Shifting Culture

Zach Lambert joins me for a conversation about how we read Scripture and how our reading shapes everything. We explore the lenses we bring to the Bible, the harm that can come from flat or literalist interpretations, and what it looks like to center our reading on the life and teachings of Jesus. Zach’s new book, Better Ways to Read the Bible, invites us to move beyond fear-based or power-driven readings and toward a faith that bears good fruit - love, justice, humility, and hope. If you’ve ever felt disoriented by how the Bible is used in our culture, or if you're trying to rediscover Scripture through a Jesus-centered lens, this episode is for you. Listen in as we talk about interpretation, mystery, spiritual formation, and what it means to be shaped by the Word in a way that leads to life.

Zach W. Lambert is the lead pastor and founder of Restore, a church in Austin, Texas. Under his leadership, Restore has grown from a launch team of five people in 2015 to more than 1,000 members today. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Hardin-Simmons University, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is pursuing his Doctorate at Duke Divinity School.

Zach is the cofounder of the Post Evangelical Collective and serves on the boards of the Austin Church Planting Network and the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network. Zach and his wife, Amy, met each other in the 6th grade, fell in love at 17, and got married at 21. They love watching live music, discovering local Mexican food places, and playing with their two boys.

Zach's Book:

Better Ways to Read the Bible

Zach's Recommendation:

The Tears of Things

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When Clarissa Moll’s husband died suddenly, she was thrust into a new reality one shaped by deep grief, single parenting, and the quiet work of guiding her four children through unimaginable loss. In this episode, Clarissa shares hard-won wisdom about how children grieve, how adults can walk alongside them with care and presence, and how grief doesn’t need to be fixed it needs to be witnessed. We talk about building a grief-literate community, the sacred role of lament, and how the church can hold space for sorrow and hope at the same time. Clarissa offers powerful insight into what it means to be beloved in the midst of pain and how the slow work of healing happens in community, in story, and in the soil of everyday life. This is an honest, hope-filled conversation for anyone navigating loss or walking with someone who is.

Clarissa Moll is an award-winning writer and podcaster who helps bereaved people find flourishing after loss. Clarissa’s writing appears in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, RELEVANT, Modern Loss, Grief Digest and more. She co-hosted Christianity Today’s “Surprised by Grief” podcast and produces Christianity Today's flagship news podcast, "The Bulletin." Clarissa’s debut book, Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief and Thriving After Loss, was a best-selling new release in 2022. She is the author of the Beyond the Darkness Devotional, Hurt Help Hope: A Real Conversation about Teen Grief and Life after Loss, and Hope Comes to Stay. Clarissa is a remarried widow and lives with her large blended family in the Boston area.

Clarissa's Books:

Hope Comes to Stay

Beyond the Darkness

Clarissa's Recommendation:

Rising from the Plains

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Karen Swallow Prior returns to the podcast to help us rethink what calling really is. It's not a passion we chase or a dream we conjure up, but something that comes from outside of us. Something we respond to. We talk about the slow work of vocation, how it shifts over time, and why pursuing what’s true, good, and beautiful in ordinary life might be the most faithful thing we can do. This conversation is for anyone in the middle of change, trying to find their way, or wondering if the work they’re doing still matters. There’s room for all of it here.

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D. is a popular writer and speaker. A former English professor, Karen is now a contributing writer for The Dispatch and a columnist for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vox, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and many other places. Her most recent book is You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful (Brazos 2025).

Karen's Book:

You Have a Calling

Karen's Recommendation:

Small Things Like These

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Stories aren’t just entertainment - they’re how we make sense of who we are, what we value, and where we’re headed. In this episode, writer and professor Sean Gaffney invites us to see story as a sacred thread woven through culture, theology, and discipleship. We talk about the shape of the meta story that undergirds all great narratives, how stories can form us spiritually, and why even blockbuster films can point us toward God. From the pitfalls of message-driven Christian media to the redemptive echoes in Marvel movies, this conversation is an invitation to engage story with both discernment and wonder.

Sean Gaffney has authored thirty produced plays, three feature films, four commissioned television pilots, two published chapter books, as well as over two hundred produced videos, animation projects, YouTube series episodes and short films (including for Big Idea and SuperBook). Other publications include contributing to Bigger on the Inside: Christianity and Doctor Who, It Was Good: Performing Arts to the Glory of God, and The Routledge Handbook of the Bible and Film . He was the Story Administrator for Warner Bros. Features, editor of Drama Ministry Magazine, the Managing Director of Taproot Theatre (Seattle) and General Manager of Lamb’s Theatre Company (New York). Gaffney currently is a Professor in Media Communication and Screenwriting at Asbury University, as well as Associate Dean of the School of Communication Arts. He received his BFA from Drake University, his MFA from Columbia University, and studied with Act One: Writing for Hollywood. He released a new book on the intersection of scriptwriting and theology: Meta Story: What Marvel & the Messiah Can Teach Us about Great Storytelling. More information at www.gaffneyinkwell.com and IMDb.

Sean's Book:

Meta Story

Sean's Recommendation:

The God of Story

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What if aging wasn’t something to fear, but something to embrace? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Kerry Burnight, a leading gerontologist and author of Joyspan, to explore how we can shift our mindset around aging. Instead of chasing anti-aging fads or resisting change, what if we cultivated joy, purpose, and connection across every season of life? Kerry unpacks the four practices at the heart of a long and meaningful “joy span”: growing, connecting, adapting, and giving and how these practices not only enrich our lives but can extend them. Whether you're in your 30s or your 80s, this conversation is a reminder: aging is human, and joy is possible all the way through.

Gerontologist, Dr. Kerry Burnight, is sparking a global revolution to make older better.

Fed up with the fear-driven, anti-aging hysteria, millions of people turn to “Dr. Kerry” for her proven approach to navigating longevity. This approach is based upon a profound truth: the key to good longevity isn’t the length of your life, it’s the quality of your life.

Efforts to maximize lifespan and even healthspan don’t address the whole picture. Longevity is meaningless if you don’t like your life. Burnight introduces the critical concept, “Joyspan” based on the science of well-being, contentment, connection, meaning, growth, choice, and purpose.

Dr. Burnight taught Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology for 18 years at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. She was a speaker to the U.S. White House at the Elder Justice Summit and at the U.S. Department of Justice. She has appeared on such T.V. programs as CBS News, NBC News, The Doctors, and Money Matters.

Kerry's Book:

Joyspan

Kerry's Recommendation:

Write a Must-Read

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When we live in constant noise and inner pressure, how do we learn to think clearly, live intentionally, and follow Jesus with our whole minds? In this episode, I sit down with clinical neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf to explore the intersection of faith, mental health, and neuroplasticity. We talk about how renewing our minds is more than a spiritual idea - it’s a tangible, daily practice that can rewire our thinking and reshape our lives. Dr. Leaf shares practical tools to detox our thoughts, confront anxiety, and move toward healing and wholeness. This is a hopeful and grounded conversation for anyone longing to live with more presence, peace, and purpose.

Dr. Caroline Leaf is a researcher, communication pathologist, audiologist, and clinical and research neuroscientist specializing in cognitive and metacognitive processes and psychoneurobiology. Her passion is to help people see the power of the mind to change the brain, control chaotic thinking, and find mental peace. Dr. Leaf is the author of the bestselling books Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess, Switch On Your Brain, Think and Eat Yourself Smart, The Perfect You, and Think, Learn, Succeed. She’s also the host of the top-rated podcast Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. When she’s not writing or hosting her popular podcast, Dr. Leaf conducts research, publishes her research in peer-reviewed science journals, and teaches at various academic, medical, corporate, and neuroscience conferences around the world. Dr. Leaf and her husband, Mac, have four adult children and live in Cleveland, Ohio.

Caroline's Book:

Help in a Hurry

Neurocyle App - Use the code WELCOME for 30% off

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In this episode, I talk with Alex Fogleman about reclaiming the forgotten art of catechesis - not as rigid instruction, but as a living tradition that helps form whole people in the way of Jesus. We explore how the early church shaped new believers, what we’ve lost in our fast-paced, fragmented culture, and how we might recover a slower, deeper approach to discipleship today. This conversation offers a compelling vision for how we grow - not just in knowledge, but in love, practice, and maturity.

Alex Fogleman is Associate Dean of Special Programs and Assistant Professor of Theology at Trinity Anglican Seminary in Ambridge, PA. Author of Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and Making Disciples (Eerdmans, 2025)

Alex's Book:

Making Disciples

Alex's Recommendation:

The Wingfeather Saga

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What’s really happening in Iran beyond the headlines? In this episode, I sit down with Lana Silk, CEO of Transform Iran, to explore the remarkable growth of the underground church in one of the most spiritually hungry regions in the world. Lana shares her powerful personal story from a childhood shaped by faith under Iran’s Islamic regime to leading a global discipleship movement impacting millions of Iranians today. We talk about how faith flourishes under pressure, what Western Christians can learn from the Iranian church, and why discipleship, sacrifice, and hearing God’s voice are more vital than ever. You’ll also hear miraculous stories of transformation, healing, and courage that will stir your own faith. This is a conversation about radical obedience, contagious hope, and the quiet revolution of love that’s transforming Iran from the inside out.

Lana Silk, Chief Executive Officer, Transform Iran - USA

Lana Silk, daughter of Lazarus and Maggie Yeghnazar, serves as Transform Iran’s Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Lana actively seeks to bring freedom to the people of Iran, transforming the nation into one which bears the image of Christ. Through ministry and humanitarian aid, Lana hopes that Transform Iran will create divine change in the lives of the Iranian people.

Lana currently lives with her husband and three teenage children in Ohio.

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Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw join the podcast for a deep conversation on spiritual formation, attachment theory, and why so many of us feel stuck in our faith. Drawing from their work in neuroscience, pastoral care, and discipleship, they unpack how our early relational patterns shape the way we experience God and how we can begin to heal. We explore the four “landscapes of the soul” (the pasture, jungle, desert, and war zone), how spiritual practices like silence, Bible study, and joy impact us differently depending on where we’re starting from, and how to integrate intimacy and obedience in a holistic journey with God. This episode invites us to move beyond a one-size-fits-all model of discipleship and embrace a more embodied, relational, and compassionate approach to following Jesus.

Geoff Holsclaw (PhD) is cohost of the Embodied Faith podcast, which seeks a neuroscience-informed spiritual formation. He is also an affiliate professor of theology at Northern Seminary (Lisle, Illinois) and a pastor at Vineyard North in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Geoff is author of several books, most recently Does God Really Like Me? Discovering the God Who Wants to Be With Us.

Cyd is an author, spiritual director, and pastor. She is also a trauma-informed, Jesus-centered, professional certified coach (PCC) focused on embodied practices and building a secure attachment to God. She co-hosts the Embodied Faith podcast, offering a neuroscience-informed spiritual formation.  And she is the co-author of Does God Really Like Me? Discovering the God Who Wants to Be With You (InterVarsity Press).

Cyd & Geoff's Book:

Landscapes of the Soul

Cyd & Geoff's Recommendations:

Shrinking

Lynn Austin

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Brian McLaren returns to Shifting Culture to explore his new speculative novel The Last Voyage - a prophetic work of fiction set in a world unraveling from ecological collapse, authoritarianism, and cultural despair. But this isn't a story of resignation. It's a call to imagine differently. We talk about the role of art as prophetic witness, how fiction can shape moral imagination, and why we must move beyond systems built on extraction and scarcity. Brian unpacks the concept of polycrisis, the dangers of authoritarian momentum, and the urgent need for new ways of thinking, living, and organizing - rooted in interdependence and care. We also dive into generational shifts, character dynamics, and what it looks like to resist old paradigms by becoming a different kind of presence in the world.

Brian McLaren is a bestselling author, internationally acclaimed speaker and outspoken advocate for 'a new kind of Christianity'. Named one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Evangelical Christians, McLaren was a pastor for over 20 years. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programmes, and an in-demand blogger on faith and public policy (brianmclaren.net). @brianmclaren

Brian's Book:

The Last Voyage

Brian's Recommendations:

The Structure of World History

Children of Time

Ministry for the Future

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