This was a big year for our ministry. We need to thank you for sharing this podcast with your family and friends, because our subscriber base has grown tremendously this year. We were blessed to have some great guests and episodes this year. I wanted to share a few highlights from season nine with a brief explanation for why I think these episodes are special. Here are our top ten favorite episodes of 2022!
FAVORITE EPISODES OF 2022 (In no particular order):
- How People Change, with Nate Brooks.
Why have a Biblical Counseling expert and seminary professor on a podcast about ethnic unity? Because if we understand racism to be sin, we need to know how sinners change, for better and worse. Dr. Brooks provides great insight as to how God made people and how He changes them. - Life, Ministry, and Theology, with Jarvis Williams
I wanted to interview Dr. Williams about his life as a Black Christian Academic. I managed to get about halfway through my questions before Isaac grabbed the steering wheel to talk about how contemporary ideas of ethnicity and race compare to the Bible’s usage of those terms. Dr. Williams’ answers were fascinating and enlightening. - Invitations to Abundance, with Alicia Akins
Alicia is a fantastic, insightful writer. We enjoyed having her on the podcast to hear more about her background, which helps explain why she writes and thinks the way she does. You can get her fantastic book here. - How and When to Disagree
I think this is one of the most important episodes Isaac and I have ever done. We talk about disagreement, particularly a disagreement he and I had the week prior to recording this episode. We also explain why we have guests on the podcast when we don’t agree with everything they’ve written or said. - Jesus, not Evangelicalism, is Our North Star, with John Talley, Akin Omisanmi, and Joshua Chatman
Four pastors describe their experience in evangelicalism and share how (usually white) cultural norms are helpful and unhelpful. Through the experience, they share how Scripture must be, as John Frame says, “the norming norm.” - Life, Motherhood, and Ministry, with Jasmine Holmes
Some people are just way more productive than the rest of us. That’s Jasmine. We enjoyed talking to her about her many writing and research projects, and hearing how she balances those interests with her family. Listen and learn from this sister! - Thomas Jefferson: Evaluating Historical Figures, with Thomas Kidd
Dr. Kidd opens his fantastic biography of Thomas Jefferson by writing, “This is the biography of a brilliant but troubled person.” We had Dr. Kidd on to talk about the book, Jefferson’s ideas about humanity and slavery, and how Christians should think about deeply flawed historical figures. - Moral Persuasion, with George Yancey
The prevailing ideas on how to fix racism are color-blindness and anti-racism. Both of these ideas sound good at first, but Dr. Yancey explains why both of them have shortcomings and offers suggestions for a better way forward. As an aside, I can’t remember the last time an episode go this much positive feedback. Y’all really liked this one! - What is Race?
This is a fundamental question a ministry like ours needs to answer, but it’s not as easy as you might think. Isaac and Austin discuss how conceptions of race have changed over time and what they mean for us today. - What is Racism?
Follow-up to the previous episode. Why does race matter? Because of racism. Ideas about race didn’t happen in a vacuum. They happened as justification to mistreat fellow image-bearers. This episode was surprisingly encouraging, given the heavy topic. Spoiler – Jesus is alive which means racism will go away one day.
