The Weight

How do you disagree with someone in ways that allows the Holy Spirit to work within you--in ways that promote love, patience, faithfulness, and peace instead of hatred, anger, and dissent? Kathy Khang and Matt Mikalatos are cohosts of the Fascinating Podcast and the authors of Loving Disagreement , and they offer some thoughts on living in community with one another and working through disagreemen...

Every moment--as mundane as doing laundry or as overwhelming as losing a loved one--can connect us back to God’s great story. But finding the words for those moments can be hard. Today’s guest has words to share. Doug McKelvey is author of the Every Moment Holy books, three volumes of prayers for the ordinary moments in our lives.  Doug is an author, song lyricist, scriptwriter, and video director...

Matt Luke is a former football player and coach, who served as the head coach for the University of Mississippi (and was a member of Oxford University United Methodist Church while Eddie and Chris pastored there.) Matt is probably most well known for helping to lead the University of Georgia football team to a National Championship win in 2021 as associate head coach and offensive line coach. Afte...

Today’s conversation with Shane Stanford will leave you with a lot to think about, a lot to pray about, and a lot to talk about. Shane is the CEO and founder of the Moore-West Center for Applied Theology and JourneyWise, a content network that seeks to equip people to love Jesus and to love like Jesus. He has been a United Methodist Pastor for over 30 years, including time as senior pastor at Chri...

Do you struggle with how to pray? Do you find yourself holding things back from conversations with God? Do you need a guide or a road map or something to help you deepen your prayer life? Today’s guest has one answer for you: pray the psalms. Theologian W. David O. Taylor is an author, speaker, and minister with a heart for bringing together art and ministry. He is the director of the short film,...

Having spaces for people to gather, play, and enjoy life with one another can change individual lives and whole communities. By and large, those spaces have begun to disappear. Creating those spaces and times for kids to gather is the passion project of today’s guest, Lowrey Crews. Lowrey is the founder and CEO of the 18th Ward, a non-profit that provides high-quality, low-cost youth sports progra...

Today’s conversation with Anne Snyder might give you a little hope. She joins Eddie and Chris in a rich discussion of the Christian imagination, bringing back our shared stories to build community and move forward with more grace and joy--concepts that have seemed a little hard to grasp over the last few years. Anne is the editor-in-chief of Comment , a quarterly magazine that prints articles and...

Show Notes: We are excited to welcome Barbara Brown Taylor to The Weight for a conversation about hospitality and being in the center and being at the edge of a religion--how is it different when you’re the outsider versus when you’re on the inside? How do you let people who believe in something completely different strengthen your own faith? Barbara leaned into these lessons when she taught a Rel...

Shownotes: Eddie and Chris join music legend Mac McAnally in a delightful conversation about music, making your mark, and leaving the world a better place than you found it. Mac is a native of Belmont, Mississippi, but he’s better known as a country music singer, songwriter, session musician, and record producer. He is an award-winning talent who has worked with country stars Kenny Chesney and Saw...

Show Notes: Today we are joined by Dr. Derwin Gray, Lead Pastor and Co-Founder of Transformation Church in Indian Land, South Carolina. Dr. Gray played professional football in the NFL following his graduation from Brigham Young University in 1993. After his NFL career, Dr. Gray graduated magna cum laude from Southern Evangelical Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. He received an honorary d...

Shownotes: The language surrounding mental health often limits the fullness of each complex human experience. Stigma, stereotypes, and media representations perpetuate one-dimensional portraits of what it means to live with a mental illness. Additionally, Christians tend to view sadness and joy in a narrow manner, when the Bible speaks to a vast array of human emotions we all experience. With all...

Shownotes: Somewhere in the rhythm of spiritual practices and religious traditions, American Christians have lost the sense of beauty, awe, and wonder that permeates through familiar stories of the Bible. Conversely, Western Christian culture sanitizes the reality of darkness throughout the Biblical narrative. Our culture brings more attention to the glory of Easter than the brokenness of Good Fri...

Show Notes: Becca Stevens is a speaker, social entrepreneur, author, priest, founder, and President of Thistle Farms. She has been featured on PBS NewsHour, The Today Show, CNN, ABC World News, named a CNN Hero, and White House Champion of Change. Becca founded Thistle Farms in 1997 with a single home for survivors of trafficking and addiction. In this episode, Chris and Eddie sit down to talk wit...

Shownotes: Chris and Eddie are joined by Kiese Laymon, a black southern writer, born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. He is the author of the best-selling memoir “Heavy,” a deeply honest reflection on his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling. The winner of multiple awards, including the Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction, Laymon’...

Parenting is hard. Parenting through a pandemic is even harder, but David Thomas and Sissy Goff are here to provide help and support. Sissy and David work at Daystar Counseling Ministries in Nashville, Tennessee. Sissy is the Director of Child and Adolescent Counseling and David is the Director of Family Counseling. When they aren’t counseling and ministering to kids and parents alike, they find t...

What does it take to imagine a world without war? How do we begin to believe that as a possibility? Eddie and Chris begin a series on war with guest Stanley Hauerwas, noted theologian and ethicist. Dr. Hauerwas asks us to contemplate the hard questions of war and nonviolence, but he knows the answers don’t come easily. Dr. Hauerwas is a long-time professor at Duke Divinity School and Duke Universi...

Shownotes: It is undeniable that sports have always played a significant role in our society. They have a unique way of uniting, inspiring, and exciting mass populaces in a manner that is irreplicable. For many communities in America, the sports scene plays a vital role in terms of general morale, and for many, economic vitality. Furthermore, sports have served as a therapeutic and restorative out...

Vulnerability is hard. Feeling broken can lead us to feeling shame, and shame can lead us down hard and difficult paths. But today’s guest has a resounding word of hope for all of us, despite our brokenness, despite our shame. Toni Collier is the founder of an international women’s ministry called Broken Crayons Still Color, which helps women process through trauma and find hope for the future. Sh...

James K.A. Smith is a returning guest to The Weight, this time for a conversation about his newest book, How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now . He, Eddie, and Chris talk about the redemptive work of God’s love and grace in the broken parts of our lives. Our brokenness is part of our story, and it’s something God uses to bring us to an even better pl...

Our guest today is Dr. Angie Ward, Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and Associate Professor of Leadership and Ministry at Denver Seminary. Angie is the editor of a series of books called Kingdom Conversations , compilations of essays by various authors and theologians that help us reframe our context and the inherent love we should feel for those around us. Angie has over 30 years of lea...

The intersection of science and theology can lead to some heated discussions, but for Dr. Josh Gladden, it’s more about being open and curious and willing to think beyond what the eye can see. Today’s episode dives into the Webb Telescope, the moral questions of certain scientific advancements, and how God fits into our ever-expanding world. Dr. Gladden is the Vice Chancellor for Research and Spon...

Our world is busy. Our lives are busy. Our time is filled with tasks and lists and work and errands and obligations. How do we slow down and open ourselves up to letting God disrupt our lives? Today’s guest, Dr. Lyn Pace, talks Chris and Eddie through using the liturgical year to engage the season we’re in and how to emphasize certain moments within each season of the church calendar.  Dr. Pace is...

HBCUs, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, serve an important role in the education system of the United States. Today on The Weight, Chris and Eddie talk to Dr. Ivy Taylor, the President of Rust College, an HBCU in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Dr. Taylor consistently values the importance of education in general and the significance of HBCUs specifically in the United States.  Dr. Taylor...

Show Notes: In this episode, Eddie and Chris have a hopeful conversation about the future of the church with guest Winfield Bevins. Winfield is an author, artist, pastor and church planter who sees younger generations longing to be a part of a bigger story. They are looking for something deeper, and they’re finding themselves diving into liturgical traditions of the Church. Winfield is the directo...

We welcome Dr. Edgardo Colón-Emeric to The Weight for a discussion of Maundy Thursday (the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples before his arrest, crucifixion, death, and resurrection) through the lens of the ministry of Fr. Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of El Salvador who was assassinated in 1980. Edgardo was drawn to the way Archbishop Romero read the gospel through th...