Shifting Culture

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 ...

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 ...

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 spiri...

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 buil...

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 ...

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 wo...

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 cont...

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 orchestr...

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 liv...

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 platfor...

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 fai...

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 delve...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ab...

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 t...

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...

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. ...

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, a...