The Russell Moore Show

By Christianity Today, Russell MooreReligion & Spirituality Christianity

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The Russell Moore Show episodes

May 22, 2024Predictions about the Future of the Christian Church
What will the next several decades of American Christianity look like? Are the factors that led to the decline of mainline church attendance the same as those leading to decreased interest in evangelical congregations? Why are Gen Z women leaving religion at higher rates than their male counterparts?
These are the questions that Russell Moore and Ryan Burge—author, professor, and writer of Graphs about Religion Substack—address in this episode. They consider shifts in the Southern Baptist Convention, the relationship of politics to religious participation, and whether or not churches are expected to close by the thousands in the years to come. And they remind listeners of what it looks like not only to speak the gospel but to live it as members of a community that welcomes others, volunteers in meaningful ways, and embodies the beauty of what the church can be.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going by Ryan Burge
Graphs about Religion
Billy Graham
Dobbs v. Jackson
Obergefell
“Young Women Are Leaving Church in Unprecedented Numbers”
“Religion Has Become a Luxury Good”
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam
Asbury University

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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50 min
May 15, 2024Hip-Hop Artist Flame on Theological Shifts
“You have a bunch of callings, and they’re just natural, ordinary things that God uses to accomplish spiritual and natural things. Have fun. Flourish in those. And do good in the world.”
So says Grammy-nominated and Dove-winning hip-hop artist Flame on this episode of The Russell Moore Show, which features a conversation about music, theology, and journeying with Jesus. Moore explains that while this isn’t a “tell me where I’m wrong” episode, he hopes it will provide a helpful angle to the “deconstruction” discussion—one that considers whether changing our minds about theological beliefs can be an act of faithfulness.
They consider spirituality and stability, connection and community, and tendencies among theological tribes. Flame explains what happens when we reduce Christianity to a “moral improvement program,” highlights the power of forgiveness, and considers the role of confession and absolution in the life of the believer.
From thoughts on baptism and Communion to rap albums and biographies, this episode has something for all who want to understand who they are in Christ and what it looks like to worship him.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Flame / Extra Nos Academy
Freedom Lessons
Forward
Our World Redeemed
Extra Nos: Discovering Grace Outside Myself by Flame
“Scattered Tulips”
Commentary on Romans (Luther Classic Commentaries) by Martin Luther
Concordia Seminary

Song lyrics used with permission of the artist.
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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48 min
May 08, 2024All Life Is Hospitality with Charlie Peacock + Andi Ashworth
What does it mean that all life matters to God?
That’s the question that Russell Moore and his guests—musician and producer Charlie Peacock and writer Andi Ashworth—consider on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. The couple cofounded Art House America together and approach the conversation as artists and makers, exploring what it looks like to lead with empathy and love of neighbor. They talk about what it looks like to create as though the world is watching, how to model the character of Jesus, and the difference between being a jerk and being bold.
Their conversation covers Peacock and Ashworth’s new book, Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much, and why hospitality is essential to Christian life. They talk about art, music, and how Jesus draws us to himself.
Tune in for an episode that testifies to God’s faithfulness to weave our stories into the greatest story of all.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt by Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth
Francis and Edith Schaeffer
John Coltrane
Flannery O’Connor
Douglas McKelvey
Calvin University
Steve Taylor
Covenant Seminary
L’Abri

Do you have a question for Russell Moore?
Send it to [email protected].
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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52 min
May 01, 2024Ethan Hawke on Flannery O'Connor's Christian Imagination
Novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor once said her life was too boring for a biographer—all she did was write and feed chickens. And yet, nearly 100 years after she was born, O’Connor’s life and faith are explored in Wildcat, a new film from actor, writer, and director Ethan Hawke of Training Day, First Reformed, and Dead Poets Society fame.
On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Hawke and Moore discuss what compelled Hawke to cowrite Wildcat with Shelby Gaines. They talk about how O’Connor’s work connected Hawke to his mother and, later, to his daughter Maya, who plays O’Connor in the film.
Moore and Hawke explore O’Connor’s forcefulness and faith. They discuss the joys and challenges of working with family, how audiences are engaging with the religious elements in Wildcat, and Hawke's attraction to exploring issues of faith in art. And they talk about the meaning of creative work, institutions, and relationships in a fraught era.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Wildcat
Ethan Hawke
Maya Hawke
Shelby Gaines
"‘Wildcat’ Is as Unsettling as Flannery O’Connor Would Have Wanted"
The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor
A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
First Reformed
The Good Lord Bird
Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage?: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress by Jessica Hooten Wilson
“A South Without Myths” by Alice Walker
“Why did Flannery O’Connor detest ‘Gone with the Wind’?
”Richard RohrWatership Down: The Graphic Novel by Richard Adams, adapted and illustrated by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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40 min
April 24, 2024John Mark Comer’s Call to Practice, Not Performance
What does it mean to be a “practicing Christian”? That’s the question that Russell Moore and his guest, author John Mark Comer, consider on this episode of The Russell Moore Show.
The two discuss Comer’s new book, Practicing the Way, which welcomes people into spiritual formation through ancient practices. They talk about discerning God’s will for our lives, how Comer decided to step away from his role as lead pastor of a church he planted, and what it looks like to invite people into discipleship. Comer shares how he met Jesus, what it’s like to talk about God on the West Coast, and why so many people no longer resonate with American church services. They explore how churches can cultivate richer discipleship, the power of deep friendships, and the practice of contemplative prayer.
Tune in for an episode that is replenishing, full of guidance, and sheds light on why being an apprentice to Jesus is less like learning chemistry and more like learning jujitsu.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
John Mark Comer
Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did. by John Mark Comer
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer
Billy Graham Crusades
Martin Luther
John Calvin
Where Heaven and Earth Meet: A Jesus-Centered Spirituality for Today by N. T. Wright
The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith, Second Edition by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Revised and Updated) by Robert D. Putnam
Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships by Robin Dunbar
When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community by Joseph H. Hellerman
Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Marjorie Thompson
Mark Scandrette
Eugene Peterson

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
50 min
April 17, 2024Mike Cosper on Church Hurt and Church Hope
Confusion and anxiety. Narcissistic tendencies. Spiritual abuses. As the host of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, CT’s director of media Mike Cosper explored how these themes can wreak havoc in a church. Now, he’s sharing his own experiences with harm and healing in church life through his latest book, Land of My Sojourn: The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found.
On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Moore hosts Cosper for a discussion of hurt and hope. They talk about Cosper’s work in church ministry, in his book, and while hosting the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Their conversation covers church polity, planting, and pastoring. Moore and Cosper talk about the importance of humility in an era of narcissistic spiritual leaders and discuss the importance of wisdom and suffering in tempering idealism.
Cosper and Moore talk about reconciling stories of hospitality and kindness about figures like Mark Driscoll with the damage and trauma they’ve inflicted on others. They respond to the critique that The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill has made pastoring more difficult and encourage listeners to consider the importance of telling the truth even—perhaps especially—when the truth is hard to accept.
Tune in for a discussion that is honest about the harm some churches have caused and hopeful about the church as a place of healing.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
The Bulletin
Land of My Sojourn: The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found by Mike Cosper
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
William Carey
“Jon Hamm on the Evolution of Don Draper on 'Mad Men’”
Acts 29
“Land of My Sojourn” by Rich Mullins

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC, for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we’d love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people and pastors alike, and offers “a better way” for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here—we’ve saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
44 min
April 10, 2024Nancy French on Love, Trauma, and Partisan Politics
"God is never going to betray you—even if the church does.”
So says Nancy French, best-selling author and investigative journalist, on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. French, who is known for her groundbreaking reporting on abuse at one of America’s largest Christian camps, joins Moore to discuss her new memoir, Ghosted.
French talks about growing up in the Bible Belt, where she was sexually abused as a child by her Vacation Bible School teacher. She and Moore discuss the importance of righteous responses to people who have been harmed, the ways institutions too often cover up abuse, and how all of this shows up in partisan politics.
Their conversation highlights the power of love—specifically in the case of Nancy’s marriage to David French—in healing from trauma. Moore and French also talk about French’s experiences ghostwriting for high-profile families such as the Palins and the Romneys. They talk about shifts in political culture, the state of racism in America, and what it’s like to be part of a church family that is primarily made up of people outside of one’s ethnic culture. Their conversation also touches on adoption, online discourse, and the incredible work that God can do through personal relationships.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Nancy French
David French
Ghosted: An American Story by Nancy French
Joan Didion
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
Flannery O’Connor
Frederick Buechner
“They Aren’t Who You Think They Are” by David French and Nancy French
“What it’s like to experience the 2016 election as both a conservative and a sex abuse survivor” by Nancy French
Curtis Chang
“The Four Horsemen: Contempt” (The Gottman Institute)
The After Party

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC, for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we’d love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people and pastors alike, and offers “a better way” for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here—we’ve saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
51 min
April 03, 2024An Update to The Anxious Generation with Jonathan Haidt
Ever since Jonathan Haidt joined us on The Russell Moore Show, listeners have been sending in questions for him. So, on this episode, Russell Moore welcomes Haidt back to the show for a discussion of his new book titled The Anxious Generation, the effects of the digital landscape, and the relationship between mental health and religion.
Haidt describes how religious communities are taking the lead in providing some protection from mental health problems. He and Moore discuss the ways that modern life lends itself to overprotecting our children in the real world and under-protecting them online. They talk about what childhood is, how it’s been rewired, and the subsequent impact on young people. They consider the unique traits of Generation Z, the power of religious communities, and why people of faith are statistically happier. Moore and Haidt explore the common quest for meaning and purpose, how to shepherd children in a virtual world, and how to account for differences in boys and girls without resorting to misogyny.
Their conversation also covers the damage of pornography, distractions in worship settings, and how to encourage friends and families to communally steward digital devices.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Haidt
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
“Jonathan Haidt’s Way Forward for an Anxious Generation”
Jean Twenge
Greg Lukianoff
Zach Rasuch’s Substack
Émile Durkheim
“Joe Rogan Experience #2121 – Jonathan Haidt”
“Table for Two” by Caedmon’s Call
Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C.S. Lewis
The Digital Fast: 40 Days to Detox Your Mind and Reclaim What Matters Most by Darren Whitehead
Andrew Sullivan
Richard V. Reeves’ Substack

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we'd love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers "a better way" for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here — we've saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
55 min
March 27, 2024’90s CCM, Slogans, and Joy: What We’re Reading
It’s time for the quarterly books episode of The Russell Moore Show!
Tune in as Russell and producer Ashley Hales talk about their recent reads ranging from politics to poetry. The two discuss a variety of topics including Augustine’s argument in City of God , how theological convictions become slogans, and the world of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Their conversation considers what true joy looks like, why it’s okay not to understand everything we read (even in the Bible), and how books can give us words for our most deeply felt human experiences.
Books mentioned in this episode include:
God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music by Leah Payne
City of God by Augustine
God's Rascal: J. Frank Norris and the Beginnings of Southern Fundamentalism (America's Baptists) by Barry Hankins
Joy: 100 Poems by Christian Wiman
Zero at the Bone by Christian Wiman
Four Quartets: A Poem by T.S. Eliot
Lutheran Slogans: Use and Abuse by Robert W. Jenson
A Shining by Jon Fosse
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
The Maytrees: A Novel by Annie Dillard
Additional resources mentioned in this episode include:
Petra
Amy Grant
Rich Mullins
“Christian Wiman’s Work Against Despair”
George M. Marsden
Eugene Peterson
Music & Meaning with Charlie Peacock
Owen Barfield
C.S. Lewis
J.R.R. Tolkien

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we'd love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers "a better way" for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here — we've saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
45 min
March 20, 2024Marvin Olasky on a Better Moral Vision
It was November 1, 1973, and Marvin Olasky—a then self-proclaimed atheist and communist—was reading an essay by Vladimir Lenin. Suddenly, Olasky began to have thoughts he couldn’t shake.
What if this is all wrong?
What if there really is a God?
Within eight hours, Olasky had decided he was no longer an atheist or a communist. He became a Christian a few years later. Olasky went on to become a leader in Christian higher education and publishing—most notably as the editor in chief of World Magazine.
On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Olasky—author of 29 books, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute—joins Moore to discuss religion, politics, and philosophy. They talk about two of Olasky’s latest book releases: Pivot Points and an extensively updated Moral Vision, which includes a new foreword by Moore.
Olasky shares thoughts on his conversion, his relationship with George W. Bush during his presidency, and the evangelical embrace of some politicians and rejection of others. He and Moore consider the state of journalism, Christian symbolism in political movements, and the danger of echo chambers. Their conversation covers abortion and the pro-life movement, the Hamas attacks, and American involvement in world politics.
Olasky encourages listeners to live a life they’ll be glad to look back on, and offers words of wisdom for doing so.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Discovery Institute
Acton Institute
Zenger House
WORLD Magazine
Pivot Points: Adventures on the Road to Christian Contentment by Marvin Olasky
Moral Vision: Leadership from George Washington to Joe Biden by Marvin Olasky
Jonathan Edwards
Cotton Mather
John Cotton
“Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Beauty, Human Evil and the Idea of Israel” on The Ezra Klein Show
“Glenn Beck Comes to Town” by Chris Good
March for Life
Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End by David Gibson

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to [email protected].
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we'd love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers "a better way" for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here — we've saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
52 min

About The Russell Moore Show

From the publisher's feed

Listen in as Russell Moore, editor at-large of Christianity Today and director of CT's Public Theology Project, talks about the latest books, cultural conversations and pressing ethical questions that…