. This conversation is a reminder that church isn’t a perfect institution, it’s a gathering of people who need God and one another. In a world of disconnection and individualism, this is an invitation to rediscover the beauty of life together.
Dr. Carmen Joy Imes is associate professor of Old Testament at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, in Southern California. She is the author of Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters, and Becoming God’s Family: Why the Church Still Matters. Her primary areas of expertise are Exodus and the Psalms. Carmen has a YouTube channel where she releases weekly Torah Tuesday videos and you can find her writing on various websites, including Christianity Today, Substack, The Well, and The Politics of Scripture blog. Carmen has appeared on over 150 podcasts and radio outlets. She enjoys traveling to speak at churches, schools, conferences, and retreats. Carmen is passionate about equipping the church to engage the Old Testament well and to see its relevance for the Christian life.
Carmen's Book:
Becoming God's Family
Carmen's Recommendations:
All Creatures Great and Small
Single Ever After
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Andrew DeCort joins me to explore what it means to love our neighbor — not as a vague ideal, but as a radical way of living that can heal our divisions and reshape our world. Drawing from his own story in Ethiopia and his new book Reviving the Golden Rule, Andrew shares how the practice of neighbor love dismantles fear, ends cycles of othering, and calls us into a deeper belonging rooted in the very heart of God. We talk about how love becomes courage in the face of violence, how Jesus’ teaching to love even our enemies abolishes exclusion, and how the Neighbor-Love Movement is helping people embody this ancient command in practical, everyday ways. This is a powerful conversation about faith, reconciliation, and what it means to live as people who see every human being as a reflection of God’s image.
Andrew DeCort founded the Institute for Faith and Flourishing and cofounded the Neighbor-Love Movement in Ethiopia, which have reached over twenty million people with the invitation to nonviolent spirituality. He holds a PhD in religious ethics from the University of Chicago and has taught ethics, public theology, peace and conflict studies, and Ethiopian studies at Wheaton College, the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, and the University of Bonn. He is the author of Reviving the Golden Rule, Blessed Are the Others, Flourishing on the Edge of Faith, and Bonhoeffer’s New Beginning. His words have appeared in Foreign Policy, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Economist, Christianity Today, and numerous other platforms.
Andrew's Book:
Reviving the Golden Rule
Andrew's Recommendation:
Grief is Love
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What happens when “biblical parenting” becomes more about control than compassion? In this episode, I talk with Kelsey McGinnis and Marissa Burt, authors of The Myth of Good Christian Parenting, about the rise of evangelical parenting culture, from James Dobson and Bill Gothard to today’s influencer economy, and how these ideas have shaped generations of families. Together, we explore how fear and hierarchy took root in the church’s imagination, why so many parents feel trapped by formulas and shame, and what it might look like to recover freedom, grace, and mutuality in our homes. This is a conversation about rethinking authority, rediscovering gentleness, and learning to see our children as people to love, not projects to manage.
Marissa Franks Burt (MTh, Columbia International University) is a novelist, editor, teacher, and cohost of the At Home with the Lectionary podcast. She lives in a small town in Washington’s Snoqualmie Valley with her husband, six children, and heaps of books.
Kelsey Kramer McGinnis (PhD, University of Iowa) is a musicologist, educator, and correspondent for Christianity Today, writing on worship practices and Christian subculture. She is an adjunct professor at Grand View University in Des Moines and previously worked at the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.
Marissa & Kelsey's Book:
The Myth of Good Christian Parenting
Kelsey's Recommendations:
Celebrities for Jesus
Monsters
Marissa's Recommendations:
The Justice of Jesus
The Thursday Murder Club
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What if God really looks like Jesus? Not partly loving and partly wrathful, but fully revealed in the crucified Christ. In this conversation, Greg Boyd helps us reimagine everything - our picture of God, how we read Scripture, and how we live in the world. We talk about what it means to see the cross as the center of revelation, how to wrestle with violence in the Bible, and how the way of Jesus invites us into nonviolence, humility, and love for our enemies. Greg also reflects on what it means to be kingdom people within an empire, to follow the Lamb instead of the sword, and to build communities that look more like Jesus.
Greg Boyd is the Founder and Senior Pastor of Woodland Hills Church, Maplewood MN. Former professor of theology at Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) and Northern Seminary (Chicago, iL). Author or co-author of 22 books and numerous articles. He and his wife Shelley have been married for 44 years. They have three adult children, six grandchildren, and an adorable though highly eccentric dog. His hobby is drumming in a rock band.
Greg's Book:
God Looks Like Jesus
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Phil Sokell-Miles has spent nearly two decades helping students encounter God in the most ordinary of places - schools. As part of the 24-7 Prayer movement, he helped pioneer Prayer Spaces in Schools, a global initiative inviting children and young people of all faiths and none to explore prayer, reflection, and life’s big questions in safe and creative ways. In this episode, we talk about how the movement began, why creativity can open us to the Spirit in ways words sometimes can’t, and what it means to serve schools as places of blessing rather than mission projects. We explore how prayer becomes a way of belonging, how the Holy Spirit meets us in quiet spaces, and how creating room for presence can transform lives. A conversation about childlike faith, holy imagination, and the God who meets us right where we are.
Phil Sokell-Miles (formerly Togwell) lives in the North of England with his family (wife, daughters, foster-mums/babies, lodgers and dogs). Phil trained and worked in all sorts of Youth & Community settings before joined the 24-7 Prayer movement as it’s first UK National Director. He now leads 24-7’s Prayer Spaces in Schools initiative, and he recently published 'Sticky Note Prayers', which tells the story of Prayer Spaces in Schools. Phil runs (a lot), and he still plays Pokemon Go.
Phil's Book:
Sticky Note Prayers
Phil's Recommendations:
Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools
About the Voice of God
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We live in what Heath Hardesty calls the age of disintegration - a world marked by fragmentation, distraction, and disconnection. I feel that deeply. So many of us are trying to hold our lives together in a culture that constantly pulls us apart. In this conversation, Heath joins me to talk about how apprenticeship to Jesus offers another way - a way toward coherence, union, and wholeness. Heath is a pastor in the Bay Area and the author of All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World. We talk about what it means to move beyond simply knowing about Jesus to actually living with Him - to abide, obey, and become people who image His love in a fractured world. We explore practices like unhurried presence and compassionate gentleness, and how they reveal a kind of power that’s rooted not in control, but in love. If you’ve felt scattered, weary, or disoriented in your faith, this episode is an invitation to slow down, breathe, and remember that in Christ, all things hold together.
Heath Hardesty is the author of All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World (WaterBrook; on sale 10/14/25) and he serves as the lead pastor of Valley Community Church and is the founder of Inklings Coffee & Tea in the heart of downtown Pleasanton, California. Heath grew up in a blue-collar home and was a plumber’s apprentice in Colorado before becoming a pastor on the edge of Silicon Valley where he, his wife, and four kids now reside. He holds degrees in literature, leadership, biblical studies, and theology from the University of Colorado Boulder and Western Seminary in Portland. Visit him on IG@heathhardesty
Heath's Book:
All Things Together
Heath's Recommendations:
God is On Your Side
The Poems of Seamus Heaney
Gerard Manley Hopkins
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Justin McRoberts weaves together art, prayer, and spiritual direction to help others find their way through seasons of loss, disappointment, and hope. In this conversation, Justin shares how letting go of outcomes opens us to God’s presence, why beauty is often discovered in the low places of life, and what it means to companion one another with compassion instead of control. We talk about depression, shame, and the cultural pressures to optimize and perform, and Justin offers a vision of faith that embraces reverence, honesty, and presence. Along the way, he reflects on his collaboration with Scott Erickson, the creation of In the Low, and how art can become a companion in our hardest moments. This is a conversation about finding God’s gifts in grief, learning to receive help, and discovering beauty in unexpected places.
Justin McRoberts is an author, coach, speaker, and songwriter. He is the author of many books, including In the Low. For over 20 years, Justin has helped artists, ministers, and entrepreneurs find their way. From the stage, through his stories in books or during coaching sessions, he leans on his years of work and expertise as a minister and artist to help individuals and teams solve problems in their creative processes. When hes not writing, speaking, or coaching, you can find him as the host of the At Sea Podcast. He lives in the East San Francisco Bay Area.
Justin and Scott's Book:
In the Low
Justin's Recommendations:
In the Absence of the Ordinary
True and False Magic
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In this episode, I sit down with author and poet Kaitlin Curtice to explore the ways stories shape our lives and communities. Drawing from her new book Everything Is a Story, Kaitlin reflects on the narratives that formed her growing up, the Indigenous wisdom that grounds her, and the liminal spaces where transformation takes place. We talk about cyclical and linear storytelling, the role of art and poetry in healing, and how interfaith relationships and community can help us move beyond fear and division. This conversation invites us to honor the stories we carry, let go of those that wound, and imagine new ones that lead us into kinship, belonging, and hope.
Kaitlin Curtice is an award-winning author, poet-storyteller, and public speaker. As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation, Kaitlin writes on the intersections of spirituality and identity and how that shifts throughout our lives. She also speaks on these topics to diverse audiences who are interested in truth-telling and healing.
As an inter-spiritual advocate, Kaitlin participates in conversations on topics such as colonialism in faith communities, and she has spoken at many conferences on the importance of inter-faith relationships. Kaitlin leads workshops and retreats, as well as lectures and keynote presentations, ranging from panels at the Aspen Climate Conference to speaking at the Chautauqua Institution and at universities, private retreat centers, and churches across the country.
In 2020 Kaitlin’s award-winning book Native: Identity, Belonging and Rediscovering God won Georgia Author of the Year in the religion category. Native explores the relationship between American Christianity and Indigenous peoples, drawing on Kaitlin’s experiences as a Potawatomi woman.
In 2023, Kaitlin released two books, first, Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day, which examines the journey of resisting the status quo of hate by caring for ourselves, one another, and Mother Earth, and second, her first children’s book called Winter’s Gifts: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature, which is the premier book in a series of four books on the four seasons coming out with Convergent, RandomHouse Books. Her second book in the series called Summer’s Magic was released in 2024.
Besides her books, Kaitlin has written online for Sojourners, Religion News Service, On Being, SELF Magazine, Oprah Daily, and more. Her work has been featured on CBS and in USA Today. She also writes essays and poetry for The Liminality Journal and spends her time supporting other authors as they navigate the world of publishing. Kaitlin lives near Philadelphia with her partner, two dogs, and two kids.
Kaitlin's Book:
Everything is a Story
Kaitlin's Recommendations:
Care of the Soul
The Works of John O'Donahue
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What causes leaders to lose their way? It’s rarely one catastrophic decision, it’s usually the slow drift of small compromises, unaddressed habits, and unchecked desires. In this episode, Peter Greer talks about the hidden currents that pull leaders off course. We explore the dangers of personal and mission drift, the importance of confession and accountability, the tension between culture and structure, and why humility and downward mobility are essential for long-term faithfulness. Peter shares practical tools - from succession planning to building rhythms of transparency - that help leaders prevent drift and finish well.
Peter Greer is the president and CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered nonprofit working to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship and discipleship in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. He is a bestselling coauthor of over 15 books, including Mission Drift, Rooting for Rivals, Lead with Prayer, and How Leaders Lose Their Way. Before joining HOPE, Peter worked internationally in microfinance in Cambodia, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda and holds a graduate degree from Harvard Kennedy School. While his sports loyalties remain in New England, Peter and his family live in Lancaster, PA.
Peter's Book:
How Leaders Lose Their Way
Peter's Recommendations:
Where the Light Fell
Soul Survivor
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Sharon Hodde Miller returns to Shifting Culture to talk about her new devotional, Gazing at God. Building on her earlier work in Free of Me, Sharon explores how the lies of insecurity and comparison keep us trapped in self-preoccupation and how the way of Jesus frees us to lift our eyes toward God and others. Together we talk about why self-esteem culture falls short, how worship reorients us when we spiral inward, the difference between healing the self and neglecting the self, what true success in the kingdom of God looks like, and how abiding in Christ becomes the foundation for real freedom. This is a hopeful and practical conversation about identity, healing, and the joy of gazing at God.
Sharon leads Bright City Church in Durham, NC with her husband, Ike, which they planted together in 2018. Sharon earned her M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and her PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where she researched the topic of women and calling.
In addition to writing for sites like Christianity Today, She Reads Truth, Propel, Relevant, and more, she is the author of three books: Free of Me: Why Life Is Better When It’s Not about You, Nice: Why We Love to Be Liked And How God Calls Us to More, and The Cost of Control: Why We Crave It, the Anxiety it Gives Us, and the Real Power God Promises.
Sharon travels the country speaking at churches and conferences, and then she loves to return home to her three awesome kids!
Sharon's Books:
Free of Me
Gazing at God
Sharon's Recommendations:
Regenerative Performance
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Nijay Gupta is back on Shifting Culture to share about his new book with A.J. Swoboda, Slow Theology. Together we talk about what it means to follow Jesus at a different pace - resisting the constant pressure to react, hurry, and perform, and instead cultivating practices that lead to depth and resilience. In this episode, we explore the role of lament, the necessity of community, and how theology is less about abstract answers and more about orienting our whole lives toward God. Nijay offers wisdom for living faithfully in a turbulent age and shows us how slowing down might be a core practice for our spiritual formation today.
Nijay Gupta (DPhil, University of Durham) has written several academic books including Paul and the Language of Faith, and Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. He has co-edited The State of New Testament Studies, and The State of Pauline Studies. Nijay co-chairs the Pauline Theology seminar of the Institute for Biblical Research and serves as a senior translator for the New Living Translation.
Nijay and A.J.'s Book:
Slow Theology
Nijay's Recommendations:
Becoming God's Family
The Fourth Synoptic Gospel
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What do we do when it feels like God isn’t on our side? In this episode of Shifting Culture, I talk with Joshua Ryan Butler about his new book God Is On Your Side and the ways he’s wrestled with that very question through seasons of heartbreak, illness, and despair. Josh takes us into the Gospel of John, where one-on-one encounters with Jesus become mirrors for our own stories - the paralyzed man, the woman at the well, the man born blind, Lazarus in the tomb. Each scene reveals a God who sees us before we see Him, who calls us beloved, and who can turn even the hardest places into holy places. This conversation is about finding hope in the dark, learning to trust God in uncertainty, and remembering that we are never abandoned.
Joshua Ryan Butler is a Teaching Pastor with the Willamette family of churches in the Portland area and the author of God is On Your Side, The Party Crasher, Beautiful Union, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, and The Pursuing God. Josh loves shifting paradigms, to help people who wrestle with tough topics of the Christian faith by confronting popular caricatures and replacing them with the beauty and power of the real thing. He and his wife, Holly, along with their three children, live in Portland, Oregon. They enjoy spending time with friends over great meals and exploring the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
Josh's Book:
God is On Your Side
Josh's Recommendations:
Art of Memoir
Unbroken
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Joash P. Thomas joins me to talk about the justice of Jesus and what it means for the gospel to truly be good news for the poor and the oppressed. We trace Joash’s journey from growing up in Mumbai to working in U.S. politics, and then to encountering Jesus on the margins. Along the way, we explore how colonialism has shaped both the Global South and the Western church, why decolonizing our own assumptions is vital, and how Jesus’ ministry invites us into a justice that is both spiritual and physical. This episode is an invitation to imagine a church rooted not in empire or success, but in faithfulness, humility, and solidarity with our marginalized neighbors.
Rev. Joash P. Thomas is an author, speaker, and global human rights leader.
Drawing from his St. Thomas Indian Christian roots and a decolonized, justice-centered understanding of Scripture, Joash helps audiences reimagine a faith that unites rather than divides—and that stands firmly with neighbors on the margins. Through speaking engagements, teaching, and advocacy, he calls Christians to a more contemplative yet courageous activism, motivated by the grace-filled, non-violent way of Jesus.
Born and raised in India, Joash served as a U.S. political consultant and lobbyist before pivoting to global human rights advocacy. Now based in the Toronto area, he holds a master’s degree in Political Management from The George Washington University and has completed master’s degrees in Christian Leadership and Christian Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. A Deacon in the Diocese of St. Anthony, Joash is also the author of the forthcoming book The Justice of Jesus (Brazos Press, September 2025).
Joash's Book:
The Justice of Jesus
Joash's Recommendations:
A More Christlike God
Better Ways to Read the Bible
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In this episode, I want to take a moment to step aside from the interviews and speak directly to you. Shifting Culture has always been about telling better stories - stories that help us live more faithfully and compassionately in a world that’s so often divided by fear. But to keep these conversations going, I need your help.
My wife and I spend our lives training and coaching disciple makers and storytellers around the world, and this podcast is part of that same mission. You can support the work through our donation link or by subscribing on ShiftingCulture.Substack.com, where you’ll get early ad-free episodes, thoughtful articles, and be part of a community committed to the way of Jesus.
I’ll close by reading one of those articles - Breaking the Binary: Building Longer Tables in the Way of Jesus - as an invitation to imagine what’s possible when love is stronger than fear, and when we build longer tables instead of higher walls.
Thank you for listening, for your support, and for embodying the ways of Jesus in this world.
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In this episode, I sit down with actor, author, and speaker Edwina Findley Dickerson to talk about her new book, The World Is Waiting for You. Edwina shares her journey of listening for God’s voice, navigating seasons of waiting, and discovering a deeper purpose beyond achievement. Together, we explore the tension between intentional planning and radical surrender, how to overcome fear and step into our God-given dreams, and why true purpose is found not only in what we do, but in who we are becoming. This is a conversation for anyone longing to live with clarity, courage, and faith in a noisy world.
Edwina Findley is an award-winning film, television, and theatre actress, celebrated by critics as "a marvel to watch." Known to global audiences as the hilarious 'Sheila' in Shonda Rhimes' hit Netflix series "The Residence," Edwina first captured hearts as 'Tosha' on HBO's groundbreaking series "The Wire,” and garnered critical attention for her role as Rosie in Ava DuVernay's Sundance award-winning feature "Middle of Nowhere.” She then earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female for her "skin-prickling performance" in "Free In Deed.” A vibrant and versatile actress, Edwina starred opposite Toni Collette in Amazon’s global thriller ”The Power,” as Kevin Hart's wife, Rita, in Warner Bros' hit comedy "Get Hard" with Will Ferrell, "Fear The Walking Dead," Tyler Perry’s “If Loving You is Wrong,” HBO’s “Veep,” “Rogue Agent,” “Black Lightning,” ”Chicago Med," HBO's "Treme," and "Shots Fired” from “Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Edwina is a native of Washington, DC, where she attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts then studied drama at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Edwina continued her studies at UCLA, Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), and with Yale Drama’s Gregory Berger-Sorbeck. Theatrically, Edwina has performed around the world and at some of the nation’s finest theaters, including The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Juilliard, Atlantic Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, Baltimore Centerstage, and Cleveland Playhouse. Edwina received a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for the historical drama Gee’s Bend, and an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Eclipsed, set during the Liberian war.
Proclaimed in the New York Times as a “life force,” Edwina is a global speaker, mentor, and CEO of Abundant Life University. Edwina’s most cherished blessings are her loving husband Kelvin Dickerson and their bright and beautiful little girls, Victoria and London. Connect with Edwina at www.edwinafindley.com
Edwina's Book:
The World is Waiting For You
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In this episode I sit down with Andrew and Kara Root to talk about their new book, A Pilgrimage Into Letting Go. Written out of their journey walking St. Cuthbert’s Way with their children, the book reflects on parenting, pastoring, and the hard but necessary work of releasing control. Together we explore why modern life pushes us to manage every detail, how uncontrollability can actually be a gift, and what it looks like to see parenting as a pilgrimage. Along the way, we talk about prayer as listening, the difference between being a tourist and a pilgrim, and the ways God encounters us when we surrender to presence. This is a conversation about trust, family, and faith that invites us to walk with open hands and open hearts.
Andrew Root is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, USA. He writes and researches in areas of theology, ministry, culture and younger generations. His most recent books are Evangelism in an Age of Despair (Baker, 2025), The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms (Baker, 2023), Churches and the Crisis of Decline (Baker, 2022), The Congregation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2021), and The Pastor in a Secular Age: Ministry to People Who No Longer Need God (Baker, 2019). In addition, he serves as theologian in residence for Youthfront.
Rev. Kara K. Root is the author of The Deepest Belonging (2021) and Receiving This Life: (2023). Pastor of Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, MN, a Christian community that shapes its life around worship, hospitality and Sabbath rest, she is a trained Spiritual Director and Certified Educator in the PCUSA. Being mom to two intriguing teenagers (and a sweet dog), and wife and proofreader to a wily theologian, spices up her vocational calling and keeps her fully immersed in life. She has written for Sparkhouse, Working Preacher, Christian Century, Christianity Today, Faith and Leadership, Patheos and more. Kara leads retreats and workshops on sabbath rest, prayer practices, and church leadership and transformation.
Andy & Kara's Book:
A Pilgrimage Into Letting Go
Kara's Recommendation:
How to Inhabit Time
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In this episode, I sit down with acclaimed writer and poet Kathleen Norris to talk about her deeply personal new book, Rebecca Sue. The book tells the story of her sister Becky - born with brain damage at birth - whose life was marked by both difficulty and transformation, humor and resilience. Kathleen shares what it was like to grow up alongside Becky, how storytelling became a way of honoring her full humanity, and why persistence was necessary to bring this book into the world. Along the way, she reflects on grief, community, the role of faith, and the ways we learn to see people not through labels or limitations, but in the fullness of who they are. This is a conversation about love, loss, and the surprising grace that emerges when we pay attention to every story - even the ones we’re tempted to overlook.
Kathleen Norris is the award-winning poet, writer, and author of the New York Times bestselling books The Cloister Walk, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, The Virgin of Bennington, and several volumes of poetry. Exploring the spiritual life, her work is at once intimate and historical, rich in poetry and meditations, brimming with exasperation and reverence, deeply grounded in both nature and spirit, sometimes funny, and often provocative.
Widowed in 2003, Kathleen Norris now divides her time between South Dakota and Honolulu, Hawaii, where she is a member of an Episcopal church. She travels to the mainland regularly to speak to students, medical professionals, social workers, and chaplains at colleges and universities, as well as churches and teaching hospitals. For many years she was the poetry editor of Spirituality & Health magazine. She serves as an editorial advisor for the monthly Give Us This Day from Liturgical Press, and writes for a weekly e-newsletter, Soul Telegram: Movies & Meaning with her friend Irish storyteller Gareth Higgins.
Kathleen's Book:
Rebecca Sue
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On Shifting Culture, we often ask: what does it mean to follow Jesus in the complexity of our world? In this episode, John Fugelsang helps us press into that question with clarity and urgency. John is a comedian, actor, and political commentator shaped by the unlikely pairing of parents who were once a nun and a Franciscan brother. His new book, Separation of Church and Hate, takes an unflinching look at how fundamentalism and nationalism have twisted Christianity into a pursuit of power. With sharp wit and thoughtful insight, John contrasts that distortion with the radical humility and compassion of Jesus - the one who welcomed the stranger, lifted up women, broke cycles of violence, and modeled a way beyond empire. This conversation is provocative and grounding, inviting us to imagine how the way of Jesus might still break the cycles of fear and hate in our time.
John Fugelsang has been killed on CSI, picketed by Westboro Baptist Church, and hosts the acclaimed series "Tell Me Everything" on SiriusXM #127. He's been a regular on CNN, MSNBC & FOX News, appears in Coyote Ugly, hosted America’s Funniest Home Videos once got George Harrison to give his final performance on VH1. He's the child of an ex-nun and an ex-Franciscan brother, and his book SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND HATE: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock Fleecing Frauds releases from Simon & Schuster in Summer 2025.
John's Book:
Separation of Church and Hate
John's Recommendation:
Superman
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What happens when the church trades the way of Jesus for the way of empire? In this episode of Shifting Culture, I talk with theologian and activist Drew Hart about his latest book, Making It Plain. We trace the long history of Christendom, the Doctrine of Discovery, and the legacies of white supremacy that continue to shape American Christianity today. But this isn’t just a conversation about what went wrong. Drew offers a hopeful vision he calls Anablactivism - a merging of Anabaptist discipleship and the prophetic witness of the Black church. Together we explore how these traditions, born on the underside of oppression, can help us recover a faith that looks like Jesus: rooted in solidarity, committed to justice, and pursuing God’s Shalom in our neighborhoods and the world. If you’ve wrestled with Christian nationalism, wondered how to disentangle faith from power, or longed for a discipleship that takes Jesus seriously, this conversation will both challenge and inspire you.
Rev. Dr. Drew G. I. Hart is an associate professor of theology at Messiah University where he has directed the Thriving Together: Congregations for Racial Justice program in central PA since 2021. He co-hosts Inverse Podcast with Australian peace activist Jarrod McKenna and is the author of Trouble I've Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism (2016), Who Will Be A Witness?: Igniting Activism for God's Justice, Love, and Deliverance (2020), and he co-edited and contributed to Reparations and the Theological Disciplines: Prophetic Voices for Remembrance, Reckoning, and Repair (Nov. 2023). His newest book is Making It Plain: Why We Need Anabaptism and the Black Church (September 2, 2025). Drew regularly speaks at colleges, conferences, churches, and community groups across the country. He is married to Renee and is the father of three sons.
Drew's Book:
Making it Plain
Drew's Recommendations:
God's Apocalyptic Insurrection
The Lamb of the Free
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Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Trymaine Lee joins Shifting Culture to talk about his new book A Thousand Ways to Die and the true cost of violence in America. Known as a griot of Black survival and death, Trymaine has spent decades reporting on the lives and communities most affected by gun violence. But when he suffered a sudden heart attack at just 38, he was forced to reckon with the weight of the trauma he had carried in his body and in his family’s history of generational loss. In this conversation, Trymaine traces the roots of America’s cycles of violence back to slavery, systemic racism, and disinvestment, showing how those forces still shape families and neighborhoods today. He also shares how identity, mentorship, and joy can disrupt the cycle, and why nothing stops a bullet like dignity, opportunity, and love. This episode is heavy, but it’s also filled with hope. Because as Trymaine reminds us, there may be a thousand ways to die, but there are also a thousand ways to live.
Trymaine Lee is a Pulitzer Prize and Emmy award winning journalist and MSNBC contributor. He’s the host of the “Into America” podcast where he covers the intersection of Blackness, power, and politics. A contributing author to the “1619 Project”, he has reported for The New York Times, the Huffington Post, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A Thousand Ways to Die is his first book.
Trymaine's Book:
A Thousand Ways to Die
Trymaine's Recommendation:
James
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Prayer can be more than quiet reflection — it can be protest, solidarity, and a catalyst for justice. In this episode of Shifting Culture, I talk with Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar about their new book We Pray Freedom, a collection of prayers, songs, and liturgies born out of the Freedom Church of the Poor.
We explore how faith traditions can sustain movements, how ritual can become resistance, and how communities on the margins are leading us toward a more just and abundant world. From prayer in homeless encampments to liturgy at the border, this conversation invites us to see that prayer isn’t escape — it’s action, hope, and transformation.
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis is a theologian, pastor, author, and anti-poverty activist. She is the Executive Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Rev. Dr. Theoharis has been organizing in poor and low-income communities for the past 30 years. Her books include: We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign (Broadleaf Press, 2021) and Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor (Eerdmans, 2017) and she has been published in the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, Sojourners and elsewhere. Rev. Dr. Theoharis is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and teaches at Union Theological Seminary.
Dr. Charon Hribar is a movement song leader, cultural organizer, and social ethicist. She serves as the director of cultural strategies for the Kairos Center and as co-director of theomusicology and movement arts for the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. She cofounded Songs in the Key of Resistance and has been instrumental in creating music and cultural resources like the Songs in the Key of Resistance Songbook and the We Cry Justice Cultural Arts Project. Dr. Hribar combines on-the-ground organizing with teaching and leading social-movement music nationwide, empowering communities to integrate arts into their efforts for justice.
Liz and Charon's Book:
We Pray Freedom
Liz and Charon's Recommendation:
Andor
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When the world feels uncertain and fear threatens to overwhelm, how do we stay rooted in faith? In this conversation, theologian Hanna Reichel joins me to talk about the new devotional For Such a Time as This. We explore what history - especially the lessons of Germany a century ago - can teach us about resilience, discernment, and Christian witness today. Hanna helps us see that faithfulness doesn’t always look the same: sometimes it’s public protest, sometimes it’s small acts of solidarity, sometimes it’s simply choosing joy. Together, we reflect on how to find calm in the storm, how to discern wisely, and how to live with hope in anxious times.
Hanna Reichel is Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Reichel earned their Dr. theol. in Systematic Theology from Heidelberg University, Germany, after an MDiv in Theology and a BSc in Economics. Prior to coming to Princeton, they taught at Heidelberg University and Halle-Wittenberg University in Germany. Reichel is also a research fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
An internationally renowned scholar and widely sought speaker, Reichel has authored three monographs, co-edited nine collected volumes, and published several dozen scholarly articles. Reichel’s first book, Theologie als Bekenntnis: Karl Barths kontextuelle Lektüre des Heidelberger Katechismus reframes Barth as a contextual theologian through his repeated engagements with this Reformed confession over the course of his life. The book received the Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise and the Ernst Wolf Award. Reichel’s second book, After Method: Queer Grace, Conceptual Design, and the Possibility of Theology has been widely celebrated for building bridges between Queer-liberationist and Reformed-Systematic sensibilities, as well as constructively introducing design theory into conversations about theological method. Reichel’s newest book, For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional is directed at a wider audience, offering a timely resource for ordinary Christians seeking to live faithfully in extraordinary times of societal upheaval and political fragility.
Hanna's Book:
For Such a Time as This
Hanna's Recommendation:
On Tyranny
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The story of Christianity is full of paradox—spaces of violence and division becoming arenas of hope and redemption. In this episode, I sit down with priest and author Fergus Butler-Gallie to talk about his book Twelve Churches, which traces the history of Christianity through twelve remarkable church buildings across the globe. From Bethlehem to Birmingham, Rome to Japan, these spaces reveal the comedy and tragedy, unity and division, beauty and brokenness woven into the Church’s story. Together, we explore how these places still point us back to Jesus and what they teach us about power, authenticity, and hope in a fractured world.
Fergus Butler-Gallie is an author, journalist, and an ordained Anglican priest who was educated at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and has served in London and Liverpool. He is the author of A Field Guide to the English Clergy, which was named a Best Book of the Year by The Times (London), The Mail on Sunday (London), and BBC History; Priests de la Resistance!, which was a Spectator Best Book of the Year; Touching Cloth; and Twelve Churches. He is Editor-at-Large for The Fence, and his journalism has appeared in publications including The Times (London), The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph (London), Financial Times, and The New Statesman (UK). He won the 2022 P.G. Wodehouse Society (UK) Essay Prize.
Fergus' Book:
Twelve Churches
Fergus' Recommendation:
The Man in the Red Coat
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Natalie Runion returns to Shifting Culture with her new book I Don’t Even Like Women: And Other Lies That Get in the Way of Sacred Sisterhood. Behind the provocative title is a deeper story: how the church has too often handed women scripts of competition, gossip, and scarcity and how those scripts can be rewritten into something truer and freer. In this conversation, we talk about identity, trust, and the work of forgiveness. We explore what women’s ministry has been, and what it could become when collaboration replaces competition, when community is rooted in abundance, and when Jesus’ vision of sacred sisterhood begins to take hold. This isn’t just about women’s ministry. It’s about how all of us, men and women, learn to build communities that dignify rather than diminish.
Natalie Runion is the USA Today bestselling author of Raised to Stay and The House That Jesus Built, as well as the creator of the Raised to Stay Community (@raisedtostay). She lives in Kentucky with her husband, Tony, and their two daughters, where they work together to provide training to leaders in pursuit of a healthy church.
Natalie's Book:
I Don't Even Like Women
Natalie's Recommendations:
Becoming the Pastor's Wife
Crushing Chaos
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What story are you living in? In this episode, Trevin Wax joins me to explore how the church can root itself more deeply in the story of Scripture. We talk about The Gospel Way Catechism, the ancient practice of catechesis, and why discipleship is more than just memorizing truths - it’s learning to walk in the way of Jesus. Along the way, Trevin shares why true freedom is found in submission to God, how cultural narratives like the American Dream can subtly reshape our faith, and why the global church is vital for our own spiritual health. This conversation invites us to reexamine the stories shaping us and to rediscover the flourishing life Jesus offers.
Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. His new book is The Gospel Way Catechism.
Trevin's Book:
The Gospel Way Catechism
Trevin's Recommendation:
The Years of Lyndon Johnson
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What if healing doesn’t happen in isolation, but only in community?In this episode Toni Collier talks about her new book Don’t Try This Alone and the hard-won lessons she’s learned about vulnerability, resilience, and the necessity of others in our journey toward healing. Toni shares her story of brokenness and betrayal, the seasons of hopelessness she’s endured, and how confessional community became the place where God met her through the presence of others. We wrestle with questions of trust, forgiveness, church hurt, and what it takes to build relationships that reflect the love and presence of Jesus.
Toni Collier is the founder of an international women’s organization called Broken Crayons Still Color and helps women process through brokenness and get to healing and hope. Toni is a speaker, host of the Still Coloring podcast, and author of two books: Brave Enough to be Broken and her latest release, a children's book, Broken Crayons Still Color. Toni is teaching people all over the globe that you can be broken and still worthy, or feel unqualified and still be called to do great things.
Toni's Book:
Don't Try This Alone
Toni's Recommendations:
Good Boundaries and Goodbyes
Forgiving What You Can't Forget
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What does it look like to seek justice when the problems seem too big to solve? In this episode, sociologist and justice advocate Kurt Ver Beek shares his journey from the Midwest to the front lines of Honduras - moving into one of the country’s most violent neighborhoods, confronting systemic corruption, and helping lead a nationwide police reform that saved thousands of lives. We talk about the power of proximity, the importance of alliances, and what it means to be a brave Christian - willing to act in the face of fear. Kurt reminds us that even the most complex issues can have practical solutions, and that God’s heart for the most vulnerable is still calling us to action.
Kurt Ver Beek is the co-founder of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ). He taught as a professor of Sociology for Calvin University, where he directed the Honduras Justice Studies semester with his wife Jo Ann for 20 years. He is the author of Call for Justice, co-written with Christian philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff.
The book that tells the story:
Bear Witness
Kurt's Recommendation:
Little America
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Zach Lambert joins me for a conversation about how we read Scripture and how our reading shapes everything. We explore the lenses we bring to the Bible, the harm that can come from flat or literalist interpretations, and what it looks like to center our reading on the life and teachings of Jesus. Zach’s new book, Better Ways to Read the Bible, invites us to move beyond fear-based or power-driven readings and toward a faith that bears good fruit - love, justice, humility, and hope. If you’ve ever felt disoriented by how the Bible is used in our culture, or if you're trying to rediscover Scripture through a Jesus-centered lens, this episode is for you. Listen in as we talk about interpretation, mystery, spiritual formation, and what it means to be shaped by the Word in a way that leads to life.
Zach W. Lambert is the lead pastor and founder of Restore, a church in Austin, Texas. Under his leadership, Restore has grown from a launch team of five people in 2015 to more than 1,000 members today. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Hardin-Simmons University, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is pursuing his Doctorate at Duke Divinity School.
Zach is the cofounder of the Post Evangelical Collective and serves on the boards of the Austin Church Planting Network and the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network. Zach and his wife, Amy, met each other in the 6th grade, fell in love at 17, and got married at 21. They love watching live music, discovering local Mexican food places, and playing with their two boys.
Zach's Book:
Better Ways to Read the Bible
Zach's Recommendation:
The Tears of Things
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When Clarissa Moll’s husband died suddenly, she was thrust into a new reality one shaped by deep grief, single parenting, and the quiet work of guiding her four children through unimaginable loss. In this episode, Clarissa shares hard-won wisdom about how children grieve, how adults can walk alongside them with care and presence, and how grief doesn’t need to be fixed it needs to be witnessed. We talk about building a grief-literate community, the sacred role of lament, and how the church can hold space for sorrow and hope at the same time. Clarissa offers powerful insight into what it means to be beloved in the midst of pain and how the slow work of healing happens in community, in story, and in the soil of everyday life. This is an honest, hope-filled conversation for anyone navigating loss or walking with someone who is.
Clarissa Moll is an award-winning writer and podcaster who helps bereaved people find flourishing after loss. Clarissa’s writing appears in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, RELEVANT, Modern Loss, Grief Digest and more. She co-hosted Christianity Today’s “Surprised by Grief” podcast and produces Christianity Today's flagship news podcast, "The Bulletin." Clarissa’s debut book, Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief and Thriving After Loss, was a best-selling new release in 2022. She is the author of the Beyond the Darkness Devotional, Hurt Help Hope: A Real Conversation about Teen Grief and Life after Loss, and Hope Comes to Stay. Clarissa is a remarried widow and lives with her large blended family in the Boston area.
Clarissa's Books:
Hope Comes to Stay
Beyond the Darkness
Clarissa's Recommendation:
Rising from the Plains
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Karen Swallow Prior returns to the podcast to help us rethink what calling really is. It's not a passion we chase or a dream we conjure up, but something that comes from outside of us. Something we respond to. We talk about the slow work of vocation, how it shifts over time, and why pursuing what’s true, good, and beautiful in ordinary life might be the most faithful thing we can do. This conversation is for anyone in the middle of change, trying to find their way, or wondering if the work they’re doing still matters. There’s room for all of it here.
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D. is a popular writer and speaker. A former English professor, Karen is now a contributing writer for The Dispatch and a columnist for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vox, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and many other places. Her most recent book is You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful (Brazos 2025).
Karen's Book:
You Have a Calling
Karen's Recommendation:
Small Things Like These
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Stories aren’t just entertainment - they’re how we make sense of who we are, what we value, and where we’re headed. In this episode, writer and professor Sean Gaffney invites us to see story as a sacred thread woven through culture, theology, and discipleship. We talk about the shape of the meta story that undergirds all great narratives, how stories can form us spiritually, and why even blockbuster films can point us toward God. From the pitfalls of message-driven Christian media to the redemptive echoes in Marvel movies, this conversation is an invitation to engage story with both discernment and wonder.
Sean Gaffney has authored thirty produced plays, three feature films, four commissioned television pilots, two published chapter books, as well as over two hundred produced videos, animation projects, YouTube series episodes and short films (including for Big Idea and SuperBook). Other publications include contributing to Bigger on the Inside: Christianity and Doctor Who, It Was Good: Performing Arts to the Glory of God, and The Routledge Handbook of the Bible and Film . He was the Story Administrator for Warner Bros. Features, editor of Drama Ministry Magazine, the Managing Director of Taproot Theatre (Seattle) and General Manager of Lamb’s Theatre Company (New York). Gaffney currently is a Professor in Media Communication and Screenwriting at Asbury University, as well as Associate Dean of the School of Communication Arts. He received his BFA from Drake University, his MFA from Columbia University, and studied with Act One: Writing for Hollywood. He released a new book on the intersection of scriptwriting and theology: Meta Story: What Marvel & the Messiah Can Teach Us about Great Storytelling. More information at www.gaffneyinkwell.com and IMDb.
Sean's Book:
Meta Story
Sean's Recommendation:
The God of Story
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What if aging wasn’t something to fear, but something to embrace? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Kerry Burnight, a leading gerontologist and author of Joyspan, to explore how we can shift our mindset around aging. Instead of chasing anti-aging fads or resisting change, what if we cultivated joy, purpose, and connection across every season of life? Kerry unpacks the four practices at the heart of a long and meaningful “joy span”: growing, connecting, adapting, and giving and how these practices not only enrich our lives but can extend them. Whether you're in your 30s or your 80s, this conversation is a reminder: aging is human, and joy is possible all the way through.
Gerontologist, Dr. Kerry Burnight, is sparking a global revolution to make older better.
Fed up with the fear-driven, anti-aging hysteria, millions of people turn to “Dr. Kerry” for her proven approach to navigating longevity. This approach is based upon a profound truth: the key to good longevity isn’t the length of your life, it’s the quality of your life.
Efforts to maximize lifespan and even healthspan don’t address the whole picture. Longevity is meaningless if you don’t like your life. Burnight introduces the critical concept, “Joyspan” based on the science of well-being, contentment, connection, meaning, growth, choice, and purpose.
Dr. Burnight taught Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology for 18 years at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. She was a speaker to the U.S. White House at the Elder Justice Summit and at the U.S. Department of Justice. She has appeared on such T.V. programs as CBS News, NBC News, The Doctors, and Money Matters.
Kerry's Book:
Joyspan
Kerry's Recommendation:
Write a Must-Read
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When we live in constant noise and inner pressure, how do we learn to think clearly, live intentionally, and follow Jesus with our whole minds? In this episode, I sit down with clinical neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf to explore the intersection of faith, mental health, and neuroplasticity. We talk about how renewing our minds is more than a spiritual idea - it’s a tangible, daily practice that can rewire our thinking and reshape our lives. Dr. Leaf shares practical tools to detox our thoughts, confront anxiety, and move toward healing and wholeness. This is a hopeful and grounded conversation for anyone longing to live with more presence, peace, and purpose.
Dr. Caroline Leaf is a researcher, communication pathologist, audiologist, and clinical and research neuroscientist specializing in cognitive and metacognitive processes and psychoneurobiology. Her passion is to help people see the power of the mind to change the brain, control chaotic thinking, and find mental peace. Dr. Leaf is the author of the bestselling books Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess, Switch On Your Brain, Think and Eat Yourself Smart, The Perfect You, and Think, Learn, Succeed. She’s also the host of the top-rated podcast Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. When she’s not writing or hosting her popular podcast, Dr. Leaf conducts research, publishes her research in peer-reviewed science journals, and teaches at various academic, medical, corporate, and neuroscience conferences around the world. Dr. Leaf and her husband, Mac, have four adult children and live in Cleveland, Ohio.
Caroline's Book:
Help in a Hurry
Neurocyle App - Use the code WELCOME for 30% off
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In this episode, I talk with Alex Fogleman about reclaiming the forgotten art of catechesis - not as rigid instruction, but as a living tradition that helps form whole people in the way of Jesus. We explore how the early church shaped new believers, what we’ve lost in our fast-paced, fragmented culture, and how we might recover a slower, deeper approach to discipleship today. This conversation offers a compelling vision for how we grow - not just in knowledge, but in love, practice, and maturity.
Alex Fogleman is Associate Dean of Special Programs and Assistant Professor of Theology at Trinity Anglican Seminary in Ambridge, PA. Author of Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and Making Disciples (Eerdmans, 2025)
Alex's Book:
Making Disciples
Alex's Recommendation:
The Wingfeather Saga
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What’s really happening in Iran beyond the headlines? In this episode, I sit down with Lana Silk, CEO of Transform Iran, to explore the remarkable growth of the underground church in one of the most spiritually hungry regions in the world. Lana shares her powerful personal story from a childhood shaped by faith under Iran’s Islamic regime to leading a global discipleship movement impacting millions of Iranians today. We talk about how faith flourishes under pressure, what Western Christians can learn from the Iranian church, and why discipleship, sacrifice, and hearing God’s voice are more vital than ever. You’ll also hear miraculous stories of transformation, healing, and courage that will stir your own faith. This is a conversation about radical obedience, contagious hope, and the quiet revolution of love that’s transforming Iran from the inside out.
Lana Silk, Chief Executive Officer, Transform Iran - USA
Lana Silk, daughter of Lazarus and Maggie Yeghnazar, serves as Transform Iran’s Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Lana actively seeks to bring freedom to the people of Iran, transforming the nation into one which bears the image of Christ. Through ministry and humanitarian aid, Lana hopes that Transform Iran will create divine change in the lives of the Iranian people.
Lana currently lives with her husband and three teenage children in Ohio.
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Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw join the podcast for a deep conversation on spiritual formation, attachment theory, and why so many of us feel stuck in our faith. Drawing from their work in neuroscience, pastoral care, and discipleship, they unpack how our early relational patterns shape the way we experience God and how we can begin to heal. We explore the four “landscapes of the soul” (the pasture, jungle, desert, and war zone), how spiritual practices like silence, Bible study, and joy impact us differently depending on where we’re starting from, and how to integrate intimacy and obedience in a holistic journey with God. This episode invites us to move beyond a one-size-fits-all model of discipleship and embrace a more embodied, relational, and compassionate approach to following Jesus.
Geoff Holsclaw (PhD) is cohost of the Embodied Faith podcast, which seeks a neuroscience-informed spiritual formation. He is also an affiliate professor of theology at Northern Seminary (Lisle, Illinois) and a pastor at Vineyard North in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Geoff is author of several books, most recently Does God Really Like Me? Discovering the God Who Wants to Be With Us.
Cyd is an author, spiritual director, and pastor. She is also a trauma-informed, Jesus-centered, professional certified coach (PCC) focused on embodied practices and building a secure attachment to God. She co-hosts the Embodied Faith podcast, offering a neuroscience-informed spiritual formation. And she is the co-author of Does God Really Like Me? Discovering the God Who Wants to Be With You (InterVarsity Press).
Cyd & Geoff's Book:
Landscapes of the Soul
Cyd & Geoff's Recommendations:
Shrinking
Lynn Austin
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Brian McLaren returns to Shifting Culture to explore his new speculative novel The Last Voyage - a prophetic work of fiction set in a world unraveling from ecological collapse, authoritarianism, and cultural despair. But this isn't a story of resignation. It's a call to imagine differently. We talk about the role of art as prophetic witness, how fiction can shape moral imagination, and why we must move beyond systems built on extraction and scarcity. Brian unpacks the concept of polycrisis, the dangers of authoritarian momentum, and the urgent need for new ways of thinking, living, and organizing - rooted in interdependence and care. We also dive into generational shifts, character dynamics, and what it looks like to resist old paradigms by becoming a different kind of presence in the world.
Brian McLaren is a bestselling author, internationally acclaimed speaker and outspoken advocate for 'a new kind of Christianity'. Named one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Evangelical Christians, McLaren was a pastor for over 20 years. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programmes, and an in-demand blogger on faith and public policy (brianmclaren.net). @brianmclaren
Brian's Book:
The Last Voyage
Brian's Recommendations:
The Structure of World History
Children of Time
Ministry for the Future
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In this episode, I sit down with Episcopal priest and author Leyla King to explore her deeply moving memoir Daughters of Palestine. Told through the voices of five generations of Palestinian women, Leyla’s book offers a powerful counter-narrative to the dominant Western framing of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through personal and ancestral stories, she sheds light on the lived experience of Palestinian Christians - stories of displacement, resilience, and unshakable faith. We talk about the intersection of identity and belief, the legacy of generational trauma, and the need to name injustice while holding on to hope. Leyla helps us see why understanding history through human stories is crucial, how reconciliation must be rooted in truth and accountability, and how small acts of listening and proximity can disrupt cycles of vengeance. This is a conversation about the power of story, the pain of loss, and the possibility of healing. It invites us not only to see the full humanity of Palestinians but to reflect on how we might live more faithfully in a fractured world.
Leyla K. King is a Palestinian-American Episcopal priest and author. She is a founding member of both Palestinian Anglicans and Clergy Allies (www.palestiniananglicans.org) and The Small Churches Big Impact Collective (smallchurchesbigimpact.org). She writes about her experiences as a Palestinian, a clergywoman and a mother at thankfulpriest.com. Daughters of Palestine is her first book.
Leyla's Book:
Daughters of Palestine
Leyla's Recommendation:
The Skin and Its Girl
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What does it look like to resist empire without becoming empire? Poet and essayist David Gate joins the podcast to explore how care, friendship, and creative truth-telling can become acts of rebellion in a world shaped by power, productivity, and isolation. In this conversation, we talk about why individualism is a dead end, how to build communities that last, and why Jesus’ refusal to grasp power remains a countercultural model worth following. David shares the heart behind his new book Rebellion of Care, the role of art in subversion, and why the life we already have, if we live it with intention, can become the site of radical transformation. If you’re hungry for a faith that’s grounded, generous, and deeply human, this episode offers both vision and invitation.
David Gate grew up in London before making his way to Belfast, Northern Ireland and Jacksonville, Florida. He now lives in the ancient Appalachian mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, where he writes, mills flour, and tends to a one-acre homestead with his partner and children.
David's Book:
Rebellion of Care
David's Recommendation:
We Tell Ourselves Stories
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Today, we’re sitting down with Doug Lynam - Marine, monk, money coach, and author of Taming Your Money Monster. Doug doesn’t just help people build better budgets. He helps them untangle the deep wounds, attachment patterns, and spiritual beliefs that shape how we handle money. We talk about money not as a neutral tool, but as something we carry stories about - stories that often go back to childhood, shaped by shame, fear, or control. Doug shares how the Enneagram and attachment theory can help us make sense of our financial habits and, more importantly, heal them. He offers a vision of financial health that’s rooted in authenticity, generosity, and service to a broken world. If you’ve ever felt anxious around money, avoided looking at your bank account, or struggled to align your finances with your deepest values join us.
Doug Lynam graduated at the top of his class from Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in 1995, then turned down his commission to become a Benedictine monk. During his 20-year monastic journey, he headed the mathematics department at a prestigious private school while helping his community recover from bankruptcy. After leaving the monastery in 2017, he joined LongView Asset Management in Santa Fe, New Mexico—a sustainability-focused B Corp—where he helped manage over a quarter-billion in assets. A sought-after authority on conscious wealth creation, Doug is the author of From Monk to Money Manager and Taming Your Money Monster: Nine Paths to Money Mastery with the Enneagram.
Doug's Book:
Taming Your Money Monster
Doug's Recommendation:
12 Rules for Life
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Today, Jackson TerKeurst joins me to share his extraordinary journey from the rural simplicity of a Liberian village to the chaos and trauma of war, and finally, to discovering a profound sense of belonging through faith, community, and adoption. Jackson recounts the harrowing experience of surviving as a child during Liberia’s brutal civil conflict, the transformative power of music and worship in his healing, and how God orchestrated a miraculous meeting that led to finding his adoptive family in America. Through his powerful story, Jackson invites us to confront our past traumas, embrace our identity in Christ, and experience true healing and hope in community. So join us because all our stories matter, and our greatest pains can become our most impactful ministries.
Jackson TerKeurst is an entrepreneur and leader who continues to defy the odds as a first-generation immigrant from West Africa who owns and runs a small business. The adopted son of bestselling author and speaker Lysa TerKeurst, Jackson is passionate about drawing together people from diverse backgrounds to experience authentic community. He lives with his wife and their two children outside Nashville, Tennessee.
Jackson's Book:
The Only Way Forward is Back
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Many struggle with the Bible not because it’s irrelevant, but because we’ve never been given the full story. My guest today, Zach Windahl, went from confusion and disillusionment to falling in love with Scripture and now he’s helping others do the same. In this conversation, we trace Zach’s journey of rediscovery, unpack the sweeping narrative of the Bible, and explore how reclaiming the story of God roots us in a better way to live. We talk about why understanding context matters, how the Bible invites us into a kingdom worldview, and what it means to live under the reign of King Jesus in the everyday. Zach doesn’t just teach the Bible, he’s passionate about helping people actually see it, engage with it, and let it shape their lives. So join us as we lay at a roadmap to the beauty and power of the story of the Bible.
Zach Windahl is an author and content creator focused on helping his audience grow in their faith. He is the founder and former CEO of The Brand Sunday, a company that creates tools and resources to hold your hand as you read through the Bible for yourself. Marrying his passion for entrepreneurship and making faith simple and attainable has landed Zach in a unique place in the Christian landscape, where he reaches hundreds of thousands of followers on social media every day. He wrote his latest book, “The Bible, Simplified” (coming July 1, 2025), to help others be less overwhelmed by the Bible and more confident in their faith.
Zach's Book:
The Bible, Simplified
Zach's Recommendations:
Simply Jesus
Simply Christian
Surprised by Hope
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In this episode, I talk with Will Parker Anderson—writer, editor, and founder of The Writer’s Circle—about the tension we all feel between productivity and presence, business and ministry, hustle and holiness. Will brings clarity and honesty to the internal battle many creatives face: how do we create from a place of joy, not just ambition? How do we resist comparison, reclaim play, and keep our identity grounded—not in our platform—but in the God who delights in us? We dig into the realities of Christian publishing, the spiritual disciplines that sustain us, and the hidden dangers of remote work and quiet isolation. Whether you're a writer, an entrepreneur, or someone simply trying to live faithfully in a noisy world, this conversation is full of wisdom, vulnerability, and practical encouragement for staying rooted in what matters most.
Will Parker Anderson is a senior editor at WaterBrook and Multnomah, an imprint of Penguin Random House—the world’s largest publisher. He specializes in acquiring and editing Christian living, Bible teaching, spiritual formation, and faith-based inspirational nonfiction. Will has collaborated with authors like Rich Villodas, Josh Butler, Jon Tyson, Doug Wekenman, and YouTuber Ruslan KD, helping them shape compelling books that resonate with readers.
Beyond publishing, Will’s background includes fifteen years in pastoral ministry and nonprofit work, giving him a deep understanding of the spiritual and practical challenges writers face. His writing and editorial expertise extends to a range of media outlets, including The Chosen, The Gospel Coalition, Dwell Bible App, Preaching Today, and Relevant magazine.
Will holds a BA in journalism from Biola University and an MA in New Testament from Talbot School of Theology. A passionate teacher, he has taught biblical studies and theology at both the high school and college levels. Based in Southern California, Will spends his free time exploring the outdoors with his wife, Emily, and their three young children, which means he’s often running on caffeine and grace.
Will's Website:
writerscircle.co
Will's Recommendation:
Every Moment Holy Vol. III
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In this episode, I'm joined by Heather Thompson Day, whose insights challenge our perceptions of success, passion, and the presence of God in our lives. Heather boldly explores the idea that our true story isn't found in the circumstances we face, but rather in how we respond to them. We dive into themes from her powerful book, What If I'm Wrong?, discussing how passion is not about acclaim or abundance but about faithful presence even in uncertainty and failure. Together, we uncover how deeply God's faithfulness and presence are intertwined in our stories—especially when life doesn't go according to our plans. Heather’s wisdom and authenticity offer a refreshing invitation to live with courage and purpose, even when we're navigating doubts and difficulties. So join us for an honest conversation about embracing passion, redefining success, and finding peace in God's enduring presence.
Dr. Heather Thompson Day is an interdenominational speaker, an ECPA bestseller, and has been a contributor for Religion News Service, Christianity Today, Newsweek and the Barna Group. Her new podcast, What If I’m Wrong? debuted in the top 200 of all Christian podcasts. Heather was a communication professor for nearly 15 years teaching both graduate and undergraduate students in Public Speaking, Persuasion, and Social Media. She is now the founder of It Is Day Ministries, a nonprofit organization that trains churches, leaders, and laypeople in what Heather calls Cross Communication, a gospel centered communication approach that points you higher, to the cross, every time you open your mouth.
Heather’s writing has been featured on outlets like the Today Show, and the National Communication Association. She has been interviewed by BBC Radio Live and The Wall Street Journal. She believes her calling is to stand in the gaps of our churches. She is the author of 9 books; including It’s Not Your Turn, I’ll See You Tomorrow, Can I Sit Here? and What If I’m Wrong?
Heather's Book:
What If I'm Wrong?
Heather's Recommendations:
Tell Her Story
Knowing Christ Today
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In this episode, historian Daniel Hummel joins me to discuss the fascinating rise and decline of dispensationalism, a theological movement deeply embedded in American evangelicalism. Daniel shares his personal journey growing up in a dispensationalist environment, exploring its roots with John Nelson Darby, its influence post-Civil War, and its widespread popularity through media like the Left Behind series. This conversation delves into dispensationalism’s impacts on evangelical views regarding end-times, Israel, biblical interpretation, and societal engagement. Daniel provides valuable insights into how anxieties, cultural shifts, and media have reshaped evangelical priorities and engagement today. So join us to discover how our beliefs about the future shape our actions and commitments in the present, and how interpreting scripture continues to influence contemporary Christian life.
Daniel G. Hummel (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is the director of the Lumen Center in Madison, WI and a research fellow in the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle Over the End Times Shaped a Nation (Eerdmans, 2023).
Daniel's Book:
The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism
Daniel's Recommendations:
Self Made
On the Incarnation
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What happens when the gospel you were handed no longer makes sense of the pain, beauty, or complexity of the world you’re actually living in? In this conversation, I sit down with Nicholas McDonald, pastor and author of The Light in Our Eyes, to explore the tensions between disillusionment and hope, escape and embodiment, cynicism and renewal. Nicholas brings a pastor’s heart, a theologian’s depth, and the honesty of someone who’s wrestled with real questions and has found the freedom, beauty, and love that Jesus can bring. We talk about what 40 million people walking away from the church actually means, why so many are rejecting not Jesus, but a culture of fear and power, and how the recovery of ancient practices, communal faith, and a more embodied gospel could help us reimagine the way forward. From Zechariah’s silence to Jim Henson’s Muppets, from dispensational escape theology to communion as resistance - this conversation covers a lot of ground, and all of it matters. So join us as we find the light of Christ has been present all along.
Nicholas McDonald is the Associate Pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian church in central Indianapolis and has served in ministry for over fifteen years. His previous positions have included roles in youth ministry and four years as the Campus Minister of Reformed University Fellowship at the University of Missouri. McDonald received his degree from Gordon Conwell Seminary and studied creative writing at Oxford University. He's the author of Faker, and the forthcoming book "The Light in Our Eyes: Rediscovering the Love, Beauty and Freedom of Jesus in an Age of Disillusionment". He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and their three children.
Nicholas' Book:
The Light in Our Eyes
Nicholas' Recommendation:
The Meaning of Singleness
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What happens when the institutions we’ve trusted start to crumble and we realize they were never meant to carry the weight we gave them? Today, I’m joined by Angie Ward. She invites us into a deep reimagining of the Church, not just as a building or an organization, but as a Spirit-formed people living on mission together. Angie has spent decades in both church and parachurch worlds, and she brings hard-won wisdom and clarity to a question many of us are asking right now: what is the Church supposed to be? We talk about the historical split between church and parachurch, what it would look like to move from siloed excellence to shared mission, and why this cultural moment might be the perfect time to rethink everything - not out of panic, but out of trust. We discuss institutional collapse, missional ecosystems, scarcity vs. abundance, and how to step into new paradigms when the old ones stop working. If you’re sensing the shaking in the foundations and wondering what’s next for the people of God, join us as we imagine an ecosystem of missional extensions.
Angie Ward (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is director of the Doctor of Ministry program and associate professor of leadership and ministry at Denver Seminary. She is the author of Uncharted Leadership: 20 Case Studies to Help Ministry Leaders Adapt to Uncertainty and I Am a Leader: When Women Discover the Joy of Their Calling. Angie has over thirty-five years of leadership experience in church, nonprofit, and higher education ministry. A sportswriter in a previous life, Angie loves running, basketball, humor, and movies. She and her pastor-husband live in Denver. They have two grown sons and one very spoiled beagle.
Angie's Book:
Beyond Church and Parachurch
Angie's Recommendations:
Good Authority
Competing Against Luck
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Today, we have a powerful and deeply honest conversation with Naeem Fazal, author of "Tomorrow Needs You." Naeem grew up in Kuwait in a Pakistani Muslim family, survived the Gulf War, and eventually found himself in the U.S. grappling with questions of identity, fear, and faith. What followed was a series of raw, spiritual encounters that opened his heart to Jesus in ways he never expected. In our conversation, we talk about what it means to find hope when everything feels lost. Naeem shares how the beauty of Jesus began to reshape his story, and why perfect love, not just faith, is what truly drives out fear. We explore the idea that hope isn't something we chase after, but something the Holy Spirit grows within us. This conversation is a reminder that beauty matters, that creating something - even something small - can pull us into the presence of God, and that tomorrow does, in fact, need you. Join us as we create something beautiful.
Naeem Fazal, a Pakistani, was born and raised in Kuwait. He grew up in a Muslim family, was a teenager in the midst of the Gulf War, and came to the United States in 1992. He had a supernatural experience with Christ that changed the course of his life. He is the author of Ex-Muslim and Tomorrow Needs You, and the founding pastor of Mosaic Church in Charlotte, NC. Naeem and his wife Ashley have two amazing children and unfortunately two cats.
Naeem's Book:
Tomorrow Needs You
Naeem's Recommendations:
Culture Care
Lust for Life
The War of Art
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What comes to mind when you hear “Holy Spirit”? For some of us, it’s confusion, baggage, or maybe just silence. We’ve either over-sensationalized it or under-taught it. But what if we’ve missed the depth and presence of the Spirit because we’ve skipped the beginning of the story? In this conversation, I talk with Margaret Feinberg about rediscovering the Holy Spirit - not just in Acts 2, but from the very beginning, hovering over the chaos in Genesis. Margaret invites us to see the Spirit not as some vague force that shows up only in ecstatic moments, but as a deeply personal, present, creative force that’s always been at work - in beauty, in community, in dreams, in discernment, in the ordinary and the extraordinary. We talk about how the Spirit empowers us for creativity, nudges us toward each other, and invites us to live attentive lives. We tell stories of the Spirit’s work across cultures and in everyday moments. So join us as we discover that the Holy Spirit is closer than air we breathe.
Margaret Feinberg, one of America’s most beloved Bible teachers, speaks at churches and conferences and hosts the popular podcast The Joycast. Her books and Bible studies, including Taste and See and More Power to You, have sold more than one million copies and received critical acclaim and national media coverage from the Associated Press, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and more. She was named by Christianity Today as one of fifty women most shaping culture and the church today. Margaret savors life with her husband, Leif, and their superpup, Zoom.
Margaret's Book:
The God You Need to Know
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Terry Crist returns to Shifting Culture to talk about the transformative power of rest, the necessity of Sabbath, and finding true refuge in God. Terry, an experienced pastor and insightful communicator, helps us rethink productivity, loneliness, bitterness, and forgiveness, inviting us into a deeper relationship with God's perfect love. In this episode, you'll discover how to shift your approach to rest, see productivity as a natural outflow of abiding in God, and break free from cycles of striving and bitterness. Join us for a meaningful conversation that will leave you with renewed peace, purpose, and perspective.
Terry Crist is the co-lead pastor of City of Grace in Phoenix alongside his wife, Judith. He has a Th.M. and a D.Min. and has a business certificate in nonprofit management from Harvard Business School. Terry is also passionate about community transformation and promotes adoption and foster care through his work in state government. An avid outdoorsman and gifted communicator, he has adventured and preached the gospel in 65 nations. Terry and Judith have three married sons and four grandchildren. They live in Arizona.
Terry's Book:
Now You Can Stop Running
Terry's Recommendations:
Crushing Chaos
A Teachable Spirit
Lit Up With Love
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In this conversation with Emanuel Prinz, we dig into his latest research, exploring what actually catalyzes movements, the kinds of leaders and teams that sustain them, and what blocks them from taking root. We’ll talk about the personal and spiritual qualities of movement catalysts, why reproducibility matters more than charisma, and how partnering with God, rather than simply following a method—is essential to see lasting fruit. Along the way, we wrestle with questions of multiplication, DNA, and the risks of bottleneck leadership. If you care about genuine spiritual movement, if you want to see communities transformed and leaders multiplied, not just in theory but in practice, you won’t want to miss this episode. So join us because this conversation is packed with wisdom and hard-won insight for anyone longing to shift culture in meaningful ways.
DR. EMANUEL PRINZ has partnered with God to start a movement in North Africa and speaks from personal experience. He has researched kingdom Christian movements across the globe for fifteen years. Currently, he serves ministries worldwide as an expert movement consultant, coach, trainer, and researcher, facilitating their progression toward movements. Through his Exponential Disciple-Making and MOVES Coaching trainings, more than 12,000 leaders in over fifty countries have been equipped.
Prinz has taught at Columbia International University, the European School for Culture and Theology, and Bethany Global University. He is the author of Movement Catalysts and numerous articles in journals such as Missiology, Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Global Missiology, Journal of the Evangelical Missiological Society, Mission Frontiers, as well as in Christianity Today. Above all, he seeks to live as the Father’s beloved.
He blogs at www.catalyticleadership.info.
Emanuel's Book:
What Actually Starts Movements
Emanuel's Recommendation:
The Forgotten Ways
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For a lot of people, Revelation is the Bible’s great mystery—full of wild images and swirling predictions, often left to collect dust or to stir up arguments about the end times. But beneath all the confusion, Revelation also speaks to something deeply human: our ache for intimacy, our struggle with loneliness, and our longing to know that God is closer than we think. Today I’m joined by Dr. Shane J. Wood - professor, theologian, and author of Thinning the Veil. Shane has spent decades steeped in Revelation, not as a codebook for the future, but as a guide for living with honesty and presence right now. His approach is all about transformation: what does it mean to let the way of Jesus reshape our identity, our relationships, and the way we move through a world that often feels disconnected? In this conversation, we dive into how loneliness touches us all, how the presence of God can feel just out of reach, and how the message of Revelation invites us to draw near—to God and to one another. We talk about the cycles of power and fear that keep us apart, and how worship and vulnerability can open the door to real, embodied intimacy. If you’ve ever wondered where God is in the middle of your isolation, or if faith can make a difference in our deepest places of longing, I invite you to listen as we peel back the layers and look for the thin places—where heaven and earth meet, and where we discover what it means to be fully known and fully loved. So join us.
Shane J. Wood (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is professor of New Testament and Its Origins at Ozark Christian College. In addition to speaking at churches and conferences worldwide, Shane produces a variety of audio, video, and written resources available at shanejwood.com. He is the author of multiple books, with his most recent book entitled "Thinning the Veil: Encountering Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation" (IVP). Shane and his wife, Sara, have four children and live in southwest Missouri.
Shane's Book:
Thinning the Veil
Shane's Recommendations:
My Inventions
Notes From the Underground
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Charisma is a word we hear all the time, but what does it really mean? Why are some leaders able to draw people in, while others push us away? I’ve been fascinated by this for years, wondering why we’re drawn to certain people, what makes us follow, and how charisma shapes our lives in ways we don’t always notice. In a culture where stories and leaders are constantly competing for our attention, understanding charisma feels more urgent than ever. That’s why I’m excited to talk with Molly Worthen. Molly is a historian and journalist whose new book, Spellbound, digs deep into the history of charisma in America. She traces how charisma has played out from the era of the Puritans and prophets, through conquerors, agitators, and experts, all the way to today’s age of gurus and influencers. Each era reveals something about what we long for—and what we risk—when we put our trust in charismatic leaders. In this episode, we explore what charisma actually is, how it both unites and divides, and how these waves of charismatic movements have shaped our culture and our faith. We’ll talk about the stories that draw us in, the identities we build, and how to stay grounded as followers of Jesus when everything around us feels like it’s shifting. If you’re trying to figure out who to trust, how to stay rooted, or just want to make sense of all the noise, this conversation is for you.
Molly Worthen is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a freelance journalist. She teaches courses on North American religion and politics, global Christianity, and the history of ideas. She writes on these themes for The New York Times and has contributed to The New Yorker, Slate, The American Prospect, Foreign Policy, and other publications. She has also created video and audio courses on the history of Christianity and the history of charismatic leadership for the Great Courses and Audible. Her previous books are Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism and The Man on Whom Nothing Was Lost: The Grand Strategy of Charles Hill.
Molly's Book:
Spellbound
Molly's Recommendations:
The Sparrow
Children of God
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We have conversations about the culture we create and the impact we can make. With different guests each podcast episode, we have in-depth interviews into what it looks like to live in the Kingdom of God and embody Jesus in the world. We long for a more compassionate and love-oriented world to live in.
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Today, I’m joined by Cara Meredith, author of the new book Church Camp. We’re digging into the ways camp shapes our faith, our friendships, and our sense of who belongs. We get real about the fun memories, but also the uncomfortable parts—who was included, who was left out, and what messages we picked up along the way. Cara and I talk about how camp can turn faith into a checklist—who’s in, who’s out, who fits and who doesn’t. But we also imagine what camp could be if it became a place of real belonging, where every kid was seen and valued, no matter their story. If you’ve ever looked back on your camp experience with mixed feelings, or wondered how those weeks shaped your view of God and yourself, you’ll find something here. This episode is about holding the good and the hard together, asking better questions, and dreaming about what’s possible. So join us as we go to camp.
A sought-after speaker, writer, and public theologian, Cara Meredith is the author of Church Camp and The Color of Life. Passionate about issues of justice, race, and privilege, Cara holds a master of theology from Fuller Seminary and is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. With a background in education and nonprofit work, she wears more hats than she probably ought, but mostly just enjoys playing with words, a lot. Her writing has been featured in national media outlets such as The Oregonian, The New York Times, The Living Church, The Christian Century, and Baptist News Global, among others. She lives with her family in Oakland, California.
Cara's Book:
Church Camp
Cara's Recommendation:
Here I Am
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In today's episode, we're exploring intimacy - a concept that's far more complex than most of us realize. My guest, Erin Moniz, has been studying how we connect, disconnect, and misunderstand relationships in our current cultural moment. We'll dig into some critical questions: What does intimacy actually mean beyond romantic relationships? How have cultural messages - both inside and outside the church - distorted our understanding of connection? And what might a more holistic approach to knowing and being known look like? Erin brings a unique perspective as a college chaplain who's counseled countless emerging adults navigating relationships. We'll discuss how technology impacts our connections, why friendships matter as much as romantic partnerships, and how the gospel offers a different framework for understanding human relationships. This isn't a prescriptive how-to conversation, but an exploration of our fundamental human need for genuine connection. We'll challenge some assumptions about singleness, marriage, and community, and hopefully provide a more nuanced view of intimacy. So join us.
Rev. Erin F. Moniz (DMin, Trinity School for Ministry) is a deacon in the Anglican Church in North America and associate chaplain and director for chapel at Baylor University, where she disciples emerging adults and journeys with them toward healthy, gospel-centered relationships. She is a trained conciliator, mediator, and conflict coach. She enjoys content creation, playing music, being outdoors, and narrating the inner monologue of her two cats. She lives in Waco, Texas, with her husband, Michael.
Erin's Book:
Knowing and Being Known
Erin's Recommendations:
Becoming the Pastor's Wife
The Anti-Greed Gospel
Households of Faith
The Marriage You Want
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If you're like me, you probably know what it feels like to chase after a never-ending to-do list, trying to squeeze every bit of productivity out of your days, only to end up exhausted and wondering if you're missing something vital. Today's conversation might be exactly what you need. My guest is theologian and author Kelly Kapic. Kelly is a professor at Covenant College and the author of the deeply encouraging books You're Only Human and the brand-new 40-day devotional, You Were Never Meant to Do It All. Kelly reminds us today that our limitations aren't problems to overcome, they're actually a part of God's good design for us. He gently challenges our obsession with productivity, individualism, and endless hustle, calling us instead into rhythms of rest, dependence, and real community. In this episode, Kelly and I explore what it means to truly embrace our human limits as a gift rather than a burden. We talk about sleep and Sabbath as practices that help us reconnect to God’s gracious pace, how genuine community keeps us honest about our needs, and how gratitude and lament can help us live fully human lives, rich with meaning. If you’re tired of feeling like you're never quite enough, this conversation is for you. So slow down, take a deep breath, and join us as Kelly Kapic guides us into the beauty of being joyfully and authentically human.
Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King's College, University of London) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he has taught since 2001. He is a popular speaker and the award-winning author or editor of more than fifteen books, including the devotional You Were Never Meant to Do It All, The God Who Gives, and the Christianity Today Book Awardwinners You're Only Human and Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering. Kapic has been featured in Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition and has worked on research teams funded by the John Templeton Foundation. He also contributes to the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care and various other journals.
Kelly's Books:
You Were Never Meant to Do It All
You're Only Human
Kelly's Recommendation:
Worship
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Today we're talking about something that impacts all of us - our calling and how we can pursue meaningful work without burning out. I'm sitting down with Arianna Molloy, author of "Healthy Calling," to unpack what it really means to live out our purpose without getting crushed by pressure and expectations. We'll explore some critical questions: What does calling really look like? How do we recognize our unique gifts? And most importantly, how can we stay passionate about our work without losing ourselves in the process? Whether you're a pastor feeling overwhelmed, a professional struggling with workplace stress, or someone trying to figure out your next career move, this conversation offers practical wisdom about finding purpose and maintaining your energy. Arianna brings incredible insights from her research and personal journey that will help you reframe how you think about work, calling, and your own potential. So join us as we discover how we can live out our calling without burning out.
Arianna is a Communication professor at Biola University, where she designs and teaches Organizational Communication courses. She has also partnered with Biola’s Office of Faculty Advancement, leading the Pedagogy Development Consulting program. Her research focuses on meaningful work, work as a calling, and the link between humility and burnout, with publications in premier journals such as the International Journal of Business Communication and Communication Studies. One of her collaborations won “Article of the Year” in the Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion. She views her role as a professor through the lens of being a mentor who loves to learn. While she’s been honored with awards like Biola’s Provost Award for “Excellence in Teaching” and the “Faculty Excellence” award, her deepest joy comes from witnessing the transformation in her students' lives.
Arianna's Book:
Healthy Calling
Arianna's Recommendations:
Liturgy of the Ordinary
Practicing the Way
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We are living in a world that seems to be unraveling at the seams - where chaos, polarization, and anxiety have become our default settings - we need a different way of being. Today, I'm sitting down with Eric Clayton, who's been wrestling with the question: What if peace isn't just the absence of conflict, but a transformative way of living? Eric's new book, "Finding Peace Here and Now," isn't another self-help manual. It's an invitation - a roadmap drawn from Ignatian spirituality that challenges us to look deeper. How do we build peace when everything around us seems designed to tear us apart? How do we find stillness in the storm, not by escaping the world, but by showing up differently? We'll explore how peace starts within us, how it's cultivated through compassion, creativity, and a willingness to see the humanity in everyone - even those we disagree with. This isn't about being passive. It's about a strength so profound it can disarm violence without raising a hand. If you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're searching for hope in a world that seems to have lost its way, this conversation is for you. So join us as we walk through what peace really means.
Eric Clayton is an award-winning writer and author of three books on Ignatian spirituality and everyday living, including, "Finding Peace Here and Now: How Ignatian Spirituality Leads Us to Healing and Wholeness," "My Life with the Jedi: The Spirituality of Star Wars," and "Cannonball Moments: Telling Your Story, Deepening Your Faith." He has a children's book, "Our Mother, Too: Mary Embraces the World," which was co-authored by Shannon K. Evans releasing this year. Eric is the deputy director for communications at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States where he manages the award-winning weekly column, "Now Discern This," guest hosts "AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast" and provides filming, writing and audio support for a range of multimedia projects. He has an MA in International Media from American University, a BA in International Studies and Creative Writing from Fairfield University and a graduate certificate in the Ignatian Tradition from Creighton University. He lives in Towson, MD with his family.
Eric's Book:
Finding Peace Here and Now
Eric's Recommendation:
Changing Planes
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Chaos isn't just a word, it's the underlying current of our human experience. Today, we're diving deep with Manny Arango into the biblical roots of disorder, exploring how chaos existed before sin and how God's design always intended for humans to bring order to the wild. We'll unpack the six-step cycle of chaos in scripture, examine why peace isn't something we pray for but something we create through intentional living, and challenge our American notion of freedom as mere independence. From generational patterns to personal anxiety, from the dragons in Genesis to the transformative power of Jesus, this conversation cuts through surface-level spirituality. We're asking hard questions: How do we break cycles of chaos? What does true freedom actually look like? And how can we move from self-centered living to a life of radical service? So join us as we crush chaos.
Dr. Manny Arango is a Bible nerd and founder of ARMA Courses — an online educational platform that helps Christians to become biblically literate. The platform has grown to thousands of monthly subscribers since launching in 2020.
Dr. Manny Arango was born in Boston, MA but based in Houston, TX, where he and his wife Tia are preparing to plant The Garden, a brand new church in the heart of the city.
Manny graduated from North Baptist Theological Seminary in June 2024 with a Doctorate in New Testament studies.
He’s been married to his beautiful wife Tia for over a decade and they have a son named Theophilus.
Manny's Book:
Crushing Chaos
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What if discipleship isn’t something we outsource, but something we embody, right where we are? In this episode, I sit down with David Sunde for a grounded and hopeful conversation about raising homegrown disciples. We talk about parenting, presence, and the slow, incarnational work of forming our families in the way of Jesus. David invites us to move beyond programs and into apprenticeship, learning not by content alone, but by imitation, by presence, by love. We explore how ordinary moments, mealtimes, bedtimes, commutes, can become sacred spaces. And how the Spirit forms us not through performance, but through vulnerability, reconciliation, and belonging. The Spirit of God is already moving in our homes and formation begins not with perfection, but with presence.
David Sunde has been involved in professional non-profit and pastoral leadership for 25 years. As a native of San Francisco, California, he grew up amid a melting pot of culture, class, religion, and thoughts that shaped an unassuming if not disarming approach to people and conversation. Leveraging that experience alongside doctoral training in semiotics and culture, David is a catalyst for church renewal and developmental relationships. He's the author of Small-Batch Disciplemaking and the new release, Homegrown Disciples: Parenting Rhythms for Drawing Your Kids into Life With God. David and his wife, Laurel, have two kids, Bjorn and Annika, and live in Austin, TX.
David's Book:
Homegrown Disciples
David's Recommendations:
Decoding the Divine
Advent
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Andrew Arndt is back on the podcast today. He’s a pastor and author who's challenging how we typically understand the gospel. His new book, "A Strange and Gracious Light," explores what it means to see Jesus as a living presence that intersects with our real, complicated lives. We'll discuss how the gospel isn't just about personal salvation or afterlife insurance, but a transformative story that speaks directly into our current cultural moment - with all its complexity, pain, and potential. Andrew brings a fresh, albeit an ancient perspective on how Jesus encounters us in our everyday struggles, political tensions, and personal challenges. This conversation is about reimagining the good news of Jesus as something far more expansive and immediate than we've traditionally understood. We'll explore what it means to experience Christ's presence in a way that's both deeply personal and broadly transformative. So join us as we facilitate encounters with the living God.
Andrew Arndt is the Lead Pastor of New Life East (one of seven congregations of New Life Church in Colorado Springs), where he also hosts the Essential Church podcast, a weekly conversation designed to strengthen the thinking of church and ministry leaders. Prior to joining New Life’s team, he served as Lead Pastor of Bloom Church: a neo-monastic, charismatic, liturgical, justice-driven network of house churches in Denver. He received his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, is working on his Doctor of Ministry at Western Theological Seminary, and has written for Missio Alliance, Patheos, The Other Journal, and Mere Orthodoxy. He lives in the Springs with his wife Mandi and their four kids.
Andrew's Book:
A Strange and Gracious Light
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A.J. Swoboda is back on the podcast for the third time. This time we are sitting down to talk about A Teachable Spirit. He hit on something that I think is sorely missing in this world today: being teachable. In a world often drawn sharply into polarized camps, where dialogue seems overshadowed by ideological extremes, cultivating a teachable spirit becomes more than a virtue, it becomes an act of quiet revolution. But what exactly does it mean to approach life, faith, and community with genuine humility and openness, even when our convictions run deep? Our conversation explores what it truly means to possess a teachable spirit, how to stand firmly in our beliefs while also actively listening to, honoring, and learning from those who are different than us. We’ll explore themes of humility, empathy, wisdom, discernment and the careful balancing act of maintaining convictions while remaining open to growth and change. This is an important conversation, so join us as we unpack the practice of discerning truth in a fragmented world, and how holding our beliefs can transform both our inner and outer worlds and enable us to have a teachable spirit.
Rev. A. J. Swoboda (Ph.D., Birmingham) is the associate professor of Bible and Theology at Bushnell University. He served as a college pastor on the University of Oregon campus for nearly ten years. For another decade, he planted and pastored an urban church in Portland, Oregon, called Theophilus, which continues to worship today. He leads a Doctor of Ministry program around Spiritual Formation and Soul Care at Friends University. He has taught at the London School of Theology, LIFE Pacific, Southeastern University, and Multnomah University. He is the author of over ten books, including Redeeming How We Talk (Moody), After Doubt (Brazos), and the award-winning Subversive Sabbath (Brazos). He hosts the Slow Theology podcast (w. Dr. Nijay Gupta) and writes the widely read Low-Level Theologian Substack. A.J. lives and works on an urban farm with his wife and son in Eugene, Oregon.
A.J.'s Book:
A Teachable Spirit
A.J.'s Substack:
The Low-Level Theologian
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There's a geography of limitation that exists not on any map, but in the quiet territories of our own making. Stories that whisper: this is as far as you'll go. Today, we are talking with Mary Marantz - a woman who understands that our beginnings are not our boundaries. Growing up in a single-wide trailer on the tippy top of Fenwick Mountain, she learned something profound: that grace isn't about erasing your history, but making peace with it. Imagine a young girl watching the world from that precipice, learning that survival isn't just about enduring, but reimagining. Mary's journey from that trailer to Yale Law School isn't a bootstrapping narrative of triumph, but a meditation on grace, on the way unexpected paths unfold when we listen carefully to the whispers of our own potential. How do we create space between who we were told we could be and who we are actually called to become? How do we recognize that the most revolutionary act might be showing up, day after day, for the work that won't let go of us? Mary writes about fear like an old friend - not something to vanquish, but to understand. She knows that the stories we tell ourselves are powerful, that they can either keep us small or become the very ground from which we grow. So join us as we walk through those stories together - not as a roadmap, but as an invitation. Here’s my conversation with Mary Marantz.
Mary Marantz is the bestselling author of Dirt and Underestimated, as well as the host of the popular podcast The Mary Marantz Show. She grew up in a trailer in rural West Virginia and was the first in her family to go to college before going on to Yale for law school. Her work has been featured on CNN, MSN, Business Insider, Bustle, Thrive Global, Southern Living, Hallmark Home & Family and more. She and her husband Justin live in an 1880s fixer-upper by the sea in New Haven, Connecticut, with their two very fluffy golden retrievers, Goodspeed and Atticus. Learn more at MaryMarantz.com.
Mary's Book:
Underestimated
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Today, we’re getting into the raw, unvarnished terrain of human longing - that aching space where despair meets unexpected grace. I’m excited to welcome back David Zahl on the podcast. He isn't here to offer another self-help platitude, but to explore something far more profound: how we find relief in a world that constantly demands more, faster, better. Imagine grace not as a churchy concept, but as a radical interruption - a surprising breath of fresh air in a culture suffocating on its own expectations. We'll talk about play, productivity, regret, and those moments when God whispers, "You are more than your achievements." This conversation is a map for the weary, a compass for those feeling crushed by life's relentless pressures. We'll explore how grace shows up in unexpected places - through music, through suffering, through the simple act of truly listening. If you've ever felt overwhelmed, stuck, or like you're perpetually running on an endless treadmill, this conversation is your permission to breathe. To rest. To receive. So join us as we figure out what it means to be human in a world that rarely slows down.
David Zahl is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries, editor-in-chief of the Mockingbird website (www.mbird.com), and co-host of both The Mockingcast and The Brothers Zahl podcasts. He and his family live in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he also serves on the staff of Christ Episcopal Church. Zahl is the author of Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What To Do About It and Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others (and Yourself). His next book, The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World comes out in April 2025 from Brazos Press. His writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and The Guardian, among other venues.
David's Book:
The Big Relief
David's Recommendations:
Evangelism in an Age of Despair
Meditations for Mortals
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Today, we're having a conversation that will challenge what you think you know about the devil, evil, temptation, and spiritual warfare. Jared Brock is back with us - if you remember our last incredible conversation about Jesus, where we unpacked the human life of Christ and the political imagination of his time, you know Jared brings profound theological insights that challenge our perceptions. This time, we're exploring a figure who's been misunderstood, mythologized, and frankly, given way too much credit: the devil. Who is he really? What's his actual role in the cosmic story of redemption? Jared's new book, "A Devil Named Lucifer," promises to right-size our understanding - minimizing the devil and magnifying the true King. If you're ready to see spiritual reality through a lens of hope, kingdom advancement, and radical trust in God's ultimate victory, then this episode is for you. So join us as we right-size the devil.
Jared Brock is an award-winning author and director of several films including PBS's acclaimed Redeeming Uncle Tom with Danny Glover. His writing has appeared in Christianity Today, The Guardian, Smithsonian, USA Today, Huffington Post, Relevant, and TIME. He has traveled to more than forty countries, including North Korea, Transnistria, and the Vatican. Learn more at jaredbrock.com.
Jared's Book:
A Devil Named Lucifer
Jared's Recommendation:
Forgive Them Their Debts
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Today, we're diving into the journey of Sister Monica Clare - a woman who went from working in advertising and doing stand-up comedy to becoming a nun. Her story is a powerful testament to finding who you truly are and discovering a deeper connection with God. We'll explore her path of discernment, her experiences in religious community, and how she's now using TikTok to break down misconceptions about religious life. Sister Monica Clare will share insights on prayer, community, and finding your true calling - revealing that spiritual life isn't about perfection, but about genuine human connection and love. We explore a lot in her story, so join us.
Sister Monica Clare is the Sister Superior at the Community of St. John Baptist, an Episcopal convent based in New Jersey, and a spiritual counselor specializing in religious trauma, mental illness, and addiction. Before becoming a nun in 2012, she worked as a photo editor in L.A. and performed in an acoustic rock duo and an improv comedy troupe.
Sister Monica's Book:
A Change of Habit
Sister Monica's Recommendation:
God Didn't Make Us to Hates Us
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We live in a world often defined by borders, fear, and division, but what if we could reimagine migration not as a threat, but as a sacred journey? Today, we're diving into a conversation that challenges what we think we know about immigrants, hospitality, and what it truly means to love our neighbor. I'm sitting down with Isaac Villegas, a Mennonite pastor and author of "Migrant God," who will take us on a transformative exploration of how faith calls us to see strangers not as enemies, but as gifts from God. We'll unpack powerful stories of hope, discuss the biblical foundations of migration, and discover how resurrection life can defeat our culture of fear. From sanctuary churches protecting undocumented families to profound moments of unexpected hospitality, this conversation will challenge you to see the world - and your neighbors - through a lens of radical love. So join us as we navigate how we love our neighbors no matter who they are.
Isaac is an ordained minister in the Mennonite Church USA. His pastoral vocation has involved him in community organizing for immigrant justice.
Isaac's Book:
Migrant God
Isaac's Recommendation:
Santurio
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Today, we're sitting down with John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio and a passionate advocate for community-driven change. In his new book 'Heaven Help Us', Kasich explores how faith institutions can be powerful catalysts for solving local problems. We'll dive into stories of everyday people who are making real differences in their communities, from fighting human trafficking to supporting refugees. This conversation is about hope, grassroots action, and how ordinary people can create extraordinary change when they work together. John shares personal stories and insights about bottom-up problem solving, the role of faith communities, and why believing in our collective potential matters more than ever. So join us as we join together with faith communities to make a real difference in our society.
John Kasich is a national leader who has spent a lifetime bringing people together to solve big problems and leave the world around them just a little bit better than they found it. Kasich served as the 69th governor of Ohio and ran for President during the 2016 GOP primary. His message focused on unifying Americans rather than dividing them, championing the great potential of our citizens to make positive impacts in their own communities, a strong national defense, and the importance of our international alliances. Today, he runs the Kasich Company and serves as a political analyst for NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC. He is the author of four New York Times bestsellers: Courage Is Contagious; Stand for Something; Every Other Monday; Two Paths, and It’s Up to Us. His most recent book, Heaven Help Us is available April 8. He is married to Karen Kasich and is the proud father of adult twin daughters.
John's Book:
Heaven Help Us
John's Recommendations:
Our Heavenly Father
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
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We have a bonus episode for you today. I was recently on the Follow 2 Lead podcast hosted by Tony Miltenberger. And Tony was recently on Shifting Culture, so we decided to give you a glimpse of each other's shows by airing our episodes. So, enjoy. Let me know what you think.
Find the Follow 2 Lead podcast anywhere you get podcasts.
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Today, I'm talking with Aimee Byrd—an author who often pushes us to question norms we usually take for granted. If you've ever felt the pressure to put on a mask or hide parts of who you really are, you'll find this conversation meaningful. In her latest book, "Saving Face," Aimee dives into the masks we all wear, the ways we conceal ourselves, and what it takes to discover our authentic selves underneath it all. We'll unpack some thoughtful questions: What stories do our faces reveal? What changes when we drop the act and allow ourselves to be seen? Aimee shares honestly from her experiences with spiritual abuse, theological reflection, and her personal journey toward healing and authenticity. We also discuss journaling, encountering Jesus in surprising moments, and why truly seeing each other might hold answers for a deeply divided society. If you're navigating issues of faith, identity, or just interested in genuine connection, I think you'll find this episode insightful and practical. Let's get into it—this is about what it means to save face by choosing to show our real faces.
Aimee Byrd is author, speaker, blogger, podcaster and former coffee shop owner. Aimee is the author of several books, including Saving Face, The Hope in Our Scars, Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and Sexual Reformation. Her articles have appeared in First Things, Table Talk, Modern Reformation, By Faith, New Horizons, Ordained Servant, Harvest USA, and Credo Magazine and she has been interviewed and quoted in Christianity Today and The Atlantic.
Aimee's Book:
Saving Face
Aimee's Recommendation:
Till We Have Faces
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In today's episode, we're diving deep with Tony Miltenberger - a bi-vocational pastor, executive coach, and passionate disciple maker who's on a mission to transform how we understand disciple making in the modern world. Tony isn't just talking about faith from a pulpit; he's living it out in the marketplace, challenging the traditional church model and showing how discipleship isn't confined to Sunday mornings, but can revolutionize every aspect of our lives. We'll explore what true disciple-making looks like beyond programs and buildings - it's about intentional, relational, and reproducible connections that can literally change the world. Tony brings a unique perspective from his military background, coaching experience, and pastoral work, offering practical insights on how we can move from passive church attendance to active, transformative faith. If you've ever felt stuck in a consumer-driven spiritual experience, wondered how to genuinely follow Jesus in your workplace, or want to understand how discipleship can be a powerful tool for personal and collective growth, this episode is for you. So join us.
Tony Miltenberger is the founder of Follow2Lead Coaching. He is a veteran, podcast host, executive coach, author, and the associate pastor of disciple making at Centerville Grace Church. Throughout the years, Tony has traveled the globe taking deployments in Kuwait, El Salvador, and numerous marriage retreats throughout the US. He has consulted with churches in the deep south and multi-million dollar organizations in the Midwest.
He has done hundreds of hours of pastoral counseling and executive coaching. Each conversation helps people uncover their true potential by taking a deep look at their past as well as their hopes for the future. He is genuinely curious and passionate about pursuing the mission of making disciples who make disciples.
His proudest accomplishment is being the father to three amazing kids and being married to his high school sweetheart (Karen) for over 20 years.
Tony's Website:
www.follow2leadcoaching.com
Tony's Recommendation:
The AI-Driven Leader
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Look, we've all got pain. We've all got stories we're afraid to tell. But what if there was a space where you could actually share those stories without judgment, without fear, and find healing in the process? Today, I'm sitting down with Liz Walker - a former news anchor turned pastor who discovered something powerful: when we create safe spaces for people to truly be heard, something miraculous happens. In the heart of Roxbury, she started a movement called "Can We Talk" that's transforming how communities process trauma, grief, and healing. This isn't just another feel-good story. This is about real people - mothers who've lost children, young men caught in cycles of violence, entire communities learning to heal together. Liz's journey will challenge how you think about pain, community, and the incredible resilience of the human spirit. Here’s the hope: healing is possible, and it starts with being brave enough to tell your story. So join us, so no one is left alone.
Liz Walker is a minister, journalist, activist, and sought-after speaker. She leads the Cory Johnson Program for Post-Traumatic Healing. As Boston's first Black evening television news anchor, Walker received two Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in her field. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Walker served as pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church. She helped found the Jane Doe Safety Fund, has done humanitarian work in South Sudan, and has served on the boards of Boston Medical Center and Andover Newton Theological Seminary. The mother of three and grandmother of two, Walker now lives in Sarasota, Florida.
Liz's Book:
No One Left Alone
Liz's Recommendation:
Moonrise Over New Jessup
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Today we're talking about marriage - specifically, how Christian marriages might be missing the mark. I'm sitting down with Sheila Gregoire, a researcher who's spent years studying what actually makes relationships work. And here's something interesting: the biggest threat to marital satisfaction isn't what most people think. It's not sex or money - it's housework. Sheila isn't just another marriage author. She's surveyed 7,000 people to understand the dynamics of healthy relationships. Her work challenges a lot of the traditional evangelical advice that's been circulating for decades - advice that often creates more distance than connection. We're going to explore how Christian marriage books have sometimes gotten it wrong. How messages about leadership, submission, and roles can actually harm the very relationships they're trying to protect. We'll talk about what real partnership looks like, how couples can communicate better, and what it means to truly see each other. This conversation is about reimagining marriage - not as a power structure, but as a genuine partnership that reflects mutual respect and love. So if you're curious about building a healthier relationship, or if you're tired of the same old marriage advice, this episode is for you.
Sheila Wray Gregoire is the face behind BareMarriage.com as well as a sought-after speaker and an award-winning author of nine books, including The Great Sex Rescue and She Deserves Better. With her humorous, no-nonsense approach, Sheila is passionate about changing the evangelical conversation about sex and marriage to make it healthy, evidence-based, and biblical. She and her husband, Keith, live in Ontario, Canada, near their two adult daughters and three grandbabies. Sheila also knits. Even in line at the grocery store.
Sheila's Book:
The Marriage You Want
Sheila's Recommendations:
The Deep Rooted Marriage
Becoming the Pastor's Wife
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Today, we're diving into something profound: how creativity connects us to the divine. I'm talking with Carey Wallace about inspiration—not just as an artistic concept, but as a spiritual practice. What if art isn't something we manufacture, but something we receive? What if creativity is actually a way of following God, even when we don't realize it? Wallace argues that inspiration comes from outside ourselves—that it's a gesture of surrender, a way of opening ourselves to something greater. We're going to explore how every act of creation can be an encounter with the divine. Whether you're a painter, a writer, someone working a nine-to-five job, or just someone trying to live creatively—this conversation is about discovering that we're all makers, created in the image of a creative God. We'll talk about how inspiration works, why art can be worship, and how surrendering to something beyond ourselves might be the most powerful creative act we can make. If you've ever felt stuck, wondered about your creative potential, or sensed there's something more to making art than just skill, lean in. This is a conversation about seeing the world—and yourself—differently.
Carey Wallace is the author of The Discipline of Inspiration: The Mysterious Encounter With God At The Heart of Creativity (Eerdmans), The Blind Contessa’s New Machine (Penguin), and The Ghost In The Glass House (Clarion). She works to help people from all walks of life find inspiration and build strong creative habits to sustain a lifetime of creation. She performs as a songwriter, exhibits her own fine art, and has spoken on art, faith, and justice with students at Princeton, Julliard, Emory, Pratt, and Yale. Her articles and poems have appeared in Time, Detroit’s Metro Times, and America. She is the founder of a retreat for artists in Michigan, and the Creative Discipline Class to form strong creative habits, which has been in operation for over a decade across the US and internationally. She grew up in small towns in Michigan, and lives and works in Brooklyn.
Carey's Book:
The Discipline of Inspiration
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What if humility isn't about shrinking, but about seeing clearly? Zach Meerkreebs knows something about unexpected transformations. A Jewish kid from the East Coast who became a Christian pastor, he found himself at the epicenter of the Asbury outpouring - a spiritual moment that swept through a small Kentucky campus, touching 100,000 people - after delivering what he initially thought was a "stinker" of a sermon. In this episode, Zach takes us on a deeply personal journey through grief, faith, and the radical nature of Jesus' humility. From losing a daughter to navigating a profound spiritual awakening, he offers a raw, unfiltered look at what it means to walk with God when life doesn't make sense. We'll explore how true humility isn't about being small, but about understanding who we are in relationship with God. Get ready for a conversation that may reshape the way you think about pride, pain, and the transformative power of seeing yourself through God's eyes. This is an invitation to a different way of living - one marked by grace, honesty, and unexpected hope. So join us as we go lower.
Zach Meerkreebs is the proud husband of Kristin and father to three little girls: Eden, Esther, and Mercy. He is thankful for the opportunity to have served within churches by coaching and catalyzing church plants, traveling and speaking, and most recently had the gift of a lifetime as he preached on February 8, 2023, where he had a front row seat to see God moving amidst the Asbury outpouring where a small town and university experienced sixteen days of unending prayer and worship. More than one hundred thousand guests from around the country--and the world--experienced the peace and power of God.
Zach's Book:
Lower
Zach's Recommendations:
How to Fast
Beholding and Thirsting
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In a world that often feels overwhelming, where systemic challenges can paralyze us into inaction, I sat down with Jeff Chu - a journalist, preacher and storyteller who understands that transformation happens through small, beautiful acts of grace. Jeff's journey is anything but ordinary. From the bustling newsrooms of Time and Fast Company to the contemplative acres of Princeton's farminary, he discovered profound wisdom in the most unexpected place: a messy, rotting compost pile. There, amid liquefying spinach and decomposing vegetables, Jeff learned that death and resurrection aren't just theological concepts - they're living, breathing realities happening beneath our feet. Jeff, like all of us navigating this world, has every reason to be cynical. Instead, he chooses love. He chooses curiosity. He invites us to channel our anger not into destruction, but into small, ordinary graces that can fundamentally reshape our world. In this conversation, we'll explore how we might move from transactional relationships - with land, with each other, with God - to something more beautiful. We'll talk about rest, about poetry, about seeing each other as God's beloved creation. So join us, open your heart, and prepare to be transformed by a radical vision of grace.
Jeff Chu is an award-winning journalist and editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure. He is the author of Does Jesus Really Love Me? and the co-author, with the late Rachel Held Evans, of the New York Times bestseller Wholehearted Faith. Chu is a former Time staff writer and Fast Company editor whose work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Modern Farmer. In his weekly newsletter, “Notes of a Make-Believe Farmer,” Chu writes about spirituality, gardening, food, travel, and culture. He lives with his husband, Tristan, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Jeff's Book:
Good Soil
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Today, I'm sitting down with Kara Powell, researcher and co-author of "Future Focused Church," to talk about the challenges and opportunities facing churches right now. We'll explore how churches can better connect with younger generations, what real discipleship looks like, and how communities of faith can adapt in a rapidly changing world. Kara brings insights from her research at Fuller Youth Institute about identity, belonging, and purpose - key questions that are driving how people, especially young people, think about faith. We'll discuss practical strategies for church leaders, the importance of listening to younger generations, and how churches can become more outward-focused and missional. We'll also dig into some of the current challenges - like pastor burnout, church transitions, and the shifting religious landscape - but with a hopeful perspective on what's possible. If you're a church leader, ministry worker, or just someone interested in how faith communities might evolve, this conversation is for you. So join us.
Kara Powell, PhD, is the chief of leadership formation at Fuller Theological Seminary, the executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute, and the founder of the TENx10 Collaboration. Named by Christianity Today as one of "50 Women to Watch," Kara speaks regularly at national parenting and leadership conferences. Kara has authored or coauthored numerous books, including Faith Beyond Youth Group, 3 Big Questions That Shape Your Future, 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager, Growing With, Growing Young, The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family, and the entire Sticky Faith series. Kara and her husband, Dave, are regularly inspired by the learning and laughter that come from their three young adult children.
Kara's Book:
Future-Focused Church
Kara's Recommendation:
The Friction Project
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In a world that often feels fragmented, uncertain, and spiritually empty, what if belief isn't just possible - but essential? Today, I'm sitting down with Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist and one of our most nuanced cultural thinkers, to explore a radical proposition: Why everyone should be religious in an age of growing skepticism. We're going beyond the debates of belief versus non-belief. This conversation dives into the mysteries at the heart of human experience - from quantum physics that suggests the universe might be more intentional than we thought, to near-death experiences that challenge everything we understand about consciousness. Douthat brings a provocative, intellectually rigorous perspective that defies easy categorization. We'll explore how ancient spiritual wisdom might hold profound answers for our hyper-individualized, technology-driven world. How can religious thinking help us navigate complexity, find meaning, and reconnect with something larger than ourselves? Expect surprises. We'll uncover scientific discoveries that point toward design, discuss supernatural experiences that defy materialist explanations, and wrestle with life's deepest questions. Whether you're a committed believer, a curious skeptic, or someone feeling spiritually lost, this episode promises to expand your understanding and offer a message of hope. We're not just talking about belief - we're reimagining what it means to be human in a mysterious universe.
Ross Douthat is a columnist for The New York Times op-ed page. He is the author of Believe, The Deep Places, The Decadent Society, To Change The Church, Privilege, and Grand New Party. Before joining the Times he was a senior editor for The Atlantic. He is the film critic for National Review, and he has appeared regularly on television, including Charlie Rose, PBS Newshour, and Real Time with Bill Maher.
Ross' Book:
Believe
Ross' Recommendation:
Severance
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Today, we're exploring the hidden history of women in ministry through the lens of the pastor's wife role. Historian Beth Allison Barr takes us on a journey that challenges everything we think we know about women's leadership in the church. We'll trace how women went from being active leaders in the early Christian church to being systematically pushed out of ministry. Barr reveals how the pastor's wife role evolved from a radical act of Protestant resistance to a complex system that both empowered and constrained women. The conversation digs into some tough terrain - how complementarian theology has created environments where women's ministry is limited, and in some cases, where abuse has been hidden. But it's not just a story of limitation. It's a powerful call for reimagining how men and women can work together in ministry. At its heart, this is a conversation about breaking down barriers, recognizing historical complicity, and creating spaces where all people can fully express their calling - regardless of gender. We'll explore how the Southern Baptist Convention became a flashpoint for these debates, why ordination became a weapon against women's leadership, and most importantly, how we might move forward toward mutual flourishing in church communities. Get ready for a conversation that challenges, enlightens, and offers a hopeful vision for the future of ministry.
Beth Allison Barr (PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is James Vardaman Endowed Chair of History at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she specializes in medieval history, women’s history, and church history. She is the author of the USA Today bestseller The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth. Her work has been featured by NPR and the New Yorker, and she has written for Christianity Today, the Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, Sojourners, and Baptist News Global. Barr lives in Texas with her husband, a Baptist pastor, and their two children.
Beth's Book:
Becoming the Pastor's Wife
Beth's Recommendations:
The Anti-Greed Gospel
We Refuse
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In our current moment of cultural fragmentation and existential anxiety, the traditional frameworks of engagement feel increasingly inadequate. Andrew Root's latest work, “Evangelism in an Age of Despair” isn't just a theological treatise, or a how-to evangelism book, but a profound meditation on human connection in an age of profound disconnection. What happens when we shift our understanding of evangelism from a transactional model of belief to a relational practice of genuine with-ness? Andy suggests something more radical than conversion: a form of spiritual presence that honors the complexity of human suffering. We're living through an era where loneliness has become a systemic condition, where happiness is marketed as a consumable product, and where genuine human vulnerability is increasingly rare. Root's approach doesn't offer easy solutions, but instead proposes a more nuanced engagement with our collective pain. This conversation is less about religious doctrine and more about the fundamental human need for meaningful connection - a need that transcends ideological boundaries and touches something more elemental about how we understand ourselves and each other. Join us as we seek the consolation of Christ in the desolation of our lives.
Andrew Root (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is the Carrie Olson Baalson professor of youth and family ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Andrew Root is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, USA. He writes and researches in areas of theology, ministry, culture and younger generations. His most recent books are Churches and the Crisis of Decline (Baker, 2022), The Congregation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2021), The End of Youth Ministry? (Baker, 2020), The Pastor in a Secular Age: Ministry to People Who No Longer Need God (Baker, 2019), Faith Formation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2017), and Exploding Stars, Dead Dinosaurs, and Zombies: Youth Ministry in the Age of Science (Fortress Press, 2018). Andy has worked in congregations, parachurch ministries, and social service programs. He lives in St. Paul with his wife Kara, two children, Owen and Maisy, and their dog. When not reading, writing, or teaching, Andy spends far too much time watching TV and movies.
Andrew's Book:
Evangelism in an Age of Despair
Andrew's Recommendation:
Severance
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Matthew Bates joins us today to work out salvation. What is it? What have we got wrong? In our contemporary moment, we find ourselves wrestling with a profound misunderstanding of the gospel - a narrative that has been truncated, individualized, and stripped of its royal, communal essence. The gospel is not merely a personal transaction about individual salvation, but a comprehensive royal announcement about Jesus the Christ. For too long, both Protestant and Catholic traditions have inadvertently narrowed the expansive biblical vision of salvation. We've reduced faith to mental assent or ritualistic practice, when in reality, faith is fundamentally about allegiance - a comprehensive, embodied loyalty to King Jesus that transforms not just individuals, but entire communities and, ultimately, all of creation. Matthew seeks to recover a more holistic understanding. We are saved not just from something, but for something: the full restoration of our image-bearing capacity, the renewal of God's glory in and through us. This isn't about personal spiritual escapism, but about participating in a cosmic restoration project. In our conversation today, we'll explore how reimagining salvation as allegiance can bridge denominational divides, challenge our narcissistic cultural assumptions, and invite us into a more profound understanding of discipleship. We're not just talking about theological abstractions, but about a transformative way of being in the world. Prepare to have your understanding of the gospel radically expanded.
Matthew W. Bates is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. His books have won top honors from Christianity Today, Outreach Magazine, Jesus Creed, and Englewood Review. When he isn't hiking, baseballing, or chasing his seven children, he co-hosts the OnScript podcast. A Protestant by conviction, Bates holds a PhD in theology (New Testament) from the University of Notre Dame. His popular titles include Salvation by Allegiance Alone, Why the Gospel?, The Gospel Precisely, and The Birth of the Trinity. He lives with his family in Quincy, Illinois. Learn more about his books, lectures, or conference-speaking at MatthewWBates.com.
Matthew's Book:
Beyond the Salvation Wars
Matthew's Recommendations:
The Affections of Christ Jesus
Renovation of the Heart
The Great Divorce
The Deeply Formed Life
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John Eldredge joins us today. We're living in a moment where most people report either a lack of or no experience of Jesus in their daily lives. The war right now is for your attention. Every algorithm, every notification, every distraction is designed to keep you from the one thing your soul is actually craving: intimacy with Jesus. We've been grandchildren of the Enlightenment, disciples of the internet, consuming endless content about faith without actually experiencing the living, breathing presence of Christ. But what if - and this might sound wild - what if Jesus is actually waiting to meet you right now? Not in some distant, theological concept, but in the very moment you're listening to this. Your soul is wired for connection. You were created for intimacy with the Father, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit. This isn't just for special saints or mystics - this is for you. Ordinary people can become ordinary mystics, experiencing God's presence in the most mundane moments of life. So buckle up. We're about to dive into a conversation that isn't just information - it's an invitation. An invitation to turn your heart, to create sacred space, and to encounter the living Jesus in a way that will absolutely transform everything. Are you ready?
John Eldredge is a New York Times bestselling author, counselor, and teacher who has inspired millions to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus. He is also president of Wild at Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own hearts in God's love, and learn to live in God's kingdom. John and his wife, Stasi, live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. To learn more, visit www.wildatheart.org.
John's Book:
Experience Jesus. Really.
John's Recommendations:
Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ
The Practice of the Presence of God
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This conversation with Alissa Wilkinson is a fascinating exploration of how the stories we tell ourselves - through Hollywood, through politics, through the media - shape the very fabric of our culture and our history. Wilkinson's work on the iconic writer Joan Didion provides a powerful lens to examine how the narratives we construct, often unconsciously, can profoundly influence the way we see the world and the decisions we make as individuals and as a society. What's so compelling about this discussion is the way it peels back the layers on these deeply ingrained stories - the myths of the American West, the heroic narratives of World War II, the celebrity-driven politics of the Reagan era. Wilkinson shows how these cultural touchstones don't just reflect our values, but actively shape them, often in ways that obscure uncomfortable truths or justify harmful actions. In an age where the very notion of objective reality is under assault, this conversation reminds us of the vital importance of interrogating the stories we tell ourselves. Because the stories we choose to believe - whether about our national identity, our political leaders, or our own personal histories - have real consequences. They determine how we see the world, how we make decisions, and ultimately, the kind of future we create for ourselves. So I encourage you to listen closely, to wrestle with the questions Wilkinson raises about the power of narrative, and to consider how the stories you've internalized might be shaping your own understanding of the world. It's a conversation that gets to the heart of what it means to be human in a complex, ever-shifting cultural landscape.
Alissa Wilkinson is a movie critic at the New York Times and the author of "We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine," which will be published by Liveright on March 11, 2025.
Alissa's Book:
We Tell Ourselves Stories
Alissa's Recommendations:
Predators
Zodiac Killer Project
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My conversation with Reward Sibanda is a deep dive into the spiritual practice of fasting. Reward grew up immersed in fasting as a cultural and religious tradition in Zimbabwe. But it wasn't until later that he grasped the profound theological significance behind it. Fasting is about aligning our whole being - body, mind, and spirit - with the will and presence of God. It's not some outdated ritual, but a powerful spiritual discipline. When we fast, we quiet the noise of our physical appetites and mental chatter, allowing our spirit to ascend and commune with God. This realignment is what enables the kind of faith and prayer that Jesus says can move mountains. Fasting humbles our soul, elevates our spirit, and puts us in a posture to help with unbelief. Reward's insights challenge us to see fasting not as a chore, but as a gift God has given us. In an age of constant distraction and self-centeredness, fasting offers a way to reorient ourselves towards the holiness and mystery of God. It has the power to revive our souls, renew our minds, and cleanse our bodies. This is a conversation that just may change the way you approach your relationship with God. Reward lays out a compelling case for why fasting should be a regular part of the Christian life today. So join us as we learn why and how to fast.
Reward Sibanda is a Speaker, Author, Teaching Pastor at Saddleback Church, and Senior Director for National Church Partnerships, World Vision.
Reward's Book:
How to Fast
Reward's Recommendations:
Your Story Has a Villian
The Familiar Stranger
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Today, we dive into the power of reckoning with our personal stories - the formative experiences and wounds from our past that shape who we are today, often in ways we don't fully understand. My guest, Adam Young, has spent years helping people make sense of their stories, to find freedom and wholeness. As Adam shares, the truth is, our past isn't just the past - it's deeply woven into our present. The feelings, fears, and patterns we carry from childhood can profoundly impact our relationships, our mental health, even our sense of calling. But the good news is, our brains have an incredible capacity for change and integration. Through curiosity, kindness, and the support of others, we can begin to uncover the hidden narratives that have been subtly steering the course of our lives. And in doing so, we open the door to a deeper, truer version of ourselves - one that can finally step into the unique purpose we were made for. This is a conversation about the transformative power of reckoning with our stories, no matter how messy or painful they may be. It's about finding the courage to face our past, so we can step more fully into our future. So join us as we make sense of our stories.
Adam Young is a therapist who focuses on trauma and abuse, and the host of The Place We Find Ourselves podcast. Adam is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with a Master degree in Social Work (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Divinity (Emory University).
Adam is the author of Make Sense of Your Story: Why Engaging Your Story with Kindness Changes Everything. He currently serves as a Fellow and Instructor at The Allender Center. Adam lives in Fort Collins, CO, with his wife and two children.
Adam's Book:
Make Sense of Your Story
Adam's Recommendations:
The Prophetic Imagination
Genesis: Interpretation
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When we think of the Apostle Paul, we often picture a stern, unyielding figure - the finger-wagging scold, laying down the law for the early Christian communities. But my guest today, Nijay Gupta, is here to shatter that perception and reveal the beating heart at the center of Paul's theology. In Nijay's new book, "The Affections of Christ Jesus," he makes a captivating case that what truly animates Paul's writings is an overwhelming, spilling-over affection - a profound, personal love that should reorient our entire understanding of the gospel message. As we dive into this conversation, Nijay makes the case that the dominant theological frameworks we've used to interpret Paul's work - the camps of justification by faith, the apocalyptic Paul, salvation history are missing something. He argues that what's been missing is a central focus on love, on the emotional, relational dimension that lies at the core of Paul's vision. And Nijay doesn't stop there. He also brings in the insights of Augustine, the great theologian of love, exploring how our deepest loves - not just our intellectual beliefs - are what truly shape the trajectory of our lives. So join me as we explore the affections that lie at the center of Paul's writings - the love that should be the starting point, not the afterthought, of our theology.
Nijay Gupta (DPhil, University of Durham) has written several academic books including Paul and the Language of Faith, and Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. He has co-edited The State of New Testament Studies, and The State of Pauline Studies. Nijay co-chairs the Pauline Theology seminar of the Institute for Biblical Research and serves as a senior translator for the New Living Translation.
Nijay's Book:
The Affections of Christ Jesus
Nijay's Recommendation:
Becoming the Pastor's Wife
The Wild Robot
Shrinking
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There's a crisis of good news in our world today. The message of the gospel - the radical, transformative love of God poured out through Jesus Christ - has become muted, obscured by the noise of culture wars and the bitter taste of Christendom's failures. For many, the idea of "evangelism" conjures up images of slick preachers and aggressive door-to-door campaigns, leaving a sour note where there should be a jubilant melody. But my guest today, Derwin Gray, is on a mission to reclaim that melody - to help believers rediscover the joy and power of sharing the good news, not as a chore or a weapon, but as an overflow of the love that has set their own hearts ablaze. As the founding pastor of Transformation Church, Derwin has witnessed firsthand the way a community can be "lit up with love" - a people so captivated by the grace of God that it spills out into every corner of their lives. In our conversation, he unpacks a vision of evangelism that is relational, empathetic, and rooted in the overwhelming reality of God's affection. It's a perspective that has the potential to rekindle our passion for the gospel and reshape how we engage a world that is, in many ways, starving for the good news. So join me as we dive into Derwin's story, and discover how the simple act of receiving God's love can transform us into everyday missionaries, compelled to share the most life-giving news the world has ever known.
Dr. Derwin L. Gray is the co-founding and Lead Pastor of Transformation Church, just outside of Charlotte, NC. He is also the author of several books, including “How to Heal Our Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and What the First Century Christians Knew about Racial Reconciliation." You can follow him at @derwinlgray on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as www.derwinlgray.com.
Derwin's Book:
Lit Up With Love
Derwin's Recommendation:
Paul: A Biography
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What if the way we've been reading the Bible has been missing something essential? What if the Scriptures aren't just a collection of propositional truths, but a grand narrative - a story that Jesus Himself used to unveil the deepest realities of the Kingdom of God? That's the argument made by author and storyteller Daniel Schwabauer as we dive into the power of story in this conversation. Dan points us to a pivotal moment in the Gospels - when Jesus tells the parable of the sower in Mark 4. Here, he reveals a secret about the Kingdom, saying "The secret of the Kingdom of God has been given to you." But why parables? Why not just lay out the truth plainly? Well, Jesus was doing something profound - He was inviting His disciples, and us, into a narrative journey. One that requires engagement, interpretation, and the work of the Holy Spirit to truly understand. By recovering this narrative lens, the church can rediscover the true power of the gospel message. It's a fascinating exploration of how the way we communicate shapes what we communicate - and how applying the principles of great storytelling can breathe new life into the ancient story of redemption. Join us as we discover the God of story.
Daniel Schwabauer, ThD, teaches English at MidAmerica Nazarene University and writes award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels. He earned an MA in creative writing under science fiction legend James Gunn and completed his doctoral work in semiotic theology with Leonard Sweet. He lives in Olathe, Kansas, with his wife and dogs.
Dan's Book:
The God of Story
Dan's Recommendations:
The Master and His Emissary
The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning
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I’m excited to have Skye Jethani back on the podcast. When we talk about justice, we often think in binary terms - judgment or mercy, punishment or forgiveness. But as Skye argues, the biblical vision of justice is far more nuanced and holistic. At its core, justice is about the proper ordering of relationships - between humanity and God, as well as between individuals and communities. It's not just about retribution, but about restoring the shalom, the wholeness and flourishing, that God intended for his creation. This understanding upends many of our assumptions about justice, both in the church and in society. He challenges the popular American Christian idea that justice is something the government does, not the church. And he unpacks how this bifurcation between the "vertical" and "horizontal" dimensions of justice has deeply distorted our theology and our engagement with the world. But Skye also offers a compelling alternative - a vision of justice that holds together judgment and mercy, individual transformation and systemic change. It's a vision rooted in the cosmic victory of Christ on the cross, where the powers of evil were defeated and a new order was established. This is a conversation that spans creation, Christology, and the church's role in pursuing righteousness. Skye draws on Scripture, church history, and his own experience to paint a rich, nuanced portrait of justice that challenges us to rethink our assumptions and expand our imaginations. So join us as we reckon with justice.
Skye Jethani is an award-winning author, speaker, and co-host of the Holy Post Podcast and co-founder of Holy Post Media. Skye has written more than a dozen books and served as an editor and executive at Christianity Today for more than a decade. Raised in a religiously and ethnically diverse family, his curiosity about faith led him to study comparative religion before entering seminary and pastoral ministry. With a unique ability to connect Christian thought and contemporary culture, his voice has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post, and he’s spoken to audiences throughout the world as diverse as the U.S. Naval Academy, The Chautauqua Institution, and the Lausanne Movement.
Skye's Book:
What If Jesus Was Serious About Justice?
Skye's Recommendations:
How Far to the Promised Land
The Ballot and the Bible
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Malcolm Foley has written a book that addresses some of the deepest and most intractable problems in American life - racism, violence, and greed. But his diagnosis is not what you might expect. Foley argues that the root of these evils is not just racial animus or a lust for power, but something far more fundamental - the worship of Mammon, the love of money and material wealth. In this conversation, Foley takes us on a sweeping journey, from the history of lynching in America to the cosmic battle between God and the idolatry of riches. He shows how greed has fueled the construction of race, the cycles of violence, and the unjust structures that continue to oppress the vulnerable. But he also offers a radical vision of how the church can model an alternative way of living - one defined by economic solidarity, creative nonviolence, and prophetic truth-telling. This is a conversation that addresses some of the most pressing moral and spiritual challenges of our time. Foley's insights are both unsettling and profoundly hopeful, pointing the way towards the redemption and reconciliation of all things. So join us and discover the anti-greed gospel.
Malcolm Foley is Pastor at Mosaic Waco, Special advisor to the President for Equity and Campus Engagement at Baylor University and author of The Anti-Greed Gospel. Malcom received his MDiv at Yale Divinity School and his PhD in Religion at Baylor.
Malcolm's Book:
The Anti-Greed Gospel
Malcom's Recommendations:
Households of Faith
The Black Tax
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This is a conversation with Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost that gets to the heart of what the church is called to be - a community of adventure, risk, and mission. Alan and Mike have revised and re-released their book "The Faith of Leap" that challenges the church to shed its obsession with safety and security, and instead embrace the risky, liminal spaces where the kingdom of God breaks through. We'll explore how the church has become too inwardly focused, too preoccupied with maintaining its own institutions, when it should be a sent people, a missional movement unleashed into the world. Alan and Michael will share powerful stories of ordinary believers taking courageous leaps of faith, and how their example can inspire us all. This is a conversation about rediscovering the church's essential calling - to be a community that encounters the living God, and then boldly steps out in response, ready to see the reign of God extended in our neighborhoods and cities. It's a call to adventure, to risk, to the kind of faith that changes everything. This conversation will challenge our assumptions about what the church is supposed to be. Too often, we've allowed the church to become a place of comfort and security, when it's meant to be a launching pad for mission and transformation. Alan and Michael are inviting us to rethink everything, to let the call of the kingdom reshape our understanding of ecclesiology. This is a conversation that I believe has profound implications, not just for the church, but for the way we engage the world around us. So join us and recover the faith of leap.
Michael and Alan's Book:
The Faith of Leap
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Today, I am excited to welcome you to this conversation with Charlie Peacock. Charlie is a gifted musician, producer, and storyteller whose life and art intertwine in the most captivating way. In this episode, we're going to dive deep into the roots and rhythms that have shaped Charlie's remarkable journey. We'll uncover the hidden history of his family's racial identity, explore the formative experiences that forged his singular musical talent, and trace the sacred dance between his spirituality and artistry. This is a winding, improvisational odyssey - filled with moments of reckoning, redemption, and the irrepressible drive to create. And in sharing it with us, Charlie invites us to reflect on our own roots, to listen for the rhythms that course through our veins, and to consider how the very things that make us who we are might also be the wellspring of our most profound expressions. So get ready because we're about to embark on a journey through the landscape of a life fully, beautifully lived. So join us as we discover roots and rhythm.
Charlie Peacock is a 6x Grammy Award–winning, Billboard Chart–topping music producer, composer, and recording artist. He is responsible for developing and producing the Americana-Folk duo The Civil Wars and the bands Switchfoot and The Lone Bellow. Charlie is a co-founder of the Art House, Wedgwood Circle, and founder/director Emeritus of the Commercial Music Program at Lipscomb University. He has produced music for film and television, including A Walk to Remember, Chris Cornell's "Misery Chain" from the soundtrack of 12 Years a Slave, and "Hush," the title theme to the AMC drama Turn: Washington’s Spies. Named by Billboard’s Encyclopedia of Record Producers as one of the 500 most important producers in music history, Charlie is also a three-time recipient of the Gospel Music Award for Producer of the Year. His songwriter credits include two multiplatinum evergreen songs, “Every Heartbeat” (Amy Grant) and “In the Light” (DC Talk). His books include Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much, New Way to Be Human, At the Crossroads, and a contribution to It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. Charlie is the Sr. Music Editor for Christianity Today and host of the Christianity Today Podcast, Music and Meaning. Notably, Charlie’s songs and productions exceed 25 million sales. Eerdmans will publish his memoir, Roots & Rhythm, on February 4, 2025. He has been married to author Andi Ashworth for nearly fifty years and they have two grown, married children and four grandchildren.
Charlie's Book:
Roots and Rhythm
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What does it mean to be a family in the kingdom of God? Not the idealized, airbrushed version we so often see, but the messy, beautiful, ever-evolving reality of what it means to be bound together in love. Too often, we approach family life with a set of assumptions - a blueprint we've been handed, a script we feel we must follow. But what if the way of Jesus calls us to something deeper, something more improvisational? What if being a family in the kingdom means being apprenticed to love, learning moment by moment how to will the good of one another, how to discern what faithful living looks like in our particular context? That's the invitation we'll be exploring today with my guest, Emily Hunter McGowin. Emily has thought deeply about these questions, not just in the abstract, but in the crucible of her own family story - a story of brokenness and redemption, of unlearning old ways and embracing the subversive, liberating vision of Jesus. So let's dive in. Let's wrestle with what it means to be a family that reflects the upside-down values of God's reign. To move beyond simplistic formulas and enter into the holy, gritty work of loving one another as we've been loved. The journey won't be easy, but I believe it's one that holds the promise of true, lasting freedom. So join us.
Emily Hunter McGowin (PhD, University of Dayton) is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College. She is the author of Quivering Families and Christmas, and coeditor of God and Wonder. Her articles have appeared in Christianity Today and The Week. She is a priest in the Anglican diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others. She and her husband, Ron, also a priest, live in Chicagoland with their three children.
Emily's Book:
Households of Faith
Emily's Recommendation:
Womanist Midrash
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Erin Hicks Moon is here with us today, and I'm thrilled to have her. Erin has a new book coming out called "I've Got Questions: The Spiritual Practice of Having It Out with God," and it delves right into the tension at the core of so many of our spiritual lives - the push and pull between our faith and our doubts, our certainty and our questions. You know, we often treat faith as this neat, tidy package. We're supposed to have it all figured out, no loose ends, no messy questions. But Erin makes the case that true faith, the kind that really matters, is forged in the crucible of our doubts and our struggles. It's about wrestling with God, having the courage to look under the hood of our beliefs and ask the hard questions. Because the truth is, the world is a complicated place. Our lives are messy and uncertain. And if our faith can't withstand that, if it can't hold up under the weight of our questions, then what's the point? Erin is going to take us on a journey today, exploring how we can cultivate a faith that is vibrant, authentic, and unafraid to grapple with the big stuff. This is sure to be a thought-provoking conversation. So join us as we learn to be okay with asking questions.
Erin Hicks Moon is a writer, podcaster, and storyteller who helps people disentangle faith by creating a kind and curious community that welcomes honest doubt and questions. She is the Resident Bible Scholar and host of the Faith Adjacent podcast, and senior creative at Podcast Media Group. A homesick Texan, she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband and three children, where she bravely tries to live without yellow queso every day.
Erin's Book:
I've Got Questions
Erin's Recommendation:
The Book of Belonging
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What if the very institutions meant to uplift us are the ones holding us back? That's the question at the heart of my conversation today with therapist and author Andrew Bauman. Through years of research and interviews, Andrew has uncovered a troubling reality within the church, one where women often feel marginalized, silenced and forced to make themselves smaller just to keep the peace, one where sexism, abuse and misogyny are happening. This stands in stark contrast to the vision of the Church that Jesus proclaimed, a community of radical equality, justice and love. So how did we get here? And more importantly, how do we find a way forward? Andrew believes one of the answers lies in men like himself doing the hard work of confronting their own biases and misuse of power. It means churches created spaces for Open dialog, for elevating women's voices, for building a culture of true mutuality and respect. This is a vital conversation for the future of the church. Andrew is convinced that change is possible that men and women can work together to embody Jesus, to look more like Him. Join me and Andrew as we confront sexism and abuse in the church, and see if we can uncover a path towards the beloved community that God intends.
Founder & Director of the Christian Counseling Center: For Sexual Health & Trauma (CCC), Dr. Andrew J. Bauman is a licensed mental health counselor with a Doctorate from Northeastern University. His dissertation was on studying the impact of sexism and abuse on women in the Protestant Church. Andrew is the author of seven books, and his newest book is called SAFE CHURCH: How to Guard Against Sexism & Abuse in Christian Communities (2024)
Andrew's Book:
Safe Church
Andrew's Recommendations:
Becoming the Pastor's Wife
The Deep-Rooted Marriage
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This is a fantastic conversation with Ian Morgan Cron about his new book "The Fix" and the transformative power of the 12 steps. Ian makes the case that the 12 steps offer a path of healing and recovery not just for addicts, but for anyone struggling with that universal human condition of feeling "not at home" in this world. The key, as Ian explains it, is starting with that crucial admission of powerlessness - that we can't fix ourselves through willpower alone. And that opens the door to surrendering to a higher power and allowing God to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. Ian gets incredibly personal, sharing his own journey of addiction and recovery, and how practices like centering prayer have helped him develop the capacity to truly bear and receive love. Ian argues the 12 steps can address the root spiritual issues underlying all kinds of compulsive behaviors and addictions, not just drugs and alcohol. He makes a compelling case that this path of transformation is available to everyone, whether you identify as an addict or not. The 12 steps offer a "program for living" that can lead to deep healing and freedom. This was a rich, nuanced, and grace-filled conversation that I think will really resonate with a lot of people struggling with that sense of not being at home in themselves or the world. Ian brings such vulnerability and wisdom to these timeless questions of how we find our way back to wholeness. It's the kind of conversation that stays with you. So join us as we find our way back home.
Ian Morgan Cron is a bestselling author, psychotherapist, Enneagram teacher, Episcopal priest, and the host of the popular podcast Typology (over 20 million downloads). His books include the Enneagram primer The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery, which has sold over one million copies; the novel Chasing Francis; the spiritual memoir Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me; and The Story of You: An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self.
Ian's Book:
The Fix
Ian's Recommendations:
Build the Life You Want
From Strength to Strength
Say Nothing
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Tori Hope Petersen has a story to tell - one that gets to the heart of how we find our way through trauma and self-doubt to a place of self-acceptance and purpose. As someone who grew up in the foster care system, emancipating at 18 without a forever family, Tori had to navigate a lot of uncertainty and pain. But through that journey, she's learned invaluable lessons about the power of community, the necessity of vulnerability, and the freedom that comes from embracing your own worth. In our conversation, Tori unpacks the lies she used to believe - that self-love was selfish, that she wasn't worthy. These were patterns passed down, not just in her own life, but across generations. And unraveling them required immense courage. But Tori discovered that the act of sharing her story, the good and the bad, was integral to her own healing. It was a way of breaking cycles, of finding belonging, of using her voice to speak life into others facing similar struggles. Tori's story is a testament to resilience, to the transformative power of vulnerability. This is a conversation that gets at the heart of how we overcome the lies we've internalized, how we learn to love ourselves, and how we step into the fullness of who we're called to be.
Tori Hope Petersen is an author, speaker, Bible teacher, and lover of people. Since coming to faith, she has shared her testimony and life as authentically as she can to help and offer hope to others. Tori is known for her fierce advocacy work for foster care, adoption, and vulnerable children. At home she is a wife and mama who enjoys cooking with her children. With a deep value for family, community, and hospitality, Tori and her family love to make extra food for whoever might stop by.
Tori's Book:
Breaking the Patterns That Break You
Tori's Recommendation:
Unclean
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You know, there's this thing that happens - we get so caught up in the doing, the productivity, the hustle. We define ourselves by what we accomplish, by the checkboxes we can tick off. But what if there's another way? What if we're not just cogs in a machine, but creative beings made in the image of a creative God? In this episode, we dive into that question with author Maria Bowler. She shares how becoming a new mom during the pandemic forced her to confront this head-on - when the doing was stripped away, who was she really? The answer, it turns out, lies not in what we produce, but in our very being. Maria invites us to consider a new vision - one where we're not just doers, but makers. Where the effort we exert isn't about forcing our will, but about deep engagement. Where we trust that our heart's desires and the things that break it open are clues to the creative work we're meant to do. So take a deep breath, my friends. This conversation just might be the permission slip you need to let go of the pressure to perform and instead embrace the freedom to create. To make time for the things that truly matter - not just what we can check off the list. The world is waiting for the unique gifts only you can bring.
Maria Bowler is a writer, coach, and retreat leader. She holds a masters in religion and the arts from Yale University, is a former magazine editor, and has taught creative writing at the university level. Canadian by birth, she now lives in the Driftless region of the US with her family.
Maria's Book:
Making Time
Maria's Recommendations:
Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Talents
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What does it look like to engage culture as a Christian in today's world? Is it a battle to be won, a system to be escaped, or something else entirely? In this thought-provoking discussion, Keith Simon lays out a vision for what he calls "joyful outsiders" - Christians who embrace their identity as outsiders, but who engage the culture in diverse and creative ways. Keith draws from Scripture to show how the Bible presents a range of approaches - from the "advisor" who works from within, to the "protester" who calls out injustice, to the "builder" who cultivates new institutions. The key, he argues, is for Christians to resist the temptation to find our identity in political power or cultural influence, and instead root ourselves firmly in Christ. It's a perspective that acknowledges the real challenges and tensions of living as followers of Jesus in a disoriented world. But rather than despair or withdrawal, Simon casts a vision of Christians working together in unity, respecting each other's diverse callings and roles. Whether you see yourself as more of a "trainer" or an "ambassador," Simon's insights offer a compelling alternative to the tired culture war narratives that have done so much damage. He invites us to embrace our identity as outsiders, to engage creatively, and to do so with joy - because our hope is not in the shifting sands of politics or public opinion, but in the unshakable foundation of Christ's love and victory. It's a conversation that gets to the heart of some of the most pressing questions facing the church today. And it just might unlock new possibilities for how we can faithfully and fruitfully live out our faith in the world.
Keith Simon is a lead pastor at The Crossing, cohosts the podcasts Ten Minute Bible Talks and Truth Over Tribe, and coauthored Truth Over Tribe: Pledging Allegiance to the Lamb, Not the Donkey or the Elephant. He graduated with an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Keith lives in Columbia, Missouri, with his wife, Christine, and their four children.
Keith's Book:
Joyful Outsiders
Keith's Recommendations:
Bad Therapy
Ghosted
How to Stay Married
What is a Girl Worth?
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This is a conversation about how to faithfully engage culture as a Christian in a disorienting time. Our guest is Patrick Miller. He is a Pastor, Podcast host, and co-author of the book "Joyful Outsiders." In this conversation, Patrick shares how he was drawn to a church that was actively engaged in the community - supporting nonprofits, influencing local businesses, and making a real impact. As he's grown in his faith, he's had to wrestle with the tension of resisting the culture around us, while also cultivating and caring for that culture. The world has changed a lot, Patrick says. Christianity has gone from an insider position to more of an outsider status in America. And that creates a challenge - how do we live like Jesus in the midst of this? Do we hunker down and resist? Do we try to conform and fit in? Or is there a third way? Patrick lays out six different approaches - the Trainer, the Advisor, the Protester, the Ambassador, the Artist, the Builder. Each one represents a different way of engaging the world around us. And he argues we need all of these voices, working together in harmony, if we're going to faithfully follow Jesus. It's a nuanced, thoughtful conversation about an issue that's causing a lot of division and angst in the church today. But Patrick offers a hopeful vision - one where we embrace the tension, value our diversity, and work together to build something lasting for the next generation. It's a conversation I think you'll find really compelling. So join us as we learn to live in the tension of resistance and cultivation.
Patrick Miller pastors at The Crossing in Missouri, cohosts the podcasts Ten Minute Bible Talks and Truth Over Tribe, and has coauthored one book. His weekly newsletter, Endeavor, explores the intersection of faith, culture, media, and technology. His writing can be found at The Gospel Coalition, Mere Orthodoxy, Christianity Today, and Newsweek. He graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv). He and his wife, Emily, live in Columbia, Missouri, with their two children.
Patrick's Book:
Joyful Outsiders
Patrick's Recommendation:
Infinite Jest
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This is a conversation about discernment - about how we listen for and respond to the quiet, persistent voice of God in our lives. Our guest today is Trevor Hudson, a pastor and spiritual director who has spent decades wrestling with this question. As Trevor puts it, when we open our lives to Christ, he brings his whole family with him. Our faith is never just a private, individual thing - it's deeply communal. But at the same time, God has a unique calling for each of our lives. The challenge is figuring out how to hold that tension, to discern both the general will of God and his specific purpose for us. Trevor shares that for him, the foundation of discernment has been surrender - a daily yielding of his life to God, an opening of his hands to receive God's leading. It's about learning to recognize the movements of the Spirit, the subtle stirrings towards greater faith, hope and love. And it's about doing that work in community, with friends and mentors who can help us see what we might be missing. This is not always an easy path. Trevor acknowledges that God's will often involves a kind of dying and rising, a willingness to walk into difficult circumstances. But he insists that there is a deep peace that accompanies it, even amidst the struggle. So how do we tune our ears to hear that still, small voice? How do we learn to live into the unique purpose God has for our lives, while also staying rooted in community? Trevor offers wisdom hard-won over decades of faithful following. It's a conversation that just might change the way you approach the big questions of your life.
Trevor Hudson is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. After spending forty years doing pastoral ministry in a local congregation, he now gives his time to lecturing, teaching, and writing in the areas of spiritual formation and spiritual direction. Throughout his life as a pastor and teacher, he has sought to prioritize the discipleship ministry of local congregations, build bridges across different "streams" within the Christian community, and relate spiritual formation to daily life within the context of our suffering world.
He is married to Debbie and is the father of two children, Joni married to James, and Mark married to Marike.
Trevor's Book:
In Search of God's Will
Trevor's Recommendation:
Fully Alive
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This is a conversation about certainty, mystery, and the divine. Our guest today is Liz Charlotte Grant, author of the book "Knock at the Sky." Liz takes us on a journey through her own life, from growing up in the certainty of white American evangelicalism, to encountering the mystery and presence of God in powerful experiences. As Liz dives into the book of Genesis, she shows us how reading the scriptures through a literary lens can breathe new life into these ancient stories. We explore the idea of God as a generous host, setting the table for humanity, and the importance of encountering the divine, even when it challenges our preconceptions. Liz encourages us to approach these texts with curiosity and humility, allowing our questions to guide us rather than clinging to rigid certainty. She reminds us that God is not afraid of our questions - in fact, engaging with the mystery may be the path to a deeper, more vibrant faith. This is a conversation that invites us to expand our imaginations, to see God in new ways, and to welcome others as fellow image-bearers. So join us as we knock at the sky, seeking to encounter the divine in fresh and surprising ways.
Liz Charlotte Grant is an award-winning essayist from the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, who writes the newsletter The Empathy List. Her first book releases this January, and it's called Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis After Losing Faith in the Bible.
Liz's Book:
Knock at the Sky
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Today, I'm excited to bring you a conversation that gets to the core of what it means to be human - to grapple with pain, trauma, and the longing to be truly seen and loved. My guest is Michael John Cusick, author of the new book "Sacred Attachment," and he's here to share his deeply personal journey of moving from a place of fear and shame into an embodied experience of God's love and security. Michael reframes the concept of sin, not as moral failure, but as the mishandling of our pain. This shift opens up a whole new avenue for understanding the human condition and the path to healing. He unpacks the five "W's" of brokenness - wretchedness, weakness, woundedness, warfare, and wiring - illuminating the complex, multi-layered nature of the struggles we all face. But this isn't just an intellectual exercise. Michael grounds his insights in his own life story. His life became a journey, as he wrestled with the fear that God was displeased with him, only to be met with an unexpected embrace of love and acceptance. Michael's exploration of Jesus' own secure attachment to the Father, and how that provides a model for us to follow, even in the midst of our own pain and trauma was particularly insightful. He emphasizes the importance of relational encounter, of being seen, soothed and held, in order to move from intellectual belief to embodied experience of God's love. This is a rich, nuanced conversation that challenges us to confront the deepest parts of ourselves, to acknowledge our brokenness, and to open ourselves up to the transformative power of love. There is profound wisdom here for anyone seeking to live a more whole, integrated life. Get ready to receive the love of God.
Michael John Cusick is the CEO and founder of Restoring the Soul, an intensive counseling ministry in Denver. He is a licensed professional counselor, spiritual director, and former assistant professor of counseling at Colorado Christian University. Michael is the author of Surfing for God, and his articles have appeared in such places as Relevant, Huffington Post, and Red Letter Christians. He and his wife, Julianne, have two grown children and live in Littleton, Colorado.
Michael's Book:
Sacred Attachment
Michael's Recommendations:
The Beatitudes
Cloistered
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In this episode, we are counting down our ten most listened to episodes of the year. You will hear clips from:
- Ep. 160 Emily P. Freeman - Discerning When to Stay and When to Go
- Ep. 187 Elizabeth Oldfield - Becoming More Fully Alive
- Ep. 212 Brady Boyd - Pursuing Unity in a Divided World
- Ep. 243 Mike Cosper - The Church in Dark Times: Resisting the Lure of Ideology
- Ep. 218 Natalie Runion - Reconstruction After Deconstruction: Going Back to the Original Blueprint
- Ep. 148 Meghan Larissa Good - Are We in the Middle of a New Reformation?
- Ep. 235 Scot McKnight - Is the Deconstruction Movement a Prophetic Work of the Spirit?
- Ep. 159 Sarah Bessey - Practices for an Evolving Faith
- Ep. 224 Aundi Kolber - Embodied Resilience: Finding Safety and Moving Towards Risk
- Ep. 211 Jamie Winship Returns - Receiving Your True Identity
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In this episode we are counting down our ten favorite movies of 2024 with guests Elijah Davidson and Craig Detweiler.
Elijah's List:
10. The Piano Lesson
9. Between the Temples
8. Conclave
7. Dune: Part Two
6. Fly
5. Megalopolis
4. Me
3. Anora
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
1. Challengers
Craig's List:
10. Rebel Ridge
9. A Real Pain
8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
7. Conclave
6. I Saw the TV Glow
5. Daughters
4. Dune: Part Two
3. Sing Sing
2. La Chimera
1. Anora
Joshua's List:
10. Small Things Like These
9. The Wild Robot
8. We Live in Time
7. A Real Pain
6. Wicked
5. Civil War
4. Conclave
3. Dune: Part Two
2. Sing Sing
1. Ghostlight
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We are counting down our ten favorite books of 2024. Joshua, Lore, and Liam will each share their list of ten. To see my full list go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com
Lore’s List:
-
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl
-
How to Walk Into a Room by Emily P. Freeman
-
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
-
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
-
The Book of Belonging by Mariko Clark
-
The Quickening by Elizabeth Rush
-
Field Notes for the Wilderness by Sarah Bessey
-
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
-
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
-
North Woods by Daniel Mason
Liam's List:
10. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
-
Low Anthropology by David Zahl
-
James by Percival Everett
-
The Year of Our Lord 1943 by Alan Jacobs
-
Why the Gospel? by Matthew Bates
-
Unclean by Richard Beck
-
Biblical Critical Theory by Christopher Watkin
-
Introducing Radical Orthodoxy by James K.A. Smith
-
The Imago Dei by Lucy Peppiatt
-
Beholding by Strahan Coleman
Joshua's List:
10. How to Walk Into a Room by Emily P. Freeman
-
The Journey to Eloheh by Randy & Edith Woodley
-
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
-
The Gift of Thorns by AJ Swoboda
-
The Understory by Lore Ferguson Wilbert
-
Fully Alive by Elizabeth Oldfield
-
Life After Doom by Brian McLaren
-
The Church in Dark Times by Mike Cosper
-
Circle of Hope by Eliza Griswold
-
Field Notes for the Wilderness by Sarah Bessey
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Today, our guest is Munther Isaac, Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible College and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem. Munther’s family have been shepherds in the same hills as the shepherds who heard from the angel of God that first Christmas. And although the world is fighting to dehumanize the Palestinian people and the people in Gaza, the words of the angel are still true. Jesus is good news for all people. Every human is made in the image of God and is worthy of love, dignity, and life. You know, when you are at a distance, it is easy to get caught up in the headlines and the latest violence. But we need to go deeper to see what is happening. And that’s what we are doing today. Reverend Munther takes us back through the history, showing how this conflict has roots going back decades. It didn’t just start with October 7th. Munther calls us to see the humanity in all the people caught up in this. He shares a haunting poem by a Palestinian professor killed in the violence - a man who wanted his death to bring hope, not vengeance. It's a powerful reminder that behind the headlines, there are real people, with dreams and fears just like our own. This is a conversation that won't let you look away. But it also opens up a new way of seeing - one rooted in the radical compassion of Jesus, who calls us to love even our enemies. This Advent, Christ is still in the rubble. He sees the children, the women, the men of Gaza and Palestine with love and compassion. Will we?
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac is a Palestinian Christian pastor, theologian, and writer, known for his role as the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and as the academic dean at Bethlehem Bible College. He is also the director of the Christ at the Checkpoint conferences and has been a vocal advocate for peace and reconciliation in the region. His work often intertwines faith with the political realities of life in Palestine.
Munther's Book:
Christ in the Rubble
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My guest today is Phil Moore, author of the book "The Forgotten Manifesto of Jesus." Phil is a former megachurch pastor in London who went through a major shift during the pandemic. See, Phil was leading this thriving church, doing all the things we're told to do to grow a big, successful congregation. But then COVID hit, and everything changed. Why? Because Phil started asking some hard questions - is what we're doing really working? Is this the way Jesus wants us to make disciples? What Phil discovered by connecting with disciple-making movements in places like Iran and India completely upended his approach. He realized the key to mature disciples of Jesus isn't about gathering big crowds, but about empowering everyday believers to make disciples who make disciples. It's a radically decentralized, reproducible model. As Phil will share, when we rediscover the simple, revolutionary teachings of Jesus in Matthew 10 and Luke 10, it has the power to transform not just our churches, but the very way we think about the Great Commission. This is a conversation that could be a real game-changer for how discipleship works in the body of Christ. So join us as we learn how to make disciples that make disciples.
Phil is an author, speaker and teacher based in London, UK. Phil came to faith as a student at Cambridge University and was trained within the Newfrontiers family of churches. He serves as a teacher, speaker, DMM leader and encourager of churches, both in the UK and beyond. He is the author of "The Bible in 100 Pages", "The Forgotten Manifesto of Jesus" and the "Straight to the Heart" series of devotional commentaries.
In his latest book, "The Forgotten Manifesto of Jesus", Phil has the privilege of telling the story of underground house church movements across India, Iran, Afghanistan and the Middle East. The leaders of these movements are skilled at hiding their identities, but they were able to communicate securely with Phil so that he could pass on their amazing story of God's faithfulness to the world.
Phil is married to Ruth and they have four young children. Together, they love eating strange and exotic food, as well as anything to do with campervans. They also love Roald Dahl, which makes Phil's children complain that his own books do not contain enough pictures, talking animals or chocolate factories.
Phil's Book:
The Forgotten Manifesto of Jesus
Phil's Recommendation:
Spirit Walk
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Today, I’m excited to welcome Anna Morgan to the show to talk about growing women in ministry. Anna is a pastor, academic, and author who has done incredible research on the unique challenges and opportunities that women face in leadership roles within the church. Anna has an amazing personal story that really sets the stage for this discussion. She experienced tremendous tragedy early in her marriage when her first husband was killed in a car accident. But through that, God opened up this unexpected leadership path for Anna, and she found herself stepping into roles and responsibilities that she never could have imagined. As Anna started to mentor other young women in ministry, she realized there was a real gap in the resources and support available to help women navigate their leadership journeys. That led her to pursue doctoral research on this topic, and the insights she's uncovered are just so valuable. We're going to dive into what Anna has learned about the internal and external factors that shape women as leaders - things like the importance of seeing potential, the confidence gaps that often hold women back, and the critical role of mentorship and sponsorship. And we'll talk about how churches and ministry teams can be more intentional about creating environments where women can thrive. This is a conversation that I believe has huge implications, not just for women, but for the whole body of Christ. When we empower female leaders, we unlock so much potential for the kingdom. So I'm really excited for you to hear Anna's perspective on all of this. So join us.
Anna Morgan has been in local church ministry since 1999 as a youth pastor, worship pastor, executive pastor, lead pastor, and church consultant. Dr. Morgan co-pastors Word of Life Church, an international, Assemblies of God church in metropolitan Washington, D.C. Morgan is vice president of academics at Ascent College. Morgan’s dissertation examined female leadership development in theologically egalitarian local churches. She is an affiliate associate professor of leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. She has trained leaders and teams at Pentecostal and charismatic churches throughout the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Morgan is an ordained minister through the Australian Christian Churches.
Anna's Book:
Growing Women in Ministry
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Patriarchy is a power that steals, kills, and destroys. But in the darkness, the Spirit of God hovers, waiting to give birth to new life. Danielle Strickland joins us today to shed light on this critical issue facing the church. Danielle unpacks how patriarchy has deeply distorted our view of God, the scriptures, and the flourishing of men and women together. She shares how this male-centered ordering of the world has undermined women's confidence and value, and how it stands in stark contrast to God's design for mutual flourishing. Yet Danielle also offers hope. She calls us to see the powerful witness of women throughout scripture - from Hagar to Mary Magdalene. And she challenges men to step up, to confront the systems of patriarchy, and to disproportionately invest in empowering women. This is a conversation that gets to the heart of the gospel - a message of life, not death; a vision of mutual empowerment, not domination. Danielle's words have the potential to shift the very culture of the church. So join us.
Danielle lets Love lead her to inspire, challenge, provoke and disrupt the present, and to live the future now. Having lived in different cultures and contexts around the world she celebrates diversity and deeply longs for wrong things to be made right. Danielle practises following Jesus daily. This pursuit has led to exciting entrepreneurial exploits (like co-founding multiple charities and non-profits) and a whole host of failures (that we don’t as often talk about). All of this has convinced her of the deep need we all have for hope, faith, and love. Her deepest longing is to demonstrate what living that boundless life looks like.
Danielle has written six books (the latest is The Other Side of Hope), has a podcast called The Right Side Up (which recently celebrated half-a-million downloads), and speaks to people at events all over the world. Danielle leads Boundless Communications Inc. which launches creative exploits like Women Speakers Collective (liberating voices of women around the globe), IMBY (a tiny home movement IN MY BACKYARD), Brave Global (preventing human trafficking), Infinitum (a way of living deeply), and Hagar’s Voice (support and advocacy for survivors of abuse). Danielle lives in Vancouver, Canada with her three sons and husband Steve. Danielle loves getting outside, doing new things, physical adventures, and she can’t seem to turn down a free lunch.
Danielle's Book:
Need to Know
Danielle's Recommendations:
The Power
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Today we have a conversation with Pete Portal, author of the book "How to Be (Un)successful" (or "Stop Trying to Be Successful" for our American listeners). Pete has spent the last 15 years living and working in the township of Mannenberg, South Africa, a community plagued by gang violence, drug addiction, and systemic injustice. What Pete has learned through this experience flies in the face of much of our conventional thinking about success, achievement, and the role of the church. He argues that true success in the kingdom of God is not about what you accomplish, but who you become - a life of faithfulness, vulnerability, and reciprocal relationship, even in the face of deep betrayal and suffering. Pete shares powerful stories of how God is at work, often in the most unexpected places, to raise up the valleys and humble the mountains. He challenges the notion of "culture wars" and the church's tendency to try and "invade and occupy" systems of power, instead calling us to a "seven valleys mandate" - to pervade the forgotten, marginalized spaces of society with the humble, self-giving love of Christ. This is a conversation that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about success, the role of the church, and how the kingdom of God breaks into our world. It is deeply inspiring and profoundly hopeful. So join us.
Pete Portal serves on the Core Leadership Team of Tree of Life, a 24-7 Prayer Community based in Manenberg, Cape Town. He does life with young men coming out of gangsterism and drug addiction and helps these young men find faith, freedom and wholeness. He's on the board of 24-7 Prayer South Africa, and spends much of his time growing relationships and networks across racial and socio-economic divides, as well as speaking at churches and organisations both locally and internationally on matters of faith and social transformation.
Pete holds Masters degrees in Theology (Edinburgh) and Theology, Politics and Faith-based Organisations (Kings College London); He's written articles for The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times.
Pete has written two books - No Neutral Ground, and How to be (Un)successful.
Pete's Book:
Stop Trying to Be Successful
Pete's Recommendations:
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
The Critical Journey
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Today we have a conversation about rediscovering the true meaning of Christmas. Our guest is AJ Sherrill, author of the book "Rediscovering Christmas." AJ takes us back 2,000 years to unpack the rich cultural context and deeper significance behind the Christmas story that we often miss in our modern celebrations. AJ explains how the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem - the "house of bread" - where he was laid in a feeding trough, is a profound symbol of him being the "bread of life" come to nourish our deepest hungers. He also highlights the stories of characters like Zechariah and Anna, who models patient longing and faithful waiting for the Messiah's arrival. AJ challenges us to approach this Advent season not just as a nostalgic tradition, but as a time to cultivate our own longing for God's kingdom to come in fullness. He encourages us to create space in our hearts to encounter the God who searches for us, even as we search for him. This conversation invites us to rediscover the wonder and significance of Christmas in fresh ways. So join us and rediscover Christmas.
Serving as Lead Pastor for two decades in churches across the country from Southern California to New York City, I am thrilled to call the Low Country home. Having earned several Masters degrees in theology and a Doctorate in the area of spiritual formation, I teach courses on preaching and also the Enneagram at Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as workshops on spiritual formation and personality theory. Most importantly, I am a disciple of Jesus, husband to Elaina, and father to Eloise. Least importantly, I am an unfortunate Michigan fan, thus winning seldom, but often gaining humility.
AJ's Book:
Rediscovering Christmas
AJ's Recommendation:
In Search of God's Will
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You know, when you think about the Christmas story - the birth of Jesus, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men - it's easy to get caught up in the sentimentality of it all. The cozy nativity scene, the baby in the manger, the promise of peace on earth. But what if I told you that the real story of Jesus's birth is much grittier, much more rooted in the harsh realities of human suffering and oppression? That's the perspective Kelley Nikondeha brings to the table. Kelley is the author of a book called "The First Advent in Palestine," and as the title suggests, she's looking at the Advent narrative through a very different lens - one shaped by her own experiences and the people she’s met along the way. You see, Kelley is married to someone from Burundi, which has its own long history of colonization and trauma. And when she looks at the story of Jesus's birth, she doesn't just see the tender moments - she sees the generational pain and political upheaval that formed the backdrop for that pivotal event. It's a powerful reframing of a story we think we know so well. Because the truth is, the world Jesus was born into was a world of oppression, a world where the powerful trampled on the weak. And Kelley helps us understand how that context shaped the very nature of Jesus's mission and ministry. This is a conversation that's going to challenge the way you think about Advent and the Christmas story. It's going to ask you to look beyond the sentimental trappings and really grapple with the gritty realities of human suffering. But in doing so, it just might open your eyes to a deeper, richer understanding of the hope that Jesus brought into the world. Join us as we enter Advent.
Kelley Nikondeha is a liberation theologian and feminist, author and development practitioner. Authored Adopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World, Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us about Freedom, and The First Advent in Palestine.
Kelley's Recommendation:
The Message
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Our guest is Anjuli Paschall, author of the new book "Feel: A Collection of Liturgies Offering Hope for Every Complicated Emotion." We have a conversation about the power and importance of our emotions, and how to engage with them in a healthy, transformative way. Anjuli has such an insightful and nuanced perspective on this topic. She talks about how she grew up in a Christian culture that often viewed certain emotions as "bad" or something to be suppressed. But she's come to see how crucial it is to name, feel, and bring our full range of emotions to God. We discuss how language and culture shape the way we experience and express our feelings. Anjuli shares powerful examples of how simply naming an emotion can be the first step towards healing and growth. And she walks us through the "liturgies" or guided prayers in her book - ways to authentically bring our messy, complicated emotions to the Lord. Our emotions are so central to the human experience, and to our spiritual lives and Anjuli offers wisdom and practical tools for embracing the full breadth of what we feel, and allowing that to draw us closer to God and one another. I think you'll find this discussion really insightful and helpful. So join us.
Anjuli Paschall grew up in San Diego. She studied psychology at Point Loma Nazarene University and earned her graduate degree from Talbot Seminary in spiritual formation and soul care. She has been married for close to twenty years to her childhood friend Sam. Together, they founded Sojourn and Sage, a retreat and residency home for the weary. They have five beautiful children: Manoah, Samuel, Noelle, Hannaly, and Mea. Anjuli is the author of Stay and Awake. As a pastor’s wife, writer, and spiritual director, she learned that feelings are the pathway to prayer. She loves chai tea, golden hour, and the color orange.
Anjuli's Book:
Feel
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In this conversation, we dive into how Jesus read and engaged with scripture - and how that should inform how we, as his followers, approach the Bible today. It’s not something I’ve thought about explicitly. This is a much needed conversation. My guest is Michael Pahl, author of the book "The Word Fulfilled," and he brings a really thoughtful, nuanced perspective on this topic. One of the key things that emerges is how Jesus didn't just see scripture as a flat, equal text, but rather prioritized certain passages - like the book of Isaiah - that spoke to his core mission of bringing God's love and justice to the world. Jesus didn't just memorize scripture, but read it through the lens of loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. And that has huge implications for how we should approach the Bible. Rather than just looking for rules or proof-texts, we need to ask how the scriptures are calling us to a deeper ethic of compassion and concern for the marginalized. It's not about winning arguments, but about being transformed by the radical love that Jesus embodied. Pahl also gets into the challenges of actually living out that kind of non-violent, self-giving love in the face of a culture that often prizes power and retaliation. But he points to inspiring examples, like the civil rights movement, of how that way of Jesus can actually bring about profound social change. It's a rich, thought-provoking conversation that I think will really challenge us to rethink how we engage with the Bible. So join us.
Michael Pahl is executive minister of Mennonite Church Manitoba. He has a PhD in biblical studies from the University of Birmingham in the UK. His professional journey has moved between academic teaching and congregational ministry. He previously served as lead pastor of Morden Mennonite Church and has published and edited multiple books, including The Beginning and the End: Rereading Genesis’s Stories and Revelation’s Visions. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with his wife Larissa, their two dogs and cat, and occasionally one or more of their four adult children.
Michael's Book:
The Word Fulfilled
Michael's Recommendation:
Faithful Presence
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It’s a privilege to be in conversation with Diane Langberg today, a psychologist who has spent over 50 years working with victims of abuse, particularly within the church. Langberg has seen firsthand the devastating impact when the very institutions meant to protect and nurture God's people end up harming them instead. Diane believes that the solution lies not in better policies or procedures, but in a deeper reorientation towards Christ-likeness - a radical commitment to love, truth, and obedience that must permeate every corner of the church. She argues that too often, we've made the institution, the building, the reputation the priority, rather than faithfully following our true head, Jesus. She pulls no punches, recounting harrowing stories of abuse covered up in the name of protecting the church's image. But she also offers a vision of hope - that by facing these painful truths head-on, by listening to the 'least of these,' the church can be transformed to truly reflect the heart of the Savior it claims to follow. This is a challenging, sobering, and ultimately hopeful conversation that I believe every Christian leader needs to engage with. Langberg's wisdom and experience offer a clarion call for the church to get back to its biblical foundations - not as an institution to defend, but as the living, breathing body of Christ.
Diane Langberg (PhD, Temple University) is an internationally recognized psychologist with more than 50 years of experience. She chaired the advisory board of the American Association of Christian Counselors until 2021 and cofounded the Global Trauma Recovery Institute, which trains therapists to assist trauma victims across the world. She is the founder of Langberg, Monroe & Associates, which provides counseling services in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and consults with Christian organizations around the world. Langberg is the author of seven books, including Redeeming Power. Her books have been translated into 11 languages.
Diane's Book:
When the Church Harm's God's People
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In our conversation today we talk about some of the deepest challenges facing the church today. Our guest is Mike Cosper, author of the new book 'The Church in Dark Times,' and he's bringing this incredible framework from the philosopher Hannah Arendt to help us understand the dynamics at play. What Cosper lays out is how the church, much like broader society, has become susceptible to the lure of ideology - these seductive stories that promise meaning and purpose, but ultimately lead us astray. He traces this back to the unbundling of identity that's happened in modernity, where we've lost those deep roots and sense of transcendence that used to anchor us. And the way Cosper unpacks Arendt's insights on the 'banality of evil' is extremely helpful. The idea that the greatest horrors can emerge not from some monstrous, radical evil, but from this hollow, empty shell of a person - that's a profoundly unsettling concept with huge implications. But Cosper doesn't just diagnose the problem. He also points us towards practices of solitude, thinking, and storytelling that can help us resist these ideological forces and recover a more rooted, transcendent vision of what it means to be the church. It's a conversation that I think will really challenge and inspire anyone who cares about the future of Christianity in our time.
Mike Cosper has been creating music, radio shows, and podcasts for more than 20 years. He produced and hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast and is director of podcasts at Christianity Today. He now cohosts a weekly podcast called The Bulletin. Cosper also leads cohorts for church leaders and is the author of four books, including Recapturing the Wonder. He and his family live in Louisville, Kentucky.
Mike's Book:
The Church in Dark Times
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In this conversation we get to the heart of the divisions and fractures we're seeing in our society and in the church. Heather Gorman and Mark Nelson, the authors of the book "Lunchroom Theology," paint a vivid picture of the polarization all around us - the way we sort ourselves into different tables and groups, often suspicious or distrustful of those who aren't like us. But what's so compelling is how Heather and Mark point us back to the radical, subversive vision of Jesus - the way he broke down barriers, invited the unexpected to his table, and called his followers to a radical unity. They unpack how the early church struggled with this, but also found creative, improvisational ways to live it out. Ultimately, this is a conversation about recovering the imagination to see the world differently, to tell better stories, and to participate in the restoration that Jesus inaugurated. It's a call to intellectual humility, to curiosity about those who are different from us, and to a faith that is rooted in the mystery and wonder of God, not just a set of propositions. Heather and Mark offer a compelling alternative to the fear-driven, tribal mentality that so often dominates our public discourse. It's a vision of community, of neighbor-love, of pushing tables together - even when it's messy and uncomfortable. This is the kind of conversation we need more of. Join us at the table.
Mark Nelson and Heather Gorman co-authored Lunchroom Theology: Pushing Tables Together in a Fractured World.
Mark is the executive director of Three Rivers Collaborative and a coauthor of Reframation: Seeing God, People, and Mission Through Reenchanted Frames with Alan Hirsch. Mark is the founding pastor of Crossings, a faith community in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he served for fifteen years.
Heather (PhD, Baylor University) is Professor of New Testament at Johnson University and author of Interweaving Innocence: A Rhetorical Analysis of Luke’s Passion Narrative as well as numerous journal articles and essays on the Gospels, Acts, ancient rhetoric, and reception history.
Heather & Mark's Book:
Lunchroom Theology
Heather's Recommendation:
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
Mark's Recommendation:
A Burning in my Bones
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Today we have a fascinating conversation with Christian ethicist David Gushee about the moral teachings of Jesus. Gushee has spent decades wrestling with how to faithfully apply Jesus' radical vision for the kingdom of God in our modern context. What struck me most in our discussion was Gushee's insistence that Jesus' ethics are not merely aspirational, but profoundly subversive to the status quo. Jesus challenges our assumptions about power, wealth, tradition, and social status - calling us to a radical reorientation of our values and priorities. Gushee highlights key themes like Jesus' concern for the marginalized, his critique of religious and cultural traditions that exclude, and his vision of freedom that is not beholden to the expectations of others. It's a challenging message, but one that Gushee believes the church desperately needs to recover if we are to faithfully follow in the way of Jesus. This is a conversation that will make you think deeply about what it means to live as a disciple of Christ in our modern world. Gushee doesn't offer easy answers, but he compellingly lays out Jesus' moral vision and invites us to wrestle with its radical implications. I found it both inspiring and convicting - I hope you will as well.
Rev. Prof. Dr. David P. Gushee (PhD, Union Theological Seminary, New York) is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, and Chair of Christian Social Ethics at Vrije Universiteit (“Free University”) Amsterdam, and Senior Research Fellow, International Baptist Theological Study Centre.
Gushee is the elected Past-President of both the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Christian Ethics, signaling his role as one of America's leading Christian ethicists. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than 29 books and over 175 academic book chapters, journal articles, and reviews. His most recognized works include Kingdom Ethics, and Changing Our Mind. His other most notable works are Introducing Christian Ethics, Still Christian, After Evangelicalism, Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies and recently The Moral Teachings of Jesus. Altogether his books have sold over 100,000 copies and been translated into a dozen languages.
David and his wife Jeanie live in Atlanta. He is a classic novel reader, world traveler, and tennis player, and awaits a call from his beloved Atlanta Braves to resume the baseball career he abandoned in college.
David's Book:
The Moral Teachings of Jesus
David's Recommendation:
Illiberal America
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The conversation today gets at the heart of our modern mental health crisis. Richard Beck, author of the new book 'The Shape of Joy,' takes us into how our cultural obsession with introspection and the pursuit of self-esteem has undermined our wellbeing. He traces this back to key philosophical and psychological figures like Descartes and Freud, who ushered in this inward turn. He shows how this has led to excessive rumination, a fragile sense of self-worth tied to external achievements, and an inability to find true meaning and joy. But the real power of this conversation is in how Beck points us towards an alternative - a path of transcendence, of finding our identity and security in something greater than ourselves. He unpacks the psychological benefits of gratitude, awe, and spiritual connection. And he challenges us to move beyond just insight and self-analysis, towards more embodied, experiential ways of cultivating wellbeing. It's a rich discussion that gets at the heart of our modern malaise and points towards a more joyful and grounded way of being. A conversation worth diving into.
Richard Beck (PhD) is Professor of Psychology and Senior Fellow of the Landon Saunders Center for Joy and Human Flourishing at Abilene Christian University. Richard also teaches in the Doctor of Ministry programs at Fuller Theological Seminary and Abilene Christian University.
During his teaching career, Richard has been honored twice as ACU Teacher of the Year. Richard has also been recognized as Honors Teacher of the Year and has won the College of Arts and Sciences Classroom Teaching award and Faith Integration award.
Outside of the classroom, Richard travels the world as a sought after speaker and an award-winning blogger and author.
To explore speaking engagements for your church or organization email beckr@acu.edu.
Richard's Book:
The Shape of Joy
Richard's Recommendations:
All Things Are Full of Gods
The Penguin
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In this episode, Stephanie Duncan Smith takes us on a profound journey through grief, loss, and the resilience required to open ourselves up to love again. She beautifully weaves together themes of time, the liturgical calendar, and the radical empathy of a God who meets us in every moment - whether joyful or sorrowful. Stephanie shares her own experiences with pregnancy loss, and how she grappled with the dissonance of everyday life and the world's expectations in the midst of her grief. She redefines resilience not as "overcoming," but as the ability to hold joy and sorrow together, to live in the uncomfortable tension. This conversation is a masterclass in finding hope, courage and the freedom to feel the full range of human emotion, even in the darkest of times. Stephanie's words offer a path forward for anyone who has experienced profound loss, and a reminder that love is always worth the risk.
Stephanie Duncan Smith is a writer and senior editor at HarperOne who has spent her career developing award-winning and bestselling authors. She is the creator of Slant Letter, a bestselling Substack email newsletter for writers looking to deepen their craft and do it in style. Duncan Smith completed her master’s in theology at Western Theological Seminary, where she was the winner of the Frederick Buechner Prize for Excellence in Writing. She lives with her husband, Zach, a professor, and their two children in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Stephanie's Book:
Even After Everything
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Today, we have a fantastic conversation with Hal Donaldson, the founder and president of Convoy of Hope, a global humanitarian organization that has helped over 200 million people in need. Hal has an incredible personal story - growing up in poverty after his father was tragically killed, experiencing the kindness of strangers, and then feeling called to dedicate his life to serving the poor and marginalized. What I found so compelling about this conversation is how Hal has wrestled with the tension between ambition, drive, and burnout. As Convoy of Hope has grown into one of the largest charities in the US, Hal has had to learn hard lessons about the importance of self-care, boundaries, and staying grounded in his relationship with God. He shares practical tips he's implemented, like no problem-solving after 8pm, no dinner meetings, and protecting vacation time. Hal also reflects deeply on the role of humility and dependence on God for leaders - how success can actually be more dangerous than failure, if it leads to self-reliance. His insights on the difference between acting humble and truly embodying a humble spirit are really thought-provoking. Ultimately, this is a conversation about how to sustain a life of service and compassion over the long haul. Hal has some hard-won wisdom to share, and I think his story will resonate with anyone trying to make a difference in the world while also caring for their own wellbeing. It's a delicate balance, but one that Hal has clearly wrestled with and learned from.
Hal Donaldson is the founder and CEO of Convoy of Hope, a nonprofit organization that leads humanitarian initiatives across the United States and around the world. The author of more than 30 books, Hal has degrees in journalism and biblical studies. He and his wife, Doree, have four daughters.
Hal's Book:
What Really Matters
Hal's Recommendation:
The Lincoln Conspiracy
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Today, we have a fascinating conversation about a figure who has long been misunderstood and overlooked in the Christian tradition - Mary Magdalene. Our guest is Jennifer Powell McNutt, a scholar of church history and theology who has dedicated years to uncovering the true story of this remarkable woman. As Jennifer explains, Mary Magdalene was not a penitent prostitute, as she's often been portrayed incorrectly, but a devoted disciple of Jesus, one of the women who traveled with him and financially supported his ministry. She was present at the crucifixion, the first witness to the resurrection, and the one Jesus chose to send back to the other disciples with the news. In many ways, she was the "apostle to the apostles." Yet her story has been obscured and distorted over centuries of Christian history, shaped by cultural biases and theological agendas. Jennifer takes us on a deep dive into the Gospels and the complex history of how Mary Magdalene has been remembered - and forgotten - in the church. It's a rich and illuminating conversation that challenges us to reconsider what we think we know about this pivotal figure and her significance for our understanding of Jesus and the early Christian movement. I think you'll find it as fascinating as I did.
Jennifer Powell McNutt (PhD, The University of St. Andrews) is the Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies and Professor of theology and history of Christianity at Wheaton College. She is an award-winning author, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian church, and a fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
Jennifer's Book:
The Mary We Forgot
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In this conversation, Russ Ramsey talks about the power of art, beauty, and storytelling - and how they can help us make sense of the brokenness in our world. Russ is the author of books like "Rembrandt is in the Wind" and "Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart," where he dives into the lives and works of these iconic artists. And what he uncovers is so much more than just the paintings themselves. It's about the human experience - the joy, the suffering, the hope that these artists poured into their art. We talk about how engaging with beauty and art, can actually be a window into understanding the glory of God. And how even in the midst of tragedy and heartbreak, art can help us find language for our own struggles and emotions. Russ also shares some incredible stories behind famous works of art - like the Mona Lisa and why it became so famous. Spoiler alert: it's not because of the painting itself! So get ready for a rich, thought-provoking conversation about the intersection of faith, art, and the human experience. Russ has so much wisdom to share, so join us.
Russ Ramsey grew up in the wheatfields of Indiana. He studied at Taylor University and Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM) before becoming a pastor. He and his family live in Franklin, Tennessee. Russ is the author of Van Gogh has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive (Zondervan 2024) and Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith (Zondervan, 2022).
Russ' Book:
Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart
Russ' Recommendation:
Mary Oliver
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In this conversation, Scot McKnight explores the deconstruction movement happening in the church today. Scot argues that this deconstruction is a prophetic work of the Spirit, calling the church back to a more faithful following of Jesus. Scot shares his own personal journey of shedding aspects of his fundamentalist upbringing to find a more Jesus-centered faith. He unpacks how the "I Am" statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John are key for deconstructors who are seeking to rediscover the true center of Christianity. We also discuss the surprising research showing that the majority of those going through deconstruction are not abandoning their faith, but rather searching for a church that better reflects the teachings and person of Jesus. Scot offers wisdom on navigating disagreements and maintaining unity amidst this transformative movement. If you or someone you know is wrestling with doubts and disillusionment with the institutional church, this conversation offers hope and guidance for finding your way back to the heart of the gospel.
Scot McKnight (PhD, University of Nottingham) is a world-renowned speaker, writer, professor, and equipper of the Church. He is a recognized authority on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, and the New Testament. His books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese. He is the author of The Jesus Creed, The Blue Parakeet, The King Jesus Gospel, Revelation for the Rest of Us, numerous commentaries, and is now writing a sixteen-volume series of reflections called The Everyday Bible Study.
Scot and Tommy's Book:
Invisible Jesus
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In this captivating conversation, we dive deep into the intersection of bread, theology, and community with guest Kendall Vanderslice. Kendall shares her lifelong love of baking, which began as a way to process emotions and eventually blossomed into a vocational calling. But her journey took an unexpected turn when she discovered the rich theological and cultural dimensions of food, particularly bread. As Kendall studied the anthropology of food and explored biblical narratives around sustenance, she uncovered powerful parallels. The chemical process of bread-making, with its cycle of death and resurrection, mirrors the gospel story. And the act of breaking bread together has long been a way for diverse communities to bridge divides and find common ground. Perhaps most compelling is Kendall's experience with a "dinner church" - a community that held their services around the table, sharing meals and communion despite varying political and theological backgrounds. The way this group navigated their differences while breaking bread offers a powerful model for us all. Kendall also delves into the symbolic significance of bread in the communion table, explaining how the humble loaf can represent nourishment, community, and the transformative work of God. Whether you're a bread enthusiast or simply curious about the deeper meaning of everyday things, this conversation is sure to leave you with a fresh perspective. Prepare to have your eyes opened to the hidden spiritual and communal depths of the humble loaf of bread.
Kendall Vanderslice is a baker, writer, speaker, and the founder of the Edible Theology Project, a ministry that connects the Communion table to the kitchen table. She is a graduate of Wheaton College (BA anthropology), Boston University (MLA gastronomy), and Duke Divinity School (master of theological studies). Kendall is the author of By Bread Alone and We Will Feast and lives (with her big-eared beagle named Strudel) in Durham, North Carolina, where she teaches workshops on bread baking as a spiritual practice.
Kendall's Book:
Bake & Pray
Kendall's Recommendations:
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Spirit of Our Politics
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In this episode, Chad Veach dives deep into the critical topic of humility versus pride - a battle that every leader and believer must wrestle with. He unpacks how pride can so easily creep into our lives and relationships, while true humility unlocks the best version of ourselves and our communities. We explore Chad's own journey of learning humility, from his upbringing to his time as a youth pastor. He shares how finding safe, accountable friendships was key, as well as the daily discipline of Bible reading that keeps him grounded. We also unpack powerful examples of humility from Moses and Jesus, and how their suffering and obedience led them to greater dependence on God. Ultimately, the message is clear - pride is a liar that promises everything, but gives nothing, while true humility is the pathway to the freedom, impact and fulfillment we truly crave. It's a challenging but vital conversation for anyone seeking to live with authenticity and purpose.
Chad Veach is the founder and lead pastor of Zoe Church, a dynamic community in the heart of Los Angeles, California. An international speaker and preacher, he has dedicated his life to the ministry of the Gospel. He is the author of Help! I Work With People, Faith Forward Future, Unreasonable Hope; and I Bet You Think This Book Is About You, and the host of Leadership Lean In, a top-charting leadership podcast. Chad and his wife Julia, reside in Los Angeles with their four children: Georgia, Winston, Maverick, and Clive.
Chad's Book:
I Bet You Think This Book is About You
Chad's Recommendations:
Grit
Why Great Men Fall
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This conversation with Gareth Higgins is an exploration of how storytelling, empathy, and a commitment to love can transform even the most entrenched conflicts. Gareth shares his personal journey growing up in Northern Ireland, where the dominant narrative was one of division, fear, and violence. But through the transformative power of films like 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' Gareth discovered the importance of seeing the humanity in those we might otherwise label as 'other.' He realized the need to become an ally - not by imposing his own vision, but by listening and allowing those he seeks to support to define what true allyship looks like. Gareth goes on to unpack a profound insight - that all conflict is rooted in fear, and beneath that fear lies love. By learning to love and accept ourselves, we open the door to a new kind of storytelling, one that moves beyond 'us vs. them' narratives and towards a vision of liberation, reconciliation, and interdependence. This conversation is a masterclass in the power of imagination, empathy, and a willingness to embrace the complexity of the human experience. Whether you're navigating personal struggles or seeking to understand the roots of societal conflict, Gareth's wisdom offers a roadmap towards a more just, compassionate, and connected world. So join us.
Gareth Higgins was born in Belfast in 1975, grew up during the northern Ireland Troubles, and now lives in the US. He writes and speaks about the power of storytelling to shape our lives and world, peace and making justice, and how to take life seriously without believing your own propaganda. He has been involved in peace-building and violence reduction in northern Ireland and helping address the legacy of conflict, received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Queen’s University Belfast, and helped teach the world’s first graduate course in Reconciliation Studies at Trinity College Dublin. He also helped found the Wild Goose, New Story and Movies & Meaning festivals. Gareth leads retreats in North America and Ireland; and he founded The Porch Magazine.
Brian McLaren says Gareth’s new book How Not to be Afraid is “a beautiful book”, Kathleen Norris says it’s “a necessary book”, and Micky ScottBey Jones says it’s “a much-needed resource for skill-building through our fear and trauma, so that we might create the belonging and communities we desire”. Find out more at www.hownottobeafraid.com
His newest book "A Whole Life in Twelve Movies: A Cinematic Path to a Deeper Spirituality", co-authored with Kathleen Norris explores movies and the meaning of our lives.
Gareth's Book:
A Whole Life in Twelve Movies
Gareth's Recommendations:
Sun House
Perfect Days
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Randy & Edith Woodley have a radically different perspective on what it means to live a fulfilling life. As Native American authors and educators, they challenge the Western notion of pursuing individual happiness, arguing that true well-being comes from living in harmony with our broader community and the natural world. In this conversation, Randy and Edith share their personal stories of overcoming intergenerational trauma and discovering the wisdom of indigenous worldviews. They contrast the European dualism that separates the spiritual and material realms, with a holistic understanding that sees all of creation as interconnected. Digging into concepts like hospitality, humor, and the importance of story, Randy and Edith paint a vision for how we can all learn to live more authentically and in right relationship - not just with each other, but with the earth itself. Their insights challenge us to unravel the lies we've been told, and to rebuild our lives on a foundation of harmony, respect, and generosity. This is a conversation that can open up a different way to see the world. So get ready to have your assumptions challenged, and your heart opened, as we explore a path to greater well-being - for ourselves, our communities, and our planet.
Randy and Edith Woodley are a dynamic couple with a deep passion for creativity and Indigenous spirituality, justice, and earth empowerment. Their diverse backgrounds and experiences have uniquely equipped them to bring about positive change in their communities for over three decades. They have four children and six grandchildren.
Randy Woodley, an award-winning author and Cherokee descendant (UKB), weaves Indigenous wisdom, ecological sustainability, and spirituality. He is respected by Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities worldwide and has been featured in The New York Times, Politifact, Time Magazine, and The Huffington Post.
Edith Woodley, a member of the Eastern Band of Shoshone Indians, and of Choctaw, Crow, Paiute, Pi'ikanni, Umatilla, and Mohawk descent showcases Indigenous cultures through traditional beadwork, seed-keeping, and storytelling. She advocates for Indigenous rights and cultural preservation. Edith is co-founder and co-leader of a semi-annual mentorship called “Decolonizing with Badass Indigenous Grandmas.”
Randy & Edith's Book:
Journey to Eloheh
Randy's Recommendation:
The Universal Christ
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In this episode, Chuck DeGroat dives into the wounds we all carry and the journey of healing what's within. Chuck shares his own story of disconnection and isolation, and how he learned to pay attention to the dashboard of his thoughts, emotions, body, behaviors, and relationships to uncover the deeper wounds beneath the surface. He unpacks the power of secure attachment and how we can find our way back to that sense of belonging, worth, and purpose - not just in our minds, but in our very bodies. Whether you're a high-capacity striver or someone just trying to survive, this conversation will invite you into a transformative process of becoming more grounded, regulated, and connected to yourself, others, and the God who loves you. So get ready to lean in, because this is going to be a powerful and practical exploration of healing what's within.
Chuck DeGroat is a professor of pastoral care and Christian spirituality at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, where he also serves as the founding executive director of the clinical mental health counseling program. He is a licensed therapist, spiritual director, author, retreat leader speaker, and faculty member with the Soul Care Institute. As a therapist, he specializes in navigating issues of abuse and trauma, pastoral (and leadership) health, and doubt and dark nights on the faith journey. He trains clergy in handling issues of abuse and trauma, conducts pastor and planter assessments, and facilitates church consultations and investigations of abuse. Before transitioning to training and forming pastors, Chuck served as a pastor in Orlando and San Francisco. He and his wife, Sara, have been married for 30 years and have two adult daughters.
Chuck's Book:
Healing What's Within
Chuck's Recommendations:
The Secret Language of the Body
Trauma Stewardship
Home Tonight
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In this episode, Steve Bezner wrestles deeply with how to faithfully follow Jesus in the 21st century American context, and shares some profound insights about the kingdom of God and how it contrasts with the dominant cultural forces in our country. We discuss the powerful cultural influences that can push us away from living out true kingdom values, as well as practical ways that churches and individual believers can embrace a more holistic, biblical vision for life in the reign of God. It's a conversation that has the potential to challenge and reshape our understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in today’s culture.
Steve Bezner has been the Senior Pastor of Houston Northwest Church since January 2013. His passion is to see Houston—and the world—become more like Heaven as people become more like Jesus.
Steve loves to preach, teach, write, and speak about the Bible in a way that is easy to understand but also challenges people to live the life that God has designed for each of them.
In Houston, Steve works to foster collaboration between local churches, serving on the board of the Houston Church Planting Network (to start new churches locally) and Houston Pastors United We Stand (to foster racial reconciliation). He also works through GlocalNet to build bridges with other faiths in the city, particularly Jews and Muslims.
Steve is passionate about training other pastors. He works with World Hope Ministries International to train pastors in remote global locations, coaches planters and pastors, and teaches seminary occasionally.
He is married to Joy and has two sons—Ben and Andrew. He holds his B.A. and M.A. from Hardin-Simmons University and his Ph.D. from Baylor University.
Steve's Book:
Your Jesus is Too American
Steve's Recommendations:
Flood and Fury
Endeavor
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Friar Time
Through meaningful interviews and heartfelt conversations, Friar Time, hosted by Fr....
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7 Minute Stories w/ Aaron Calafato
Award-winning storyteller Aaron Calafato uses 7-minute story vignettes to share his...
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In this episode, Strahan Coleman dives deep into the longing of the human heart and the even greater longing of God. He takes us on a personal journey of wrestling with desire, thirst, and the ache to be fully satisfied. Strahan shares how his move to a remote town in New Zealand stripped away the distractions, revealing a profound spiritual hunger within. As he grappled with this, he discovered that our deepest longings can only be met by union and intimacy with the divine. He challenges us to stop trying to numb or ignore our pain and instead, to bring it to God - to co-experience our aches and joys with Him. He paints a vision of a church unafraid of lament, embracing the tension of living in a broken world while anticipating the restoration that only God can bring. This is a conversation that will leave you thirsty - not for the temporary fixes of this world, but for the living water that Jesus offers. So join us as we explore the heights and depths of human desire, and how it points us to the heart of our Creator.
Strahan Coleman is a writer, poet, and musician living in Aotearoa, New Zealand with his wife and three young boys. Through years of chronic illness, Strahan discovered a friendship with God filled with vulnerability, honesty and unceasing prayer, and now spends his time teaching and providing spaces of deep, rich, Spirit-led prayer for others through his books, prayer schools and spiritual retreats. In his latest work, "Thirsting: Quenching Our Soul’s Deepest Desire," Strahan invites his readers to, like him, learn to transform the ache of our lives into our truest prayers, liberating the fire within us to become our greatest gift - our divine homing beacon.
Strahan's Book:
Thirsting
Strahan's Recommendation:
Fire Within
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In this episode, Mandy Smith shares a ancient vision for pastoral leadership - one that acknowledges human weakness and relies on God's strength. Mandy unpacks the problems with the Western, secular approach to ministry that has crept into the church and she proposes a reorientation towards confession, lament, and trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit, rather than relying on our own efforts and strategies. Mandy vulnerably shares personal stories of feeling overwhelmed in ministry, and how the practice of confession and emptying herself before God has led to renewal and a deeper awareness of His presence. She emphasizes the importance of measuring success not by numbers, but by transformed lives and the overflowing of God's Spirit. This conversation offers a compelling vision for a different kind of pastoral leadership - one that is deeply rooted in faith, rather than secular models. Mandy's insights challenge us to get out of the way and let God work in and through us in powerful ways.
Dr Mandy Smith is the pastor of St Lucia Uniting Church in Brisbane, Australia, and author of The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry and Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture. Her latest book, Confessions of an Amateur Saint: The Christian Leader's Journey from Self-Sufficiency to Reliance on God, releases in October 2024. Mandy teaches for DMin programs at The Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination and Fuller Seminary. Mandy and her husband Jamie, a New Testament professor, live in their parsonage where the teapot is always warm. Learn more at www.TheWayIsTheWay.org.
Mandy's Book:
Confessions of an Amateur Saint
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In this conversation, Kristin Kobes Du Mez dives deep into the hidden crisis of abuse and cover-ups within the church. She pulls back the curtain on the disturbing patterns she's uncovered - where abusers are often quickly forgiven and restored, while victims are shamed and silenced. Kristin shares how her research for the acclaimed book "Jesus and John Wayne" led her to uncover these systemic issues, and how she felt compelled to give a platform to the brave women who have come forward with their stories. We explore the complex dynamics at play - the fear of losing power and reputation that drives the cover-ups, the authoritarian tendencies that enable abuse, and the urgent need for true accountability and justice within the church. This is a conversation that challenges us to confront hard truths, to stand up for the vulnerable, and to imagine a path forward where the church truly reflects the radical love and justice of Christ.
Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a New York Times bestselling author and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service, and Christianity Today, and has been interviewed on NPR, CBS, and the BBC, among other outlets. Her most recent book is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.
Kristin's Documentary:
For Our Daughters
Kristin's Book:
Jesus and John Wayne
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Brad Brisco and I have a fascinating conversation about the future of church planting in North America. Brad shares his personal journey from the restaurant business to seminary and church planting, and how that led him to rethink the entire approach to planting new churches. He argues that we need to shift our mindset - from seeing the church as a vendor of religious goods and services, to understanding the church as a sent missionary people. This is a crucial distinction, because it changes everything about how we approach church planting. Brad unpacks the benefits of co-vocational ministry, the importance of building diverse teams, and the need to start with missionary behaviors and activities rather than just launching a Sunday morning service. If you're someone involved in church planting, or if you're simply curious about the future of the church in our rapidly changing culture, you're going to want to lean in and listen closely to this conversation. Brad offers a compelling new vision that just might reshape the way we think about fulfilling the Great Commission in our communities.
Brad Brisco is currently the Director of Multiplication Strategies for the Send Network. He holds a doctorate in the area of missional ecclesiology, his doctoral thesis was on assisting existing congregations in transitioning in a missional direction. He is the co-author of Missional Essentials, a twelve-week small group study guide, The Missional Quest: Becoming a Church of the Long Run, Next Door As It Is In Heaven, and author of ReThink and Covocational Church Planting.
Brad's Book:
Co-Vocational Church Planting
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In this episode, Aundi Kolber takes us on a deep dive into the interplay between trauma, attachment, and the wisdom of the body. We explore the crucial distinction between healthy hard work and trauma-driven overwork, and how to discern the difference. Aundi shares powerful insights on the concept of the "window of tolerance" - how trauma can shrink it, and the process of expanding it to allow us to fully feel our emotions. We also discuss the role of the church in becoming more trauma-informed, and the importance of leaders doing their own inner work first. Aundi offers compassionate, practical guidance on the journey of healing and integration - learning to listen to the profound intelligence of the body, and finding the balance between safety and risk-taking. So join us as we seek wholeness and growth, both individually and within our communities.
Aundi Kolber is a licensed professional counselor (MA, LPC) and the best selling author of the critically acclaimed Try Softer™️ and her newest book Strong like Water. She has received additional training in her specialization of trauma- and body-centered therapies and is passionate about the integration of faith and psychology. Aundi has appeared on Good Morning America, regularly speaks at national events, and is a frequent guest on podcasts such as The Lazy Genius, Typology, and The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. As a survivor of trauma, Aundi brings hard-won knowledge about the work of change, the power of redemption, and the beauty of experiencing God with us in our pain.
Aundi's Books:
Preorder Take What You Need
Try Softer
Strong Like Water
Aundi's Recommendation:
Sensitive
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We are marked for kingdom transformation. But how do we actually get there? In this episode, Rich Robinson returns to share insights from his new book "All Change" - a roadmap for unlocking kingdom potential in a rapidly changing world. Rich has spent decades coaching leaders and organizations through disruptive seasons of change. He unpacks a powerful framework of dream, discover, design, and deploy that mirrors the journey Jesus took with his disciples. Rich shares how to cultivate childlike curiosity, prototype new ideas, and empower teams to multiply impact. If you're feeling stuck in survival mode or frustrated by the pace of change, this conversation will inspire you to reimagine what's possible and take courageous steps forward. Prepare to have your imagination unlocked for the kingdom work you're called to.
Rich Robinson has led pioneering work in missional disciple-making, kingdom innovation, Christian entrepreneurship, and organizational change across the globe. He is a cofounder of Movement Leaders Collective, Creo, and Catalyse Change.
Rich's Book:
All Change
Rich's Recommendation:
Sacred Fire
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Today, we're diving into the powerful intersection of justice, faith, and women's issues with Tiffany Bluhm. As the new director of Made for PAX and the author of the devotional "The Women We've Been Waiting For," Tiffany has dedicated her life's work to empowering marginalized voices and reimagining what flourishing looks like for women. In our conversation, Tiffany unpacks the vital role of self-care, contemplation, and holy imagination in the lives of women - especially those facing injustice. She shares how practices like breath prayers, centering prayer, and cultivating a "magnificent refuge" can provide the resilience and inner strength needed to enact communal renewal. Tiffany also explores the importance of women's stories and perspectives, and how men can benefit from engaging with diverse voices. We discuss the power of art, beauty, and creativity to nourish the soul and spark new visions of what's possible. Ultimately, Tiffany's message is one of hope - that when women are empowered to tend to their own wholeness, it leads to the flourishing of entire communities. So join me as we learn from Tiffany's wisdom and imagine a more equitable world where women's full humanity is honored.
Tiffany Bluhm is a speaker and writer with more than fifteen years of experience in ministry and nonprofit leadership. She is the author of Never Alone, She Dreams, and Prey Tell and former cohost of the Why Tho? podcast. She speaks at conferences, companies, and churches around the world, and her work has been featured in Publishers Weekly and Sojourners. As a minority, immigrant woman with an interracial family, Bluhm is passionate about inviting all to the table of faith, equality, justice, and dignity. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Tiffany's Book:
The Women We've Been Waiting For
Tiffany's Recommendation:
Trying
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In this episode, Christine Westhoff shares about reframing our understanding of the prophetic. Christine has been on a 30-year journey exploring the beautiful and dreadful aspects of the prophetic movement, and she's here to share some crucial insights. We dive into the common misuses of prophecy that we've seen, especially in the political landscape. But more importantly, Christine unpacks the true purpose of the prophetic - to align people back to the covenant and the eternal purposes of Christ. We discuss the distinction between prophecy and simple encouragement, the vital role of the apostolic and prophetic working together, and the importance of testing and weighing prophetic words in community. Christine also shares her heart for the body of Christ to persevere through disillusionment and fight for the true prophetic. This is a conversation that I believe will challenge and equip you to approach the prophetic in a healthier, more biblical way. So join us as we reframe the prophetic.
Christine is the author and creator of Reframing the Prophetic. She has a long history with the International team for 24-7 Prayer and is the President and founder of Akouo Missions, Inc, which is the umbrella ministry for Reframing the Prophetic and Illuminated Soul.
Christine's Book:
Reframing the Prophetic
Christine's Course:
Reframing the Prophetic
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In this episode, Chris Lee shares his own journey of discovering the deep, unconditional love of God, and how that truth can transform our lives and culture, even in the midst of anxiety, fear, and division. Chris reminds us that at the core of the gospel is the simple yet profound message that we are loved by God. He encourages us to stop, be still, and receive that love - not through our own efforts or worthiness, but simply by acknowledging who God is. As we navigate challenging cultural waters, Chris offers wisdom on avoiding the traps of judgment and instead reflecting the grace and peace of Christ. His words point us to the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit, and how cultivating that awareness can bear fruit in our lives and relationships. Whether you're feeling weary, cynical, or simply hungry for more of God's love, I believe this conversation will nourish your soul and inspire you to know, deep in your heart, that you are beloved.
Chris Lee is the Vicar of St Saviours Wendell Park a growing Church in West London. He is married to Jenny and father of three, Rose, Saoirse and Jack. He is an Instagram influencer with over 170k followers (revchris7) and a YouTuber with over 350 million views on the various videos he is involved in. He uses his social media platforms to communicate the love God and of self. His 60 second sermons have brought him national coverage, being called by Holly Willoughby ‘the internet’s favourite vicar’. Chris’ latest book is Know You Are Beloved. Chris is a published author with Penguin Century releasing ‘The OMG Effect’ in Nov 2020 and has two new books coming out with Tyndale publishing in 2024. He has been regular contributor to Pause for Thought on BBC radio 2 and has spoken at conferences at home and abroad. He has a podcast called ‘come read with me,’ where he reads the bible with friends and discusses it. He is passionate about prayer and encouraging people to deepen their relationship with God through silence and contemplation. The Church Chris leads has a rule of life rather vision action plan which reflects the spirituality of the place.
Chris' Book:
Know You Are Beloved
Chris' Recommendation:
Practicing the Way
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In this episode, Shannon K. Evans takes us on a fascinating journey through the lives and teachings of radical female mystics from history, and explores how their wisdom and practices can speak powerfully to our lives and faith today. We'll dive into topics like the importance of art and creativity, caring for the environment, mental health, and finding balance between action and contemplation. So join us as we listen to what the mystics of the past have to say to us.
Shannon K. Evans is the author of the books The Mystics Would Like a Word, Feminist Prayers for My Daughter, and Rewilding Motherhood. With interest in ecofeminism, contemplative practice, and social change, Shannon leads workshops and retreats across the country that spark curiosity and compassion. She has partnered with the Jesuits of Canada and the U.S. and is a frequent contributor to Franciscan Media. Having previously lived in Indonesia for two years, Shannon loves to travel, but is happiest at home on the Iowa prairie with her family and beloved chickens.
Shannon's Book:
The Mystics Would Like a Word
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In this episode, Natalie Runion shares her vision for rebuilding the church on the solid foundation of Jesus, moving past the deconstruction and hurt many have experienced. We discuss the blueprint found in the book of Acts for a Spirit-led, missional, and unified church that loves God and loves people. Natalie provides practical insights on cultivating a culture of prayer, developing true shepherds, and keeping our identity rooted in Christ rather than performance or platform. This is a hopeful and challenging conversation about the future of the church. Join us as we make sure the bones of our church screams Jesus.
Natalie Runion is the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and ECPA bestselling author of Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away and The House That Jesus Built: Leading Our Churches Back to God’s Original Blueprint (September 2024). She is also the founder of Raised to Stay, an online community of over 161,000 “Stayers” who are honest in their wrestling about their relationship with Jesus and His Church. A pastor’s daughter from Cincinnati, Ohio, Natalie graduated from Miami University with a degree in education and has served as a pastor in the local church for over twenty years. She is a songwriter, worship leader, podcaster, and sought-after speaker at churches and conferences around the world. Natalie lives in Kentucky with her husband, Tony, and their two daughters. Natalie and Tony work together to provide training and education to pastors and leaders in pursuit of a healthy and reconciled Church.
Natalie's Book:
The House That Jesus Built
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In this episode, Jemar Tisby takes us through the rich history of Black Christians fighting for justice in America. From Phillis Wheatley's powerful poetry to the legal strategy that toppled Jim Crow, Tisby highlights how the "spirit of justice" has driven Black Christians to resist oppression and work towards greater freedom. He emphasizes the crucial distinction between "slaveholder Christianity" and the true Christianity of Christ, which compels us to love our neighbor. Tisby stresses the importance of maintaining a "smoke detector" mentality - staying vigilantly engaged in the ongoing struggle for justice. Ultimately, Tisby's message is one of hope and inspiration. By studying the stories of those who've gone before, we can tap into that same spirit of justice and keep moving the needle towards a more righteous and equitable society.
Jemar Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism, How to Fight Racism, How to Fight Racism: Young Reader's Edition, and his latest The Spirit of Justice. He is also a Professor of History at Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville. Jemar has been a co-host of the "Pass the Mic" podcast since its inception seven years ago. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times among others. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN's New Day program. He speaks nationwide on the topics of racial justice, U.S. history and Christianity. Jemar earned his PhD in history and he studies race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century. You can follow his work through his newsletter, Footnotes, and on social media at @JemarTisby.
Jemar's Book:
The Spirit of Justice
Jemar's Recommendation:
Disarming Leviathan
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This conversation with Karl Vaters is a fascinating look at the history and impact of the Church Growth Movement in America and around the world. Karl shares how the movement started with good intentions to reach more people for Christ, but over time it became an unhealthy obsession with numerical growth and bigger churches. The danger is that we've often confused numerical size with spiritual health. Karl challenges us to shift our focus away from just growing the numbers, and instead prioritize discipleship and integrity in our churches. He believes discipleship can fix most problems a church faces, because it's about developing mature followers of Jesus, not just filling seats. Additionally, Karl warns against the celebrity culture that has crept into the church, where we elevate certain pastors and put them on a pedestal. Instead, he advocates for a return to more collaborative, team-based leadership that equips the whole body for ministry. Overall, this was a thought-provoking conversation that calls the church back to its biblical foundations of making disciples, walking in integrity, and letting Jesus build his church. Join us as we de-size the church.
Karl Vaters is the author of five books, including the brand-new De-Sizing the Church. Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com. His heart is to help pastors of small churches (up to 90 percent of us) find the resources to lead well, and to capitalize on the unique advantages that come with pastoring a small church – something virtually every pastor will spend at least some of their ministry years doing. He also believes that big and small churches can and should work together more often – to the benefit and blessing of everyone.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast, The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry. Episodes feature in-depth interviews about the topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience.
Karl's Book:
De-Sizing the Church
Karl's Recommendation:
The Great Dechurching
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This conversation with Jonny Morrison explores a holistic, relational understanding of the gospel and sin. Jonny shares how his personal story of loss and doubt led him to rediscover the good news of Jesus as a revelation of God's relentless love and restoration. He unpacks how sin is best understood as missing the mark of love, rather than just breaking arbitrary moral laws. Johnny emphasizes the importance of storytelling, community, and participating in God's work of healing generational trauma. Jonny highlights how the parable of the prodigal son illuminates the gospel's message of relationship, belonging, and transformation. Join us as we discover the good news of Jesus all over again.
Jonny Morrison is co-lead pastor at Missio Dei in Salt Lake City, Utah, responsible for teaching and vision. He’s passionate about helping people gain a bigger imagination for God, experience the radical love of Jesus, and learn to see and join God’s work in their everyday lives. Jonny has a master’s degree in exegetical studies from Western Seminary and a doctorate in contextual theology from Northern Seminary. Jonny is the author of Light as Air and his newest book, Prodigal Gospel.
Jonny's Book:
Prodigal Gospel
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In this wide-ranging conversation, Khristi Lauren Adams, author of "Womanish Theology," discusses her personal journey of discovering God through the lens of black girlhood. She reflects on the importance of integrating one's lived experiences with theological study, and how viewing Scripture and theology through diverse cultural perspectives can deepen our understanding of the divine. Adams shares insights from her interviews with young black girls, highlighting their unique perspectives on salvation, prayer, and the presence of God in the face of suffering and evil. She emphasizes the need for empathy, openness, and a willingness to learn from marginalized voices, rather than imposing one's own agenda or beliefs. We explore themes of identity, community, and the universal truths found in Jesus' teachings, underscoring the potential for reconciliation and redemption when we approach theological inquiry with humility and a spirit of curiosity. Join us as we discover God through the lens of black girlhood.
Khristi Lauren Adams is a speaker, author, youth advocate and ordained Baptist minister. Khristi is the author of Parable of the Brown Girl, Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way and its middle grade version Black Girls Unbossed: Young World Changers Leading the Way. The books are published by Broadleaf and Beaming Books. Parable of the Brown Girl has received awards for Best Young Adult Book from The African American Literary Awards and the New York Black Librarians Caucus. Unbossed was a 2023 runner up for the Los Angeles Book Festival and Black Girls Unbossed is a 2023 finalist for a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award in the Juvenile Nonfiction category. Khristi is the Executive Director of Community and Belonging for the St. Paul’s School’s, a family of independent schools in Baltimore County, MD. She previously worked as Dean of Spiritual Life & Equity and instructor of Religious Studies at the Hill School. Khristi is a graduate of Temple University with a degree in Advertising and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary where she obtained a Master of Divinity degree.
Khristi's Book:
Womanish Theology
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This conversation with Lisa was recorded in June just a week after the bombing of Rafah – a refugee camp – a place that was supposed to provide safety from the war. In this conversation, Lisa Sharon Harper covers some incredibly important and challenging topics. We hear Lisa speak passionately about the need for humility - recognizing that we are not God, but rather are created in God's image and called to be stewards of the earth. She then dove deep into the current crisis in Israel and Palestine, expressing grave concerns about the potential for genocide and the urgent need for the international community to intervene. What really struck me was Lisa's call for the church to be a prophetic voice, speaking out against injustice even when it means challenging the actions of powerful nations. She challenges the simplistic theological views that have given Israel a "blank check," and instead urges us to apply biblical principles of justice, compassion, and care for all people. Ultimately, Lisa reminds us of the importance of dreaming and imagining a better future, rather than being deadened by the realities of authoritarianism and oppression. This is the kind of hopeful, prophetic witness that the world so desperately needs right now. Join us as we reckon with injustice and find ways to be peacemakers in our own contexts in conflicts around the world.
Lisa Sharon Harper is the founder and president of Freedom Road, a groundbreaking consulting group that crafts experiences that bring common understanding and common commitments that lead to common action toward a more just world. Lisa is a public theologian whose writing, speaking, activism and training has sparked and fed the fires of re-formation in the church from Ferguson and Charlottesville to South Africa, Brazil, Australia and Ireland. Lisa’s book, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family And The World--And How To Repair It All was named one of the “Best Books of 2022” and The Very Good Gospel was named 2016 “Book of the Year” by Englewood Review of Books. Lisa is a board member of The Justice Revival—the leading organization of the #Faith4ERA campaign. An Auburn Senior Fellow, Lisa is also proud to join the inaugural cohort of the Aspen Institute Racial Justice and Religion Collective. The Huffington Post identified Lisa as one of 50 Women Religious Leaders to Celebrate on International Women’s Day. Lisa is host of the Freedom Road Podcast, cohost of The FOUR Podcast and author of her weekly column, “The Truth Is…”, on Freedom Road Substack.
Lisa's Books:
Fortune
The Very Good Gospel
Lisa's Recommendation:
100 Years War on Palestine
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In my conversation with Brady Boyd we talk about unity, healing divisions, and keeping the main thing the main thing in the church. Brady shares his experience leading New Life Church in Colorado Springs through a tumultuous season of moral failure and violence, and how they were able to rebuild unity and see a spiritual revival by focusing on serving others, maintaining curiosity, and keeping their eyes fixed on Jesus. We discuss the dangers of social media silos, the importance of peacemaking, and practical ways for pastors and church leaders to address cultural issues while fostering unity. Join us as we seek to build bridges and keep the body of Christ united in a divided world.
Brady Boyd and Pam have been married for more than three decades and are parents to an adult son and daughter, Abram and Callie. The author of seven books–Life-Minded, Remarkable, Speak Life, Fear No Evil, Addicted to Busy, Let Her Lead, Sons & Daughters, and Extravagant–he is passionate about caring for the people of Colorado Springs by presenting the Good News of the Gospel, teaching God’s Word with clarity, and providing practical aid through the numerous Dream Centers he’s helped to open.
He has a degree in Journalism from Louisiana Tech, has been a radio announcer for professional baseball and basketball teams, and was the Sports Editor for his college newspaper. Before coming to New Life in 2007, he served in senior-leadership ministry roles at churches in West and North Texas.
Brady's Book:
Life-Minded
Life-Minded Bible Study
Brady's Recommendations:
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
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In this conversation, Jamie Winship talks about the importance of finding true identity in God and community, rather than in individual performance or achievement. We discuss how fear and shame can lead to false identities, and how addressing the root causes of these negative emotions through prayer and imagination can help people find freedom and peace. We talk through how true identity and addressing the real fear we have can help untie the knots of conflicts and bring needed peace. We touch on the role of group identities, the dangers of radical individualism, and how addressing injustice and restoring what has been stolen can help overcome depression and other mental health challenges. Join us and walk in your true identity.
Jamie Winship has decades of experience bringing peaceful solutions to some of the world’s highest conflict areas.
After a distinguished career in law enforcement in the metro Washington DC area, Jamie earned an MA in English and developed a unique process called the Identity Method. This process of identity transformation is the key to resolving inner conflict and acquiring new levels of learning and creativity. His unconventional efforts to bring about societal and racial reconciliation led him to Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Israel and back to the U.S.
Jamie has worked with leaders in professional sports, business, education, law enforcement, government, non-profit, and other sectors. He is the author of the book Living Fearless.
Jamie and his wife, Donna, are co-founders of Identity Exchange, a training and consulting agency that helps individuals and teams discover new levels of creativity and resiliency within the framework of true identity.
Jamie's Book:
Living Fearless
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In this conversation, Tod Bolsinger provides a thoughtful exploration of the challenges and opportunities facing leaders in a rapidly changing world. He shares insights on the importance of adaptability, humility, and a willingness to learn and experiment in the face of crisis and uncertainty. He discusses the need for leaders to shift their values, attitudes, and behaviors to effectively navigate change, while also centering marginalized voices and maintaining a focus on the core mission. We cover topics such as the role of trust and transformation in leadership, the evolving nature of discipleship, and the importance of crafting a clear and concise mission statement. Overall, this conversation offers valuable guidance for leaders seeking to lead their organizations and communities through times of profound change.
Tod Bolsinger is the founder and principal at AE Sloan Leadership Inc., the executive director of the DePree Center Church Leadership Institute, and associate professor of leadership formation at Fuller Seminary. He is the author of Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience. His latest books are the Practicing Change series. Tod and his wife, Beth, split their time between Pasadena, California, and Ketchum, Idaho.
Tod's Books:
Practicing Change series
Tod's website:
AE Sloan Leadership
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In this episode, Tia Levings provides a powerful and insightful look into the realities of Christian fundamentalism and patriarchy, and the devastating impact it can have on individuals and families. She shares her personal story of growing up in a high-control religious environment and her eventual escape from an abusive marriage. Her experiences shed light on the dangers of rigid ideologies that value ideas over people, and the critical need for compassion, discernment, and support for those trapped in such systems. Tia shares important lessons for recognizing and addressing the rise of extremism in our culture, and the importance of fostering an expansive, loving, and life-giving faith.
Tia Levings writes about the realities in Christian fundamentalism, evangelical patriarchy, and religious trauma. She is also a podcaster, speaker, and content strategist. She’s been quoted in Salon, the Huffington Post, and Newsweek, and appeared in the hit Amazon docu-series, Shiny Happy People. Based in Jacksonville, Florida she is mom to four incredible adults and likes to travel, hike, paint, and daydream. Find her on social media @TiaLevingsWriter. Her memoir, A Well-Trained Wife, releases with St. Martin’s Press on August 6th, 2024.
Tia's Book:
A Well-Trained Wife
Tia's Recommendations:
Democracy in Retrograde
The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor
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In this conversation Eliza Griswold provides a fascinating look into her book Circle of Hope, which chronicles the experiences of a progressive evangelical church in Philadelphia as they navigate major cultural shifts and challenges in 2020. Griswold discusses how she was drawn to explore this particular church community, which represented a different perspective on evangelicalism compared to the dominant narratives. We delve into the tensions and conflicts that arose within the church as they grappled with issues of race, justice, and the role of faith in addressing systemic problems. Eliza offers insights into how the rapid pace of change and the online environment contributed to the breakdown of trust and empathy within the congregation. Ultimately, we highlight the complexities involved in trying to enact meaningful cultural and ideological change within a religious institution, and the importance of embodied experiences and restraint in navigating divisive issues. Eliza’s book and this discussion provide a nuanced look at the challenges facing churches and communities as they strive to live out their values in a polarized world.
Eliza Griswold is the author of six books of poetry and nonfiction, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Her forthcoming book is Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church, which will be out on August 6th, 2024. Her book Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. She writes for The New Yorker, is the Ferris Professor and Director of the Program in Journalism at Princeton University.
Eliza's Book:
Circle of Hope
Eliza's New Yorker Article:
The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza
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Amy Orr-Ewing's story is a powerful testament to how God can use our lives in extraordinary ways when we are open to His leading. As a young woman, Amy experienced a prophetic call to go to Afghanistan and share the gospel, which she courageously pursued despite the risks. This experience shaped her life and ministry, empowering her to become a bold and effective leader in defending the Christian faith. Now, Amy has written the book "Lead Like the Real You" with the purpose of empowering young women to step into their calling and lead authentically. She wants to provide the mentorship and encouragement that she wished she had received at a younger age. Amy's story and her new book are an inspiration to all women to follow the Holy Spirit's prompting, even in the face of adversity, and to empower the next generation of women leaders. Let us be encouraged to lead like the real, authentic selves that God has created us to be.
Dr Amy Orr-Ewing is an international author, speaker and theologian who addresses the deep questions of our day with meaningful answers found in the Christian Faith. She is the author of multiple books including ‘Where is God in All the Suffering?’ (runner up Michael Ramsay Prize, 2023) bestselling ‘Why Trust the Bible?’ and ‘Mary’s Voice: Advent Reflections to Contemplate the Coming of Christ.’
Over the last twenty five years, Amy has spoken in 40 countries across university campuses around the world and is a regular broadcaster on TV, radio and podcast. She has also been invited to address politicians in the Speakers Rooms and Chapel of the UK Parliament, on Capitol Hill, and to West Wing staff at the White House.
She holds a doctorate in Theology from the University of Oxford and is passionate in exploring the intersection of questions of meaning and faith within the marketplace, in education and in policy.
In 2023 Amy was awarded the Alphege Medal for Evangelism and Witness by the Archbishop of Canterbury. She previously served as President of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and is an honorary lecturer at the University of Aberdeen.
For more info visit www.amyorr-ewing.com
Amy's Book:
Lead Like the Real You
Amy's Recommendation:
How to Tell the Truth
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In this conversation, Tara Beth Leach shares her personal journey of discovering a deeper relationship with Jesus as a teenager, moving beyond a "cultural Christianity" to truly affirming her faith. She emphasizes the importance of living in Christian community and bearing witness to the love and grace of God, rather than just fighting against culture. Tara Beth also discusses the challenges faced by the early church, as described in John's letters, and how they relate to divisions and strife in the church today. She highlights the need to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit through practices like abiding in Christ, following a rule of life, and discerning truth through a Jesus-centered lens. Ultimately, Tara Beth issues a call for the church to return to the radiant teachings of Jesus and repent of any posturing or baggage that has caused the church to lose its witness in the world. This is a powerful and timely message for the church today, as we seek to be a light in the darkness and embody the love and grace of Christ. Join us as we learn to live in the light.
But today’s guest is Tara Beth Leach. Tara Beth Leach (MDiv, Northern Seminary) is a pastor, author, and speaker. The senior pastor at Good Shepherd Church (Naperville, Illinois), she has also served communities in the Chicago suburbs as well as Southern California. As the author of Emboldened, Radiant Church, and Forty Days on Being a Six, the cofounder of Propel Ecclesia, and cohost of The Pastor's Table podcast, Tara Beth writes and speaks widely about women in ministry and church leadership. She has two beautiful and rambunctious sons and has been married to the love of her life, Jeff, since 2006.
Tara Beth's Book:
Live in the Light
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In this episode, Jenai Auman covers her personal experience of feeling othered within the church, and how that led her to write the book "Othered". She discusses the biblical themes of othering and marginalization, and how God pursues and cares for the marginalized. Jenai also shares insights on building healthy communities that welcome and embrace those who are different, centered on the "hesed" or steadfast love of God. We talk about the importance of self-compassion, forgiveness, and creating space for people to be in process as they journey together. Whether you’ve been othered or are learning how to see the marginalized, this is the episode for you.
Jenai Auman is a Filipina American writer and artist. She draws from her years in church leadership as well as her trauma-informed training to write on healing, hope, and the way forward. She is passionate about providing language so readers can find a faith that frees. She received her bachelor's degree in behavioral health science and is currently pursuing a master's in spiritual formation at Northeastern Seminary. Jenai lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Tyler, and their sons, Quinn and Graham.
Jenai's Book:
Othered
Jenai's Recommendation:
The Lord of the Rings as read by Andy Serkis
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What would you do when all you’ve known disappeared? When the construct of your spiritual life was removed? Well, what Tony Jones did was enter wild places. In it, he found a new connection to God, to his dogs, to nature, and the world that is teeming with life. In this conversation, Tony shares about the ups and downs of ministry and family life and recalibrating his identity as he moved out of the vocational role as a pastor and into wild places. Join us as we discover the God who sees us and is with us even in creation
Tony Jones speaks, writes and podcasts from Minnesota, where he lives with his spouse, dogs, and kids.
Tony Jones is the author of The God of Wild Places and contributing writer to several outdoors periodicals. He’s written a dozen books, including Did God Kill Jesus? and The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life, developed the iPhone app, hosts the Reverend Hunter Podcast, and teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary and The Loft Literary Center. He writes a weekly newsletter on Substack.
Tony is a sought after speaker and consultant in the areas of emerging church, postmodernism, and Christian spirituality, writing, and the outdoors. He served as a consultant on the television show, The Path, and he owns an event planning company, Crucible Creative.
Tony's Book:
The God of Wild Places
Tony's Recommendation:
The Sparrow
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I can’t imagine coming home from preschool and being christened into the drug trafficking business by your father. But Dana Trent can because that’s exactly what happened to her. In this conversation, Dana and I discuss her story growing up with two mentally unwell parents as told through her excellent memoir Between Two Trailers.Dana shares experiences with childhood trauma, identity formation, and spiritual practices that aid healing. We discuss the role of Christian community in supporting mental health through practices like active listening, vulnerability, and meeting basic needs. She emphasizes developing empathy for those struggling and using churches as hubs for open conversations and small groups. It’s a fantastic conversation that dives deep into trauma, identity, and healing. So join us as we find our way out of adverse childhood experiences into a life of meaning and belonging.
J. Dana Trent is a speaker, professor, award-winning spirituality author, and minister. A graduate of Duke Divinity School, she teaches world religions and critical thinking at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Dana's Book:
Between Two Trailers
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There is a loneliness epidemic. We’ve lost our ability to connect to one another. In this conversation with Bryan Loritts we discuss the importance of enduring friendships. God's primary way of shaping people is through relationships with others and the Bible places a high premium on relationships, seen in concepts like the Trinity and salvation. Jesus modeled community by choosing 12 disciples to be with. We talk about the idea that friendships are important for accountability, correction and preventing isolation that can enable moral failure and the importance of being open and vulnerable within close friendships. Join us as we learn how to connect and have friendships that endure.
Bryan C. Loritts (DMin, Liberty University) is teaching pastor of the Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina. He has dedicated his life and ministry to seeing the multiethnic church become the new normal in our society. He is also vice president for regions for the Send Network, the church planting arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he is responsible for training church planters in multiethnic church planting. He has been a featured speaker at the Global Leadership Summit and Catalyst. His books include Insider Outsider, The Dad Difference, and The Offensive Church. His latest book is Enduring Friendship.
Bryan's Book:
Enduring Friendship
Bryan's Recommendations:
Truman
The Miracle of St. Anthony
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I have seen leaders, ministry workers, and missionaries burnout over and over. There has to be something that works. Alan Briggs says part of it is a training issue. We train for the launch, but not for longevity. In this episode, Alan discusses leadership burnout and how to cultivate healthy, sustainable habits to avoid burnout. Alan shares insights from his experience coaching leaders, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing self-care, quality time with family, boundaries, and living intentionally from one's identity rather than just doing tasks. We discuss practical strategies like limiting caffeine, daily exercise, prioritizing sleep, Sabbath, and deep work without distractions. Alan encourages leaders to look back on victories, within on progress, and ahead to priorities to gain clarity and reduce overwhelm. It’s possible to lead from who we are, develop healthy sustainable habits and avoid burnout. Join us for the anti-burnout movement.
Alan Briggs is a mountain guide for the leadership journey. Alan helps catalytic leaders leverage catalytic moments for systemic change. He does this through Leadership Coaching, Sabbatical Coaching, Working Genius training and consulting at Stay Forth. He also connects leaders in meaningful ways through a hub and ecosystem in Colorado Springs called Gather. He has one incredible wife and four incredible kids and loves finding adventures in the Rockies. His newest book, AntiBurnout, helps leaders find lightness and longevity.
Alan's Book:
AntiBurnout
Right Side Up Journal
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In this conversation, Rich Villodas and I focus on Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and what it means to follow the narrow path. We discuss how the Sermon on the Mount helps navigate cultural diversity, the differences between the narrow path and broad way of living, Jesus' teachings on topics like the Beatitudes, money, anxiety, and individualism vs communal life. We also talk about issues like peacemaking, witnessing one's faith, cultivating presence, and navigating spiritual forces that draw us away from God's kingdom. Throughout, Rich emphasizes how following Christ's difficult teachings can lead to a spacious life through connection with God. Join us as we learn how to follow the narrow path.
Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large, multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich graduated with a BA in pastoral ministry and theology from Nyack College. He went on to complete his Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. Rich is the author of 3 books, the award winning The Deeply Formed Life, Good and Beautiful and Kind and his most recent The Narrow Path. He and his wife, Rosie, have two beautiful children and reside in Long Island, NY.
Rich's Book:
The Narrow Path
Rich's Recommendations:
Gilead
Reading Genesis
Godzilla Minus One
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Ashley T Lee Podcast
Ashley T. Lee Podcast will cover many life issues such as overcoming stress, anxiety...
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Politics is a dirty word for a lot of people. We think about strife, conflict, waging war for power. But is there good news in politics? Well Ross Kane thinks so. In this conversation, we reflect on his latest book The Good News of Church Politics. Ross discusses how politics is about organizing common life and decision making in communities, large and small. He talks about how Jesus navigated politics skillfully in the Gospels. He also describes how congregations can cultivate "politics of love" by starting with caring for their own members and moving outward in concentric circles to care for neighbors and address issues in their wider communities. We focus on practical ways congregations can organize interdependently and engage in "bottom-up" social change by addressing local injustices. So join us as we discover the good news of church politics.
Ross Kane teaches ethics and theology at Virginia Theological Seminary, where he also directs their doctoral programs. He's an author and pastor who writes about the complex intersections between theology, ethics, and culture.
Ross' Book:
The Good News of Church Politics
Ross' Recommendation:
Neither Settler Nor Native
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Heartfelt Praise: Embracing the Lord’s Love with Deborah Thayer McLain
"Heartfelt Praise: Embracing the Lord’s Love with Deborah Thayer McLain" is a solo...
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Christian extremism is on the rise in the United States. Elizabeth Neumann joins us to talk about what is happening, why it’s happening, and provides some pathways back to peace. She discusses how some churches have shifted away from Jesus' message of love towards a message of fear, grievance, and a desire to assert cultural power. She outlines the factors that have gotten us to this place like uncertainty, rapid social changes, and unmet needs for belonging and significance that can make people vulnerable to radicalization. However, the church can also provide healing and peace through community and finding significance in Christ. We talk about how the church can move back to the path of peace by centering Jesus rather than politics or culture wars. So join us to hear how the rise of Christian extremism came to be and for ways we can provide a path back to peace.
Elizabeth Neumann is a national security expert, violence prevention advocate, and author of the new book Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace. She served on White House Homeland Security Council in the George W. Bush Administration, and as the Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security during the Trump Administration. She is currently the Chief Strategy Officer for Moonshot - a tech-enabled company supporting governments and community partners to understand and prevent violence. She is also a national security contributor for ABC News.
Elizabeth's Book:
Kingdom of Rage
Elizabeth's Recommendation:
The Spirit of Our Politics
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I have been a missionary and have trained and sent many missionaries. One of the things that we forget about is preparing for longevity. We often rely on ourselves, our own strengths and abilities to work for God. We have to figure out a way to work with God, be connected with Him, and follow His lead. In this conversation Jeremy and Monica provide insights into a healthy missional spirituality. They discuss their backgrounds in church planting, experiences with burnout, and insights on balancing mission and contemplation. They explore various spiritual practices that can be done individually and communally, including silence, solitude, prayer, and theological discussion. We also address sustaining marriage while in missionary work and finding hope in grassroots expressions of faith. Join us as we discover the art of missional spirituality.
Jeremy and Monica are Jesus followers, church planters, urban missionaries, rock climbers, and the authors of "The Art of Missional Spirituality". They live in Denver Colorado where they are equipping others through the Pando Collective.
Jeremy and Monica's Book:
The Art of Missional Spirituality
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The world is noisy. It’s hard to listen, to pay attention, and attune to God. Jay Kim helps us do just that in this conversation. Jay shares his journey of learning to tune out distractions and align their life to God's frequency through daily habits of prayer, scripture reading, and creating space for listening. We talk about hearing God speak through diverse communities, listening and speaking across differences, and cultivating empathy through curiosity in conversations. Jay offers practical tips for incorporating rhythms that promote detachment from technology and create space to listen to God and others deeply. So join us as we learn to listen well in a noisy world.
Jay Y. Kim is lead pastor of WestGate Church, a multisite church in Silicon Valley. He is the author of Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age, winner of The Gospel Coalition’s First-Time Author Award, and the follow-up Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age. He cohosts the “ReGeneration Podcast,” and this fall he will cohost Barna’s new podcast “Making Space.”
Jay's Book:
Listen, Listen, Speak
Jay's Recommendations:
Stolen Focus
The Gift of Thorns
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Often we look at communities which look broken and dysfunctional and we take them on as a problem to be solved. But long term change requires presence, love, and hope. In this conversation, Amy Williams, a hope dealer in Chicago talks about her experience living in a neighborhood with gang violence, visiting kids in jail, and doing youth ministry work for years. There is hope in the community and many of the solutions come from within that same community. We talk about the importance of listening to understand others, developing compassion, and finding identity and hope in God. So join us as we learn to see others like Jesus does – with dignity, worth, and compassion.
Youth ministry veteran Amy Williams ministers to teens involved in gangs and those lost in the criminal justice system with a key strategy of life-on-life mentoring. As a certified gang intervention specialist, she heard God's call to move into a Latino gang neighborhood in Chicago's Humboldt Park community to be a "Hope Dealer" doing street outreach and walking life with young people on her block. Amy is project coordinator at New Life Centers, bringing in restorative justice programming to youth at juvenile prisons.
Amy has been a youth pastor, a reentry coordinator, and a youth mentor and advocate. She is a graduate of both University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and National Louis University. She resides in Chicago and loves salsa dancing and is a true beach baby.
Amy's Book:
Worth Seeing
Amy's Recommendations:
It's OK That You're Not OK
Tattoos on the Heart
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I have seen a lot of bad leadership out there. I know that there is a better way and a way to lead from all of who we are that builds people, gives voice to others, and empowers people in such a way that we can accomplish what God has entrusted us. In this conversation, Karl Martin talks about leading from a deeper place. Leading from the soul. Through the framework of the cave – the quest of the true, the road – the way of the brave, the table – the art of the kind, and the fire – the pursuit of the curious we can be whole hearted people that lead well. So join us as we enter the cave, the road, the table, and the fire.
After twenty-five years of building organizations and teams to their potential, Karl Martin founded Arable in 2020 from his home surrounded by Scottish countryside and farmland. Taking inspiration from its surroundings, Arable creates and cultivates bespoke and winning ecosystems for leaders and organizations to grow and flourish. He coaches leaders at some of the biggest and most influential companies in the world, like Toyota, NBCUniversal, X (formerly Twitter), Joe Gibbs Racing, Saatchi & Saatchi, to name a few. He divides his time between the U.S. and Scotland. He's married to Niki and they have 4 grown daughters.
Karl's Book:
The Cave, The Road, The Table, The Fire
Karl's Recommendation:
The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up
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Making Time
What if you could literally make more time? How would your life change?
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Create Harmony
This is a podcast about setting an intentional rhythm, savoring life’s blessings and...
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There are cracks in the foundation. We have assumed that church and discipleship should look a certain way to produce more numbers, but through the last several years, we’ve seen we may have missed the mark. In this episode, Daniel Im discusses discipleship in a post-modern world where truth is seen as subjective rather than objective. He proposes a discipleship framework that focuses on interested Christians and interested non-Christians rather than just reaching one group or the other. He encourages churches to empower all disciples to make disciples rather than relying only on formal church leadership. We talk equipping believers to gather, grow, give, and go together through community rather than just gathering for teaching. So join us as we dive into the opportunity we have for discipleship in a post-everything world.
Daniel Im is a pastor, Bible teacher, writer, and podcast host with a passion for the local church. He is the lead pastor of Beulah Alliance Church and the author of No Silver Bullets, Planning Missional Churches, and You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta with his wife Christina and their three children. For more information, visit danielim.com and connect with him on social media @danielsangi. Daniel's newest book is The Discipleship Opportunity.Daniel's Book:
The Discipleship Opportunity
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You know what it’s like. There is a stirring inside. A whisper that tells you which direction to head in. I’ve heard it. I’ve followed it and amazing things have happened. Someone else that has trusted the whisper is Kathy Izard. In this conversation, we focus on listening to and trusting God's whispers to follow one's life path and calling. Kathy shares her personal journey of hearing God's call to address homelessness in her community through founding a housing program. She discusses how communities can come together through a "housing first" approach to help the homeless population. Kathy emphasizes surrendering to God's plan and trusting that he will work through you, despite feelings of being unqualified or unexpected difficulties. So listen for your own whispers from God and have faith to follow where it leads. Join us as we learn to trust the whisper.
Kathy Izard is an award-winning author, a national speaker and retreat leader, and an advocate for housing and mental health services in Charlotte, North Carolina. She co-led the citywide effort to build Moore Place, Charlotte's first permanent, supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness, and was instrumental in establishing HopeWay, Charlotte's first residential mental health treatment center. She wrote about her efforts in her memoir The Hundred Story Home, which received a 2017 Christopher Award for inspirational nonfiction.
Kathy's Book:
Trust the Whisper
Kathy's Recommendation:
The Amen Effect
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In this episode, Sarah E. Westfall shares about belonging, identity, and community. Sarah shares her personal journey of finding belonging through vulnerability and authentic connection rather than external performance. We discuss how to cultivate belonging through contemplative practices, empathy, humility, and asking open-ended questions. We also address the challenges of loneliness and isolation, and offer tips for overcoming feelings of not belonging through small acts of connection and relationship building within existing communities. So join us as we find a path to belonging.
Sarah E. Westfall is a writer, speaker, and host of the Human Together podcast. Her previous work includes serving as director of community for online writing groups and as a student development professional on college campuses. She is the author of The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who We Are and How We Relate. Sarah lives in Indiana with her husband, Ben, and four sons.
Sarah's Book:
The Way of Belonging
Sarah's Recommendation:
How to Walk Into a Room by Emily P. Freeman
Listen to my episode with Emily about the book
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Uncertainty and destabilization comes at a moment’s notice. When faced with uncertain times, what do we turn to? W. David O. Taylor turned towards writing prayers in the form of collects when the world shut down March 15th, 2020. In this conversation, David explores various spiritual disciplines and practices for deepening one's prayer life and connection to God, especially during times of uncertainty. He shares how writing ancient-style prayers called "collects" brought him comfort during the pandemic, and discusses the importance of community, creativity, and ordering desires through prayer. Our conversation offers insights into cultivating spirituality through different artistic mediums, architectural spaces, and focusing on God's faithfulness rather than becoming overwhelmed by life's challenges. Join us as we discover prayer through the collect and root ourselves in our connection with God.
W. David O. Taylor is Associate Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary and the author of several books, including "Prayers for the Pilgrimage" (IVP, 2024), "A Body of Praise" (Baker Academic, 2023), "Open and Unafraid" (Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins, 2020), and "Glimpses of the New Creation" (Eerdmans, 2019). He has also written for The Washington Post, Image Journal, Religion News Service, Theology Today, and Christianity Today, among others. An Anglican priest, he has lectured widely on the arts, from Thailand to South Africa. In 2016 he produced a short film on the psalms with Bono and Eugene Peterson. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his children and artist wife, Phaedra, with whom he has produced three sets of illustrated prayer cards.
David's Book:
Prayers for the Pilgrimage
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Create Harmony
This is a podcast about setting an intentional rhythm, savoring life’s blessings and ...
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Anxiety is rampant. It’s everywhere. Does the way we worship enhance our collective anxiety? In this episode, Michael Jordan and I have a conversation exploring how Christian worship practices can both help and hinder people experiencing anxiety and mental health struggles. Michael discusses the history of evangelical worship traditions and how they have sometimes relied on heightening anxiety to bring people to repentance. However, Jesus modeled a different approach of meeting and accepting people in the midst of their struggles. We talk how liturgy, music, and use of technology in worship can help people relate their inner experiences to God's bigger salvation story. Practical steps like talking to mental health professionals and auditing current practices to be more inclusive of those with anxiety are offered as suggestions. How can churches intentionally support mental health through worship in a way that looks more like Jesus' compassionate example? Join us as we explore the intersection of worship and anxiety.
Rev. Dr. Michael Jordan (PhD, Drew University) is an ordained Wesleyan pastor with twenty years of ministry experience in From 2002-2009, he was the pastor of Exton Community Baptist Church in Exton, PA, and has also served on the pastoral staff of his current church, Houghton Wesleyan. Over the summer, he is the staff chaplain at Camp-of-the-Woods, a Christian camp in the Adirondack Mountains.
Mike’s wife Jill is a mathematician who also teaches at Houghton; they live just off campus and together are raising their five children: Grace, Jack, Lucy, Gabriel, and Anne. In his spare time, Mike enjoys singing, crossword puzzles and distance running and is a rabid fan of Philadelphia professional and college sports.
Michael's Book:
Worship in an Age of Anxiety
Michael's Recommendation:
What Are Christians For? by Jake Meader
Women, Work & Calling by Joana Meyer
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There is a homelessness crisis in the United States. And yes, we have a conversation around the context of the U.S. currently, but there are a lot of helpful points that will help in different contexts around the world. In this episode, Robert Marbut provides helpful context about homelessness in the United States, discusses the underlying issues that often lead to homelessness like untreated mental illness and substance abuse. He emphasizes the importance of a holistic, trauma-informed approach that addresses these root causes through treatment and not just giving out housing vouchers. Collaboration between different organizations like churches, non-profits, and the government was highlighted as key. Practical steps communities can take include prevention programs, transitional housing with wraparound services, and bringing all stakeholders together with a shared vision of helping people recover and rejoin the community. So join us as we tackle the homelessness crisis.
Dr. Robert G. Marbut Jr. has worked on issues of homelessness for more than three decades, including being the Founding President and CEO of Haven for Hope and serving as the White House’s “Federal Homelessness Czar.” Dr. Marbut has consulted on issues of homelessness with more communities and organizations than anyone else in the United States and has also worked in three different US Presidential Administrations. He is an Executive Producer of both the No Address movie, starring Ashanti, Billy Baldwin, Xander Berkeley, and Beverly D’Angelo, as well as the Americans with No Address documentary.
Dr. Marbut currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute.
Where you can find information about all the No Address initiatives:
No Address
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We live in turbulent times. I know we have all felt the shaking in the past many years. Division, Death, Disconnection wreak havoc. There are ways that we cope that don’t bring life and joy only more sorrow and pain. But there are ways that make us more fully alive. There are practices that enable a life of flourishing and may just save our civilization. And that’s what Elizabeth Oldfield does in the conversation. She talks about the importance of relationships and connection in living a fully alive life. We walk through how early life experiences led her to question what a good life entails, and she came to see relationships as central. She talks about challenges like consumerism that discourage connection, and practices like community living that can help cultivate generosity and care for others. We share that listening across differences and protecting vulnerable groups are keys to building a more just and compassionate society. So join us as we discover ways that make us more fully alive.
ELIZABETH OLDFIELD hosts The Sacred podcast and is the former director and now senior fellow of the think tank Theos. She appears across the media, including BBC Radio and television, UnHerd, the Financial Times, and beyond. Oldfield is also a contributing editor at Comment magazine, chair of Larger Us, and a coach and consultant working with purpose-driven individuals and organizations. She lives in an intentional community in South London with her husband and children. Her book FULLY ALIVE: TENDING TO THE SOUL IN TURBULENT TIMES is out now.
Elizabeth's Book:
Fully Alive
Elizabeth's Recommendations:
Black Ops
The Origins of Totalitarianism
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We live in turbulent times. I know we have all felt the shaking in the past many years. Division, Death, Disconnection wreak havoc. There are ways that we cope that don’t bring life and joy only more sorrow and pain. But there are ways that make us more fully alive. There are practices that enable a life of flourishing and may just save our civilization. And that’s what Elizabeth Oldfield does in the conversation. She talks about the importance of relationships and connection in living a fully alive life. We walk through how early life experiences led her to question what a good life entails, and she came to see relationships as central. She talks about challenges like consumerism that discourage connection, and practices like community living that can help cultivate generosity and care for others. We share that listening across differences and protecting vulnerable groups are keys to building a more just and compassionate society. So join us as we discover ways that make us more fully alive.
ELIZABETH OLDFIELD hosts The Sacred podcast and is the former director and now senior fellow of the think tank Theos. She appears across the media, including BBC Radio and television, UnHerd, the Financial Times, and beyond. Oldfield is also a contributing editor at Comment magazine, chair of Larger Us, and a coach and consultant working with purpose-driven individuals and organizations. She lives in an intentional community in South London with her husband and children. Her book FULLY ALIVE: TENDING TO THE SOUL IN TURBULENT TIMES is out now.
Elizabeth's Book:
Fully Alive
Elizabeth's Recommendations:
Black Ops
The Origins of Totalitarianism
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In this episode, Brenda Salter McNeil discusses the long-term work required for Christians to repair broken systems and heal communities. Brenda shares about her journey into racial reconciliation work and how she came to see reconciliation and reparations as two sides of the same coin. We talk about the importance of listening to understand issues of those most affected, getting proximate to communities through relationships, and organizing diverse coalitions to identify shared concerns rather than coming with outside solutions. Brenda emphasizes staying committed to this work through practices like lament as well as self-care to prevent burnout. Our hope is for the church to reimagine what it means to follow Jesus by embodying his call to justice, flourishing for all people, and representing the kingdom vision of every tribe and nation together as God's people on earth. Join us as we discover how to repair broken systems and mend communities.
Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is a dynamic speaker, teacher, author and reconciliation leader! She is a trailblazer, who is thoroughly loving and rigorously prophetic. Her mission is to inspire and empower emerging Christian leaders to be practitioners of reconciliation in their various spheres of influence. As an Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies in the School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University, Dr. Salter McNeil directs the Reconciliation Studies program that prepares students to engage the culture around them as Christian reconcilers. Brenda’s latest book is Empowered to Repair.
Brenda's Book:
Empowered to Repair
Brenda's Recommendation:
Prophetic Lament by Soong Chan Rah
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Grief catches us all. One of the things I’m learning about the culture that I’m from is that we don’t grieve well. We don’t know how to do it. In this conversation, Steve Carter shares about his experience grieving after leaving his job at Willow Creek Community Church. He talks about the process of grieving he went through, including dealing with unforgiveness, reorienting his identity, and learning to forgive. He discusses the importance of community and walking through grief with hope. He also shares about helping his son process what happened and the importance of holding space for others in their grief journey. So join us as we learn to grieve, breathe, and receive.
Steve Carter is the best selling author of The Thing Beneath The Thing, host of the Craft and Character podcast, a coach to communicators who are looking to find their unique voice or take their next step of growth in speaking and teaches regularly at churches, conferences, and various businesses around the country. His latest book Grieve, Breathe, Receive helps guide people on their unique grief journey. He is the former lead teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church and currently serves as a teaching pastor at Forest City Church. He lives outside Chicago, Illinois, with his wife and two kids.
Steve's Book:
Grieve, Breathe, Receive
Steve's Recommendations:
The Hidden Peace
I Shouldn't Feel This Way
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I love to enter the woods find a path and walk with Jesus. It’s a place of life and connection for me. And I know it is for Lore as well. Lore Wilbert spent time reflecting on the forest floor for her latest book The Understory. In this conversation, Lore and I talk about finding identity and community through change and loss.Laurie talks about learning from nature by observing decay and emergence on the forest floor, seeing death as part of life's cycle. In times of loss, Lore encourages us to feel emotions fully and trust that God is still at work, like nutrients from fallen trees nourishing new growth and that moving forward through change requires accepting the "new normal" and focusing on being present each day rather than clinging to the past. So join us as we find rootedness and resilience from the forest floor.
Lore Ferguson Wilbert is an award winning writer, thinker, learner, and author of the books, The Understory, A Curious Faith and Handle With Care. She has written for She Reads Truth, Christianity Today, and more, as well as her own site, lorewilbert.com. She has a Masters in Spiritual Formation and Leadership and loves to think and write about the intersection of human formation and the gritty stuff of earth. You can find Lore on Instagram @lorewilbert or on her kayak in the Adirondacks. She lives with her husband Nate in upstate New York and their pups, Harper and Rilke. She really has read all the books on her shelves.
Lore's Book:
The Understory
Lore's Recommendations:
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
We Were the Lucky Ones
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In this episode, Yolanda Solomon shares what effective discipleship looks like. It’s important to encounter Jesus' beauty and person rather than focus on behavior modification. She highlights examples of communal and experiential discipleship, navigating cultural biases by focusing on Jesus, and understanding identity and authority in Christ. We also talk about justice and embodiment through following Jesus' care for the poor and marginalized, as well as moving discipleship from a classroom model to more participatory experiences and apprenticeship. So join us as we discover what effective discipleship looks like.
Yolanda Solomon is the Director of Discipleship at Epiphany Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. where she teaches and creates discipleship curriculum and resources. She has also worked in campus ministry at Columbia University in New York where she was blessed to serve undergraduate students for eight years. Yolanda recently published her first book entitled "Discipleship as Holy Collaboration: Helping Others Follow Jesus in Real Life" which is available for pre-order and will be released in May 2024. Yolanda is a disciple of Christ, a Brooklyn native and a lifelong Knicks fan which richly fuels her prayer life.
Yolanda's Book:
Discipleship as Holy Collaboration
Yolanda's Recommendations:
Holy Imagination
Black Liturgies
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In this episode, Grace Ji-Sun Kim discusses her experience immigrating to Canada from Korea as a child and facing racism. She talks about how Christianity became associated with whiteness over time as it spread in Europe, with Jesus portrayed as a white man. Grace explains that the concept of race and whiteness are social constructs used to maintain power structures. We unpack the idea of a white God and try to figure out how to present Jesus without cultural overlays. Grace also emphasizes celebrating differences and learning from other cultures to better understand God and each other. So join us as we reflect how easy it is to make God in our own image.
Grace Ji-Sun Kim (PhD, University of Toronto) is professor of theology at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana. She is the host of the Madang podcast and has published in TIME, Huffington Post, US Catholic, and The Nation. She is an ordained PC(USA) minister and enjoys being a guest preacher on most Sundays. Her many books include Invisible, Reimagining Spirit, and Healing Our Broken Humanity. She and her spouse, Perry, have three young adult children and live in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Grace's Book:
When God Became White
Grace's Recommendation:
The Not-Yet God by Ilia Delio
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The world is falling apart. The earth is hotter than it has ever been since we have been recording temperatures, the ocean is heating up. We have polarization that tears us to pieces. We are good at division. There is war over resources and power. What can we do? We need some wisdom and courage to move forward together in a world like ours. And Brian McLaren brings it to us in this conversation. Brian helps us to reframe our stories and perspectives, slow down to appreciate beauty, find wise guides, overcome biases, and respond to issues with compassion rather than fear or complacency. So join us as we find wisdom and courage for a world falling apart.
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a core faculty member and Dean of Faculty for the Center for Action and Contemplation. and a podcaster with Learning How to See. He is also an Auburn Senior Fellow and is a co-host of Southern Lights. His newest books are Faith After Doubt (January 2021), and Do I Stay Christian? (May 2022). His next release, Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart, is available for pre-order now and will release in May 2024.
Brian's Book:
Life After Doom
Brian's Recommendations:
Civil War
The Dao of Civilization: A Letter to China by Freya Matthews
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The whole system seems to be out of order. It’s time we reckon with the abuse, structure, and outworkings of church. But first, it’s time to heal, to find hope even in the midst of our disillusionment. In this conversation, Aimee Byrd shares her story of disillusionment with the church after facing public shaming and harassment for writing a book critiquing certain theological teachings. She discusses the pain of this experience and her journey to healing, including finding community outside her church. We talk about ideas for reforming church practices to better reflect biblical principles of community, vulnerability, and mutual care and support among believers. So join us as we sit with the disillusionment, but find hope in our scars.
Aimee Byrd is an author, speaker, blogger, podcaster, and former coffee shop owner. Aimee is author of several books, including No Little Women, Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and her latest, The Hope in Our Scars. Her articles have appeared in First Things, Table Talk, Modern Reformation, By Faith, New Horizons, Ordained Servant, Harvest USA, and Credo Magazine, and she has been interviewed and quoted in Christianity Today and The Atlantic.
Aimee's Book:
The Hope in Our Scars
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In this conversation, Kimberly Stuart talks about her journey with grace and her new book "Star for Jesus". We discuss Kimberly's struggles with perfectionism and legalism, and how embracing God's grace has transformed her life and perspective. We also talked about the important roles that humor, shared experiences, and vulnerability play in building understanding and extending grace to ourselves and others. It was a thought-provoking discussion about living in the "not yet" while recognizing God's already finished work. So join us as we laugh, share stories, and invoke God’s grace.
Kim is a writer, a speaker, a podcaster, and a dark chocolate obsessive. She is the author of eight novels and a newly released nonfiction debut, Star For Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit). She and New York Times-bestselling author Bob Goff have coached hundreds of aspiring authors through their executive coaching, online courses, and live events in the San Diego area. Stuart has made her home in Minneapolis, Houston, Chicago, Costa Rica, Nebraska, and Iowa, where she now lives with her brave husband and three wily children.
Kim's Book:
Star for Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit)
Kim's Recommendation:
A Prayer for Orion by Katherine James
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In this episode, Neil Cole explores spiritual formation and missionary methods through a discussion of Paul's journeys in the book of Acts. He shares insights from his book "Journeys" about Paul's progression and growth through each journey of his life and ministry, as well as lessons learned during a 13-year period of silence. Neil applies Paul's model to our own spiritual journeys and finishing well. We also talk shifting from institutions to more organic, relational ministry and hearing God's voice to radically obey his commands. So join us as we dive into the book of Acts, look at Paul’s journeys, and see what it has to do with our own life’s journeys and spiritual formation.
Neil Cole is an author, missional thinker, and movement catalyst. His whole work can be summed up in this: listen to Jesus and do what He says. Neil’s latest book and the focus of our conversation today is Journeys: Discovering God’s Paths of Spiritual Formation Building to a Strong Finish.
Neil's Book:
Journeys
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In this episode Bri Stensrud shares about shifting from a traditional pro-life stance to a whole life approach that values all human dignity and life. Bri shares her personal journey in this regard and emphasized the importance of proximity, empathy, and compassion when it comes to issues like immigration. She encourages Christians to move beyond comfort, engage with Scripture, and advocate for vulnerable groups like immigrants and refugees from a prophetic, non-partisan perspective focused on people rather than politics. Bri encourages us all to have open conversations, welcome immigrants into their communities, and serve with presence rather than just financially supporting issues from a distance. Join us as we learn how to welcome immigrants and refugees with compassion.
Bri Stensrud is an author, human dignity advocate, and the Director of Women of Welcome. Her passion is to equip the Church to engage more consistently and tangibly in holistic human dignity issues. Throughout her work in the pro-life movement, Bri continually faced questions from those concerned about immigrants and refugees. Understanding that many concerns were rooted in fear and misinformation she started a journey to detangle from politically partisan narratives and seek out a biblical perspective to uplift and advocate for immigrants and refugees and invite other Christian women into this same space.
She has authored two books: Start with Welcome: The Journey toward a Confident and Compassionate Immigration Conversation, and a children's book: The Biggest Best Light: Shining God's Light into the World Around You.
Bri's Recommendation:
Strange Religion by Nijay Gupta
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Ryan George grew up in an abusive independent fundamental Baptist church led by his father. In the conversation, Ryan discusses how he eventually left that church and the abuse of his father and started a journey of healing from the trauma of his upbringing. He talks about some of the unhealthy and abusive behaviors he experienced. He also talks about how he eventually found healthy church communities that helped him heal and come to know Jesus in a new way. We talk secure attachments, fear and faith, and adventure. So join us as we wade through destructive behavior and trauma and find our way out towards healthy, faith-filled communities centered on Jesus.
Ryan George is the author of Scared to Life and Word on the Street. He’s the blogger behind Explorience.org. He co-founded and co-leads Dude Group, a spiritual
adventure community in the Blue Ridge Mountains where he lives with his wife,
Crystal, and daughter, Deonnie.
Ryan's Book:
Hurt and Healed by the Church
Ryan's Recommendation:
Will the Circle be Unbroken? by Sean Dietrich
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In this episode, Lucas Pulley and I have a great conversation around microchurches and decentralized church networks. Lucas shares his story of how he got involved in microchurches and how they operate. We talk about having an "ecclesial minimum" of worship, community and mission, microchurches can be mission-specific around a calling or distributive with people following various callings, the importance of connecting microchurches through area collectives and larger events, the need to move through the spaces of belonging, and insights into preventing heresy and abuse through governance structures while still allowing for messiness and the priesthood of all believers. Join us as we discover what God is doing through microchurches.
Lucas Pulley is Executive Director of Underground Network, an experimental community made up of over 160 microchurches in Tampa Bay and serving dozens of similar decentralized and empowering movements around the world. Lucas has 14 years of experience planting microchurches and leading decentralized networks of grassroots churches, and still leads a neighborhood house church in the projects of inner city Tampa to this day with his wife and three kids. He is driven to see cities transformed by the priesthood of all believers activated in the mission of God.
Lucas' Recommendation:
The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
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What does spiritual formation have to do with our political engagement? Well, if we are followers of Jesus, it’s has a lot to do with it. In this episode, Michael Wear discusses how Dallas Willard's work influenced his view that Christians should approach politics as a way to love God and love their neighbor through civic involvement. We talk about different approaches to political engagement, the role of the church, and stories like Ruby Bridges that demonstrate living out one's faith even in challenging political contexts. Michael hopes that Christians will be empowered to steward their influence in politics in a way that is motivated by spiritual virtues like gentleness and is coherent with their broader discipleship and not just enter into a competition with an antagonizing spirit. So join us as we enter into an all of life spiritual formation into the image and likeness of Jesus, so that our political life looks more like Him and less like an antagonizing sport.
Micheal Wear is founder, president, and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution based in the nation's capital with the mission to contend for the credibility of Christian resources in public life, for the public good. He has served as a trusted resource and advisor for a range of civic leaders on matters of faith and public life for the last fifteen years, including as a White House and presidential campaign staffer. Wear previously led Public Square Strategies, a consulting firm he founded that helps religious organizations, political organizations, businesses and others effectively navigate the rapidly changing American religious and political landscape. He is the author of "The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life," which argues that the kind of people we are has much to do with the kind of politics and public life we will have.
Michael's Book:
The Spirit of Our Politics
Michael's Recommendation:
Fully Alive by Elizabeth Oldfield
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In this episode, Micha Boyett shares her story of finding out her son Ace would be born with down syndrome and the subsequent years of raising him. Through her story, she uses the framework of the beatitudes found in Jesus’ sermon on the mount as a way to embrace the limits and longings that she has been given. We talk about how the Beatitudes help redefine human worth and value through Jesus' teachings of blessing the marginalized. Micha discusses ableism, grief, suffering, spirituality, following Jesus by loving those on the margins, and living more slowly in today's fast-paced world. So join us as we learn to embrace our limits and longings, so that we can enter the full life of flourishing.
In addition to Blessed Are the Rest of Us, Micha Boyett is the author of Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer and a contributor to the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer, edited by Sarah Bessey. She is cohost of the award winning The Lucky Few podcast, creator of The Slow Way podcast and newsletter, and has written for publications such as the Washington Post and Christianity Today. In addition to her work as a writer, she is a part-time youth pastor at Good Shepherd Church in New York City. Boyett lives with her husband and their three sons.
Micha's book:
Blessed Are the Rest of Us
Micha's Substack:
The Slow Way
Micha's Recommendations:
Field Notes for the Wilderness by Sarah Bessey
Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie
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In this episode, A.J. Swoboda returns to Shifting Culture to discuss his latest book The Gift of Thorns. We talk desires and longings. Our desires are good – we see desire in Adam even before the fall. But sometimes we have desires of the flesh, but even those desires point to an ultimate longing that we have that can be ordered towards God. This is a great conversation, but we lost a bit of it because of technical issues. So you are going to miss a bit of it in the middle, but you probably won’t even notice that something is missing. So, my suggestion – get A.J.’s book. It’s really fantastic and you won’t regret it. I want to have a small group go through it together. I think it’s so helpful. But before you do all that, join us in this conversation as we figure out how to order our desires, find healing, and forgiveness.
A.J. Swoboda (Ph.D., Birmingham) is an associate professor of Bible and Theology at Bushnell University and lead mentor for the Doctor of Ministry Program on Spiritual Formation and Soul Care at Friends University. He is the author of many books, including The Gift of Thorns (Zondervan), After Doubt (Brazos), and the award-winning Subversive Sabbath (Brazos). He hosts the Slow Theology podcast with Dr. Nijay Gupta. A.J. lives and works on an urban farm with his wife and son in Eugene, Oregon.
A.J.'s Book:
The Gift of Thorns
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In this conversation, John Inazu and I have a great conversation about learning how to disagree civilly. We talk the importance of seeing others as image-bearers of God, developing empathy even for those we disagree with, distinguishing facts from judgments, and finding common ground. John gave great examples of disagreeing respectfully from his legal and interfaith work. The postures of curiosity, patience, and commitment to relationships over time are crucial. Join us as we learn how to disagree, hear one another, and walk forward gracefully.
John Inazu is the author of Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect (Zondervan). He is the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion at Washington University in St. Louis. He teaches criminal law, law and religion, and various First Amendment courses. He writes and speaks frequently about pluralism, assembly, free speech, religious freedom, and other issues. John has written three books and published opinion pieces in the Washington Post, Atlantic, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, USA Today, Newsweek, and CNN. He is also the founder of the Carver Project and the Legal Vocation Fellowship and is a senior fellow with Interfaith America.
John's Book:
Learning to Disagree
John's Recommendation:
The Spirit of Our Politics by Michael Wear
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In this episode, Dan Kreiss and I have a conversation about how churches can better engage emerging generations and become more just and inclusive faith communities. Dan discusses his experience ministering in New Zealand and the US. He emphasizes the importance of understanding one's community, being intentional in serving others, and working together across denominations. We also get into insights from Dan’s research on what young people value in churches, such as authenticity, action on justice issues, and community. Join us as we figure out how to engage emerging generations and become justice oriented multi-inclusive communities of faith.
Dan Kreiss has given his career to Christian ministry with emerging generations in international and domestic contexts. He served in ministry in New Zealand for 15 years with Youth for Christ, Knox Presbyterian Church, and Hutt International Boys’ School.
When they returned to the US, Dan, his wife Cindy, and their four children settled in Bristol, Tennessee where he served as professor of Youth Ministry and Dean of the School of Missions at King University. Dan completed his Master of Divinity at Emmanuel Christian Seminary and his Doctorate in Leadership and Global Perspectives at George Fox University in 2020. A revamped and updated version of his research along is set to be released in collaboration with co-author Efrem Smith, by InterVarsity Press in February.
Dan and Efrem are passionate about the church and want to ensure that emerging generations find the church to be the example to the world of genuine community and context for spiritual nurture that God desires it to be.
Dan's Book:
Church For Everyone
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In this episode, Charles Martin and I explore the crucifixion of Jesus and its profound impact on his life and faith. Charles shares a powerful personal experience encountering the site of Jesus' scourging in Jerusalem, which gave him new insight into both God's wrath towards sin and his limitless love shown through Christ's sacrifice. We talk about struggling to comprehend the depth of Jesus' suffering and why he endured it, as well as the hope, grace and restoration available to all through faith in him. We also talk about the importance of community, narrative and remembering Jesus' cross. Join arms with us as we go on pilgrimage towards the cross.
Charles Martin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty books. Charles and his wife, Christy, live in Jacksonville, Florida where you might find him bow hunting, working out, or doing Tae Kwon Do with his three boys.
Charles' Book:
It is Finished
Charles' Website:
www.charlesmartinbooks.com
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In this episode, Craig Detweiler and I have a great conversation around creativity, faith, and storytelling. We talk about how creativity reflects the nature of God and is a godly activity, the differences between humans and AI, and the importance of recognizing humanity. We talk about perceiving inspiration through openness to God's spirit and finding quiet moments, the role of criticism and collaboration in the creative process, and embodied worship and improvisation as ways to fully engage creativity. How do you strike a balance between digital and physical experiences and value humanity over technology. So join us as we discover ways that human intelligence will always be better than artificial intelligence.
Filmmaker and author Craig Detweiler, PhD, is President of the cultural investment organization, the Wedgwood Circle, and Dean of the College of Arts and Media at Grand Canyon University. He wrote the screenplays for The Duke, the comedic road trip, Extreme Days and directed the award-winning documentary Remand, narrated by Angela Bassett. His acclaimed books include iGods: How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual and Social Lives, Selfies: Searching for the Image of God in a Digital Age, Deep Focus: Film and Theology in Dialogue and his new book about Honest Creativity in the age of A.I. Detweiler’s cultural commentary has been featured on ABC’s Nightline, CNN, Fox, NPR, and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Variety honored Detweiler as their 2016 Mentor of the Year.
Craig's Book:
Honest Creativity
Craig's Recommendations:
BEEF
The Bear
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In this episode, Irwyn Ince and I talk about hope in the context of race, oppression, community, and lament. He inspires us to persevere in hope through difficult times. We explore the roots of hope in Christ despite past rejections, detangling oppressive actions from the gospel message, and the importance of fixing one's gaze on Jesus and enduring through suffering by looking to his example. So join us as we actively push against narratives of division by demonstrating a third way of Jesus and regularly check where we are placing our hope.
Irwyn Ince is the coordinator of Mission to North America, part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Formerly, he was a pastor at Grace DC Presbyterian Church. He is also the author of The Beautiful Community. In 2018, Ince was unanimously elected as the forty-sixth Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) General Assembly moderator—the first African American to hold the position.
Ince is a graduate of City College of New York, Reformed Theological Seminary, and holds a DMin from Covenant Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Kim, have been married for thirty-two years and have four children and two grandchildren.
Irwyn's Book:
Hope Ain't a Hustle
Irwyn's Recommendation:
King: A Life
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In this episode, Wai Jia Tam shares her incredible story of discovering Jesus and following Him despite facing many obstacles and setbacks along the way. Wai Jia grew up in a Buddhist home in Singapore but had a powerful encounter with God as a teenager that set her on a journey of faith. She shares about her experiences serving in Nepal as a young woman and how God provided in amazing ways. Wai Jia also walked through great difficulties like depression, an eating disorder and a major spinal surgery, but trusted God through it all. In this conversation she offers wisdom on discerning God's voice and taking small steps of obedience even when we feel too small. I know you'll be inspired by Wai Jia's story of God's faithfulness and how He can use our pain for His purposes. So join us as we discover how small steps of obedience can result in big dreams.
Wai Jia Tam is a multi-award-winning, international humanitarian, doctor, and speaker. Selected for Forbes Asia's inaugural 30 under 30 list, she has been featured in numerous international media outlets and is the founder of Kitedreams ministry and Kitesong Global. Learn more at kitedreams.org or follow her on Instagram @tamwaijia
Wai Jia's book:
Dream Brave
Wai Jia's Recommendations:
Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering
Counterfeit Gods
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In this episode, Alan Fadling talks about his journey with anxiety and how he has learned to manage it through deepening his faith in God. Alan shares practical tools like meditation on scripture and spiritual disciplines that have helped redirect his anxious thoughts and feelings towards peace. Joshua and Alan discuss how communities can come together through practices like communion to collectively experience less anxiety and more of God's shalom, even in troubling times. This conversation provides hope and guidance for anyone struggling with anxiety, and looking for spiritual paths to greater peace.
Alan Fadling, (MDiv), serves as a frequent speaker and consultant with local churches, national organizations and leaders internationally. His content is approachable, usable and transferable. He shows leaders how to get perspective so their leadership flows from a full soul and out of healthy rhythms of rest and work. A trained Spiritual Director, Alan is author of An Unhurried Life, An Unhurried Leader and A Year of Slowing Down.
Alan's Book:
A Non-Anxious Life
Alan's Recommendation:
The Message
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In this episode, Andi Andrew and I have a conversation around transition and change. We dive into hearing God’s voice, discerning the Holy Spirit, paying attention to the signs, and knowing when to jump and be brave in the midst of change. We build our foundation on the rock as we reflect on the story at the end of the sermon of the mount that Jesus tells about the wise and foolish builder. And we talk through dealing with grief and loss during transition, both personally and communally. Join us as we brave change and hold on to the rock as transitions come.
Andi Andrew is the podcast host of Coffee With Andi and the author of She Is free, Fake or Follower, Friendship-It’s Complicated and Braving Change. Passionate about freedom, family, and creating safe spaces for the prophetic to move, Andi is a heartfelt preacher who loves to see the reality of the gospel worked out in our everyday lives.
Based in Charleston, South Carolina, and planted at Seacoast Church, Andi’s life is currently focused on raising her kids, writing, and investing in local churches and lives around the world.
Andi's Book:
Braving Change
Andi's Recommendations:
Trust by Henry Cloud
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
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In this episode, Preston Sprinkle and I have a great conversation around being exiles in the shadow of the empire. He wants us to know that this nation that we are living in – no matter what nation in the world it is not my primary political identity – the Kingdom of God is. The church is a political entity itself. We dive into Romans 13, examples of the church being faithful to Jesus while taking up causes for the flourishing of the community, how Israel was designed to be upside down to the kingdoms of the world, and how Jesus subverts power. We talk about how the Kingdom of God transfers power from money and might to weakness and sacrifice and how turning the other cheek is one of the most powerful things we can do. So join us as we discover how to be faithful exiles in the shadow of the empire.
New York Times bestselling author Dr. Preston M. Sprinkle has written more than a dozen books. He serves as the president of the Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender and the host of the Theology in the Raw podcast. His latest book is Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire.
Preston's Book:
Exiles
Preston's Website:
www.prestonsprinkle.com
Preston's Recommendation:
Martyr Made Podcast
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In this episode, Joy Clarkson and I have a great conversation around the metaphors that shape our faith. We talk about rootedness when we are on the move. We get into bad metaphors we like to use that are harming the way we view ourselves – like we are a machine and cancer is a battle. We talk about paying attention to the season that we are in and the fruit that comes in time and in season. We talk birth and rebirth, the meaning of creation and paying attention to art and beauty to create meaning out of our lives. So join us as we dive into the metaphors that breathe meaning into our everyday lives.
Joy Clarkson is the author of Aggressively Happy and host of the popular podcast, Speaking with Joy. She is the books editor for Plough Quarterly and a research associate in theology and literature at King's College London. Joy completed her PhD in theology at the University of St Andrews, where she researched how art can be a resource of hope and consolation. Joy loves daffodils, birdwatching, and a well brewed cup of Yorkshire Gold tea. Learn more at JoyClarkson.com
Joy's Book:
You are a Tree
Joy's Recommendations:
The Map and the Territory
House, M.D.
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In this episode, Nijay Gupta and I go back to the first century. In the Roman-Greco culture there were gods everywhere, blood and smoke from their sacrifices filled the air, icons of gods were on every corner. And here come the Christians – believers in the unseen, in the supremacy of Jesus, in the finished sacrifice of Jesus, meeting in homes instead of temples and the culture around them thought they were weird. They were dangerous. They were compelling. We talk about their different beliefs and practices. Join us as we discover how the first Christians were weird, dangerous and compelling.
Nijay K. Gupta serves as professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, is the co-host of the Slow Theology podcast, is on the translation committee for the New Living Translation, and has written numerous books including Tell Her Story, Paul and the Language of Faith, and a commentary of Galatians for The Story of God Bible Commentary.
Nijay's Book:
Strange Religion
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In this episode, Emily P. Freeman and I have a great conversation around decision making, discernment and how to know when to stay and when to go. We walk through a four step discernment process telling stories of how it works: pointing and calling, remember your path, acknowledge presence, and yield to the arrows. Our decisions are made in the moment, but our character is formed along the way, so we focus on questions and who we are becoming rather than the answer. We talk about when we are ready to enter a new space, but it’s not time yet and when we know it’s time, but we aren’t ready. It’s such a fantastic conversation. I know you’ll love this one and get a ton out of it. So join us as we discern when to stay and when to go.
Emily P. Freeman is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of six books, including The Next Right Thing and How to Walk into a Room. As a spiritual director and workshop leader, her most important work is to help create soul space and offer spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue. Her podcast, The Next Right Thing, offers clarity and direction for anyone who wants to move beyond the pro/con list in decision-making. Emily holds a master’s degree in Christian spiritual formation and leadership from Friends University where she also serves as a residency lecturer. She lives in North Carolina with her family.
Emily's Book:
How to Walk Into a Room
Emily's Recommendation:
Braiding Sweetgrass
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Sarah Bessey's latest book is Field Notes for the Wilderness. And telling you that it is my favorite book I’ve ever read is no exaggeration. I love this book. It’s full of grace and love and welcome. I could go on and on. You need to get it. Like right now and then pull up a chair in front of the fire with a warm cup and go deep into the beauty and wonder of Sarah’s writing.
In this episode, Sarah Bessey discuss her journey of evolving faith and new book "Field Notes for the Wilderness." Bessey shares her experience of faith deconstruction as disorienting but empowering, finding support through community. She emphasizes that God's love is present even in our doubts.
She explores practices for cultivating wonder in daily life through embodiment, Scripture and relationships. They discuss reclaiming repentance as a mind shift rather than shame, and peacemaking as justice work over status quo. Sarah reflects on navigating differing faith journeys in marriage through choosing each other.
Ultimately, Sarah encourages listeners in the wilderness to embrace their identity and find community, even if it means leaving old spaces. She recommends embracing the invitations of the Spirit and knowing you're not alone. This conversation provides wisdom and hope for those navigating spiritual transformation and an evolving faith.
Sarah Bessey is the author or editor of five books, including the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer. She also leads Evolving Faith, a conference and online community for people who are reimagining their faith with hope. Bessey lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with her husband and their four children.
Sarah's Book:
Field Notes for the Wilderness
Sarah's Recommendations:
Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley
Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day by Kate Bowler
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In this episode, Lance Ford discusses the need to re-examine traditional views of Christian leadership and put Jesus back in his rightful place as head of the church. He traces the evolution of modern leadership theory and its influence on churches. Ford and host Joshua Johnson explore biblical models of servant leadership and equipping others. We emphasize distributing responsibility throughout the body of Christ rather than relying on a few individuals. This thought-provoking conversation challenges listeners to reflect on how they can organize churches to maximize the flow of wisdom from Christ as head into every member.
With over three decades experience as a pastor and church planter, Lance Ford is a writer, coach, and consultant who has designed unique training systems currently being used by networks, seminaries, and leaders throughout the world. He has written many articles for Christianity Today, Outreach Magazine, Relevant, and others as well as co-founded the Sentralized Conference. His books include UnLeader, The Starfish and The Spirit, Missional Essentials, The Missional Quest, Next Door as It Is In Heaven, and others. His newest book is The Atlas Factor.
Lance's Book:
The Atlas Factor
Lance's Recommendations:
The Making of Biblical Womanhood
The Scandal of Leadership
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Jessica Hooten Wilson and I go deep in her ten year project of reckoning with Flannery O’Connor’s unpublished and unfinished 3rd novel Why Do the Heathen Rage? Jessica shares insights into Flannery’s writing process, themes in her fiction, her perspectives on race and social justice. She talks about reading O’Connor with charity and how that can provide new insights. We get into limitations because of Flannery’s illness that contributed to the depth and particularity of her writing. We also talk grace, sanctity and the connection between body and soul. So join us as we dig deep into the works of Flannery O’Connor.
Jessica Hooten Wilson is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University and formerly Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence at the University of Dallas. She is the author of several books, most recently Reading for the Love of God. Her book Giving the Devil his Due: Flannery O’Connor and The Brothers Karamazov received a 2018 Christianity Today book of the year in arts and culture award and The Scandal of Holiness received a 2022 Award of Merit. In 2019 she received the Hiett Prize for Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Other awards include a Fulbright Fellowship to Prague, an NEH to study Dante in Florence, a Biola University sabbatical fellowship funded by the John Templeton Foundation, and the 2017 Emerging Public Intellectual Award. She is a Senior Fellow at The Trinity Forum.
Jessica's Book:
Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage?
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In this episode, Brian and I have a conversation around the cross of Jesus and his latest book The Wood Between the Worlds. It’s a deep conversation around suffering and putting to shame the powers and principalities. We talk about the multi-faceted meaning of the cross and view it through a kaleidoscope, so we can uncover more and more depth of meaning. We talk about the Kingdom, galvanizing around an axis of power or an axis of love expressed in forgiveness, and the seduction of power we find in the Lord of the Rings. It’s a fantastic conversation that I know you will enjoy. So join us as we look at the multi-faceted wonder of the cross.
Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Known for his theologically informed preaching and his embrace of the deep and long history of the church, Zahnd provides a forum for pastors to engage with leading theologians and is a frequent conference speaker. He is the author of several books, including When Everything's On Fire, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, A Farewell to Mars, and Beauty Will Save the World.
Brian's Book:
The Wood Between the Worlds
Brian's Recommendations:
Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom
Metallica - 72 Seasons
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In this episode, Curt Thompson and I have a great discussion around his book The Deepest Place. We talk about how secure attachment to God and others can help root and ground us in a place that enables us to move through suffering and find hope. We need to be in loving relationship with one another because we are the embodied presence of Jesus to each other. We have hope because we have a God that came incarnate in the form of Jesus and He suffered and died, so that He can be not just justify us, but so that he can be with us in our suffering. Hope is an anticipated future of goodness and beauty. Join us as we walk through suffering and find hope.
Curt Thompson is a Christian psychiatrist, working at the intersection of neuroscience and spiritual formation and the bestselling author of The Deepest Place (Zondervan). Inspired by deep compassion for others and informed from a Christian perspective, psychiatrist he shares fresh insights and practical applications for developing more authentic relationships and fully experiencing our deepest longing: to be known.
Through his workshops, speaking engagements, books, organizational consulting, private clinical practice, and other platforms, he helps people process their longings, grief, identity, purpose, perspective of God, and perspective of humanity, inviting them to engage more authentically with their own stories and their relationships. Only then can they feel truly known and connected and live into the meaningful reality they desire to create. Curt and his wife, Phyllis, live outside of Washington DC and have two adult children.
Curt's Book:
The Deepest Place
Curt's Podcast:
Being Known
Curt's Recommendations:
The Chosen
The Bible Project
Dominion by Tom Holland
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In this episode, Peter Greer and I have a great conversation around the book Lead with Prayer. We dive into the gift that prayer is. We talk through group discernment through listening and prayer, new postures that can aid our prayer life, carrying the culture of prayer, so we can help transform others. We marvel at the joy and hope that comes through suffering and the embodied presence of Jesus with us in the midst of that suffering. Join us as we discover new tools and ways to pray, so that we can experience delight in ways that come through being with Jesus as we pray.
Peter Greer is the president and CEO of HOPE International,
a global Christ-centered economic development organization serving throughout
Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Under Peter’s leadership, HOPE
has expanded from working in two to over twenty countries and served over 2.5
million families. Prior to joining HOPE, Peter worked in Cambodia, Zimbabwe,
and Rwanda. He has co-authored 15 books, including Mission Drift, Rooting for Rivals, The Gift of Disillusionment, and The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good. His new book, Lead with Prayeris now available.
Peter's Book:
Lead with Prayer
Peter's Recommendation:
Creek Stewart
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In this episode, Terry Crist and I have a great conversation and tell a lot of stories of engaging others in a way that brings dignity, relationship, curiosity, and hope. How can we love our enemies? How can we follow the better way of Jesus that brings hope? How can we in our fractured world have conversations of truth full of grace, seasoned with compassion? How do we pursue the way of peacemaking? How do we build bridges, not barriers? How do we have curious conversations with people? We learn that our gospel is embodied and proclaimed. We learn that listening is an act of love. Join us as we discover how to listen well, engage others who are more alike us than we realize, and point us all to the way of Jesus that brings hope, reconciliation, and peace.
Terry Crist is the co-lead pastor of City of Grace in Phoenix alongside his wife, Judith. He has a TH.M. and a D.Min. and has a business certificate in nonprofit management from Harvard Business School. Terry is also passionate about community transformation and promotes adoption and foster care through his work in state government. An avid outdoorsman and gifted communicator, he has adventured and preached the gospel in 65 nations. Terry and Judith have three married sons and three grandchildren. They live in Phoenix, Arizona.
Terry's Book:
Loving Samaritans
Terry's Recommendations:
Jesus the Bridegroom by Brant Pitre
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre
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In this conversation, Cameron Doolittle and I have a conversation around leading with prayer, getting organizations to not just slap on a prayer before and after a meeting as an after thought, but to actually implement a culture of prayer that produces fruit that is only possible if we abide in the vine. Because if we aren’t praying, we can’t multiply prayer because you can’t multiply by zero. We talk about listening to God, hearing His voice, and following His lead, setting appointments with God, finding rhythms of prayer that we can engage in and the link between giving and prayer. Join us as we learn how to lead with prayer and create organizations and churches that have a prayer culture.
Cameron Doolittle is Co-author of the book, Lead with Prayer, senior advisor to the Maclellan Foundation, executive director of John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way, and co-founder of Generosity Path. He previously served as an advisor to senators, congressmen, and senior executives at Fortune 500 companies through his consulting firm, since acquired by Gartner. Cameron advises high-impact givers and great ministries. He now consults with organizations that his family loves, including BibleProject, Desiring God with John Piper, Faith Driven Giver with Henry Kaestner, ECFA, Awana, Christianity Today, YoungLife, and others. He served as founding CEO of Jill’s House, a ministry for kids with intellectual disabilities.
Cameron's Book:
Lead with Prayer
Cameron's Recommendations:
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Relational Soul
Handbook to Prayer
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Ingrid Faro and I try to demystify evil. Ingrid shares her harrowing story of abuse from her first husband, how the church wasn’t helpful in the midst of it, how her second husband died, how she lost everything and was even homeless for awhile. As evil invaded her life, so much so that she didn’t want to go on living, she went on a journey to discover the goodness of God? Is He good? Is He just? Why is evil happening all over the world? This journey led her to Scripture – to Genesis and the fall and then the whole story of God. We talk about human causes of evil, nature run amok, evil in the unseen realm, hopelessness and despair and we find hope. Hope that there is a good God and that we can align ourselves back to the goodness of God. We find that forgiveness sets us free, so we can live a life of joy and freedom. So join us as we demystify evil and find hope in the goodness of God.
Ingrid Faro, Ph.D., M.Div. is Coordinator of the MA in Old Testament program at Northern Seminary in the Chicago area. Her Ph.D. is in Theological Studies, with concentration in Old Testament and Semitic Language. Dr. Ingrid Faro is an author and international speaker on topics including deconstructing evil, abuse, forgiveness, and women in the Bible and ministry. Ingrid is the author of Demystifying Evil, Evil in Genesis, co-author of Honest Answers.
Ingrid's Book:
Demystifying Evil
Ingrid's Recommendations:
Being God's Image by Carmen Imes
Nobody's Mother by Sandra Glahn
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In this episode, Ryan Skoog and I have an incredible conversation about leading with prayer. As Ryan and his teams go to the toughest places on earth, they have to rely on prayer. It’s crucial. But prayer isn’t just for the people on the front lines in hard places. It’s for us all. We learn from the global church what an intentional prayer life looks like. We talk about wasting our time with Jesus in friendship, tithing our time to the Lord, the allure of chasing influence rather than obedience, the importance of intentionality and creating our own personal liturgy. And we really hit what it looks like to pray through tough times. So join us as we learn from the global church what leading with prayer looks like.
Ryan is cofounder and president of VENTURE, a nonprofit that works in the toughest places of the world, serving war refugees, trafficked people, oppressed children, and the unreached. VENTURE has planted thousands of churches that serve in their own communities to rescue girls from trafficking, start farms, and train in microenterprise and feminine hygiene, leading to generational transformation. Ryan co-authored the books Chosen: A 30 Day Devotional and the forthcoming Lead with Prayer. He and his wife Rachel enjoy adventuring with their two ginger headed kids and the newest addition to their family Kyea Sin Thant.
Ryan's Book:
Lead with Prayer
Ryan's Recommendations:
E.M. Bounds
Charles Spurgeon
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In this episode, David Fitch and I reckon with power in this conversation. We talk about worldly power versus Godly power. What’s the difference? Why do we need a new relationship with power? We talk about mutual submission, engaging the table for reconciliation and justice, non-coercive evangelism. We even engage in a conversation around power dynamics and the Middle East. It’s a fantastic conversation that is much needed as we continue to encounter abuse of power in the church. So join us as we reckon with power and hand over the reigns to God.
David Fitch (Ph.D Northwestern University) is a professor at Northern Seminary and a pastor at Mission Renew Church in Westmont, IL. He is married to Rae Ann and they have one son named Max. He’s coached hockey for the YMCA USA Hockey program for seven years. David teaches, speaks, and writes within the fields of Neo-Anabaptist theology, missiology, culture studies, political theory, and ethics.
He writes from time to time on his own page at Missio Alliance, on his own substack, for Christianity Today, Outreach Magazine, ChurchLeaders.com, EthicsDaily, and multiple other sites, magazines and journals. He is co-host of the Theology of Mission podcast. His latest book is Reckoning with Power from Brazos press.
David's Book:
Reckoning with Power
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In this episode, Meghan Larissa Good and I have a great discussion around themes from her latest book Divine Gravity. How can we enter into a new reformation that helps the body of Christ look more like Jesus? Jesus can lead us into this new place and time. We can disagree with each other and still have unity. We can follow the discernment of the Holy Spirit. We can have a cross-shaped power which is a power under and not a power over. We can join Jesus in the reconciliation of all things. Jesus is making all things new. So, let’s join Him and get on the ride. So, join us as we discuss whether or not we are in a new reformation that will help us look more like Jesus.
Meghan Larissa Good is lead pastor at Trinity Mennonite Church (Phoenix, AZ). She is a frequent preacher and lecturer at churches and universities across the country, speaking on subjects such as biblical interpretation, contemporary preaching, and Christianity's 'next reformation.' Meghan is author of The Bible Unwrapped: Making Sense of Scripture Today and Divine Gravity: Sparking a Movement to Recover a Better Christian Story. She lives in Phoenix, AZ with a prized dinosaur bone and a ridiculously large book collection.
Meghan's Website:
www.meghanlarissagood.com
Meghan's Book:
Divine Gravity
Meghan's Recommendations:
The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan Hatch
Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God by Marva Dawn
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In this episode, Blaine Eldredge and I look at the Bible in a new light, so we can see the stories come alive and we can fall in love with them once again. Blaine is a fantastic storyteller and he helps us see how we can follow Jesus in a time of decline, what we can learn from history for our time and place, and how we can eliminate the familiarity with which we read the Bible. Join us as we discover the fascinating insights the story of the Bible brings to our lives today.
Blaine is a teacher and writer from Peyton, Colorado. For the past decade, he has built platforms to help the Church thrive in late modernity. Blaine loves to read, write and talk about culture, history and theology. He really loves to contemplate the Gospel of Jesus and make resources to convey its astonishing beauty. He’s part of Kindred Church in Colorado Springs and holds a Masters Degree in Language from the University of British Columbia. He spends his free time bowhunting, chopping wood, and at poetry readings.
Blaine's Website:
www.blaineeldredge.com
Blaine's Book:
The Paradise King
Blaine's Recommendations:
The Priority of Christ by Robert Barron
Supernatural by Michael Heiser
Men and Women are from Eden by Mary Healy
The Lord of Spirits podcast
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In this episode, Nadya Williams and I talk through her book Cultural Christians in the Early Church. Did you know that cultural Christianity has been a problem from the beginning? Giving in to worldly power and praise, apostasy and divisions in the church, Christian Nationalism, celebrity culture. All of these things and more are problems the early church dealt with and we still deal with them today. But there is good news – The way of Jesus is possible and we even have models to follow who faithfully follow Jesus amidst the culture of the day. Join us as we discover what faithfulness to Jesus looks like even when people around us are following the culture of the day instead of the radical way of Jesus.
Nadya Williams received her PhD in Classics from Princeton University. She is the author of Cultural Christians in the Early Church (Zondervan Academic 2023) and Priceless (under contract with IVP Academic). She is Book Review Editor for Current, where she also runs the Arena blog.
Nadya's Book:
Cultural Christians in the Early Church
Nadya's Recommendation
Look at Him by Anna Starobinets
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It’s the best of 2023! We are going to count down the most listened to episodes of the past year and I am going to countdown my favorite books of the year.
But before we dive in, I just have to say thank you – thank you to you, the listener. I have so enjoyed making this podcast and having the conversations I’m having, but without you there wouldn’t be a podcast. So keep listening. Keep spreading the word. Tell your friends, your family, even your enemies to listen to Shifting Culture.
You can find a list of my favorite books of the year here:
Favorite Books of 2023
Top 10 episodes of 2023:
Ep. 136 Alan Hirsch & Rob Kelly - Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms People, Churches, and Organizations From the Inside Out
Ep. 124 James Martin, SJ - The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle
Ep. 135 Scot McKnight - The Pivotal Priorities, Practices, and Powers to Transform Into a Tov Culture
Ep. 97 Pete Greig - Shadows and Light
Ep. 95 Beth Paz - A God who Identifies With Us in our Grief and Suffering
Ep. 104 Hugh Halter - Family on Mission
Ep. 122 Karen Swallow Prior - The Evangelical Imagination that has Shaped a Culture in Crisis
Ep. 130 Michael Frost Returns - Mission is the Shape of Water
Ep. 113 Andrew Root Returns - When Church Stops Working
Ep. 128 Andrew Root - The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms
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In this episode, Grace Hamman and I get into a really great conversation around the medieval period and how Jesus was viewed. It’s amazing to me how illuminating it is to read thinkers of the past and how it shapes my perspective in ways that are unexpected and helps me encounter Jesus in new ways. We talk about people like Thomas Aquinas and Julian of Norwich and we look at Jesus as a Knight, as Judge, as Mother, and more. Join us as we gain a fresh perspective by encountering the past and looking at Jesus through medieval eyes.
Grace Hamman (Ph.D., Duke University) is the author of Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages, and independent scholar of late medieval poetry and contemplative writing. Her work has been published by academic and popular outlets, including Plough Quarterly and The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Grace hosts a podcast called Old Books with Grace which celebrates the beauty and joy found in reading the literature and theology of the past. She lives near Denver, Colorado with her husband and three young children.
Grace's Book:
Jesus Through Medieval Eyes
Grace's Recommendations:
Thomas Traherne poetry
Only Murders in the Building
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In this episode, Justin Davis and I have a great conversation. Justin shares his story of brokenness, pain, infidelity, and addiction and walks us through the importance of being real, being vulnerable, and being honest with God, so that true repentance and transformation can take place. I know you are going to get a lot of this one. So join us as we take off the masks we’ve been hiding behind, get real, and pursue transformation in Jesus.
Justin is an author, speaker, and pastor who dedicated his life to helping people experience life change through the power of authenticity. He co-founded RefineUs Ministries, where he shares his personal story with honesty and transparency, inspiring others to find the courage to do the same.
Justin is the co-author of the bestselling book, Beyond Ordinary: When a Good Marriage Just Isn't Good Enough, which he wrote alongside his wife, Trisha.
He is a sought-after speaker for numerous conferences, churches, and leadership events, inspiring audiences with a message of hope and transformation through the grace of Jesus.
Justin loves to spend time with his family. He enjoys playing basketball, indulging in the Great Wall of Chocolate at PF Chang's, and taking long walks on the beach with his wife and kids. Justin and Trisha have five kids and live in Indianapolis, IN
Justin's Book:
Being Real > Being Perfect
Justin's Recommendation:
Trailblazers by Micah Davis
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In this episode, Denise Gitsham and I talk about her latest book Politics for People Who Hate Politics: How to Engage Without Losing Your Friends or Selling Your Soul. We talk about being ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, discernment of the Holy Spirit, unity, not uniformity, among believers., loving your enemy, engaging in dialogue, asking questions, having empathy. It’s an important conversation as we in the U.S. are about to embark on a contentious political season. So join us as we engage in dialogue with love empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Prior to starting her own public affairs consulting firm, Denise Grace Gitsham worked at the highest levels of federal government from the White House to the US Senate, in law firms, for startups, and as a candidate for Congress. Denise is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and Bowdoin College, and is a political contributor and commentator on various national cable news networks.
Denise's Book:
Politics for People Who Hate Politics
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In this episode, Steve Bouma-Prediger and I have a great discussion on creation, earthkeeping, and our role in caring for the earth as disciples of Jesus. Since the Bible starts and ends with rivers and trees, our first mandate is to care for the earth, and our vision of the future includes the earth we are now living on, we have a role and responsibility in the way we keep the earth, care for it, and pattern our life. What are the things we can do in our every day lives to be good earth keepers? Who is working on the major problems of the earth at the moment? How is social justice tied to ecological issues? We tackle these questions and more. So join us as we discover our role as earthkeepers as disciples of Jesus.
Steve Bouma-Prediger is the Leonard and Marjorie Mass Professor of Reformed Theology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and the director of the Environmental Studies minor. A graduate of Hope College, his Ph.D. is in religious studies from The University of Chicago. His most recent book is Creation Care Discipleship: Why Earthkeeping is an Essential Christian Practice. When not teaching or writing, he spends as much time as possible canoeing or backpacking in his favorite places in North America or simply hiking among the magnificent trees in southwest Michigan parks.
Steve's Book:
Creation Care Discipleship
Steve's Recommendation:
The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Naghmeh Panahi shares her story with us. A story that is necessary to hear, although it is difficult. Abuse by pastors, church leaders. Backlash from the Christian community. Naghmeh shares how she was able to hold on to Christ, recover her identity as a child of God, lead a house church movement, and see Muslims from around the world have dreams and visions of Jesus, start to follow Jesus and make him lord. This is a conversation that you don’t want to miss. So join us as we discover the goodness of God in the midst of humans corrupting His goodness and see how God reveals Himself to the broken and desperate.
Born in Tehran in 1977, Naghmeh Abedini Panahi immigrated to the United States at the age of nine and soon converted from Islam to Christianity. In late 2001, after graduating from college, she returned to Iran to work as a businesswoman and missionary. There, she witnessed —and experienced—the oppression and violence women are subjected to every day in the Middle East. It was there that she also met her future husband, Saeed Abedini, with whom she led one of the largest house-church movements in Iran. In 2005, due to persecution, she and Saeed moved to the United States, where their two children were born. When Saeed visited Iran in 2012 to work on opening an orphanage, he was arrested for his involvement in the underground church and sentenced to eight years in a notorious prison. Naghmeh unceasingly advocated for Saeed’s release, appealing to President Barak Obama, Donald Trump,
the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, and nearly every major news outlet over the three and a half years that Saeed was in prison.
Yet underneath the surface of her leadership in the Iranian house church, her family life in America, and the spotlight of her advocacy, Naghmeh had been an abused wife, and Saeed’s imprisonment had further intensified his controlling and abusive behavior. It took the crisis and aftermath of Saeed’s arrest for Naghmeh to finally recognize what had been happening to her and begin to find healing.
Naghmeh’s personal experience with domestic violence and the misuse of religion to reinforce abuse has given her a passion to advocate for women who are vulnerable to abuse and oppression because of religion. She is a speaker, a Bible teacher, and the cofounder and executive director of Tahir Alnisa (“Setting Women Free”) Foundation, which serves women and children around the world impacted by domestic abuse and religious-motivated violence.
Naghmeh's Book:
I Didn't Survive
Naghmeh's Recommendation:
The Atlas Factor by Lance Ford (Coming Soon)
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In this episode, Skye Jethani and I have a fantastic conversation around what we get wrong about heaven. Spoiler alert – almost everything! How can we center Jesus in our faith and not heaven? Why is the gospel more than just going to heaven when you die? How can we taste heaven here and now? How can we be people where heaven and earth overlap? What is the new heavens and new earth? Will the earth be burned up in fire at the end? We answer these questions and more. Join us, as we get a Jesus centered view of heaven and be inspired to live a life that carries the presence and Spirit of God in the world here and now.
An award-winning author, speaker, and co-host of the Holy Post Podcast, Skye has written more than a dozen books and served as an editor and executive at Christianity Today for more than a decade. Raised in a religiously and ethnically diverse family, his curiosity about faith led him to study comparative religion before entering seminary and pastoral ministry. With a unique ability to connect Christian thought and contemporary culture, his voice has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post, and he’s spoken to audiences throughout the world as diverse as the U.S. Naval Academy, The Chautauqua Institution, and the Lausanne Movement.
Skye's Book:
What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven?
Skye's Devotional:
With God Daily
Skye's Podcasts:
Holy Post
Skye's Recommendations:
Into the Heart of Romans by N.T. Wright
What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
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In this episode, Amber C. Haines, Seth Haines and I talk about their latest book The Deep Down Things, which details the story of Amber’s abuse in the church and her decision to step away. In the despair of loss, confusion, and disillusionment, a lifeline of hope was given. Seth and Amber give us practices and examples of what it looks like to find hope in the times of despair. We talk about calling out the truth of who people are, setting signs that can point to hope, attachment to Christ through adoration, the embodied power of the eucharist, and practicals like trail running and gardening. Join us as we find signs of hope when we are in the pit of despair.
Amber C. Haines is the author of Wild in the Hollow: On Chasing Desire and Finding the Broken Way Home and The Mother Letters.
Seth Haines is the author of Coming Clean (winner of a Christianity Today Book Award of Merit) and The Book of Waking Up. Together with Tsh Oxenreider, he cohosts the podcast A Drink with a Friend.
Amber and Seth have experience speaking at conferences and events. They live in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with their four boys.
Amber & Seth's Book:
The Deep Down Things
Seth's Recommendation:
Only Murders in the Building
Amber's Recommendation:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
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Jared Boyd talks about finding freedom in the constraint of spiritual disciplines and a communal rule of life. Our leadership and mission can only go as far as our formation, so how do we engage in practices together in ways that help us look more like Jesus? At the core of our conversation is a desire to encounter the love of God through the presence of God. Join us as we seek to find practices in community that facilitate encounters of the love of God.
Jared Patrick Boyd is a pastor (Vineyard USA), spiritual director, and Founding Director of the Order of the Common Life, a missional monastic order reimagining religious vocations for the 21st Century. In local pastoral ministry he has been working to bring together the contemplative, charismatic, and sacramental streams of the church.
Jared is author of Imaginative Prayer: A Yearlong Guide to Your Child’s Spiritual Formation (IVP 2017) and Finding Freedom in Constraint (IVP 2023). He and his wife have 4 girls and live in the west-side neighborhood of Franklinton in Columbus, OH.
Jared's Book:
Finding Freedom in Constraint
Jared's Recommendation:
Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe
To Love as God Loves by Roberta Bondi
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In this episode, Alan Hirsch and Rob Kelly join us to talk about their book Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms, People, Churches, and Organizations from the Inside Out. We have a great conversation on repentance, movements, organizational change, unlearning, relearning, vision, future thinking, and more. This metanoia process that they take us through is really important. How do we have our minds renewed? How do we shift paradigms and have our mind’s blown? Join us as we discover how to engage in paradigm shifts individually and organizationally, so it sticks and lasts.
Alan Hirsch is one of the founders of Movement Leaders Collective, as well as founding the Forge Mission Training Network and 5QCollective. Known for his innovative approach to mission and thought-leadership, Alan is highly sought after movement strategist for leaders, churches and denominations across the Western world. He is the author of numerous award winning books including The Forgotten Ways, 5Q, ReJesus, The Shaping of Things to Come, and The Permanent Revolution. He and his lovely wife Debra hail from the land down under, but currently live in Melbourne, Australia.
Rob Kelly is the Founder & CEO of the FORCLT Network. Rob is also co-founder of the City Leaders Collective (with Eric Swanson), which connects and equips city network leaders globally. Rob is co-author of the book ‘Metanoia’ (with Alan Hirsch), and the founder & lead author of the State of the City Report. Prior to this, Rob served 13 years as a pastor, along with numerous other leadership positions, including co-founding CLT/ONE and lecturing at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. Rob is a graduate of the University of Washington and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Charlotte, and is pursuing doctoral studies from Bakke Graduate University. Rob is married to Ani, and they are the proud parents of Addison and RJ.
The book:
Metanoia
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In this episode, Scot McKnight talks about one of his new books – Pivot. This book is a follow up to A Church Called Tov which really hit a nerve when it debuted. In that book they wrote about toxic church culture and contrast it to tov culture, or goodness culture. Pivot is the book of implementation. What are the steps to get to a tov church? What are the things that we need to implement? We talk about Holy Spirit, Christlikeness, models, long patience, giving ownership over to the church body, and more. It's a great conversation. So, join us as we discover the pivotal priorities, practices, and powers that we can live into, so we can transform into a tov culture.
Scot McKnight is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary and a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the author of more than ninety books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as A Church Called Tov, The King Jesus Gospel, A Fellowship of Differents, The Blue Parakeet, and Kingdom Conspiracy. He maintains an active Substack newsletter at https://scotmcknight.substack.com. He and his wife, Kristen, live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where they enjoy long walks, gardening, and cooking.
Scot's Book:
Pivot
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In this episode, Jason VanRuler and I have a great conversation about our past wounds and struggles and how we can heal from them, so that we can be healthy and whole. We can find Christ in the dark places of our lives as he enters into the suffering with us and he will be there to lead us to the next step. We talk about the necessity of acknowledging where we are at, being honest with ourselves and God, asking for help, and finding friends to walk with us. Join us as we uncover the wounds of our past, so that we can heal from them, and move forward into the future in a healthy way connected to God and to one another.
Jason VanRuler is the author of Get Past Your Past: How Facing Your Broken Places Leads to True Connection. He began his career in 2011 and has worked with many populations over the years, ranging from persons who are incarcerated to top CEOs, performers and artists, and just about everyone in between. Jason has extensive experience as a clinician, coach, and speaker and operates a multistate private practice. In 2018, Jason joined Bethesda Workshops in Nashville, TN, where he serves as a group leader and facilitator. Jason is known for his ability to relate and connect with his clients and offer hope to those who have felt hopeless. He has an engaged and rapidly growing online audience for his insightful, short videos sharing practical tips for psychological care, self-help, and healthy relationships.
Jason's Book:
Get Past Your Past
Jason's Recommendation:
Soundtracks by Jon Acuff
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In this episode, JR Woodward gives examples of mimetic rivalry, true humility, emptying ourselves, and how to follow the scandalous way of Christ. He goes deep into the book of Philippians and the story of Oscar Romero to help ground us in the reality of how the powers and principalities play a part in creating scandals of leadership and how imitating Christ helps us lead in the way of the Kingdom. Join us as we look at models for us to follow, so that we can construct our identity on Christ.
JR Woodward (PhD, University of Manchester, U.K.) has been passionately planting churches on the East and West Coast that value tight-knit community, life-forming discipleship, locally-rooted presence and boundary-crossing mission for over 25 years. He is the author of Creating a Missional Culture (IVP, 2012) and co-author of The Church as Movement (IVP, 2016), which won the readers choice award for InterVarsity Press. He co-founded the Missio Alliance and currently serves as the National Director for the V3 Church Planting Movement. He is the co-founder of the Praxis Gathering and writes for numerous websites and journals. He holds a Masters of Arts in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. He loves to surf, travel, read, skateboard and new people. He enjoys photography and film and tries to attend the Sundance Film Festival whenever he can.
JR's Book:
The Scandal of Leadership
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In this episode, JR Woodward and I get into how the powers and principalities shape our leadership, what we can learn from the temptations of Jesus, how our desires produce our identity, and how we are all captive to imitation. Join us for part one of this two part conversation as we pursue imitating Christ because To not imitate Christ is to imitate the Devil and to experience all of the craziness when we do that.
JR Woodward (PhD, University of Manchester, U.K.) has been passionately planting churches on the East and West Coast that value tight-knit community, life-forming discipleship, locally-rooted presence and boundary-crossing mission for over 25 years. He is the author of Creating a Missional Culture (IVP, 2012) and co-author of The Church as Movement (IVP, 2016), which won the readers choice award for InterVarsity Press. He co-founded the Missio Alliance and currently serves as the National Director for the V3 Church Planting Movement. He is the co-founder of the Praxis Gathering and writes for numerous websites and journals. He holds a Masters of Arts in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. He loves to surf, travel, read, skateboard and new people. He enjoys photography and film and tries to attend the Sundance Film Festival whenever he can.
JR's Book:
The Scandal of Leadership
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Mark Yarhouse and I have a great conversation around talking to our kids about gender identity. We get into areas like what is gender, what is gender dysphoria, how language has expanded definitions of how we see ourselves, how we can be cultural ambassadors of the Kingdom of God in our conversations about gender and how we can act with convicted civility seasoned with compassion. It’s an important conversation that gives us all hand holds, so we don’t feel unbalanced. Join us as we learn how we can talk to our kids about gender identity.
Mark Yarhouse is the Dr. Arthur and Mrs. Jean May Rech Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, where he directs the Sexual & Gender Identity Institute. he was named Senior Fellow with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities to conduct a study of students navigating sexual identity concerns at Christian colleges and universities. He has been a consultant to the National Institute of Corrections to address issues facing LGBTQ+ persons in corrections, and he was part of a consensus panel from the American Psychological Association on sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts that convened to provide input to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services in Washington, DC. Dr. Yarhouse is currently the Chair of the task force on LGBTQ+ issues for Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association. He was also invited to write the featured white paper on sexual identity for the Christ on Campus Initiative edited by Don Carson for The Gospel Coalition.
Mark's Book:
Talking to Kids About Gender Identity
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In this episode, Michael Frost and I have a great conversation around his book Mission is the Shape of Water. We hear how mission has taken different shapes throughout the centuries, but the principles of mission remain the same. We hear stories about The missionaries of the first few centuries after Christ, Boniface and the Celtic movement, Zinzindorf and the Moravians, Mary Slessor, and Alice Seely Harris. We then move into how all of this history impacts our world today. What we can learn, take from, and move on from as we join God in his mission to draw all peoples to Himself. Join us as we learn from past mission to inform our future mission as we join God in His work.
Michael Frost is an internationally recognised Australian missiologist and one of the leading voices in the missional church movement. His books are required reading in colleges and seminaries around the world and he is much sought after as an international conference speaker.
Since 1999, Dr Frost has been the founding director of the Tinsley Institute, a mission study centre located at Morling College in Sydney, Australia. He has also been an adjunct lecturer at various seminaries in the United States.
He is the author or editor of nineteen books, inclunding, The Shaping of Things to Come (2003), Exiles (2006), The Road to Missional (2011) and Surprise the World! (2016). Mike’s latest book is Mission is the Shape of Water which is what we talk about in this conversation.
He was one of the founders of the Forge Mission Training Network and the founder of the missional Christian community, smallboatbigsea, based in Manly in Sydney’s north. He is also well known for his protests against Australia’s treatment of refugees, some of which have resulted in his arrest, as well as his advocacy for racial reconciliation, foreign aid, and gender equality.
Mike's Book:
Mission is the Shape of Water
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In this episode, Shauna Pilgreen and I have a conversation around topics and themes from her latest book Translating Jesus. We talk about how to be translators and speak of Jesus in a way that culture can understand. We talk about being curious, paying attention, and being intentional to listen to the Holy Spirit and the person in front of us. She talks about three different spaces where we can encounter Jesus: the gate, the cross, and the table. Join us as we learn how we can start talking to people about Jesus, so that they will start talking to Jesus.
Shauna Pilgreen, along with her husband, Ben, coleads Epic Church, a multiethnic congregation in the heart of San Francisco. She serves on the teaching team at Epic and as a network director for Alpha USA. She writes for "everyday evangelists" on her blog. Learn more at www.shaunapilgreen.com.
Shauna's Book:
Translating Jesus
Shauna's Recommendations:
The Alchemist
Alastair McGrath
Basic Christianity by John Stott
The Chosen
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Andy joins us for the third time! The first two conversations were great and you can go back and listen to those after you listen to this one.
Andrew Root and I have a great discussion around his new book The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms. Because we live with an utter buffet of spiritualities and we have our choice of what we use to transform us and because we live in the age of the self in which everything has to go through the self, we are caught in tension and we have become guilt saturated. Not because we live under the should have God’s commands, but because we could have been better. We have let ourselves down. This leads to more depression and anxiety. So, we try and fix ourselves. Andy argues a couple of things here that we get into: Memoirists are the new mystics and they point the way to transformation, and all of our conflicts are not polarized in two directions, but they are triangulated. There are three points of conflict. What are they? You have to listen to find out.
Join us as we uncover a third way of transcendence and transformation that leads to an encounter with something outside of ourselves.
Andrew Root, PhD (Princeton Theological Seminary) is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary. He is most recently the author of four volume Ministry in a Secular Age series (Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Congregation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, and Faith Formation in a Secular Age), and The End of Youth Ministry?. He has also authored Christopraxis: A Practical Theology of the Cross (Fortress, 2014) and Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker (Baker, 2014). Root puts together theology and storytelling to explore how ministry leads us into encounter with divine action. His book The Relational Pastor(IVP, 2013) as well as a four book series with Zondervan called A Theological Journey Through Youth Ministry (titles include Taking Theology to Youth Ministry, Taking the Cross to Youth Ministry, Unpacking Scripture in Youth Ministry, and Unlocking Mission and Eschatology in Youth Ministry) break new ground in this direction. Andy has worked in congregations, parachurch ministries, and social service programs. He lives in St. Paul with his wife Kara, two children, Owen and Maisy, and their dog. When not reading, writing, or teaching, Andy spends far too much time watching TV and movies.
Andy's Book:
The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Andrew Whitehead and I have a conversation around Christian Nationalism. What is it? What is not not? As we deal with the idols of power, of fear, and of violence, we can root out self interest and the temptation to make it all about one group over the other. Then we can deal with these issues and disciple others to a better way: A way that looks like Jesus, that lifts up the marginalized and helps create flourishing for all people. Join us as we wrestle with fear, power, violence and Christian Nationalism.
Andrew Whitehead is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Association of Religion Data Archives (theARDA.com) at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUI.
Whitehead is one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States. He is the lead author of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2020)—along with Samuel Perry—which won the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. His new book is American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, from Brazos Press.
Andrew's Book:
American Idolatry
Andrew's Recommendation:
Holy Unhappiness by Amanda Held Opelt
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In this episode, Kayla Craig talks about what it looks like to parent in the mess. How we are to be rooted and grounded in Jesus through the sacred rhythms of our life and the seasons God has given us. How we can implement breath prayers and the examen, how we can bring community along with us to shepherd our families well. And How we can start to order our families and lives that point to values that are of the Kingdom and the values that God has given us as a family. Join us as we navigate the holy mess of parenting, start to notice the grace all around us, and enter in to the rhythms of life as we walk in step with the Spirit of God.
Kayla Craig is a former journalist who brings deep curiosity and care to her writing.
She’s the author of Every Season Sacred and To Light Their Way. With a poetic,
prophetic voice, she created the popular Liturgies for Parents Instagram account,
which Christianity Today named an “essential parenting resource.” She also hosts
the Liturgies for Parents podcast. Kayla’s nuanced and accessible reflections,
essays, and prayers are featured in various books, devotionals, and Bible studies.
Kayla lives in a 115-year-old former convent in her Iowa hometown, where she hopes
to create spaces of welcome alongside her four children, two dogs, and husband,
Jonny.
Kayla's Book:
Every Season Sacred
Kayla's Website:
kaylacraig.com
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In this episode, Kaitlyn Schiess and I talk about the history of how we used the Bible in America and our politics, how we can faithfully serve God and our community, how we can work for the flourishing of our local communities, how we can see the whole redemptive story of scripture and apply that to our lives and politics, and how we can navigate contentious political seasons coming up. Join us as we figure out how we can read scripture and our context well, so we can faithfully live out lives that rightly discern – who am I in this story?
Kaitlyn Schiess is an author, speaker, and perpetual theology student. She is the author of The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture has been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here (Brazos, 2023) and The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor (IVP, 2020). Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, The New York Times, Christ and Pop Culture, RELEVANT, and Sojourner. She has a ThM in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and is currently a doctoral student in political theology at Duke Divinity School.
Kaitlyn's Book:
The Ballot and the Bible
Kaitlyn's Website:
www.kaitlynschiess.com
Kaitlyn's Recommendation:
Self Made by Tara Isabella Burton
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Father James Martin and I have a great conversation around the story of Lazarus and the implications of it for our life. We talk through disappointments, how Jesus weeps with us through our sorrows, brings new life, and invites us into a participatory life of helping free other people. Join us as we navigate waiting for God to act as we remember what God has done for us in the past.
Since we are talking about the story of Lazarus, you might want you to read the story from the Gospel of John before we get into the conversation. John 11:1-44
James Martin is a Jesuit priest, editor-at-large of America magazine and bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Between Heaven and Mirth. His latest book is Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’ Greatest Miracle. Father Martin has written for many publications, including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he is a regular commentator in the national and international media
Before entering the Jesuits in 1988, Father Martin graduated from the Wharton School of Business and worked for General Electric for six years. In 2017, Pope Francis appointed him to be a Consultor for the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication.
Father Martin's Book:
Come Forth
Father Martin's Recommendations:
Sacred Fire by Ronald Rolheiser
On a Farther Shore by William Souder
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In this episode, Josh Larsen and I have a great conversation that covers many different horror genres including prophetic horror, zombie films, creature features, slashers, found-footage, and psychological horror. We talk about how each genre provokes certain fears in us like the loss of our humanity, the lack of control, nature run amok, anxieties unmet, and the brokenness of society. We then see how the Bible and the Gospel answers the fears we are confronted with. So join us and open yourself up to seeing the reality of Gospel hope in the light of the horror of a horror movie.
Josh is the co-host of the radio show and podcast Filmspotting, author of Movies Are Prayers and Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror, as well as editor/producer for Think Christian, a website and podcast exploring faith and pop culture. He’s been writing and speaking about movies professionally since 1994.
Josh’s career began in the newspaper business, where he started out as a beat reporter for a weekly community newspaper and went on to become a film critic for the Chicago-based Sun-Times Media for more than 10 years. In 2011, he joined the Christian media landscape as editor of Think Christian, and in 2012 he joined the long-running weekly podcast Filmspotting, aired on WBEZ in Chicago.
A veteran of the Sundance, Toronto, and Chicago International Film Festivals, Josh has given talks on film at various colleges and conferences. Since 2017, he has led “Ebert Interruptus,” a tradition established by Roger Ebert, which analyzes a single film scene by scene over several days at the University of Colorado’s Conference on World Affairs.
Josh's Book:
Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies
Josh's Recommendations:
Interpreting Your World by Justin A. Bailey
Astroid City
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Karen Swallow Prior and I have a fantastic conversation around evangelical culture and true Christian faith. We dig into the history of Evangelical faith, what myths, stories, and narratives have contributed to the underlying assumptions we have on how the world works, and we talk through how to be faithful to Jesus in the midst of unexamined culture. Join us as we start to unveil the underlying narratives that we follow unaware.
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is a reader, writer, and professor. She is the author of The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Brazos, 2023); On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos 2018); Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson, 2014); and Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press, 2012). She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan 2019) and has contributed to numerous other books. She has a monthly column for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, and various other places. She hosted the podcast Jane and Jesus. She is a Contributing Editor for Comment, a founding member of The Pelican Project, a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, and a Senior Fellow at the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture. She and her husband live on a 100-year-old homestead in central Virginia with dogs, chickens, and lots of books.
Karen's Book:
The Evangelical Imagination
Karen's Substack:
The Priory
Karen's Website:
Karen Swallow Prior
Karen's Recommendation:
The Brothers K
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Karen Wright Marsh and I have a wonderful discussion about our invitation to wonder and amazement. Through looking at the specific lives of those who have come before us, we can find practices that will shape the way we see the world and interact with God. Through beauty, art, singing, poetry, walking, cooking, writing, and more, we can start to pay attention to God at work and become people that are intentioned towards wonder. So join us as we contemplate these things and more.
Karen Wright Marsh is an author, speaker and the executive director and cofounder of Theological Horizons, a ministry that supports Christians & seekers in academia by providing a welcoming community for engaging faith, thought & life. She is the host of the Vintage Saints and Sinners podcast. She holds degrees in philosophy from Wheaton College & linguistics from the University of Virginia. Karen lives with Charles Marsh, a UVA professor, at the Bonhoeffer House in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Karen's Websites:
Karen Wright Marsh
Theological Horizons
Karen's Book:
Wake Up to Wonder
Karen's Recommendations:
How to Have Impossible Conversations
The Great Belonging by Charlotte Donlon
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In this episode, Todd Hunter talks about the aims of Jesus and how getting back to His purposes can help us through bad religion. We talk about living in the Kingdom of God, how we receive it and how we are sent to be His witnesses, and many other facets of the Kingdom. We talk about spiritual practices, so that we can do good works when moments present themselves. We talk about the gospel – what it is, what Jesus said it is and how we can live into it.
Bishop Todd Hunter’s life-long passion is to help others heed the call of Jesus to “come follow me” and thus to live their life in the kingdom of God as Jesus embodied, taught and demonstrated it. Bishop Hunter’s vision for such a life entails being the cooperative friend of Jesus, seeking to live a life of constant creative goodness, for the sake of others, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This overarching vision has led Bishop Hunter to engage deeply with a few core themes:
The Gospel of the Kingdom
The person and work of the Holy Spirit
The nature and purpose of the church at the intersection of gospel and culture (missional ecclesiology)
Spiritual formation as core to discipleship to Jesus
Servant-hearted, kingdom-minded, Spirit-empowered leadership
Bishop Hunter has expressed his kingdom-Spirit-formation-church-culture focus in various settings. He is the founding bishop of The Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others, a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. He writes a weekly newsletter: “The Gospel of the Kingdom.” Bishop Hunter is past President of Alpha USA, former National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches, and retired founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Costa Mesa, California. He is the author of Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others, Giving Church Another Chance, The Outsider Interviews, The Accidental Anglican, Our Favorite Sins and Our Character at Work. His latest book is What Jesus Intended: Finding Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion.
Bishop Hunter is also the founder of the Center for Formation, Justice and Peace. Alongside trauma-informed spiritual director Vanessa Sadler, Bishop Todd hosts Peace Talks, a podcast that spotlights women and men who are working to undo oppression, leading to lives of deeper peace for all.
Bishop Hunter holds a Doctor of Ministry degree and has served as an adjunct professor of evangelism, leadership in contemporary culture and spiritual formation at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary, Vanguard University, Azusa Pacific University, Northern Seminary, and Wheaton College.
Bishop Hunter and his wife Debbie live in Franklin, Tennessee. They have two adult children.
Todd's Book:
What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Mark Baker talks about Paul’s letter to the Galatians. We talk about non-judgmentalism, bounded, fuzzy, and centered sets, our orientation to God and to each other in the body of Christ, spiritual powers that have influenced us and the freedom that we have from them, and more.
Mark Baker is Professor of Mission and Theology at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. He previously was a missionary in Honduras for ten years and a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Syracuse University for three years. He continues ministry involvement in Latin America through regular visits. Since 2008 he has led a weekly Bible study at the Fresno County Jail. He has written a number of books in English and Spanish, including Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials, and Centered-Set Church: Discipleship and Community Without Judgmentalism.
Mark's Website:
www.centeredsetchurch.com
Mark's Books:
Centered-Set Church
Freedom from Religiosity and Judgmentalism
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In this episode, Jamaal Williams and Timothy Paul Jones talk about how to create a multi-ethnic Kingdom community in our churches like it will be in heaven. We talk through the unity and diversity in the identity of God, how our unity and diversity flows out of that identity, and how lament is important to establish ties between ethnic groups. We ground our conversation in the story of Jamaal, Timothy, and their church Sojourn Midtown in Louisville as an example of the work we can step into to see the body of Christ start to reflect the vision laid out in Revelation 7:9 where people from every tribe tongue and nation surround the throne of Jesus.
Jamaal Williams (DEdMin) serves as lead pastor of Sojourn Church Midtown in Louisville, Kentucky, and as president of the Harbor Network. In addition, he regularly consults churches on leadership matters and issues related to building healthy multi-ethnic churches.
Timothy Paul Jones (PhD) teaches apologetics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as a preaching pastor at Sojourn Church Midtown. In addition, he has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books, including Finding God in a Galaxy Far, Far Away; Christian History Made Easy; and, with James Garlow and April Williams, the bestselling The Da Vinci Codebreaker.Jamaal and Timothy's book:
In Church as it is in Heaven
Timothy's Recommendations:
The Mandalorian
Augustine's Sermons
Jamaal's Recommendations:
The Spirit, Ethics, and Eternal Life by Jarvis Williams
God's Empowering Presence by Gordon Fee
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In this episode, Jessica Hooten Wilson talks about her latest book Reading for the Love of God, reading as a spiritual practice, how to use the four senses and the four stages to read well, how Jesus teaches us how to read well, what it means to read poorly, and how art, literature, and beauty can help transform our lives and move us closer to God.
Jessica Hooten Wilson is the inaugural Seaver College Scholar of Liberal Arts at Pepperdine University and a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum. She is the author of several books, most recently Reading for the Love of God: How To Read as a Spiritual Practice.
Jessica's Book:
Reading for the Love of God
Jessica's Website:
www.jessicahootenwilson.com
Jessica's Recommendations:
Engaging the Old Testament by Dominick Hernandez
The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper
Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World's First Author
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In this episode, Josh White and I have a conversation about the foolishness of the cross. About our need to be confronted with the end of ourselves, so we can be dependent on Christ. We talk about how confession can drive our communities, being a witness to Jesus in the world, and radical grace and vulnerability.
Josh White is a speaker, recording artist, writer and founding pastor of Door of Hope, a family of church’s in the urban core of Portland Oregon. Josh lives with his wife Darcy, son Henry, daughter Hattie. Portland is the city where he and his wife Darcy met 23 years ago while Josh was playing a show with his then Seattle glam rock band, Man Ray, at the now defunct Satyricon night club. Little did they know that their lives within a few years would be turned upside down and revolutionized by the gospel of Jesus. When not traveling, preaching and leading Door of Hope, Josh is enjoying his family, obsessively reading — he actually is just obsessive — writing, producing and designing spaces. He just released his first book ‘Stumbling Toward Eternity’ for Penguin imprint, Multnomah press. Josh often refers to himself as the amateur pastor — for in the words of Robert Farrar Capon, ‘The amateur—the lover, the man who thinks heedlessness a sin and boredom a heresy—is just the man you need. More than that, whether you think you need him or not, he is a man who is bound, by his love, to speak. The role of the amateur: to look the world back to grace.’
Josh's book:
Stumbling Toward Eternity
Josh's Recommendations:
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman
I Saw Satan Fall Like Lightening by Rene Girard
Presence in the Modern World by Jacques Ellul
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
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In this episode, Eun K. Strawser talks about centering discipleship in community. She answers the question, how do we imitate Jesus together, so that we can look like Him, and move toward our neighbor in mission? We talk through the elements of formation, rhythms, and examples that move our community towards one that centers Jesus and discipleship to Him.
Eun K. Strawser is the co-vocational lead pastor of Ma Ke Alo o (which means "Presence" in Hawaiian), non-denominational missional communities multiplying in Honolulu, HI, a community physician at Ke Ola Pono, and an executive leader at the V3 Movement, the church planting arm of the BGAV. Prior to transitioning to Hawaii, she served as adjunct professor of medicine at the Philadelphia College of Medicine and of African Studies at her alma mater the University of Pennsylvania (where she and her husband served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) after finishing her Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Dar es Salaam. She and Steve have three, seriously, amazing children
Rev. Dr. Strawser has nearly two decades of experience in centering discipleship and making mature missional disciples. She has developed lay counseling curriculum, discipleship pathways for children's ministries, and discipleship pathways utilized both in established church and church-planting contexts. While her heart is in locally-rooted kingdom work, she also consults and coaches pastors, planters and market-place/community leaders world-wide in developing discipleship pathways and structuring their context to center discipleship.
Eun's Book:
Centering Discipleship
Eun's Recommendation:
The Scandal of Leadership by JR Woodward
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In this episode, Benjamin Windle talks about the themes of his latest book Good Catastrophe. He talks about finding hope in the midst of despair, darkness, and catastrophe. Is it possible to find? Well, Ben takes the story of Job and illuminates it for our time.
Benjamin Windle is an innovative and empathic author, speaker, and Millennial/Gen Z specialist. As a pastor for over 20 years, he has walked with many through the dark shadows and valleys of the human experience. He has dedicated his life to helping people overcome life's challenges by growing deeper in their faith.
Windle is a new-generation content creator for some of the most respected Christian brands in the world. He has a Bachelor of Theology, an MBA from Deakin University, and Executive Education at Stanford University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He and his wife, Cindi, have three sons.
Windle’s academic expertise and grassroots experience in discipleship have shaped him into an influential writer and public speaker. He is passionate about helping churches reach the Millennial and Gen Z groups, offering them wise counsel and practical resources.
Windle and his family are based in both the U.S. and Australia. His work has been featured by the Barna Group, YouVersion, RightNow Media, and the Glorify App. For more about the author, go to benjaminwindle.com.
Benjamin's book:
www.goodcatastrophe.com
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In this episode, Andrew Root talks about his latest book When Church Stops Working, and he answers the question why isn't innovation the answer? He talks through waiting for the Spirit's leading, paying attention to our stories, being witnesses to the acts of God, and sitting with the sorrows of our neighbors.
Andrew Root, PhD (Princeton Theological Seminary) is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary. He is most recently the author of four volume Ministry in a Secular Age series (Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Congregation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, and Faith Formation in a Secular Age), and The End of Youth Ministry?. He has also authored Christopraxis: A Practical Theology of the Cross (Fortress, 2014) and Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker (Baker, 2014). Root puts together theology and storytelling to explore how ministry leads us into encounter with divine action. His book The Relational Pastor(IVP, 2013) as well as a four book series with Zondervan called A Theological Journey Through Youth Ministry (titles include Taking Theology to Youth Ministry, Taking the Cross to Youth Ministry, Unpacking Scripture in Youth Ministry, and Unlocking Mission and Eschatology in Youth Ministry) break new ground in this direction. In 2012 his book The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry (with Kenda Creasy Dean, IVP, 2011) was Christianity Today Book of Merit. He has written a number of other books on ministry and theology such as The Children of Divorce: The Loss of Family as the Loss of Being (Baker Academic, 2010), The Promise of Despair (Abingdon, 2010), Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation (IVP, 2007) and Relationships Unfiltered (Zondervan/YS, 2009). Andy has worked in congregations, parachurch ministries, and social service programs. He lives in St. Paul with his wife Kara, two children, Owen and Maisy, and their dog. When not reading, writing, or teaching, Andy spends far too much time watching TV and movies.
Andy's Book:
When Church Stops Working
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In this episode, Nijay and I have a great conversation about how women led and ministered in the Bible and in the early church. He digs in to the stories of Deborah, Junia, Mary, Priscilla, Phoebe, and more. He also talks through the context and culture of the time and place of the early church, so we can start to see with new eyes what women were doing and how they were treated. We also talk about the different leadership categories in the early church. Nijay also shares about how growing up as a son of immigrant parents in Ohio has shaped the way he sees Jesus and the gospel.
Nijay 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 advises doctoral students. He is the author of the book Worship That Makes Sense to Paul and Prepare, Succeed, Advance. His latest book is Tell Her Story. Nijay also co-hosts the podcast Slow Theology with A.J. Swoboda .
Nijay's Book:
Tell Her Story
Nijay's Recommendation:
Women and the Gender of God by Amy Peeler
Nijay and A.J.'s podcast:
Slow Theology
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In this episode, Ashley Hales talks about a more spacious life, helping us see that our limits are good and point us to God. She shares spiritual practices to help notice God in everyday life, to remind ourselves that we are His beloved children, and to move from the cerebral to the rest of the body. She also talks about how to have hope in suffering, and helps us navigate the cultural landscape we find ourselves in.
Ashley Hales holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. With her husband, she is the co-founder of The Willowbrae Institute, a new think tank researching the intersection of Christianity and the common good in America . She is a Kirby Laing Centre Academic Fellow and advisor to the Board of Covenant College. Ashley hosts the The Cartographers Podcast and is the author of Finding Holy in the Suburbs and A Spacious Life. Connect on substack, Instagram or Twitter.
Ashley's Book:
A Spacious Life
Ashley's Recommendations:
New Amsterdam
On Getting Out of Bed by Alan Noble
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
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In this episode, Jared Brock uncovers the human life of Jesus. Who was he as a child? What was the culture and context of his life and ministry? What were the economics, philosophy, and teachings of Jesus? Who was the crime family that had Jesus killed? We talk about these things and more.
Jared Brock is an award-winning author and director of several films including PBS's acclaimed Redeeming Uncle Tom with Danny Glover. His writing has appeared in Christianity Today, The Guardian, Smithsonian, USA Today, Huffington Post, Relevant, and TIME. He has traveled to more than forty countries, including North Korea, Transnistria, and the Vatican. Learn more at jaredbrock.com.
Jared's Book:
A God Named Josh
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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In this episode, Christopher Wright talks about the great story, the grand narrative of the Bible and the mission of God and discusses what part the great commission plays in the story. We talk about the marks of mission, how we should live in God's story, and how seeing the world through a missional worldview changes the way we interact in the world.
Chris Wright is the Global Ambassador of the Langham Partnership (www.langham.org), which provides literature, scholarships and preaching training for Majority World pastors and seminaries. He taught in India for five years. His books include Old Testament Ethics for the People of God; The Mission of God; The God I Don’t Understand; The Mission of God’s People, and the Great Story and the Great Commission. Chris and his wife Liz have four adult children and eleven grandchildren and live in London, as members of All Souls Church, Langham Place.
Chris' Book:
The Great Story and the Great Commission
Chris' Recommendation:
Biblical Critical Theory by Christopher Watkin
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In this episode Josh Green talks about what is happening in the youth culture today, hunger for the presence of Jesus, prayer that is persistent, consistent, and resistant, revival that's bubbling up around the world, putting Jesus first and at the center, living out our faith authentically and consistently, and he gives a first hand account of what happened at Asbury.
Josh is Youth Director for 24-7 Prayer and Wildfires Festival. Josh travelled the world for years performing and preaching the gospel in various bands. Now, with a burning heart for revival, he continues to fire up young people to be all-in for Jesus. Josh was captivated by the Vision Poem and Red Moon Rising in his journey to joining 24-7 Prayer. He lives in Manchester with his wife and three kids and attends Ramp Church. He loves good food, proper coffee, and Manchester City.
Josh's Recommendation:
To Sow for a Great Awakening by David Thomas
Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us
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Elijah Davidson talks about finding the Spirit of God in film, craft, and the arts, and his process of writing a Christian guide to the greatest films of all time. He wrestles through questions that films invoke in all of us, he shares how to read film, how film applies to our faith and life, and more.
Elijah Davidson is a writer living in California. He is the author of How to Talk to a Movie: Movie-Watching as a Spiritual Exercise, the creator of the Icons of Cinema series of brief texts on prominent filmmakers, a contributor to God in the Movies: A Guide for Exploring Four Decades of Film, and the co-editor of the Reel Spirituality Monograph Series with Cascade Press.
Since 2011, he has co-directed Fuller Theological Seminary’s Brehm Film institute of faith and film (formerly Reel Spirituality). In addition to publishing books about movies for Christians, he helps plan Brehm Film's screening series, writes for and edits Brehm Film’s website, Deep Focus, and participates in all other activities of the institute.
Alongside his vocational work as a writer and supporter of the cinematic arts, he works as the Director of Content Strategy for Fuller Seminary's Communication & Branding team. He graduated from Fuller Seminary in 2014 with a Master's of Arts in Intercultural Studies, focusing on American popular culture, theology, and the arts.
He is married, has two children, and a dog. If he is not writing or working, he is most likely camping, weather-permitting or not.
Elijah's book:
Come & See
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In this episode, Jessie Cruickshank talks about her latest book Ordinary Discipleship, how everyone can be a disciple of Jesus and a disciple maker, the hero’s journey, community transformation towards Jesus, hearing God’s voice, experiential and narrative based discipleship that follows brain science and the way we have been wired, and more.
It’s a great conversation and builds on our previous episode together. After you listen to this one, go back and check out episode 2 with Jessie Cruickshank in which she shares her story and gives us a bit of brain science.
Jessie Cruickshank holds a Master’s from Harvard in Mind, Brain, and Education. She is an ordained minister in the Foursquare Church and a nationally recognized expert in disciplemaking and the neuroscience of transformation. She has spent two decades applying neuroeducation research to discipleship, ministry training, experiential learning, and organizational development. Jessie is respected globally as a missiological thought-leader, and as a church and denominational consultant. She is the founder of Whoology, and is the co-founder of 5Q. Jessie lives and adventures with her family in Colorado. For more information visit OrdinaryDiscipleship.com
Jessie's Book:
Ordinary Discipleship
Listen to Episode 2 of Shifting Culture with Jessie Cruickshank:
Ep. 2 Jessie Cruickshank - Brain Science, Roller Derby, and Living a Shame Free Life
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In this episode Dr. Scot McKnight gives a vision for the book of Revelation. He talks about how we, as followers of Jesus, can live faithfully as witnesses to the Lamb in the shadow of Babylon (or the Empire). He talks about being dissident disciples, how black spirituals are an example of the songs in Revelation, how the Gospel sees and utilizes power, and more.
Scot McKnight is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. He is the author of more than eighty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as The King Jesus Gospel, A Fellowship of Differents, One.Life, The Blue Parakeet, and Kingdom Conspiracy. He maintains an active blog at www.christianitytoday.com/scot-mcknight. He and his wife, Kristen, live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where they enjoy long walks, gardening, and cooking.
Scot's Book:
Revelation for the Rest of Us
Scot's Substack:
Scot's Newsletter
Scot's Recommendation:
The Woman of the Pharisees by Francois Mauriac
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In this episode Hugh Halter talks about family on mission, raising kingdomlings, not church kids, the importance of being less individualistic, materialistic, and consumeristic, releasing our kids to the Lord, discipleship in the family, and more.
HUGH HALTER and Cheryl, as well as their children and truckload of grandchildren, all live in Alton Illinois. They have been missionaries in North America for more than thirty years. They’ve planted two churches and in 2016 founded Lantern Network in Alton, Illinois.
Lantern Network is a kingdom ecosystem committed to incubating good works and benevolent businesses to bless the city. Hugh speaks extensively across the globe, encouraging innovative forms of church, and when home loves to help Cheryl run Rí Beag Refuge, an eighty-acre equine therapy farm.
Hugh is a leading missional voice, authoring such books as The Tangible Kingdom, AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church, Flesh, and, most recently, the Life as Mission Series, which seeks to equip Christians to live the missionary life of Jesus in their everyday context.
His mission is to encourage the church to be less churchy and instead work on creating social, personal, & spiritual ventures that serve our cities in ways that make God smile.
Hugh's Website:
www.hughhalter.com
Hugh's Recommendation:
The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
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In this episode Kat Armas shares her story and how that informs her faith, and we talk about centering the marginalized, how to embody faith, healing the trauma of our past, and more.
Kat Armas is a Cuban American writer and podcaster from Miami, FL. She holds a dual MDiv and MAT from Fuller Theological Seminary where she was awarded the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing, and is currently pursuing a ThM at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Her first book, Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, Persistence and Strength, sits at the intersection of women, decolonialism, the Bible, and Cuban identity. She also explores these topics and more on her podcast, The Protagonistas, which centers the voices of Black, Indigenous, and other women of color in theological spaces.
Kat is currently living in Nashville with her spouse and new baby while working on her second book, Sacred Belonging: A 40-day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture.
Kat's Website:
www.katarmas.com
Kat's Recommendation:
The Last of Us
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In this episode Brandon Wrencher talks about the black prophetic tradition, the importance of embodying the truth, practicals around community organizing for the common good, people receiving the power they have that is given to them by God, transformation to hope, peace, and joy, and more.
Brandon is a minister, community organizer, teacher and facilitator. He works across faith, higher education, and nonprofit sectors at the intersections of decolonizing church, contemplative activism and local presence to build beloved communities.
Brandon's Books:
Liberating Church
Buried Seeds
Brandon's Recommendation:
Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else) by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
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In this episode Jesse Roberts talks about Poor Bishop Hooper, the EveryPsalm project, getting the word of God in the heart of people through music and song, the importance and power of beauty, small expressions of church, living with others, and being formed by Jesus.
Jesse Roberts is one half of the duo Poor Bishop Hooper. Jesse writes, records, and performs with his wife Leah. Their latest project is EveryPsalm, which they began January 1, 2020, in which they wrote, recorded, and released a new song based on a Psalm each week. You can go, search for Poor Bishop Hooper and listen now.
Jesse's website:
www.poorbishophooper.com
Jesse's Recommendations:
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Poet Priest by Andy Squyres
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It's episode 100! Thank you for going on this journey with me. It's been an amazing ride.
In this episode, Sara Billups talks about her new book Orphaned Believers, the cultural components of white evangelical culture of the 80s and 90s, how we are formed - whether it be by the culture around us or into the image and likeness of Jesus, and the importance of love as the antidote to fear.
Sara Billups is a Seattle-based writer and cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Christianity Today, Ekstasis, and others. Sara writes Bitter Scroll, a monthly Substack letter. She is completing her Doctor of Ministry in the Sacred Art of Writing at the Peterson Center for the Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary.
Sara's Book:
Orphaned Believers
Sara's Recommendations:
Doing Nothing Is No Longer an Option by Jenny Booth Potter
All Creatures Great and Small
The Chosen Season 3
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In this episode Ed Khouri talks about being God's favorite, receiving grace and joy in recovery from addictive behavior, becoming a face of grace for others, lectio and scripture reflection as a group, the repair of broken things, and more.
For more than 40 years, Ed Khouri has served churches, communities, and hurting people worldwide.
He worked with substance abusers and their families in diverse settings. As a pastoral counselor, trainer, and writer, Ed’s work has encompassed outpatient counseling, jails, transitional housing for homeless addicts, and all residential treatment phases. He supervised all therapeutic services and staff daily in a 96-bed state-licensed substance abuse treatment program. Ed has been sober since 1978.
Ed is passionate about helping churches, leaders, and small groups develop thriving, healthy communities rooted in grace, joy, and peace. He is the small group coordinator at his church, serving as an Elder.
As an experienced trainer, Ed leads workshops in churches and ministries worldwide, equipping workers to serve hurting men and women in their communities. He regularly trains and collaborates with ministries, including Thrive Today, The International Substance Abuse and Addiction Coalition (ISAAC), and Youth With A Mission’s Addictive Behavior Counseling School.
Ed is also an author.
• Working with Dr. Jim Wilder, he co-authored the Restarting and Belonging Modules of the Connexus Program.
• He is also the co-author of Joy Starts Here: The Transformation Zone.
Ed is the author of:
• Becoming a Face of Grace: Navigating Lasting Relationships with God and Others
• Beyond Becoming: A Field Guide to Sustainable, Transformational Communities
• The Weight of Leadership: How Codependency and Misplaced Mercy Undermine Life and Ministry.
Ed has a B.A. in Behavioral and Social Sciences. He completed his Ministry Training Program in 1987, focusing on addictions and trauma recovery. He was ordained in 1988 and is the president of Equipping Hearts for the Harvest.
He lives with the love of his life, Maritza, in Conover, North Carolina.
Ed's Recommendation:
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
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In this episode Daniel Grothe talks about the power of place, stability, and rootedness. And how the family of God can help re-family the world. Along with ways in which we can help bring Kingdom flourishing to a place and community.
Daniel Grothe is the associate senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he’s been for eighteen years. He’s the author of Chasing Wisdom and The Power of Place. Daniel and his wife, Lisa, live on a hobby farm outside of Colorado Springs with their three children—Lillian, Wilson, and Wakley.
Daniel's Books:
Chasing Wisdom
The Power of Place
Daniel's Recommendations:
Madam Secretary
Streams in the Wasteland by Andrew Arndt
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In this episode Pete Greig talks about the paradox of the Kingdom, serving the Good Shepherd and the bleeding Lamb, finding diverse perspectives in the church, the importance of prayer, and hope for what can come out of Waverley Abbey.
Pete Greig is the increasingly bewildered founder of 24-7 Prayer an international, interdenominational movement of prayer, mission and justice which has been praying night-and-day for more than twenty years, and has reached more than half the nations on earth. He and his wife Sammy, a professional counsellor, serve as Senior Pastors of Emmaus Rd, a church with congregations in Guildford, Woking and Aldershot, England. Pete co-hosts the Lectio 365 daily devotional, is a Director of Waverley Abbey Trust, is an Ambassador for the NGO Tearfund, and a member of The Order of the Mustard Seed. His award-winning books include Red Moon Rising, God on Mute and How To Pray. Pete and Sammy split their time between a barge on the River Wey, south of London, and an island retreat off the south coast of England where they host and mentor leaders.
Pete's Books:
How to Hear God
How to Pray
God on Mute
Dirty Glory
Red Moon Rising
24-7 Prayer
Lectio 365
The Lectio Course
Pete's Recommendations:
The Dropout
Ronald Rolheiser
Surrender by Bono
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In this episode Lucy Peppiatt talks about how theology has shaped her life and leadership, and how it affects the practical mission of the church. We also talk through the authority of Jesus and the given authority we have as Christ-followers and the implications of that practically through healing, deliverance, women in leadership, and more.
Lucy Peppiatt is the Principal of Westminster Theological Centre (WTC) in the UK. She lectures in Christian doctrine and in spiritual formation and has written on discipleship, Christ and the Spirit, Paul and Women, 1 Corinthians, and charismatic theology and practice among other topics. Lucy also oversees a small network of community churches in Bristol and London. She is married to Nick Crawley and they have four married sons.
Westminster Theological Centre
Lucy's Recommendation:
Jesus and the God of Classical Theism by Steven J. Duby
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In this episode Beth Paz talks about incarnational work, her journey with Jesus and moments of changing her mind. She shares her journey through the valley of grief and desolation during her divorce and finding that Jesus - the one who suffered - was with her through it all.
Beth has dedicated her life to mobilizing young people to be the next generation of leaders to live out the Gospel and join God’s mission of justice and righteousness.
Growing up in the state of Washington, Beth wanted to be an international missionary, but God redirected her to pursue inner-city neighborhood transformation in Fresno, California. She invested 11 years in leadership development and incarnational ministry with InterVarsity’s Fresno Institute for Urban Leadership, and served 3 years as the Director of High School Ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Fresno, CA.
Beth has traveled to over 35 countries and served as a North American delegate for the Lausanne Movement’s 2016 Younger Leaders Gathering in Jakarta, Indonesia. She is a passionate communicator of the Gospel and preaches at conferences and churches across the United States and internationally. During her time at Fuller Theological Seminary (MDIV 2019) she was the 2018 recipient of the Hooper – Keefe Preaching Award and the prestigious Parish Pulpit Fellowship (2019-2020) where she lived internationally in Guatemala and Albania.
Beth co-founded The PreacHER Academy in 2021, an online synchronous Seminary-level learning community for developing female preachers. Its international participants are empowered for the pulpit in communication of the Gospel.
Beth is thriving in singleness post-divorce, she loves CrossFit, reading and cross-cultural community. She pastors at Lake Avenue Church and lives in Pasadena, where she continues to cultivate and build the Kingdom of God.
preacHER academy
Find Beth on Instagram: @sojournerpaz
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In this episode Josh Buck talks about his latest book Everyday Activism, Kingdom flourishing, and engaging in social change and the good of others in a way that is practical and sustainable.
J.W. Buck is a church planter, filmmaker, teacher, and faith-based entrepreneur. With undergraduate degrees in biblical studies and ministry, J.W. has his PhD in intercultural studies, with a focus on the problem of racial violence. He is a cofounder of Pax, a Christian organization designed to inspire and equip the next generation through slow, beautiful, Jesus-centered content created by people of color. He and his wife, Sarswatie, live in Tucson, Arizona, with their three children.
Josh's Book:
Everyday Activism
Josh's Recommendation:
The Violence of Love by Oscar Romero
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In this episode Jonathan Hardy talks about his book Arrow Striker, oververcoming fear, and being people that listens and looks around us, so that we can step into the opportunities that God has given us.
Jonathan Hardy has a passion to help the local church reach their community so more people can experience all that God has for them.
Jonathan has been in full-time ministry for fifteen years. His journey began in 2007 when he became a staff pastor at James River Church in Springfield, Missouri. He served on the executive leadership team, overseeing the church’s discipleship ministries. This included their extensive small groups ministry, men’s ministry, water baptism, altar ministry, and discipleship for new Christians. He also served as the founding director for the Stronger Men’s Conference, which grew to 3,000 attendees under Jonathan's leadership.
Jonathan launched from James River Church in September 2013 to help plant Summit Park Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He served on the leadership team at Summit Park for six and half years. There he oversaw the church’s budget, finances, and business-related operations. Jonathan’s personal experience of leaving a greatly desired ministry role (at James River) and giving up everything to fulfill God’s leading (to plant Summit Park) has positioned him to understand many of the challenges people face when it comes to obeying God’s leading in their lives.
While serving at Summit Park, Jonathan also co-founded Leaders.Church with his father, Dick Hardy. Leaders.Church is an online streaming service to help pastors master their ministry and leadership skills and thereby overcome barriers to church growth and participation. Through this paid monthly membership program, they’ve helped more than 2,500 pastors and church leaders around the world improve their personal effectiveness, and recruit and motivate people to get off the sidelines and use their God-given gifts to contribute to the body of Christ.
As of January 2020, Jonathan began putting his full-time attention toward Leaders.Church and he began writing his first book that launched in October 2022 entitled, Arrow Striker: Live with Purpose and Leave an Eternal Impact…Every Single Day. In Arrow Striker, Jonathan challenges readers to be more intentional each day to make an even bigger impact on the world around them and to live out their faith with passion and enthusiasm.
Jonathan has a B.A. in Church Administration from Central Bible College and a M.A. in Christian Ministries from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. Jonathan is married to Ashley and has three young children, Emery, Axel and Fia.
Jonathan's Book:
Arrow Striker
Jonathan's Recommendation:
Undercover Billionaire
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In this episode Christopher Watkin shares about analyzing culture, language and thought, how the Bible's story helps us view and critique culture and the world we live in and we get practical examples on how to do it well.
Christopher Watkin holds a PhD in modern French philosophy from Cambridge University. After lecturing at Cambridge he moved to Australia and now teaches at Monash University in Melbourne, where he lives with his wife Alison and their two children. He is the author of ten books, including Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture (Zondervan Academic, 2022), and Thinking Through Creation: Genesis 1 and 2 as Tools of Cultural Critique (P&R, 2017), as well as volumes on Derrida (2017), Foucault (2018) and Deleuze (2021) in the P&R ‘Great Thinkers’ series. He blogs at christopherwatkin.com and thinkingthroughthebible.com, and you can find him on Twitter @DrChrisWatkin.
Chris' book:
Biblical Critical Theory
Chris' Recommendations:
The Augustine Way
Cornelius Van Til
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In this episode Jen Pollock Michel shares about time anxiety, productivity, waiting actively, rest, a rule of life, and receiving the good gifts that God has given us.
Jen Pollock Michel is an award-winning author and speaker. Her fifth book, In Good Time: Reimagining Productivity, Resisting Hurry, and Practicing Peace, releases in December 2022. She holds a B.A. in French from Wheaton College, an M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University, and is working to complete an M.F.A from Seattle Pacific University. You can follow Jen on Twitter and Instagram @jenpmichel and subscribe to her Monday letters at jenpollockmichel.com. Jen lives in Cincinnati with her family.
Jen's Book:
In Good Time
Jen's Recommendation:
The Bear
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In this episode Darren Duerksen discusses what he learned while researching his latest book Christ-Followers in Other Religions, what we can learn from Christ followers in various contexts, and how we can seek beauty in a culture and a place that leads to God.
Darren Duerksen (PhD Fuller Theological Seminary) is Associate Professor and director of Intercultural and Religious Studies at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, California. Prior to teaching in higher ed he served for over 8 years in various ministry/mission related-roles in England and the U.S., and for 6 years in leadership development and church-planting work with the Mennonite Brethren church in India. In addition to his interest in international Christian work he also teaches on and helps develop inter-religious collaborations and initiatives in the U.S. His research and publications have focused on inter-religious witness, ecclesiology, and issues regarding Christian witness in India. He is the co-author with William Dyrness of Seeking Church: Emerging Witnesses to the Kingdom (InterVarsity Academic, 2019), and author of Christ-Followers in Other Religions: The Global Witness of Insider Movements (Regnum Press, 2022).
Darren's Book:
Christ-Followers in Other Religions: The Global Witness of Insider Movements
Darren's Recommendations:
Understanding Insider Movements
Insider Jesus by William Dyrness
First Nations Version
Centered-Set Church by Mark Baker
Mission and the Cultural Other by Randy Woodley
Humble Confidence: A Model for Interfaith Apologetics
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In this episode Dr. A.J. Swoboda talks about being formed like Jesus, how life comes out of our differences, sabbath keeping as a discipline, changing our mind as a fundamental truth of who we are as we are becoming more like Jesus, and a so much more.
Dr. A. J. Swoboda (PhD, Birmingham) is a pastor, professor, and writer. For nearly ten years, he served as a college pastor on the campus of the University of Oregon. Then, for another decade, planted and pastored a missional church in urban Portland, Oregon called Theophilus that continues to worship to this day. Currently, he is the Associate Professor of Bible, theology, and world Christianity at Bushnell University. As well, he leads a Doctor of Ministry program around the Holy Spirit and Leadership at Fuller Seminary and has taught at Multnomah University, London School of Theology, LIFE Pacific, and Southeastern University. He is the author of ten books, including Redeeming How we Talk (Moody), After Doubt (Brazos), and the award-winning Subversive Sabbath (Brazos). As well, he is the co-host of the “Slow Theology” podcast with New Testament scholar Dr. Nijay Gupta that reaches thousands each week. He loves Jesus deeply, has been married to Quinn for eighteen years, and is the proud father of one son, Elliot. They live and work on an urban farm in Eugene, Oregon.
A.J.'s Recommendations:
The Soul of Desire by Curt Thompson
The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser
Jeremiah
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In this episode Justin A. Bailey uses his latest book Interpreting Your World: Five Lenses for Engaging Theology and Culture as a jumping off point to talk about engaging culture with curiosity, vulnerability, and a posture that seeks to understand before casting judgment.
Justin Ariel Bailey is a professor, author, and former pastor who works at the intersection of Christian theology, culture, and ministry. He is the host of the In All Things podcast and writes regularly for their online journal. His written work has also appeared in Christianity Today, The Banner, Fare Forward, and the Reformed Journal, as well as academic publications such as Christian Scholars Review and the International Journal of Public Theology. He is the author of the book Reimagining Apologetics (IVP Academic, 2020) and most recently Interpreting Your World: Five Lenses for Engaging Theology and Culture (Baker Academic, 2022).
Justin's Book:
Interpreting Your World
Justin's Website:
pjustin.com
Justin's Recommendations:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The Life We're Looking For by Andy Crouch
Andor
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Join us as we look back through the year 2022. We will countdown the most listened to episodes of the year.
You will hear clips from:
- David Broodryk - Faith and Obedience to God that Catalyzes Movement
- Carl Medearis - Encounters of Jesus
- JR Woodward - Imitating Christ: Desire, Belonging, and the Powers
- Tori Hope Petersen - Finding Faith and Family through Foster Care
- Cath Livesey - Building a Healthy Prophetic Culture
- Denny Heiberg - Becoming Disciples of Jesus
- Pam Arlund - Pioneering Missions with Eyes on Jesus
- Michael Frost - ReJesus
- Andrew Root - Waiting for the God who Acts
- Jamie Winship - Living into Your True Identity
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In this episode Sharon Hodde Miller talks about control and anxiety, burnout, co-leading with your spouse, and stepping into the agency that God has given us.
Sharon Hodde Miller, PhD, is teaching pastor at Bright City Church in Durham, North Carolina, which she cofounded with her husband, Ike. The author of Free of Me, Nice, and The Cost of Control. Miller has blogged at SheWorships.com for over ten years, has been a regular contributor to Propel, Her.meneutics, and She Reads Truth, and has written for Relevant, Christianity Today, (in)courage, and many other publications and blogs. She lives with Ike and their three children in Durham, North Carolina.
Sharon's Book:
The Cost of Control
Sharon's Recommendations:
The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger
Hold On To Your Kids
Love Thy Body
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In this episode, Dr. Jim Wilder discusses topics and themes from his latest book Escaping Enemy Mode. It's an important discussion as we live in a world of increasing us vs. them mentality. Listen in and get inspired to refriend others and live a life with joy and attachment to God.
Dr. Jim Wilder has been training leaders and counselors for over 30 years on five continents. Jim grew up in South America and is bilingual (English/Spanish). He is the author of nineteen books with a strong focus on maturity and relational skills. His coauthored book, Living from the Heart Jesus Gave You, has sold over 100,000 copies and is printed in eleven languages. Wilder has published numerous articles and developed four sets of video and relational leadership training. Dr. Wilder has served as a guest lecturer at Fuller Seminary, Biola, Talbot Seminary, Point Loma University, Montreat College, Tyndale Seminary and elsewhere.
Dr. Jim Wilder has extensive clinical counseling experience and is the chief neurotheologian of Life Model Works, a nonprofit working at the intersection of theology and brain science. Life Model Works builds on the fifty-year legacy of Shepherd’s House, which began in the 1970s as a ministry to street kids in Van Nuys, California.
In those early days, Jim worked with the team of volunteer counselors and Fuller Seminary faculty to build a counseling center to help broken people recover from negative habits, addictions, abuse, and trauma. By the 1990s, Jim was Assistant Director and later Executive Director of Shepherd’s House, helping hundreds of pastors and churches with their toughest counseling cases.
Jim's Recommendations:
Becoming a Face of Grace by Ed Khouri
Beyond Becoming by Ed Khouri
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In this episode, Michelle Ferrigno Warren talks about her latest book Join the Resistance, Kingdom justice, our role as outsiders with marginalized communities, and partnering with God and others in the work.
Michelle Ferrigno Warren is the president and CEO of Virago Strategies, a consulting group that provides strategic direction and project management for civic engagement campaigns alongside communities impacted by racial and economic injustice. She helped found Open Door Ministries, a community development 501(c)(3) corporation in downtown Denver, to address poverty, addiction, and homelessness through social programs.
With policy expertise in economic justice and human service issues, she has served as advocacy and strategic engagement director for the Christian Community Development Association and done coalition work with the National Immigration Forum. Warren is a senior fellow with the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute and adjunct faculty at Denver Seminary. She and her husband live in Denver's Westside neighborhood and have three adult children. She is the author of The Power of Proximity.
Michelle's Website:
michelleferrignowarren.com
Michelle's Book:
Join the Resistance
Michelle's Recommendations:
Voices of Lament
Bread for the Resistance by Donna Barber
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In this episode Julian Adams shares about the prophetic, hearing God's voice, speaking hope, joining God in His mission to make all things new, and our place and role in the Kingdom of God.
Julian Adams is an author, pastor, and internationally recognized prophet. His mission is to help ordinary people discover God's preferred future for their lives.
As a director of Julian C Adams Ministry, he resource people through creative media, events, and mentorship.
He's also the author of Terra Nova : Fulfilling Your Call to Redeem the Earth and Make All Things New. His online course, Vox Dei, has helped hundreds of people confidently communicate God's heart, step out in greater accuracy in the prophetic.
Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, he now resides in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife, Katia, and two busy children. Together, they lead The Table Boston Church, a community in the heart of the city.
Julian's Website:
julianadams.org
Julian's Recommendation:
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
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In this episode Fouad Masri shares insights and tips on sharing Jesus with Muslims from his years of experience. More Muslims have come to know and love Jesus in the past twenty years than the previous 1400 years combined. It's a great time to share the love of Jesus with Muslims.
Author and lecturer Fouad Masri was born and raised in the war zone of Beirut, Lebanon. As a third generation ordained pastor, he has a passion for sharing the love of Christ with Muslims and has been reaching out to Muslims.
In 1993, he founded Crescent Project to nurture transformational relationships between Christians and Muslims and to rally the Church to reach out to Muslims to share the Good News of Christ.
Since then, through his work, more than 321,000 Christians have been trained to sensitively and purposefully share their faith with Muslims through many training experiences, including Bridges One-Day and Sahara Challenge. He has served as a guest instructor at several universities and Christian ministries and has been featured in several media publications including Christianity Today, Newsweek, and Mission Network News. He has appeared on CBN, TBN, the Janet Parshall Show, and Prime Time America.
He is the producer and teacher in the DVD study, Bridges: Christians Connecting with Muslims. In Bridges, he further exposes Christians to the urgent need for a deeper understanding about Islam and Muslims.
Fouad has authored 11 books including Outreach Magazine’s 2015 Cross Cultural Resource of the Year Connecting with Muslims: A Guide to Communicating Effectively. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication and a master’s degree in Islamic Studies. Fouad lives in Franklin, Tennessee, where he directs the ministry of Crescent Project.
Fouad's latest book:
Sharing Jesus with Muslims
Fouad's Recommendation:
Iran's Great Awakening: How God is Using a Muslim Convert to Spark Revival by Hormoz Shariat
More information about Catalyze (scroll down on the page to find out about the coaching course.
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In this episode Lee Wood talks about what it takes to ignite and sustain a movement to Jesus, lessons learned through the mistakes he made, and sustained intimacy with Jesus. Go deep. God will take care of the breadth.
Lee Wood is the Founder and initial catalyst of 1Body Church, as well as a missionary and Apostolic leader with a world vision to launch disciple-multiplying movements until the whole world knows Jesus. He leads and mentors key leaders in launching small house churches to spread the Gospel, starting in the smallest expression in his home in Tampa and eventually across the whole world. This aligns with his philosophy of “dream big, work small”. Lee is married to Stacy, is the father of five and grandfather of five.
Lee's website:
1Body Church
Lee's Recommendations:
Journeys to Significance by Neil Cole
In the Way by Damien Gerke
More information about Catalyze (scroll down on the page to find out about the coaching course.
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In this episode Andrew Arndt talks about the wisdom learned from his latest book Streams in the Wasteland: Finding Spiritual Renewal with the Desert Fathers and Mothers. We also have a great conversation around prayer, having everything you need with God, and the beauty of relationships.
Andrew Arndt is the Lead Pastor of New Life East (one of seven congregations of New Life Church in Colorado Springs), where he also hosts the Essential Church podcast, a weekly conversation designed to strengthen the thinking of church and ministry leaders. Prior to joining New Life’s team, he served as Lead Pastor of Bloom Church: a neo-monastic, charismatic, liturgical, justice-driven network of house churches in Denver. He received his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, is working on his Doctor of Ministry at Western Theological Seminary, and has written for Missio Alliance, Patheos, The Other Journal, and Mere Orthodoxy. He lives in the Springs with his wife Mandi and their four kids.
Andrew's Books:
Streams in the Wasteland
All Flame
Andrew's Recommendations:
The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser
Sacred Fire by Ronald Rolheiser
More information about Catalyze (scroll down on the page to find out about the coaching course.
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In this episode Craig Greenfield shares his story living in the slums of Cambodia, raising indigenous leaders from the beginning, finding our way as missionaries, and how the five-fold applies in cross-cultural work.
Craig is the founder and director of Alongsiders International - a fast-growing movement mobilizing and equipping thousands of young Christians in 25 countries to walk alongside those who walk alone - orphans and vulnerable children in their own communities.
During more than 20 years living and ministering in slums and inner cities in Asia and North America, Craig has established a number of initiatives to care for vulnerable kids and orphans, as well as formed Christian communities for those marginalized by society.
He is the author of Urban Halo, and Subversive Jesus. His latest book is Subversive Mission: serving as outsiders in a world of need.
Craig's Book:
Subversive Mission
Craig's Recommendation:
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...And Why by Richard Nisbett
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In this episode David Fitch talks about the importance of the table - gathering, eating, ministering, and sharing together. We also talk about the presence and power of Jesus and being people of presence in any place we are at.
David Fitch is B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary Chicago, IL. He is also the founding pastor of Life on the Vine Christian Community, a missional church in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. He coaches a network of church plants in the C&MA linked to Life on the Vine. He writes on the issues the local church must face in Mission including cultural engagement, leadership and theology and has lectured and presented on these topics at many seminaries, graduate schools, denominational gatherings and conferences.
David Fitch’s latest books are Faithful Presence and The Church of Us vs. Them
David's Podcast:
Theology on Mission
David's Recommendation:
See No Stranger by Valerie Kaur
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In this episode David Zahl talks about his latest book Low Anthropology and we have a discussion around grace, humility, forgiveness, self-centeredness, self righteousness, parenting, and more.
David Zahl is the founder and director of Mockingbird Ministries, editor-in-chief of the Mockingbird website (www.mbird.com), and co-host of The Mockingcast. He and his family live in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he also serves on the staff of Christ Episcopal Church, supervising their adult education and ministry to college students. Zahl is the author of Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What To Do About It and coauthor of Law and Gospel: A Theology for Sinners (and Saints). His most recent book, Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others (and Yourself) came out in Sept 2022 from Brazos Press. His writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and The Guardian, among other venues.
David's Books:
Low Anthropology
Seculosity
Law and Gospel
David's Recommendation:
Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O'Hagan
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In this episode Simon & Ceri Harris share their story of creating change and shifting culture towards missional discipleship where every believer plays a part. They share deep insights from their wealth of experience.
Alongside nearly 30 years in local church leadership at Burlington Church, Ceri & Simon work with Catalyse Change and the 5Q collective, training and coaching leaders and churches to release missional disciples and tap into the latent potential that exists in the church through a rediscovery of the gift of APEST.
Ceri also works as an Executive Coach working in the marketplace, charity sector, alongside church leaders and church teams. As the lead for Accessible Prophecy in the UK, she also coaches and trains churches in hearing God’s voice and building healthy prophetic cultures.
Simon & Ceri's Recommendations:
The Sound of Life's Unspeakable Beauty by Martin Schleske
Resilient by John Eldridge
Live No Lies by John Mark Comer
The Pause App
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In this episode Paul Hoffman talks about what it looks like to engage in reconciliation and unity efforts within the church in this divided world that we live in.
Paul has served as the lead pastor of Evangelical Friends Church of Newport, Rhode Island, since 2007. His life’s mission is “contending for reconciliation, unity, and revival.” He is a member of the Oversight Board for the Evangelical Friends Church–Eastern Region and active in the Evangelical Homiletics Society. Paul is a recognized scholar and leader in the area of racial reconciliation and participates in various prayer and unity movements in the United States and abroad. Paul has visited, lived in, studied in, or ministered in thirty-three countries on four continents.
Paul is a graduate of Gordon College (BA, Biblical and Theological Studies, 2000) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (MDiv, 2003). He earned his PhD in Practical Theology at the University of Manchester, UK, in 2017. His thesis examined Tim Keller’s urban missiology. Paul’s work has appeared in publications such as www.churchleaders.com, Influence Magazine, Preaching Magazine, and the Journal of the Evangelical Missiological Society. He is the author of Reconciling Places: How to Bridge the Chasms in Our Communities and co-author of Preaching to a Divided Nation: A Seven-Step Model for Promoting Reconciliation and Unity.
Paul has been married to his lovely wife, Autumn, for more than twenty-three years and has two wonderful sons, Landon and Kelan. In his free time, Paul enjoys reading, traveling, hanging out with his family at the beach, harvesting sea glass, playing tennis, and watching English Premier League soccer.
Paul's latest book:
Preaching to a Divided Nation: A Seven-Step Model for Promoting Reconciliation and Unity
Paul's Recommendation:
Henri Nouwen
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In this episode Dr. George Yancey shares about his latest book Beyond Racial Division and gives a unifying vision of race relations that brings in collaborative conversations and mutual accountability.
Dr. George Yancey is a Professor of Institute for Studies of Religion and Sociology at Baylor University. He has published several research articles on the topics of institutional racial diversity, racial identity, atheists, cultural progressives, academic bias and anti-Christian hostility. His books include Beyond Racial Gridlock (InterVarsity Press) a Christian book which articulates a mutual obligations approach to racial issues, and, with Michael Emerson, Transcending Racial Barriers (Oxford University Press) an academic book that articulates a mutual obligations approach and Beyond Racial Division (InterVarsity Press) that examines the use of collaborative conversations to reduce racial tensions.
George Yancey's latest book:
Beyond Racial Division: A Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism
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In this episode Mandy Smith shares about what it takes to have a more childlike faith, rest, western cultural baggage that we need to get rid of, and a proper use of power.
Mandy Smith is pastor of St Lucia Uniting Church, Brisbane, Australia and the author of The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry and Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture. Mandy and her husband, a New Testament professor, live with their family in a little house where the teapot is always warm. Learn more about Mandy’s work at www.TheWayisTheWay.org
Mandy's Recommendations:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
The Confessions by St. Augustine
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In this episode Mark Baker discusses his latest book, Centered-Set Church and helps us discover how we can be a community oriented to and oriented around Jesus at the center.
Mark Baker is Professor of Mission and Theology at Fresno Pacific Biblical. He previously was a missionary in Honduras for ten years and a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Syracuse University for three years. He continues ministry involvement in Latin America through regular visits. Since 2008 he has led a weekly Bible study at the Fresno County Jail. He has written a number of books in English and Spanish, including, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts, Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials, and Centered-Set Church: Discipleship and Community Without Judgmentalism.
Mark's Book:
Centered-Set Church: Discipleship and Community without Judgmentalism
Mark's Website:
centeredsetchurch.com
Mark's Recommendation:
Restless Devices by Felicia Wu Song
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In this episode Andrew Root talks about waiting for God to act, sharing stories of community encounter, the importance of prayer, and reclaiming resonance in the accelerated age we live in.
Andrew Root, PhD (Princeton Theological Seminary) is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary. He is most recently the author of four volume Ministry in a Secular Age series (Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Congregation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, and Faith Formation in a Secular Age), and The End of Youth Ministry?. He has also authored Christopraxis: A Practical Theology of the Cross (Fortress, 2014) and Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker (Baker, 2014). Root puts together theology and storytelling to explore how ministry leads us into encounter with divine action. His book The Relational Pastor(IVP, 2013) as well as a four book series with Zondervan called A Theological Journey Through Youth Ministry (titles include Taking Theology to Youth Ministry, Taking the Cross to Youth Ministry, Unpacking Scripture in Youth Ministry, and Unlocking Mission and Eschatology in Youth Ministry) break new ground in this direction. In 2012 his book The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry (with Kenda Creasy Dean, IVP, 2011) was Christianity Today Book of Merit. He has written a number of other books on ministry and theology such as The Children of Divorce: The Loss of Family as the Loss of Being (Baker Academic, 2010), The Promise of Despair (Abingdon, 2010), Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation (IVP, 2007) and Relationships Unfiltered (Zondervan/YS, 2009). Andy has worked in congregations, parachurch ministries, and social service programs. He lives in St. Paul with his wife Kara, two children, Owen and Maisy, and their dog. When not reading, writing, or teaching, Andy spends far too much time watching TV and movies.
Andrew's Latest Book:
The Church After Innovation: Questioning our Obsession with Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship
Andrew's Recommendation:
For All Mankind
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In this episode Tori Hope Petersen shares her story. Spending years in the foster care system, Tori finds a community and a God that pursued her well, gave her opportunities, and instilled hope for a different outcome. Tori shares about finding a God that loved her like a good Father and how she started identifying as a beloved child of God.
Tori is a former foster youth letting her Abba be known. After an adverse childhood, Tori has overcome the odds. Now she is a leading advocate for vulnerable youth and families, a sought out speaker, and influential social entrepreneur. In 2020, she founded the Beloved Initiative to grant people who are often unseen and unheard, opportunities to see that the worst parts of their lives can be used for Good — to glorify God.
Tori has been featured by Child Welfare Gateway, Proverbs 31 Woman, Global Leadership Network,the National Council for Adoption and many other platforms educating the child welfare community and beyond. Tori has presented policy recommendations to White House Policy Staffers and congressmen and women on how to improve the foster care system. In August of 2022, Tori’s book “Fostered” will be published through B&H. You can pre-order it now!
A leading voice in child welfare, Tori is a reminder to have empathy and understanding for those who are different than us as she leads a life of genuine compassion! Her story is one of hope and points to the work of God in her life, while showing others what God can do in their lives!
Tori's book:
Fostered: One Woman's Powerful Story of Finding Faith and Family through Foster Care
Tori's recommendation:
Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist
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In this episode Jamie Winship shares from his years of experience working with people around the world. He shares how we can exchange the lies brought on by fear, guilt, and shame for your true identity - bringing you to a place where you can hear from God directly about who you truly are.
Jamie Winship has decades of experience bringing peaceful solutions to some of the world’s highest conflict areas. After a distinguished career in law enforcement in the metro Washington DC area, Jamie earned an MA in English and developed a unique process of identity transformation that is the key to resolving inner conflict and acquiring new levels of learning and creativity. His unconventional efforts to bring about societal and racial reconciliation led him to Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, and back to the US. Jamie has worked with leaders in professional sports, business, education, law enforcement, government, non-profit and other sectors. Jamie and his wife, Donna, are co-founders of Identity Exchange and its corporate arm, Identity Method, providing training and consulting on the power of living fearlessly in your true identity. Jamie's new book, Living Fearless, will is available wherever books and ebooks are sold. For more information and resources visit us at identityexchange.com and follow @identityexchange.
Jamie's Book:
Living Fearless
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In this episode Bree Mills talks about microchurches, psychological safety, faithfulness in the small things, meeting the needs of the community, and asking great questions.
Bree is an ordained Anglican minister, a director of Micro Churches Australia, and a doctoral student in the area of Missional Leadership, focusing on innovative leadership in the Australian context. Until the end of 2020, she was Senior Associate Minister at Glen Waverley Anglican Church in Melbourne where she pioneered a network of missional communities alongside a contemporary Anglican Church. Now, along with her husband and kids, they are part of a new micro church network church plant in Melbourne and help lead a community called The Village. Bree has completed a Masters of Missional Leadership, focusing on missional culture change in existing churches. Bree is passionate about spiritual formation, catalyzing change, raising leaders, and contextualized mission. She loves to read, wakeboard, and go for long walks in new places, preferably near the ocean!
Bree's Recommendations:
How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going: Leading in a Liminal Season by Susan Beaumont
Transcending Mission by Michael W. Stroope
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In this episode Keri Ladouceur talks about the church pacing culture, truly embodying Jesus, giving voice to the marginalized, and the hope that comes in facing reality in the current moment we are in.
Keri Ladouceur serves a pastor in Naperville, Illinois and is founder and lead coach at New Ground Network. As a coach, Keri partners with pastors and denominational leaders, co-conspiring with them to seize their unique vision, develop their team's capacity, and mobilize people for mission. Her coaching was shaped as a former marketplace executive and senior leader at Willow Creek. She has more than sixteen years experience coaching pastors, non-profit, and marketplace leaders. The thrill of launching more than 90 missional communities and having a front row seat to the missional engagement of 100s of churches is exhilarating to her. She is an associate with the exponential team- teaching at conferences and creating leadership resources- most recently her book "Together as a Team". Her newest project is a podcast called A Third Way exploring the tension of following Jesus and the church's invitation to pace culture. She recently served as chair of the board for a global peacemaking organization, and is wrapping up thesis writing for a Master of Arts in New Testament from Northern Seminary. Keri longs to activate the people of God to join Christ in the redemption and restoration of all things.
Keri's Recommendations:
First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament
Inverse Podcast
Unlocking Us
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In this episode, Mark Scandrette talks about what it look like to practically live out the teachings of Jesus in our own personal context, within community, and with an outward orientation toward our neighborhood and culture.
Mark Scandrette is an internationally recognized specialist in practical Christian spirituality. He is the founding director of ReIMAGINE: A Center for Integral Christian Practice, where he leads an annual series of retreats, workshops and projects designed to help participants apply spiritual wisdom to everyday life. His multidisciplinary studies in applied psychology, family health and theology have shaped his approach to learning and transformation. A sought after voice for creative, radical and embodied faith practices, he frequently speaks at universities, churches and conferences nationally and internationally and also serves as adjunct faculty in the doctoral program at Fuller Theological Seminary. His most recent books include The Ninefold Path of Jesus, FREE, Practicing the Way of Jesus and Belonging and Becoming: Creating A Thriving Family Culture. Mark lives with his wife Lisa and their three young adult children in an old Victorian in San Francisco’s Mission District. He loves walking city streets and discovering beauty in unexpected places. He is passionately engaged in sustainability practices and efforts to create safe neighborhoods for all people. www.markscandrette.com
Mark's Books:
The Ninefold Path of Jesus: Hidden Wisdom of the Beatitudes
Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love
Mark's Recommendations:
Daniel Siegel
Anatomy of the Soul by Curt Thompson
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In this episode, Brian Heasley shares about prayer and mission and gives practical ideas and stories on how to engage in both a daily time with God and working out your faith in community.
Brian Heasley serves as 24-7 Prayer’s International Prayer Director, traveling extensively around the globe inspiring and teaching on prayer and mission. He is a global ambassador for Thy Kingdom Come, an initiative of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Brian is the author of 'Be Still. A simple guide to quiet times' and has previously written 'Gatecrashing' The story of 24-7 Prayer in Ibiza. He is also a trustee of Christian Solidarity Worldwide a charity working in the area of Freedom of Religious Belief.
Brian, and his wife Tracy, are long term trailblazers within the 24-7 prayer movement with years of experience in local church and pioneer missions. They pioneered the work of 24-7 Prayer in the party area of Ibiza, Spain, where they lived for 8 years, developing rhythms of prayer and mission and with a heart to bring about change in a place the British press once described as Sodom and Gomorrah. They are passionate about prayer, mission and justice with a real heart for leading in a way that is both sustainable and life giving rooted in a rhythm of devotional and prayerful responsiveness. They have been married over 27 years and have two adult sons.
Brian's Book:
Be Still: A Simple Guide to Quiet Times
Brian's Recommendations:
Submerge: Living Deep in a Shallow World: Service, Justice and Contemplation Among the World's Poor by John B. Hays
Spaces for the Sacred: Place, Memory, and Identity by Philip Sheldrake
The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann
The Story of English: How an Obscure Dialect Became the World's Most Spoken Language by Joseph Piercy
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In this episode, Gannon Sims talks about the church at and around home, marriage as a church plant, and he helps us take account of what we are doing and gives practical ways to invite Jesus into it.
Gannon Sims is a founding director on the US Fresh Expressions Team. His book Bringing Church Home shares the story of his journey of planting a network of fresh expressions of church rooted in homes and households.
Gannon's Book:
Bringing Church Home
Gannon's Recommendation:
Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love by Edward Sri
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In this episode Brian Zahnd talks about the radical love of Jesus and touches on deconstruction, love casting out fear, unity of the body, Dostoevsky, the Lord of the Rings, and more.
Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian and his wife, Peri, founded the church in 1981. Brian is also the author of several books, including, When Everything's on Fire, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Water to Wine, A Farewell To Mars, Beauty Will Save the World, and Unconditional?: The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness.
Brian's Recommendations:
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
The Battle for Middle Earth by Fleming Rutledge
David Bentley Hart
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In this episode Anne Grizzle shares about the importance of listening to God and to one another. With an intentional practice of spending time with God, Anne shares how that time is crucial to the sustaining of her soul and ministry.
Anne Grizzle is chaplain at Boys Home of Virginia, mentors with Leighton Ford Ministries and leads retreats on spiritual direction and Strength for the Journey. She and her husband co-chair World Visions Every Last One campaign ending extreme poverty.
Anne's Recommendation:
Pilgrim Souls
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In this episode Don Waybright talks about how abiding with Jesus propels and sustains movements, Jesus movements breaking out in prisons, and applying principles of movement that is working all over the world to the West.
Don Waybright is a seasoned Church Planting Movement practitioner and Great Commission leader. While serving 20 years as Mission Pastor of large mega-churches Don pioneered the Strategy Coordinator Church role (https://www.frontierventures.org/blog/7-characteristics-of-the-ideal-strategic-coordinator) with the church serving as non-residential missionary to unreached people groups, and was an early adopter of the No Place Left Multiplication vision https://noplaceleft.net. Don has a variety of experience and relationships in CPM/DMM contexts around the world, and now serves as Global Strategy Leader for the movement organization Reach the Rest www.reachtherest.org
Don is a distinguished graduate of John Brown University and of Fuller Theological Seminary. Don and his wife Theresa are passionate about the church and equipping the global church to multiply the Kingdom. They have three children, and three grandchildren all living in the Houston Area.
Don's Recommendation:
Francis Chan
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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In this episode, Talasi Guerra talks about what it looks like to pursue joy, cultivating joy in the lives of children, and how we can become like Jesus.
Talasi Guerra is a Christian communicator who is passionate about infusing Jesus into her everyday life and empowering others to do the same. Author of Joy Like a Mountain and The 7-Day Joy Challenge, she lives to communicate biblical principles in relevant ways that inspire, challenge, and awaken others to live out their God-given purpose. In 2007, Talasi experienced a radical life-change when God brought her through a period of healing from her long battle with anorexia and depression. Since that time, Talasi has been committed to bringing light and life to the world around her by sharing her story, speaking truth, and offering hope to others. Talasi and her husband Ryan reside in Western Canada along with their daughters, Avra and Katana, and their massive strategy board game collection. Connect with Talasi on Instagram: @talasiguerra.
Talasi's Book:
Joy Like a Mountain
Talasi's Website:
www.talasiguerra.com
Join the 7-Day Joy Challenge
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In this episode, Dennae Pierre talks about solidarity in the church, engaging cross-culturally, and radical obedience to Jesus.
Dennae Pierre is one of the co-Directors for the Crete Collective and leads the Surge Network in Arizona. She also serves as one of the Co-Directors for City to City North America. She has her MA from Covenant Theological Seminary and DMin from Western Theological Seminary (Holland, Michigan). Dennae self-published her first book in 2020– Healing Prayers to Resist a Violent World. She is married to Vermon, the lead pastor at Roosevelt Community Church, a multiethnic church in downtown Phoenix. Dennae and Vermon have five children.
Dennae's Recommendations:
Community
The Creative Encounter by Howard Thurman
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In this episode, David Broodryk shares his story and what it takes to catalyze movement and to have faith that is obedient to God despite the consequences.
David has been pioneering God Movements and mentoring leaders on every continent for over 30 years.
The result has been thousands of new churches and disciples that bring life-giving transformation to their communities.
He currently serves as the Strategic Director for Accelerate Global, Director of Southern Africa and Global Urban Ministry for New Generations and Executive Director of Twofoureight in South Africa.
David is married to Michelle and they have two adult children. He is a bad golfer, average photographer and self-confessed coffee addict. David’s primary role is coaching leaders to launch, lead and multiply God Movements globally.
David's Recommendation:
The Book of Acts
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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In this episode, Tod Bolsinger helps us navigate through an unknown future with leadership that brings adaptive change and transforms the world around us. With humility and the posture of a learner, Tod inspires us to think differently around what it's going to take to navigate the world ahead of us.
Tod Bolsinger is Co-Founder and Principal of AE Sloan Leadership and the Exec Director of the Church Leadership Institute at Fuller Seminary.
Tod's Books:
Amazon Author Page
Tod's Recommendation:
Think Again by Adam Grant
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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Oneya Okuwabi talks about race, gender, and power dynamics in the church and leads us to a path that will reveal equity to the body of Christ.
Oneya Fennell Okuwobi is a sociologist at Rice University’s Reigion and Public Life Program. Her research interrogates how diverse organizations impact racial inequality. She serves as teaching pastor at 21st Century Church, a church plant in Cincinnati, OH. She is also co-author of Multiethnic Conversations: An Eight-Week Journey toward Unity in Your Church, a personal devotional and small group study on multiethnic life and church designed for people in the pews. Oneya is a graduate of the University of Virginia (B.A., Economics), Regent University (M. Div., Practical Theology), and The Ohio State University (Ph.D. Sociology). She is married to Dele Okuwobi and they have one daughter, Cadence. You can find Oneya @Ookuwobi or Oneyaokuwobi.com.
Oneya's Recommendations:
The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
I Bring the Voices of my People by Chanequa Walker-Barnes
The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper
Multi-Ethnic Conversations by Mark DeYmaz and Oneya Okuwabi
Red Skies
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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In this episode, Michael Frost shares about how the church can look more like Jesus, shuttling the sheep out of the pen, and the importance of knowing and applying contextual clues.
Michael Frost is an internationally recognised Australian missiologist and one of the leading voices in the missional church movement. His books are required reading in colleges and seminaries around the world and he is much sought after as an international conference speaker.
Since 1999, Dr Frost has been the founding director of the Tinsley Institute, a mission study centre located at Morling College in Sydney, Australia. He has also been an adjunct lecturer at various seminaries in the United States.
He is the author or editor of nineteen theological books, the best known of which are the popular and award-winning, The Shaping of Things to Come (2003), Exiles (2006), The Road to Missional (2011) and Surprise the World! (2016). Frost’s work has been translated into German, Korean, Swedish, Portuguese and Spanish.
For twelve years, he was the weekly religion columnist for the Manly Daily, and has had articles published in the Washington Post, The Tennessean, the Charlotte Observer, Le Monde, and other publications.
He was one of the founders of the Forge Mission Training Network and the founder of the missional Christian community, smallboatbigsea, based in Manly in Sydney’s north. He is also well known for his protests against Australia’s treatment of refugees, some of which have resulted in his arrest by the NSW police, as well as his advocacy for racial reconciliation, foreign aid, and gender equality.
Mike's Website:
mikefrost.net
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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In this episode JR Woodward discusses the fruit of coaching, the importance of the spaces of belonging, and how the powers and principalities affect our imitation of Christ and effectiveness of discipleship.
JR Woodward has been passionately planting churches on the East and West Coast that value tight-knit community, life-forming discipleship, locally-rooted presence and boundary-crossing mission for over 30 years. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Manchester (UK), and a Masters of Art in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of Creating a Missional Culture (IVP, 2012) and co-author of The Church as Movement (IVP, 2016). His coming book, The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church, is expected to be released in the Fall of 2022. This book is based on his experience and Ph.D. research. He co-founded the Missio Alliance and currently serves as the National Director for the V3 Church Planting Movement. He is the co-founder of the Praxis Gathering, writes for numerous websites and journals, and serves on numerous boards. He loves to surf, travel, read, skateboard as well as meet new people. He enjoys photography and film and tries to attend the Sundance Film Festival whenever he can.
JR's Recommendations:
Walter Wink
Rene Girard
William Stringfellow
Sarah Cokely
Oscar Romero
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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In this episode, Denny Heiberg shares about his journey from running an institution to becoming a disciple maker that empowers others to become disciple makers. We talk about what it looks like to make Jesus Lord of everything in our life. We also discuss what it's like to disciple grandchildren.
Denny Heiberg is an elder in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church where he pastored Grace at Fort Clarke UMC in Gainesville, FL from 1994-2012. He currently serves with TMS Global as a member of their Ministry CoServe Group focusing upon Discipleship Training and Member Care. Denny also serves on The National Leadership Team as the Director of International Representatives with The Bonhoeffer Project, a discipleship initiative that trains leaders in the global Church to become disciple-making leaders. Denny graduated from Columbia International University with a BA in Biblical Studies and Christian Education. He also earned an MA in Biblical Studies, an M. Div., and a D.Min. from Asbury Seminary. Denny and his wife, Cindy, live in the Nashville, TN area where he serves in their local church developing disciples. His passion is mobilizing the next generations of leaders who will develop disciple-making cultures in their context of ministry.
Denny's Recommendations:
Undistracted by Bob Goff
A Better Way: Make Disciples Wherever Life Happens by Dale Losch
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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In this episode Steve Addison speaks about movements, disciple making, identity & calling, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. As you listen, you will be inspired to be rooted in your identity and empowered to simply make disciples that multiply.
Steve Addison is a catalyst for movements that multiply disciple and churches, everywhere. He is an author, speaker, podcaster, and mentor to movement pioneers.
Steve began his research into Christian movements in the late 1980s while planting a church in Melbourne, Australia. He carried that interest into his Doctor of Ministry with Fuller Seminary.
He is the author of four books on movements:
- The Rise and Fall of Movements: A Roadmap for Leaders (100M 2019)
- Pioneering Movements: Leadership that Multiplies Disciples and Churches (IVP 2015)
- What Jesus Started: Joining the Movement, Changing the World (IVP 2012)
- Movements that Change the World: Five Keys to Spreading the Gospel (IVP 2009)
- Your Part in God’s Plan: 40 Days from Genesis to Revelation (Easter 2021)
Steve and Michelle lead MOVE, a mission agency dedicated to multiplying disciples and churches. Everywhere.
Steve and Michelle live in Melbourne, Australia. They have four children and two and a half grandchildren.
Steve loves walking, historical novels, Shakespeare, anything written by G K Chesterton or C S Lewis, Sunday afternoon naps, watching Australia beat the Poms at cricket, and the Kiwis at Rugby and supporting the Collingwood Football Club.
Steve's Recommendations:
Revelation by Craig Keener
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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In this episode, David Garrison discusses the importance of identity and calling and leaving our hands open to following God's leading in our lives. He also dives into church planting movements, movements amongst Muslims, and reaching unreached people groups through global gateway cities.
David Garrison, PhD University of Chicago, is a pioneer in the understanding of Church Planting Movements among unreached people groups. He is the author of several books including "Church Planting Movements" and "A Wind in the House of Islam". Dr. Garrison serves as executive director of Global Gates, a ministry seeking to reach the ends of the earth through global gateway cities.
David's Books:
Church Planting Movements
A Wind in the House of Islam
David's Recommendations:
Hagarism by Patricia Crone
Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam by Patricia Crone
Tom Holland's Youtube Videos on Islam
Jay Smith's Videos on Islam
This episode was sponsored by:
All Nations Kansas City
The mX Platform
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Mark DeYmaz talks about diversifying income streams for greater community impact, creating multi-ethnic teams and church, and incarnational missions.
A thought-leading writer and recognized champion of the Multiethnic Church Movement, Mark planted the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas (mosaicchurch.net) in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. In 2004, he co-founded the Mosaix Global Network (mosaix.info), with Dr. George Yancey, today serving as its president and convener of the triennial National Multi-ethnic Church Conference. In 2008, he launched Vine and Village (vineandvillage.org) and remains active on the board of this 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on the spiritual, social, and financial transformation of Little Rock's University District.
Mark has written seven books including his latest, The Coming Revolution in Church Economics (Baker Books, 2019); Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community (Thomas Nelson, 2017); and Multiethnic Conversations: an Eight Week Guide to Unity in Your Church (Wesleyan Publishing House, 2016), the first daily devotional, small group curriculum on the subject for people in the pews. His book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass, 2007), was a finalist for a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (2008) and for a Resource of the Year Award (2008) sponsored by Outreach magazine. Other works include, re:MIX: Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon, 2016); Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (formerly Ethnic Blends; Zondervan, 2010, 2013), and the e-Book, Should Pastors Accept or Reject the Homogeneous Unit Principle? (Mosaix Global Network, 2011). In addition to books, he is a contributing editor for Outreach magazine where his column, "Mosaic" appears in each issue.
He and his wife, Linda, have been married for thirty-two years and reside in Little Rock, AR. Linda is the author of the certified best-seller, Mommy, Please Don't Cry: There Are No Tears in Heaven (Multnomah, 1996), an anointed resource providing hope and comfort for those who grieve the loss of a child. Mark and Linda have four adult children and three grandchildren.
In 2019, Mark launched an academic partnership with Wheaton College (wheaton.edu/mosaix) through which students seeking to earn an M.A. in Ministry Leadership with an emphasis on establishing healthy multiethnic and economically diverse, socially just, and financially sustainable churches. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Charlotte Campus) and at Phoenix Seminary, where he earned a D.Min. in 2007.
Mark's Recommendation:
Beyond Racial Division by George Yancey
Mosaix.info
mosaixconference.com
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5QCentral
The Mx Platform
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In this episode, Rowland Smith talks about missional living, contextualizing the gospel, micro church, and the future of the church. It's a great conversation that presents really good ideas to bring about Kingdom flourishing in neighborhoods and cities.
Rowland is National Director for Forge America Missional Training Network, where he gives vision and direction for Forge training and support of their hubs and partners in the United States. He also has a staff position at Pulpit Rock Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado where he directs missional discipleship and helps oversee The Pando Collective, a micro-church network launched and supported by their church community. Rowland has experience in church-planting, coaching churches in missional culture, and business-as-mission through a coffee shop he and his wife launched as a Kingdom presence in their city. He is a Doctoral Candidate and part-time faculty at Fuller Seminary in areas of missional theology and intercultural studies. Rowland has authored Life Out Loud: Joining Jesus Outside the Walls of the Church, and is the creator and general editor/curator for Red Skies: 10 Essential Conversations Exploring Our Future as the Church, both published through 100M Publishing. He and his wife Kitty Smith have four adult children, one grandchild and an active house with three dogs. They live at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, enjoying both urban, missional living and the outdoors. You can find out more about Rowland and keep up with his work at www.rowlandsmith.net.
Rowland's Recommendation:
ReJesus: Remaking the Church in Our Founder's Image by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
Find Joshua at:
All Nations Kansas City
5QCentral
The Mx Platform
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In this episode we have a conversation with J.D. Payne around apostolic imagination, missions, and church planting.
J. D. Payne serves as professor of Christian Ministry at Samford University. Prior to this, he was the pastor for church multiplication with The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. Before moving to Birmingham, he served for ten years with the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and as an Associate Professor of Church Planting and Evangelism in the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also directed the Center for North American Missions and Church Planting.
Over the years, he has written numerous articles and reviews in the area of missions and evangelism and church growth.
He is the host of Strike the Match, a podcast that addresses missions, innovation, and leadership.
J. D. speaks frequently for churches, denominations, networks, and mission agencies/societies. Believing that every believer is supposed to be a “fruit-bearing” disciple in a local church, he is passionate about seeing the Body of Christ grow as local congregations work to carry out the Great Commission.
He is married to Sarah, a physician in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics with Christ Health Center in Birmingham, Alabama. They have three children: Hannah, Rachel, and Joel. He may be contacted at jd.payne@samford.edu
J.D.'s books:
Amazon Author Page
Apostolic Imagination
J.D.'s recommendations:
Effective Intercultural Evangelism by Jay Moon and Bud Simon
Sharing Jesus without Freaking Out by Scott Hildreth
Evangelism in a Skeptical World by Sam Chan
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In this episode, Jessica Schrock-Reingenberg talks about the importance of patience in the Kingdom of God. Patience was a distinctive of the early church that helped it thrive during the Roman Empire. She takes that seed and makes it practical for our daily lives.
Jessica is a pastor, professor, speaker, and business owner, but mostly an "APE." Currently she is the director for the Center for Anabaptist Leadership and Learning at Hesston College. She lives in Excelsior Springs, Missouri with her husband and three children.
Jessica's Recommendations:
The Patient Ferment of the Early Church by Alan Kreider
Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Burton
The New Leadership Literacies by Bob Johansen
The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder
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In this episode Dr. Michael Carrion shares about how to engage our neighborhoods long term, empower the marginalized among us, and point to what is good news for the people in front of us.
Rev. Dr. Michael Carrion serves as the Senior Pastor and General Overseer of the Promised Land Covenant Churches located in the North and South Bronx. He also serves as the founding Chairman and Superintendent of the Bronx Academy of Promise K-8 Charter School in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx and the Regional Coach for Church Planting and Development for the East Coast Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church,assisting with community and regional mapping, the discernment and assessment process of identifying and training new church planters in the NY/NJ areas.
Rev. Carrion has received national recognition and awards from Government, Community Based Organizations, Faith Based Organizations in several contexts throughout the Metro New York & New Jersey areas. Rev. Carrion was nominated and acknowledged as the Latino JSEC Community Champion for the poor – A United States Department of Labor achievement award for his civil rights efforts and community development contributions in bettering the Bronx community.
Serving as the VP of Church Planting and Leadership Development at CTC, Michael oversees the NYC team prayerfully and discerningly recruiting, training and resourcing church planters called to plant healthy missional churches in the five boroughs of NYC. Michael has successfully planted several churches and charter schools across the South Bronx. He is a social justice activist, community organizer who has been nationally recognized for his work among the poor across the city. Prior to working with CTC, Michael held appointments with the city of New York HRA/CAS and the Fedcap Group as the Senior Director of Workforce Development. As well as a prior role as the Deputy Director of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS).
Rev. Carrion has been married to his wife Elizabeth for over 30 years. Pastor Mike and his wife love spending time together with their 5 adult children Michael, Matthew, Tirza, Joshua and Tiffany, 2 granddaughters, 1 grandson, son-in-law Demar, and 3 pitbull dogs.
Michael's Recommendations:
To You All Hearts are Open: Revitalizing the Church's Pattern of Asking God
The New City Catechism by Kathy Keller
Spirit and Sacrament by Andrew Wilson
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In this episode Carey Sims shares her journey towards embodying faith and helping others create space to hear from and discern the voice of God. From art to business to ministry and family, she helps create places for faith to be caught and lived out.
Carey Sims serves as director of The Center for Faith and Leadership (Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA) where she and her husband, Gannon, are training and equipping the next generation of leaders through faith formation and leadership development.
As the founder of Created Space (www.createdspace.org) Carey offers short courses on listening and discernment in a collaborative learning environment. Created Space is for business and ministry leaders on the edge of a pivot or transition who desire to discover next steps in the context of community.
An entrepreneur and pioneering ministry leader with 25 years of experience, Carey is particularly interested in the intersection between theology and economics and how the church can make social impact while proclaiming the gospel. A spiritual director and ICF certified coach, she delights in helping people achieve their goals and develop practices that deepen and enliven their friendship with God.
She holds the MBA from Regent University and the M.Div. from Duke University.
Carey's Recommendations:
The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder and Michel Hendricks
Following Jesus: Finding our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety by Henri Nouwen and Gabrielle Earnshaw
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In this episode Dr. Scott Rodin shares about having a one Kingdom mentality where all of life is God's and we are stewards of that life in His Kingdom. The conversation hits on this and topics of leadership, fundraising, organizational change, and culture impact.
Over the past thirty-eight years Scott Rodin has helped hundreds of organizations improve their effectiveness in leadership, fund development, strategic planning and board development. His work has impacted individuals, ministries and churches in the U.S., Canada, Middle East, Great Britain, China, Philippines and Australia.
Dr. Rodin is Senior Consultant/Chief Strategy Officer for The Focus Group. He also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Association of Biblical Higher Education and as board chair for ChinaSource.
Dr. Rodin holds Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Systematic Theology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He’s written over fourteen books and speaks regularly at conferences, retreats and professional development events.
thestewardsjourney.com
Scott's Recommendation:
The Steward Declaration
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In this episode, Brian Russell shares his story of brokenness and the wholeness that came through silence and solitude with Jesus. He shares about his new book on centering prayer and how that can prepare us for mission.
Brian Russell (Ph.D.) is a professor of biblical studies and a transformational coach for pastors and spiritually-minded professionals. His personal mission is to seek out, study, and embody the deepest truths about God so that he can share them compellingly, lovingly, and transformationally with others. He is the author of Invitation: A Bible Study to Begin With (Seedbed 2014), (re)Aligning with God: Reading Scripture for Church and World (Cascade 2015); and his latest Centering Prayer: Sitting Quietly in God's Presence Can Change Your Life. He is also host of the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations podcast.
Brian's Book:
Centering Prayer: Sitting Quietly in God's Presence Can Change Your Life
Brian's Recommendations:
The Stoics:
Seneca
Epictetus
The Ninefold Path of Jesus: Hidden Wisdom of the Beatitudes by Mark Scandrette
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In this episode, Carl Medearis shares about Jesus and how He changes our response to ourselves and the world around us. He tries to keep Jesus the main thing.
Carl Medearis is an international expert in the field of Arab-American and Muslim-Christian relations.
He acts as a catalyst for a number of current movements in the Middle East to promote peace-making, as well as cultural, political and religious dialog leading toward reconciliation. He is the author of several acclaimed books including Muslims, Christians and Jesus, Speaking of Jesus, Adventures in Saying Yes, and Tea with Hezbollah.
Carl, his wife Chris, and their three kids lived in Beirut, Lebanon for 12 years. Through their unique and strategic approach around the Arab world, they encouraged university students, business professionals and political leaders to live their lives by the principles and teachings of Jesus in order to change their societies and nations.
Today Carl and his wife Chris share their lives between Colorado and Dubai. They spend their time working with leaders in the West and in the Arab world with the hope of seeing the Arab Middle East and the West experience full and fruitful relationships through the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.Carl's website:
www.carlmedearis.com
You can find links to his work there.
Carl's recommendation:
The Chosen
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In this conversation, we have a conversation with Drew Hyun. Drew talks about the importance of emotionally healthy spirituality, working from rest, being present with others, and the inner life of discipleship.
Drew Hyun is the Founder and Pastor of Hope Church Midtown, as well as the Founding Pastor of Hope Church NYC, a family of diverse churches in and around NYC. Drew is also the Co-Founder of the New City Network, a network of urban churches that value multi-ethnicity, Spirit-filled ministry, emotional health, and mission. Drew is also part of the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship team, a movement that is dedicated to transforming church culture through the multiplication of deeply changed leaders and disciples. Drew loves cities, ESPN, and naps, and finds it a restful Sabbath when all three come together. He resides in New York City with his wife Christina and their son David and daughter Avery.
www.emotionallyhealthy.org
Hope Midtown
Drew's Recommendation:
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle
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Craig Westhoff shares about how Jesus illuminated the darkness in his own life and helps others transform shame through God's presence.
Craig is a missionary with 24-7 Prayer USA, Spiritual Director and host of the Illuminated Soul with Craig West podcast helping people in their emotional, mental, and spiritual health and well being.
Craig's Podcast:
Illuinated Soul with Craig West
Craig's Website:
www.illuminatedsoul.org
Craig's Recommendations:
Franciscan Prayer by Ilia Delio
Proverbs
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In this episode we have a conversation with Cath Livesey around building a healthy prophetic culture, hearing God's voice, and becoming friends with the Holy Spirit.
Cath Livesey leads Accessible Prophecy (accessibleprophecy.com), working with churches across the world to develop a healthy and mature prophetic culture that both resources discipleship and empowers mission. She is the author of My Sheep Have Ears and The Prophecy Course and has many years’ experience of teaching and training people to grow in hearing God’s voice and using the gift of prophecy. She is also a team member of 5Q, an organisation that unlocks and releases the potential of five-fold ministry in the body of Christ. She loves living in Sheffield (UK) with her family and being part of the leadership of St. Thomas’ Church Philadelphia.
Cath's Book:
My Sheep Have Ears
Cath's Recommendation:
Our Eyes Fixed on Jesus by Guy Chevreau
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Michael Beck joins the podcast and talks about what church in the wild looks like, recovery from addiction, what AA can teach us about community, and Jesus' mission to seek and save the lost.
Michael Adam Beck is Director of Re-Missioning for Fresh Expressions US, Cultivator of Fresh Expressions for the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, and Director of the Fresh Expressions House of Studies at United Theological Seminary. Michael serves as co-pastor of Wildwood and St Marks alongside his wife Jill, where they direct addiction recovery programs, a jail ministry, a food pantry, an interracial unity movement, and a network of thirteen fresh expressions that gather in tattoo parlors, dog parks, salons, running tracks, community centers, burrito joints, and digital spaces. Michael has led a series of revitalizations each involving the integration of recovery fellowships into the inherited congregations. He is the author of seven books, his latest, Painting with Ashes will be released January 31st.
Get Michael' latest book: Painting with Ashes
Michael Recommends:
E. Stanley Jones
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In this episode Emma Cotterill talks about an anti-trafficking model that can multiply, empowering others into Kingdom work, collaboration and bridge building, giving others a voice, and APEST thinking.
Emma is Swedish and a Human Rights Lawyer who has worked in the NGO community against human trafficking for 12 years in the UK and Sweden. She and her husband Mark have planted a missional community in Manchester, UK and are currently planting a missional community in Helsingborg, Sweden. Emma and Mark have also founded a network for pioneer leaders called Venture12.
Emma's Recommendation:
God, Sexuality, and the Self by Sarah Coakley
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Pam Arlund discusses missions to the least reached people of the earth, utilizing a prophetic voice, and we even do some listening prayer in the middle of the conversation!
Dr. Pam Arlund is on the International Leadership Team at All Nations. Pam spent ten years in Central Asia as a church planter and Bible translator working among a previously unengaged people group. Along with others, she was able to help lead people to Jesus and train them to lead their own churches. Pam trains local churches and missionaries around the globe on effective disciple making principles. She received her PhD in Linguistics in 2006. She is the author of many articles and books on missions. She travels widely, training and encouraging local churches, missionaries through on-site trainings and Perspectives classes.
Pam's Book Club Reading Missionary Biographies
Connect with Pam: parlund@allnations.international
Pam's Recommendation:
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
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Peter J. Farmer talks about multiplication movements, discovery Bible study, gathering others to discover Jesus together, the necessity of five-fold ministry thinking, and following the lead of the Holy Spirit.
For 10 years Peter J. Farmer has been involved with hosting 'Newforms Gatherings' in the UK - connecting, resourcing and mobilizing those involved with new forms of church including simple, organic, missional and micro-expressions. Through 'Mission Britain' he sought out 'John-Knoxers' who were saying 'give me this region or we die' and hosted 'Strategy Co-ordinators Communities of Practice' sharing best practices in our pursuit of multiplication movements. Peter writes and connects at his blog: peterjfarmer.co.uk
Peter's Recommendations:
The writings of:
John Wesley
Catherine and William Booth
George Fox
Mike Breen
Alan Hirsch (Listen to Alan's episode of this podcast)
Neil Cole (Listen to Neil's episode of this podcast)
Wolfgang Simson
David Watson
Steve Smith
Ying Kai
Steve Addison
David Garrison
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Shaila Visser redefines evangelism for us, talks about Jesus being good, following Him being rich, and finding hope in Him.
Shaila Visser is the National Director of Alpha Canada and the Global Senior Vice-President for Alpha International. She is the Executive Producer of both The Alpha Youth Film Series (2013) and The Alpha Film Series (2016), and currently holds positions on the Board of the Damascus Road Foundation and on the Board of Regent College-an International Graduate School in Vancouver.
Shaila has a heart for people coming to know Jesus and is passionate about helping the local church flourish. She is a gifted communicator who is known for her strategic leadership as well as her ability to bring people together. Shaila is recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Christian Women in Canada. Shaila lives in Vancouver BC with her husband, Ryan Visser, a Vancouver Police Officer, and their four-legged family members, Talon and Benny. You can reach Shaila on Twitter or Instagram @shailavisser
Shaila's Recommendations:
Think Again by Adam Grant
Live No Lies by John Mark Comer
Deliverance: A Journey Toward the Unexpected by Jon Thompson
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In this episode, Alan Briggs talks about the importance of slowing down, gaining clarity in the midst of any circumstance, and finding healthy rhythms to sustain you for the long haul.
Alan Briggs is the founder of Stay Forth Designs, an organization that helps leaders get healthy and reach more impact. Alan is a mountain guide for the leadership journey. He loves outdoor adventures, but the greatest adventure of his being a father and husband. Alan is crazy about helping hungry leaders conquer overwhelm and navigate with courage. He serves leaders and organizations around the country through coaching, speaking, consulting, designing experiences, hosting mastermind groups, writing his own books and ghostwriting for others. He co-hosts Right Side up Leadership Podcast and regularly writes for Outreach and Field Notes .
Alan's Recommendations:
Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less - Here's How
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters by Priya Parker
New Power: How Anyone Can Persuade, Mobilize, and Succeed in Our Chaotic, Connected Age
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In this episode, Kevin King talks about his journey to working with internationals in the U.S., the importance of worldview, and living your faith out loud.
Kevin King is the President of International Project, an organization focused on initiating church planting movements through diaspora unreached people groups in ethnic communities and on university campuses. International Project’s focus is to mobilize and train teams of church planters who will start simple multiplying churches. Kevin’s vision is to see a movement of churches started among unreached people groups starting with diaspora communities here and spreading to least evangelized countries. You can learn more about his ministry at www.internationalproject.org
Kevin's Recommendations:
The 3D Gospel by Jayson Georges
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes
Ephesians 4 and APEST
Joshua's Leadership Accelerator around APEST starts January 18th!
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We have a great conversation with Peyton Jones around missional engagement, church planting, and the power of focusing on Jesus and the Gospel and letting the rest happen.
Peyton Jones is the author of Church Plantology: The Art and Science of Planting Churches, Reaching The Unreached: Becoming Raiders Of The Lost Art, and Church Zero: Raising 1st Century Churches From The Ashes Of The 21st Century. He began ministry serving at a megachurch in Huntington Beach, CA before embarking to Wales, UK for 12 years. After serving as the Evangelist at Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s church Sandfields, and as a church planter, and network leader he founded New Breed Church Planting Network which continues to train front-line 1st century style apostolic church planters, and has trained multiple church planters across the globe. In the 25 years that Peyton has been in ministry, he has served in almost every incarnation of church, context (urban, rural, University Town, Industrial) and across multiple denominations. He is a veteran church planter, and expert in the field of missional engagement strategy. One of his passions is starting churches in public spaces. He writes regularly for Outreach, Leadership Journal, and Christianity Today. He blogs regularly at Peytonjones.ninja. He founded Church Planter Magazine, and hosted two podcasts associated with it Church Planter Podcast and Hardcore Church Planting. Both are frequently in the #1 spots or in the what’s hot category. Peyton received his MA Theology: Pastoral Studies in 2010 from W.E.S.T. in the UK and has taught both Old Testament and Church Planting at the graduate level at two different Universities. He lives in Southern California with his family. Twitter: @PeytonJonesPunk Facebook: Facebook.com/peytonjonesninja
Peyton's Recommendations:
A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne
Simply Anglican by Winfield Bevins
The Office
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In this episode, Brian Sanders talks about missional living in the urban core, the humility it takes to come as a learner, and the incredible things that happen when you empower people to live out their purpose.
A social entrepreneur, Brian has helped to start hundreds of missional enterprises, including churches, nonprofits, and businesses all over the world. Most notably, Brian is the founder and former Executive Director of the Underground Network; an international fellowship of microchurch incubators creating city based ecosystems of faith, creativity and empowered social enterprise.
Brian's New Book:
The 6 Seasons of Calling
Brian's Recommendation:
Wanting
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In this episode, we have a conversation with Erik Fish around creating empathetic spaces of listening and understanding that lead to encounters with Jesus. Erik shares some stories of Jesus encountering others and helps make following Jesus something everybody would want to do.
Erik’s journeys among the First Nations people of North America inspired his passion for creating Jesus-centered movements outside the boundaries of conventional Christendom. In 2012, he was adopted and named as a member of the Dakota Sioux tribe.
By planting the way of Jesus within existing cultures and social groups, he has witnessed several miraculous movements that brought transformation to individuals, families, and communities.
Erik’s messages on the simplicity of Jesus’ call to create relationships like Jesus did have been featured on multiple platforms. He’s authored books and is the founding leader of the Student Church Movement, creating disciple multiplication movements on and beyond university campuses worldwide. Most of all, he loves creating friendships where history, culture, and tradition have built walls of separation.
Erik and his wife have four children. Their love for friends, travel, and Jesus take them on many adventures together.
Find Erik at erikfish.com
Erik's Recommendations
The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder
Paul: A Biography by N.T. Wright
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In this episode Neil Cole discusses his new book Viral, the importance of hearing God's voice, what lateral leadership looks like in the church, and much more.
Neil was born in Los Angeles CA, found Jesus in University and has followed Him for 40+ years. He has catalyzed the launch and multiplication of organic churches world wide and authored 17 books.
Neil's books:
Author Page on Amazon
Viral
Find more at starlinginitiatives.com
Neil's Recommendation:
Woke Racism by John McWhorter
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We have a great conversation with Adrian Reeves around African American missions, churches from different backgrounds working together, and people coming to the table together to solve issues we are currently facing.
Adrian Reeves is a missions mobilizer and Executive Director for the National African American Missions Council, a conglomerate of missionaries, churches, and missions agencies working to increase African American involvement in the Great Commission. Additionally, he serves as the Executive Pastor for Christ Kingdom Church in Prince George’s County, Maryland where he oversees the Christian Education, Evangelism, Worship, Administration, and Family Life ministries. Having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ at the age of 12; Pastor Reeves has served the local church in various capacities: Youth Pastor, Trustee, Prison Ministry Coordinator, and Camp Director.
He majored in Sociology at the University of Maryland College Park receiving the Hillman Entrepreneurs Scholarship Award. His experience in human resources and non-profit management have allowed him to train ministry and marketplace leaders for positive cultural impact. Pastor Reeves is passionate about establishing healthy structures and strategies for organizations and institutions to thrive in an ever-changing environment. He is married to the delightful Lady Niesha Reeves and they have two wonderful children Adonis and Nyazia whom are both musically gifted. Recently he has established a new platform called “The Table of Brotherhood” to foster racial healing and create a safe space for Christians to address race issues and solutions from a Kingdom perspective. He sums up his life’s work reminding himself “Only what you do for Christ will last”.
Adrian's Recommendation:
The Innovation Crisis by Ted Esler
Listen to Episode 14 of this podcast featuring Ted Esler talking about the Innovation Crisis
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In this episode, we talk with Alex Absalom about engaging naturally in conversations, helping others encounter Jesus, and being empowered by the Spirit in our every day lives.
Alex Absalom has served alongside his wife Hannah in church leadership in a wide range of settings, from plants to megachurches, for over 25 years. Together they lead Dandelion Resourcing, which focuses on empowering Jesus-followers to go and make disciple-makers in naturally supernatural ways. Alex is an unusually practical (and funny!) teacher and coach, who brings strategic insight and much hard-won experience from the front lines. Originally from England, the Absaloms live in Long Beach CA, where they are also planting a network of missional communities, and they have 3 cheeky but charming young adult sons!
Alex's Recommendations:
No Time to Die
John Wimber
Derek Prince
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We have a conversation with Jonathan Tremaine Thomas about issues of justice, reconciliation, all peoples coming to the table, and how the arts can affect change in a culture.
Jonathan Tremaine Thomas was raised in the southern foothills of western North Carolina along with his brother, worship artist Jaye Thomas. As a fifth generation “preacher’s kid”, and the grandnephew of the late Civil Rights activist and music legend Dr. Nina Simone; Jonathan represents a unique blending of artistic history and divine calling.
After earning a B.S. Communications at East Carolina University and pursuing an M.A. in Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary; Jonathan was commissioned in by Bethel World Outreach Center as a missionary to the most violent neighborhoods in Nashville, TN. While serving in these communities, he was personified as Tony in the 2006 Sony Pictures film The Second Chance. In this context, Jonathan began to employ his theatrical, film, and media production skills to equip and encourage young people through establishing a non-profit creative company. As president of Uproot Media, LLC; he worked as an actor, host, and voiceover talent appearing with prominent roles in two feature films and over 150 commercials, industrials, and radio ads.
As a missionary and prayer mobilizer, Jonathan has spearheaded extensive evangelism, prayer, and repentance gatherings in stadiums and cities across the nation including The Call Detroit, The Ferguson Response, Azusa Now LA, Awaken The Dawn, The Tent Charleston, OneRace Stone Mountain, and CLEAN. He gained a voice nationally due to his peacemaking efforts during the 2014 civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. In 2018, while serving on the pastoral team at Destiny Church St.Louis, he founded Civil Righteousness, Inc.
Today, through the Civil Righteousness movement, he directs prayer fueled evangelism, community transformation, and ethnic reconciliation initiatives in hundreds of cities across the globe. With a strong conviction to “earnestly contend for the faith”; Jonathan carries an uncompromising message of identity in Christ and eternal perspective.
He currently resides in Ferguson, MO with his wife Mollie and their young daughter.
Jonathan's Recommendation:
The Broken Heart of America by Walter Johnson
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David Blackwell shares about the power of story to shape and influence culture, realeasing others into work with Jesus, and the impact the fruit of the Spirit has.
David is a pastor at Navah Church KC which is a part of 24-7 Prayer. He is also a self proclaimed pickle ball champion, karaoke king, and birdie beast.
David's Recommendations
Falling Upward by Richard Rohr
The Sentinel: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
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In this episode we have a conversation with Lisa Rodriguez-Watson around issues of justice, the Kingdom of God, and embodying Jesus.
Lisa Rodriguez-Watson, for nearly two decades, has served as an urban church planter, collegiate minister, seminary professor, international missionary and community development practitioner. Her heart to see people reconciled to God and to one another has led her to invest her life, family and ministry in places and people that have often been looked over by the world.
Lisa served as co-founder of a grassroots organization in Memphis, TN that was committed to mobilizing Christians to love their undocumented neighbors, and consider an appropriate Christian response to our nation’s immigration crisis. In addition to her role as National Director of Missio Alliance, she serves as Associate Pastor of Discipleship and Equipping at Christ City Church.
Educated at Florida International University and Golden Gate Seminary, she now lives in Washington, DC where she is a mom to 3 fantastic children, Nathan, Elias, and Annelies, and a wife to her best friend Matthew, who serves as Pastor of Teaching and Outreach at Christ City Church.
Lisa's Recommendations
Subversive Witness by Dominique Dubois Gilliard
Ted Lasso
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
A World of Difference by Lori Adams-Brown
Seminary Dropout by Shane Blackshear
Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss
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In this episode we have a conversation with Liam Byrnes about fruitfulness versus productivity and the long slow process of being formed into the likeness of Jesus.
Liam and Rachel Byrnes joined All Nations and did CPx in 2010 in Cape Town. They've lived there ever since working in the township of Masiphumelele encouraging and mentoring young people and local leaders. In the past few years, alongside a local team, help lead Isithembiso (http://childrenofpromiseafrica.com) which is a ministry of All Nations. They also serve the Centre for Christian Formation and Discipleship (http://christianformation.org) which is a part of YWAM's University of the Nations, teaching, training, mentoring, and coaching other mission and ministry leaders. Liam writes a fortnightly newsletter called the Lectio Letter (http://lectioletter.com) with an article on discipleship, book suggestions, and other miscellanies. You can find out more about Liam and Rachel at http://liamandrachel.com/about
Liam's Recommendations:
Faith Formation in a Secular Age by Andrew Root
The Divine Embrace by Robert Webber
The Apostles' Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism by Ben Myers
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In this episode we have a conversation with Bryan Sims around getting buy in from everyone around values and mission, adaptive leadership, and abiding with Christ.
Bryan has worked since 2001 as a Leadership and Organizational Change Coach with SLI where he has trained and coached leaders, teams, churches, and organizations over extended periods of time to bring spiritual awakening and missional effectiveness. He has coached in Anglican, Methodist, Free Methodist, Wesleyan, Baptist, Presbyterian, and non-denominational settings.
Bryan has also been a professor of Leadership and Lay Equipping at Asbury Theological Seminary since 2011. His teaching expertise relates to team leadership, equipping, leading change, adaptive spiritual leadership, and the link between leadership and discipleship.
Bryan is a graduate of West Texas A&M University (1998) and Asbury Theological Seminary (M.Div., 2003) and has a Ph. D. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University (2009). He is author of Leading Together: Embodying Kenosis through our Greatest Challenges (100M Publishing, 2021) and has a authored a chapter in Leadership the Wesleyan Way (Emeth Press, 2016).
He and his wife MyLinda have been happily married since 1997 and have four children: Isaiah, Luke, Silas, and Lydia.
Bryan's Recommendations
Tempered Resilience by Tod Bolsinger
Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton
The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas
Connect with Bryan
bryandsims.com
bryandsims@gmail.com
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In this episode, Jon Ritner talks about his new book Positively Irritating, embodying the good news for the city, and he gives us a new paradigm for church.
Jon has twenty years of pastoral leadership experience, from growing an American megachurch to planting microchurches in Brussels, Belgium. He currently serves in Los Angeles as lead pastor of Ecclesia Hollywood and is on the board of directors for Communitas International, a global church planting movement. Jon trains pastors and church planters from across the country with Forge America, Fuller Theological Seminary, the V3 Movement, and 100 Movements. Jon and his wife, Kristyn, have two children, Addy and Jax.
Jon's book:
Positively Irritating
Jon's Recommendation:
Unclean by Richard Beck
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We have a great conversation with Nicole Smithee around women in leadership, making Gospel centered decisions, trust and vulnerability, worldview, and more. It's one you won't want to miss.
Nicole lives in Manhattan with the love of her life, her husband Ben. Nicole is the CEO and Co-Founder of Iridescent Women, a digital media company committed to awakening and championing the brilliance of every woman through honest conversations and authentic connections. She also serves as the Executive Director of Ministries & Teaching at Liberty Church. She enjoys quality time with friends and family, getting lost in a good book, being active and exploring, and Netflix-binging. To learn more, check out iridescentwomen.com and follow @iridescentwomen and @nicolesmithee on Instagram.
Nicole's Recommendations:
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud
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In this episode we have a conversation with Michael Cooper about the Ephesian movement and the structures it took for all of Asia to hear the word of the Lord. We dig into different leadership models, cultural identity, and the importance of everyone playing their part.
Michael T. Cooper – Dr. Cooper earned a PhD in Intercultural Studies with a focus on religious movements and a minor in theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He currently serves as a missiologist for East West where he focuses on missiological research and equipping missionaries for effective cultural engagement. Additionally, he is professor of missiological theology and program director of the Master of Arts Missiology of Movements at Mission India Theological Seminary. He has more than thirty years of missions experience, including ten years as a pioneer church planter in Romania after the fall of communism as well as six years in international development. He has helped equip church planters and leaders in Africa, Europe, North America, South America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. He has written and contributed to more than 30 books and academic articles and has presented conference lectures at the London School of Economics, University Bordeaux Montaigne, Loyola University, Baylor University, and many others. His book, Ephesiology: The Study of the Ephesian Movement received the Catalyst Services 2020 Reader's Choice award as the best book in missiology.
Michael's Books
Ephesiology.com
Michael's Recommendation
The 1st Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
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In this conversation with Curtis Sergeant, we talk about elements of movemental disicple making, hear about movements from around the world, and get into Curtis' story of his time working cross-culturally.
Dr. Curtis Sergeant served with the International Mission Board (IMB) among an unreached people group (UPG) in China. After a movement started there, he began training for the house-church networks in China and others around the world in how to do the same. Later he served as a VP for Global Strategy with the IMB. Then he went to Saddleback Church over Church Planting and helped catalyze some extremely large-scale church planting projects, especially in India, and engaged nearly a hundred UUPGs. He then served at e3 Partners as the International VP. Now he runs a disciple-making and missions training center called MetaCamp in Dadeville, Alabama (metacamp.org). He is also a co-facilitator of the 24:14 coalition (2414now.net) and founded Zúme (zume.training).
Curtis' book:
The Only One
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In this episode, we have a conversation with John Arndt about the posture we take in our interaction with others, attending to the presence of Jesus, and asking questions before we jump in with our answers.
John and Bethany Arndt worked in Cape Town, South Africa for almost a decade. They have a witty and vivacious son and live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. John trained leaders in spiritual formation and church-planting, and provided pastoral care for missionaries around the world for years. He is an Executive CliftonStrengths coach and has a Masters in Christian Formation and Discipleship. John sees the integration of coaching, spiritual direction and friendship as the vehicle for healing and growth, and values unity-in-diversity, strategic focus, and holistic growth.
John's Recommendations
The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen
Faithful Presence by David Fitch
With by Skye Jethani
Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird
Redeeming Sex by Debra Hirsch
Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
Defiant by Kelley Nikondeha
Abuelita Faith by Kat Armas
Find more of John's work at Flourish Direction
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In this episode, we have a conversation with Amy Sherman around bringing the Kingdom of God to earth and seeing holistic transformation happen within the people and places in which we work. It touches on issues of justice, economic reform, power, and much more.
Dr. Amy L. Sherman is a Senior Fellow at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, where she directs the Center on Faith in Communities. She likes to describe the work of the Center as that of being “a minister to ministries.” She provides training and consulting to churches and nonprofits seeking to transform their communities for the common good.
Dr. Sherman is the author of six books and some 75+ published articles in such diverse periodicals as Christianity Today, First Things, The Public Interest, Policy Review, Prism, The Christian Century, and Books & Culture.
Sherman is the founder and former Executive Director of Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, an Evangelical nonprofit assisting low-income, inner-city families. She has served on the Advisory Board of the Christian Community Development Association for several years.
A passionate participant in the fight against violent injustice around the world, Sherman serves as a Senior Fellow at the International Justice Mission’s IJM Institute. IJM is the leading Christian human rights agency engaged in the fight against modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
Her undergraduate degree is from Messiah College and her graduate degrees are from the University of Virginia.
Sherman is a long-time member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, VA. Her life verse is Micah 6:8 (“He has shown you, O Man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”).
Amy's Recommendation:
Arrabon
Playing God by Andy Crouch
Find more of Amy's work:
Vocational Stewardship
Made to Flourish
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In this episode, Ted Esler talks about the lack of innovation in ministries today and why the church should be at the forefront of innovation in this ever changing world we live in.
Ted worked in the computer industry before joining Pioneers in 1990. He served in Bosnia and in various leadership roles with Pioneers until 2015 when he was appointed the president of Missio Nexus. The author of The Innovation Crisis, he holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012).
Ted’s Recommendations
Noise by Daniel Kahneman
The CEO Next Door
The Chosen
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In this episode, Mary Ho talks about leading All Nations International and what it takes to lead ethnically and geographically diverse teams. Her experience growing up in different nations, prepared her for work in the nations.
In the early 1990s, God began birthing a heart for the poor and for the nations in John and Mary Ho, while a young married couple working for World Vision in Taiwan. Later in Hong Kong, they were greatly impacted by being a part of the churches that grew out of Jackie Pullinger’s ministry. Such experience and passion led to a steamless transition into leadership roles years later with the work started by Floyd and Sally McClung in the USA.
Named in 2015 and commissioned in 2016, Dr. Mary Ho became the International Executive Leader of All Nations International (allnations.international), a global Christian missions organization. In this current role, Dr. Ho provides leadership and direction for All Nations which has grown to four hubs and 400 cross-cultural workers in more than 40 countries.
Prior to this role, Dr. Ho served as the North America Executive Director of the All Nations’ hub in Kansas City, MO. Under her leadership All Nations has since multiplied with two additional hubs, one in Hamburg, Germany, and another in Kampala, Uganda. Her vision is to see All Nations establish additional hubs in other gateway cities worldwide for the mobilization of both cross-cultural and near-cultural workers. Dr. Ho is passionate about finishing the Great Commission in this generation and longs to see the love of God shared among the remaining untouched gospel frontiers.
Born in Taiwan and raised on four continents, Dr. Ho, has lived in Taiwan, the Philippines, the Kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the U.S.
Mary's Recommendations:
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes
The Gift of Being Yourself
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In this episode, we have a conversation with Sarah Breuel about her journey from Brazil to Italy starting a church and working in student ministry and then go into the global missions movement and discuss the elements of revival. Sarah is passionately praying for a revival in Europe that will touch other parts of the earth.
Sarah Breuel serves as the Director of the Revive Europe and the Evangelism Training Coordinator for IFES Europe. Included in the Christianity Today’s “33 under 33” list of leaders to watch, Sarah served as Chair of the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering 2016. Originally from Brazil and currently living in Rome, Sarah has worked for IFES in four national movements in the last 15 years (Brazil, Canada, Norway, and Italy) and currently works in the European region. She has a business degree and an MDiv from Regent College. She has recently joined the Lausanne Board of Directors as its youngest member. Sarah is married to René. They have planted a vibrant church in Rome and have two boys: Pietro and Matteo.
Sarah's Recommendation:
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
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In this episode, Roy Moran shares how important it is to shift culture by shifting our minds. As a disciple making movement practictioner and mentor, Roy has a vast amount of wisdom share. He shares lessons learned from our African brothers and sisters.
Roy Moran is the founder of Shoal Creek Community Church, the author of Spent Matches, and the Chairman of the Board of New Generations.
Roy's Recommendations
The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
Turn that Ship Around by L. David Marquet
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In this episode we have a great conversation with Sally Steele around belonging, bringing dignity and hope into different situations, and being people that have eyes that see and ears that hear. Sally shares about the importance of seeing things from different perspectives and widening the circle of who belongs and who gets to decide that.
Sally is a co-executive director of City Hope San Francisco, a nonprofit focused on providing a space of belonging for our most marginalized neighbors. Sally’s work includes overseeing staff development and equity, the organization’s transitional sober living home, and overall operations. Sally began her work building support networks for immigrant faith leaders and equipping faith-communities to support refugee families. She then served as the outreach director for a large congregation in Washington, D.C., managing nonprofit partnerships and providing grants and volunteers, before joining City Hope in 2014. Sally is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (MDiv) and the University of Virginia (BA), and is ordained in the RCA (Reformed Church in America). She lives in Oakland with her husband and three kids.
Sally's Recommendations
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
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In this conversation with Jonathan Fokker, we talk about the importance of coaching and mentoring in movements. As he shares his story of a radical encounter with the Father's love, Jonathan walks us through finding his purpose and living a life impacting the world for the Kingdom of God.
Jonathan is a businessman and the International Business Director for All Nations (www.businessformission.org). Jonathan coaches and mentors church planters and disciple makers in multiple countries to plant churches and businesses that multiply. Jonathan lives with his wife and three children in the Netherlands.
Jonathan's Recommendations
Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
Michael Simmons
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In this episode, Danielle talks about being rooted in community and in her identity in Christ and how that can carry you through situations you find yourself in. Through difficult circumstances, Danielle shares about holding on to the faithfulness and goodness of God.
Danielle Ripley-Burgess is a two-time colon cancer survivor first diagnosed at age 17, an award-winning communications professional and the author of Blush: How I barely survived 17. She writes and speaks to encourage others that faith can survive. Also, she bakes a really good chocolate chip cookie. Follow her blog at DanielleRipleyBurgess.com or connect on social media at @DanielleisB.
Danielle's Recommendations:
This is Us
Garden City by John Mark Comer
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In this episode Rob Wegner talks about reproducing disciples and micro churches with the aim of gospel saturation across an entire city. As we enter into conversation, Rob shares his story of growing up in an environment of disciple making. We come to the realization that as we put Jesus at the center, we die to ourselves, and embrace authentic community incredible things can happen!
Rob Wegner serves as one of the founders and directors of the Kansas City Underground, a mission agency and decentralized network of missionaries and microchurches in Kansas City. KCUG’s forty vision is to have a missionary on every street and a microchurch in every network of relationships, connecting with training Hubs throughout the city, saturating Kansas City with the beauty, justice, and Good News of Jesus. Rob also serves on the leadership team of NewThing, helping churches form networks to pursue the Mission of Jesus together. Rob is also an author, his latest books are Find Your Place: Discovering Your Calling Through Your Gifts, Passions, and Story (Zondervan),Brian Phipps and this theme book for Exponential 2019, Made For More, which he co-wrote with Todd Wilson. His next book is a collaborative work with NYT Bestselling author Ori Braffman, Alan Hirsch, and Lance Ford called The Starfish and The Spirit: Unleashing the Leadership Potential of Churches and Organizations. Rob’s wife, Michelle, and their three daughters, Maddie, Whitney, and Belle, own his heart completely.
Rob's recommendations:
www.maturityonmission.com
Discipleship That Fits
The Mandalorian
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In this episode, Alan Hirsch tells stories of his and Deb's early encounters with Jesus, illuminates the need for deep authentic community, and spurs us on to be true disciples of Jesus.
Alan Hirsch is one of the founders of Movement Leaders Collective, as well as founding the Forge Mission Training Network and 5QCollective. Known for his innovative approach to mission and thought-leadership, Alan is highly sought after movement strategist for leaders, churches and denominations across the Western world. He is the author of numerous award winning books including The Forgotten Ways, 5Q, ReJesus, The Shaping of Things to Come, and The Permanent Revolution. He and his lovely wife Debra hail from the land down under, but currently live in Melbourne, Australia.
Find links to Alan's books HERE
Alan's recommended reading:
Prayer by Hans Urs von Balthasar
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In this episode, Marko Pretorius shares his story of being invited by Jesus into a life of mission. Through deep listening and dreaming with people, the Kingdom of God is being established in the city. Jesus invites us all in to encounter Him along the way.
Marko is a South-African living in Hamburg, Germany . He is married to Maxie and expecting TWINS. He's a designer, maker and tinkerer. As the leader of the All-Nations Hamburg Hub (allnations.de), he is passionate about learning to and catalyzing Jesus movements.
Marko's Recommendations:
The Father Heart of God by Floyd McClung
Speaking of Jesus - The Art of Not-Evangelism by Carl Medearis
Living in Christ's Presence by Dallas Willard
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In this episode, I get to interview the love of my life - my wife, Meredith Johnson. Meredith shares stories on how the voice of God has impacted her life and the lives of those she serves. Join us for an inspiring conversation.
Meredith Johnson is the co-Executive Director of All Nations Kansas City (www.allnations.us). She coaches and trains other to live in loving obedience to Jesus and His commands. She loves 2 Timothy 2:2 and is thrilled by the idea of exponential multiplication. She has lived in the Middle East for 7 years and has been engaged with catalyzing Disciple Making Movements among Muslims since 2005. She has a Master's of Divinity with Global Missions emphasis and a Cambridge CELTA ESL certificate. She lives in Kansas City, MO with her husband Joshua and son Luke.
Meredith's Recommendations:
The Chosen
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In this episode Rich Robinson shares about Kingdom movements, being rooted and grounded in our relationship with Jesus, and how to be good news to the culture around us.
Rich serves as the Team leader for the Catalyse Change (www.catalysechange.org), which provides training and coaching for church leaders, network leaders and entrepreneurs. The various initiatives of the charity are all created to equip and enable leaders in releasing potential through discipleship and leadership cultures; activating movemental dynamics and disruptive innovation in their context, and catalysing spiritual, strategic and social change for the good of others.
Rich leads initiatives such as Movement Leaders Collective (working with church and network leaders - www.movementleaderscollective.com) and CREO (working with Christian entrepreneurs - www.creoventures.co). Over the past 20 years he has led pioneering work in missional disciple-making, innovation and entrepreneurship, and organizational change across the globe.
Locally, he lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is married to Anna, who is a writer and editor, and they have three children: Josiah, Esther and Samuel. They are passionate about living with integrity and intentionality as a family that follows and shares Jesus.
Rich's Recommendations:
New Power
Collective Genius
A Beautiful Constraint
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In this episode we talk to Jessie Cruickshank, a Neuro-Ecclesiologist about faith and trust in God as an avenue to living a shame free life. We touch on brain science, roller derby, being formed through community, and much more.
Jessie is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of discipleship, neuroeducation, and experiential education. She has spent over a decade applying neuroeducation research to discipleship, ministry training, experiential education, adventure education, and organization development. She is an ordained Foursquare minister. She is a philosopher, neuro-ecclesiologist, licensed Christian minister, and is currently authoring research in faith development theory. Her main goal, whether in education, faith or business, is to create intentional environments where people can learn and grow, by working with the brain and treating individuals as whole persons.
Jessie's Recommendations:
The Chosen
WandaVision
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Join Joshua Johnson in his conversation with Noah Kaye around authenticity and wholeness through coaching.
Noah Kaye is a native of the Washington DC area and is happily married to Tricia. He holds a Bachelors Pastoral Ministry and a Masters in Christian Leadership. Noah serves as a Pastor for 10 years and then spent 7 years living and serving in Africa (South Africa and Tanzania) mobilizing and coaching church leaders. Noah has travelled to 40 nations and coached many leaders in church life, missions, discipleship and leadership. Noah and Tricia have three lively kids. The Kaye’s now live in the Annapolis, MD area where Noah serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Integer Network, an international coaching network that promotes authenticity and wholeness through coaching. Noah is a certified leadership coach, a highly relational leader and a gifted communicator. You can learn more about Integer Network at www.integernetwork.com or tune into his “What If” podcast.
Noah's Recommendations:
The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns
Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron
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