The Common Good Podcast

Brian From opens with an Ohio pastor who called monogamy “unbiblical” while introducing his second wife to a cheering congregation. He then shares a Gospel Coalition argument that parachurch ministries aren’t a sign the church has failed but grow naturally out of God’s commands to serve. He has fun with a list of America’s most mispronounced words, and discusses a Christianity Today report on churches trading warehouse-style buildings for stained glass and traditional architecture, which he sees as a hunger for awe and reverence. He shakes his head at police being called to a youth soccer game over a 3-year-old who was “too good.” He shares Randy Alcorn’s case that the surest path to happiness is serving others. In the second hour, Brian covers a dispute over a Texas Roadhouse steak, a survey finding half of Americans are skipping meals because of grocery prices, and research showing most of Gen Z finds adulthood lonelier than expected. He closes by revisiting Billy Crystal’s loss of trust in God, sharing Franklin Graham’s response, and encouraging listeners in hard seasons that God is real, trustworthy, and loving.

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With the midterms a week away, Brian From responds to a Christianity Today report on Republican candidates courting evangelical voters, arguing that evangelicals are a movement of Christ followers, not a voting bloc. He reacts to Dictionary.com naming “maxing” its word of the year, and pushes back on a viral post claiming it’s fine for Christians to “disagree with Paul,” urging a high view of Scripture. He questions a pastor’s claim to be one of the most gifted storytellers God ever made, and shares Tim Challies’s warning that we become like the people who influence us. Brian admits to falling for a misleading headline about George W. Bush and the Texas Senate race, and discusses Highland Park United Methodist Church’s vote to leave its denomination. In the second hour, he looks at people using apps to make friends, Mark Cuban’s regret over missing time with his kids, and a 93-year-old Japanese woman who helped police catch a scammer. He also covers Relevant’s advice to “define enough” before building wealth and a New Jersey bill that could ban gum over microplastics, then closes with a Gospel Coalition call to attempt small, faithful things for God.

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Brian From returns from Dallas, where he officiated the wedding of a former youth group student, reflecting on how staying connected to Jesus is the key to a strong marriage. He passes along an Uber driver’s wise advice for empty nesters: keep seeing each other. He airs some frustrations about air travel etiquette, applauds a megachurch pastor for urging every Christian to vote without telling them how, and sides with apologist Frank Turek in his disagreement with Ken Ham, arguing that the age of the earth is an important question but not a test of orthodoxy. Brian wonders why so many in Gen Z are delaying their driver’s licenses, pushes back on Carl and Laura Lentz’s media tour for their book on infidelity, and discusses a UC Berkeley professor who stopped grading homework for correctness because of AI. He reflects on Paul’s call in Philippians 1:27 to live worthy of the gospel “whatever happens,” and remembers the 1999 plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart. He warns that Eric Trump’s claim that “we’re saving God” turns a politician into an idol. He closes with John Piper on why true fulfillment is found in God rather than the self, and a Charles Stanley devotional on everyday disciple-making.

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Brian From talks with New York Times bestselling author and Washington, D.C. pastor Mark Batterson, a Naperville native, about his new book, Not My Circus: Living with Courage, Conviction, and Compassion in a World of Chaos. Mark explains the title’s double meaning: the familiar proverb about healthy boundaries, and Paul’s call in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to a world whose largest building, Rome’s Circus Maximus, shaped what people cheered and feared. He describes the cultural “three-ring circus” of shaming, blaming, and faming that traces back to Genesis 3, and argues that grace and truth must go together. Grace without truth is “weak sauce,” truth without grace is “hot sauce,” and together they’re the “secret sauce.” For recovering people pleasers, Mark offers the fear of the Lord as the cure for the fear of man. Drawing on 30 years of pastoring on Capitol Hill, he reminds listeners heading into the midterms that politics matter but are never ultimate, because administrations come and go while God’s kingdom endures.

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Brian From kicks off the weekend reflecting on what fall’s changing seasons reveal about a God who never changes. He vents about increasingly reckless, distracted drivers, and walks through Russell Moore’s Christianity Today column explaining why recent events, including Christa Pike’s failed execution in Tennessee and plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, have moved him away from supporting capital punishment. Brian revisits the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal as a warning about money, helicopter parenting, and the message we send kids when we don’t believe in them. He shares Tim Challies’s case that every part of a worship service matters, not just the sermon, and urges listeners to get to church on time. In the second hour, Brian encourages patience in planting spiritual seeds, discusses a survey showing financial anxiety affects people at every income level, and shares a Gospel Coalition piece on living in the moment with eternity in mind. He closes with OpenAI data showing ChatGPT receives more than 70 million religion-related questions a week, a sign that people are hungry for answers.

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Brian From opens with another cautionary youth sports story: a former MLB player and his wife charged with diverting about $60,000 from a youth baseball program. He then turns to a Christianity Today profile of a Portland Trail Blazers ball boy who sees his part-time job as a mission field, handing LeBron James a card with Isaiah 41:10 and telling him Jesus loves him. Brian shares research linking reading for pleasure to better mental health and lower dementia risk, and condemns an Ohio campaign ad that features a gubernatorial candidate’s estranged mother, despite the abuse in her past. He responds to an article warning pastors they will get hurt by asking why churches accept cruelty from their own members. He discusses a New York Times report on turmoil and layoffs at Christianity Today, and warns against describing any politician as “working for God” with God “on his side.” He closes with reflections on cultivating a “secret place” with God in a publicity-driven age, and on being an everyday missionary in ordinary places.

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Brian From spends the afternoon again with Susana Sharp of Impact Latin America, which now counts more than 17,000 people who have come to faith since 2019. Susana explains how the ministry partners with more than 30 denominations in about 20 nations to equip lay leaders through a three-year training program, so they can start “Houses of Peace” outside church walls for people who would never walk into a church. She shares stories of transformation: a former cartel member in Monterrey, Mexico, now leading a gathering for ex-gang members; a house church born inside a Puerto Rican prison; a woman in her 70s whose House of Peace in a Colombian slum grew to offer free tailoring classes for mothers; and a Venezuelan widow who opened her home after losing her husband and now oversees 700 Houses of Peace. Susana describes rising secularism across Latin America and its link to violence, addiction, and family breakdown, along with the quiet persecution of church leaders by gangs. Brian invites listeners to give at 1160Hope.com, where $10 provides discipleship and Bible resources for one new believer.

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Brian From starts with a press pitch about Amelia Earhart’s missing plane and asks why unsolved mysteries fascinate us. He suggests we crave closure, and he encourages listeners facing the unexplainable in their own lives to turn toward God rather than away. He responds to a clip of President Trump claiming “the Christian vote” and saying he’ll lead Christianity into a new era, warning that there is no single Christian voting bloc and no politician is the church’s hope. Brian shares Tim Challies’s working definition of a conspiracy theory and urges Christians, as people of truth, to weigh claims carefully. He draws on Olivia Wilde’s account of her marriage ending to argue that losing curiosity about a spouse helps drive “gray divorce.” In the second hour, he shares Jim Denison’s biblical framework for voting in the midterms and Brett McCracken’s call to resist voyeuristic media. He discusses a Virginia mother placed on a neglect registry for letting her 5-year-old collect goose feathers near home, and a poll finding four in five parents say having a baby is too expensive. He closes with Michael Kruger’s three steps for handling doubt.

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Brian From opens with his son’s hours-long flight delay back to college as a reminder that we’re never fully in control, but God is. He questions why Christianity Today published speculation about Elisabeth Elliot’s sexuality when she never addressed it herself, and shares a study finding that people paid a female AI chatbot less than an identical male one. He applauds Andy Stanley’s planned handoff of North Point Ministries to longtime staffer Joel Thomas, and echoes Dodgers player Alex Call’s complaint about sexualized ads during playoff broadcasts. Brian talks about guarding against spiritual apathy before it sets in, then walks through Dane Ortlund’s “10 Things You Should Know About Heaven.” In the second hour, he reflects on Pope Leo’s recovery from cancer surgery and his words about feeling close to the sick, and offers pastors a new sermon illustration: a 19th-century weapon found in a whale. He welcomes the decision not to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, calls listeners to pray for Christians in Nigeria facing deadly violence, and warns against churches endorsing candidates. He closes with a Gospel Coalition piece presenting the Sabbath as a gift rather than a burden.

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Brian From starts the weekend glad to have his son home from college for fall break, remembering his own first trip home from Wheaton. With the midterms weeks away, he urges listeners on both sides of the aisle to remember that elections are important but not ultimate, because Christ remains on the throne. He looks at Chick-fil-A’s growth from a small Georgia diner into a $24 billion company and argues its success comes from doing the basics with excellence and integrity, which then opens doors for generosity and witness. He shares Tim Challies’s reflection on stewarding whatever gifts God has given, and draws lessons for the spiritual life from a long overnight drive home. Brian highlights former ESPN producer Nicole Noren, who left the network after it launched its own betting platform, drawing on her family’s painful history with gambling addiction. He closes with John Piper’s classic “Don’t Waste Your Life” sermon and a call to boast only in the cross.

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