Today's Conversation

In Today’s Conversation hosted by Walter Kim, Jo Anne shares how to lead well — in different contexts and especially in times of crisis. You’ll learn: How to meaningfully employ courage and risk in leadership; How God used Jo Anne’s passions to step into new levels of influence; What she learned about women and men ...

Not many have led in the variety of ministries and at the most senior levels as Jo Anne Lyon. She served in pastoral ministry for over 30 years, founded an international nonprofit organization, provided executive leadership to Christian higher education institutions, and was the top leader of The Wesleyan Church denomination.

In Today's Conversation hosted by Walter Kim, Jo Anne shares how to lead well — in different contexts and especially in times of crisis. You'll learn:

How to meaningfully employ courage and risk in leadership;

How God used Jo Anne's passions to step into new levels of influence;

What she learned about women and men working together; and

How to understand power in leadership and know when to give it up.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter: You’ve raised the issue of multi-tasking and being in multiple roles at the same time. What did you learn about being in multiple leadership roles at the same time?

Jo Anne: One of the things that I’ve always tried to do was, in a sense, draw a string. What connects all this? Why am I doing this? What is the connection? It isn’t like, “Here’s a compartment, here’s a compartment, here’s a compartment,” but how do they mesh together? What am I learning from one that adds strength and wisdom to the other? It is a collaboration of circles of all things in the circle together, rather than walls dividing them.

Share the Love

If you enjoyed the program, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That will help get the word out and raise the visibility of the show.

Relevant Links/Resources

The Wesleyan Church

World Hope International

"Men and Women Working Together" — article by Jo Anne Lyon in Wesleyan Life

Today's Conversation is brought to you by Christian Community Credit Union.

 

 

NAE President Walter Kim hosts Today’s Conversation, where you’ll hear Dr. Ko share: How pandemics of the past compare to today’s coronavirus; What epidemiological details are helpful for Christians to understand; How stigma and racial stereotypes are affecting Asian Americans; and What words he hopes will sum up the Church’s response. Read a Portion of ...

As a pastor and former CDC medical officer, Dr. Stephen Ko brings a unique and important perspective on the coronavirus and the Church’s response. His passion for evangelism and his expertise in public health inform the advice and encouragement he offers.

NAE President Walter Kim hosts Today's Conversation, where you'll hear Dr. Ko share:

How pandemics of the past compare to today's coronavirus;

What epidemiological details are helpful for Christians to understand;

How stigma and racial stereotypes are affecting Asian Americans; and

What words he hopes will sum up the Church's response.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter: You’ve mentioned throughout this podcast the impact the coronavirus has had on multiple aspects of life. The coronavirus has strained the economy, mental health, education, at risk populations, community life, and on and on. It seems like our efforts must be broad and prolonged. What are the implications for the long-term nature of these challenges for the Church?

Dr. Ko: That’s a tough question. After this pandemic is over, the Church may never return to business as usual. Perhaps, Walter, that’s precisely what’s needed. We’re forced to consider church outside of building, worship without a concert, and fellowship that is intentional and creative. I hate to say it, but some churches may not survive this pandemic, Walter. Others will be born in this season of suffering, yet it’s always been during chaos and turmoil that the Church has flourished. So, I think time will tell that God is still sovereign.

Share the Love

If you enjoyed the program, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That will help get the word out and raise the visibility of the show.

Relevant Links/Resources

NAE Coronavirus Response & Resources

Care Package for the Church

"The Sacrifice of Social Distancing" — article by Dr. Stephen Ko on The Alliance website

"Coronavirus Fears Mean We Need More Communion, Not Less" — article by Dr. Stephen Ko at Christianity Today

"To Cancel or Not to Cancel" — article by Walter Kim and Timothy Dalrymple at Christianity Today

Follow Dr. Ko on Twitter at @drsteveko 

Today's Conversation is brought to you by Christian Community Credit Union.

 

 

In Today’s Conversation podcast hosted by NAE President Walter Kim, you’ll hear Bradley and Walter discuss these numbers as well as: Why people are attracted to failure narratives; What the numbers say about racial bias in churches and how to foster self-control; What kinds of research questions the Church should be asking; and How pastors ...

While some narratives suggest that the sky is falling for Christianity, sociologist Bradley Wright takes an optimistic approach. Not only are evangelicals holding steady in their numbers, they are not perceived by those outside the faith as negatively as most people think. And, many people who do not affiliate with a particular religion are open to spirituality. These are all good things for people who like to share the good news.

In Today's Conversation podcast hosted by NAE President Walter Kim, you'll hear Bradley and Walter discuss these numbers as well as:

Why people are attracted to failure narratives;

What the numbers say about racial bias in churches and how to foster self-control;

What kinds of research questions the Church should be asking; and

How pastors and other Christian leaders can meaningfully decipher and employ research.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter: If you could share one message with Christian leaders about what you have learned, what would it be?

Bradley: I’m going to cheat and give you two. One is that most statistics we hear are bad about religion, and they survive just because they’re outrageous, not because they’re good. So, put a big question mark behind just about any statistic you hear unless you know it’s from a good source. The second thing that I would want Christian leaders to know is that social science can have a role in promoting the faith, or it can have a role in at least understanding the faith. So, there’s a place for it. I don’t think I’m ready to have sociologists up at the pulpit. But social research tells us about how people work and how our communities work, and there’s something there that I think can help us basically be better Christians.

Share the Love

If you enjoyed the program, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That will help get the word out and raise the visibility of the show.

Relevant Links/Resources

What is an Evangelical? — National Association of Evangelicals

"Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ... and Other Lies You've Been Told" — Bradley R. E. Wright

"Upside: Surprising Good News About the State of Our World" — Bradley R. E. Wright

"Is American Christianity on Its Last Legs? The Data Say Otherwise." — Christianity Today article by Bradley Wright

"The Science of Sinning Less" — Christianity Today article by Bradley Wright with David Carreon

"Dear Pastor, Can I Come to Your Church?" — Christianity Today article by Bradley Wright

Today's Conversation is brought to you by Christian Community Credit Union.

 

 

NAE President Walter Kim hosts Today’s Conversation, where you’ll hear John share: His assessment of the state of First Amendment law and religious freedom; How premises of “inclusion” and “dissent” provide a framework for current conflicts; What led him to speak and write about how Christians ought to engage with those whom they deeply disagree; ...

Over the past couple decades, there have been major cultural shifts in American society around sexuality, gender, and religion in the public square, among other issues. The United States is also becoming more politically and socially tribal. It’s in this context that John Inazu, a First Amendment scholar, calls Christians to “confident pluralism.”

NAE President Walter Kim hosts Today's Conversation, where you'll hear John share:

His assessment of the state of First Amendment law and religious freedom;

How premises of "inclusion" and "dissent" provide a framework for current conflicts;

What led him to speak and write about how Christians ought to engage with those whom they deeply disagree; and

How evangelicals can practically bear a compelling gospel witness in today's world.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter: As a pastor, I certainly encounter Christians who are confident in their beliefs, but I also see a lot who are questioning or not sure how to reconcile their Christian understanding of sex, gender, who God is, so forth, with other competing beliefs. What kind of work needs to be done on the confidence side before we can even engage on the pluralism side?

John: That’s a great question, Walter. It’s an urgent and an important question. I think it comes down largely to formation and formative practices as much as formative beliefs. I spent some time as a youth pastor about 10 years ago. As I got into the state of youth ministry and the youth ministry industry in this country, it really seemed that we have capitulated to a lot of worldly approaches to how you engage with kids and how you shape them and entertain them, and I think Christian formation has to go a lot deeper than that. It’s a reminder that we believe these things not just because someone tells us they’re right, but because we live into them as a community. We recognize with each new day that they matter and that they mark us as different people and sometimes it’s costly to do.

Now I also want to be quick to caution that this doesn’t mean we withdraw from the world and go into our own enclaves. I think formation does mean having thick communities and real and honest relationships but not for the sake of just circling the wagon. It’s for the sake of going out into the world. So, unless we are good at both — unless we are good about the formation that leads to the confidence and also then spring boarding that confidence out into the world — we’re going to miss one or the other parts of our call to be salt and light to those around us.

Share the Love

If you enjoyed the program, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That will help get the word out and raise the visibility of the show.

Relevant Links/Resources

"Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference" — John Inazu

"Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference" — John Inazu and Tim Keller

The Carver Project

Today's Conversation is brought to you by Wheaton College Graduate School.

 

 

 

In this podcast, you’ll hear Walter describe: How his parents’ immigration story shaped his view of American life; What living in different environments — from a coal town in Pennsylvania to Harvard University — taught him about bridging cultural divides; His understanding of “evangelical-isms” within America; and What opportunities await evangelicals in today’s cultural moment. ...

Walter Kim is a pastor, scholar and thought leader, and he became president of the National Association of Evangelicals in January 2020. Today's Conversation with Leith Anderson, NAE president emeritus, and Walter Kim offers unique insight into Walter's background and his hopes for the future of American Christianity.

In this podcast, you’ll hear Walter describe:

How his parents' immigration story shaped his view of American life;

What living in different environments — from a coal town in Pennsylvania to Harvard University — taught him about bridging cultural divides;

His understanding of "evangelical-isms" within America; and

What opportunities await evangelicals in today's cultural moment.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Leith: Why NAE? What draws you to this opportunity to be the leader, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals?

Walter: I’m convinced that evangelicals need to move away from this controlling metaphor of culture wars. I think we have an opportunity to have a different kind of metaphor — a metaphor of bridge building. Not as a compromise to our deep convictions of the truthfulness of the Gospel — the beauty of Jesus, of orthodoxy — but as a recognition that in this cultural context as America increasingly becomes post-Christian, at least portions of America, that we have this missional opportunity to present the Gospel with a freshness, a vitality, a mandate that we need to do this. What’s going on in our culture is not something that we need to wage war against, as much as we need to reach, love, win over to Gospel.

But it’s a complicated moment. It requires critical thinking. It requires engaging charitably. It requires an irenic spirit. It requires collaboration in the common cause of Christ, and the NAE represents this. When I joined the board in 2013, I was struck by the breadth of denominations and organizations that were represented. Each recognizing that they have distinctives in terms of their theological entities, in terms of their particular organizational focus, but what bound us together in the NAE was so much greater than what differentiated us. The Gospel is this message, this person, that drew people together.

We do not have this in our culture, and rather than lamenting this, I see this as an opportunity. I see this as an opportunity to present Christ anew to the culture. The spirit of NAE is precisely the kind of compelling witness that brings a vitality to the goodness of the Good News that America truly needs in this moment. To be a part of that is exciting. It’s exhilarating. I look forward to that. It’s also daunting. It drives me to my knees. It gives me this sense that, “Lord, if you are not in this, it is doomed to fail.” Yet I believe the Lord is in this, and so I’m excited about what is ahead.

This bridge building for my own story is particularly important. As an Asian American, I feel very strongly about the changing composition ethnically of America. Yes, it provides challenges in an unprecedented way. We are going to have to figure out what does it mean to live in such a diverse country. But it provides an opportunity to mirror in our own country what it means that we are one day going to be worshipping around the throne of God and people from every nation, tribe, tongue and language are going to be there. We get to see a microcosm of that here in America in the decades to come.

The NAE, I think, represents an opportunity to see this robust, diverse, winsome Good News draw people together. So, whether it’s a message that draws people together across ethnic or economic lines or regions of the country, it is precisely this kind of gospel that I believe the NAE is deeply committed to and I’m thrilled, again, for this opportunity.

Share the Love

If you enjoyed the program,