All Things

In the 21st century, culture changes fast. It may seem like there’s never been a more tumultuous period in history. But there was one year - 1776 - that changed the social trajectory of the Western world as we know it.

On today’s episode we’re talking with Andrew Wilson about why we are the way that we are. It turns out we in the West underwent some tremendous shaping influences in 1776 that continue to shape us today. Wilson’s desire is “to explain why the modern world is the way it is, so the church can understand, serve and love it better.”

Weaving together history and sociology and philosophy and so much more, today’s conversation will begin to give us the historical lens we need to understand today’s post-Christian trends and respond accordingly.

Special thanks to our sponsor:

Crossway - crossway.org/plus

Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West, by Andrew Wilson - https://www.crossway.org/books/remaking-the-world-hcj/

Keep up with Andrew Wilson:

https://thinktheology.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/AJWTheology

Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West, by Andrew Wilson - https://www.crossway.org/books/remaking-the-world-hcj/

Resources for this episode:

Welcome: Loving Your Church by Making Space for Everyone, by Jen Oshman - https://amzn.to/3ESIyHG

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

https://careynieuwhof.com/the-self-awareness-gap-what-non-christian-people-really-think-about-the-church/

Mental illness has historically been so taboo in the church. Christians struggle to know how our mental health and spiritual health impact one another. Many are paralyzed by the fear of saying the wrong thing. Still others feel ashamed by their own struggles and silently suffer because they fear the judgement of others. Church, this should not be.

With September being National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month this is a perfect opportunity to grow in our holistic understanding of mental health and our faith. Listen in to this timely and crucial conversation with Christian Psychologist Tom Karel.

Thank you to our episode sponsor:

Crossway: www.crossway.org/plus

A Christian's Guide to Mental Illness: Answers to 30 Common Questions: https://www.crossway.org/books/a-christians-guide-to-mental-illness-tpb/

Tom Karel and David Murray:

A Christian's Guide to Mental Illness: Answers to 30 Common Questions: https://www.crossway.org/books/a-christians-guide-to-mental-illness-tpb/

David Murray: https://www.crossway.org/authors/david-p-murray/

Tom Karel: https://www.crossway.org/authors/tom-karel/, https://www.pinerest.org/clinician/tom-karel/

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://988lifeline.org/help-someone-else/

https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/suicidal-behavior

https://research.lifeway.com/2018/05/01/13-stats-on-mental-health-and-the-church/

https://www.crossway.org/articles/can-a-christian-have-mental-illness/

https://research.lifeway.com/2013/09/17/mental-health-half-of-evangelicals-believe-prayer-can-heal-mental-illness/

Created in God's Image by Anthony Hoekema: https://amzn.to/48coBZX

In 1997 only about 1 in 5 American adults had been on the internet in the last three months. Today, over 85% are online every single day and 30% say they’re almost constantly online. On average we check our phone every 12 minutes and a large portion of us check ours right when we wake up.

This is a massive shift for humanity over the span of just one generation. Implications are sweeping with everything from increased loneliness despite connectivity, increased depression and self-harm amongst teens, and increased rage and division amongst all of us. Our digital connectivity is shaping our hearts, minds, souls, relationships, and lives.

As Christians, though, we have access to the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God to help us apply wisdom to our time online. Listen in to this helpful conversation with Samuel James, tech-realist and author of Digital Liturgies. Samuel doesn’t offer any quick, pat answers, but he does help us think deeply about our online engagement.

Episode sponsor:

Crossway: www.crossway.org/plus

Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age by Samuel James: https://www.crossway.org/books/digital-liturgies-tpb/

Samuel James:

Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age by Samuel James: https://www.crossway.org/books/digital-liturgies-tpb/

On Substack: https://www.digitalliturgies.net/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/samueld_james

Resources on this episode:

Most data cited is directly from Digital Liturgies.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/25/1171773181/social-media-teens-mental-health

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/14/the-lost-art-of-concentration-being-distracted-in-a-digital-world#

"No one is immune to suffering. It’s a part of life on this side of heaven, and yet we do all we can to avoid it, numb it, or end it. We in the West have a poor theology and practice of suffering.

On this first episode of the fall 2023 season of All Things, we are joined by Joni Eareckson Tada. Joni is a well-known author, speaker, and advocate who became a quadriplegic over fifty-six years ago as the result of a tragic diving accident when she was just seventeen. She is CEO of Joni and Friends, a global ministry that serves the practical and spiritual needs of people with disabilities. She is also an artist and the author of numerous bestselling books.

Joni reminds us that joy comes through suffering. Her personal stories and practical advice teach us to persevere through pain, fixing our eyes on our Savior, the Man of Sorrows who knows what it is to suffer. This episode is packed with scriptural truth and will minister to all who are weary. Listen, be encouraged, and share with someone you know.

Episode sponsor:

Crossway: crossway.org/plus

Impossible Christianity: Why Following Jesus Does Not Mean You Have to Change the World, Be an Expert in Everything, Accept Spiritual Failure, and Feel Miserable Pretty Much All the Time by Kevin DeYoung: https://www.crossway.org/books/impossible-christianity-hcj/

Joni Eareckson Tada:

Joni & Friends - Sharing Hope Through Hardship: https://joniandfriends.org/

Songs of Suffering: 25 Hymns and Devotions for Weary Souls by Joni Eareckson Tada: https://www.crossway.org/books/songs-of-suffering-hconly/

Resources from this episode:

Cultural Counterfeits by Jen Oshman (information on assisted suicide and abortion were drawn from chapter 4): https://www.crossway.org/books/cultural-counterfeits-tpb/

https://www.pewresearch.org/interactives/in-their-own-words-how-americans-explain-why-bad-things-happen/

https://news.gallup.com/poll/397286/poor-life-ratings-reach-record-high.aspx#:~:text=Since reaching a record high,estimated 14 million American adults.

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-topics/alcohol-facts-and-statistics/alcohol-use-disorder-aud-united-states-age-groups-and-demographic-characteristics

https://drugabusestatistics.org/

https://wng.org/roundups/states-remove-protections-from-assisted-suicide-1690922301

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/reflections-on-50th-anniversary-of-my-diving-accident/

Thanks for listening to this Bonus Episode of All Things! Jen is joined by Dr. Christina Crenshaw to discuss the blockbuster Barbie movie, which hit theaters just last weekend. If you’ve already seen it and you’re eager to process it with some girlfriends through a theological lens, this is the conversation for you! Or, if you haven’t seen it, but you’re curious what all the hype is about, we can fill you in. We’re talking feminism, masculinity (or emasculation), motherhood, gender roles and norms, Biblical imagery, Creator and creation, visions of the good life, visits to the gynecologist, and more.

Leave us a comment and tell us what you thought of the movie! We know the opinions out there are limitless!

https://www.drchristinacrenshaw.com/

https://www.jenoshman.com/

The conversation surrounding disabilities and people with disabilities is evolving and confusing in the West. On the one hand, we see record numbers of abortions due to parents being afraid or unwilling to bring a child with disabilities into the world. For example 67% of children who *may* have down syndrome are aborted in the United States. On the other hand, conversations about inclusion and access are at an all time high. Do we as a culture value and want to include people with disabilities or are we more eager to end their lives and exclude them from our narratives?

This is a complex conversation and I’m so glad my friend and author Laura Wifler joined me for it. Laura is known for her role at Risen Motherhood, which she founded along with her sister-in-law Emily Jensen, as well as their book and podcast by the same name. Most recently, though, Laura wrote a children’s book called “Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person.”

As a culture, and even as Christian churches and individual followers of Jesus, it seems we are wrestling with whether we are an inclusive or exclusive people. Do we embrace difference or reject it? Do we truly value people with disabilities or do we see serving them as a good deed to accomplish?

Laura helps us to think through all of this, as well as God’s sovereignty, his goodness in the way he makes each person, what it’s like to receive a disability diagnosis as a parent, how to genuinely care for families that include members with disabilities, how to take life one day at a time, what’s waiting for us in heaven, and more. We even discuss whether we should be saying “person with special needs” or “person with disabilities.”

This is a rich conversation including personal stories colliding with cultural trends. I hope you’ll listen and share it with others.

Resources:

Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person by Laura Wifler: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780736985758/like-me

Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Laura Wifler and Emily Jensen: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780736976220/risen-motherhood-hardback

You can keep in touch with Laura here: https://laurawifler.com/

Heaven by Randy Alcorn: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780842379427/heaven-hardback

One major reason unity in our nation, families, and churches is so fragile is because division and cynicism have been incentivized. We all stand to gain a lot when we retreat to our own corners and tribes.

It’s easier to sit in an echo chamber and be told you are right than to wrestle with different perspectives.

Less gracious, more extreme opinions get more clicks, followers, and campaign donations.

It costs us nothing to think ill of the other side, create caricatures, and retreat—but it costs us a lot to move toward one another.

Division pays, but unity requires sacrifice.

On this episode of All Things I’m talking with Daniel Darling, a cultural commentator, author, pastor, and professor, who regularly appears in mainstream media to talk about current events and trends through a Christian lens (you know that’s my fave).

Dan and I talk about:

- Why we bother engaging in culture anyway—especially when it can be costly personally and professionally.

- Why 2020 was such a watershed moment for division amongst Americans.

- How some issues are worth dividing over, but most are not.

- How it’s costly, but so worth it, to fight for unity.

- How Christians will indeed be judged by the outside by how well we love one another on the inside.

- How you and I can determine to be people who fight cynicism and move toward unity.

- How God’s best days are not behind him. He is at work here and now.

- We are called to go (Great Commission) and we are called to love (Great Commandment) and with God’s help, every Christian really can do both!

In a world of cynicism and division, be a hopeful stayer. This conversation is so helpful and encouraging!

Resources mentioned in the episode:

How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age, by Jonathan Leeman: https://amzn.to/3otDdC1

Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? by Tim Keller: https://amzn.to/3BUb7mA

Agents of Grace: How to Bridge Divides and Love as Jesus Loved, by Daniel Darling: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780310366324/agents-of-grace-paperback

A Way with Words: Using Our Online Conversations for Good, by Daniel Darling: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781535995368/a-way-with-words-paperback

The Dignity Revolution: Reclaiming God's Rich Vision for Humanity, by Daniel Darling: https://amzn.to/3oBDh2u

Keep in touch with Dan Darling at https://danieldarling.com/

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month and there is so much missing in our national and church conversations when it comes to foster care. I’m loving this chance to increase my own awareness and yours on this episode of All Things. Jamie Finn, who wrote Foster the Family, and runs an organization by the same name, joins me today to talk about all the parties involved in foster care.

Jamie says her perspective and understanding of foster care has changed so much in the past 10 years, during which her family has welcomed home 30 foster children. Her heart used to break only for the children, she says, but her eyes have been opened wide to the burdens and plights of the moms and dads who find themselves having to hand their children over to CPS. Jamie’s heart now breaks for everyone involved and she seeks to do the good, hard, messy gospel work of coming alongside the child’s entire biological family. She preaches us a good word over and over on this episode, so I hope you’ll listen!

This episode is not just for foster parents. It’s for anyone who wants to live a life of meaning and sacrifice and follow Jesus in carrying the cross he has for you. While it’s certainly informative about the breadth of foster care, it will encourage your soul wherever God has you. Have a listen and share with your friends. We all need this truth!

Recommended resources:

Jamie Finn’s ministry: https://www.fosterthefamily.org/

Foster the Family: Encouragement, Hope, and Practical Help for the Christian Foster Parent by Jamie Finn: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781540901866/foster-the-family-paperback

Jamie Finn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fosterthefamilyblog/

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781601422217/radical-paperback?affiliate=jenoshman

Mother’s Day is this weekend in the United States and for most of us that means celebration mingled with some kind of grief. Many women are childless for a variety of reasons: infertility, miscarriage, child loss, they made an adoption plan, they chose abortion, they never married, and more. The reasons are varied and complex and the weight of that is felt especially on Mother’s Day.

Motherhood is a beautiful and worthwhile gift. We celebrate it and praise the Lord for it! At the same time, we acknowledge that our society and our churches often fall woefully short when it comes to conversations and beliefs about motherhood and children.

Chelsea Patterson Sobolik joins us on All Things today to discuss all of this, as well as the intrinsic worth of women no matter their story regarding children. Chelsea is uniquely situated for this conversation because of her own story, plus her years of writing about and advocating for both women and children. She is herself an adoptee and an adoptive mom, at the age of nineteen she learned she could never have biological children, and she works daily on behalf of vulnerable women and children. Her perspective is both deep and wide when it comes to womanhood, motherhood, children, and the worth and dignity of every human life.

This episode will benefit you if:

- You ever wondered what a woman’s role or worth is if she has no children.

- You or someone you love experiences childlessness for any reason.

- You are a friend or ministry leader to women who suffer grief on Mother’s Day and you don’t know what to say.

- You suffer for any reason and you’re looking for hope.

- You struggle to reconcile your losses with a loving God.

- You need a hopeful vision for your future.

Recommended Resources:

Longing For Motherhood: Holding On to Hope in the Midst of Childlessness by Chelsea Patterson Sobolik: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780802416124/longing-for-motherhood-paperback?affiliate=jenoshman

Waiting In Hope: 31 Reflections for Walking with God Through Infertility by Kelley Ramsey and Jenn Hesse: https://amzn.to/42meyxS

Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made for So Much More by Jen Oshman: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781433576324/cultural-counterfeits-paperback

Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780736976220/risen-motherhood-hardback

Missional Motherhood: The Everyday Ministry of Motherhood in the Grand Plan of God by Gloria Furman: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781433552274/missional-motherhood-paperback

Follow Chelsea on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelseasobolik/

Obviously one 30-minute podcast episode to commemorate Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is not sufficient—but I’m hoping you’ll tune in to at least get the month going. On this episode I am joined by my friend and journalist Curtis Yee. Curtis regularly contributes to Christianity Today and Sojourners, as well as other outlets, covering a breadth of topics including Asian American culture, church, and mental health. This conversation is a great introduction to all of that!

Curtis and I talk about:

- The origination of the term Asian American

- The history, distinctiveness, and function of the Asian American church

- What it’s like to move between Asian American church and contexts and the broader American context—burdens, joys, unique experiences.

- How journalism and media affect how we all understand Asian Americans (This is the white tourism part of our convo—so interesting! Don’t be a white tourist this month.)

- The challenges of investigating mental health in Asian American contexts and churches.

Pursue further reading and resources this month! Checkout Curtis Yee’s articles below, as well as a few books and ideas he recommends.

Keep up with Curtis Yee, Journalist here: https://curtisfyee.carrd.co/

Articles by Curtis Yee at Christianity Today:

Asian American Theologian: Our ‘Culture’ Is Not to Blame: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/april-web-only/asian-american-theology-trauma-mental-health-daniel-lee.html

At Gracepoint Ministries, ‘Whole-Life Discipleship’ Took Its Toll: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/september/gracepoint-berkland-asian-american-church-discipleship.html

Cru Divided Over Emphasis on Race: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/june/cru-divided-over-emphasis-on-race.html

Other recommended resources:

The Making of Asian America: A History, by Erika Lee: https://amzn.to/3TJfXLi

Off the Pulpit - A podcast hosted by three Korean American pastors, often about the AA church, but also about the American church in general: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/off-the-pulpit/id1530814844

The Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC) seeks to encourage, equip, and empower Asian American Christians and friends of our community to follow Christ holistically. We are committed to amplifying the voices, issues, and histories of Asian Americans in the church and society at large. While the Asian American community is extremely diverse and we cannot speak for every individual and perspective, we aim to spotlight and celebrate the Asian American Christian community as inclusively as possible: https://www.asianamericanchristiancollaborative.com/

Stay True: A Memoir, by Hua Hsu: https://amzn.to/3TP9hLR

Crying in H-Mart: A Memoir, by Michelle Zauner: https://amzn.to/3z5olLR