Jeff Munroe is the executive vice president at Western Theological Seminary, where he also teaches writing. He was a charter member of the advisory board of the Buechner Institute of Faith and Culture, and is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America.

He is also the author of 2019 book, Reading Buechner: Exploring the Work of a Master Memoirist, Novelist, Theologian, and Preacher. I named the book one of my top reads of 2019. 

Jeff's book is a wonderful introduction to Buechner's work. Our conversation motivated me to pick up new books and add some Buechner novels to my 2020 reading. 

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Philip Yancey worked for 10 years as an Editor and then Publisher for Campus Life magazine.

In 1980 he and his wife Janet moved to downtown Chicago where he began a career as a freelance writer.

In 1992, they moved to the foothills of Colorado, where Philip continues to write today, now having written over 30 books, most of them still in print.

Three of those books he coauthored with Dr. Paul Brand, who he has said influenced him more than any single person.

You are no doubt familiar with many of his books including, What's so amazing about Grace, The Jesus I Never Knew, Where's God When It Hurts, Prayer, and his recently released book, Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of bearing God's Image

Philip describes himself as a pilgrim, still "in recovery" from a bad church upbringing, searching for a faith that makes its followers larger and not smaller.

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For more than 15 years, J.R. Briggs served in pastoral roles in mega-churches, church plants, and house church networks.

In 2011 he started Kairos Partnerships to serve hungry leaders through leadership coaching, consulting, speaking, teaching, equipping and writing. Since starting Kairos Partnerships, JR has served and invested in pastors and kingdom leaders in 28 states and Canada in over 40 denominations.

He is the author, co-author or contributor of ten books and Bible studies on a wide variety of topics. He has also published articles in publications including Christianity Today, Huffington Post, Preaching Today, American Bible Society, N.T. Wright Online, Missio Alliance, Relevant Magazine, Outreach Magazine, and Faith & Leadership, among others.

He is the co-host of the Monday Morning Pastor podcast.

One of the books that is on my must-read list for pastors is one he published in 2014 entitled, Fail: Finding Hope and Grace in the Midst of Ministry Failure. Don't take my word for it, it comes with a foreword by Eugene Peterson.

J.R. joins me to talk about the role of failure and how to handle it. How do you know when a challenge is God calling you to persevere faithfully or call it quits?

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Michael grew up in Brisbane, Australia before joining the Army and serving as a paratrooper, intelligence operator, and then chaplain's assistant. It was during his time in the military that he came to faith from a non-Christian background, and soon felt a call to ministry.

He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland and currently serves on the faculty at Ridley as a lecturer in Theology since 2013.

As a researcher, Michael has written and edited over thirty books in the fields of Septuagint, Historical Jesus, the Gospels, St Paul, Biblical Theology, and Systematic Theology. Its also worth checking out his blog, euangelion.

He joins me to talk about his latest work, a New Testament introduction written with N. T. Wright.

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Our culture considers a person’s ability to speak their opinion not just a right but a kind of necessity. To not have an opinion is to be dull at best and irrelevant and transparent at worst. If a person chooses not to speak are they even still a person? In the digital age, maybe not.

The question is not whether we should speak or not speak, it's, have we cultivated the wisdom to even recognize we have the choice.

How do we read James' advice in the age of the internet? "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."

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Curtis Sergeant is an MK (missionary kid) from Asia who served with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board as a missionary among unreached people groups in China and as a global trainer in missions. 

He has also served as a VP (for Global Strategy) with the IMB before leaving to help start the P.E.A.C.E. Plan at Saddleback Church where he directed their church planting efforts for five years. 

He served as a VP with e3 Partners Ministry for three years before moving to Alabama. He continues to serve with them as a consultant along with a number of other organizations for which he conducts training.

He recently released a new book entitled, The Only One: Living Fully In, By, and For God, which is available for free at theonlyonebook.com.

Curtis joins me to talk about his work in global church planting, discipleship movements, and what we can learn from them.

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Nathan Foster is the Director of Community Life at Renovaré as well as a licensed clinical social worker and certified addictions counselor. Prior to Renovaré he was an associate professor and Andrews Chair in Spiritual Formation at Spring Arbor University.

Nathan hosts Renovaré's Ordinary Life with God podcast which airs each Monday.

Nathan is the author of The Making of An Ordinary Saint: My Journey from Frustration to Joy with the Spiritual Disciplines (2014) and Wisdom Chaser: Finding My Father at 14,000 Feet (2010).

He joins me to talk about his relationship with his father's work and how it led him to a season of living out the spiritual disciplines.

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Matt Carter serves as the Pastor of Preaching & Vision of The Austin Stone Community Church.

In addition to pastoring at The Austin Stone, Matt is a cancer survivor, author, and speaker for camps and conferences nationwide. He holds an MDiv from Southwestern Seminary. His writing has ranged from a commentary on the Gospel of John to a historical fiction book exploring the relationship of Charles Spurgeon and his unlikely friendship with the former slave and missionary Thomas Johnson.

He joins me to talk about his recently released book The Long Walk Home: Discovering the Fullness of Life in the Love of the Father.

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