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 ...
Aug 22, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 334
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,...
Aug 19, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 333
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...
Aug 15, 2025•51 min•Season 1Ep. 332
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 eve...
Aug 12, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 331
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 ho...
Aug 08, 2025•51 min•Season 1Ep. 330
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’...
Aug 05, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 329
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 redempt...
Aug 04, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 328
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 prac...
Aug 01, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 327
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,...
Jul 29, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 326
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...
Jul 25, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 325
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 ...
Jul 22, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 324
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 diffe...
Jul 18, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 323
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 ...
Jul 15, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 322
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 th...
Jul 11, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 321
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 Rebelli...
Jul 08, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 320
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 hel...
Jul 07, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 319
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...
Jul 04, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 318
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...
Jul 01, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 317
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...
Jun 27, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 316
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...
Jun 24, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 315
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...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 314
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, ...
Jun 17, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 313
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 supp...
Jun 13, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 312
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...
Jun 10, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 311
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...
Jun 06, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 310
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 stri...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 309
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, ...
May 30, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 308
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 ...
May 27, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 307
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...
May 23, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 306
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. Support the show
May 22, 2025•4 min
