Reward Sbanda became a friend of the New Room Community through his work with The Potters House in Dallas, Texas, where he was steeped in, modeled, and taught the deep-end work of community prayer. He is originally from Zimbabwe, and is now on staff at Saddleback Church where he serves at the intersection of Kingdom and justice. He thrives on this kind of conversation. He has such a fresh and deeply discerned perspective that challenges conventional thinking, and today’s discussion puts us right in the middle of Reward’s best … 

Last week, we interviewed our first Canadian. This week, we interview our first Australian. We are covering some miles, friends! Rev. Dr. Mandy Smith is the pastor of St Lucia Uniting Church in Brisbane, Australia. She is a regular contributor to Christianity Today and author of three books —  The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry, and Unfettered … Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture. And her newest book, Confessions of an Amateur Saint: The Christian Leader's Journey from Self-Sufficiency to Reliance on God, releases in October 2024. She is a recent graduate of the Doctor of Ministry program at Western Theological Seminary. Mandy and her husband Jamie, a New Testament professor, live with their family in Australia. Her work can be found at TheWayIsTheWay.org.

Our first Canadian guest, y'all! Dr. Gordon T. Smith is the president of Ambrose University and Seminary in Calgary, Alberta, where he also serves as professor of systematic and spiritual theology. He has written extensively on gifts and call, and he comes at this conversation from a deep place — challenging us to consider how we make decisions for our lives and take responsibility for our place on this earth. We talk to him today about his latest book, Your Calling, Here and Now, and also about an earlier publication called Courage and Calling.  

Jeff Haanan is the founder of The Denver Institute for Faith and Work. He has a lot to say about practicing faith in the marketplace but also about how to live and work from a deeply authentic place. He also writes for Christianity Today and is the author of two books on work. One is An Uncommon Guide to Retirement, and his most recent is called Working From the Inside Out. When Jeff talks about work, he talks about things like thinking theologically about your job, and about living a holy life through your work.  Its a great conversation about a huge chunk of our lives … I hope you listen.
Show Notes: Jeff's Study Guide:  A0331-study-guide.pdf (ivpress.com)

This week, we talk to Dr. Dennis Edwards, an author, pastor, educator, and activity, about the fascinating topic of humlity. In his latest book, Humility Illuminated, Dr. Edwards talks about an under-processed character trait that is actually central to holy living. Dr. Edwards is associate professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He has planted churches and worked in inner city ministries, was educated at Cornell, Trinity Evangelical, and Catholic University of America. He writes on race and power and justice, and now he offers a word on the personality of Christ. 

Maxie D. Dunnam is the former president and chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary. He is now Senior Pastor Emeritus and Executive Director of CCGlobal at Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis. Dr. Dunnam is a powerful and prolific writer, having authored more than forty books, including the Workbook of Living Prayer, which sold more than one million copies.

Sandra Glahn has a PhD from the University of Texas and teaches at Dallas Theological Seminary. Her interests range widely from art, gender, sexual intimacy in marriage, first-century backgrounds as they relate to gender, bioethics ... so you can see why she advocates for "thinking that transforms." She is a thinker, and among the best. She has more than twenty books to her credit, along with multiple Bible studies and online ventures. It is a privilege to talk with her today about her latest book, Nobody's Mother which addresses the topic of women in church leadership through the lens of Paul's word to the church in Ephesus about women and childbearing. 

Brian Russell is a gentle force. He is an author, blogger, coach, mentor to many, and among the most accessible academics we know. He is a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, but he is so much more. He has written deeply on the devotional study of scripture and also on the practice of centering prayer. On his website, brianrussellphd.com, he makes the bold statement, “I can help you thrive and flourish as the person God created you to be.” And that’s his mission. It is to help the rest of us flourish as followers of Jesus. Today we talk to him about his passions — centering prayer and reading scripture transformationally, and  about his new book, “Astonished by the Word: Reading Scripture for Deep Transformation.” 

Dan Wilt is the co-author of Sheltering Mercy and Endless Grace: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms (Brazos), as well as Jesus in the Wild (Seedbed), and is a writer, speaker,
worship leader, songwriter, and encourager of Christians in many streams of the Church.

Dan is part of the Vineyard and Anglican communions of the Church, and has taught in conferences, university settings, seminaries, and churches across streams of the Body of Christ.

He is completing his doctoral studies with Asbury Theological Seminary in KY, and is a part of the team at Seedbed and New Room—serving the church with resources and events encouraging awakening in our generation.

Dan lives with his wife Anita outside of Nashville, TN, and they have three grown children.

Mark Elliott is a retired professor of history, having taught at Asbury University, Wheaton College, Samford University, and Southern Wesleyan University. Dr. Elliott has a remarkably deep global perspective with particular expertise in East-West Christian studies. He has traveled extensively in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. And he brings all this experience and a well-honed mind for history to the work of chronicling the Asbury outpouring. We are thrilled to have his wisdom, perspective, and experience in this conversation about just what happened in Wilmore in February, 2023.