Steve Brown Etc.

What do you do when life is falling apart all around you? Do you paste on a fake smile and pretend everything's okay?

Stasi Eldredge is here to talk about a better way from her new book, Defiant Joy: Taking Hold of Hope, Beauty, and Life in a Hurting World on this episode of Steve Brown, Etc.

Stasi is a New York Times bestselling author. She’s the director of the women’s ministry at Ransomed Heart and leads Captivating retreats internationally. Stasi co-wrote Love and War and Captivating with her husband John, and she’s the author of Becoming Myself. Her new book is titled, Defiant Joy: Taking Hold of Hope, Beauty, and Life in a Hurting World.

Sometimes, we see sharing our faith as scary. Hugh and Kathy Ross see it as an adventure!

Join Hugh and Kathy Ross on this episode of Steve Brown, Etc. as they talk about their adventures in the faith from their new book, Always be Ready: A Call to Adventurous Faith. Listen as they share their own thrills and challenges of being a Christian and always being ready to give an answer for the hope they have.

Dr. Ross is an astrophysicist and best-selling author. He’s living an adventurous faith traveling the globe speaking on the compatibility of science and the Christian faith. Hugh is the president and founder of Reasons to Believe. They have so many great resources at Reasons.org. His wife Kathy is a vice president at Reasons to Believe. She oversees a number of departments there. She also has a master’s degree in English and edits Hugh’s books. Together they have a new book out titled Always Be Ready: A Call to Adventurous Faith.

Maybe some Christians with their underwear on too tight left you with a bad taste in your mouth when it comes to faith. Kendra Fletcher's here, on Steve Brown, Etc., to talk about learning to love God, others, and yourself again after a bad religious experience, which is the topic of her new book, Leaving Legalism.

Kendra is a not only a mother of 8, she’s a speaker, author, and podcaster who also wrote the Key Life/New Growth Press book, Lost and Found: Losing Religion, Finding Grace. Check it out at KeyLife.org! Her new book is titled, Leaving Legalism: Learning to Love God, Others, and Yourself Again.

Suffering comes in a lot of forms: illness, unemployment, broken relationship, and death. But Paul Tripp is here to tell us the hope of the Gospel is bigger than any of our suffering as he tells us about his new book, Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense.

Dr. Tripp is a pastor, author, and international conference speaker. He’s also the president of Paul Tripp Ministries. Visit him online at PaulTrippMinistries.org. Paul has written so many books I would start to suffer if I listed all the titles. His new book is titled, Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense.

You ever wonder how we got the Bible? Or if scripture is reliable? Join Dr. Ryan Reeves on Steve Brown, Etc. today to answer those questions and more as he talks about his new book, Know How We Got Our Bible.

Dr. Ryan Reeves is Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He’s also Dean of the seminary’s Jacksonville campus. Check out Ryan’s short videos at our website, KeyLife.org. You’ll have fun while learning some cool stuff. Get Ryan’s new book, titled, Know How We Got Our Bible.

It's never been easier to end up overwhelmed by all the injustice in the world. Just scrolling through the news feeds on our phones can leave us both stirred to action and simultaneously discouraged that our little bit will make any difference in the face of so much evil and suffering. But there are effective and fulfilling ways to move from observer to activist.

Join Eddie Kaufholz from the International Justice Mission podcast, The New Activist, on Steve Brown, Etc. for a fun conversation about inspiring action that changes lives.

Eddie speaks, teaches, and writes about relationships, seasons of life, marriage, dating, parenting, the church, and theology. Connect with him on EddieKaufholz.com and visit IJM.org to find our more about the amazing work of International Justice Mission.

Jake Luhrs from August Burns Red and Heart Support is here on Steve Brown, Etc. to talk about his new Devotional, Mountains. 

Jake is a grammy-nominated front man for August Burns Red, who have sold over a half million albums. He's also the founder of Heart Support who helps over 90,000 struggling people a month. Buy his new devotional, Mountains.

Wanna connect Christian doctrine to real life?

Join Andrew Petiprin, author of Truth Matters: Knowing God and Yourself, and see how you don’t just decide who God is, but you look at the facts and let God define Himself. Christian doctrine isn’t just a bunch of dusty facts to make those with PhD’s sound more spiritual, it’s real truth about who God is: our Father, friend, and Savior. It's intimate facts about the Creator that we internalize and live out in relationship with Him.

Andrew’s an Episcopal Priest, Canon of the Ordinary in the Diocese of Tennessee, a Marshall scholar at Magdalene College in Oxford, holds degrees from the University of Pittsburg and the University of Yale. A true intellectual among the Etcetera riffraff!

When was the last time you had a spiritual conversation? Odds are it wasn't that recent.

Sacred words are vanishing, and Jonathan Merritt isn't okay with that. He argues in his new book, Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing—and How We Can Revive Them, that getting rid of sacred words isn't the answer, but rather breathing new life into them, because they're vital to the faith conversation.

Jonathan is an award winning contributor to The Atlantic, has written numerous articles for USA Today, Buzzfeed, CNN, the New York Times, and has appeared on Fox News, CNN, NPR among other media outlets. He holds graduate degrees in Religion, and is the author of several books. Connect with Jonathan on jonathanmerritt.com/

Is there more to the abundant Christian life than keeping your nose above water? Can you live the Christian life as a loner?

Join Dave Pezzoli and friends from Live Alive Podcast on Steve Brown, Etc. as they answer these questions, and talk about learning how to hear from God, do what he says, and live it out in community.

Dave Pezzoli, Chris DiDonna, and Jeremy Schurke are hosts of the Live Alive Podcast. Connect with them online at letslivealive.com.