Our post-Christian culture often promotes justice at the expense of mercy. God takes injustice seriously, and His forgiveness is the only thing in the universe that can deal with the full weight of injustice while also securing our redemption. According to theologian and apologist Amy Orr-Ewing, Christians have a precious opportunity in this cultural moment to show our neighbors how God meets their need for both justice and mercy through the cross. Amy joins us this week for an encouraging...

You and I are not machines. We are trees. That’s just one of the beautiful observations in Joy Clarkson’s latest book, You Are a Tree: And Other Metaphors to Nourish Life, Thought, and Prayer. Joy joins us this week for a delightful conversation about metaphors and how they deepen our understanding of the human experience, including love, sadness, creativity, and even our own humanity.    Plough Quarterly  You Are a Tree: And Other Metaphors to Nourish Life, Thought, and Prayer by Joy...

Laura Perry Smalts spent nine years rejecting God and chasing a different "gender identity." Despite Laura’s social, hormonal, and surgical attempts to become a man, the promises of gender ideology proved to be lies. In the face of her anger and hatred of God and the Church, God miraculously broke through Laura’s heart with loving conviction and compassion. Tune in to hear her incredible journey and learn how to persevere in Christlike love toward loved ones embracing gender ideology.    ...

Sometimes we forget how radical and powerful God’s grace is. This week’s guest, Toni McFadden, has not forgotten. Toni travels the country to speak about abortion, promote healthy sexuality and relationships, and advocate for the unborn. After Toni had an abortion in high school, God transformed her life through radical salvation, healing, and a new calling. Her life testifies to how Jesus forgives our sin and redeems our stories.    Toni’s Website   Redeemed: My Journey After Abortion...

Living with unmet longings often feels like suffering. Rachel Miller knows, from experience, that our longings confront us with an opportunity to struggle toward God and community, rather than away from them. Her latest book is When It Hurts to Hope: Honest Conversations about Living with Unmet Longing. She joins us this week to talk about wrestling with longings and desires, and correcting the bad theology that worsens our suffering.    Rachel’s Website  When It Hurts to Hope, Honest...

What is motherhood all about? Elizabeth Schlueter helps us perceive the beautiful truth about motherhood amid cultural extremes. She joins us this week to challenge common myths about motherhood and cast a Christian vision for the beauty of self-giving love and sacrifice. Whether you're married or single, raising children or not, you’ll be encouraged to form a virtuous life centered around sacrificial love and committed relationships.    Canavox.com  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by...

Megan Donahue grew up in a Mormon family whose roots reach all the way back to the founding of Mormonism. Though she sincerely believed as a child, she was discouraged from thoroughly investigating what she had been taught. Eventually, Megan’s beliefs unraveled as she grappled with long-held questions and the burden of works-based religion. Through the mess of doubt, she stepped away from everything she had ever known and asked God to show her the truth. She joins us this week to tell her...

Gender ideology is the biggest lie capturing young people today. The Church is called to care for the victims of this lie while walking in truth and love. Mary Rice Hasson joins us this week to share how Christians can offer a better hope than gender ideology and practically love those who struggle with their identity.    As believers, we were never meant to simply wait around until Jesus returns. We have been called to participate with God in the renewal of all creation. To understand...

This week we’re joined by author and illustrator Ned Bustard. Ned lost his wife Leslie to cancer last year, but her beautiful spirit and faith are captured in the new book, Tiny Thoughts That I’ve Been Thinking. Leslie saw God’s goodness in life’s smallest details and infused ordinary moments with Christ’s light. Come hear about her legacy of faith and the exercise of trusting God’s plan in the face of grief and uncertainty.    www.WorldsEndImages.com    ...

Elisabeth Elliot was an imperfect yet faithful Christ-follower with a complex life story. This week, Ellen Vaughn returns to discuss Being Elisabeth Elliot, volume two of her amazing biography of Elliot’s life. Tune in to hear about Elisabeth’s return from foreign missions, her writings, her struggles with loneliness, and the complexities of her later life and marriages.    Strong Women Podcast 34. The Life of Elisabeth Elliot with Ellen Vaughn  Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen...

Did you know that the U.S. is one of the most active sex-trafficking countries in the world? Amid these sobering statistics, Vicki Proffit spends her time caring for survivors and pointing them to the love of Jesus. Vicki is the Executive Director of Sarah’s Home, a sanctuary for survivors of sex trafficking in Colorado. In this live interview, she shares powerful stories of how God has revealed Himself as the ultimate provider, guiding her work and transforming lives. You’ll be encouraged by...

We are forgetful people. But as we rehearse the story of the Gospel together through redemptive spiritual rhythms, we can remember and be shaped by truth. As we commemorate Christ’s death and resurrection this Holy Week, Bishop Michael Williams joins us to talk about the story of Easter, the Church calendar, and how God forms us through participation in the life of the Church.    The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher  Christian Theology: An Introduction by Alister E. McGrath  Strange...

Stories have a profound way of shaping us. They form our attention, affections, and our character, for better or worse. That’s why reading what’s good, true, and beautiful matters—and this takes practice. Jessica Hooten Wilson returns to the podcast to help us embrace the practice of reading as a means of spiritual formation.     Doubts and hard questions are a welcome part of the Christian life. But many young Christians today are being encouraged to “deconstruct” their faith. Culture...

Not many of us associate discipline, commitment, and obedience with joy and freedom—but today’s guest, Pamela Patnode, knows that these things lead to flourishing and joy in the Christian life. When we live according to God’s design by loving Him and others, we experience true life. Listen in and let Pamela's testimony encourage you to cultivate a life of commitment to the Lord.     Doubts and hard questions are a welcome part of the Christian life. But many young Christians today are...

Christians have the privilege of participating with God as He makes all things new. But many believers have unwittingly settled for a small worldview and a privatized faith that has little effect on the culture around them. That’s why the Colson Center is committed to helping Christians develop a Christian worldview that shapes all of life—not just Sunday mornings. The primary way we do this is through the Colson Fellows program. This week, I’m joined by my dear colleague, Michael Craven,...

Korie Robertson is a wife, mom, grandma, and business owner—but listeners may know her best from the popular reality show Duck Dynasty. From getting married at 18 to saying “yes” to a reality show to starting a media production company, Korie’s pursuits have been marked by a desire to love Jesus, love people, and make Christ known. She joins us this week to share about her family’s unexpected journey into the spotlight and her passion for creating media that brings families together and...

When most of their children were grown and out of the house, God called Becky Spencer and her husband to care for children in need in Africa—over 9,000 miles away from their home in Kansas. Becky joins Sarah to share her testimony of following God’s lead and being met by His faithfulness every step of the way. Her testimony of choosing to love before you feel loving, experiencing God’s restorative forgiveness, and following His call to take compassionate action in ministry is an encouraging...

Dr. Juli Slattery returns to the podcast to debunk the unhealthy assumptions about marriage, sex, and relationships that many Christians have adopted from modern, secular culture. Rather than embracing these cultural views, we can humbly embrace what God has to say about things like sex, marriage, singleness, and the Church community. As we embrace God’s design for these things, we are better equipped to bring truth and love to those who are broken, hurting, and confused.    Are you...

Parents, our kids are being shaped and influenced every day. If we aren’t shaping them, the world is. Katy Faust, founder and president of Them Before Us, returns to the podcast to explain how we can teach our children in age-appropriate ways to recognize truth, beauty, and goodness, and to lovingly push against the damaging worldviews assumed by secular culture.    Them Before Us   Strong Women Podcast S2 22: What About Children's Rights? With Katy Faust  Strong Women Podcast 11....

With the rise of the transgender movement and the damage it’s doing to young people on a huge scale, the Church has a vital role to play in speaking the truth and loving the victims of this cultural confusion. Carrie Abbott, founder and president of the Legacy Institute, has faithfully followed the Lord’s leading to educate Christians on God’s design for gender, sexuality, and relationships so they can flourish and help others do the same. Listen in as she shares about the beauty of embracing...

Do you ever wish you could have been an eyewitness of Jesus’ life on earth—to see His disciples, healings, teachings, and miracles with your very own eyes? Well, the prolific writer Dorothy L. Sayers (a close acquaintance of C.S. Lewis) wrote a collection of radio plays recounting the life and ministry of Jesus to offer a sense of what it would have been like to witness the Savior face-to-face during His time on earth. She titled this collection of plays The Man Born to Be King, and today we...

When we receive God’s forgiveness, we are simultaneously freed from shame and freed to love and serve those around us. Today’s guest, Lisa Henry, has lived a life marked by God’s providential leading and orchestrating, even when she didn’t realize it. She joins us this week to share how God brought her to faith, freed her from the shame of her abortion, and commissioned her to bring hope and help to moms and dads in need through the pregnancy resource center. Lisa’s story reminds us that...

Human dignity doesn’t end when suffering begins—but today more than ever our culture peddles the lie that it’s better to choose death than to suffer. Jesus has something better for us. Christ calls us to love every image bearer with His committed, sacrificial, persevering, and selfless love—even when those we care for can contribute absolutely nothing. As a palliative care doctor of over 30 years, Dr. Margaret Cottle has both witnessed and practiced this Christlike love that dignifies every...

Our world is so confused about what it means to be human—and even more confused about what it means to be male and female. The extreme responses to this confusion include denying sexual difference on the one hand, as if men and women are interchangeable—or overemphasizing it, as if men and women are practically different species. But the reality of our God-given humanity, including our distinctly male and female bodies, is so much bigger and better than these false extremes. This week, Dr....

The incarnation of Jesus isn’t a religious fairy tale. It’s a true story that happened at a particular point in time, the true story that marks a new era of human history. J. Warner Wallace uses his experience as a homicide detective to investigate the history around Jesus, the extraordinary details of His incarnation, and His unparalleled influence on world history. God’s kindness, providence, and power are displayed in the timing of Jesus’ entrance into human history—which was no...