Dan Allender, PhD, is a pioneering therapist, professor of counseling psychology, and co-founder of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, known for his groundbreaking work at the intersection of trauma, abuse, and the Christian story. For more than 40 years, the Allender Theory has helped hundreds of thousands engage their stories of harm in light of the gospel, reshaping how pastors, counselors, and ordinary people think about abuse, sexuality, marriage, grief, and healing. He is the author of influential books such as The Wounded Heart, The Healing Path, To Be Told, Redeeming Heartache, and—with Tremper Longman—The Cry of the Soul and Bold Love.In this deeply unusual episode of Created In The Image of God, the conversation becomes something more than an interview. As Wade describes the recent deaths of two sisters and his father, along with the family conflict and legal burdens that have followed, Dan responds not as a distant expert but as a wise guide into the disorienting terrain of grief, trauma, death, and meaning. Together, they explore what it means to read one’s own life honestly, to face the darkness without comparison or escape, and to ask whether even the most painful parts of our story might still be revelatory.This is a raw, searching conversation about death, family, authorship, suffering, and the possibility that even in the most disruptive chapters of life, something true and beautiful is still being revealed.

Steve Bezner is a pastor, professor, and author who now serves as Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Theology at Truett Seminary at Baylor University. After more than a decade as Senior Pastor of Houston Northwest Church, Steve has become known for helping Christians think more clearly about discipleship, culture, and the ways American values can distort the way we follow Jesus. He is the author of Your Jesus Is Too American: Calling the Church to Reclaim Kingdom Values over the American Dream and has also invested deeply in pastoral training, church collaboration, racial reconciliation, and interfaith bridge-building.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Steve joins Wade for a conversation about the church, the kingdom of God, and why a growing number of people—especially young adults—seem hungry for a vision of life that is bigger than career success, political identity, or cultural tribalism. Drawing on his pastoral experience, Steve reflects on why the church can still offer something deeply compelling in a fractured age: not a partisan platform, but a different way of living in the world.Together, they explore what makes a healthy church, why politics so easily becomes ultimate, and how Christians can recover a vision of discipleship rooted more deeply in the kingdom of God than in the promises of the American dream. For anyone trying to understand faith, culture, and the church’s relevance right now, this episode offers a wise and needed challenge.

Derek Vreeland is a pastor, author, and discipleship leader who serves as Discipleship Pastor at Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Known for thoughtful, humorous, and authentic teaching, he is the author of several books, including Centering Jesus: How the Lamb of God Transforms Our Communities, Ethics, & Spiritual Lives, a 2024 ECPA Book Award finalist, and the God in the Neighborhood Bible study series. Through his writing, preaching, and Peaceable and Kind podcast, Derek has become a trusted voice on spiritual formation, peacemaking, and the way of Jesus.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Derek joins Wade to talk about the origins of God in the Neighborhood, a three-book Bible study series built around the unique language and imagination of The Message translation. Inspired by Eugene Peterson’s rendering of John 1:14—“The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood”—the series traces the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the story of God joining us fully in our humanity.Together, they explore how fresh language can reopen familiar Scripture, why discipleship must stay centered on Jesus, and how the gospel speaks not only to personal faith, but to the life we share with others right where we live.

Graham Tomlin is a British theologian, author, and former Church of England bishop who now leads the Centre for Cultural Witness, helping the church speak more clearly and imaginatively into public life. He previously served as Bishop of Kensington in the Diocese of London from 2015 to 2022, where he became a key pastoral voice in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire and its national memorial service. Before becoming a bishop, he spent many years in theological education as chaplain of Jesus College, Oxford, and as dean, principal, and now president of St Mellitus College.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Tomlin joins Wade for a timely conversation about what it means for Christians to offer “cultural witness” in a rapidly changing world. Drawing on books like The Provocative Church, The Widening Circle, and Why Being Yourself is a Bad Idea, he explores how the church can engage a secular, polarized society without surrendering either theological depth or spiritual vitality.Together, they discuss how Christians can listen more carefully, speak more imaginatively, and embody a more faithful public presence in a fractured age. For seekers and believers alike, this episode offers a compelling vision of faith that is intellectually serious, spiritually alive, and publicly relevant.

This special episode of Created In The Image of God is dedicated to the memory of Professor John L. Esposito, the pioneering Georgetown scholar whose work helped generations of students, readers, and leaders think more clearly about Islam, pluralism, public life, and Muslim–Christian understanding. Scheduled to appear on the show, Esposito passed away on July 15, 2026, in Philadelphia as a result of complications from heart surgery. His absence is deeply felt, but so is the enduring influence of his life’s work.Wade Fransson takes this moment to reflect on life, death, and the strange weight of loss when it becomes deeply personal. Having lost two sisters and his father in the last two years, Wade shares thoughts shaped not just by ideas, but by grief, memory, and the reality of saying goodbye.This is a tribute, a meditation, and a personal reflection on what remains after a life ends: the questions, the love, the sorrow, and the legacy. In honoring John Esposito, the episode also opens space for a larger conversation about mortality, remembrance, and how we carry the lives of others forward."In this episode of Created In The Image of God, he reflects on the rise of authoritarianism, the globalization of Islamophobia, and the ways anti-Muslim racism distorts not only religion, but politics, diplomacy, and public life. He shares how Georgetown’s Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding was born out of a concern that Islam would be cast as the next global threat—and why that concern has only become more relevant.Together, we explore Muslim–Christian relations, the fractured legacy of the children of Abraham, and the challenge of building genuine understanding in a world still shaped by fear, rivalry, and inherited mistrust. For anyone looking for a wiser, more historically grounded way to think about Islam, pluralism, and our shared future, this conversation offers clarity, depth, and humanity.

Mandy Smith is a pastor, author, and one of the clearest voices speaking into the need for sustainable, human‑scaled ministry. Best known for The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry, she has spent years exploring what it means to take Jesus seriously in a world that prizes power, polish, and control. Her writing asks a simple but disruptive question: if God really shows His strength in our weakness, what would it look like to live and lead as though that were true?In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Mandy reflects on the deep thread running through all her work—from weakness and dependence, to hospitality, emotional honesty, collaboration, and the hidden life of the kingdom. She shares how God has taught her to stop apologizing for being human, and how some of the very qualities often dismissed as “soft” or secondary can become channels of renewal in leadership, church life, and community.This conversation is for pastors, leaders, and anyone exhausted by performance-driven faith. Mandy offers a hopeful reminder that God’s kingdom often grows like yeast in dough—quietly, slowly, and in places the world has learned to overlook.

Mark Galli is an American Catholic writer, editor, and former Protestant pastor best known for his leadership at Christianity Today, where he served in various roles—culminating in seven years as editor in chief. A California native who moved from Presbyterian ministry into evangelical Anglicanism before returning to the Catholic Church in 2020, he has written widely on evangelicalism, theology, and spiritual life in books like Jesus Mean and Wild, Beyond Smells and Bells, God Wins, Chaos and Grace, Karl Barth: An Introductory Biography for Evangelicals, and With All the Saints: My Journey to the Roman Catholic Church.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Mark joins Wade for a thoughtful conversation about faith, conscience, and the long spiritual journey through—and beyond—American evangelicalism. Raised Catholic, shaped by evangelical conversion, formed through pastoral ministry and decades of religious journalism, and later received back into the Catholic Church, Mark brings a rare perspective on the tensions between conviction, tradition, public witness, and political power.Together, we explore what happens when loyalty to Christ challenges loyalty to tribe, how conscience is formed in times of cultural and ecclesial upheaval, and what it means to keep seeking truth with humility across the changing landscapes of Christian identity. This is a conversation for anyone wrestling with belonging, integrity, and the cost of spiritual honesty.

Richard Strilowich is a corporate SAGE coach who helps conscious professionals treat their careers as a spiritual path—integrating inner wisdom with outer success. Drawing on more than 40 years in IT, including leadership roles in small, medium, and global companies, he brings a systems-thinking mindset and practical depth to questions of work, identity, and purpose. Over three decades of spiritual exploration—through mind-body-spirit modalities, energy-consciousness work, somatic therapy, and spiritual direction—have shaped the way he now guides others through StillPoint Coach.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Rich joins Wade for a deeply personal conversation about the long road from Catholic boyhood to corporate leadership to spiritual integration. He reflects on formative moments that shaped him—from singing at the Vatican as a 13-year-old and receiving communion from Pope Paul VI, to finding a quiet, wordless communion with God in nature, to losing himself in software development and later discovering that even debugging code could become a kind of mystical focus.Together, they explore what happens when success no longer satisfies, why inner pain can become the beginning of calling, and how the spiritual path sometimes finds us long before we know how to name it. For anyone trying to reconcile ambition, faith, work, and wholeness, Rich offers a thoughtful invitation: your career may not be separate from your soul’s journey after all.

Brian Adamson is a Kingdom business coach, co-founder of Purpose to Profits, and host of the Believers N Biz podcast. He helps faith-driven coaches, consultants, and experts grow to six and seven figures through scalable business models built on biblical principles rather than hustle, burnout, or constant one-to-one effort. After leaving corporate at 35 and building his own online business to nearly $10 million, Brian developed his “1 to Many” system to help purpose-driven entrepreneurs expand their impact without sacrificing what matters most.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Brian joins Wade for a practical and faith-centered conversation about what it means to grow a business God’s way. Together, they explore how entrepreneurs can move beyond inconsistent income, overwork, and survival mode into models shaped by clarity, conviction, and Kingdom alignment.They also discuss why focusing on the right inputs matters more than obsessing over outcomes, how biblical principles can reshape the way we think about scaling, and what becomes possible when our work is anchored in truth and surrendered to God. For anyone building a business while trying to stay faithful, present, and sane, this episode offers both strategy and encouragement.

Jen Pollock Michel is an author, speaker, and writing mentor whose work circles around desire, time, home, and the ordinary practices that shape a life with God. She has written six books—Teach Us to Want and In Good Time (both award‑winners), Surprised by Paradox, Keeping Place, A Habit Called Faith, and her forthcoming A Rule for the Rest of Us. With degrees in French, literature, and an MFA in creative writing, she now mentors writers in Whitworth University’s MFA program and pens a popular Substack of “Monday letters” from her near‑empty nest in Cincinnati.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Jen and Wade trace the story beneath those books: a childhood spent moving around the Midwest and South as her English‑teacher dad pursued a PhD in communications; a home where poems were written for birthdays and words were the family currency; and a church life rich in Bible drills and doctrine, but—at least at first—thin on joy. As a teen, Jen assumed she’d follow Jesus “later,” once she’d had her fun. Then, at 16, a youth camp encounter shifted everything, turning faith from cramped rules into a spacious path of joy, obedience, and grace.From there, the conversation dives into how we misunderstand God’s law as mere restriction, why “choose to sin, choose to suffer” is more about reality than lightning bolts, and how being re‑storied by Scripture helps us love rightly—God, neighbors, children, and even our own desires—in proper proportion.For anyone who grew up in church but quietly wondered if a life with God would be too small, Jen’s story is an invitation into a bigger, truer way of being human: one where limits are gifts, obedience leads to joy, and every ordinary day can be woven into God’s surprising, spacious grace.