The Flip Side with Noah Filipiak

Noah Filipiak interviews Shane Claiborne about how to engage churches in helping the poor, activism and justice issues.  They talk about celebrityism within popular Christianity, about what can be done to stop the death penalty (Shane's latest book is Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It's Killing Us ), and about how to be an ordinary radical as both a single person and a...

Noel Castellanos is the CEO of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and the author of Where the Cross Meets the Street: What Happens to the Neighborhood When God Is at the Center .  Noah Filipiak interviews Noel about the downside of American Evangelicals being obsessed with going to heaven, but neglecting much of Jesus's example and teaching.  Noel talks "behind the curtain" abo...

Matthew Soerens is the US Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief.  Noah Filipiak interview Matthew about a biblical response to undocumented immigrants, the Mexican border, Syrian and other Muslim refugees, and much more.  The episode closes with a poem called "Home" by World Relief's Jacob Mau ( www.jacobmaumusic.com ) Books co-authored by Matthew Soerens: Seeking Refuge: On the Shores...

Noah Filipiak interviews Grace Fox on the pressure a Christian author faces to have to make themselves well-known, despite the Bible's emphasis that "Jesus must increase, and we must decrease" (John 3:28-30).  Noah and Grace discuss the challenge to do this in the Christian book marketplace where names must be known and books must be sold, and the damage that can be done to our souls when we get o...

Chris McKenna is the new Educational Resource Manager for Covenant Eyes and also runs the website Protect Young Eyes ( www.protectyoungeyes.com ).  Protect Young Eyes is loaded with free tools for parents, as Chris specializes in speaking weekly around the Midwest to parents and students on using the Internet better as the latest apps and devices hit the market.  Noah and Chris each share how they...

Noah Filipiak interviews 2016 Christianity Today Book of the Year (in the Category of The Church/Pastoral Leadership) award winner Dr. Zack Eswine.  In addition to the award-winning The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus , Zack is also the author of Spurgeon's Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression , Preaching to a P...

Noah Filipiak interviews World Relief's Haiti Country Director, Joseph Bataille.  Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere before the 2010 earthquake and even more so after.  All this despite millions and millions of dollars of international aid over the course of decades.  Noah and Joseph have a "behind the curtain" conversation about how Haiti got in the spot its in, what World Re...

Noah Filipiak interviews Derek Webb about his career change from hit CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) band Caedman's Call to his solo career.  The focus of the interview centers around how to be real as a ministry leader who's in the spotlight with a public persona.  Derek's lyrics are known for being transparent, agitating and vulnerable, yet he shares how he didn't have close friends he was vu...

The State of Utah recently declared pornography to be a public health crisis via a resolution drafted by 23rd district Senator Todd Weiler.  Noah Filipiak interviews Senator Weiler about the perils of pornography, the flak Senator Weiler has received (including from Seth Myers and Whoopi Goldberg), what can be done to find freedom from pornography on a personal level, and what we can all do about...

Noah Filipiak interviews 18-year-old Dennis Hammond on being raised in inner city Lansing, how he found Christ, his June 19-26th trip to Honduras and how the odds are stacked against inner city black youth.  The catalyst of this interview came from Noah helping Dennis fund-raise for his $1600 missions trip and realizing how different it is for an inner city black teen to try paying for a missions...

In Episode 19, the one-year anniversary episode for Behind the Curtain, Noah Filipiak interviews 11-time author Sarah Arthur.  Sarah's book Walking with Frodo was the #1 bestselling youth resource in Christian publishing for the holiday season 2003, and #13 in all categories and Walking with Bilbo won the Logos Book Award at the Christian Booksellers Convention for Best Youth Book 2005.  Her most...

Shawn Lovejoy is the author of The Measure of Our Success: An Impassioned Plea to Pastors and Be Mean About the Vision: Preserving and Protecting What Matters .  He is a church planting veteran, having planted Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, GA, which he recently stepped away from after 16 years to focus on coaching leaders and pastoring pastors at www. CourageToLead.com .  Noah Filipiak intervie...

Noah Filipiak interviews Pastor Tyler St. Clair about his upcoming church plant on the NW side of Detroit, the neighborhood Tyler and his wife both grew up in.  Tyler's target location is one of the "bad parts" of Detroit, with all of the symptoms of urban poverty ever-present.  After being guided to plant in other more financially viable areas, Tyler discusses why he is staying committed to this...

Andrew Maxwell compiled an impressive career as Michigan State University's quarterback, his biggest season coming as the starter in 2012.  Maxwell finished his MSU career with 3014 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and a 105.5 quarterback rating in 26 total games played.  After going undrafted, he had tryouts with the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots in 2014.  In this interview, Andrew and...

The church Jeremy Dowsett started 10 years ago closed its doors in 2015.  In this interview with Noah Filipiak, Jeremy takes us behind the curtain of how he's handled this emotionally and spiritually.  Every church planter who has gone through this experience is going to be unique and Jeremy is no exception.  The interview walks through the flaws in Evangelical Protestantism that Jeremy experience...

Authors, veteran church planters, retreat leaders, and marriage and ministry leadership coaches Tom and Sandi Blaylock (Pawleys Island, SC) share with honesty, grace and transparency the many struggles they've endured as a married couple in ministry.  These experiences have given Tom and Sandi a wealth of wisdom on how married couples can heal their marriages.  This interview truly goes "behind th...

Susie Finkbeiner has written three novels, with her recent A Cup of Dust being released today, October 27th, with Kregel Publishers.  In this episode, Noah Filipiak interviews Susie about exhaustion, how to handle exhaustion, the superficiality of "puppy hug and rainbow kiss" Christianity (and Christian fiction), politics and how to stay grounded.

Ruth Haley Barton is the award winning author of 7 books and the founder of  The Transforming Center .  Her book  Sacred Rhythms  won the Logos Book Award for Best Book Award on Spirituality and her book  Invitation to Solitude and Silence  won the Christianity Today Book of the Year Award for Spirituality.  In this interview, Noah Filipiak interviews Ruth about how to deal with success and failur...

In this episode, Noah Filipiak interviews the starting tight end for the #4 ranked Michigan State Spartans football team, redshirt junior Josiah Price.  Price has 13 career touchdowns at Michigan State, a record for a tight end, including 3 in the first 3 games of 2015.  He caught the go ahead touchdown against #2 ranked Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game in 2013, as well as a fourth quar...

Noah Filipiak interviews Noel Heikkinen, one of the pastors at Riverview Church in Holt, Lansing and East Lansing, MI.  Riverview is a church made up of around 3000 - 4000 people that has 4 venues in the Lansing area.  Noel and Noah discuss the hardest thing about being a pastor, including a helpful discussion about the anxiety pastors and church planters face, how we can combat anxiety, and how c...

Noah Filipiak interviews Covenant Eyes ' Luke Gilkerson on why pastors look at porn & have affairs. Applicable to men, women, pastors and churchgoers, this is a must listen for the Church. Luke is the Educational Resource Manager at Covenant Eyes, he also runs the Covenant Eyes blog where he is also a frequent author.  Luke’s personal blog is www.intoxicatedonlife.com and he is the author of The T...

Noah Filipiak interviews Chris Pruett, the self-titled “Happiest Homeless Person in Lansing.”  Chris attends Pastor Noah's church and does a great job of shedding the light of love and humanity onto homelessness.  Learn about homelessness from the eyes of a homeless person.  Chris is intelligent, creative and funny.  See www.atacrossroads.net for a small sampling of the various signs (and boxes fo...

In this interview Noah talks with Zachary Bartels on the balance of being both a pastor and a Christian fiction author. They  talk about the required "self-promotion" of the author world and the safeguards that have to be put in place to make sure this doesn't become sin.  Noah shares the insecurities he faced when he began trying to get published, including embarrassing moments due to this insecu...

Recording artist Jessa Anderson and Noah talk about the tension in the Christian music industry between making good music with good theology, how all of life’s struggles can’t be fixed in a 3 and half minute song with a pretty bow at the end of it, and the lure of writing in a way that will get you on the radio.  They talk about the depression and anxiety ministry leaders face and how our churches...

Youth pastor David Singleton and I talk about the different narratives of the white and black cultures and how this relates to the Church. We discuss the Baltimore riots, racial segregation in churches, the differences between suburban and urban youth ministry, and steps we can take to be the Church Jesus intended.  David has been the youth pastor at Crossroads Church in Lansing, MI for the past y...