Taking churches' racial struggles to the throne: United? We Pray is a podcast about racial divisions in churches. Season 3 coming in January 2019, Lord Willing.
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The United? We Pray podcast is a truly impactful and edifying resource for anyone seeking to engage with the complex and important issue of racial reconciliation in the Church. Hosted by Isaac Adams and Trillia Newbell, this podcast combines thoughtful discussions, insightful interviews, and heartfelt prayers to bring listeners into a deeper understanding of the challenges surrounding race and how to address them biblically.
One of the best aspects of this podcast is its commitment to prayer. After each episode, Isaac and Trillia take time to pray together, bringing the issues discussed before God and seeking His guidance, healing, and unity. This emphasis on prayer sets the tone for the entire podcast, reminding listeners that true change and reconciliation come from God alone. The conversations are filled with grace, humility, and a deep desire to honor Christ in all things.
Another great aspect of this podcast is the diversity of guests who are invited to share their perspectives. From pastors to theologians to authors, each guest brings a unique insight into racial reconciliation from their own experiences and expertise. The conversations are always respectful, honest, and challenging, encouraging listeners to examine their own beliefs and actions in light of biblical truth.
If there is one downside to this podcast, it would be that some episodes may feel repetitive or redundant for longtime listeners. The overarching theme of racial reconciliation can sometimes result in similar discussions or conclusions being repeated across different episodes. However, considering the importance of consistently engaging with this topic as believers, this minor issue can be overlooked in light of the valuable content being presented.
In conclusion, The United? We Pray podcast is an exceptional resource for anyone seeking guidance on how to navigate the complexities of racial reconciliation within the Church. Through thoughtful discussions, diverse perspectives, heartfelt prayers, and an unwavering commitment to Christ-centeredness, Isaac Adams and Trillia Newbell provide listeners with a valuable source of education, encouragement, challenge in their pursuit of unity and justice. This podcast is a true blessing and an example of how the Church can come together to address the important issues of our time.
Adrianna Anderson is back once again as we wrap up our study through the Old Testament. Today we're looking at the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. There is so much in here about how to live a righteous life, how to seek and acquire wisdom, and how to live at peace with our fellow believers. If we would pay more attention to this portion of Scripture, there is much for us to learn on how to disagree well. We hope you've enjoyed this series, but more than that, we hope you are spending time in God's word!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Dr. Paul D. Miller is a professor at Georgetown University's school of foreign service. He is a veteran, patriot, and author of The Religion of American Greatness: What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism (IVP: 2022). Dr. Miller joins Austin today to talk about Christian Nationalism - what it is, isn't, and what it gets wrong about both the church and the state. Many of us have loved ones who hold these views, and it is important for us to understand them in order to love them well. Dr. Miller is careful and fair in how he engages, and we hope this episode helps you. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Dr. Miller's book is available here.If you missed our conversation with John Wilsey a few weeks ago, you can find it here.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Austin is joined today by Dr. Robert Elder, Associate Professor of American History at Baylor University. We're talking about the Lost Cause - the myth that the Confederacy was a noble institution and those who fought for it are worthy of our veneration. The truth is more complicated, as we discuss. Dr. Elder is a model of both clarity and charity in how he deals with this topic and shows how we can be both clear-minded about the past without wrongly celebrating things we should denounce. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Dr. Elder's books for sale here. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
In the final episode in this series on virtue, Kaitlyn Schiess joins us to think about the virtue of love, and how we as Christians can exercise this virtue in service of our neighbors. How can we love our neighbors with our politics? How can we cultivate the virtue of love in our hearts? How have we gotten this wrong in the past? What's the role of the local church in all of this? We discuss all of these questions and more, as Kaitlyn shares insights from her book, The Liturgy of Politics. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Kaitlyn's excellent book here. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Continuing our series on political virtues, Joshua Chatman joins Austin to talk about the Christian virtue of hope and the difference hope makes for our political engagement. Josh introduces several categories of hope which he and Austin then apply to political engagement. By being hopeful rather than fearful, Christians can stand out in this anxious generation. We hope you are encouraged. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Learn more about Josh and his podcast here. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Pastor Steve Bateman hosted Austin and Isaac for a discussion on the political virtue of faith. Pastor Steve believes that despite the trouble regarding Christianity and politics, Christians should remain politically engaged. By exercising our faith and being reasonable (Philippians 4), we can bless our neighbors with our political engagement. Steve speaks about the fear and anxiety that so often dominate our political engagement and shows how Scripture gives us the answers to today's problems. We hope this episode encourages you in everyday faithfulness in the political realm. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Steve Bateman and FBC Decatur here.Here is the article referenced in the episode on political virtue. Here is Steve's article about discerning truth. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Austin is joined today by Dr. John D. Wilsey, author of American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (IVP, 2015). Dr. Wilsey has much to teach us about history and how Americans have thought about themselves and their place in the world. While American Exceptionalism has sometimes referred to an imperialist mindset, Dr. Wilsey encourages us to lean into the legacy of people like Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Dr. King who called us to live up to the ideals expressed in our nation's founding documents. We hope this episode encourages you toward greater love of God and neighbor. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can purchase Dr. Wilsey's excellent book here. This is the recent article Austin referenced by Dr. WilseySupport the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Justin Giboney is a husband, father, attorney, ordained minister, and author. He is the co-founder & president of the & Campaign and host of the church politics podcast. He joins Austin and Isaac to talk about politics and race. Political convictions aren't the only things that divide Christians. We are still divided by ideas about race as well. Justin has much wisdom to share on both politics and race, and we are grateful he spent this time with us. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Justin's ministry here or subscribe to his podcast here. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Austin and Isaac are joined by Dr. Derwin Gray to discuss political idolatry in our churches. Dr. Gray is both a pastor and scholar. We wanted to hear from him about this difficult topic, and the fruit he's seeing from it in our churches. We discuss the different manifestations of political idolatry, its causes, and the terrible fruit it produces. Despite that, Dr. Gray is encouraged because Jesus is still building His Church. We hope you are encouraged to fight sin after hearing this. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Dr. Gray's books here. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Pastor Joshua Chatman joins Austin to talk about how to be agents of unity in difficult political seasons. We learned during the last election cycle of the deep divides within the Church over politics. Josh and Austin talk about what we should not do, and what we should do as we relate to our brothers and sisters who think differently about politics. When the watching world thinks about Christians and politics, we hope they have a more positive example in the future than they have had in our recent past. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Dan Darling joins the show once again to talk through political convictions. It's no secret that this is a difficult political season for a lot of Christians. Without diving into the weeds of any specific issue, Dan and Austin discuss how we should arrive at our political convictions and how we should relate to brothers and sisters who have arrived at different convictions. Please join us in praying that we'd all do better in showing love and charity towards those with whom we disagree. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Dan here. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Happy fourth of July! This week we are joined by special guest, Pastor Bobby Scott. "Bible Bobby" is a friend of the ministry who has been on the podcast and has written for us several times. He has a particular interest in black history and all the ways our nation has failed to live up to its ideals in its treatment of black people. Despite this, Bobby is a proud military dad and a patriotic American. We talk through that tension and think about what it means to love an imperfect nation. We hope you are encouraged and that this spurs you to pray for our country. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
On today's special episode, Pastor Isaac Adams interviews one of his church members, Brittany Elmer. Brittany and her husband have adopted three special needs children, none of whom share their ethnicity. Her son, Isaac, went to be with the Lord earlier this year. Brittany shares how the prayers of her friends carried her through that tragedy, and how she is still learning about special needs and transracial adoption. We hope Brittany's testimony and example are an encouragement to you. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Dr. Timothy Muehlhoff is a professor of communication at BIOLA University in California. He is also co-author of End the Stalemate: Move Past Cancel Culture to Meaningful Conversations along with his BIOLA colleague Sean McDowell. This book, which came out today, is an excellent resource for what to do when conversations feel stuck, as can often happen when discussing race. We encourage you to check out the book and hope you are helped by this conversation. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can buy End the Stalemate here. Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Brittany Salmon is a scholar and author of It Takes More than Love: A Christian Guide to Navigating the Complexities of Cross-Cultural Adoption (Moody, 2022). She is also the adoptive mother to three children who do not share her ethnicity, so her teaching on transracial adoption is not simply academic. She has spent many hours listening to birth mothers and adult adoptees whose experience has shaped her thinking on transracial adoption. She stopped by to talk with Austin about pitfalls Christians should avoid as we try to do the good work of caring for widows and orphans (James 1:27). She also offers helpful insight in how to care for transracial adoptive families, so we hope you will listen and share this episode so we can all support multi-racial families. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
We're back in our Bible study series with Adrianna Anderson. Today we look at the minor prophets, where we see a fuller picture of God's mercy to His people, Israel, and to the nations. There are plenty of sober warnings of judgment, but God's mercy shines through these books as time and again the people are given chances to repent and know God as father rather than judge. God's mercy extends to the ends of the earth, and these 12 authors drive that point home. Along the way, we also get more details on the day of the Lord and the coming Messiah. We hope you read along and are encouraged as we continue to see God's mercy and faithfulness to all people. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Few things are as difficult as parenting. If you desire to raise your kids to be agents of unity among God's people, it is even harder. Josh Chatman, host of the Train 'em Up podcast stops by to talk about parenting. Austin and Josh shared their experience of both raising children who do not share their ethnicity. We hope this episode is helpful beyond the context of multi-ethnic families. As discussed on the episode, diversity and representation is a good thing for all children. All of us have ways we can help raise the next generation of bridge builders. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Today, Adrianna and Austin are exploring the major prophets and seeing God's plan for His people from all nations. While these books occur in the context immediately preceding and during the Exile, God's faithfulness permeates the whole thing. We see that God has not forgotten His people or His covenant with them. We see that while He uses the nations for judgment, He remains faithful to Israel and will deliver them from the consequences of their sin. God's faithfulness extends also to the nations, who have been a part of His plan from the beginning. We hope you are enjoying this series and that you are sharing with your family and friends, but more importantly, we hope that you are reading and praying along with us. Time in God's word is never wasted! LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
What does the Bible say about interracial marriage? Adrianna Anderson and Austin Suter continue this exploration of Biblical Theology as we look at Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra. These books represent the exile and the mercy of God in allowing the exile to end and for God's people to return to Jerusalem. Ezra and Nehemiah both contain references to God's people taking foreign wives, and these passages have been abused, particularly in America, to suggest that Scripture is opposed to interracial marriage. Adrianna is careful to teach us that the thing foreign about the women in this passage was not their ethnicity (which we see clearly in the lives of Zipporah, Rahab, and Ruth) but their religion. We hope you will see how using these passages to teach against interracial marriage is just bad Bible study. We hope you are encouraged by God's faithfulness and mercy in these books and we hope you are reading along with us!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Is the idea of race in the Bible? In the last episode of this series, Adrianna Anderson joined Austin to study the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. This week, we're looking at the history books of the Old Testament: Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. God's desire for His people was to be a light to the Nations. In these books, we see Israel relating to the surrounding peoples and sadly being influenced by them instead of the other way around. Despite their unfaithfulness, God remains faithful to His covenant and committed to blessing the nations through His chosen people, Israel. While it would be incorrect to apply modern conceptions of race to Scripture, the idea that God calls people of every tribe, tongue, and nation to follow Him is clear from the earliest pages of Scripture.LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Adrianna Anderson is back as we continue walking through the Old Testament. These three books, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, share the history of God's people in the promised land. There is much history here to lament and learn from, and thankfully there is history to celebrate as well. We see the people being influenced by the nations around them, and see examples of faithfulness at the same time. Through it all, God is faithful to provide for His people. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the Show.To learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Adrianna Anderson is back with us to discuss the law: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. We take a high-level view of these books and see the many lessons God has for His people in dealing with the nations. From this, we are able to start building a Biblical theology of race and ethnicity as we see God's heart for the nations present from the beginning of Scripture. We hope this series encourages you in your reading of Scripture!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
We continue our Bible study series by looking at the book of Exodus. There are many ethnic issues in this book, from the oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians, to the covenant faithfulness of Zipporah. This was a fascinating discussion and we hope you are encouraged. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here's a link to John Currid's Against the Gods. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
We are kicking off our Bible Study or Biblical Theology series with the book of Genesis. Adrianna Anderson brings her expertise as a Bible scholar to help us look at Scripture to see God's plan for diversity and ethnic harmony. There is so much in Scripture on this topic. Genesis is packed full of promises for the nations, as you will hear in this episode. Take up and read with us!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is the series Pastor Chris Davis wrote for us on the Curse of HamSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Austin and Isaac were pleased to welcome Courtney Reissig to the studio today. Courtney is an accomplished author who has also been writing for us for years. We talked with her about her burden to speak out on racial matters and overcoming her own self-consciousness to do so. We hope you're encouraged by her example and our conversation together. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Link to Courtney's books.Link to Courtney's articles for us.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
What does multi-ethnic ministry look like in different contexts? Pastor Yannick Christos-Wahab joins us to talk about his church in London. We hear about similarities and differences between the UK and the US, and Yannick gives us a positive vision for being salt and light in a dark world. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Yannick and his church here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Isaac and Austin sit down for the second installment in our FAQ series with a question we often get on the road - "what if my church doesn't care about ethnic unity?" We talk through scenarios when someone might want to leave their church, but spend most of the conversation cautioning against making quick decisions or judgments about others. Not everyone has to care about and pursue ethnic unity in the exact same way. In God's economy, our differences are actually a good thing. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Our episode on how hard bridge-building can be.Our episode on whether to stay with or leave a difficult church. Alicia Akins' article on being patient with others. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Dr. Randy Newman joins Austin to discuss the disturbing increase in antisemitism happening in the world right now. Randy shares his own experience with antisemitism, shares some of his family history, and provides a theological perspective on why history keeps repeating itself. We hope you will join us in praying for our Jewish neighbors. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can pre-order Randy's new book here. Here's the book by Michael Brown that randy referenced in the episode. Here's Austin's article on antisemitism that was referenced. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Pastor Josh Chatman is back with us because he thinks Christians need to grow in our application of charity. Christian charity is just another way to speak about loving our neighbors, which is a duty all of us have. We don't have to agree with, understand, or even like someone to be kind to them. We do this in our churches, families, and workplaces, and when we do it well, God is glorified. Please join us in praying we'd look more like Jesus as we apply Christian charity. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
When we think of abolitionists, most of us think of Abraham Lincoln or John Brown. But there were many black abolitionists doing the work who, for whatever reason, haven't received the recognition they deserve. In this episode, Jasmine Holmes stops by to educate us on some of the black abolitionists who helped bring about the end of slavery and who did amazing work in the years following the Civil War. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.The Truth is Marching On, the book referenced by JasmineHere's a link to Jasmine's excellent books, including Crowned With GlorySupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
As we continue our Black History Month series, we look today at the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a remarkably gifted man who managed to lead the complex, often contentious movement we now think of as the Civil Rights Movement. Though he is beloved in our day, he was hated in his own. Helping us think through all of this is Dr. Kevin Smith, a pastor and church historian. We appreciate Dr. Smith's insight and hope you are encouraged by the episode. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can read Letter from Birmingham Jail here. The King biography Dr. Smith mentioned can be found here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Continuing our Black History Month series, Jasmine Holmes stops by the podcast to talk about the faith of American slaves and the persecution they endured. We also discuss historical sources that can give us an an idea of what slavery was like for the saints who lived through it. God sustained His people and heard their prayers, even in the worst circumstances. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find books by Jasmine Holmes here. Here's a link to the Lost Cause book recommended by Jasmine. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
It will surprise no one to see that we're kicking off Black History Month by talking about Francis Grimke. Francis was a pastor in Washington, DC in the early 1900s. He was a former slave who lived an extraordinary life. His work inspired Isaac to start this ministry, so we feel a special connection to his life and work. Be encouraged by this faithful saint!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Austin is joined in the studio today by Dr. Mike Ahn, Interim Dean of Spiritual Development at BIOLA University. Mike graciously shared something of the Asian American experience with us, an experience which is often misunderstood or overlooked, even by those who care about ethnic harmony. Mike shares how common conceptions of Asian Americans are too truncated, and shares some of the blessings of growing up in the Korean Church. We hope you are encouraged. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is the article referenced by Austin about the Asian American experience. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Some surprise encouragement for your weekend! Ray Ortlund, of Immanuel Church in Nashville, recently preached at Iron City Church in Birmingham to celebrate the anniversary of Isaac's installation as lead pastor. The sermon was on the Christian's hope of heaven, and it was so moving for us that we wanted to make sure you all had the chance to hear it. Be blessed, beloved. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Austin is joined today by Carl Laferton, Executive Vice President of The Good Book Company (TGBC). We talk about the children's books published by TGBC, and how the illustrations both reflect historical accuracy and highlight diversity. We also talk about TGBC's lay-level commentary series, and how diverse authors contributed to the project. Carl shares how he has learned the importance of representation and of learning from Christians from various cultures and ethnicities, and how that informs the way TGBC highlights diversity within their projects. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.The Good Book CompanyThe "God's Word for You" seriesResources for childrenSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Pastor Josh Chatman joins Austin once again to discuss loving our neighbors. How can we better love our neighbors who are not like us? How do we even go about doing it when society is so often segregated? Josh encourages us to look for diversity that we might be missing, and then share some helpful tips for how we can build relationships outside our normal orbits. Our heart in all of this is not that we all develop some artificial but perfectly representative portfolio of relationships. We are instead trying to be intentional to love our neighbors. All of them. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is a link to the podcast Josh hosts, Train 'Em UpJonathan Morgan's testimony of the power of a church in prayer. Our episode with Alicia about her book Gift of the OutsiderOur episode with Drs. Jones and Williams on their book In Church As It Is In HeavenSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
To kick off the new year, Austin and Isaac sit down to discuss Jesus' warning to the Church of Ephesus from Revelation 2. Jesus admonished them for losing their first love. We talk about how loving Jesus should supersede everything else we do as a ministry and as Christians. Whatever good works God has prepared for us are meant to be fueled by our love for Jesus rather than serve as a substitute for loving Jesus. That's what we want to be about as a ministry and as individuals. We hope you will join us in praying for a greater love for our Savior. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Josh Chatman, pastor at Midtown Baptist Church joins Austin today to talk about our prayers lives. Specifically, they discuss structured prayers and how praying different kinds of prayers can help us when we feel stuck, get us to pray about different things, and create a more rich prayer life. We hope this episode encourages you to pray in ways you might not have considered before. Let's go to the Throne of Grace together, friends. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is a link to the podcast Josh hosts, Train 'Em UpEpisode with Shai Linne on Ethnic SinsSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Merry Christmas from United? We Pray. For this very special Christmas episode, we sit down with Dr. Fred Sanders to talk about the Incarnation of Christ. What does it mean that Jesus came to Earth as a baby boy? What does it mean that he came as a Jewish baby boy with a specific ethnicity? We talk about redemption, union with Christ, prayer, and what the Incarnation has to do with all of it. This was one of the most moving and devotional episodes we've ever recorded, and we hope it motivates you to greater worship of our Savior. Merry Christmas, beloved. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.For more information about Fred can be found here. His excellent blog can be found here. Los Angeles Bible Training SchoolSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Shai Linne joins us again today to talk about his section in The New Reformation (Moody, 2020) in which he outlines various ethnic sins which commonly fall under the heading "racism." By differentiating these kinds of sins, Shai gives us tools to deal with them from Scripture and lowers the temperature of the conversation by removing a label that almost no one can see themselves wearing. While none of us think of ourselves as racist, all of us have been guilty of some kind of ethnic sin in the past. We hope this conversation helps you to think, talk, and pray more specifically. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:The New Reformation, by Shai LinneAustin's article on interracial marriage. This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
It was an honor to be joined by Dr. Karen Swallow Prior, author of the new book The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, & Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis. Dr. Prior has keen insight into the role our imaginations play in creating assumptions about ourselves and those around us. She shares how the Evangelical imagination was created within our community and how it has changed over time. We hope you are encouraged to think more deeply about the assumptions we all carry about our neighbors, and hope you join us in praying for a more redeemed imagination for all of us. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.To order Dr. Prior's excellent new book, click here. To find more information on her substack newsletter, click here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Isaac and Austin sit down with Dr. Matt Hall, who is the Provost at BIOLA in California. We discuss his interest in history. There are good and bad ways to study history, so we talk about pitfalls to avoid and how we can make sure we're being as honest as possible. We also talk about black history and ways it has been neglected, abused, or viewed through a narrow lens of suffering. In all of this we aim to encourage especially those who teach history. It may be hard work, but it is good, God-honoring work when done well. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.For more information about Matt and his work at BIOLA, click here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
How does the Biblical concept of ethnicity relate to our modern conceptions of race? Does Jew and Gentile equal Black & White? Shai Linne is back to take us through Scripture to show how God's promise to Abraham for a multi-ethnic family is central to the gospel and our lives together as Christians. We hope you are encouraged to look to Scripture for help in addressing our biggest social problems. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.For more information on Shai and his work, including his forthcoming album, click here.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Talking with kids about race is hard but important work. Shai Linne is back with us to share his own childhood experience, as well as advice for talking with kids about race. We want to be proactive in teaching our children that they are made in the image of God, and they are valuable and beautiful. We also want to prepare them for this fallen world and equip them to love the many different types of people God has created. We hope you are encouraged and hope you join us in praying for wisdom. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is the link to Shai's excellent children's book. For more information on Shai and his work, including his forthcoming album, click here.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Shai is back with us for a conversation about ethnic diversity. Diversity is hard. Many of us can love the idea of an ethnically diverse church, for example, but be disappointed when the reality is much more difficult than we expected. We talk through reasons it can be so hard and share personal experiences that illustrate the point. This episode feels a little heavier than most, but even in the difficulty, we trust that the Lord is still working. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is the polling data Austin referenced about diversity in churches. For more information on Shai and his work, including his forthcoming album, click here.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Shai is back for the second episode in this series. We are talking books! Both Shai and Austin are avid readers, so they go back and forth with book recommendations across multiple categories. Discussed are books to shape our minds, books we think every Christian should read, books on history, and what we think are the best books on race. Then, after all the books we think may be helpful, we talk about the one book we know will always be helpful - the Bible. We hope you are encouraged to take up and read!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can search the book titles by name, but if you want to read the DOJ reports Shai mentioned, they are available here: Baltimore, Ferguson, MinneapolisFor more information on Shai and his work, including his forthcoming album, click here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Grace and peace, friends. Isaac is out on paternity leave, so for the next six weeks, we will be joined by guest co-host Shai Linne. Shai is an author, musician, theologian, and friend. In this episode, we talk about how complicated multi-ethnic corporate worship can be. As always, Shai is careful to define our terms and keep us focused on the most important things. He offers encouragement to those who feel like outsiders and exhortations for us to keep love of our brothers and sisters as our main focus. We hope you enjoy this series with Shai!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.For more information about Shai and his work, click here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
For the third and final episode in this series, Matt Martens fields questions from our audience after his talk on criminal justice reform. He covers topics varying from criminal justice procedure, Christian ethics, history, and theology. We would encourage you to listen to the previous two episodes before listening to this one. Matt's book ends with the encouragements to think differently, speak differently, and vote differently to enact criminal justice reform. We hope these episodes will help you do just that. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:Listen to the previous two episodes with Matt: Part 1, Part 2You can find more information on Matt Martens here.You can preorder his excellent new book here.This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
In this episode, we hear an address from Matt Martens on criminal justice reform from a Christian perspective. This is the second episode we've had with Matt, and we encourage you to listen to last week's episode before this one. Matt frames Christian responsibility related to criminal justice around Christ's ethic of love. There are some things in this episode which are hard to hear, but Matt is hopeful, because he knows that the perfect Judge will one day set everything right. We hope this episode helps you to think and pray differently. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:Listen to last week's episode here (insert hyperlink once it's live)You can find more information on Matt Martens here.You can preorder his excellent new book here.This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
Matt Martens is an accomplished attorney with experience in both prosecution and criminal defense. He also has a masters in Biblical Studies and is working on another theological degree. He brings all this expertise together in his new book, Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal, which will be published by Crossway in November, 2023. Matt joined Austin in the studio for the first of three episodes with him to discuss criminal justice and our obligation to love all our neighbors, including the criminally accused and the criminally victimized. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:You can find more information on Matt Martens here. You can preorder his excellent new book here. This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Twitter and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!
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