What do we do when it feels like God isn’t on our side? In this episode of Shifting Culture, I talk with Joshua Ryan Butler about his new book God Is On Your Side and the ways he’s wrestled with that very question through seasons of heartbreak, illness, and despair. Josh takes us into the Gospel of John, where one-on-one encounters with Jesus become mirrors for our own stories - the paralyzed man, the woman at the well, the man born blind, Lazarus in the tomb. Each scene reveals a God who sees us before we see Him, who calls us beloved, and who can turn even the hardest places into holy places. This conversation is about finding hope in the dark, learning to trust God in uncertainty, and remembering that we are never abandoned.

Joshua Ryan Butler is a Teaching Pastor with the Willamette family of churches in the Portland area and the author of God is On Your Side, The Party Crasher, Beautiful Union, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, and The Pursuing God. Josh loves shifting paradigms, to help people who wrestle with tough topics of the Christian faith by confronting popular caricatures and replacing them with the beauty and power of the real thing. He and his wife, Holly, along with their three children, live in Portland, Oregon. They enjoy spending time with friends over great meals and exploring the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Josh's Book:

God is On Your Side

Josh's Recommendations:

Art of Memoir

Unbroken

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