The Catch with John Fischer

Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War II where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. Os has written or edited more than thirty books. In this conversation, we will be discussing his latest book, The Great Quest: Invitation to an Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning.

An eclectic, veteran singer-songwriter, Pam Mark Hall whole-heartedly celebrates life and relationships through a vast range of experiences.  From inner, emotional and spiritual reflections to social justice, Pam melodically articulates the human experience through soulful, musical poetry. Pam is a Dove and Grammy nominated artist with two gold albums to her credit.

Wayne Bridegroom grew up on a farm milking cows in Central California and ended up as a Baptist pastor in Modesto where he experiences working with Laotian, Hmong, Cambodian, and Hispanic, peoples starting and pastoring churches in each of these nationalities as well as working with the African American churches -- all in the humble town of Modesto. In 2014, Wayne was awarded the Martin Luther King Legacy Award for his contribution to the African American community — the first time the award was given to a white person.

Noel Paul Stookey is certainly not new to the Catch. After a wildly popular career holding down the center of Peter Paul & Mary, Noel has launched into a solo career singing about love, justice and his faith journey. His latest recording, “Fazz: Now & Then” can be found at www.noelpaulstookey.com along with the rest of his excellent work. Tonight we’re going to talk about Christianity and labels.

From network television to the Internet, wherever the human voice is used, you can hear Bob Souer tell amazing stories. He concentrates on narrating non-fiction audiobooks. From biography to history to science to Christian theology and anything else in the world of non-fiction. He also specializes in eLearning narration for clients around the world.

John Shirk lives with his wife Amy and their 4 daughters in Chicago, Illinois.  They minister to the postmodern artistic subculture and to victims of trauma and abuse. The tools of their ministry include chocolate chip cookies, vegan chili, and poetry. John is the author of A Sacrificial Poet.

Randall Balmer is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Evangelicalism in America, Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter, and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, which is now in its fifth edition and has been made into an award-winning three-part series for PBS. A fitting topic for Super Bowl week, we will be discussing Randall's new book, Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America.

Doug Stevens is a pastor who has served churches in California, Arizona, Kansas and Texas, and a mentor who comes alongside congregations and non-profits across the country to encourage, challenge and strengthen leaders. He is a catalyst for experiential learning, relational healing and intercultural engagement. Doug is a graduate of Cal Berkeley and Fuller Seminary. He lives in Austin TX and is married to Nancy. Doug is a people-lover, culture-watcher, mountain bike-rider and avid world-explorer.

Lambert Dolphin received an AB degree with high honors in physics and distinction in mathematics from San Diego State University in June 1954. After two years of graduate study in Physics and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, (1954-1956), he joined the staff of SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute), in Menlo Park, California where he remained almost continuously for the next 30 years. He left his position at SRI as a Senior Research Physicist in 1987 to pursue small-scale independent geophysical consulting services, and to devote the bulk of his time to Bible teaching, writing and Christian counseling.

Dr. David E. Fischer graduated from Stanford University with a BA degree in philosophy and went on to graduate studies at Fuller Theological Seminary and Princeton Seminary. Dr. Fischer founded Living Word Bible College in Southern California in 1971. He wrote curricula for 15 courses, including many chapter by chapter Bible book studies, and was a teacher for students from around the world for over 35 years. He has led worship symposiums in 20 different countries and authored a number of books, his latest being The Future Great Planet Earth: What they never told you about the last days, which you can download at Amazon, here.