Show Notes:

Mark DeYmaz is a pastor, author, and champion of the multi-ethnic church movement. He spent eighteen years as a youth pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas, before stepping away to plant the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. Mark has a clear vision for what the Church should look like: bringing diverse people together to walk, work, and worship God, while investing in the local community. Church should reflect the diverse world we live in, as a true reflection of the Kingdom of God.

Mark earned his Master of Arts from Western Seminary in 1987 and his Doctor of Ministry from Phoenix Seminary in 2006. He is an Adjunct Professor at United Theological Seminary and at Wheaton College He is also the co-founder of the Mosaix Global Network, which helps with multiethnic church planting, growth, and development. Mark has written eight books and is a contributing editor to Outreach magazine. He and his wife Linda have four adult children and five grandchildren.

Resources:

Learn more about Mosaix

Learn more about Mosaic Church

Buy Mark’s books on Amazon, including The Coming Revolution in Church Economics, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church, and DIsruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community

Follow Mark on Instagram

Show Notes:

Dr. Corneilus Plantinga has a few words to say about gratitude, and it may just change your life--physically, spiritually, and emotionally. A habit of gratitude can lower your blood pressure and help you sleep better. But the habit of gratitude also ties us together collectively, in community and in church. When there is genuine appreciation of an act of kindness or a loving word, the memory of that “thank you” is a cushion when disagreement tries to divide us. Gratitude for God’s gifts reminds us daily that we can find something good, even in tough situations.

A previous guest on The Weight, Dr. Plantinga is Senior Research Fellow at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and president emeritus of Calvin Theological Seminary. He also served as Dean of the Chapel at Calvin University. He is the author of many books, including his latest, Gratitude.

Resources:

Find Dr. Plantinga’s books on Amazon

Listen Dr. Plantinga’s previous conversation on The Weight

Show Notes:

If you’re not hungry at the start of this episode, you probably will be by the end. And you’ll probably want to run down to Jackson, Mississippi to eat at Elvie’s.

Hunter Evans is the owner of Elvie’s that serves seasonal dishes and highlights ingredients from local farmers. For Hunter, owning a restaurant is first about hospitality. He focuses on making connections with his patrons, and is a champion of a city in Mississippi that often gets overlooked or looked down on. He also focuses on the wellbeing of his staff, because he believes that if he’s asking his staff to take care of others, they have to be taken care of first.

He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the Culinary Institute of America and has worked with acclaimed chefs like John Currence and in the kitchens of New York restaurants Le Bernardin, Cafe Boulud, and Daniel.

Resources:

Elvie’s website

Elvie’s Instagram

Shownotes:

John T. Edge joins Chris and Eddie for a conversation that takes them all over the South. John T. is a writer, commentator, the former director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and host of the television show True South. He is the director of the Mississippi Lab at the University of Mississippi, and his latest passion project is the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency, which will offer space for writers of all kinds to step away from the real world and put their focus and attention on their writing project, whether that’s a song, a poem, a novel, or a scientific paper.

John T. earned his MA in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College. He has written or edited more than a dozen books and has written columns for the Oxford American and the New York Times. He has also been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered as well as CBS Sunday Morning and Iron Chef.

Most importantly, he firmly believes that Birmingham, Alabama, is a Southern city, no matter what Chris says.

Resources:

John T.’s website

Greenfield Farm Writers Residency

True South

*** SUMMER BEST OF ***

As we take a few weeks off to prep for the rest of Season 6 of The Weight, enjoy some of our favorite past episodes!

Show Notes:

Welcome to Season 6 of The Weight Podcast! We’re kicking things off with someone who has a lot of fun while doing a lot of important work: Annie F. Downs. Annie is an author, speaker, podcaster, and preacher who uses humor and scripture to help people find their purpose and fulfillment in God’s love.

Annie’s podcast, That Sounds Fun, has been on air for 10 years, and this year, she’s shaking things up a little. She’s helping her listeners navigate the seasons of their life by using the seasons of nature--winter, spring, summer, and fall--to bring some clarity and compassion to those moments when we feel our lowest and to bring joyful ownership to those times when we are at our best.

She also talks to Eddie and Chris about her singles ministry, Single Person League, and how married pastors can build a bridge to a more understanding relationship with their single congregants.

Resources:

Annie’s website

Follow Annie on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube

Pastoring Singles Resource

Buy Annie’s books here, including Where Did TJ Go?

Show Notes:

Historians aren’t always objective, and objectivity is not the same as neutrality. These are important distinctions for Dr. Joseph Crespino. For him, studying history is about a commitment to fairness, honesty, and justice, and accepting evidence that doesn’t automatically align with preconceived notions--advice that can be used in all sectors of life. Learning about history, especially the dark parts we’d like to ignore, gives us greater understanding and insight into today’s world.

Joe is a professor, author, historian, and Mississippi native who serves as the Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Divisional Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Jimmy Carter Professor of History at Emory University. 

Resources:

Buy Dr. Crespino’s books here.

Show Notes:

We don’t often create space for God in our communal decision making process, and we rarely, as a staff, community, group, or church, attempt to discern God’s will for us together. Ruth Haley Barton is working to change that. 

Ruth Haley is spiritual director, teacher, and retreat leader, and author. She is the founder of the Transforming Center, an organization that creates space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. For Ruth Haley, discernment--recognizing the presence of God and listening to God’s voice in our everyday lives--is a habit that we can practice daily as we make small decisions, which will help us make bigger personal decisions, and eventually will guide our corporate decisions. 

Resources:

Learn more about Ruth Haley here

Buy Ruth Haley’s books here

Learn more about the Transforming Center here

Listen to Ruth Haley’s podcast, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Show Notes:

Bill Simmons is the President and CEO of Hope Rises International, formerly American Leprosy Missions. Founded in 1906, Hope Rises is a parachurch organization that seeks to bring healing and hope to people suffering from neglected diseases like leprosy. The organization’s mission is to live and proclaim the gospel while bringing healing to those in need.

Bill has been a leader on many boards and organizations, and has worked in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He believes in the importance of spiritual practices in organizational life, and uses "pause, psalm, and prayer" before meetings to focus and center his employees. His book, The Way of Interruption is the result of his experiences during his three-month sabbatical, and it offers some practical steps and simple liturgies for Christ-centered leaders.

Resources:

Learn more about Hope Rises International

Buy The Way of Interruption

Show Notes:

Eddie, Chris, and our producer Cody Hickman sit down to discuss generosity and how it’s changed over the years. The three of them have a combined 61 years* of experience in a church setting, and all three have seen changes in giving. Economic factors, widespread institutional distrust, and increases in the cost of living mean that now more than ever, people need to trust the organizations they give to. To get that trust, organizations need transparency: where is your money going? How much good is being done with your resources? Are there other ways you can help when you can’t donate financially? 

It helps when churches connect the dots between what God is doing in the world and how you can be a part of it, but this is not just a conversation for pastors. The beneficial ripples that generosity creates is good for us individually, and those ripples strengthen our institutions, communities, and world. 

*approximately. Math is not their strong suit.

Show Notes:

We hear a lot about the rapid decline in church attendance across the country, but there are many churches who are experiencing growth. So what, exactly, are these churches doing to attract new members? Matt Miofisky has a few ideas.

Matt is the founder of The Gathering, a multi-site United Methodist congregation in St. Louis, Missouri. As the founder and leader of a consistently growing urban church and the co-author of Eight Virtues of Rapidly Growing Churches, Matt is more than qualified for today’s conversation.

Matt is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where he majored in mathematics before earning his Master’s of Divinity at Emory University. He founded The Gathering in 2006, which was recently named the third fastest growing large United Methodist church in the US.

Resources:

Learn more about The Gathering here

Buy Eight Virtues of Rapidly Growing Churches here

Buy The Methodist Book of Daily Prayer here

Buy Matt’s other books here

Listen to The F Word, Matt’s podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Follow Matt on Instagram or Facebook