The Calling

Prayer amid Pandemic is a podcast to encourage and sharpen the church during this season of coronavirus. Twice a week we'll give you stories of Christian individuals and communities whose lives and faith were shaped by sickness. We'll also get an update on the latest on the COVID-19 situation and pray together, hearing from Christians around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It seems like opportunities for grief are popping up around every corner these days. In the latest season of Living and Effective, Richard Clark and Joy Beth spend six episodes exploring what the Bible has to say to us when the typical answers to life's problems just don't seem to make sense. For the rest of the story, subscribe to Living and Effective wherever you get your podcasts. ---- "It's certainly not linear. Grief is not like that. Grief is all over the map, that's part of the difficulty of it. You can feel like you've gotten through a lot of it, and then feel like you're back at the beginning again." - Diane Langberg, author of Suffering and the Heart of God Living and Effective is a collaboration between CT Creative Studio and The Christian Standard Bible. Music by: Yons, Sweeps, and The Gray Havens. Season 2 theme song by Yons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Introducing: The Way to Glory by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Calling host, Richard Clark is back with a brand new podcast to check out. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When asked to describe his calling, Civil Rights leader John Perkins launches instead into a detailed explanation of his long and morphing relationship with the Bible. Perkins' story moves from confusion to clarity, and ultimately ends in resolve and redemption. Having grown up in poverty, Perkins found hope in the promises of God, and he took them to heart. But he didn't just take the good stuff to heart. He also took to heart the challenges and warnings scripture had for both him and his world. In his later years, Perkins demonstrates a distinct comfort with the kinds of tensions we find in scripture: between repentance and hope, justice and forgiveness. In 1960, Perkins and his wife Vira Mae moved from California, back to Mendenhall, Mississippi to put into practice his philosophy of what it means to minister to the poor. Though he spent much of his energy implementing a daycare center, a church, a youth program, and many other benevolent programs, in his community, Perkins also took a prominent role among ongoing Civil Rights activism. As a result, he built up his community while also running into a host of physical push-back, oftentimes being imprisoned and even beaten for his beliefs and actions. Along with his wife, he started a foundation dedicated to justice, reconciliation, and community development. Now 88 years old, he's focused on clarifying and documenting the experience and wisdom he's developed over the years. In the final episode of CT's The Calling, host Richard Clark talks with Perkins about his experience growing up in the midst of unjust laws, the double-edged sword of forgiveness, and his fear of falling short of faithfulness in the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin Giboney vividly remembers the moment he realized he needed to distinguish himself from the mainstream democratic party. As a delegate representing the 5th congressional district in Georgia, he took part in a voice-vote to remove the phrase “God-given” from the phrase “God-given rights” in the democratic party platform. “We voted on it by voice vote,” said Giboney. “It was so clear that the people who wanted it out were a lot more excited and a lot more energized than the people who wanted it in.” For Giboney, creating the And Campaign was a way to formalize the inevitable realization that the truth lies somewhere in between party lines. It's an attempt to fundamentally change the way Christians interact with politics, encouraging them to let biblical values, rather than party politics, lead their involvement in the national conversation. While his goals are ambitious, Giboney understands this will take time. That's why he's settling in, demonstrating patience in his rhetorical strategy, and investing his time and vision in institutions like the And Campaign. Ultimately, Giboney is leaning into hope. He's a happy advocate for politics done right. On this episode of The Calling, Justin Giboney talked to CT's Richard Clark about why he felt called to politics, when to speak up on social media, and the encouragement that keeps him going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Why the 'Beautiful Feet' author says it's time we saw disciple-making as a woman's calling, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's it like to make a decision knowing that countless children may live or die based on what you decide? The question may sound impossibly weighty—but as president of the humanitarian relief organization World Vision, Richard Stearns faces it almost every day. That wasn't always the case. Before serving at World Vision, Stearns held a series of high-powered executive positions at such companies as toy and game manufacturer Parker Brothers and luxury dinnerware company Lenox. When the position at World Vision opened, he was sure it wasn't for him. But that's when he says God started to “lay down tracks” that would lead him toward his calling. On today's episode of The Calling, Stearns took time to sit down with host Richard Clark and discuss making the leap from business to non-profit work, how he deals with the weight of his responsibilities, and what joining World Vision taught him about the relationship between vocation and obedience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At a time when American public life feels increasingly fractured and divisive, Christians are uniquely positioned to step into the gaps. Take Latasha Morrison, for instance: A self-described bridge-builder and leadership developer, Morrison founded the non-profit Be the Bridge to help the Church cultivate a “distinctive and transformative response to racial division.” Through actions such as prayer, social media groups, and in-home gatherings, members of the organization take on the hard work of reconciliation by building friendships across cultural divides. On this week's episode of The Calling, Morrison joins CT managing editor Richard Clark to talk about her calling as a bridge-builder and why she thinks relationship is the first step toward lasting unity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Trevin Wax, The Writerly Life Is Its Own Reward by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Fitch Turned His Daily McDonald's Run into His Ministry by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tessa Afshar Writes in Search of Sacred Romance by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How the Black Church Revamped Tyler Burns' Faith by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kristie Anyabwile: Pastors' Wives Are Disciple Makers, Too by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Barnabas Piper Isn't Hiding from His Divorce by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why Tish Harrison Warren Gave Up on Being a ‘Good Church Kid' by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Carl and Karen Ellis, Renewing Your Culture Starts with Knowing Your History by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rebekah Lyons: "Freedom from Mental Illness Means More than Being 'Cured'" by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lee Strobel's Hope for Apologetics in a ‘Post-Truth' Culture by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A member of Lecrae's hip-hop collective set his sights on something fundamental. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jen Wilkin: Let's Make This a Golden Age for Women's Ministry by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Gaye Clark, Grief Is a Gracious Invitation by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thabiti Anyabwile's Love-Hate Relationship with the Limelight by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andy Crouch: My Work as a Father Will Outlast Any Word I'll Ever Write by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Love of Literature Feeds Karen Swallow Prior's Faith by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, the three hosts of CT Podcasts got together to discuss their favorite things, and of course, to fight for favorite-thing supremacy. Programming Note: In the new year, The Calling will be moving to an every other week schedule. The next episode will be January 11. See you then! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Léonce Crump Traded His NFL Future for a Pastor's Burden by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Lee Kricher Made His Aging Church Young Again by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Onwuchekwa's Atlanta Community Eclipses His Personal Vision by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to Be Faithfully Creative in a Post-Christian World by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michelle Higgins: "I Am a Worshipper" First and Foremost by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ambassador's Long Road to Rebuilding by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why Wendy Alsup Wants Laywomen to Be Theologians by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Christian Case for Talking Politics by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What Does the 'Enneagram' Have to Offer Christians? by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Max Lucado's Hope for This Election Season by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How 'Colorblind' Christianity Broke Propaganda's Heart by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Charles Stanley's Marriage Ended, Prayer Was His Lifeline by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sho Baraka: Black Communities' Problems Need Black Theology's Solutions by Christianity Today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices