The Monday Christian Podcast

Christina Bieber Lake (PhD, Emory University) is the Clyde S. Kilby professor of English at Wheaton College, where she teaches contemporary American literature and theory. She is the author of Prophets of the Posthuman: American Fiction, Biotechnology, and the Ethics of Personhood and The Incarnational Art of Flannery O’Connor. She lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with her husband, Stephen, and their son.

Talking Points

• Why teachers are misunderstood
• Rhythms of a teacher
• Completely Uninterrupted Reading Blocks (CURB)
• Unique challenges of teaching at different levels

Resources

Douglas Groothuis (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary. He is the author of numerous books, including Christian Apologetics, Fire in the Streets, Philosophy in Seven Sentences, Unmasking the New Age, Truth Decay, On Pascal, On Jesus, and Walking Through Twilight. He has written for scholarly journals such as Religious Studies, Sophia, Research in Philosophy and Technology, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and Philosophia Christi, as well as for numerous popular magazines.

Episode Talking Points:

• World religions
• Sharing your faith
• Interacting with others who have different worldviews

Resources:

Brian Russell (Ph.D.) is an award-winning professor of biblical studies and former dean at Asbury Theological Seminary as well as 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 The Song of the Sea: The Date of Composition and Influence of Exodus 15:1–21 (Peter Lang, 2007); Invitation: A Bible Study to Begin With (Seedbed 2014); (re)Aligning with God: Reading Scripture for Church and World (Cascade 2015); and his newly released Centering Prayer: Sitting Quietly in God’s Presence Can Change Your Life (Paraclete Press, 2021). He is also host of the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations podcast.

Episode Talking Points:

• Teaching the Bible
• The influence of scripture 
• The story of the Bible
• Dealing with hard passages 
• Walking through a dark night of the soul 
• Keeping the Bible fresh in our lives 
• Contemplative Spiritual Formation 

Resources:

Micah E. Davis is a pastor and he believes the written and spoken word are a medium to illicit heart change and life transformation. He has committed his life to using words for good. Micah lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife Rylei and their Australian Kelpie, Leo. In his free time, he can often be found hiking, reading, or drinking a cold glass of sweet tea.

Episode Talking Points

• Living in Indianapolis
• Church planting
• Having a father who had a moral failure
• Wrestling with faith
• Finding our life's purpose
• Listening in community with others

Resources

Eric has a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Whitworth University, Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry from Portland Seminary at George Fox University.

Gaining a heart for ministry through Young Life in Maryland as a teenager, Eric went on to start a new club at a neighboring high school. He served for seven years as an Associate Pastor at Marine View Presbyterian Church in Tacoma. After that, Eric founded Colbert Presbyterian in 1997. He also has written three books: Wade In The Water, Letters to a Young Pastor (with Eugene H. Peterson), and Letters to a Young Congregation. Outside of CPC, Eric serves as an advisor for doctoral students at Portland Seminary, and as a trustee at Whitworth University.

Eric is married to Elizabeth, who is a Spiritual Director and Yoga Instructor. They have six children, and three grandchildren.

Episode Talking Point:

• Eric's relationship with his father
• Writing a letter to his dad
• Avoiding workaholism
• Being Present
• Operating in a social media age
• Guarding our souls

Resources:

Barry Rowan is a Harvard Business School graduate who spent his entire career serving in C-Suite roles. He has been instrumental in building and transforming eight businesses, primarily in the technology and communication space, with one selling for $10 billion. His leadership experience spans both private and public companies, including Gogo (the inflight connectivity company), Vonage, Nextel Partners, and Fluke Corporation.

Based on his belief in giving back, Barry serves on both for-profit and non-profit boards, mentors young leaders, and leads international study trips. His non-profit boards have included InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Seattle Pacific University, Gordon College, the Gonzaga University Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, and advisory boards for Harvard Business School. He also served as president of Bellevue Christian School.

Episode Talking Points: 

• Christian Leadership 
• Surrender 
• Who is God? 
• Sacrifice 
• Success as a Christian 
• Wrestling with God 

Resources

Msuega Tese is a co-founder and Executive Director of Integrated Solutions Angola Lda (ISA). Under Tese’s leadership, ISA has become the brand leading enterprise customers in Angola to turn to for high-end professional IT services. While Tese owes his expertise to his education and decades of experience, his journey to leadership began at a very young age.

Episode Talking Points: 

• Leadership
• Church hypocrisy
• Who is God?
• Supernatural prayer
• Bringing value to the workplace
• Leading like Jesus
• How to become a leader

Resources: 

Scot McKnight (PhD, University of Nottingham) is Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament at Northern Seminary. in Lombard, Illinois. He is the author of many books, including Reading Romans Backwards, Pastor Paul, The King Jesus Gospel, and commentaries on James, Galatians, and 1 Peter. He is also the coeditor of the Story of God commentary series and general editor of the forthcoming second edition of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters.

Episode Talking Points:

• Bible Translation
• Familiarity of Scripture
• Traditions of Church
• Defining Biblical Terms
• Biblical Inherency

Scot's Links:

Natasha Smith is a wife, mother, and writer from North Carolina. Her work has appeared at Her View from Home, Focus on the Family, and TODAY Parents. 

Episode Talking Points: 

• Defining grief
• The Effects of 2020 
• Unanswered prayers
• Examples of grief in scripture
• Loss of family and friends
• Hope in Christ 

Resources: 

Katie Schnack is a writer and book publicist. She is the author of The Gap Decade: When You're Technically an Adult but Really Don't Feel Like it Yet. Her articles have appeared in such places as Relevant, Today.com, Hello Giggles, Romper, and Scary Mommy. She grew up in Minnesota playing duck duck gray duck, learned to say "bless your heart" in Texas, lived in a four-hundred-square-foot apartment in New York (okay, Jersey City, actually, but it was close enough to Manhattan), and has a love-hate relationship with Cheetos but is also oddly obsessed with spinach smoothies. Katie and her family now live in West Palm Beach, Florida, on an acre of land with five chickens, three goats, and a senior mini pony.

Episode Talking Points: 

• How do you write your first book? 
• Hiking adventures 
• Raising a son with VACTERL
• How hard times shape us
• A simple prayer to pray each morning

Resources:

Kayla Craig is a parent to four wild, wonderful kids and the author of Every Season Sacred and  To Light Their Way: A Collection of Prayers & Liturgies for Parents. With more than 100 modern liturgies, Kayla’s nuanced writing guides you into an intentional conversation with God for your children and their world. Kayla's background is in journalism, and she hopes to bring curiosity and compassion to how she shows up not only as a writer and podcaster but as a neighbor, friend, and mother. She's a regular contributor to PBS KIDS for Parents and shares faithful explorations as an (in)courage contributor, too. Kayla is the creator of the popular Liturgies for Parents Instagram account, where she shares liturgies (and breath prayers) for parents that are relevant to our real, lived experiences. She's grateful for the many Christian traditions and backgrounds that have widened her faith, and her wonder-shaped writing has been featured in a vast array of books, devotionals, and Bible studies.

• Coming to faith in Christ

• Healthy life rhythms 

• Meeting God through our children

• Unforced family rhythms

• Breath prayers

• What to do when we fail as parents

• Cycles in parenting

Trevor Seath began leading as the C2C Ontario Regional Director in August 2015 after serving as C2C Regional Mobilizer and as Pastor of Church Networking at Peoples Church in Toronto. Trevor was working for Royal Trust in 1997 when God called him and his wife Julie into pastoral ministry. After completing an MDiv at Tyndale, Trevor served as Lead Pastor of Bridletowne Park Church (Toronto), and ministered there for 12 years. Trevor is passionate about serving pastors and church planters as a pastor, coach, trainer, and church planting catalyst. He and Julie have four children: three terrific daughters, and one fantastic son.
Episode Talking Points

• Trevor's growing up years in a devoted Christian household
• People-pleasing
• The unexpected death of Trevor's brother
• Pastoral ministry in Toronto
• Prayer-walking basics
• Written prayers
• The power of habits
• Depression and prayer walking

Resources

Bio

Kyla Gillespie was born in BC, Canada. Being raised in a Christian home, she came to faith in Jesus Christ at a young age. As early as the age of five, she began to experience gender dysphoria. In her teens, wrestling with both same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria, life became difficult. She spent her late teens and adult years as a Professional Women's Hockey Player. After a lifelong battle with Gender Identity, in 2011 she fully transitioned from female to male. While living as a male for six years, God revealed himself to her in a powerful way. Since then she has fully de-transitioned and is now living out her God-given gender and sexuality as a woman in pursuit of Jesus. 

Kyla has a passion for teaching, speaking and sharing the Gospel. She travels within Canada and the USA and would love to travel the world sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Kyla has been working on writing blogs, and podcasts. She has been a  contributor to The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender in film and Conferences. 

Her deep desire is to make Jesus known and help other Christians be better equipped to love the LGBTQ+ community. Kyla is an active and involved member of her local Church, Gospel City, in Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada.  

Episode Talking Points

• Kyla's growing up years in a Christian home
• The separation of Kyla's parents at age 14
• Kyla's alcoholism and the suppression of pain
• Kyla's transition
• God's Rock and detransition 
• "All in under Christ"
• The cost of disciplining others
• Fulfillment in Christ alone
• Unconditional love for image bearers 

Resources

Rob is a native of Charlotte, NC, and has four children, one of whom is internationally adopted from China. Rob and his wife, Karen, also a professional counselor, conduct marriage conferences, premarital seminars, and marriage enrichment weekends. In his free time Rob enjoys road and mountain biking, fishing, camping, hiking, date nights, family time, and service projects. He also enjoys reading about theology, philosophy, the integration of psychology and theology, and orphan care. Rob’s passion for marriage and the family is born out of his own experience and work to build a healthy marriage, as well as the tremendous education he has received in helping hundreds of distressed couples find hope, work through difficult problems, and rebuild their relationships.

Episode Talking Points

• Rob's journey to Christ and processing family trauma
• Moving forward
• Hurting pastors
• Marital revival
• Trust in marital relationships
• "Consumer marriage"
• Pursuer/Withdrawer cycle
• Truth-telling
• Remember, Repent, Redo

Resources

Janan has been a teacher for nine years, both in the classroom and in the online setting. Middle school is her "jam" and her favorite subjects to teach are history, culture classes, and writing.

She is a Canadian-American that loves a good cup of coffee, dark chocolate, decor, exercise, traveling, capsule closets, and thrifting. She grew up in North Pole, Alaska (yes, it’s real, and yes, “Santa” lives there) and then went to Florida for her teaching degree at Hobe Sound Bible College. Afterward, she earned an MA of Education at Trevecca Nazarene University in curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

Internationally known for her work on Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History, Dr. Richter brings the Old Testament to life by exploring the real people and real places from which it comes.

Richter is a graduate of Valley Forge University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and earned her doctorate from the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department of Harvard University in Hebrew Bible.  A veteran of many years of leading student groups in archaeological excavation and historical geography classes in Israel, she has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary., Wesley Biblical Seminary and Wheaton College.  She is recognized among the laity for her The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament and is currently working on a second in that series The Fifth Gospel:  A Christian Entry into the Book of Isaiah (IVP Academic).  Her current research involves a forthcoming commentary on Deuteronomy with Eerdmans.  She is also the author of several adult Bible Curriculums with Seedbed and Harper Collins.  Richter is a sought-after speaker in both academic and lay settings.

Episode Talking Points

• Coming to faith at the tail end of the Jesus Movement
• Mission drift and revival
• "Dysfunctional closet syndrome"
• Making the Old Testament understandable for common people
• Making Old Testament characters real
• Getting the bookends of the Scriptures set
• What about those who haven't heard?

Resources

Jamie Taylor is an author and communicator who loves helping people discover the things that are holding them back from a life of abundance and authenticity. She is a leader in both church and non-profit spaces where she journeys alongside people on their road to freedom.

McKinsey Swain is a wife, mom, multi-passionate entrepreneur, coach and freedom chaser. She loves to help individuals and teams get unstuck and move forward in life, business, and ministry.”

Episode Talking Points:

• Coming to faith in Christ in different ways
• What it means to be free
• The unhealthy allure of legalism
• The challenge of deconstruction
• How to raise kids that are free
• Freedom from feeling disqualified

Resources:

Jessie Cruickshank holds a M.Ed. from Harvard in Mind, Brain, and Education. She is an ordained minister 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 education, and organization development. Jessie is respected globally as a missiological thought-leader and a church and denominational consultant and is the founder of Who-ology. Jessie lives and adventures with her family in Colorado.

Episode Talking Points

• The incredible faith journey of Jessie's family
• "God hardwired our brains for transformation"
• Activating autobiographical memory
• The limits of good information
• The curriculum of life
• How we read the Scriptures
• Integration of life and the Scriptures

Resources

Benno van den Toren (PhD, Theological University in Kampen) is professor of intercultural theology at the Protestant Theological University in Groningen, the Netherlands. He has taught in French-speaking Africa and at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University, and his books include Christian Apologetics as Cross-Cultural Dialogue and Reasons for My Hope: Responding to Non-Christian Friends.

Episode Talking Points

• Growing up near Rotterdam
• Contextualization of apologetics
• Listening in apologetics
• Relevance and attraction in apologetics
• Violence and colonialism in Christian history
• Where to start in apologetics
• "Fools for Christ"

Resources

Jon Pyle is a Digital Pastor who serves the people of CityChurch San Antonio and created his own podcast about making the church "Better on the Inside". As a teenager in the late 90's, Jon converted to Christianity from his first religion: Pop Culture. He is a fun sock enthusiast, retired sports blogger, tea drinker, and world-class hugger.

Episode Talking Points

• Jon's journey to Christ as a youth group outcast
• Processing emotions
• Working through painful life experiences
• Care and content in the Church
• Christianity: is it good?
• The iceberg metaphor
• Better on the Inside Podcast and Jon's philosophy of conversation
  

Resources

Isaiah Robertson is the Senior Pastor of Hope in Christ Church in Compton, California. In 2020, Pastor Isaiah released his groundbreaking book Black Church Empowered: Examining Our History, Securing Our Longevity. This book quickly reached the top of the charts as an Amazon best seller. It also garnered the Best Book of 2020 award from the Emmaus Collective. Pastor Isaiah has served in multiple ministerial capacities since accepting his call. He has served as a youth pastor, an associate pastor, and a church planter. He has also spearheaded numerous outreach programs aimed at serving underprivileged communities and mentoring young men of color. He has a passion for studying, preaching, and teaching the Word of God. He also has a deep interest in contextual ecclesiology and Black Church studies.

Episode Talking Points

• Isaiah's background and conversion story
• Grace for the word of faith movement
• Isaiah's journey into the history of the Black Church
• The challenges and pitfalls of seminary
• "Black Church"
• Learning from the Black Church
• Black Church and a theology of suffering in practice
• Community and the imago dei in the Black Church
• Racial Reconciliation
  

Resources

Matthew J. Lynch is an associate professor of Old Testament at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada. He is the author of First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods, Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible, and Monotheism and Institutions in the Book of Chronicles. He is the co-founder of the OnScript podcast, a podcast focused on providing engaging conversations on Bible and theology.

Episode Talking Points

• Matt Lynch, tuba player
• Matt's journey to Christ
• Understanding conversion
• Violence in the Old Testament
• The flood narrative
• Joshua and conquest
• Static rope/dynamic rope
• Core doctrines of Christianity
• The character creed of God in Exodus 34
• Thinking through the mysteries of God
  

Resources

Alan Fadling is president and founder of Unhurried Living, Inc. in Mission Viejo, California. He speaks and consults internationally with organizations such as Saddleback Church, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Cru, Halftime Institute, Apprentice Institute, and Open Doors International. He is the award-winning author of An Unhurried Leader and An Unhurried Life, and coauthor (with Gem Fadling) of What Does Your Soul Love?

Episode Talking Points

• How Alan came to faith in Christ
• Alan's connection to Dallas Willard
• Becoming unhurried is a process, not a daily event
• Why are we so busy?
• Why do we link our careers with our personal happiness?
• Daily unhurried rhythms
• Do we want to know God?

Resources

Janice McWilliams (MDiv, LCPC), author of Restore My Soul: Reimagining Self-Care for a Sustainable Life,has nourished a lifelong curiosity about human nature. This has propelled her to serve in campus ministry, to speak and train groups in churches and organizations, and to work as a therapist, spiritual director, and writer.Her love of the depths and intrigue of the human experience is matched by her desire to find her place in God's work of restoring and revitalizing souls everywhere.

Episode Talking Points

• Janice's journey to faith as a PK (preacher's kid)
• Tumultuous teen years and pursuing God in college
• Self-care Barbie
• One-dimensional self-care
• Thoughts, emotions, rhythms, fulfillment
• True and false guilt
• The path forward for self-care
• "Better breaks"

Resources

Jim Belcher (PhD, Georgetown University) is a political philosopher, researcher, and writer. He previously served as president of Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California, and was the founding lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. He is the author of In Search of Deep Faith and Deep Church, which won a 2010 Christianity Today Book Award in church/pastoral leadership.

Episode Talking Points

• Jim's journey to Christ
• Church planting in California 
• The difficulty of a "middle way"
• The vital center
• What is the gospel?
• Technology advances and the response of the church
• Retrieval of constitutional republicanism
  

Resources

David E. Fitch (PhD, Northwestern University) is the B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary. He is also the founding pastor of Life on the Vine Christian Community, a missional church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He is the author of Faithful Presence, The Great Giveaway and The End of Evangelicalism? and is the coauthor of Prodigal Christianity. Fitch coaches a network of church plants in the Christian and Missionary Alliance and he writes, speaks, and lectures on issues the local church must face in mission including cultural engagement, leadership, and theology. He has also written numerous articles in periodicals such as Christianity Today, The Other Journal, Missiology, as well as various academic journals.

Episode Talking Points:

• What is faithful presence?
• How do you be faithfully present in your community?
• Differences between rural and urban Christians 
• How Christians think differently 

Resources:

Sarah is a ministry trainer, consultant, and coach based in Providence, RI. With nearly 20 years of ministry experience in the church and parachurch, Sarah is passionate about equipping ministry leaders to flourish in their unique callings and contexts.

Trevin Wax (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor of theology at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today.

He has served as general editor for The Gospel Project and has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College. He is the author of several books, including The Multi-Directional Leader, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, Eschatological Discipleship, and Gospel Centered Teaching. He lives in middle Tennessee with his wife, Corina, and their three children.

Episode Talking Points

• Trevin's journey to Christ
• Trevin's cross-cultural work and spiritual formation in Romania
• The impetus behind The Thrill of Orthodoxy
• The ways we drift from orthodoxy
• Pragmatic drift
• "Doers" and "sayers" and why it's ideal to be both
• Trevin's new podcast

Resources

Bonnie is the author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018).  Her column, "The Lesser Kingdom," appears in print and online at Christianity Today. Her work has also been published at outlets including USA Today, Defense One, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, Politico, Time, Reason, National Interest, New York Times, and The American Conservative. A graduate of Bethel Seminary, she lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and twin sons.

Episode Talking Points

Bonnie's journey as a writer
Discerning truth from error when consuming media
The ease and danger of self-platforming
Bonnie's apology and humility
faithful, factual, fair

Resources

David T. Lamb is the Allan A. MacRae Professor of Old Testament and dean of faculty at Missio Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He previously worked in campus ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and has taught extensively in various crosscultural contexts. He is the author of God Behaving Badly, Righteous Jehu and His Evil Heirs, Prostitutes and Polygamists: A Look at Love, Old Testament Style, 1 and 2 Kings. in the Story of God Bible Commentary series, and The Historical Writings: Introducing Israel's Historical Literature (coauthored with Mark Leuchter).

Episode Talking Points:

• David's growing up years and coming to faith in Christ
• David's journey from an engineer to theology professor
• David's experience as a person who feels deeply and his faith tradition
• The "why" behind the book The Emotions of God
• Divine anger
• Jesus, the man of sorrows who weeps
• Stewarding emotions well
• Emotions in worship

Helpful Resources

Jim Domen shares the following bio of his life: 

"I never imagined that I would enter the homosexual lifestyle after being raised in a God-fearing home and accepting Christ at age seven. After I graduated from George Fox University, I was so desperate to love and be loved that I didn’t care that my partner was HIV positive. God changed my life forever on June 8, 2002, when I lost all my worldly possessions and distinctly heard God’s voice telling me to come back to Him. I told God, “I’m yours again,” and I began to realize that His strength is made perfect in my weakness – even in someone as broken as me.

God began to restore me and I enrolled in seminary at Azusa Pacific University. I learned how to be obedient to God’s voice and how to interpret the Bible. God continued His work of redemption and gave me opportunities to share my story publicly.

After I graduated from seminary, I became a pastor at Rose Drive Friends Church. I realized that I could no longer ignore the troublesome news stories about public policy and it discouraged me to hear Christians who did not understand how to articulate their worldview. Around this time, Proposition 8 was being fought in the culture and I found myself on the front lines promoting God’s plan for marriage: the union between a man and woman. At press conferences and rallies, I met the founder of Focus on the Family’s California Family Council, who became my boss and mentor after I was asked to join California Family Council. After six years at CFC, God strategically called me to begin Church United in 2016. Church United’s vision is to transform California for Christ by 1) Disrupting Pastors, 2) Uniting the Church, and 3) Transforming our Communities.

Six years after leaving the gay lifestyle and one month before the successful passage of Proposition 8, God continued His work of restoration when I met my wife, Amanda. She is “God’s gift from Heaven.” We were married in 2009 and five years later God blessed us with our daughter, Aliah, whose name in Hebrew means “ascending to God” – just like our praises to Him for giving us the gift of becoming parents. Two years later, Amanda gave birth to our son, Ryker, whose name means 'strong leader,' and in 2018, we had our third child, Asher. Her name means 'Happy and blessed.'”

Episode Talking Points:

• Growing up in a Christian household
• The day he realized he was attracted to men
• Life with his gay partner in California 
• Meeting his wife Amanda and having three kids
• Redemption 

Resources 

Tommy Newberry is The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The 4:8 Principle. He is the founder and head coach of AchievingOPTIMAL, an organization focused on helping Christian entrepreneurs and their families maximize their full potential. Tommy is also the author of the motivational classic, Success Is Not an Accident, 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life, I Call Shotgun, Think 4:8, and The Daily Guide to a Joy-Filled Life. He’s appeared as a guest on over 200 radio and television programs, including Fox & Friends, The Lou Dobbs Show, Your World With Neil Cavuto, Janet Parshall’s America, The Fox News Strategy Room, and many others. Tommy’s annual Couples Planning Retreat, held at luxurious destinations such as Blackberry Farm, Palmetto Bluff, and Barnsley Resort, takes world-class planning tools into the family realm allowing husband and wife to design a more intentional, simplified and enriching life together. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Kristin. They have three boys, two out of college, one married and the youngest still in high school.

Episode Talking Points

• Growing up and learning the 4:8 principle
• The 4:8 principle
• Budgeting the things you put into your mind
• Building sustainable habits
• Optimal vs. doable
• "You are a beautiful, wonderful child of God"
• Defining success

Resources

Marjorie Lindner Gunnoe (PhD, University of Virginia) is professor of psychology at Calvin University. She teaches developmental psychology and conducts research on parent–child relationships. Previously she worked at Child Trends, Inc., in Washington DC, and served as a member of the design team for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth conducted by the US Department of Labor. Gunnoe lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, Charles.

Episode Talking Points:

• What is psychology? 
• How should Christians view psychology?
• How can psychology strengthen our faith?
• How does Christianity compare to the teachings of popular psychologists?

Resources:

Kimberly McOwen Yim is co-founder and executive director of the SOCO Institute, and she writes and speaks on issues related to human trafficking. She is also co-author (with Shayne Moore) of Refuse to Do Nothing: Finding Power to Abolish Modern-Day Slavery.

Sandra Morgan is director of the Global Center for Women and Justice at Vanguard University. She is recognized globally as a leader in the fight against human trafficking. She hosts the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, and she also served by presidential appointment on the Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking.

Episode Talking Points:

• What is human trafficking?
• How is it different than sex trafficking?
• What are all the different ways people are trafficked? 
• What do Christians do that contributes to human trafficking? 
• What are some positive ways Christians can put an end to human trafficking? 

Resources: 

Dr. Ury is the National Ambassador of Holiness for the Salvation Army. He is a world-renowned scholar on Wesleyan Holiness and Systematic Theology. Bill completed his M. Phil. and Ph.D in Theological and Religious Studies at Drew University (Madison, New Jersey) in 1991. Prior to that, Dr. Ury earned his M. Div. in 1983 at Asbury Theological Seminary. He was a Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Wesley Biblical Seminary (Jackson, Mississippi) from 1989-2012; and pastored the Elizabeth City (North Carolina) EMC from 2012-2017.

Episode Talking Points

• What if you associate the term holiness with a denomination? 
• How is holiness defined?
• What is holiness all about? 
• How do we live a holy life? 

Resources

Dr. Michael Bird is an Australian biblical scholar and Anglican priest who writes about the history of early Christianity, theology, and contemporary issues. Mike is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of over thirty books including Evangelical Theology, Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew About the Bible, Romans (SGBC), The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus, What Christians Ought To Believe, and with N.T. Wright, The New Testament in its World.

He enjoys tennis, reading, and red wine. He is married to Naomi and they have four children.

Episode Talking Points

• Michael's growing up years and coming to faith in Christ
• Michael's stint in the military
• A global perspective on gun control
• Why rightly understood secularism is good for religious freedom
• The dangers of conservative nationalism and progressive authoritarianism
• A Thessalonian strategy for apologetics

Resources