What Really Matters with Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth

Ours is an age that values and valorizes productivity, speed, and scale, and emphasizes precise and perpetual measurement and management of those markers. A whole range of organizations, including nonprofits, and even churches, as well as individuals believe that what is valuable is empirical and measurable, and that those measurements show us what's real and what really matters. 

Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth today offer a radically different way of seeing the world. They assert that it is not the empirical but love that is, in their words, the highest way of knowing and the trustworthy basis of the imaginative and creative good. They argue that the small aspects of life, whether it's cooking or gardening, music making, hospitality, or family matters–those things that often seem not to matter so much are actually what matters most. It's an invitation toward fruitfulness, and a new way of understanding and living:

We hope this conversation sparks your creativity and encourages you to look differently at the small matters of life that matter a lot.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth here.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Martin Luther King Jr.

Real Love for Real Life: The Art and Work of Caring, by Andi Ashworth

Wild Things in Castles in the Sky: A Guide to Choosing the Best Books for Children, by Andi Ashworth

Why Everything That Doesn't Matter Matters So Much, by Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth

The Call, by Os Guinness

Steven Garber

Francis Schaeffer

Frederick Buechner

Eugene Peterson

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Babette's Feast, by Isak Denison

Hannah and Nathan, by Wendell Berry

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard

Bright Evening Star, by Madeline L'engle

Letters from Vincent Van Gogh

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson
Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan
Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura
Connecting Spiritual Formation & Public Life with Michael Wear
The Kingdom, the Power & The Glory with Tim Alberta
A Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf
Towards a Better Christian Politics
Christian Pluralism: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Christian Pluralism: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference

The term ‘pluralism’ has been subject to misunderstanding – even misuse – over the past several years. Some read or hear the word and think simply of a multiplicity of opinions. Others think of a sort of moral relativism that affirms your truth and my truth, no matter how contradictory they may be. Others still may think of this as some sort of squishy interfaith unity that denies matters of ultimate importance. 

In a conversation with John Inazu, Trillia Newbell, and Michael Wear we dive into the meaning of pluralism and how it is that Christians in particular can live faithfully amidst a world of difference. These careful writers and thinkers help us begin to grasp a more robust vision for Christian pluralism:

“We are all actually called to be reconcilers. Any one of us who have professed faith in Jesus Christ, we are called to a ministry of reconciliation. That means a proclamation of the gospel. So sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to the world around me, to my neighbors, to my friends...I believe that the greatest love that we can extend to others is Jesus.” - Trillia Newbell

We hope you’re inspired by this conversation about hope, justice, faithfulness, and love, even in the midst of change, challenge, and conflict.

This podcast is an edited version of an evening conversation recorded in 2020. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about John Inazu, Trillia Newbell, and Michael Wear.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Liberty’s Refuge: The Forgotten Freedom of Assembly, by John Inazu

Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference, by John Inazu

Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference, by John Inazu

Sacred Endurance, by Trilia Newbell

If God Is For Us, by Trilia Newbell

Fear and Faith, by Trilia Newbell

God’s Very Good Idea, by Trilia Newbell

Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America, by Michael Wear

Christianity, Pluralism, and Public Life in the United States: Insights from Christian Leaders, by Michael Wear and Amy Black

Tim Keller

Russell Moore

Toni Morrison

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

The Federalist Papers

City of God, by Augustine of Hippo

The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr

Politics, Morality, and Civility, by Václav Havel

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson
Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan
Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura
Connecting Spiritual Formation & Public Life with Michael Wear
The Kingdom, the Power & The Glory with Tim Alberta
A Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf
Towards a Better Christian Politics

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

The relentless pull and pressure of partisan antagonisms and tribalism have fractured friendships, families, communities — and churches. In a time of conflict over what is good and confusion over what is true, what can church leaders do to cultivate a more faithful form of civic engagement? How can we learn to discern the call to love and justice amidst the clamor of political wars?

On our latest podcast, three wise men, as Cherie affectionately calls them, address these pressing questions. Curtis Chang, David French, and Russell Moore are each writers, scholars, and thinkers who have made courageous and insightful contributions towards a better Christian politics and we’re delighted to share their comments from an evening conversation in 2023 with you:

“Be of great hope. Because the after party is coming…It's the wedding feast of the lamb when Jesus returns to cleanse his church, made spotless. And in that moment, the restoration not of the church, but of the world at war where the swords are beaten into plowshares, the spears into pruning hooks. That's the after party that's coming. So if you know how the story ends, how can we not have great hope? - Curtis Chang

This podcast is an edited version of an evening conversation recorded in early 2023. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Curtis Chang, David French, and Russell Moore.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Divided We Fall, by David French

The Courage to Stand, Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul, by Russell Moore

Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel, by Russell Moore

The Storm Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home, by Russell Moore

Losing our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical Christians, by Russell Moore

The Anxiety Opportunity, by Curtis Chang

Ernest Hemmingway

The Big Sort, by Bill Bishop

Cass Sunstein

Constitution of Knowledge, by Jonathan Rauch

The Moviegoer, by Walker Percy

The Righteous Mind, by Jonathan Haidt

High Conflict, by Amanda Ripley

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

The Federalist Papers

City of God, by Augustine of Hippo

A Life Worth Living

What makes a good life? What habits of attention, reflection, and action orient us towards knowing, desiring, and doing what is good, true, and beautiful? Such “big questions” may seem unanswerable and intimidating — but their exploration is at the heart of the human quest for meaning.

Drawing on his popular Yale course, theologian Miroslav Volf joined us to reflect on what makes for a flourishing life in our times:

Despite the real challenge of human suffering and pain, Volf argues that happiness is possible and that an examined life that grapples with the good in our emotions, circumstances, and actions is a life worth living.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in early 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Miroslav Volf.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:
Exclusion and Embrace, by Miroslav Volf
Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, by Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz
Friedrich Nietzsche

Related Trinity Forum Readings:
Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl
On Happiness, by Thomas Aquinas
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
How Much Land Does a Man Need, by Leo Tolstoy
Wrestling with God, by Simone Weil

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson
Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan
Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura
Connecting Spiritual Formation & Public Life with Michael Wear
The Kingdom, the Power & The Glory with Tim Alberta

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory with Tim Alberta

American Christians are certainly not immune to the anger, division, and fear that characterize our political moment. For many, the prospect of another election year is a source of dread or of numb exhaustion; others have responded with aggression or defensiveness.

On our podcast, author and journalist Tim Alberta encourages us toward a better media diet, and to remember where our true allegiance lies:

“We have a king, we have a kingdom, and the best way for us to retain our saltiness is to prioritize that allegiance and that allegiance alone.”

We hope this conversation, coming in a heated election year and at a time of great political import for our nation, is, in fact, a kind of spiritual balm to you. May Tim’s guidance help us to retain our distinctiveness as we engage in the public square for the common good.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in early 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Tim Alberta.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

American Carnage, by Tim Alberta

The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim Alberta

Rush Limbaugh

Robert Jeffress

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Children of Light and The Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr

City of God, by Augustine

Politics, Morality and Civility, by Václav Havel

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson
Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan
Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura
Connecting Spiritual Formation & Public Life with Michael Wear

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Connecting Spiritual Formation and Public Life with Michael Wear

In the midst of what is proving to be a frustrating, fractious, and even frightening election year, how can Christians best respond to the situation in front of us, and how can we offer a positive contribution to our common life?

Drawing on the life and work of the late philosopher Dallas Willard, Michael Wear helps us explore what true spiritual formation could mean for the reformation of our polarized political life:

“You could say our politics today is actually more robustly full of moral assertions than it has been at any other time this century.”

We trust that you’ll be encouraged by Michael’s call to gentleness in our politics and his practical suggestions of Christian practices that help orient our hearts in the midst of cultural confusion and political fractiousness.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in early 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Michael Wear.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard

Reclaiming Hope, by Michael Wear

The Spirit of our Politics, by Michael Wear

Christian Smith

American Grace, by David Campbell and Robert Putnam

The Allure of Gentleness, by Dallas Willard

Eitan Hersh

The Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas Willard

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Abraham Lincoln: The Spiritual Growth of a Public Man

Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King Jr.

City of God, by Augustine

Politics, Morality and Civility, by Václav Havel

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson
Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan
Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura

If at the center of reality is a God whose love is a generative, creative force, how do humans made in God’s image begin to reflect this beauty and love in a world rent by brokenness and ugliness?

As Mako argues on our latest podcast, it’s in the act of making that we are able to experience the depth of God’s being and grace, and to realize an integral part of our humanity:

Artistry and creativity are not just formative, but even liturgical in that they shape our understanding of, orientation towards, and love for, both the great creator and his creation.

We hope you’re encouraged in your making this Lenten season that the God who created you in his image delights in your delight.

If this podcast inspires you, and you’re so inclined, we’d love to see what you create, be that a painting, a meal, a poem, or some other loving, artistic expression. Feel free to share it with us by tagging us on your favorite social platform.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2021. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Makoto Fujimura.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Art + Faith: A Theology of Making, by Makoto Fujimura

William Blake

Vincent VanGogh

N. T. Wright

Esther Meek

Jaques Pépin

Bruce Herman

Martin Luther King Jr.

The Gift, byLewis Hyde

Amanda Goldman

T. S. Eliot

Calvin Silve

David Brooks

Related Trinity Forum Readings:
Babette's Feast, by Isak Dinesen

Four Quartets, by T.S. Eliot

Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard

God’s Grandeur, by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson
Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

What does it mean to walk with God? The spiritual life is so often described as a walk, journey, or pilgrimage that it can be easy to dismiss the practice of walking as a mere metaphor.

But in God Walk, author, pastor, and professor Mark Buchanan explores the way that the act of walking has profound implications for followers of the Way.

Buchanan reflects on the ways in which walking can be both a spiritual practice and a means by which we can deepen our connection to the earth beneath us, our fellow travelers, and the God we worship:

We hope you’re encouraged this Lenten season as you learn to walk at godspeed, seeing this embodied act as a profoundly spiritual practice.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2023. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Mark Buchanan.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Aristotle

Søren Kierkegaard

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

God Walk, by Mark Buchanan

Simone Weil
The Three Mile an Hour God, by Kosaku Koyama

Wanderlust: A History of Walking, by Rebecca Solnit

Knowing God, J.I. Packer

Kai Miller

Related Trinity Forum Readings:
Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard

God’s Grandeur, by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela

Brave New World, by Alduous Huxley

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society.

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

What if we viewed reading as not just a personal hobby or a pleasurable indulgence but as a spiritual practice that deepens our faith?

In her book, Reading for the Love of God, award-winning author and Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Jessica Hooten Wilson explores how Christian thinkers—including Augustine, Julian of Norwich, Frederick Douglass, and Dorothy Sayers—approached the act of reading.

She argues that reading deeply and well can not only open a portal to a broader imagination, but is akin to acquiring travel supplies for the good life:

We hope you’re encouraged this Lenten season as you learn to read as a spiritual practice, finding grace and wisdom for living well along the way.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2023. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Jessica Hooten Wilson.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Learning the Good Life: Wisdom from the Great Hearts and Minds That Came Before, by Jessica Hooten Wilson

Giving the Devil His Due, by Jessica Hooten Wilson

The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints, by Jessica Hooten Wilson

Reading for the Love of God: How to Read as a Spiritual Practice,, by Jessica Hooten Wilson

Walker Percy

The Life you Save May Be Your Own, by Flannery O'Connor

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Boethius

Augustine

Mystery and Manners, by Flannery O’Connor

St. Basil

Origen

People of the Book, by David L. Jeffrey

A History of Reading, by Alberto Manguel

Jerome

Andy Crouch

Dana Gioia

Dorothy Sayers

Ross Douthat

Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Julian of Norwich

Dante Alighieri

Eugene Peterson

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Revelation, Flannery O'Connor

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Augustine's Confessions

The Grand Inquisitor, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Moses Man of the Mountain, by Zora Neale Hurston

God's Grandeur: the Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Pursuing Humility, with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn

In an age when self-promotion is often celebrated as a sign of leadership and strength, humility may seem a lost virtue. Or alternatively, a form of moral condolence for the less successful.

In his recent work, Learning Humility, theologian Richard Foster argues that humility is actually strength, and that learning humility is more needed than ever. As Foster explains, humility releases us from a preoccupation with self, and allows us to live a life of freedom:

May Foster’s call to humility, and pastor and writer Brenda Quinn’s practical insights on living it out in leadership and community, inspire you this Lenten season to contemplate the humility of Jesus and the way of the cross.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2022. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Learning Humility, by Richard Foster

Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster

Streams of Living Water, by Richard Foster

Sanctuary of the Soul, by Richard Foster

The Life With God Bible, contributed to by Richard Foster
C.S. Lewis

Timothy Keller

The Frenzy of Renown

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

The Long Loneliness, by Dorothy Day

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Who stands Fast, featuring Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Babette's Feast, by Isak Dinesen

Wrestling with God, by Simone Weil 

Related Conversations:
A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.