Gospelbound

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen interviews David Brooks about his new book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. They explore what it means to be an "illuminator" who helps people feel seen and significant and the need to cultivate a societal value for kindness and respect. They also discuss how personal suffering can foster empathy and strengthen our human connections.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Dr. Allen Guelzo discuss Guelzo's book, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment. As they examine the historical parallels between the challenges facing democracy during Abraham Lincoln's presidency and today, they emphasize the importance of understanding historical contexts to better appreciate and uphold democratic values in modern times.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen talks to Steve Preston about how Preston's Christian faith has influenced his leadership and community service, particularly at Goodwill Industries where he serves as President and CEO. Preston is committed to addressing poverty and providing opportunities to strengthen communities through social enterprise, and his experience demonstrates how faith can impact significant, positive change and human flourishing.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and George Marsden discuss Marsden's book, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the 21st Century. They highlight the relevance of Edwards's theology for modern times, exploring his view of the universe as an expression of God's love and the beauty of Christ's sacrificial love. They also discuss Edwards's greatest sermons, changes in his studies, and the contrast between Edwards's spiritual perspective and Benjamin Franklin's more materialistic view. Marsden reflects on how Edwards's insights have been personally transformative, underscoring the lasting impact of Edwards's spiritual perspective.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Claude Atcho discuss the relevance of the Samaritan woman's encounter with Jesus (John 4) for Christian witness in contemporary society. Atcho emphasizes the power of personal transformation through Jesus Christ as foundational to effective apologetics, advocating for sharing one's genuine experiences with Christ as a bridge to engaging a skeptical world. Hansen and Atcho discuss the need for Christians to maintain authenticity and relational integrity in their witness, reflecting Jesus's engagement with those on the margins. 

You can read Claude Atcho's chapter in Faithful Exiles. 

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Melissa Kruger offer hope and encouragement to parents as they discuss the challenges of Christian parenting in a secular age. They explore the importance of grounding parenting in the gospel, emphasizing the need for hope, trust in God's purposes, and the application of grace. The conversation also covers the role of community and the impact of digital technology on parenting. Melissa Kruger shares insights from her book, Parenting with Hope, highlighting practical advice for raising teens and the distinction between authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles.

Collin Hansen and Irwyn Ince discuss Ince's book, Hope Ain't a Hustle, exploring how our hope in Christ impacts faithful living amid cultural and societal challenges, suffering, and injustice. They delve into the critical roles of Scripture, gathered worship, and community in sustaining our hope, and they highlight the importance of daily disciplines in cultivating our anticipation of God's victory over sin and injustice.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Samuel James examine the profound ways smartphones have reshaped our culture and devotional practices. They discuss James's new book, Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age, and the necessity of biblical wisdom in an era dominated by digital narratives. Hansen and James also explore the influence of technology on identity and societal norms, particularly concerning the transgender revolution. Their discussion helps unpack how to navigate modern challenges with wisdom and discernment.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Jeremy Treat discuss Treat's new book, The Atonement: An Introduction, exploring how the cross of Christ defies worldly expectations and fulfills humanity's deepest desires. They discuss the inseparable link between the cross and the kingdom, the dynamics of the Trinity in the work of salvation, and how Christ's crucifixion addresses both our guilt and shame. They end their conversation on the transformative power of Christ's atonement and how it equips Christians to suffer well.

Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman discuss the complex nature of authority within both the church and broader society, highlighting its significance for protection and flourishing, while also addressing the challenges it presents in today's world. They draw on Leeman's book, Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing, to discuss how godly leadership, exemplified by Jesus, can lead to strengthened communities and serve as a beacon of hope and guidance.

You probably consider yourself a Christian, if you listen to this podcast. But I can bet that you have questions about Christianity. You might even doubt aspects of Christianity. If not, then you definitely know someone who does. And maybe you’ll want to share this podcast with them.

Whether you’ve believed for as long as you can remember, or you’re doubting right now, it can be comforting to know that the faith journey rarely looks simple. The journey is full of twists and turns. Politics, sexuality, family, and religious experience all push us to and fro, especially in the critical years of maturation in adolescence and early adulthood.

Over 40 years, Randy Newman has heard hundreds of stories about people coming to faith. He brings that experience to bear in his new book, Questioning Faith: Indirect Journeys of Belief through Terrains of Doubt, published by Crossway with The Gospel Coalition. Randy is senior fellow for apologetics and evangelism at the C. S. Lewis Institute. He was formerly on staff with Cru, ministering in and near Washington, DC. He joined me on Gospelbound to discuss motives, plausibility, certainty, and doubt, among other topics.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Brad Wilcox discuss Wilcox's new book, Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization. They delve into the topic of the role of churches in reinforcing the values and virtues of good families, the modern priority on money and free time, and the two-parent privilege, among other subjects.

Join Collin Hansen and Melissa Kruger for their annual discussion as they look back on the most impactful stories of 2023. They'll also share projects they're working on, books they're reading, and what they're each looking forward to in ministry and life in 2024.

Episode time stamps:

• Tim Keller's legacy and impact on the church (0:00)
• Women in ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention (4:57)
• Dechurching, its reasons, and hope for the future (10:57)
• Disillusionment with secularism and its impact on Gen Z (17:44)
• The relationship between Christianity and gender roles (25:05)
• AI's impact on work and discipleship (31:12)
• Spiritual engagement and conflict resolution in Israel and Palestine (39:52)
• Current events, theology, and hope in the face of evil (48:52)
• Women's ministry, book recommendations, and conference experiences (57:27)
• Books, conferences, and Elizabeth Elliot (1:05:52)
• Parenting teens, trusting God in suffering, and addressing objections to Christianity (1:11:39)
• The Gospel Coalition's recent activities and future plans (1:17:55)
• Parenting, marriage, and sharing the gospel. (1:23:55)

Read Collin Hansen's article, "My Top Theology Stories of 2023."

The birth of Christ from Mary's womb assured justice for the world. Collin Hansen reflects on the hope this gives us at Christmastime.

Read the full meditation transcript, here. 

What if the best way to defend our faith can be found by visiting premodern North Africa?

That’s the premise of the latest book by the dynamic apologetics duo of Josh Chatraw and Mark Allen. It’s called The Augustine Way: Retrieving a Vision for the Church’s Apologetic Witness, published by Baker Academic.

This is a special episode of Gospelbound. I normally record remotely from my office at Beeson Divinity School, where I co-chair the advisory board and serve as adjunct professor, but in this episode, I was in studio, at beautiful Samford University, with Beeson’s newest professor, Josh Chatraw. He serves as the Billy Graham chair of evangelism and cultural engagement. Josh is also an inaugural fellow with TGC’s Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics.

We discuss the The Augustine Way and one of Josh's newer book, Surprised by Doubt: How Disillusionment Can Invite Us into a Deeper Faith.

Both books explore themes that not everyone would associate with apologetics. We often think of apologetics as rational, logical, individual proofs of Christian truth. But Josh Chatraw argues that today, the question of Christianity’s truth is closely bound up with the question of Christianity’s goodness. He also builds on the Augustinian theme of love—we desire to love and be loved, and our reason works toward what we think will make us happy.

Josh also casts a vision for churches as places where we can work through doubts. Churches should nurture apologists of virtue and skill through the ordinary means of grace. I love this quote from The Augustine Way: “The church counterforms us and re-aims our hearts toward the kingdom that is to come, equipping us with the diagnostic tools to see into a society’s idolatry and forming us into a source of healing and hope for our neighbors.” 

If you know Justin Brierley, it’s probably for the debates and interviews he hosted for many years with the Unbelievable? radio show and podcast. He interviewed some of the most outspoken atheist critics of Christianity and convened some of the most intense debates of recent memory.

During that time, however, Justin noticed a shift. The conversations changed in tone and substance—dramatically so. The bombast began to disappear. Secular guests opened to Christianity, at least its cultural and social value if not always its literal truth. They expressed concern over cancel culture and identity-based politics. Some of them made common cause with Christians. Some of the atheists even became Christians!

He tells their stories in a new book, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again, published by Tyndale Elevate. Until April 2023 Justin was theology and apologetics editor for Premier Christian Radio and hosted the Ask N. T. Wright Anything podcast. He was also editor of Premier Christianity magazine from 2014 to 2018.

You can tell from the title that The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God is an optimistic book. Justin writes, “New Atheism gave the Christian church a kick up the backside that it desperately needed. Arguably, the last two decades have seen the greatest revival of Christian intellectual confidence in living memory as the church has risen to the challenge.” You know I love the sounds of that revival.

N. T. Wright wrote the foreword. He asks, “What if the Christian story is poised to come rushing back into public consciousness in our day? Could it once again nourish the hearts and minds of people who have been starved of meaning and purpose for so long?”

How amazing that would be! We discussed this, and more, on this episode of Gospelbound.

“Jesus hears and cares about the things that make your heart heavy and your cheeks wet.”

That was perhaps the most moving line in Alistair Begg’s new book, The Christian Manifesto: Jesus’ Life-Changing Words from the Sermon on the Plain, published by The Good Book Company.

It’s a challenging book. It’s a sensible book. It’s a book about how we approach the world, how we engage the culture in truth and love. Above all it’s a biblical book all about Jesus.

Core to Begg’s manifesto is a contrast between the teaching of Jesus and the way of the world. The Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke isn’t the kind of speech that gets you elected to public office today. Jesus didn’t flatter. And he didn’t compromise. His ways are not always our ways. Begg argues:

The biggest reason for the ineffectiveness of contemporary Christianity is a failure to take seriously the radical difference that Jesus calls for as we follow him as King. The 21st-century Western evangelical church has too often given in to the temptation to soft-pedal Jesus’ words—to find caveats and loopholes in what he says—in order to offer the world something that sounds more palatable and less demanding. We have spent decades congratulating ourselves for being able to go among our non-Christian friends and say, “You know what? We’re just the same as you.” And they’ve said, “You know what? I think you’re absolutely right!”

So what’s the alternative? The kingdom of Jesus! Followers of Jesus don’t get happy and sad about the same things as the rest of the world. Christians pursue ambition in ways the world regards as weak. Sometimes Jesus’s commands won’t make sense to others. Sometimes they don’t even make sense to his followers! And yet, we trust him and obey. We’ve tried just about everything else in our changing world. Maybe we should try doing what Jesus says. Here’s Begg again:

I’ll show you how to make an impact on the culture, says Jesus. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who ill-treat you. If we chose to live this out, it would cause a revolution in our culture. It would prompt a complete change in the tone that many of us adopt on social media. It would open doors of homes and make them places of welcome and restoration. It would cause bridges to be built across political divides that have caused disagreements (or worse) in the past, and it would transform relationships in the workplace into ones of collaboration and forgiveness rather than self-promotion and grudge-holding. In other words, if we chose to live this out, it would show what our Father is like: merciful.

Alistair Begg is senior pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bible teacher at Truth for Life, which is heard on the radio and online around the world. He joined me on Gospelbound to talk about Jesus, true gospel-centered living, and more.

There’s one big idea at the heart of Andrew Wilson’s remarkable new book, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West, published by Crossway. He argues that more than any other year in the last millennium—the last 1,000 years—1776 made us who we are today in the West.

I suppose many American listeners now are thinking, Of course! The Declaration of Independence! Ron Swanson says history began on July 4, 1776. But wait: didn’t Andrew just say the post-Christian West? What does he mean about that?

Andrew demonstrates a lot of courage writing about 1776 as the teaching pastor of King’s Church London. But one of the most important points of his book is that the American Revolution was just one of many world-changing events and ideas crossing and recrossing the Atlantic in and around 1776. In fact he argues the battles were less important than the words. Human rights, free trade, liberal democracy, religious pluralism; the preference for authenticity over authority, choice over duty, and self-expression over self-denial—Andrew traces it all back to 1776.

Ron Swanson might not be right that history began on July 4, 1776. But Andrew does argue that 1776 separates us from the past. He writes, “The vast majority of people in human history have not shared our views of work, family, government, religion, sex, identity, or morality, no matter how universal or self-evident we may think they are.”

In Andrew’s telling, the West is full of Protestant pagans, and Christians are victims of our own success. He joined me on Gospelbound to talk about his favorite stories and his fervent hopes.

Jen Wilkin and J. T. English have given you an invitation—they want you to know and love God well. Sounds good, right? It’s hard to imagine any of us turning down that offer. There’s just one catch. You need to become a theologian.

But you can do it. You were built for it! That’s their theme in a new book, You Are a Theologian, published by B&H. They’re bringing theology to the masses, something they’ve been doing together for many years. You know Jen Wilkin as a Bible teacher from Dallas, Texas, and author of many books, including Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds. Like Jen, J. T. is a repeat Gospelbound guest. He’s a pastor in Colorado and author of Deep Discipleship: How the Local Church Can Make Whole Disciples.

This paragraph sums up their work in You Are a Theologian:

Theology is not done exclusively or even primarily in the classroom. It is done in everyday life, every minute of every day. We are doing theology when we preach, pray, and sing, but we are also doing theology when we go to work, when we take a vacation, as we care for an aging parent, as we fight sin, as we raise kids, as we mourn the loss of a loved one, as we spend our money, and as we grow old. You are a theologian, and you are always doing theology.

They deliver on the premise in this book that I think works well in Sunday schools, youth groups, college discipleship, leader training, and more. Jen and J. T. joined me on Gospelbound to talk about misunderstood doctrines, favorite doctrines, favorite theologians, theological training in the church, men and women working together in the church, and more.

Jesus was and is a genius. Have you ever thought of him that way? We know him as a friend, Lord, healer, and teacher. Of course, Son of God, true God from True God. But genius? Einstein was a genius. Hawking was a genius. Men of science. Men of modernity. Men who created our world.

Jesus? He’s a religious figure. And we don’t associate religion with genius. Even when we confess with Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of his power.’

Peter Williams, however, wants you to consider The Surprising Genius of Jesus in his new book from Crossway. He shows readers what the Gospels reveal about the greatest teacher, and he wants you to see the cleverness and wisdom of Jesus.

Williams is the principal of Tyndale House, Cambridge, and chair of the International Greek New Testament Project. He’s also the author of an excellent little book, Can We Trust the Gospels?, which is similar to The Surprising Genius of Jesus.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen talks with Peter Williams about The Surprising Genius of Jesus as well as the mission of Tyndale House, Cambridge.

He calls abortion the “spiritual battle of our lives.” And he firmly believes that abortion will end when men make it so. Roe v. Wade has been overturned, but this former football star says the fight for life has only reached halftime.

He is Benjamin Watson, author of The New Fight for Life: Roe, Race, and a Pro-Life Commitment to Justice, published by Tyndale Momentum. You may already know quite a bit about abortion. But you may have never seen the subject explored from this angle.

Watson argues, “Ignorance of or disregard for racial justice— especially by some white pro-life evangelicals—has been a hurdle to unifying and expanding the movement.” He’s not content to pass legal restrictions or even ban abortion. He describes a “higher, more complete calling” to “to address the factors that drive abortion decisions.”

And he comes prepared with an array of statistics that may surprise you. Surveys show that 76 percent of abortive mothers would prefer to parent the child under different circumstances. Forty percent of the women who abort their children attend church regularly. Watson describes a “crucible of susceptibility” that helps explain why 40 percent of women seeking abortion are Black. Compared to White women, Black women in the United States are four-times more likely to have an abortion. Black women are also three-times more likely than White women to die from pregnancy-related causes. He explains that Black women have been warned that if abortion is restricted or banned, more of them will die in childbirth.

Watson isn’t afraid to step on toes or tell Christians they need to step up in the fight for life. He sees hope in the gospel and in the church. He writes, “As a church, we need to become a safe haven, a refuge, a place where the most vulnerable can turn—not just for spiritual help, but for emotional, material, and financial support too.”

Watson joined me on Gospelbound to discuss the role of men in the pro-life cause, the relationship between history and agency, and the responsibility of parents to talk to their kids about sex, among other subjects.

It’s been dubbed the Gender Revolution. And if you’re listening from anywhere in the West, you see it everywhere. Gender identity has been disconnected from biology. What you feel about your body matters more than what you can see and touch. Even children, encouraged to believe they were born into the wrong-gendered body, now expect and even demand support from parents and other authorities as they seek life-altering drugs and surgeries to “confirm” the gender with which they identify.

For almost a decade, I’ve fielded questions from concerned parents, friends, and pastors about this Gender Revolution. That’s why I’m glad Samuel Ferguson has written the booklet Does God Care about Gender Identity?, one of the first in a new series from TGC and Crossway called Hard Questions. The other new titles are Why Do We Feel Lonely at Church? by Jeremy Linneman and Is Christianity Good for the World? by Sharon James. You can buy these short booklets in bulk for your church at just $7.99 apiece right now on Amazon. But you’ll get the best deal at the TGC Store, where you can purchase 3 copies for the price of 2.

Samuel Ferguson has been the rector of The Falls Church Anglican in Falls Church, Virginia, since 2019. I first saw him writing on gender dysphoria in a 2015 book review for TGC. He also contributed to our 2022 article “Transformation of a Transgender Teen” by Sarah Zylstra. He joined me on Gospelbound to discuss this cultural revolution and address everything from parents to pronouns to the distressing experience of gender dysphoria. 

“The gospel is not just the diving board off which we jump into Christianity—it’s the swimming pool in which we swim.”

That’s a line from J. D. Greear’s new book, Essential Christianity: The Heart of the Gospel in Ten Words, published by The Good Book Company. Greear is pastor at The Summit Church in North Carolina and the author of many books. He served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant church network in the United States.

His book Essential Christianity works through Romans, the apostle Paul’s magnum opus. Based on Romans, Greear defines the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, this way: “God, in an act of grace, sent his Son, Jesus, to earth as a man so that through his life, death, and resurrection he could rescue us, reign as King, and lead us into the eternal, full life we were created to enjoy.”

Greear writes not only to encourage believers in Jesus but also to challenge non-Christians. He aims to show how gospel defies many modern expectations. For example, he writes, “The cross yields a radical inclusiveness that welcomes anyone, celebrates everyone, and looks down on no one.”

J. D. joined me on Gospelbound to talk more about Romans, the human condition, leadership, and maybe even the SBC. 

Sometimes advice isn’t just bad. It’s delusional.

That’s what Jean Twenge writes in her new book, Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future. She makes this comment about “the most optimistic and self-confident generation in history.” My generation. The Millennials.

Here’s the advice we heard over and over growing up: “just be yourself,” “believe in yourself and anything is possible,” “express yourself,” and “you have to learn to love yourself before you can love someone else.” Her counterpoint: what if you’re a jerk? Or even a serial killer? No, not anything is possible. You’re delusional. She writes, “People who really love themselves are called narcissists, and they make horrible relationship partners.”

That's tough medicine for us Millennials! But she’s right. I felt understood in this book. And it helped me to understand other generations both older and younger. Because in many ways we have less in common with each other than ever before. Dr. Twenge, writes, “The breakneck speed of cultural change means that growing up today is a completely different experience from growing up in the 1950s or the 1980s—or even the 2000s.”

Twenge is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and widely published researcher. The book is full of important insights. She describes same-sex marriage as the most rapid change of public opinion on a social issue in history. Not coincidentally, she says all signs point to further retreat from religion. In place of religion we get politics. She warns, “World history suggests that transferring religious beliefs into politics will not end well.”

I had to agree with her sense that optimism has been lost in the United States since the Great Recession. And that our society—built on abstract ideas—depends on trust and truth that we don’t often enjoy today.

Generations is a bracing book, and an important one, whether you’re a parent or pastor or politician or just want to learn more about yourself and your neighbors. Jean joined me on Gospelbound to discuss how generational differences might be shaping America's future, why technology isn't all bad, and more. 

“For as much as I'll miss, [Tim Keller] gave so much more—by God's grace—that no one or nothing can ever take away from us.” – Collin Hansen

Melissa Kruger hosts a special edition of Gospelbound where Collin Hansen reflects on the life and ministry of Tim Keller. Hansen talks about the first time he met Keller, his experience writing a book on Keller's spiritual formation, discovering how important prayer was in the latter part of Keller's spiritual journey, and more. Through Hansen's reflections, we gain insight into the profound impact Tim Keller has left behind.

For 20 years, I’ve felt like Molly Worthen and I have lived parallel lives. We graduated college the same year. We wrote for some of the same publications, on some of the same subjects. But I chose to head into church ministry, while she settled into the academy and earned her PhD from Yale.

Molly is associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You may have read her work in The New York Times, Slate, or Christianity Today.

She is perhaps best known for her award-winning book, Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2014.) In that book, Molly wrote that evangelicals “craved an intellectual authority that would quiet disagreement and dictate and plan for fixing everything that seemed broken with the world. They did not find it, and are still looking.”

In his critical review for The Gospel Coalition, Al Mohler wrote, “This is a book to be reckoned with. In terms of its comprehensive grasp of the evangelical movement, its detailed research, and its serious approach to understanding the evangelical mind, Apostles of Reason stands nearly alone in the larger world of academic publishing. Any serious-minded evangelical should read it.” He also described the book as infuriating and described Molly’s work as sometimes snarky toward evangelicals.

Well, much has changed in a decade. Molly joined me on Gospelbound to discuss her scholarship, as well as her experience in the church and academy. 

The Gospel Coalition’s Foundation Documents include a “theological vision for ministry,” originally drafted by Tim Keller. I had never heard of theological vision before I read this statement in 2007. Soon I learned that the concept originated by Richard Lints in his book The Fabric of Theology. Theological vision is the space between your doctrinal beliefs and your ministry programs. Theological vision helps you adapt your ministry to changing conditions while keeping centered on the unchanging gospel.

Richard Lints has published a new book, Uncommon Unity: Wisdom for the Church in an Age of Division, which includes a foreword from Keller. In this book Lints exposes problems with the inclusion narrative of democracy and offers a better way forward to find unity amid unprecedented cultural diversity in our day.

He writes, “The main thing I want to do in this book is to view the gospel story as the interpretive lens through which we best understand the telos of creation as a rich, deep, and complex unity-in-difference.”

In this special season of Gospelbound, we’re exploring in depth several key influences that appear in my book Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. Lints is himself one of those influences. He is senior consulting theologian at Redeemer City to City in New York City. Previously, he served as Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, alma mater of Tim and Kathy Keller. I was grateful for this chance on Gospelbound to talk with him about unity, diversity, theological vision, and much more.

Bill Edgar began his career as professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in 1989 and retired last year in 2022. But his Westminster roots run even deeper than his 33-year tenure. Edgar’s great-great-grandfather, an elder at First Presbyterian Church in New York City, helped endow Princeton Seminary in 1811. In 1929, Westminster was founded in response to Princeton’s liberal drift. By 2017, Princeton Seminary had drifted so far that the school revoked Tim Keller’s Kuyper Prize over his views on women’s ordination and homosexuality. For more than two centuries, the Edgar family has been wrapped up in the drama of doctrine in Presbyterian seminary education.

In this special season of Gospelbound, we’re exploring several key influences that appear in my book Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. Tim Keller taught at Westminster from 1984 to 1989 and earlier earned his doctor of ministry through the school. Edgar’s career has intersected with Keller’s at numerous points, from Francis Schaeffer to Ed Clowney to Cornelius Van Til and the work of cultural apologetics. We discussed these topics and more in this episode of Gospelbound. 

“When it comes to theologians that contemporary church leaders should be reading, I don’t know of a more important one than Herman Bavinck.” 

So says Timothy Keller in his endorsement of James Eglinton’s 2020 book Bavinck: A Critical Biography. Keller first read Bavinck some 50 years ago in class with Roger Nicole at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. But not much of Bavinck’s voluminous work has been translated until recent years. So, we live in a renaissance of appreciation for this Dutch theologian who died in 1921.

Probably no one is more responsible for this renaissance than Eglinton, the Meldrum senior lecturer in Reformed theology at the University of Edinburgh. He also serves as a fellow for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. In this special season of Gospelbound, we’re exploring in depth several key influences that appear in my book Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. James Eglinton and I discussed neo-Calvinism, whether he disagrees with Bavinck about anything, a beginner’s reading list, and Eglinton's upcoming projects. You'll find few high-level academics who can match Eglinton's gift for clear thinking and teaching, as you'll hear in this interview.

In their booklet “Gospel-Centered Ministry,” TGC cofounders Don Carson and Tim Keller describe how the redemptive story of Scripture, or biblical theology, culminates in Jesus Christ and his gospel. And from Christ, that gospel then guides us in how we live every aspect of our lives.

I’ve never seen a book do this work more effectively than Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life. It’s simply one of the best books I’ve ever read. Not that the book is simple, at nearly 700 pages. It’s profound in its depth of insight drawn from observation of culture as well as close reading of Scripture. Watkin does not try to explain and defend the Bible to the culture. Instead, he seeks to analyze and critique the culture through the Bible. He writes, “There is nothing quite so radically subversive today as sound doctrine and godly living.”

Tim Keller wrote the foreword for Biblical Critical Theory. And in this special season of Gospelbound, we’re exploring, in depth, several key influences that appear in my book Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation (Zondervan Reflective). Watkin teaches at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and Hansen asks him about the philosopher Charles Taylor and social criticism, which have played such a key role in Keller’s intellectual formation especially since the mid-2000s. Watkin is an inaugural Fellow for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, and he'll be leading an interactive, 8-session online cohort on Biblical Critical Theory that starts on May 10.

In his forthcoming book, Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation,  Collin Hansen aims to add to our understanding of evangelical history in the second half of the 20th century into the early 21st century. Keller’s life spans and intersects with many of the most significant people, events, and trends within Christianity during the last 75 years.

The same can be said of John Piper, who along with Keller is a founding Council member of The Gospel Coalition. Piper is nearly five years older than Keller. Between them, they’ve studied in many of the most influential institutions of the post-war “new evangelicalism,” such as Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. They themselves have built several of the most influential institutions of the “new Calvinism,” such as Bethlehem College and Seminary, Desiring God, and The Gospel Coalition.

They share something else significant in common: both list Jonathan Edwards and C. S. Lewis among their top influences. In this special season of Gospelbound, we’re exploring, in depth, several key influences that appear in Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. 

John Piper joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss Edwards, Lewis, evangelical feminism, and the reception to his own expansive writing and teaching.

In this unique episode of Gospelbound, pastor Jim Davis from Orlando Grace Church invites Collin Hansen into the interview spotlight to go behind the scenes of writing Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation.

Jim Davis says, "Five hundred years from now, maybe two pastors or theologians will be remembered. I believe that Tim Keller will be one of them."

Keller's influence comes from his sermons, books, and teaching as well as founding Redeemer Presbyterian Church, The Gospel Coalition, and Redeemer City to City. The book traces this influence back to the people and ideas that have shaped Keller. 

Jim Davis asked Collin Hansen how Tim Keller has influenced his life and ministry, the most surprising things Hansen discovered as he researched and wrote the book, Keller's legacy 100 years from now, and more.

When you pre-order Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, you'll receive:

• Exclusive video (more than 120 minutes) with accompanying 65-page ebook reflecting on key themes in Tim Keller’s Center Church. Contributors include Michael Horton, Alan Hirsch, and Gabriel Salguero, all in conversation with Tim Keller.
• The 10 Most Important Christian Books Written within My Lifetime, a list by Tim Keller
• The Essential Tim Keller: Recommended Reading, a list by Collin Hansen
• The first three chapters of Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation (book and audiobook)
• An invitation to a virtual book discussion and Q&A with Collin Hansen (February 2023)

Learn more and submit your pre-order to download this bonus content at TimothyKellerBook.com.

In this special edition episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen is joined by Melissa Kruger as they look back on the big stories and trends of 2022, discuss how God has moved in and through their ministries, and share books that have stuck with them. They also take some time to thank you, their listeners, for encouraging them in the work of Gospelbound and Let's Talk.

We discuss:

• Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen, and the idea of self-forgetfulness (5:36)
• His Grace Is Enough by Melissa Kruger, written for kids and young adults alike (10:05)
• The internet revolution and exposing abuse in the church (15:40)
• How we can love the church unabashedly and with awareness (19:02)
• Gospel advancement in the midst of world conflict (20:11)
• 2022, the year that history began again (21:55)
• The state of the church in Russia and Ukraine (23:26)
• The state of the church in China (24:20)
• How culture tries to answer the reason for hopelessness and lostness (31:27)
• How the church can positively affect kids and teens (36:33)
• How do parents discuss biblical sexual ethics with their teens? (40:00)
• The overturning of Roe v. Wade (48:19)
• The most memorable Gospelbound interviews of 2022 (54:52)
• Upcoming Gospelbound interviews for 2023 (1:01:00)
• Why this episode of Let's Talk was the most downloaded (1:02:36)
• Books that have stuck with us (1:06:49)
• How the internet can help you grow your ministry (1:23:40)
• Favorite things (1:28:55)

Mentioned in this episode:

• "My Top 10 Theology Stories of 2022" by Collin Hansen (article)
• Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen
• His Grace Is Enough by Melissa Kruger
• Social Sanity in an Insta World by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra
• Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church by Michael J. Kruger
• "Transformation of a Transgender Teen" by Sarah Zylstra (article)
• "Defiant Faith in the Face of Suffering" with Bill and Will Kynes (podcast)
• "Does My Son Know You?" with Jonathan Tjarks (podcast)
• "Everything Sad Is Untrue" with Daniel Nayeri (podcast)
• "Let's Talk: When Others Fall Away" (podcast episode)

Jen Pollock Michel offers eight habits for reimagining productivity, resisting hurry, and practicing peace in her latest book, In Good Time. She invites us to seek wisdom that is more concerned with ethical practice than Type-A respectability. She helps us recognize that we detest waiting because we have to believe that God is acting when we are not.

On this 100th episode of the Gospelbound podcast, Collin Hansen and Jen Pollock Michel discuss why we should redefine busyness and how to say yes to the right things.

“We would rather have a leader who will beat up our enemies than one who will tenderly care for the sheep,” Michael Kruger writes in his new book, Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church, published by Zondervan. 

Spiritual abuse is a relatively new and amorphous concept. Kruger defines it this way:

Spiritual abuse is when a spiritual leader—such as a pastor, elder, or head of a Christian organization—wields his position of spiritual authority in such a way that he manipulates, domineers, bullies, and intimidates those under him as a means of maintaining his own power and control, even if he is convinced he is seeking biblical and kingdom-related goals.

It’s the opposite of Jesus and his paradoxical ministry model. He didn’t lead by demanding his rights but by giving them up. Mike joined me on Gospelbound to discuss how to train pastors who won’t abuse their flocks, why he focuses on Reformed churches, whether he’s changed his own leadership, and more.

In his new book, The Thrill of Orthodoxy: Rediscovering the Adventure of Christian Faith, Trevin Wax writes, “The thrill of orthodoxy lies in its challenge. We are called to become not merely nice neighbors who are kind and polite, but holy people who look more and more like Jesus.”

Trevin Wax joined Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss why heresy hunters turn out to be heretics, how we can know if something is orthodox, and why he’s confident the future belongs to the orthodox.

Thomas Jefferson, whose lofty writings on freedom when compared to his practice of slaveholding are part of the real “wall of separation” in American politics and religion. These contradictions make him the subject of many biographies, including the most recent from Thomas Kidd: Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh. Dr. Kidd is research professor of church history at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City and the author of many outstanding works.

Thomas Kidd joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss Jefferson’s views on Christianity and politics. They also talk a bit about how Christians should approach history in general.

In the digital age, it feels like life moves too far, too fast.

That’s why we need wise guides such as Jay K. Kim, author of Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age. Jay writes, “This is where we are in the digital age, existing in an untenable state of unceasing connection to the curated lives of others—all of their highlights, none of their low-lights.”

Perhaps the simple solution would be to spend more time offline. But our colorful smartphones make the real world look grayscale in comparison. Jay writes, “Because much of life in the real world is uncomfortable, awkward, or boring, so we opt for digital escape. We increasingly prefer and default to worlds of our own making.”

You might know Jay from his previous book, Analog Church. He is lead pastor of teaching at WestGate Church in Silicon Valley and teacher-in-residence at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California. Jay joined me on Gospelbound to discuss comparison and contempt, love on the move, the design of social media, hate and hurt, chronological snobbery, and more.

His latest book, Where the Light Fell: A Memoir, is the culmination of more than 50 years for Philip Yancey as a Christian writer. In it, you’ll see a clear display of his two life themes—suffering and grace—which characterize all his books.

Where the Light Fell is remarkably honest as Yancey draws inspiration from God’s Word. He writes, “I know of no more real or honest book than the Bible, which hides none of its characters’ flaws.”

Yancey joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss the hinge moment of his life, the scar of his father, the reconstruction of his faith, and more.

In the new book, Faith in the Wilderness: Words of Exhortation from the Chinese Church, Hannah Nation and co-editor, Simon Liu, offer a perspective of what we can learn from Chinese pastors who are facing persecution.

Nation says, “We descendants of Christendom fear cultural marginalization, but let us remember that those on the margins often preach the gospel more boldly, fearlessly, and humbly than those at the center, for they have nothing to lose and no stakeholders to upset.”

Hannah Nation joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss persecution, pestilence, judgment, and justification.

There is almost nothing so beautiful as forgiveness—but, must we choose between forgiveness and justice? Does forgiveness merely empower abusers?

Enter Tim Keller in his latest book, Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? The bestselling author and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition doesn’t neglect the cost of forgiveness. He writes, “Forgiveness is always a form of voluntary suffering that brings about a greater good.” Sometimes that greater good accrues to the one who forgives. It may feel like an optional exercise, but only if we don’t consider the alternative. 

Tim Keller joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss what happens when a society doesn’t forgive, whether it’s ever ok not to forgive, the two stages of forgiveness, and more.

In Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord, published by The Gospel Coalition, Rebecca McLaughlin explores the life-changing accounts of women who met the Lord. By entering the stories of the named and unnamed women in the Gospels, this book gives readers a unique lens to see Jesus as these women did and marvel at how he loved them in return.

Rebecca McLaughlin joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss the Gnostic Gospels, feminism, and more. 

In 2009, around 25 percent of American high school students said they had “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.” By 2021, it was up to 44 percent, the highest level of teenage sadness ever recorded. For girls, the number was even higher: 57 percent.

What could account for such a dramatic change between 2009 and today?

If you looked at a group of teenagers then and now, the main difference you’d see is the modern teens hunched over their smartphones.

These stats come from an episode of TGC’s Recorded podcast, in which Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra shares the stories of young women being shaped by social media. She talks directly to Gen Z about what they think, feel, and believe.

Sarah has also edited a book, Social Sanity in an Insta World (TGC, 2022) that brings biblical and theological perspectives to bear on our social media use. Contributors include Melissa Kruger, Jen Wilkin, Ruth Chou Simons, and Laura Wifler. Sarah is senior writer for The Gospel Coalition and coauthor with me of the book Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age. She lives with her husband and sons outside Chicago.

Sarah joined me on Gospelbound to discuss influencers, fasting, and taking advice from strangers.

You are not in control. You never have been. You never will be.

That fact of life is tough for many of us to swallow. “The cultural air I breathe has trained me to think that life should be more carefree, predictable, and in control than it is,” Scott Sauls writes in his new book, Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen: How God Redeems Regret, Hurt, and Fear in the Making of Better Humans, (Zondervan). 

Scott Sauls is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and author of six books. Scott writes with a kind of vulnerability that is not common for many authors, let alone pastors. He tells us that we can find him in the church basement with the marginal characters Jesus seemed to attract. “He wounds us sometimes,” Scott admits, “but always and only to heal us.” Just look around the room sometime when your church sings “It Is Well.” You’ll notice it’s those who suffered most who sing the loudest. They have forsaken their need to control for the peace of faith. 

Scott Sauls joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to share what church members would be surprised to learn about their pastors, why deep faith feels like defeat, and how affliction can preach better than a sermon.

“We are all like Job,” write Bill Kynes and Will Kynes in their new book, Wrestling with Job: Defiant Faith in the Face of Suffering (IVP Academic). We are “engaged in a mysterious cosmic battle, as every day our faith is put to the test, and God himself is honored when we trust, obey, and worship him as the great and glorious God that he is.”

In this book, Bill and Will Kynes find in Job real faith that holds us together when it feels like our world is falling apart. Defiant faith in the face of suffering takes our anguished questions to God, because he cares for us. Job knows God is good. That’s why can’t make sense of this evil that has befallen him.

In this episode, Collin Hansen talks with Bill and Will Kynes about how and why to preach about the defiant faith of Job.

In his book, Everything Sad Is Untrue, Daniel Nayeri offers readers a refugee’s inside look at religion and geo-politics through his personal tale of a boy separated from his father and the only world he knew and loved. A world that he’s not even sure he can remember.

But it’s Daniel’s mother who is the hero of this book, which released in 2020 and was named a book of the year by The New York Times, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal. Her conversion was a death sentence in Iran, so the family fled—without her baffled husband.

Daniel Nayeri joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss love, justice, eschatology, and the widespread acclaim for his work.

As Christ's church continues to expand across the world, so does persecution.

In this episode of Gospelbound from TGCW22, Collin Hansen talks with Karen Ellis and Kori Porter about how God's people fight for faith when it can cost their lives. Through this discussion, we'll learn how other Christians can support the persecuted church in prayer and advocacy.

On today’s bonus episode of Gospelbound, we’re featuring a selection from TGC’s narrative podcast, Recorded. 

In "Escape from Kabul", TGC senior writer Sarah Zylstra tells the story of God's dramatic work through the underground church in Afghanistan. 

To hear the full episode, subscribe to Recorded on Apple Podcasts. 

In her book, Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World, bestselling author Jennie Allen describes our problem today like this:

“We fill a small, little crevice called home with everything we could possibly need, we keep our doors locked tight, and we feel all safe and sound. But we’ve completely cut ourselves off from people outside our little self-protective world.”

Jennie Allen joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss the difference between complaining and vulnerability, the importance of time, and the complication of ministry relationships.

In his book, Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith, Russ Ramsey  helps his readers learn how to appreciate art without needing to be an expert.  

“If you have not yet learned to love beauty,” he writes, “learn to love it late.” We’re made to achieve perfection, at least on the other side of glory, he says. Beauty is glimpsing a preview of that perfection in what we make here and now of goodness and truth. God didn’t need to make this world beautiful. He didn’t need to make humans in his image, concerned with goodness and truth. But he did, so that beauty might awaken us from spiritual stupor. 

On this episode of Gospelbound, Russ Ramsey and Collin Hansen discuss Rembrandt and Van Gogh, Kincaid and Caravaggio, and how appreciating art mirrors the Christian life. 

If you live in the West, in much of Europe or North America or Australia, you don’t know the world apart from Christianity. It’s the water you swim in, the air you breathe.

That’s the main point of Glen Scrivener’s new book, The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality, published by The Good Book Company. Glen is an ordained Church of England minister and evangelist who preaches Christ through writing, speaking, and online media.

Glen Scrivener joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss the patriarchy, consent, Christianity for weirdos, and more.

Starting May 4, The Gospel Coalition is releasing a five-part video debate series called the "Good Faith Debates", featuring prominent Christian thinkers discussing some of the most divisive issues facing the church today—ranging from gun control to woke churches to abortion to racial injustice to evangelical self-identity.

When we keep the gospel central, we can disagree on lesser but still important matters in good faith. In the Good Faith Debates, we hope to model this—showing that it’s possible for two Christians, united around the gospel, to engage in charitable conversation even amid substantive disagreement.

The moderator of these debates is Jim Davis, teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church and host of the As in Heaven podcast. He joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss what surprised him, what helped him as a pastor, and whether he changed his mind on anything, among other issues.

What happens when you get diagnosed in April 2021 at age 33 with a rare form of cancer—so rare, in fact, that the odds of contracting it are 25 million to 1? What happens when the doctors can’t tell you if you have five months or five years to live? And what happens with your son, born at the end of March 2020 at the outset of a global pandemic?

That’s the story of Jonathan Tjarks, who has covered basketball for The Ringer since 2016 and is a host on The Ringer NBA Show. He loves Jesus and Dallas, in that order. And he wrote about cancer, his son, and his church in a remarkable essay for The Ringer called “Does My Son Know You?” In his essay, Tjarks concludes this way:

“I have already told some of my friends: When I see you in heaven, there’s only one thing I’m going to ask—Were you good to my son and my wife? Were you there for them? Does my son know you?”

Jonathan Tjarks joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss basketball, his journalistic career, and the reception to his memorable essay.

In singer-songwriter Sandra McCracken’s new book, “Send Out Your Light: The Illuminating Power of Scripture and Song”, you’ll find the same depth of spiritual insight and emotion that characterize her songs. She writes, “If we sing songs with thin ideas, superficial hopes, and more hype than authenticity, we will find ourselves depleted in the times when we need some truth to fall back on. We need songs sturdy enough to sing at the bedside of a dying friend.”

Sandra joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss embodied worship, tortured artists, the Nashville sound, deconstruction, and more.

In his latest book, Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us, Michael Horton argues that we can only conquer the wrong kinds of fear by embracing the right kind of fear, and that’s what he means by sanity.

For Horton, revival breaks out when Christians show up to church and hear from God and his Word. It’s so simple, and that’s his point. We don’t need spectacular miracles—we need basic obedience.

Michael Horton joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss preaching and practicing, hating and fearing, persecution and apostasy, among other serious topics.

Did education give you a love of learning and a desire to cultivate your mind over a lifetime? Or did you learn how to pass tests to graduate and get a job?

These goals don’t need to be mutually exclusive, but they are for many of us. Any serious attempt at reforming Christian political witness must include a vision for education. Jake Meador offers such a classical vision for education but also ventures into sex, race, technology, family, the environment, and more in his new book, What Are Christians For? Life Together at the End of the World, published by IVP.

Jake Meador joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss industrialism, technology, debt, whiteness, and more.

Jordan Raynor offers seven biblical principles for being purposeful, present, and wildly productive in his new book, Redeeming Your Time (WaterBrook). These principles include starting with the Word, eliminating all hurry, and prioritizing your “yes.” You’ll also learn in this book how to say no more often. The book mixes time-tested productivity tips with timeless biblical wisdom.

Raynor joins Collin Hansen on this episode of Gospelbound to discuss selective ignorance, inbox zero, and how to be productive by doing less and resting more.

Mark Sayers doesn’t mince words about the challenges our world is currently facing. In his new book, A Non-Anxious Presence: How a Changing and Complex World Will Create a Remnant of Renewed Christian Leaders, he sees these challenges as a potential prelude to revival. He writes, “We feel the gap between the vision of the church we encounter in Scripture and the reality on the ground. This gives rise to a deep desire for God’s church to be refreshed, empowered, and renewed.”

Sayers serves as senior leader of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia. In this episode, Mark Sayers and Collin Hansen discuss tribalism, anxious systems, maturity, hardship, and more.

George Yancey describes colorblindness as a path that goes nowhere and anti-racism as a path full of dangerous animals. As an alternative, he proposes mutual accountability. He believes this approach will produce a group that wants to address and not ignore unfair racial outcomes. That’s why he wrote Beyond Racial Division: A Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism.

Yancey is a professor at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, specializing in race/ethnicity and religion. He joins Collin Hansen to discuss why he’s skeptical of activism and protest, why he doesn’t call America racist, why diversity training doesn’t work, and why he thinks we need unity before justice, among other topics.

In his new book, You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News ,Kelly Kapic aims to lift from our shoulders the sense that we carry the weight of the world.

Kapic, a professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, situates theological truth in contrast with cultural expectations. He writes, “What an irony that our modern age, on the one hand, exhausts us by its calls for complete self-expression and, on the other hand, suffocates us by its pressures to conform.”

Kelly Kapic joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss the good news of human limits, living in the moment, the fear of the Lord, and our identity in Christ.

In his latest book, Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn’t: The Beauty of Christian Theism (Baker Academic), Gavin Ortlund discusses the problem of evil and deconstructs arguments against Christianity, while also displaying the beauty of God.

Gavin Ortlund joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss our deepest intuitions, beauty, creation, love, and all kinds of other good stuff.

Proverbs 31 commends men who do justice—men of wisdom, self-control, and courage. In his new book, The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character (Baker), Jon Tyson writes, “Men who use their energy like this, courageous men, wise men, self-controlled men, just men—these kinds of men are the need of the hour." Tyson’s book equips intentional fathers to help their sons reach their redemptive potential.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Jon Tyson discuss fatherhood, risk, discipleship, and more. 

This week on Gospelbound, Collin Hansen is joined by Dave Harvey, president of Great Commission Collective, a church-planting ministry and author of the new book, The Plurality Principle: How to Build and Maintain a Thriving Church Leadership Team (Crossway, TGC). Dave brings more than 30 years of pastoral ministry to this conversation and gives wise counsel for pastors and other church leaders hoping to build thriving leadership teams. Dave argues that “the quality of your elder plurality determines the health of your church.”

At TGC, we seek to help believers live a life that is bound to the gospel of Jesus. We do this through the articles, videos, and podcast shows we produce, and these resources are free because of our generous community of financial supporters. Would you consider becoming a TGC partner today, helping support the ongoing creation of this show and other gospel-centered content? To make a financial gift, you can visit tgc.org/give. Thank you! 

In his new book, Talking about Race: Gospel Hope for Hard Conversations (Zondervan Reflective), Isaac Adams argues that if we could just hold our beliefs—and also our tongues—loving across racial lines in the American church “could become one of the most powerful testimonies to a divided and dividing world.” 

Isaac joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to explain blocking, race as a “Velcro issue,” abortion, cultural preferences, and the mission of the church, among other topics.

In his new book, The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership (IVP), Tom Nelson observes a dripping irony. Though surrounded by many people, pastors are often intensely lonely and socially isolated. They work with the things of God but are tempted by the seduction of accomplishment at the expense of intimacy with God.

Shepherd leaders, according to Nelson, are forged on the anvil of obscurity and refined in the crucible of visibility. They get into trouble when they attend more to the church than to their own soul, or when they get sucked into partisan politics and lose track of their disciple-making vision.

Tom Nelson joins Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss flourishing pastors, congregational expectations, friendship, failure, Dairy Queen, and much more. 

Welcome to a special edition of Gospelbound and Let’s Talk! Join hosts Collin Hansen and Melissa Kruger as they discuss their favorite recent reads and the top 10 theology stories of 2021. They also preview the year ahead in 2022—and reveal a surprise for 2023. Thank you for listening and encouraging us in this work!

09:20 Deconstruction
14:52 Cultural and historical shape of evangelicalism scrutinized
15:58 The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
25:31 Vaccines and Covid mandates
31:32 Christian Nationalism and the U.S. Capitol storming
39:15 2021 Gospelbound highlights
39:35 What's Next for Our Culture with COVID: Andy Crouch
40:30 How the New Fundamentalisms Divide Us: Morty Schapiro and Saul Morson
41:25 Why Americans Quit Church: Ryan Burge
44:50 TGC Book Awards
46:20 The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell
49:25 How Christianity Transformed the World by Sharon James
51:46 TGC 2022 Women's Conference
54:23 TGC 2023 Conference

What ails your church? Hopefully the answer doesn’t come too quickly! Hopefully your church is the picture of health, where everyone’s growing in love of God and love of neighbor. Or maybe your church has a discipleship disease. If so, then JT English can help with his new book, Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus, published by B&H. English serves as the lead pastor of Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colorado. Previously, JT served as a pastor at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, where he founded and directed The Village Church Institute, which is committed to theological education in the local church JT sees churches worried about being irrelevant, worried they’re asking too much of busy people. Many Christians seem to think the church has gotten too deep. But JT English couldn’t disagree more! As you might guess from his book title, he says most churches aren’t nearly deep enough. He writes: People are leaving not because we have given them too much but because we have given them far too little. They are leaving the church because we have not given them any reason to stay. We are treating the symptoms of the wrong disease. Deep discipleship is about giving people more Bible, not less; more theology, not less; more spiritual disciplines, not less; more gospel, not less; more Christ, not less. The good news is that deep discipleship does not require massive resources, a large congregation, or an enormous ministry staff. It starts with not apologizing when we ask Christians to make commitments. JT joins me now on Gospelbound to discuss Sunday school and small groups, travel baseball, active learning, and commissioning culture.

During the last decade, one in 20 Americans has shifted from identifying with a religion to claiming “nothing in particular.” And this group is also the least likely of any position on religion to hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

Those are just two of the many findings that jump from the page in Ryan Burge’s new book, The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, published by Fortress Press. Together with atheists and agnostics, sociologists categorize the “nothing in particular” group as “nones.”

Today, as many Americans don’t affiliate with any church as belong to any major religious group. We’re talking about one of the largest religious trends, if not the largest, in the last 40 years. Burge’s book seeks to explain how these so-called nones grew from statistically irrelevant to around one-quarter of the entire American population.

Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. And he’s also been a pastor in the same American Baptist Church for the last 13 years. So his work goes beyond the descriptive into the prescriptive. For example, he observes that among the nones, Christians should focus on this “nothing in particular” group, which is open to returning to religion.

He joins me on Gospelbound to discuss the implications of his findings for evangelicals, for Black Protestants, for the mainline, and for politics. I’ll also ask him why so many Americans left the church between 1991 and 1996 and his best guess at the most significant cause behind this trend.

“Our cause is sacred. How can we doubt it, when we know it has been consecrated by a holy baptism of fire and blood?”

So said a North Carolina minister about the Confederacy in the aftermath of the South’s defeat at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. This arresting quote contributes to the title of James P. Byrd’s new book, A Holy Baptism of Fire and Blood: The Bible and the American Civil War, published by Oxford. He writes, “This is a book about how Americans enlisted the Bible in the nation’s most bloody and arguably most biblically infused war.”

Byrd is chair of the graduate department of religion and associate professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. And if you’re interested in this book you need to also pick up his book Sacred Scripture, Sacred War: The Bible and the American Revolution.

Just at the Battle of Antietam, four-times as many American soldiers as died as 80 years later on the beaches of Normandy in World War II. Twice as many Americans died that one horrible day outside Sharpsburg, Maryland, as in the War of 1812, Mexican War, and Spanish American War combined. Americans should have known from the Bible that civil wars are the worst wars, and even God’s chosen nations could self-destruct, Byrd argues. They may not have expected such a tragedy at the outset of the war. But by the end they had draped the whole conflict in Scripture, culminating with Father Abraham killed on Good Friday after setting the captives free. Byrd writes, “Americans were never in more disagreement over the Bible, and yet never more in agreement that the Bible proved the sacredness of war.”

Byrd joins me on Gospelbound to discuss the jeremiad, Achan, Exodus, camp revivals, Frederick Douglass, and abolitionist views of inerrancy.

“Do I exist for God or does God exist for me?” 

That’s the question that I think animates Dean Inserra’s new book, Getting Over Yourself: Trading Believe-in-Yourself Religion for Christ-Centered Christianity, published by Moody. Or, maybe it’s this line: “We can’t make Christianity cooler.”

He explains his argument this way: “The entire premise of this book is that spiritual victory and earthly victory are not synonymous.” He identifies a new kind of prosperity gospel that promises earthly success along with spiritual abundance. But he can find no such Christianity in the Bible.

Dean serves as founding pastor of City Church in Tallahassee, Florida. And I thought this description explains what I appreciate about his book. Dean writes, “In a therapeutic society, the achievement of self-fulfillment with God’s apparent stamp of approval is the perfect recipe for Christians to desire the things of this world while still feeling as if they are close to Jesus and He is very pleased. It appeases our need to know God isn’t mad at us while giving us license to continue on making much of ourselves.”

So what’s his alternative? Dean says, “I want to win people with a message that would still apply if my church was in a third world country, meeting in secret with nothing more than a single, shared Bible: the message of Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and ascended.”

Dean joins me now on Gospelbound to discuss the divide between seminary classrooms and popular Christianity, Instagram as instigator in crisis counseling, and why he doesn’t think God wants us to be happy.

It’s the fundamental lie of modern life, says Alan Noble: that we are our own. Compared to our ancestors, we’re less worried about war. We’re less worried about starvation and famine. But by believing that we are our own, we tend to struggle with new problems: the loss of meaning, identity, and purpose.

Noble says this in his new book, You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World, published by InterVarsity:

Everyone is on their own private journey of self-discovery and self-expression so that at times, modern life feels like billions of people in the same room shouting their name so that everyone else knows they exist and who they are—which is a fairly accurate description of social media.

Noble’s book feels like a douse of cold water that wakes us from our delusion. His book builds off the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism. And he helps us find our way back to this well-worn path of divine wisdom. He writes, “Our selves belong to God, and we are joyfully limited and restrained by the obligations, virtues, and love that naturally come from this belonging.”

Noble is assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and co-founder and editor in chief of Christ and Pop Culture. You may know his previous work, Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age.

If you want to sell millions of books, tell readers they can be their own hero. Tell them if they don’t have what they want, they need to demand it. Tell them that they can have everything if they work hard enough: the beautiful family, the booming business, the world-changing nonprofit venture.

For Ruth Chou Simons, being her own hero doesn’t seem all that freeing. It looks exhausting.

She has one overarching message in her new book, When Strivings Cease: Replacing the Gospel of Self-Improvement with the Gospel of Life-Transforming Grace, published by Nelson Books.

“The one thing I want you to know, more than anything else,” she writes, “is that if you are truly in Christ, you can stop trying so hard to be who you already are in Jesus.”

Simons is an artist, entrepreneur, and speaker. She and her husband, Troy, have six boys. Her previous works include GraceLaced. Simons goes on to explain in When Strivings Cease, “We’re working so hard to bloom, to bend, to please that we’ve neglected the soil from which we flourish.” And she concludes with a question: “What if our striving is really worship of ourselves as god?”

Simons will be leading three breakout sessions at The Gospel Coalition’s 2022 Women’s Conference, June 16 to 18, including one on her new book. Given the prevalence of what she calls the self-improvement gospel, I’m grateful for this work that focuses on the grace of God. Self-acceptance, she reminds us from God’s Word, doesn’t come from self-love but from the redemption of Jesus Christ, where God demonstrates his love for us as sinners. That’s why she can write, “[S]elf-righteous striving is more hopeless than you want to believe, but grace is more life-transforming than you realize.”

What is faith? Is it a feeling? Is it hope against hope? Belief without evidence?

Jen Michel says faith is a habit. It’s not against evidence but careful consideration of evidence. It’s trust in the story that makes sense of the world. It’s curiosity. It’s where the habits of humility take us.

“Try practicing your way into faith,” Michel writes in her new book, A Habit Called Faith: 40 Days in the Bible to Find and Follow Jesus, published by Baker. “Go to church, follow the liturgy, act the part. Let habit take you by the hand and lead you to God.”

Michel says that faith pushes back against the technological advances that convey the illusion that exertion is our enemy. In this book designed to help introduce the Bible to anyone curious about faith, Michel guides readers on a 40-day journey through the wilderness of doubts to the promised land of hope in the promises of God. She writes:

We can feel small in this world and frightened by our smallness. The invitation of faith isn’t to pretend that there aren’t big, bad scary wolves; that life can’t wreck with a sudden change of weather; that we don’t feel angry or sad or disappointed—even occasionally abandoned. But it is to say that we keep at the habit of believing the improbable; we’re not left or forsaken; God is with us.

Breaking news! (Insert dramatic gong sound here.) Find out if you’re on the right side of history. Learn about the latest celebrity you should cancel for the wrong view on oat milk. After this commercial break. 

Not so fast says Jeffrey Bilbro, editor in chief of Front Porch Republic and the author of the new book Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News, published by IVP Academic. Bilbro warns that “objects on screen are more distant than they appear,” and that “the public sphere is simply not conducive to the formation of loving, sustaining communities.” He writes this: 

When the news sets itself up as the light of the world, it is usurping the role that rightly belongs only to the Word proclaimed in the gospel. But when the news helps us attend together to the ongoing work of this Word, it plays a vital role in enabling us to love our neighbors.

So take a walk! Carve some wood. Spend time in embodied communities. And don’t worry too much about that next election, he says:

Epistemic humility, particularly regarding the workings of Providence, requires us to acknowledge that even when our candidate loses, or when a court case is decided in a way that seems wrong, or when tragedy strikes, God is still working out his will—and he cannot be defeated. The reverse holds true as well: it may be that just when we think we are winning, we are going astray from God’s kingdom. A high view of Providence and a chastened sense of our ability to recognize God’s methods of victory frees us from worrying about whether a given event is good or bad.

Bilbro joins me on Gospelbound to discuss the perverse incentives of our media ecosystem, holy apathy, and whether anything good can come from TV news. 

In his day job for the last 15 years, Daniel Strange has taught church leaders about culture, worldview, and apologetics. He’s studied worldviews and philosophy. He talks about “plausibility structures” and “social imaginaries” and “cultural liturgies.” But it’s not some kind of vain philosophical exercise. He’s trying to help people grow in how they present the person and work of Jesus to their skeptical neighbors.

After years as director of Oak Hill Theological College in London, he now directs Crosslands Forum, a center for cultural engagement for mission. And he’s the author of the new book Making Faith Magnetic: Five Hidden Themes Our Culture Can’t Stop Talking About and How to Connect Them to Christ, published by The Good Book Company. In this book, he tries to help non-Christians find their way to God through the darkness of a skeptical age. He writes:

In the 21st-century West, in our version of this history, God is the one who has done the hiding and we are the seekers. And God must have found a great place to hide because we’ve looked for him everywhere but he’s nowhere to be seen.

Strange features five magnetic points that he thinks can help non-Christians connect to Jesus. His book explores totality, norm, deliverance, destiny, and higher power. In this episode, we’ll talk about J. H. Bavinck, the totality, Goth culture, disenchantment, and more.

Blair Linne’s mother planned to abort her before a Baptist minister’s words changed her mother’s mind. Linne moved 25 times before she set out on her own as an adult. She did not grow up with a father. I won’t spoil her new book, Finding My Father: How the Gospel Heals the Pain of Fatherlessness, published by The Good Book Company. But it’s a raw, sometimes shocking memoir with a surprise ending.

Blair Linne describes fathers as a covering, a shield from danger. But where do you go when your dad needs a place to hide, too? Linne points all of us, no matter how good or bad our dad, to the hope of the gospel. We’re not defined by the consequences of fatherlessness, Blair writes:

We are not bound to repeat those mistakes and pass on the consequences to another generation. The cross can break any consequences of the sin of the generation before, so that it is not felt by the generation to come.

And she points us to the church, where we find our family after God becomes our Father. Linne writes, “[A]ll it takes is a Christian village to break the one-parent-absent-father stranglehold that can burden a child.”

Blair Linne joins me on Gospelbound to discuss systemic injustice and personal responsibility, victims and rebels, diverse churches, and family trees.

For as long as I’ve been paying attention, some 20 years, I’ve heard Christians complain that we need more attention on the body. I’ve heard that Catholics have much deeper, more comprehensive theology of the body. I’ve seen Protestant evangelicals try to make the case, but for some reason or another their arguments don’t land.

I don’t know how to explain the disconnect. We worship the God who became flesh in the incarnation of Jesus. When Paul talks about the body, he’s referencing all of life. That’s how far our views have diverged from his. We live in a time that esteems self-expression, mind over matter, not self-sacrifice of the type that engages the body. But Sam Allberry aims to help us in his new book, *[What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves](https://www.amazon.com/What-God-Has-about-Bodies/dp/1433570157/?tag=thegospcoal-20)*, published by Crossway.

Allberry is a world-traveled speaker and apologist and serves on the leadership team at Immanuel Nashville. In this book he encourages Christians to look forward, but not to a time when we’ll have a full head of hair and flat stomachs. Instead, we anticipate resurrected bodies that glorify and serve Jesus perfectly. And what good news that is for our broken bodies. Sam writes:

The problems we experience *with* our body were never ultimately going to be solved *by* our body. We may be able to ameliorate some aspects of our bodily brokenness—we can cure some ills and ease some pains. But we cannot fix what has been broken. The only hope for us is the body of Jesus, broken fully and finally for us. And by looking to his broken body we find true hope for our own.

Sam joins me on Gospelbound to discuss intimacy, technology, *Avatar*, color blindness, masculinity and femininity, and much more.

We’re long past the time when we could assume even that dedicated believers in Jesus Christ understood why they should bother with church. The number who identify as Christians is far larger than the number who attend a weekly meeting. Even then, the bulk of the serving and giving in our churches tends to be done by only a few. So it’s not as if COVID-19 suddenly convinced Christians they didn’t need church. Millions had already made that decision even before gathering involved online registration, social distancing, and masks. Last year church membership fell to less than 50 percent for the first time since Gallup started recording the data 80 years ago.

COVID-19 accelerated a long-trending separation between personal faith and organized religion. The shutdowns caught all of us by surprise in their sudden onset and ongoing duration. And it’s hard to get back in the habit once it’s been broken for months—now, even years, without a clear end in sight.

Even so, the body of Christ is essential to our faith. A Christian without a church is a Christian in trouble. That’s why Jonathan Leeman and I wrote Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ Is Essential, published by Crossway in partnership with 9Marks and The Gospel Coalition. Leeman serves as editorial director of 9Marks and joins me on Gospelbound to discuss virtual churches, biblical authority after Mars Hill, and fellowship across difference, among other topics. Welcome, Jonathan.

In former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam’s new book, Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square (Nelson Books), he asks, “Do our political actions match our theology, or has our theology been taken captive to our political beliefs?”

A political book that’s driven by theology, Faithful Presence offers a stirring call to justice and mercy with humility. Gov. Haslam sees the “image of God” as the foundational truth that can bridge the gap in our polarized political culture. He says humility is the key to overcoming these differences—when you listen to others, and admit your faults, others will be more likely to listen to you. 

The only biblical way for us to walk into the public square is the way Jesus walked toward the cross. His was motivated by love for a broken and hurting people, not to be proven right, or to win the argument, or to gain power for himself.

Gov. Haslam joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss political theology, intolerance, his ideal congregation, and why Christians shouldn’t give up on politics.

Jasmine Holmes is the author of Mother to Son: Letters to a Black Boy on Identity and Hope (InterVarsity Press) and cohost of TGC's new podcast for women, Let's Talk. Holmes joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss politics, race, police brutality, abortion, and everything else you’re not supposed to bring up in polite company.

Tim and Kathy Keller joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss the link between decreasing marriage and decreasing religiosity, how to know you’re ready to get married, how to raise children to prepare them for marriage, and more.

On today’s bonus episode of Gospelbound, we’re featuring a clip from an interview between TGC senior writer, Sarah Zylstra and her guest, J. D. Greear as they discuss his experience as SBC president, future hopes for the SBC and the global church, and the importance of keeping the gospel at the center of it all. 

To hear the full episode, head to TGC Podcast episode 169. 

You can hear more about J. D.  in the new book, Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age.

On today’s bonus episode of Gospelbound, we’re featuring a clip from an interview between TGC senior writer, Sarah Zylstra and her guest, Alex Harris about his experience clerking for two U.S. Supreme Court justices and editing Harvard Law Review, his brother Josh’s high-profile deconstruction of his faith, whether evangelicals invest too much import in presidential politics, and much more. 

To hear the full episode, head to TGC Podcast episode 166.  

You can hear more from Alex in the new book, Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age.

Because of the gospel, there’s always hope. Even in the rubble, you can find defiant new growth poking through the rocks. A similar hope can be seen in seminary education. One of the greatest success stories can be found in Kansas City at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The president there is Jason Allen, and under his leadership, the school has grown in enrollment and resources and in quality of education. It's exciting to consider what this turnaround means for generations of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention and beyond.

Jason says that “never before in the history of the church has theological education been so accessible—and so needed.” In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen welcomes Jason Allen to discuss his new book, Succeeding at Seminary: 12 Keys to Getting the Most Out of Your Theological Education (Moody).

In this episode, Collin and Jason talk about the promise and peril of online education, why students should still consider residential relocation, and how you know if you’re really ready for this momentous step.

This episode Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Faith For Life.  More information at thegoodbook.com.

For Shai Linne, the cultural differences in music and dress never seemed to matter compared to unity in the crucified and risen Christ. Shai became a key figure in the growing movement of Christian hip-hop, musically like Wu-tang Clan but lyrically like Billy Graham. The style was appealing, but the crowds seemed more excited about Jesus than anything else. He’s convinced that we’ll look back one day on this era, between 2002 and 2012, as a revival much like the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and early ’70s.

In 2012, ethnic differences began to re-emerge with the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. As Shai writes in his new book, The New Reformation: Finding Hope in the Fight for Ethnic Unity (Moody), the subsequent high-profile shooting deaths of black men and women did not surprise many African Americans. His sense as a 16-year-old was that police beat up Black people all the time. But Christian hip-hop began to decline when White and Black Christians realized they did not see these incidents the same way. He writes:
 

“White Christians were happy to have us as long as we just rapped about the gospel and kept quiet about the things we talk about among ourselves all the time that deeply affect us. But the moment we expressed the pain we felt about ‘racial injustice,’ many White Christians were quick to dismiss us, rebuke us, or silently ignore us.”

Even so, Shai’s book points to hope for ethnic unity. It’s a book that cuts through the anger, sarcasm, unforgiveness, and mockery that characterize much Christian discourse today on this sensitive subject. He points us toward a better way of humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. Apart from massive revival, we may not expect the world to overcome these divisions. But in the church, through the power of the gospel, we can strive for unity and be a clear and compelling witness to the world.

Shai Linne joined me on Gospelbound to discuss the importance of ethnic unity and how we might get there.

This episode Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Faith For Life.  More information at thegoodbook.com.

In this live episode of Gospelbound from TGC’s 2021 national conference, Collin Hansen is joined by two esteemed guests who can help explain the origins and shape of Christian nationalism with a view toward the promises of the gospel. Michael Horton is the J. Gresham Machen professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. Justin Giboney is cofounder of the AND Campaign, an attorney, and a political strategist in Atlanta.

Whether or not your church would advocate Christian nationalism, it’s become an apologetics challenge for church leaders with public perception. Mike and Justin help by answering a few questions and candidly discussing this topic.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Brave by Faith by Alistair Begg. More information at thegoodbook.com.

These days, you’ll see many Christians defend the faith by pointing out the problems with others. But owning up to ways the church has fallen short of its own ideals may be the more appropriate path. In his new book, Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History (Zondervan), John Dickson takes an honest look at the church’s successes and failures.

Dickson sums up history by observing, “Bullies are common. Saints are not.” So on Gospelbound, I dug in on his survey and asked whether Christianity has been a bigger contributor to evil compared to atheism and Islam; his high and low points in Christian history; and why Christians are cheerful losers.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of the God’s Word for You expository Bible study guides. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Maybe you imagine the biggest problem facing Christians in the West today is hostility, whether from media or government or schools. You wouldn’t be wrong to notice how these venues don’t usually look kindly on orthodox, observant Christians these days.

But what if we actually face a bigger problem? What if the problem isn’t that our unbelieving friends and family care too much about what we believe—it’s that they don’t care at all what we believe? That’s not a challenge we’re typically prepared to address.

Until now, thanks to Kyle Beshears in his new book, Apatheism: How to Share When They Don’t Care (B&H). Kyle is teaching pastor at Mars Hill Church in Mobile, Alabama. I met him when he taught worldview and apologetics at the University of Mobile. Kyle explains of his book, “Atheism believes that God does not exist; agnosticism believes that we can’t know whether or not God exists; apatheism believes God’s existence to be irrelevant.”

Kyle Beshears joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss the causes and cures of apatheism.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of the God’s Word for You expository Bible study guides. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Has anyone ever confided in you, “I’m deconstructing”? Maybe you don’t know the phrase, but you know the phenomenon. Yet another social-media post announces departure from the Christian faith. The cause could be sex, race, politics, social justice, science, hell, or all of the above. For many, Christianity is becoming implausible, even impossible to believe. 

It might be tempting to leave the church in order to find answers, but the new book Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church (The Gospel Coalition) argues that church should be the best place to deal with doubts. Deconstructing need not end in unbelief. In fact, deconstructing can be the road toward reconstructing—building up a more mature, robust faith that grapples honestly with the deepest questions of life.

Karen Swallow Prior, Jay Y. Kim, and Derek Rishmawy joined me on Gospelbound to discuss deconstruction and the hope that lies in the person and work of Jesus.

Gospelbound Book Giveaway Entry Steps: 

1. Write a review about the Gospelbound podcast on Apple Podcasts  (reviews can take up to 48 hours to appear in the ratings and review section, so be sure to check back after that time period to see your review)
2. Take a screenshot of your review
3. Email us your screenshot to [email protected]  by Friday, April 23
4. We'll pick the first 10 entries on April 23 to receive a free copy of Gospelbound, the book.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Brave by Faith by Alistair Begg. More information at thegoodbook.com.

In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen is joined by Morton Schapiro and Gary Saul Morson, authors of Minds Wide Shut: How the New Fundamentalisms Divide Us (Princeton University Press). Schapiro and Morson describe fundamentalism as “radical simplification of complex questions and the inability to learn either from experience or from opposing views.”

Among their proposed solutions is a recovery of casuistry, or employing case studies especially from great literature for experience-based learning.

Gospelbound Book Giveaway Entry Steps: 

1. Write a review about the Gospelbound podcast on Apple Podcasts  (reviews can take up to 48 hours to appear in the ratings and review section, so be sure to check back after that time period to see your review)
2. Take a screenshot of your review
3. Email us your screenshot to [email protected]  by Friday, April 23
4. We'll pick the first 10 entries on April 23 to receive a free copy of Gospelbound, the book.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of The End of Me by Liz Wann. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Politicians, advertisers, talk radio hosts, social media engineers—you name it, they want your attention. They want you to be angry and afraid. But as Christians, we’re called to faith and love—even when we’re scared, even with people who don’t like us.

We need to get back to the gospel so we can move forward—together. 

That’s why we wrote the new book Gospelbound (Multnomah), to help Christians live with resolute hope in an anxious age. My co-author and guest on this episode is Sarah Zylstra, one of my dear friends and a longtime colleague first at Christianity Today and now with The Gospel Coalition, where she is our senior writer. 

We wrote this book to boost your morale with stories of Christians around the world living for God and loving their neighbors. They’re caring for the weak, loving their enemies, and giving away their freedom for others. They are gospel-bound Christians because they’re bound to the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ—they cannot be shaken by this turbulent world. And they’re bound for glory someday, which is how they can live with such hope in the here and now.

Not only will they boost your morale, but these gospel-bound Christians will also give you a model for how live in the chaos. So for more on these stories, I turned to Sarah in this episode of Gospelbound. 

Gospelbound Book Giveaway Entry Steps: 

1. Write a review about the Gospelbound podcast on Apple Podcasts  (reviews can take up to 48 hours to appear in the ratings and review section, so be sure to check back after that time period to see your review)
2. Take a screenshot of your review
3. Email us your screenshot to [email protected]  by Friday, April 23
4. We'll pick the first 10 entries on April 23 to receive a free copy of Gospelbound, the book. 

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of The End of Me by Liz Wann. More information at thegoodbook.com.

When church leaders assume that they can only scan for attacks in one direction, they leave Christians vulnerable to different dangers. What the church needs, then, is what Trevin Wax calls multi-directional leadership—leaders who combine dexterity and discipline. Leaders today must demonstrate faithful versatility. And that’s what Trevin Wax commends in his new book, The Multi-Directional Leader: Responding Wisely to Challenges from Every Side, published by The Gospel Coalition.

Wax applies multi-directional leadership to the most contentious issues facing churches right now, including race and politics and gender. Unity and truth can still triumph in a divided age, and that’s what I wanted to talk with Trevin about in this episode of Gospelbound.

Gospelbound Book Giveaway Entry Steps: 

1. Write a review about the Gospelbound podcast on Apple Podcasts  (reviews can take up to 48 hours to appear in the ratings and review section, so be sure to check back after that time period to see your review)
2. Take a screenshot of your review
3. Email us your screenshot to [email protected]  by Friday, April 23
4. We'll pick the first 10 entries on April 23 to receive a free copy of Gospelbound, the book. 

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Faithful Leaders and the Things That Matter Most by Rico Tice. There are many books on leadership strategies and church structures, but this one looks at what matters most: the character and attitude of church leaders. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Maybe you’ve seen a sign in your neighbor’s yard that reads something like this:

"In this house we believe that:

Black Lives Matter

Love Is Love

Gay Rights Are Civil Rights

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights

Transgender Women Are Women"

If the “we believe” format and propositions sound familiar, that’s because they are. It’s a creed, albeit a secular one, without reference to transcendent moral authority, whether divine or historical. 

Rebecca McLaughlin’s provocative new book, The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims, published by The Gospel Coalition, helps us disentangle the beliefs Christians gladly affirm from those they cannot embrace. And she invites us to talk with our neighbors about the things that matter most—what we’re willing to fight for, our vision of the good life for ourselves and others.

Many non-Christians believe these statements will make unity and peace possible. But McLaughlin shows why Christianity is the original source and firmest foundation for true diversity, equality, and life-transforming love. 

Books referenced in this episode: 

• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
• Ten Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Faithful Leaders and the Things That Matter Most by Rico Tice. There are many books on leadership strategies and church structures, but this one looks at what matters most: the character and attitude of church leaders. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Joseph Henrich is chair of the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and author of many important works. His latest is The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. In it, you’ll get pretty everything you want: theology, history, neuroscience, biology, social science, economics, and more. Henrich weaves everything together to explain what separated the West from world history. But his story is neither inevitable nor triumphalist. He argues that if you looked at the world in the year 1000, you’d never imagine that Europe would eventually surpass China or the Islamic world in power and wealth. 

Joseph Henrich joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to discuss his new book and what it means to be “WEIRD,” an acronym that describes tenants of Western culture.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of The Garden, the Curtain and The Cross by Carl Laferton. This storybook takes children aged 3 to 6 on a journey from the Garden of Eden to God’s perfect new creation, teaching why Jesus died and rose again and why that’s the best news ever. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Andy Crouch and his colleagues at The Praxis Journal wrote an article titled, “Leading Beyond the Blizzard” on March 20, 2020, just one week after the national COVID-19 shutdown began in the United States. Crouch and his team warned us that this crisis would not be a blizzard that rages for a few weeks or a winter that lasted a few months, but an “ice age” of 12 to 18 months that would change our way of life for good, and they were right. 

Crouch joined Collin Hansen on Gospelbound to lament the losses brought on by COVID-19, assess our levels of social trust inside and outside the church, and look forward to God’s purposes in the next year and beyond.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of The Garden, the Curtain and The Cross by Carl Laferton. This storybook takes children aged 3-6 on a journey from the Garden of Eden to God’s perfect new creation to teach children why Jesus died and rose again and why that’s the best news ever. More information at thegoodbook.com.

You know an author is worth reading if he can make stones interesting. But after reading Andrew Wilson’s God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World (Zondervan), you’ll be seeing stones everywhere in the Bible, and you’ll understand their significance in ways you never imagined before.

Andrew Wilson is teaching pastor at King’s Church London and has theology degrees from Cambridge, London School of Theology, and King’s College London. He is a columnist for Christianity Today and has written several books, including Echoes of Exodus and Spirit and Sacrament. His newest book, God of All Things, teaches about God through the ordinary, physical things we see every day.

If you don’t normally enjoy reading theology, I recommend this book. You’ll learn a lot about God, you’ll develop a strong biblical theology from Genesis to Revelation, and you’ll see your ordinary world with new eyes in the process.

Andrew joined me on Gospelbound to discuss viruses, pigs, sex, children, trees, and more. 

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Being the Bad Guy by Stephen McAlpine. The church used to be recognized as a force for good, but this is changing rapidly. Author Stephen McAlpine offers an analysis of how our culture ended up this way and encourages Christians not to be ashamed of the gospel as it is more liberating, fulfilling and joyful than anything the world has to offer. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Veneetha Rendall Risner has dealt with more than her share of trials, which she recounts in her new book, "Walking Through Fire: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption", published by Nelson Books. She opens up her thought process for a raw look at the emotional and spiritual wrestling of suffering, anger toward God, and the reason for suffering.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Being the Bad Guy by Stephen McAlpine. The church used to be recognized as a force for good, but this is changing rapidly. Author Stephen McAlpine offers an analysis of how our culture ended up this way and encourages Christians not to be ashamed of the gospel as it is more liberating, fulfilling and joyful than anything the world has to offer. More information at thegoodbook.com.

At some point, Christians were viewed by many in the West as annoying, perhaps prudish, even self-righteous. Sometimes Christians set themselves as an example of holiness that the world could not or did not want to attain. To be called “holier than thou” was common.

But those days are long gone, says Stephen McAlpine, author of the new book Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t, published by The Good Book Company. McAlpine is a pastor, blogger, and ex-journalist who lives in Perth, Australia. He’s written some of the most provocative and creative commentary on this cultural moment that I’ve seen. And that’s why I was eager to read this book and talk with him for Gospelbound.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of The God Contest by Carl Laferton. This storybook will help children see how the God of the Bible proved himself to be the one true God. More information at thegoodbook.com.

Solomon prayed for wisdom, and the Lord granted his request. Oh, how we need more Solomons in our day! At least the early Solomon, before all the foreign wives.

Brett McCracken is here to help with his new book, The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World, published by Crossway. Brett works as director of communications and senior editor for arts and culture with The Gospel Coalition. You may also know him from his excellent earlier books, especially Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community, which I strongly recommend.

The Wisdom Pyramid is like the food pyramid, only for the health of our souls when it comes to our media diet. I have a hard time thinking of anything more urgently needed for the church than men and women saturated in Scripture, rooted in their local church, and amazed by the wonder of God’s creation. This is the lean protein we need in a world pushing Skittles and Doritos. Brett joins me on Gospelbound to discuss social media, books we disagree with, what makes the internet different, and more.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of The God Contest by Carl Laferton. This storybook will help children see how the God of the Bible proved himself to be the one true God. More information at thegoodbook.com.

By this point I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying the debate over social justice in the church will not progress through Twitter accounts and YouTube rants. Events and face-to-face conversations have been hindered by COVID-19. But at least we have books.

We’d be in much better shape inside the church if the debate were informed by books like Confronting Justice Without Compromising Truth, published by Zondervan. The author, Thaddeus Williams, is an associate professor of systematic theology for Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in La Mirada, California. I don’t suspect his book will necessarily convince many in the camp he labels Social Justice B, in contrast to the view he supports, termed Social Justice A. But I do think many readers caught in the middle will gain clarity about what’s at stake.

I’ve long thought this debate has suffered from confusion about whether we’re talking about the world or the church. It can both be true that the world peddles a gospel-denying version of social justice while the church has often failed to live up to the biblical one. So I’m hopeful that Williams’s book will protect the church from the world and also call the church to a more robust pursuit of justice

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Meals with Jesus by Ed Drew. These simple 10-minute family devotions in Luke’s Gospel explore Jesus’ character through nine meals that he shared with people. More information at thegoodbook.com.

If I want to read anyone’s reflections on recent years, it’s Russell Moore. The president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC hasn’t been as visible or vocal as he was before 2017, at least until the last week following the attack on the U.S. Capitol. But his newest book, The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul, published by B&H, is even better than a tell-all memoir. It’s a grace-infused reflection on where and how to stand tall when it feels like the world is going to crush you.

Moore says, “The courage to stand is the courage to be crucified.” Indeed, Jesus sets the tone for this book. And if you’re going to worship and follow a Savior who submitted to the cross, you’re not going to follow the world’s typical mode of courage.

I see this book as seeking to reclaim Jesus, or at least his reputation and authority, among evangelicals. Moore observes, “An entire generation is watching what goes on under the name of American religion, wondering if there is something real to it, or if it is just another useful tool to herd people, to elect allies, to make money.” Elsewhere he writes, “I’m not surprised now when I see Jesus used as a mascot to prop up some identity politics or power agenda, or even to cover up private immorality or public injustice.” We’ve seen that recently with the Jericho March, and then the protests-turned-attack at the Capitol.

Moore joins me on Gospelbound to tell us what scares him, how to lead when no one seems to be following, ambition masquerading as conviction, and much more.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Meals with Jesus by Ed Drew. These simple 10-minute family devotions in Luke’s Gospel explore Jesus’ character through nine meals that he shared with people. More information at thegoodbook.com.

As 2020 finally ends, it feels appropriate to look back on what we've learned and ultimately celebrate what God has done, even in the midst of one of the most difficult years ever collectively experienced.

In this special bonus episode of Gospelbound, host Collin Hansen is joined by TGC colleague Melissa Kruger, who co-hosts the Let's Talk podcast. They discuss big trends and stories from 2020, share their hopes for 2021, and reflect on God's faithfulness displayed through TGC and many other areas of life.

Books, articles, and other resources referenced in this episode:

• "Why Is It So Hard to Read My Bible These Days?" by Megan Hill (article)
• "George Floyd and Me" by Shai Linne (article)
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
• Caste: A Brief History of Racism, Sexism, Classism, Ageism, Homophobia, Religious Intolerance, Xenophobia, and Reasons for Hope by Isabel Wilkerson
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
• The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
• How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice by Jemar Tisby
• Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
• Mother to Son: Letters to a Black Boy on Identity and Hope by Jasmine Holmes
• Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry
• Knowing God by J. I. Packer
• Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• Through the Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot
• Wherever You Go, I Want You to Know by Melissa Kruger
• Growing Together: Taking Mentoring beyond Small Talk and Prayer Requests by Melissa Kruger
• Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age by Collin Hansen and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra
• Keeping the Heart by John Flavel
• The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich
• 12 Faithful Men edited by Collin Hansen and Jeff Robinson
• 12 Faithful Women edited by Melissa Kruger and Kristen Wetherell
• Let's Talk: Building Friendships with People Unlike Yourself (podcast episode)
• Gospelbound: From Mother to Son on Race, Religion, and Relevance (podcast episode)
• The Social Dilemma (documentary film)
• TGC 2020 Book Awards (article)
• TGCW21: Steadfast (national women's conference)
• TGC21: Jesus Is Greater (national conference)

A recent article in New York Magazine included this bombshell, "Roughly 30% of American women under 25 identify as LGBT. For women over 60, that figure is less than 5%."

Now, I can't find anyone who believes this number can really be that high. To acknowledge such a dramatic shift in such a short period of time would be nothing short of a world changing revolution. But, we know about rapid onset gender dysphoria among adolescents and teens. We've seen the prevalence of social contagion in our Instagram age. So, is such a revolution in human sexuality so unthinkable? This revolution may be sudden if it's actually happening, but it's no more dramatic than what we've seen unfold in the west in the last 60 years. Historian, Carl Trueman covers that ground in his new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution, published by Crossway.

But, he locates the sexual revolution within a broader change in views of the self and identity. Trueman joins me in this special extended episode of Gospelbound, to help church leaders understand what's happening. I've heard Carl say that apologetics used to be about explaining the church to the world, but now it's more about explaining the world to the church. That's what he does in The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, which is my pick for the most important book published in 2020. 

I'm eager to learn more about this road to revolution, and also pose some of our listeners' questions on this subject.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by Crossway, publisher of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman. 

Why would anyone think a preacher from 2,000 years ago would be relevant today? Assume for a second you don’t believe in the resurrection. What did his age know of nuclear weapons, space exploration, and microchip computers? Many would say that if that preacher wants to speak for today, his followers will need to translate and update.

But that’s not Becky Pippert’s view. Her new book, Stay Salt, argues that while the world has changed, our message must not. Pippert, author of the bestselling 1979 book Out of the Saltshaker, doesn’t see lack of interest or response to the gospel. Rather, she sees Christians scared to tell others about Jesus. If instead we assume people want to engage in spiritual conversations, Becky says, and we ask God to show us where he’s working and open doors to tell others about Jesus, he will. She recommends we balance confidence with sensitivity.

I think Becky’s also correct when she says, “I wonder if the verbal aspect of evangelism has to be re-learned as an active choice and a sacrificial commitment.” Is that because social justice causes and acts of mercy have become popular, but evangelism is not? We’ll ask Becky in this episode of Gospelbound.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by LifeWay, publisher of Rethink Your Self, by Trevin Wax. In this book, Wax encourages readers to rethink some of our society’s most common assumptions about identity and happiness in a helpful, practical way. When we look up to learn who we were created to be, we discover our true purpose and become our truest selves. Get your copy of Rethink Your Self wherever books are sold or at bhpublishinggroup.com

On Gospelbound I typically interview authors whose ideas intrigue and encourage me. And today is no different with my guest Brad Vermurlen, author of the new book Reformed Resurgence: The New Calvinist Movement and the Battle Over American Evangelicalism, published by Oxford University Press.

Vermurlen works as a research associate in the sociology department at the University of Texas at Austin. His book is revised and expanded from his PhD dissertation at the University of Notre Dame, working under Christian Smith. Through dozens of interviews, argus-like monitoring of social media, and on-ground experience with leading churches, Brad documented and assessed the rise of New Calvinism in American evangelicalism.

For listeners who know my work, you realize that Brad has given much more comprehensive study to the work I started back in 2006 with my cover story for Christianity Today called “Young, Restless, Reformed.” I can’t wait to ask Brad all my hard questions, as usual for Gospelbound. But it’s going to be a little different this week, because I’ll be asking him in part about my own work. 

***Send us your questions related to sexual identity and cultural trends on Instagram or email us at [email protected] and tune in to a special interview with Carl Trueman, author of 'The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution', right here on Gospelbound on Tuesday, November 17. 

The year 1976 marked a turning point in American and evangelical history. It was the year of the evangelical, with a born-again Southern Baptist, Jimmy Carter, capturing the Democratic nomination and narrowly defeating the Republican incumbent, Gerald Ford. And it was the end of the New Deal elections, when factions had been divided along class and regional lines. From then until now, American elections would be engulfed in ideological culture war between right and left.

Daniel K. Williams is one of the most accomplished historians of the Religious Right and evangelical political engagement. In his new book, The Election of the Evangelical: Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and the Presidential Contest of 1976, published by University of Kansas Press in their American Presidential Elections series, Williams helps us understand how we reached this point of religious and cultural polarization. Carter was the last Democrat to win almost the entire South. And the last candidate who brought together black Christians, white Southern evangelicals, and Northern Catholics and Jews. He preserved this coalition by somehow convincing Southern conservatives he was a pious budget hawk while at the same time signaling to Northern progressives that he would champion the causes of civil rights for minorities and equal rights for women.

Williams joins me on Gospelbound to discuss this turning-point election and what we can learn from it about evangelical witness and political engagement.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by LifeWay, publisher of The Courage to Stand, by bestselling and award-winning author, Russell Moore. In this book, Moore calls us to a Christ-empowered courage by pointing the way to real freedom from fear—the way of the cross. That way means integrity through brokenness, community through loneliness, power through weakness, and a future through irrelevance. Get your copy of The Courage to Stand wherever books are sold or at russellmoore.com.

Imagine you spent countless hours studying scientific and philosophical objections to Christianity. You enrolled in the classes. You read the books. You practiced the arguments.

And you found out that no one really cared.

That’s the post-Christian world described by Sam Chan in his new book, How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being That Guy): Personal Evangelism in a Skeptical World, published by Zondervan. Chan is a public speaker for City Bible Forum in Australia and the award-winning author of Evangelism in a Skeptical World.

He says, “Our friends aren’t nonbelievers because the defeater beliefs on that list are stopping them from believing; our friends are nonbelievers because they don’t even know why they need to believe in the Christian God of the Bible.” Further, he argues, “It’s of no relevance to them. And deep down, they suspect that the gospel is a tool of oppression used by those who used to be in power. They are hermetically shut off from the good news of Jesus.”

Sounds daunting—even depressing. But Chan wants to prepare us for effective evangelism even in post-Christian times in the West. He joins me on Gospelbound to discuss the most powerful factor in determining belief, why we need to merge our universes and put ourselves in others’ debt, the secret hidden sauce, and why we need to study counselors more than preachers.

Today’s episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible, a translation that presents the truth of God’s Word with accuracy and clarity for today’s readers, equipping them for lifelong discipleship. With hundreds of Bible designs to choose from, everyone can find a CSB Bible that they enjoy. Learn more at CSBible.com.

“Time for another Reformation” has been a rallying cry of many Protestants since, well, the original Protestant Reformation. And in the last 20 years you’ve heard this cry from a particular group that wants a new kind of Christianity more attuned to our times.

Alisa Childers wants another Reformation, too. But not one that leaves behind historic Christianity. As she writes in her new book, Another Gospel? A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity, published by Tyndale Momentum, she’s not looking for a Reformation that looks down on early believers as less enlightened and more primitive in their understanding of God. Like many other Christians before her, she’s looking to rediscover the original definition of Christianity when sometimes even our churches bear little resemblance to the Bible.

Childers is a blogger, speaker, and former member of the CCM recording group ZOEgirl. She doesn’t hold back in her critique of progressive Christianity and its denial of orthodoxy. But I also appreciate how she recognizes the challenges of growing up in the church. For example, she writes:

“If more churches would welcome the honest questions of doubters and engage with the intellectual side of their faith, they would become safe places for those who experience doubt. If people don’t feel understood, they are likely to find sympathy from those in the progressive camp who thrive on reveling in doubt.”

Childers joins me on Gospelbound to discuss whether we can be more tolerant than God and why Christians should demand more study and not invite less, among other questions. 

Today’s episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible, a translation that presents the truth of God’s Word with accuracy and clarity for today’s readers, equipping them for lifelong discipleship. With hundreds of Bible designs to choose from, everyone can find a CSB Bible that they enjoy. Learn more at CSBible.com.

It’s not that Africa needs a different kind of Christianity. But many common challenges for ministry in Africa simply don’t arise in books published in the West. That’s why Conrad Mbewe wrote God’s Design for the Church: A Guide for African Pastors and Ministry Leaders, published by TGC and 9Marks with Crossway. The need for such a resource is tremendous: while about 9 million Christians lived in Africa at the beginning of the 20th century, that number reached 380 million by the year 2000. And it’s still growing.

Conrad Mbewe has served as pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, since 1987. He’s a senior lecturer at African Christian University, founding Council member of TGC Africa, and past keynote speaker for The Gospel Coalition National Conference. In this book you’ll get biblical and theological guidance that transcends time, continent, and culture. You’ll see much appreciation for the strengths of African churches. And you’ll also get Conrad’s clear-eyed analysis of their weaknesses. For example, here are his comments on African preaching:

"The popular sermons today are motivational speeches. They are based on worldly principles that promise people earthly benefits if they say the right words or do the right things. These draw the crowds, but the people are not interested in growth in holiness. They want entertainment and earthly treasures. There is also a very high turnover of congregants. Many become disillusioned because the principles they are being taught are not working for them and so they leave quietly. Many more come in and take their place, hoping that the magic formulas will work for them."

I don’t think you’d write something much different about the United States.

Conrad joins me on Gospelbound to discuss witchcraft, tribalism, the relationship between evangelism and mercy ministry, among other topics.

Today’s episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible, a translation that presents the truth of God’s Word with accuracy and clarity for today’s readers, equipping them for lifelong discipleship. With hundreds of Bible designs to choose from, everyone can find a CSB Bible that they enjoy. Learn more at CSBible.com.

Elections have consequences, but not nearly as much as we probably think. That's what I concluded after reading David Platt's new book, Before You Vote: Seven Questions Every Christian Should Ask, published by Radical. 

Here's a sober dose of biblical reality from Platt in the book: 

"Even if we lose every freedom and protection we have as followers of Jesus in the United States, and even if our government were to become a completely totalitarian regime, we could still live in abundant life as long as we didn't look to political leaders, platforms or policies for our ultimate security and satisfaction."

It's not exactly the way you run fundraising and get out the vote operations in today's American politics, but Platt's book includes lots of counter-cultural advice, saturated with biblical references on humility, freedom, and duty, along with David's characteristic perspective informed by the global church. Platt serves as lead pastor of McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia, a congregation where employment for many depends on the outcome of the November elections. David joins me on Gospelbound to discuss voting, abortion, and President Trump's visit to McLean Bible Church.

Today’s episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible, a translation that presents the truth of God’s Word with accuracy and clarity for today’s readers, equipping them for lifelong discipleship. With hundreds of Bible designs to choose from, everyone can find a CSB Bible that they enjoy. Learn more at CSBible.com.

It happened before. Can it happen again? I’m talking about secession. That’s the question that animates David French’s new book, Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation, published by St. Martin’s Press. I’m pretty skeptical about books that seem to oversell such catastrophic outcomes. It seems like scare tactics to sell books. But the way French sets up the book I hadn’t quite realized the scenarios that would make secession politically advantageous for both parties. And I have to admit French’s imagination has haunted me ever since.

The book is about how to avoid secession. And if you’re familiar with French’s writing as senior editor of The Dispatch, you’ll recognize his appeal to pluralism as our way forward. French joins me on Gospelbound to discuss how Christians can coexist peacefully beside neighbors with quite different notions of a life well-lived. And maybe even how we can introduce them to Jesus. 

Today's episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible, a translation that presents the truth of God’s Word with accuracy and clarity for today’s readers, equipping them for lifelong discipleship. With hundreds of Bible designs to choose from, everyone can find a CSB Bible that they enjoy. Learn more at CSBible.com. 

Before the coronavirus pandemic, American religiosity had been in steady decline.

When American religiosity peaked in 1960, one in two adults in the United States attended any religious service in a given week. Now it’s a little more than one in three. Membership in religious bodies has declined from more than 75 percent to 62 percent. And the number that gets all the attention is the “nones,” the Americans who claim no religion. That’s now 25 percent, compared to just 5 percent in 1960.

It’s hard to see that trend reversing with the unprecedented disruption of COVID-19. My own pastor estimates we’ve lost 25 percent of our church during the pandemic.

Lyman Stone is an expert on both the decline of American religiosity and also the spread of COVID-19. Stone is an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, and a former international economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He blogs about migration, population dynamics, and regional economics at In a State of Migration. His work has been covered in the The New York Times, TheWashington Post, TheWall Street Journal, and numerous local outlets.

He joins me on Gospelbound to discuss his 2020 report “Promise and Peril: The History of American Religiosity and Its Recent Decline.”

Today's episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible, a translation that presents the truth of God’s Word with accuracy and clarity for today’s readers, equipping them for lifelong discipleship. With hundreds of Bible designs to choose from, everyone can find a CSB Bible that they enjoy. Learn more at CSBible.com. 

A number of years ago, I grew distressed with the number of friends and colleagues who had left ministry amid controversy and scandal. I tried to learn what had gone wrong and how to keep it from repeating. From that study came several books devoted to helping pastors endure, especially as they learn from historical and present-day mentors who have fought the good fight.

I’m grateful for Paul Tripp’s latest contribution to this cause with his new book, Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church, published by Crossway. This is one of the most bracing but also balanced books you’ll find on church leadership and the particular challenges in our day. 

Paul has written specifically for pastors, but this book broadens the lens to consider the whole leadership culture of a church. Because he believes we have major problems. He writes:

“How many times are we going to see the same sad story of the demise of a ministry leader, and the destruction of the leadership community that surrounded him, before we recommit ourselves to God’s values and to our ambassadorial calling, and as we recommit, cry out that he would, in love rescue us from us?”

Paul helps church leaders see that when he calls us to ministry, he calls us to suffer. He warns us to expect “dangerous adulation and harsh criticism.” He points us to Jesus, because the unpredictable and uncomfortable world of church leadership is not a safe place to look for identity and inner security.” 

Paul joins me on Gospelbound to discuss our leadership crisis in the church and how we can fight against it in the power of God’s grace.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Rooted Reservoir, an online resource by Rooted Ministry. The Rooted Reservoir is packed with youth ministry curriculum, training videos, teaching illustrations, and an online community to help youth ministers disciple students toward lifelong faith in Jesus Christ. Sign up by Wednesday, September 30, and save $20 with code GOSPELBOUND at RootedMinistry.com.

What's most important about humanity never changes. We're made in the image of God and separated from our creator by our sin. We need a savior lest we fall under God's judgment. It doesn't matter where you travel or what time period you study, this story doesn't change. But every culture around the world and across the ages highlights some aspects of this story and ignores others. It's the work of cultural apologetics to discern and explain these changes for Christians seeking to walk faithfully and teach effectively across varied contexts.

One of the best cultural apologists I know is Josh Chatraw, author most recently of Telling a Better Story: How to Talk about God in a Skeptical Age, published by Zondervan. Josh serves as executive director of the Center for Public Christianity and as theologian in residence at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's also co-author of Apologetics at the Cross, and co-editor of The History of Apologetics. Josh is one of my go-to sources on book recommendations and just overall insight on how to follow Christ in this secular age. It's a pleasure to welcome him on Gospelbound and discuss the better story, late-modern apologetics, and more.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Rooted Ministry's 2020 Conference. Join Rooted on Thursday, September 24, for a one-day youth ministry conference, online or in person at a local gathering. The conference will feature worship with Sandra McCracken, encouraging speakers, instructional workshops, and fellowship with other youth ministers. Register by Monday, September 7, to get a free swag bag. To learn more and register, visit rootedministry.com/conference 

Everyone loves a good story. Especially in these hard times. Or maybe not. Should we be swapping yarns while the world burns? Maybe we need less levity, more solemnity, when we see so much wrong in the world.

As a professional storyteller, Sean Dietrich brings together the levity and solemnity in his new book, Will the Circle Be Unbroken? published by Zondervan. Also known as Sean of the South, Dietrich regales readers with stories of family, faith, and food. But this memoir of learning to believe you’re going to be ok deals with serious themes of fatherhood, suicide, education, and physical abuse. In his novel Stars of Alabama, published last year, Dietrich likewise explores themes of poverty, faith, friendship, religious hypocrisy, and hope.

Sean of the South joins me on Gospelbound to discuss hope and heartache during the best and worst of times. Maybe we can even get him to tell a few good stories.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by the Sing! Global Conference from modern hymnwriters Keith and Kristyn Getty. This four-day online event will bring together an array of more than 100 Christian leaders and artists from around the world—such as John Piper, Trip Lee, Joni Eareckson Tada, and David Platt—to examine how the songs of Scripture build deep believers in the 21st century. Register here by Tuesday, August 25, and save 20 percent with the code GOSPELBOUND.

You’ve probably noticed that the views toward and practices of marriage have changed. But how? And how do Christian views and practices differ?

That’s what Mark Regnerus set out to discover in a global study of Christians from across denominations. You’ll find the results in his new book, The Future of Christian Marriage, published by Oxford University Press. Mark is a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and author of many important books, including Cheap Sex and the Transformation of Men, Marriage, and Monogamy and Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers.

You might not read a lot of sociology. But if you’re a church leader, you need to read this book. He put into words what I’ve observed but did not understand. He gave me context for the trends and a sense of urgency about the consequences.

Mark found that marriage is no longer something Christians pursue in order to meet life goals. It’s something they aspire to do someday if life works out in the meantime. The result is far fewer marriages, of course. But this shift means a lot more, not only for Christian marriage, but for Christian ministry. Mark describes the intrusion of the market mentality into our homes, marriages, and bedrooms. He writes, “Our most intimate relationships are being treated as a means, often discarded, to attain those ends and acquisitions that have been most effectively marketed to us.”

And what is the result for Christian marriage? Nothing good, Mark warns: “Young adults are offered no guidance about maturation, mortgages, or marriage—save for words of caution, counsel to delay, and cost-benefit evaluation.”

Mark joins me on Gospelbound to discuss the “monumental, consequential, and subtle” shift in Christian marriage and way too many questions than I have time to ask.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by the Sing! Global Conference from modern hymn writers, Keith & Kristyn Getty. This four-day online event will bring together an array of more than 100 Christian leaders and artists from around the world like John Piper, Trip Lee, Joni Eareckson Tada, and David Platt, to examine how the songs of Scripture build deep believers in the 21st century. Register here by Tuesday, August 25, and save 20% with the code GOSPELBOUND.

“No one can help or hurt a child like a parent can.” Do you doubt this observation? Try finding a memoir that isn’t an extended meditation on the author’s parents. And if you’ve read the memoirs I have, you don’t want your children to grow up and write one.

The story of growing up with two parents who loved you and loved the Lord doesn’t make for good drama. But it can help set you up for a lifetime of faithfully serving God and neighbors. Matt Chandler aims to help parents toward this goal in his new book, Family Discipleship: Leading Your Home Through Time, Moments, and Milestones, co-authored with Adam Griffin and published by Crossway.

Chandler, lead pastor of teaching at the Village Church in Dallas, Texas, has three children with his wife, Lauren. I’m thankful they’ve extended this glimpse into their home to learn what family discipleship can look like. Because what better time than a global pandemic lockdown to turn our attention toward this call to family discipleship. If you don’t think you have time now to make this a priority, then it’s time for new priorities. Chandler and Griffin write this:

“Your child is not only your progeny; he or she is your protégé. Everything you have learned from and about following Christ is to be passed on to your children to the best of your ability.”

Matt Chandler joins me on Gospelbound to discuss moments and milestones, models and mishaps in family discipleship.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by the Sing! Global Conference from modern hymn writers, Keith & Kristyn Getty. This four-day online event will bring together an array of more than 100 Christian leaders and artists from around the world like John Piper, Trip Lee, Joni Eareckson Tada, and David Platt, to examine how the songs of Scripture build deep believers in the 21st century. Register here by Tuesday, August 25, and save 20% with the code GOSPELBOUND.

“Nothing we expected, yet everything we need.”

That’s what Michael and Lauren McAfee suggest you’ll find when you read the Bible for yourself. That’s their charge to the millennial generation in their new book, Not What You Think: Why the Bible Might Be Nothing We Expected Yet Everything We Need, published by Zondervan.

Michael and Lauren write this book to millennials, those born between 1980 and 1995. Believe it or not, this is the largest generation in American history: 78 million, or one in three adults today. Within five years this generation will account for 75 percent of the U.S. workforce. Michael and Lauren write to their millennial peers, which includes me, born in 1981.

In Not What You Think, Michael and Lauren are honest about themselves and Bible. Which is appropriate, since unpolished honesty is what you get in the Bible. They write:

“The Bible is a unique source of comfort because, compared with all the other books on the market today, the Bible is the most honest about the failures of humankind. . . . You will not find a more authentic ancient religious text than the Bible.”

You may think Job is about finding a job, as Michael’s friend did. Well, you’re in for a rude awakening. But the story of might be just what God intends to carry you through crisis.

The McAfees join me on Gospelbound to discuss happiness, authority, suffering, and the surprises we find when we read the Bible for ourselves.

I don’t know that any religious conversion is more unlikely than another. After all, we’re only born again because a perfect man who is God died on a cross and rose from the dead on the third day. That’s not a likely story. We’re all equally dead in our transgressions before Jesus saves us.

But I know what Randy Newman means in his new book, Unlikely Converts: Improbable Stories of Faith and What They Teach Us About Evangelism [Read TGC's review], published by Kregel. We all know someone who’d really surprise us if he or she professed faith in Jesus Christ. And his book draws lessons for our evangelism from those stories.

Newman is a senior teaching fellow with The C. S. Lewis Institute in Washington, D.C., author of the bestselling Questioning Evangelism, and veteran of more than 30 years in campus ministry. He writes that coming to Christ takes time, that people tend to come to faith communally, that they come to faith variously, and that nothing is too difficult for God. And he joins me on Gospelbound to discuss more observations from these unlikely converts as we seek to share Christ in a contentious age.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a changing ministry landscape, Southeastern’s four-year master of divinity and master of business administration program was built on a foundation of rigorous theological training and practical vocational training. Learn more at sebts.edu.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better. We’re facing opposition far more intense than anything Christians in the United States have experienced in the last century.

That’s the message from Luke Goodrich in his new book, Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious History in America, published by Multnomah. Goodrich, the leading religious-freedom attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, has fought and won in the Supreme Court. But he’s concerned that we’re not prepared for the changes that now confront us.

He writes: “We’ve long lived in a country where religious freedom was secure, and we didn’t need to give it much thought. Now we’re realizing the country is changing and we might not enjoy the same degree of religious freedom forever. If we don’t start thinking about it now, we’ll be unprepared.”

Goodrich joins me on Gospelbound to help us get ready. We discuss how we can suffer with joy, what we can learn from the Quakers, why some courts seem so incredulous about Christians acting as Christians, and more.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a changing ministry landscape, Southeastern’s four-year master of divinity and master of business administration program was built on a foundation of rigorous theological training and practical vocational training. Learn more at sebts.edu.

Jerry Mitchell remembers what so many others want to forget. For more than three decades, he worked as an investigative reporter for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. During that time, his dogged reporting helped put four Klansmen in jail after they had eluded justice year after year for their heinous crimes in the 1960s.

Mitchell tells this story of justice delayed and finally done in his new book, Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era, published by Simon & Schuster. Mitchell captures so many of the complexities and contradictions of the Deep South. For example, he writes this: "This was Mississippi, a place where some of the nation's poorest people live on some of the world's richest soil, a place with the nation's highest illiteracy and some of the world's greatest writers,” and I might add as a resident of Alabama next door, a place also known for being first in religion and last in just about everything else. A place like much of the South where the churches are full and where racism has so long flourished alongside.

Mitchell joined me on Gospelbound to discuss what compelled him to seek justice, the Christian pretensions of the Ku Klux Klan, and whether the gospel can finally bring healing to this beautiful and broken land.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a changing ministry landscape, Southeastern’s four-year master of divinity and master of business administration program was built on a foundation of rigorous theological training and practical vocational training. Learn more at sebts.edu.

Everyone agrees that we’re drowning under a rising tide of atheism. Right? Actually that’s how author Alec Ryrie describes early 17th century Europe. We’re talking about the century following the Protestant Reformation, a century marked by wars of religion fought between Protestants and Catholics, and civil war in England. It’s the century that gave us these words: “What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever” from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. What seems to us as an era defined by religion seemed to many at the time to be marked instead by unbelief.

Atheism and religious skepticism has a long history in the West, as Ryrie shows in his new book, Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt, published by Harvard University Press. Ryrie is professor of the history of Christianity at Durham University and president of the Ecclesiastical History Society. He traces doubt from the blasphemous lips of gamblers to the poisonous pen of Nietzsche. He identifies anger and anxiety as the emotional hallmarks of doubt, through a massive transformation effected by World War II until our own day.

Ryrie joins me on Gospelbound to discuss doubt, Reformation-induced incredulity, and how Hitler became the potent moral figure in Western culture and the swastika overtook the cross as packing the biggest emotional punch.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a changing ministry landscape, Southeastern’s four-year master of divinity and master of business administration program was built on a foundation of rigorous theological training and practical vocational training. Learn more at sebts.edu.

Tim Challies visited 25 different countries in his memorable year. And I think he may have even eaten McDonald’s in each of these countries. He attended worship services on every continent. He searched high and low for the artifacts that would help him tell the story of 2,000 years of Christian history. And he brings us along that journey in his new book, Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History, published by Zondervan.

I loved following along on social media as he traveled north and south, east and west. I admire his zeal to introduce us to long-lost heroes of the faith, and even to warn us against some wrong turns in the journey. This book matches what we’re doing with Gospelbound, searching for firm faith in an anxious age. Because he looks back on God’s faithfulness even as he looks forward to what God might yet do before Jesus returns.

Challies writes, “If I learned anything from my journey around the world, it’s the simple truth that the Lord is always at work.”

Indeed, he is. Challies is the noted blogger of challies.com and author of several books, including Visual Theology and The Next Story. He joins me on Gospelbound to share more about this remarkable journey around the world and how we might grow in faith by learning from the past.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a changing ministry landscape, Southeastern’s four-year master of divinity and master of business administration program was built on a foundation of rigorous theological training and practical vocational training. Learn more at sebts.edu.

I don’t know how exactly to describe Jamie Smith’s new book, On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts, published by Brazos. I just know I recommend it.

Smith himself describes the book as one last take at Christianity for someone tempted to leave the faith behind. Augustine is the guide—so ancient he’s strange, so common in his experiences that he feels contemporary.

Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin University and author of many thought-provoking books. And he is himself an excellent guide to Augustine. Yet in this book he goes beyond telling us about Augustine. Smith uses Augustine to help us answer our deepest questions and satisfy our deepest longings.

“Humans are those strange creatures who can never be fully satisfied by anything created,” Smith writes. “Though that never stops us from trying.”

Smith joins Gospelbound to discuss conversion as compass, authenticity as loneliness, and ambition as bottomless.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a changing ministry landscape, Southeastern’s four-year Master of Divinity and Master of Business Administration program was built on a foundation of rigorous theological training and practical vocational training. Learn more at sebts.edu.

“God is in the longest-lived, worst marriage in the history of the world.”

That’s from Tim and Kathy Keller in their short new book, On Marriage, part of the How to Find God series with Penguin Books. They continue: “God is the lover and spouse of his people. But we have given him the marriage from hell.” But God has been faithful even when we were not. He sealed this union with us through Jesus Christ in his cross and resurrection. Tim and Kathy write, “Your marriage to him is the surest possible foundation for your marriage to anyone else.”

The gospel grounds what Tim and Kathy write not only in this new book but also in their previous works The Meaning of Marriage and The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple’s Devotional. I work with many young couples preparing for marriage, and their work is the first resource I hand them. You want to know the secret of a great marriage? Then you need to understand the mystery of Christ in the church, in Ephesians 5:32.

Any great marriage on earth points toward that one in heaven. If you’re looking for the One, you’ll only find him in Jesus. The gospel saves us from expecting too much from marriage, which makes us more likely to get divorced, and from expecting too little, which makes us less likely to ever get married in the first place.

Tim and Kathy join me on Gospelbound to discuss the link between decreasing marriage and decreasing religiosity, how to know you’re ready to get married, how to raise children to prepare them for marriage, and more.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a changing ministry landscape, Southeastern’s four-year Master of Divinity and Master of Business Administration program was built on a foundation of rigorous theological training and practical vocational training. Learn more at sebts.edu.

We may not agree on much any longer. But this we seem to share in common: we don’t trust institutions. Just the drop in Americans’ confidence in organized religion should concern us: from 65 percent expressing a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in organized religion 40 years ago down to 38 percent in 2018.

Less trust in institutions means fewer close friends. We spend less time with others and feel more disconnected. Through online media we’ve never been exposed to so many competing views, and yet somehow we’ve never been so ignorant of what others believe. The old men who used to volunteer with the Lion’s Club now sit home alone at night watching Fox News.

Yuval Levin argues that we thrive inside institutions where we develop relationships of commitment, obligation, and responsibility. And he sees a particularly important role for churches. He writes this in his new book, A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream, published by Basic Books: “A recovery of the ethic of community also stands the best chance of beginning in the kinds of communities that first form out of common religious convictions.”

Levin is the founder and editor of National Affairs and has written for many prominent publications. I previously interviewed him on his excellent book The Fractured Republic. He joins me on Gospelbound to discuss a wide range of topics: how populism combines with identity politics to resist restraint, the lure of cynicism and outsider politics, our pervasive culture war, the culture of celebrity as the enemy of integrity, and much more.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by Southeastern Seminary, equipping today’s ministry leaders with the Word of God, a philosophical foundation, and care for the lost through their Masters program in Ethics, Theology, and Culture and the Ph.D. in Public Theology. Learn more at sebts.edu.

Jasmine Holmes has been called everything from a cultural Marxist to an Uncle Tom. And other derogatory names I can’t repeat on this podcast. Thus is the fate of anyone who seeks to transcend our cultural, religious, political, and ethnic tribes.

She lays out a gospel-centered, transcendent agenda in her timely new book, Mother to Son: Letters to a Black Boy on Identity and Hope, published by InterVarsity Press. If I had to select a representative quote from the book, it might be this one: “The lure of relevancy is strong in any clique, but when it comes with a gag order on truth it isn’t worth it.”

The book compiles letters written by Holmes to her first-born son, Wynn. She frames the book theologically by the already/not yet. You see that perspective in her hopes for Wynn. She writes:

Though this life will sometimes make him feel less than human, he is more than a conqueror through his Savior. Against all odds, we want to raise an optimist. Someone who knows that he might receive the worst that this world has to offer and still believes the best. Someone who cultivates glorious respites from the cruelty of the world by the grace of God.

Holmes contributes to The Gospel Coalition among other publications. She teaches Latin and humanities in a classical Christian school in Jackson, Mississippi. And she joins me now on Gospelbound to discuss all the easy topics from politics to race to police brutality to abortion and everything else you’re not supposed to bring up in polite company.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by Southeastern Seminary, equipping today’s ministry leaders with the Word of God, a philosophical foundation, and care for the lost through their Masters program in Ethics, Theology, and Culture and the Ph.D. in Public Theology. Learn more at sebts.edu.

Harold Senkbeil has the secret of sustainable pastoral work: “You need to realize that you’ve got nothing to give to others that you yourself did not receive.”

That’s his main message in a new book called The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart [read TGC’s review], published by Lexham Press. Senkbeil is an executive director of DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care, and a veteran of nearly 50 years in parish ministry, seminary teaching, and parachurch leadership.

Senkbeil argues that we’ve focused so much on winning souls that we’ve neglected to keep them. Just look at the attrition rates for people who grew up in the church but drifted away. He advocates for a priority, then, on pastoral care against models of pastoral ministry as activity manager, CEO, or unlicensed therapist.

Nevertheless, he recognizes that many pastors lack spiritual depth and awareness to take up the challenge of pastoral care. We try to give ourselves, but we quickly run low on our own resources of empathy.

He writes: “No matter how compassionate and empathetic a pastor is, there’s just no way he can come up with what it takes to feed the sheep of Christ effectively, much less tend to their spiritual heartaches, bruises, and injuries.”

Senkbeil joins me on Gospelbound to discuss how he learned these lessons the hard way, why Christian living is more caught than taught, and what he’s seen as the biggest change in pastoral ministry over the last half-century.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by Southeastern Seminary, equipping today’s ministry leaders with the Word of God, a philosophical foundation, and care for the lost through their Masters program in Ethics, Theology, and Culture and the Ph.D. in Public Theology. Learn more at sebts.edu.

Whether Rachel Gilson is a hero or villain depends on your perspective. Her remarkable story doesn’t leave much room in between.

“When pursuing your desire for same-gender sex and romance would publicly mark you as a hero—brave and strong—denying it makes you a villain.”

So Gilson writes in a new book, Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next, published by The Good Book Company. Gilson serves on the leadership team of theological development and culture with Cru and lives in the Boston area.

Her book takes on several of the most controversial issues of our time. Her story encourages Christians in holiness and obedience, and challenges those who do not yet believe to trust in Christ. She writes that, “A crucial ministry of same-sex-attracted Christians is to point to the validity of God’s word over our deep feelings.” And that’s why I so appreciate this book, not only for readers who can identify with her particular story. It challenges the rest of us to follow Christ, even when we don’t feel like it.

Gilson joins me on Gospelbound to discuss when she changed her mind about Christianity being stupid and cruel, how she found acceptance and joy in Christian community, and her views on campus evangelism today.

This episode of Gospelbound is sponsored by Southeastern Seminary, equipping today’s ministry leaders with the Word of God, a philosophical foundation, and care for the lost through their Masters program in Ethics, Theology, and Culture and the Ph.D. in Public Theology. Learn more at sebts.edu.

How likely are you to contract the coronavirus? To die of it? Or at least to know someone who does?

Even if you knew those odds, such knowledge would bring little comfort. In these uncertain times you need something more solid that you can trust. You need a foundation you can stand on. In this pandemic, God is inviting us to build our lives on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. God is good, and he is in control.

In a new book, Coronavirus and Christ, John Piper writes, “The coronavirus is God’s thunderclap call for all of us to repent and realign our lives with the infinite worth of Christ.”

John Piper is the founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He is also a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. The ebook and audiobook for Coronavirus and Christ are available for free at desiringgod.org, and you can also purchase the book, published by Crossway, on Amazon.

John Piper joins me on Gospelbound to discuss what God is doing in the coronavirus, how we can persevere in prayer for an end to this pandemic, and why the health-and-wealth gospel must be exposed as impotent and dangerous.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a disenchanted world looking to themselves for answers, Southeastern’s three-year Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Culture plants graduates at the intersection of theology, culture, and church to bring the world a better story—the gospel. Learn more at sebts.edu.

It’s the tale of two crowns: the so-called coronavirus that looks like a crown under the microscope and Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Can God be good when thousands around the world get sick and die from something they cannot even see? Where is he, and what is he doing?

John Lennox poses these and other good questions in a new book, Where Is God in a Coronavirus World?, published by The Good Book Company. John Lennox is professor of mathematics at Oxford University (emeritus), and an internationally renowned speaker on the interface of science, philosophy, and religion. He is senior fellow with the Trinity Forum and has written a series of books exploring the relationship between science and Christianity. You may also know him from his debates with noted atheists Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Peter Singer.

In this book he points out how the coronavirus exposes our vulnerability, when we expend so much energy pretending that we are immortal. And yet the relationship between creator and creation is disordered. All is not well. Perhaps this epidemic will make it impossible to avoid the fact that we will all die.

What, then, can Christians say to an anxious world? Can we solve this problem? Lennox doesn’t go that far. He writes that “a Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who has come to love and trust a God who has himself suffered.”

Lennox joins me on Gospelbound to discuss the God who wears the crown and why we can love and trust him.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a disenchanted world looking to themselves for answers, Southeastern’s three-year Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Culture plants graduates at the intersection of theology, culture, and church to bring the world a better story—the gospel. Learn more at sebts.edu.

The church will always face external threats. The gospel will always incite opposition. What if our biggest problem, then, isn’t hostility from the world but instead compromise inside the church?

Gerald Sittser marshals that argument in his new book, Resilient Faith: How the Early Christian ‘Third Way’ Changed the World, published by Brazos. Sittser is professor of theology at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.

He writes: “The problem we currently face is not primarily political or ideological. The problem is the compromised identity of the church itself and the compromised message of the gospel.”

Sittser joins me on Gospelbound to explain how this “Third Way” in the early church attracted attention not for being loud and obnoxious, but by being different. We’ll also discuss why millennials drift away from the church, how to change a church culture of entertainment, the high price of fighting for power and privilege, and more.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a disenchanted world looking to themselves for answers, Southeastern’s three-year Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Culture plants graduates at the intersection of theology, culture, and church to bring the world a better story—the gospel. Learn more at sebts.edu.

If Erik Larson writes the book, I read the book. It's one of my simple rules of life. All the more so when he writes about one of the most dramatic periods of history, the so called London blitz of 1940 and 1941 when Great Britain withstood aerial bombardment by Nazi Germany. Larson's latest book is The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, published by Crown. Larson is also the number one New York Times bestselling author of two of my most memorable reads The Devil in the White City and also Dead Wake among other titles. If you're looking for an engrossing read during the coronavirus quarantine, I recommend this book.

You'll be engrossed in the life and death struggle of a nation and its dynamic leader in their confrontation with Nazi tyranny. I read the book before the world stopped spinning, but recent events gave me a new perspective on the timeliness of this work and it even made me wonder about the role of religion or lack thereof in this and in that previous crisis. So that’s why we've invited Erik Larson to speak on Gospelbound.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a disenchanted world looking to themselves for answers, Southeastern’s three-year Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Culture plants graduates at the intersection of theology, culture, and church to bring the world a better story—the gospel. Learn more at sebts.edu.

It turns out that rock bottom isn’t the worst place to be. When you have nowhere else to turn, you realize we need renewal.

Mark Sayers has not written another book on the challenges that face the church in the West, though few would be better suited to do so. He’s written instead a handbook for not only surviving but even thriving in our secular age. Sayers is the author of Reappearing Church: The Hope for Renewal in the Rise of Our Post-Christian Culture, published by Moody. Sayers has written previous books, including Disappearing Church. And he is the senior leader of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia. Many listeners of Gospelbound may know Mark as the cohost with John Mark Comer of the podcast This Cultural Moment.

I appreciate Sayer’s view that we’re just not going to be smart or savvy or rich enough to meet the challenges of our post-Christian culture. So much is working against us in this world.

He writes:

The whole of contemporary Western culture—from the structure of our malls and cities, to the very fabric of the internet and social media platforms—are ideologies that shape us toward a vision not rooted in the eternal, but in the unlimited freedom and pleasure of the individual.

 But Sayers doesn’t just see challenges. He also sees opportunities. We talk about both in this episode of Gospelbound.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a disenchanted world looking to themselves for answers, Southeastern’s three-year Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Culture plants graduates at the intersection of theology, culture, and church to bring the world a better story—the gospel. Learn more at sebts.edu.

Now here’s a good question: “How was it that a cult inspired by the execution of an obscure criminal in a long-vanished empire came to exercise such a transformative and enduring influence on the world?”

That we take for granted this enduring influence is the main point of Tom Holland’s new book, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, published by Basic Books.

Holland is an award-winning historian of the ancient world and regular contributor to the Times of London, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He observes that Romans saw worship of the crucified Jesus as scandalous, obscene, and grotesque. And yet this same Roman Empire would eventually come to worship Jesus as God. Holland writes:

The relationship of Christianity to the world that gave birth to it is, then, paradoxical. The faith is at once the most enduring legacy of classical antiquity, and the index of its utter transformation.

In our own day Holland finds pervasive Christian influence everywhere he looks in the West. The self-evident truths of the American Declaration of Independence—that all men are created equal and endowed with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—are not remotely self-evident to a student of antiquity or other world religions. But that’s the genius of this Christian revolution, Holland argues. He writes, “The surest way to promote Christian teachings as universal was to portray them as deriving from anything other than Christianity."

Holland joins me on Gospelbound to discuss why Christianity is the most difficult legacy of the ancient world to write about, and why this Christian revolution is the greatest story ever told.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a disenchanted world looking to themselves for answers, Southeastern’s three-year Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Culture plants graduates at the intersection of theology, culture, and church to bring the world a better story—the gospel. Learn more at sebts.edu.

I don’t know what vision the term “decadence” conjures up for you. Some advertising campaign years ago implanted an association for me with chocolate cake. But Ross Douthat sees a rich and powerful society no longer going anywhere in particular. We’re stuck with economic stagnation, political stalemates, cultural exhaustion, and demographic decline.

He writes: “For the first time since 1491, we have found the distances too vast and the technology too limited to take us to somewhere genuinely undiscovered, somewhere truly new.”

That line comes from his new book, The Decadent Society: How We Became Victims of Our Own Success, published by Avid Reader Press. Douthat is a columnist for The New York Times and author of the book Bad Religion, for which I previously interviewed him. The last time we talked was spring of 2016. A few things have changed since then. But not Douthat’s abilities as a must-read writer. I could do an entire podcast just reading my favorite lines from this book. As a former Methodist, I especially liked how he described “thin cosmopolitanism that’s really just the extremely Western ideology of liberal Protestantism plus ethnic food.”

This is a serious book, though, and it deserves serious attention. What’s next when there are no more unexplored frontiers or fresh discoveries? What’s the point of life if there are no more worlds to conquer? Douthat says we see a world in turmoil, but it’s more like we’ve lulled ourselves to sleep.

Douthat writes:

If you want to feel like Western society is convulsing, there’s an app for that, a convincing simulation waiting. But in the real world, it’s possible that Western society is really learning back in an easy chair, hooked up to a drip of something soothing, playing and replaying an ideological greatest-hits tape from its wild and crazy youth, all riled up in its own imagination and yet, in reality, comfortably numb.

Yet Douthat does envision a possible renaissance for the West, an escape from our cultural malaise. That’s part of what we discuss in this episode of Gospelbound.

This episode of Gospelbound is brought to you by Southeastern Seminary. In a disenchanted world looking to themselves for answers, Southeastern’s three-year Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Culture plants graduates at the intersection of theology, culture, and church to bring the world a better story—the gospel. Learn more at sebts.edu.