United? We Pray

Continuing our series on political virtues, Joshua Chatman joins Austin to talk about the Christian virtue of hope and the difference hope makes for our political engagement. Josh introduces several categories of hope which he and Austin then apply to political engagement. By being hopeful rather than fearful, Christians can stand out in this anxious generation. We hope you are encouraged.  LINKS...

Pastor Steve Bateman hosted Austin and Isaac for a discussion on the political virtue of faith. Pastor Steve believes that despite the trouble regarding Christianity and politics, Christians should remain politically engaged. By exercising our faith and being reasonable (Philippians 4), we can bless our neighbors with our political engagement. Steve speaks about the fear and anxiety that so often...

Austin is joined today by Dr. John D. Wilsey, author of American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (IVP, 2015). Dr. Wilsey has much to teach us about history and how Americans have thought about themselves and their place in the world. While American Exceptionalism has sometimes referred to an imperialist mindset, Dr. Wilsey encourages us to lean into the legacy...

Justin Giboney is a husband, father, attorney, ordained minister, and author. He is the co-founder & president of the & Campaign and host of the church politics podcast. He joins Austin and Isaac to talk about politics and race. Political convictions aren't the only things that divide Christians. We are still divided by ideas about race as well. Justin has much wisdom to share on both...

Austin and Isaac are joined by Dr. Derwin Gray to discuss political idolatry in our churches. Dr. Gray is both a pastor and scholar. We wanted to hear from him about this difficult topic, and the fruit he's seeing from it in our churches. We discuss the different manifestations of political idolatry, its causes, and the terrible fruit it produces. Despite that, Dr. Gray is encouraged because...

Pastor Joshua Chatman joins Austin to talk about how to be agents of unity in difficult political seasons. We learned during the last election cycle of the deep divides within the Church over politics. Josh and Austin talk about what we should not do, and what we should do as we relate to our brothers and sisters who think differently about politics. When the watching world thinks about Christians...

Dan Darling joins the show once again to talk through political convictions. It's no secret that this is a difficult political season for a lot of Christians. Without diving into the weeds of any specific issue, Dan and Austin discuss how we should arrive at our political convictions and how we should relate to brothers and sisters who have arrived at different convictions. Please join us in...

Happy fourth of July! This week we are joined by special guest, Pastor Bobby Scott. "Bible Bobby" is a friend of the ministry who has been on the podcast and has written for us several times. He has a particular interest in black history and all the ways our nation has failed to live up to its ideals in its treatment of black people. Despite this, Bobby is a proud military dad and a patr...

On today's special episode, Pastor Isaac Adams interviews one of his church members, Brittany Elmer. Brittany and her husband have adopted three special needs children, none of whom share their ethnicity. Her son, Isaac, went to be with the Lord earlier this year. Brittany shares how the prayers of her friends carried her through that tragedy, and how she is still learning about special needs...

Dr. Timothy Muehlhoff is a professor of communication at BIOLA University in California. He is also co-author of End the Stalemate: Move Past Cancel Culture to Meaningful Conversations along with his BIOLA colleague Sean McDowell. This book, which came out today, is an excellent resource for what to do when conversations feel stuck, as can often happen when discussing race. We encourage you to che...

Brittany Salmon is a scholar and author of It Takes More than Love: A Christian Guide to Navigating the Complexities of Cross-Cultural Adoption (Moody, 2022). She is also the adoptive mother to three children who do not share her ethnicity, so her teaching on transracial adoption is not simply academic. She has spent many hours listening to birth mothers and adult adoptees whose experience has sha...

We're back in our Bible study series with Adrianna Anderson. Today we look at the minor prophets, where we see a fuller picture of God's mercy to His people, Israel, and to the nations. There are plenty of sober warnings of judgment, but God's mercy shines through these books as time and again the people are given chances to repent and know God as father rather than judge. God'...

Few things are as difficult as parenting. If you desire to raise your kids to be agents of unity among God's people, it is even harder. Josh Chatman, host of the Train 'em Up podcast stops by to talk about parenting. Austin and Josh shared their experience of both raising children who do not share their ethnicity. We hope this episode is helpful beyond the context of multi-ethnic familie...

Today, Adrianna and Austin are exploring the major prophets and seeing God's plan for His people from all nations. While these books occur in the context immediately preceding and during the Exile, God's faithfulness permeates the whole thing. We see that God has not forgotten His people or His covenant with them. We see that while He uses the nations for judgment, He remains faithful to...

What does the Bible say about interracial marriage? Adrianna Anderson and Austin Suter continue this exploration of Biblical Theology as we look at Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra. These books represent the exile and the mercy of God in allowing the exile to end and for God's people to return to Jerusalem. Ezra and Nehemiah both contain references to God's people taking foreign wives,...

Is the idea of race in the Bible? In the last episode of this series, Adrianna Anderson joined Austin to study the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. This week, we’re looking at the history books of the Old Testament: Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. God’s desire for His people was to be a light to the Nations. In these books, we see Israel relating to the surrounding peoples and sadly being influen...

Adrianna Anderson is back as we continue walking through the Old Testament. These three books, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, share the history of God's people in the promised land. There is much history here to lament and learn from, and thankfully there is history to celebrate as well. We see the people being influenced by the nations around them, and see examples of faithfulness at the same tim...

Adrianna Anderson is back with us to discuss the law: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. We take a high-level view of these books and see the many lessons God has for His people in dealing with the nations. From this, we are able to start building a Biblical theology of race and ethnicity as we see God's heart for the nations present from the beginning of Scripture. We hope this series enco...

We continue our Bible study series by looking at the book of Exodus. There are many ethnic issues in this book, from the oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians, to the covenant faithfulness of Zipporah. This was a fascinating discussion and we hope you are encouraged.  LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts. Here's a...

We are kicking off our Bible Study or Biblical Theology series with the book of Genesis. Adrianna Anderson brings her expertise as a Bible scholar to help us look at Scripture to see God's plan for diversity and ethnic harmony. There is so much in Scripture on this topic. Genesis is packed full of promises for the nations, as you will hear in this episode. Take up and read with us! LINKS &amp...

Austin and Isaac were pleased to welcome Courtney Reissig to the studio today. Courtney is an accomplished author who has also been writing for us for years. We talked with her about her burden to speak out on racial matters and overcoming her own self-consciousness to do so. We hope you're encouraged by her example and our conversation together.  LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Epis...

What does multi-ethnic ministry look like in different contexts? Pastor Yannick Christos-Wahab joins us to talk about his church in London. We hear about similarities and differences between the UK and the US, and Yannick gives us a positive vision for being salt and light in a dark world.  LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts....

Isaac and Austin sit down for the second installment in our FAQ series with a question we often get on the road - "what if my church doesn't care about ethnic unity?" We talk through scenarios when someone might want to leave their church, but spend most of the conversation cautioning against making quick decisions or judgments about others. Not everyone has to care about and pursue...

Dr. Randy Newman joins Austin to discuss the disturbing increase in antisemitism happening in the world right now. Randy shares his own experience with antisemitism, shares some of his family history, and provides a theological perspective on why history keeps repeating itself. We hope you will join us in praying for our Jewish neighbors.  LINKS & SHOW NOTES: This UWP Podcast Episode was produ...

Pastor Josh Chatman is back with us because he thinks Christians need to grow in our application of charity. Christian charity is just another way to speak about loving our neighbors, which is a duty all of us have. We don't have to agree with, understand, or even like someone to be kind to them. We do this in our churches, families, and workplaces, and when we do it well, God is glorified. P...