Upstream

Tim Padgett joins Shane to reflect on the conversation with Trevin Wax about his book, The Thrill of Orthodoxy, and to dispel some myths and misconceptions about how we confess the great creeds.  

The creeds of Christianity summarize the most paradoxical and surprising story the world has ever known. So why do so many find them boring? This week, Shane welcomes Trevin Wax to explain why the core truths of our faith are an invitation to adventure, using his book, The Thrill of Orthodoxy.

Tim Padgett joins Shane to think more deeply about the role Puritan beliefs played in the American project, why a value-neutral government is impossible, and why we’re right to give thanks for our complicated national history.

The early colonists in New England had an audacious vision to build a “city on a hill”—a vision so audacious that some now call it utopian. This week Shane welcomes Dr. Glenn Sunshine to explore the theology that drove these thankful Pilgrims, and what their beliefs have to do with us today.

Catholic opposition to abortion is well known, but what about Protestants and evangelicals? Shane welcomes Steven Wedgeworth, contributor to the new book, “Protestant Social Teaching,” to tell the complicated and surprising story of the Reformation and unborn life.

Do the differences between men and women go deeper than physical strength? Shane welcomes Tim Padgett to reflect on the conversation with Anthony Esolen, and to ask how our culture’s assumptions make it tough for us to see what people throughout history have seen.

Why did God make men, and what distinctive masculine traits has our culture denied, to its ruin? Shane welcomes Dr. Anthony Esolen to discuss his provocative and timely book, No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men.

Shane welcomes Tim Padgett to reflect more deeply on God’s gift of time. How have modern inventions left us feeling like we have so little time? Are natural rhythms better than artificial ones? And how does God, Himself, relate to time?

Shane welcomes singer-songwriter and 2022 Imagination Redeemed speaker Matthew Clark for a conversation about God’s mysterious gift of time, and how He uses it to welcome humans into His family.

Shane and Tim Padgett think more deeply about the purpose of sending students to school (or teaching them at home), and explain why education that doesn’t instill the right values is futile.