

Shifting Culture
Joshua Johnson
Shifting Culture invites you into transformative conversations at the intersection of faith, culture, justice, and the way of Jesus. Each episode, host Joshua Johnson engages guests who challenge conventional thinking and inspire fresh perspectives for embodying faith in today's complex world. If you're curious about how cultural shifts impact your faith journey and passionate about living purposefully, join us as we explore deeper ways to follow Jesus in everyday life.Subscribe now and shift your perspective.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 19, 2023 • 49min
Ep. 126 Kayla Craig - Every Season Sacred
In this episode, Kayla Craig talks about what it looks like to parent in the mess. How we are to be rooted and grounded in Jesus through the sacred rhythms of our life and the seasons God has given us. How we can implement breath prayers and the examen, how we can bring community along with us to shepherd our families well. And How we can start to order our families and lives that point to values that are of the Kingdom and the values that God has given us as a family. Join us as we navigate the holy mess of parenting, start to notice the grace all around us, and enter in to the rhythms of life as we walk in step with the Spirit of God. Kayla Craig is a former journalist who brings deep curiosity and care to her writing.She’s the author of Every Season Sacred and To Light Their Way. With a poetic,prophetic voice, she created the popular Liturgies for Parents Instagram account,which Christianity Today named an “essential parenting resource.” She also hoststhe Liturgies for Parents podcast. Kayla’s nuanced and accessible reflections,essays, and prayers are featured in various books, devotionals, and Bible studies.Kayla lives in a 115-year-old former convent in her Iowa hometown, where she hopesto create spaces of welcome alongside her four children, two dogs, and husband,Jonny.Kayla's Book:Every Season Sacred Kayla's Website:kaylacraig.comConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcastConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Sep 12, 2023 • 55min
Ep. 125 Kaitlyn Schiess - The Bible, Politics, and a Flourishing Community
In this episode, Kaitlyn Schiess and I talk about the history of how we used the Bible in America and our politics, how we can faithfully serve God and our community, how we can work for the flourishing of our local communities, how we can see the whole redemptive story of scripture and apply that to our lives and politics, and how we can navigate contentious political seasons coming up. Join us as we figure out how we can read scripture and our context well, so we can faithfully live out lives that rightly discern – who am I in this story? Kaitlyn Schiess is an author, speaker, and perpetual theology student. She is the author of The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture has been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here (Brazos, 2023) and The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor (IVP, 2020). Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, The New York Times, Christ and Pop Culture, RELEVANT, and Sojourner. She has a ThM in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and is currently a doctoral student in political theology at Duke Divinity School.Kaitlyn's Book:The Ballot and the BibleKaitlyn's Website:www.kaitlynschiess.comKaitlyn's Recommendation:Self Made by Tara Isabella BurtonConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcastConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Sep 8, 2023 • 53min
Ep. 124 James Martin, SJ - Lazarus, Come Forth!
In this episode, Father James Martin and I have a great conversation around the story of Lazarus and the implications of it for our life. We talk through disappointments, how Jesus weeps with us through our sorrows, brings new life, and invites us into a participatory life of helping free other people. Join us as we navigate waiting for God to act as we remember what God has done for us in the past. Since we are talking about the story of Lazarus, you might want you to read the story from the Gospel of John before we get into the conversation. John 11:1-44James Martin is a Jesuit priest, editor-at-large of America magazine and bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Between Heaven and Mirth. His latest book is Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’ Greatest Miracle. Father Martin has written for many publications, including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he is a regular commentator in the national and international mediaBefore entering the Jesuits in 1988, Father Martin graduated from the Wharton School of Business and worked for General Electric for six years. In 2017, Pope Francis appointed him to be a Consultor for the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication.Father Martin's Book:Come ForthFather Martin's Recommendations:Sacred Fire by Ronald RolheiserOn a Farther Shore by William SouderConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcastConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Sep 5, 2023 • 55min
Ep. 123 Josh Larsen - Gospel Hope in Light of the Horror of Horror Movies
In this episode, Josh Larsen and I have a great conversation that covers many different horror genres including prophetic horror, zombie films, creature features, slashers, found-footage, and psychological horror. We talk about how each genre provokes certain fears in us like the loss of our humanity, the lack of control, nature run amok, anxieties unmet, and the brokenness of society. We then see how the Bible and the Gospel answers the fears we are confronted with. So join us and open yourself up to seeing the reality of Gospel hope in the light of the horror of a horror movie. Josh is the co-host of the radio show and podcast Filmspotting, author of Movies Are Prayers and Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror, as well as editor/producer for Think Christian, a website and podcast exploring faith and pop culture. He’s been writing and speaking about movies professionally since 1994.Josh’s career began in the newspaper business, where he started out as a beat reporter for a weekly community newspaper and went on to become a film critic for the Chicago-based Sun-Times Media for more than 10 years. In 2011, he joined the Christian media landscape as editor of Think Christian, and in 2012 he joined the long-running weekly podcast Filmspotting, aired on WBEZ in Chicago.A veteran of the Sundance, Toronto, and Chicago International Film Festivals, Josh has given talks on film at various colleges and conferences. Since 2017, he has led “Ebert Interruptus,” a tradition established by Roger Ebert, which analyzes a single film scene by scene over several days at the University of Colorado’s Conference on World Affairs.Josh's Book:Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror MoviesJosh's Recommendations:Interpreting Your World by Justin A. BaileyAstroid CityConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcastConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Aug 29, 2023 • 50min
Ep. 122 Karen Swallow Prior - The Evangelical Imagination that has Shaped a Culture in Crisis
Karen Swallow Prior and I have a fantastic conversation around evangelical culture and true Christian faith. We dig into the history of Evangelical faith, what myths, stories, and narratives have contributed to the underlying assumptions we have on how the world works, and we talk through how to be faithful to Jesus in the midst of unexamined culture. Join us as we start to unveil the underlying narratives that we follow unaware.Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is a reader, writer, and professor. She is the author of The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Brazos, 2023); On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos 2018); Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson, 2014); and Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press, 2012). She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan 2019) and has contributed to numerous other books. She has a monthly column for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, and various other places. She hosted the podcast Jane and Jesus. She is a Contributing Editor for Comment, a founding member of The Pelican Project, a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, and a Senior Fellow at the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture. She and her husband live on a 100-year-old homestead in central Virginia with dogs, chickens, and lots of books.Karen's Book:The Evangelical ImaginationKaren's Substack:The PrioryKaren's Website:Karen Swallow PriorKaren's Recommendation:The Brothers KConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcastConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Aug 22, 2023 • 52min
Ep. 121 Karen Wright Marsh - An Invitation to Wonder and Amazement in the Everyday
Karen Wright Marsh and I have a wonderful discussion about our invitation to wonder and amazement. Through looking at the specific lives of those who have come before us, we can find practices that will shape the way we see the world and interact with God. Through beauty, art, singing, poetry, walking, cooking, writing, and more, we can start to pay attention to God at work and become people that are intentioned towards wonder. So join us as we contemplate these things and more. Karen Wright Marsh is an author, speaker and the executive director and cofounder of Theological Horizons, a ministry that supports Christians & seekers in academia by providing a welcoming community for engaging faith, thought & life. She is the host of the Vintage Saints and Sinners podcast. She holds degrees in philosophy from Wheaton College & linguistics from the University of Virginia. Karen lives with Charles Marsh, a UVA professor, at the Bonhoeffer House in Charlottesville, Virginia. Karen's Websites:Karen Wright MarshTheological HorizonsKaren's Book:Wake Up to WonderKaren's Recommendations:How to Have Impossible ConversationsThe Great Belonging by Charlotte DonlonConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcastConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Aug 15, 2023 • 53min
Ep. 120 Todd Hunter - Returning to the Purposes of Jesus
In this episode, Todd Hunter talks about the aims of Jesus and how getting back to His purposes can help us through bad religion. We talk about living in the Kingdom of God, how we receive it and how we are sent to be His witnesses, and many other facets of the Kingdom. We talk about spiritual practices, so that we can do good works when moments present themselves. We talk about the gospel – what it is, what Jesus said it is and how we can live into it. Bishop Todd Hunter’s life-long passion is to help others heed the call of Jesus to “come follow me” and thus to live their life in the kingdom of God as Jesus embodied, taught and demonstrated it. Bishop Hunter’s vision for such a life entails being the cooperative friend of Jesus, seeking to live a life of constant creative goodness, for the sake of others, through the power of the Holy Spirit.This overarching vision has led Bishop Hunter to engage deeply with a few core themes:The Gospel of the Kingdom The person and work of the Holy Spirit The nature and purpose of the church at the intersection of gospel and culture (missional ecclesiology) Spiritual formation as core to discipleship to Jesus Servant-hearted, kingdom-minded, Spirit-empowered leadershipBishop Hunter has expressed his kingdom-Spirit-formation-church-culture focus in various settings. He is the founding bishop of The Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others, a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. He writes a weekly newsletter: “The Gospel of the Kingdom.” Bishop Hunter is past President of Alpha USA, former National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches, and retired founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Costa Mesa, California. He is the author of Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others, Giving Church Another Chance, The Outsider Interviews, The Accidental Anglican, Our Favorite Sins and Our Character at Work. His latest book is What Jesus Intended: Finding Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion.Bishop Hunter is also the founder of the Center for Formation, Justice and Peace. Alongside trauma-informed spiritual director Vanessa Sadler, Bishop Todd hosts Peace Talks, a podcast that spotlights women and men who are working to undo oppression, leading to lives of deeper peace for all.Bishop Hunter holds a Doctor of Ministry degree and has served as an adjunct professor of evangelism, leadership in contemporary culture and spiritual formation at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary, Vanguard University, Azusa Pacific University, Northern Seminary, and Wheaton College. Bishop Hunter and his wife Debbie live in Franklin, Tennessee. They have two adult children.Todd's Book:What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad ReligionConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook or Instagram at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Aug 8, 2023 • 57min
Ep. 119 Mark Baker Returns - Freedom From Religiosity and Judgmentalism
In this episode, Mark Baker talks about Paul’s letter to the Galatians. We talk about non-judgmentalism, bounded, fuzzy, and centered sets, our orientation to God and to each other in the body of Christ, spiritual powers that have influenced us and the freedom that we have from them, and more. Mark Baker is Professor of Mission and Theology at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. He previously was a missionary in Honduras for ten years and a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Syracuse University for three years. He continues ministry involvement in Latin America through regular visits. Since 2008 he has led a weekly Bible study at the Fresno County Jail. He has written a number of books in English and Spanish, including Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials, and Centered-Set Church: Discipleship and Community Without Judgmentalism.Mark's Website:www.centeredsetchurch.comMark's Books:Centered-Set ChurchFreedom from Religiosity and JudgmentalismConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook or Instagram at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Aug 1, 2023 • 57min
Ep. 118 Jamaal Williams and Timothy Paul Jones - Creating a Multi-Ethnic Kingdom Community
In this episode, Jamaal Williams and Timothy Paul Jones talk about how to create a multi-ethnic Kingdom community in our churches like it will be in heaven. We talk through the unity and diversity in the identity of God, how our unity and diversity flows out of that identity, and how lament is important to establish ties between ethnic groups. We ground our conversation in the story of Jamaal, Timothy, and their church Sojourn Midtown in Louisville as an example of the work we can step into to see the body of Christ start to reflect the vision laid out in Revelation 7:9 where people from every tribe tongue and nation surround the throne of Jesus.Jamaal Williams (DEdMin) serves as lead pastor of Sojourn Church Midtown in Louisville, Kentucky, and as president of the Harbor Network. In addition, he regularly consults churches on leadership matters and issues related to building healthy multi-ethnic churches.Timothy Paul Jones (PhD) teaches apologetics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as a preaching pastor at Sojourn Church Midtown. In addition, he has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books, including Finding God in a Galaxy Far, Far Away; Christian History Made Easy; and, with James Garlow and April Williams, the bestselling The Da Vinci Codebreaker. Jamaal and Timothy's book:In Church as it is in HeavenTimothy's Recommendations:The MandalorianAugustine's SermonsJamaal's Recommendations:The Spirit, Ethics, and Eternal Life by Jarvis WilliamsGod's Empowering Presence by Gordon FeeConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook or Instagram at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show

Jul 25, 2023 • 47min
Ep. 117 Jessica Hooten Wilson - Reading as a Spiritual Practice
In this episode, Jessica Hooten Wilson talks about her latest book Reading for the Love of God, reading as a spiritual practice, how to use the four senses and the four stages to read well, how Jesus teaches us how to read well, what it means to read poorly, and how art, literature, and beauty can help transform our lives and move us closer to God. Jessica Hooten Wilson is the inaugural Seaver College Scholar of Liberal Arts at Pepperdine University and a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum. She is the author of several books, most recently Reading for the Love of God: How To Read as a Spiritual Practice. Jessica's Book:Reading for the Love of GodJessica's Website:www.jessicahootenwilson.comJessica's Recommendations:Engaging the Old Testament by Dominick HernandezThe Voice of Anna Julia CooperEnheduana: The Complete Poems of the World's First AuthorConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook or Instagram at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below.Subscribe today at shiftingculture.substack.com Support the show