The land beneath our feet has a longer story than most of us were taught and the Bible has far more to say about land, belonging and relationship than our usual readings admit. In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Daniel Zacharias and Dr. Chris Hoklotubbe, two Indigenous New Testament scholars and co-authors of the new book "Reading the Bible on Turtle Island," and we explore what changes when Scripture is read with an Indigenous worldview, memory and communal perspective.

We talk about Turtle Island as a name that signals deep history, then get practical about hermeneutics: the lenses we all bring to the text, whether we name them or not. Daniel explains a medicine wheel approach to biblical interpretation that holds Scripture alongside creation, cultural stories and the shared hearts and minds of a people. Chris shows how this kind of reading can illuminate familiar passages, including Jesus and the rich young ruler, where “possessions” in an agrarian world often means land, debt and dispossession and where Jubilee themes can suddenly come alive.

We also face the harder background: colonization, residential schools and the ways Christianity was used to condemn Indigenous culture, creating shame and silence even inside church communities. But we don’t stop at deficit stories. We dig into asset-based theology, the power of relationships, and why storytelling often moves hearts more than arguments ever will. If you care about faithful Bible study, Christian discipleship, reconciliation, and hearing the global church more clearly, this conversation will widen your field of view.

If you'd like to learn more from Daniel Zacharias and Chris Hoklotubbe you can purchase their book and explore NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community. And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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Abortion is one of those issues where smart, compassionate people can stare at the same facts and walk away with totally different conclusions. And so, in this episode, we slow the conversation down and replaces slogans with careful thinking, real empathy and clear definitions. Dr. Calum Miller is an Oxford-trained medical doctor and philosopher who has published widely on medicine, law, ethics and the beginning of life, and who has taken these arguments into some of the toughest public debates you can imagine. 

We talk about why Dr. Calum believes - life begins at conception - is a scientific statement before it’s ever a religious one. From there we dig into the deepest questions underneath the abortion debate: What makes a human being valuable? Is personhood tied to abilities like consciousness, feeling pain, or rational thought, or does human equality require something more stable than performance? Dr. Miller also lays out three kinds of pro-choice arguments, including bodily autonomy and pragmatic claims about law and safety, then explains how he responds in a way that aims for precision without losing compassion. 

We also explore how listening changes the conversation, how to speak in pluralistic public forums without hiding faith or forcing it, and why human-rights language and medical ethics matter for public policy. If you care about medical ethics, human rights, and how to talk about abortion with clarity and grace, this episode will be meaningful. 

If you'd like to learn more from Dr. Calum Miller you can go to his website and follow him on social media. And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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A teenage believer gathers friends for a quiet Bible study because his Catholic boarding school won't allow Protestant meetings, and that small act sparks a lifetime of preaching. In this episode we sit down with Bishop Calisto Odede of Christ Is The Answer Ministries (CITAM), to hear how God shaped his calling through conversion, Scripture and a series of unexpected open doors.

We talk about the unique blend that marks much of African evangelicalism: deep love for the Bible, bold worship, and an openness to the supernatural. Bishop Calisto shares how his faith moved through Catholic roots, Pentecostal renewal, and Baptist-style Bible exposition, including a personal story of baptism in the Holy Spirit changed his prayer life.

Then the conversation turns to the bigger story of global Christianity. Bishop Calisto describes how his home country of Kenya is becoming a missions force. We also explore Kenyan-led church planting in places like Romania, support for Ukrainian refugees, and why leadership training matters when congregations are increasingly educated and asking tougher questions.
 
If you'd like to learn more from Bishop Calisto and Christ Is The Answer Ministries (CITAM) you can go to their website and follow them on Facebook. And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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An unexpected hug in an Asian grocery store becomes the spark for a family’s spiritual transformation. In this episode we sit down with Amit Khaira, the South-Pacific Regional Director for NXT Move Ministries. Amit grew up in Perth, Australia in a devout Hindu household, but all that changed when a Korean stranger shared the love of Jesus with his mother, and the entire family encountered faith in a fresh new way.

Amit shares honestly about the complicated parts of faith: the shame and rejection his mother faced when she told relatives she now followed Jesus, to the painful reality that church communities can wound the very people they’re meant to shelter. Amit reflects on humility, repentance, and what it means to keep running after Christ when you’re disappointed by Christians, especially as an immigrant navigating predominantly white spaces.

Then the conversation turns toward vocation and resilience. From a cancer diagnosis that challenged surface-level expressions of spirituality, to experiences in school chaplaincy, youth ministry, and social entrepreneurship that keep Amit focused on one aim: bring gospel hope to young people who feel unseen and unheard. 

If you'd like to learn more about Amit Khaira and NXT Move you can go to their website and follow them on Facebook. And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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Marketplace ministry is easy to praise and hard to live, especially when your career spans countries, cultures and competing definitions of success. In this episode we sit down with CEO Simoun Ung and trace the story of how an entrepreneur and inventor became a builder of financial inclusion in the Philippines and a leader of Bible translation around the world. 

Simoun shares his family’s story, from ethnic Chinese roots and a legacy of early missionaries, to a grandmother whose daily prayers made faith feel unavoidable. From there, we dig into the real-world problem that grabbed his attention after returning to the Philippines: a largely unbanked population paying hidden taxes with cash-only transactions. We unpack how prepaid cards and digital billing can serve the “bottom 75%" and why finance-tech innovation must stay close to real human need. 

Then the conversation turns to missions, calling and leadership. Simoun tells the providential story that led to his work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. How Scripture shapes his discernment, and why East-West leadership differences matter for governance, transparency and trust. We end our time together with a challenging question for every Christian leader: if a Bible is translated but not used, what does impact actually mean? 

If you'd like to learn more about Simoun Ung's work with Wycliffe and OmniPay you can go to their websites and follow him on social media. And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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A pastor in Russia chooses his words carefully, not because he lacks conviction, but because every sentence can carry a cost. In this episode Rev. Vitaly Vlasenko joins us. He currently serves as the General Secretary of the Russian Evangelical Alliance and is a Baptist pastor in Moscow. Pastor Vitaly takes the time to reflect on, and share with us, what it means for evangelical Christians to live and serve inside a nation at war and under public scrutiny. 

We start with the big picture of Christianity in Russia: the baptism of Rus' in 998, Kyiv as a spiritual birthplace, and the Russian Orthodox Church’s deep link to national identity. Rev. Vitaly then walks us through how evangelical Christians in Russia emerged much later through Bible translation and the spread of Scripture among ordinary people, plus the surprising role of global connections like the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). 

We also discuss the harsh realities today: tighter government control, limited resources for seminaries and training, relationships with Orthodox leaders, and the unique pressure created by the war in Ukraine. Pastor Vitaly closes by asking for prayers of peace, wisdom, and endurance so that the church can remain a place of hope. 

If you'd like to learn more from Rev. Vitaly Vlasenko you can read this article and visit the WEA website. And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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The story of Christianity in Ethiopia is older than most nations, yet its churches are leading through modern pressures that test unity, identity and hope. In this episode we sit down with Dr. Seble Daniel to hear what faithful leadership looks like when a country carries deep Christian heritage and has to navigate ethnic tension and political upheaval.

Dr. Seble shares her journey from growing up in a close-knit missionary compound, to serving the global church as chair of the World Evangelical Alliance Women’s Commission. Along the way, we explore why Christianity in Ethiopia feels culturally woven in, how persecution under the communist regime strengthened evangelical unity across denominations, and why relationships between evangelicals and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church can be both strained and collaborative.

Our conversation becomes intensely practical when we also talk about women in ministry and women’s leadership in the church. Dr. Seble names the realities of patriarchy, the misuse of scripture to marginalize women, and the importance of acknowledging more than one faithful interpretation of difficult passages. She also explains the Women’s Commission’s advocacy priorities, including confronting violence against women, and why silence in the name of protecting the church only protects perpetrators.

If you'd like to learn more from Dr. Seble Daniel and the Women's Commission you can go their website and follow the WEA on Facebook. 

And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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“Evangelical” can sound like a poll category or a culture-war tribe, but in this episode we get underneath the label and ask a simpler question: what does it actually mean, and what does it cost? Our guest is Dr. Bruce Barron, a longtime observer and scholar of Christianity in the global context. We talk about why many evangelicals feel “stuck with the Bible” and why that conviction shapes everything from church debates to national politics.

We unpack the classic Bebbington Quadrilateral (a previous guest of the podcast), and then move into real pressure points: LGBTQ questions, women in ministry, and why biblical interpretation can both hold communities together and split them apart. From there we step into eschatology and the politics of end times, including the emotionally charged question of how Christians should think about Israel and the modern Middle East.

This is a conversation with no easy answers, but we trust that this episode will be both challenging and clarifying for many who wish to live out their faith in the face of global concerns and complexities. If you'd like to learn more from Dr. Bruce Barron you can find his published works on his website and subscribe to his substack. 

And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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An engineer leaves home for university and finds something she never expected: a faith that feels more real than the world around her. In this episode we talk with Grace Hee, Executive Director of the Women Commission for Asia Evangelical Alliance. Grace grew up in a Taoist family in Malaysia, surrounded by ancestral worship, incense and the pressure of filial duty. An Easter invitation, however, changed everything. 

Her conversion was followed by a calling, and a commitment to leadership, one she shares with women across Asia. Grace believes the Asian church is both young and at a crossroads, especially as leadership and worship styles shift across generations. As she serves and supports leaders across the continent, Grace makes the case that the church relies more on women’s unseen work than it may realize, and challenges any hesitation the church has to fully affirm female gifts. 

Grace goes on to explain that when churches create real space for women to test their calling, lead with courage, and serve with clarity the kingdom of God becomes fully alive! If you'd like to learn more about the Women Commission and the Asia Evangelical Alliance you can go their website and follow them on Facebook. 

And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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Everyone has heard the storyline that modern life squeezes religion into irrelevance. Then the numbers show up and the story flips. In this episode we're joined by Dr. Todd M. Johnson, Director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a key voice behind the World Christian Encyclopedia. Over the course of our conversation we walk through what global religious demographics actually reveal about faith in 2026 and beyond.

We talk about why the world keeps getting more religious, how the collapse of communism reopened public space for belief, and why Islam’s growth is driven largely by fertility rates and changing health outcomes. We also consider the real effects of secularization in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, along with an underappreciated dynamic: non-religious populations tend to have fewer children, which changes long-term projections. Add in migration, and many countries are becoming more religiously diverse, not less, with newcomers often practicing faith more intensely as a way of holding identity together. 

We also highlight the often-overlooked role of women in everyday Christian life, plus practical ideas for pastors who want worship, stories and prayer to reflect the whole body of Christ, and the picture and promise of Revelation 7:9. If you'd like to learn more from Dr. Todd M. Johnson and the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, you can go to their website or purchase his books online. 

And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube! 

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