Good God

This is a story everyone needs to know. Vanita Halliburton shares about the loss of her son's life and the work of the Grant Halliburton Foundation to prevent suicide. Vanita and George explore the theological depths of grief and how our faith can be shattered and restored.

Everyone knows the story of Adam and Eve. But do you know what the biblical text actually says? You might not know the story as well as you think you do! This episode is a deep dive of interpretation into the creation of Adam and Eve and the subsequent temptation story.

Should the spirit of God be capitalized, like in the Holy Spirit? Is the Spirit for personal experience like salvation or for corporate transformation? Did it come to us at Pentecost or has the Spirit been working for eternity?

If you are confounded by questions like these about the elusive Spirit of God, particularly in the Judeo-Christian tradition, you'll love this conversation between George and Jack Levison, who writes books and teaches theology about the Spirit.

His newest book has just been released, Boundless God: the Spirit according to the Old Testament.

George talks with his daughter Cameron about her nonprofit organization, RootEd, in San Antonio that promotes public schools to families navigating the world of school choice.

Join us in a feel-good conversation between father and daughter. Cameron Mason Vickrey is George's oldest daughter. They talk about their shared interests in theology and art and how growing up in the church has helped her navigate her call.

With a deeply personal testimony about being gay and a Christian, Justin Lee opens up about why he can't abandon his identity and won't abandon his faith. Listen with an open mind and a loving heart, and you will surely learn a lot.

Gary Simpson is the 30-year pastor of Concord Baptist Church, a historic Black church in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. George and Gary -- two renowned practitioners of preaching -- talk about their craft and the future generation of preachers that they are bringing up. If you ever listen to sermons and wonder what it's like to prepare for that week after week, you'll be interested in this episode.

George talks with Mark Wingfield about their experience of becoming a fully inclusive church to people without regard to sexual or gender identity. Mark wrote a narrative style book about it, which was recently published, titled "Why Churches Need to Talk about Sexuality." They also talk about how Mark became an ally and friend to many transgender people and what that has meant to him.

Do you ever feel torn between your commitment to truth and your desire to love people who are different from you, especially maybe those who are gay in your family or friends or in your church? Justin Lee has written a book called Torn and he'll be talking about how to move in a more loving direction, that doesn't sacrifice truth.

Listen here and go to goodgodproject.com for the video and transcript.

You won't want to miss a minute of this episode if you are concerned with the future of the church. Amy Butler offers some fierce criticism of the American church as well some ideas for how it can redeem itself.