Good Faith

Anxiety is everywhere. It feels as though it is at crisis levels individually, and is also spilling over into our culture at large, particularly in the political arena. This week David and Curtis are joined by a live studio audience in Washington, DC to talk about our personal and cultural anxiety. Fortunately, they also offer some good news. Drawing upon Curtis’ upcoming book “The Anxiety Opportunity”, we learn how Christians can actually view anxiety as an opportunity to grow closer to a Savior who was constantly approached by anxious people, and who experienced very real human anxiety himself.  Show Notes: Anxiety as Opportunity for Spiritual Growth (7-session online series for small groups and individuals Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org Produced by Kris Carter

Are Christians called to navigate their finances differently from everyone else? Are the oft-repeated directives to save aggressively and avoid all debt either scriptural or wise? Is it possible that spiritual wisdom and practical wisdom are sometimes one and the same? Join David and Curtis in this excellent discussion with James Choi, Professor of Finance at Yale. As a Christian and a behavioral economist, James brings both spiritual and practical wisdom to the area of personal finance and exposes where some of our most popular financial gurus might be giving us poor advice. Show Notes: -Derek Thompson (The Atlantic) - All the Personal-Finance Books Are Wrong -Greg Rosalsky (Planet Money) - An economist studied popular finance tips. Some might be leading you astray -Why I am a Christian (James Choi) Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org Produced by Kris Carter

Raise yourself up by your own bootstraps. This is a refrain we hear all the time, especially as Americans catechized in the dogma of personal responsibility. But what if some people don’t have bootstraps?  What if some don’t even have boots? This week David and Curtis welcome educational expert and Rice University sociology professor Ruth López Turley. Raised on the U.S./Mexico border, Ruth’s own educational story is fascinating and lends special weight to her observations about educational equity and how the scriptures (including Mary’s Magnificat) might lead us to some surprising and challenging conclusions. Show Notes: -$50M Kinder Foundation grant will expand Kinder Institute’s work to solve challenges facing Houston -Claire Cain Miller, Josh Katz, Francesca Paris and Aatish Bhatia (The New York Times) - Vast New Study Shows a Key to Reducing Poverty: More Friendships Between Rich and Poor -Cynthia M. Allen - Want economic mobility? Make friends at church   Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter   Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org    Produced by Kris Carter

Evil is certainly a powerful force in our world. We are witnessing it live in the form of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But is evil ultimately as powerful as it is popularly portrayed? Does evil perhaps contain in itself the seeds of its own destruction? Join David and Curtis in this week’s fascinating discussion about the inherent weakness of evil.  Show Notes: Why the Allies Won by Richard Overy Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield N.T. Wright: “Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans” Good Faith Podcast with Tish Harrison Warren: “Praying Through Wars, Real and Imaginary” Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org Produced by Kris Carter

In this special re-release, we at the Good Faith podcast want to honor the life of Jonathan Tjarks, who passed away last week. Jonathan was an NBA beat writer and podcaster for The Ringer, but he was so much more! Just 6 months ago we had the pleasure of having Jonathan join us to talk about his cancer diagnosis, the role of his faith community in caring for his family, and even a little NBA talk. Whether you caught this episode or not, we believe his hard-earned wisdom is worth hearing over and over again. Rest in the peace of God Jonathan. Show Notes: Jonathan Tjarks: “Does My Son Know You?” Jonathan Tjarks “Blogs About Books (Of The Bible)” Melissa Tjarks announcement of Jonathan’s passing Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org Produced by Kris Carter

In a previously recorded (but never released) episode, David and Curtis tackle the particularly vexing challenge of justice when crimes are committed. For those who do not engage regularly with the criminal justice system, these questions can feel distant, or even irrelevant. But as we are reminded, God’s repeated calls for justice throughout the scriptures don’t give the Christian such an easy out.   Show Notes: -Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter -Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org

This week David and Curtis dive into the issue of time and how our understanding of time horizons can profoundly impact our perspective on the world, whether it is getting worse or better, and what actions that should lead us to take. As Christians who believe in eternity, we should be good at “playing the long game,” but we often let ourselves get caught up in the issues of the moment, and let our compressed time horizons lead us to fear or despair, rather than hope.   Show Notes: -Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling -“Imagine That” by Picture This -Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter -Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org

This week David and Curtis are joined by Meghan Sullivan, philosopher, teacher, and creator of the most popular class at the University of Notre Dame, “God and the Good Life.” As many of us send our kids off to college (or head off to college ourselves), Meghan helps us appreciate the role of education–and of philosophy in particular–in helping students take on the big questions of life.   Show Notes: -The Good Life Method by Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko -God and the Good Life (Notre Dame course) -What is Philosophy?: Crash Course Philosophy #1 -Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter -Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org

This week David and Curtis are joined by Karen Swallow Prior, writer, thinker, and research professor of English and Christianity and culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Karen talks to us about the current state of affairs in social media, particularly Twitter, and compares its impact on culture and the church to another critical technology, the printing press. She discusses how these modern technologies are impacting our brains, and how we can push back against this through the simple act of reading, especially the (necessarily slow and contemplative) reading of literature.   Show Notes: -National Endowment of the Arts - “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America” -Caleb Crain (The New Yorker) - “Why We Don’t Read, Revisited” -Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter -Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org

It’s been an eventful week, and for many a deeply troubling one. But of course, no matter what end of the political spectrum you come from, weeks like this seem increasingly common. The hits just keep on coming, as do the feelings of loss and fear. So how are we as Christians to navigate such deeply troubled times? This week, David and Curtis dive into this question with some interesting thoughts from Rudyard Kipling, and some even more important (and eternal) wisdom from the Psalms.   Show Notes: -Sign up for David’s French Press newsletter -Follow Curtis’ work at RedeemingBabel.org