Rashan Frost joins Austin to discuss the ten year anniversary of the shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Frost is the ERLC director of research and senior fellow focused on issues of human dignity. He is the teaching pastor of Centerpoint Church in North Charleston, South Carolina, and is also an adjunct professor of Christian Studies at Charleston Southern University. He and Austin discuss the tragedy, the responses, and how Charleston has changed as a result. Thi...
Jul 02, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 215
Ivan Gonzalez serves at Christos Para Las Naciones Church in Penson, Alabama, which is a Hispanic Church primarily serving immigrant families. Ivan joined Austin to talk about what life is like for Christians in Hispanic churches in 2025. We really enjoyed this conversation because Ivan is so Biblical in his approach to ministry. We hope you are encouraged to pray for your Hispanic brothers and sisters from this conversation. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh ...
Apr 23, 2025•25 min•Season 1Ep. 214
Dr. Daniel Rienhardt is a 24 year veteran of the police force. He is the author of Rethinking the Police: An Officer's Confession and the Pathway to Reform (IVP, 2023). This book is a refreshing change from most conversations about police reform. Daniel is a retired officer brimming with love for his fellow officers but who understands that serious changes need to be made. We hope this conversation gets you thinking and hope that you'll read and share the book! LINKS & SHOW NOTES: Dan's book...
Apr 09, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 213
Caryn Rivadeneira is the author of several books for both children and adults. Her latest book, Gritty and Graceful (Beaming Books) is one we would recommend to all of our listeners. Caryn managed to give a Biblical survey of the work of women in redemptive history and did so in an age-appropriate way for little girls and boys. It's really special. We hope this conversation is encouraging to you and we hope you'll check out the book! LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced ...
Mar 26, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 212
Gavin King is a partner at Beasley Allen law firm in Montgomery, Alabama. He has been a friend of this ministry for a long time, and in this episode, he talks with Isaac about growing up in the black church and highlights some of his personal heroes of the faith. We hope this testimony of deep roots encourages you to press on. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Support the show To learn more about United? We Pray, follow u...
Mar 12, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 211
Walter Strickland is Assistant Professor of Systematic and Contextual Theology at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the author of Swing Low: A History of Black Christianity in the United States (Intervarsity Press, 2024). Dr. Strickland joins Austin to talk through his new book. Dr. Strickland approached his new book theologically, which is not a surprise for a theology professor. He has chronicled a massive amount of source data and come up with a list of five theologica...
Feb 26, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 210
On January 31, United? We Pray's longest-serving staff member resigned to spend more time with her family. Jeri Choi has been a blessing to this ministry for many years, and all of our listeners have benefitted from her hard work. Please join us in thanking her and praying for God's blessing on her life and family! LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Support the show To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagr...
Feb 19, 2025•2 min
Walter Strickland is Assistant Professor of Systematic and Contextual Theology at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the author of Swing Low: A History of Black Christianity in the United States (Intervarsity Press, 2024). Dr. Strickland joins Austin to talk about black history, and why he took a slightly unusual path to write his book. Often times, works on black history can focus more on the oppression black people have faced more than the accomplishments and contributio...
Feb 12, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 209
Grace and peace! It's 2025 and United? We Pray is in an exciting place as a ministry. Last year, we recorded more content than any year prior. In today's episode, Isaac and Austin sit down to talk about where we are as a ministry and what you can expect from the podcast and other arms of the ministry in 2025. As always, we covet your prayers over this work and partnership. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Support the sho...
Feb 07, 2025•25 min•Season 1Ep. 208
UWP Founder Isaac Adams recently preached from Revelation 22 to Iron City Church in Birmingham, AL. We're grateful to be able to share this with you, because the ministries of Iron City Church and United? We Pray are intertwined and mutually reinforcing. You will be able to tell from this sermon that the unity we speak about in this ministry is vitally important in the life of our church. We hope this is an encouragement to you as you start the new year. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast ...
Jan 08, 2025•47 min•Season 1Ep. 207
Dustin Ratcliff is a pastor at Iron City Church in Birmingham, Alabama. In this sermon, he preaches from Exodus 33 on what it means to be in a relationship, even friendship, with God. Understanding these truths from Scripture has a profound impact on our prayer lives. We hope you are as encouraged and moved by this sermon as we were. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Support the show To learn more about United? We Pray, f...
Dec 18, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 206
As many of you know, Isaac Adams, who founded our ministry is pastor of Iron City Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This week's episode is an excerpt of a sermon he recently preached on the perseverance of the black church. We hope this testimony of God's faithfulness encourages you! Support the show To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts , and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to he...
Nov 27, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 205
Author and Pastor Ryan King joins Austin to talk about his new book, Every Man's Conscience, which explores the contributions of 17th Century Baptists to political theology. That might sound academic, but we have a lot to learn about honoring the conscience of our neighbors and Ryan has much help to offer. As counter-intuitive as it might seem to us, liberty of conscience is a good thing for our churches, our evangelism, and our neighbors. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: You can find Ryan's excellent bo...
Nov 20, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 204
Dr. Timothy Paul Jones is a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He joins the show today to lend his historical expertise to our conversation about political idolatry. This is the final installment of the series, so if you haven't heard the others, we encourage you to check those out. Dr. Jones surprised us by quoting a lot of second and third century Christian thinkers about the freedoms we should extend to our neighbors. Truly there is nothing new under the sun! LINKS & ...
Nov 13, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 203
A little different this week. We're just praying for the nation. Please join us in doing so. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Support the show To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts , and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!...
Nov 06, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 202
Election week is finally here. By the time the next episode airs, votes will be cast. Whether or not we know who won by this time next week. pastor Jared Torrence joins Austin this week to talk about what we need to remember to make sure our joy is tied to the eternal plan and character of God, regardless of who is in the white house. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Here is the episode we referenced with Steve Bateman. ...
Oct 30, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 201
Rev. Dr. Arthur Price, Jr. graciously hosted us at his home church: 16th St Baptist, which was home to a terrible bombing in 1963, which claimed the lives of four little girls. Though 16th St Baptist is a national historic landmark, Dr. Price is clear that his church is not a museum - it is a living, thriving outpost of gospel ministry. We hope you are encouraged by Dr. Price's testimony. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts....
Oct 23, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 200
Jared Torrence is back with us to discuss the dynamics of raising mixed kids in multiracial families. As always on these family episodes, we are grateful for Jared sharing his experience, which is instructive for us whether we share his same family dynamic or not. Jared reminds us of the pillars we should be teaching our kids, which are especially important when they are in multiracial families. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ri...
Oct 16, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 199
Pastor Jared Torrence of Covenant Fellowship Church in Glenn Mills, PA joins Austin to talk about the relationship between fighting racism and preaching the gospel. Pastor Jared reminds Christians of the power of God for both salvation and sanctification that are found in Jesus and the attitudes Christians should have toward all kinds of sin, racism included. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Support the show To learn mor...
Oct 09, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 198
Author, evangelist, and apologist Preston Perry joins the show today to discuss his new book, How to Tell The Truth: The Story of how God Saved me to Win Hearts, Not Just Arguments (Tyndale, 2024). Preston has much wisdom to share about how Christians should engage the lost world around us. He teaches us about humility, boldness, and relying on God in prayer. We hope you are emboldened to share the Gospel with folks after this! LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Jos...
Oct 02, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 197
Dr. Nate Brooks, professor at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary joins Austin today to talk about a few important doctrines of the Christian faith. The first is the sufficiency of Scripture and the second is God's common grace. How are we to think about the Bible? What about other resources like books by non-Christians? Dr. Brooks gives us a helpful framework that prioritizes Scripture and honors God's common grace to us through other means. We hope this episode encourages you to read...
Sep 25, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 196
Adrianna Anderson is back once again as we wrap up our study through the Old Testament. Today we're looking at the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. There is so much in here about how to live a righteous life, how to seek and acquire wisdom, and how to live at peace with our fellow believers. If we would pay more attention to this portion of Scripture, there is much for us to learn on how to disagree well. We hope you've enjoyed this series, but more than that, we hope you are spending tim...
Sep 18, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 195
Dr. Paul D. Miller is a professor at Georgetown University's school of foreign service. He is a veteran, patriot, and author of The Religion of American Greatness: What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism (IVP: 2022). Dr. Miller joins Austin today to talk about Christian Nationalism - what it is, isn't, and what it gets wrong about both the church and the state. Many of us have loved ones who hold these views, and it is important for us to understand them in order to love them well. Dr. Miller is...
Sep 11, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 194
Austin is joined today by Dr. Robert Elder, Associate Professor of American History at Baylor University. We're talking about the Lost Cause - the myth that the Confederacy was a noble institution and those who fought for it are worthy of our veneration. The truth is more complicated, as we discuss. Dr. Elder is a model of both clarity and charity in how he deals with this topic and shows how we can be both clear-minded about the past without wrongly celebrating things we should denounce. LINKS ...
Sep 04, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 193
In the final episode in this series on virtue, Kaitlyn Schiess joins us to think about the virtue of love, and how we as Christians can exercise this virtue in service of our neighbors. How can we love our neighbors with our politics? How can we cultivate the virtue of love in our hearts? How have we gotten this wrong in the past? What's the role of the local church in all of this? We discuss all of these questions and more, as Kaitlyn shares insights from her book, The Liturgy of Politics. LINK...
Aug 28, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 192
Continuing our series on political virtues, Joshua Chatman joins Austin to talk about the Christian virtue of hope and the difference hope makes for our political engagement. Josh introduces several categories of hope which he and Austin then apply to political engagement. By being hopeful rather than fearful, Christians can stand out in this anxious generation. We hope you are encouraged. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts...
Aug 21, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 191
Pastor Steve Bateman hosted Austin and Isaac for a discussion on the political virtue of faith. Pastor Steve believes that despite the trouble regarding Christianity and politics, Christians should remain politically engaged. By exercising our faith and being reasonable (Philippians 4), we can bless our neighbors with our political engagement. Steve speaks about the fear and anxiety that so often dominate our political engagement and shows how Scripture gives us the answers to today's problems. ...
Aug 14, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 190
Austin is joined today by Dr. John D. Wilsey, author of American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (IVP, 2015). Dr. Wilsey has much to teach us about history and how Americans have thought about themselves and their place in the world. While American Exceptionalism has sometimes referred to an imperialist mindset, Dr. Wilsey encourages us to lean into the legacy of people like Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Dr. King who called us to live up to the id...
Aug 07, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 189
Justin Giboney is a husband, father, attorney, ordained minister, and author. He is the co-founder & president of the & Campaign and host of the church politics podcast. He joins Austin and Isaac to talk about politics and race. Political convictions aren't the only things that divide Christians. We are still divided by ideas about race as well. Justin has much wisdom to share on both politics and race, and we are grateful he spent this time with us. LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podc...
Jul 30, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 188
Austin and Isaac are joined by Dr. Derwin Gray to discuss political idolatry in our churches. Dr. Gray is both a pastor and scholar. We wanted to hear from him about this difficult topic, and the fruit he's seeing from it in our churches. We discuss the different manifestations of political idolatry, its causes, and the terrible fruit it produces. Despite that, Dr. Gray is encouraged because Jesus is still building His Church. We hope you are encouraged to fight sin after hearing this. LINKS &am...
Jul 24, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 187
