What If I'm Wrong?

This is session 2 of our two-part pod-class series “I Think I Need a Therapist.” If you’re a stickler for listening to podcasts in their sequential order and you missed last week’s episode, you may want to hit pause and play  session 1 first. But you’ll find the conversations valuable in whichever order you listen to them. Today Heather sits down with family therapist Sarah Bontrager, a friend and...

Welcome back! After a two-week break, Viral Jesus is back and ready to serve you in a variety of ways this summer. We are kicking off our first pod-class of summer today with the first episode of our new two-part series “I Think I Need a Therapist.” You will have plenty to chew on after listening to this episode. In the midst of what many are calling a  national mental health crisis , young people...

In today’s episode Heather borrows author Katherine May’s metaphorical idea of “wintering” to describe the season of sadness that she’s recently been navigating. Winters can be long and harsh, but they also can be vital to the healing and renewal of an environment. Our spiritual winters are no different. If this year has added pain and anxiety to your life, you will want to hear the encouragement...

In today’s episode Heather sits down with author Shannan Martin for the final installment in our four-part series “ Who Is My Neighbor? ” Shannan says don’t wait for community to just happen. Instead, she encourages us to become the type of neighbor that creates and inspires community. Heather and Shannan discuss practical ways we can better live out our calling as Christ followers, right where we...

In today’s episode Heather shares part three of our “Who Is My Neighbor?” pod-class series. She is joined by QuaWanna Bannarbie and Bethany Rivera Molinar, two of the gifted contributors to Voices of Lament: Reflections on Brokenness and Hope in a World Longing for Justice , a new book inspired by Psalm 37. In their candid conversation with Heather, QuaWanna and Bethany invite us to lean into the...

In today’s episode Heather sits down with Karen González for part two of our four-part pod-class titled “ Who Is My Neighbor? ” If you’re joining us fresh, make sure to catch last week’s episode where we opened the series with Native American Bible translator Terry Wildman . This week, Karen challenges us to question our positionality as we engage with the stories we love in Scripture. “We will di...

Today’s episode is part one of “Who Is My Neighbor?,” our latest pod-class series on faithful discipleship and what it means to truly love our neighbor. And, in case you missed it, be sure to listen to last week’s episode , where Heather revisits the parable of the Good Samaritan and explains why she chose “Who Is My Neighbor?” as this month’s pod-class theme. This week, Heather is joined by minis...

In today’s episode Heather explains why she chose “Who Is My Neighbor?” as the subject for our next four-part, pod-class series, which starts next week. To help set the tone, Heather walks us through the parable of the Good Samaritan ( Luke 10:25-37 ). Using Kenneth E. Bailey’s book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes as a framework, Heather challenges us to experience the explosive message of the p...

In today’s episode Heather sits down with brothers Darin and Jordan Starks, hosts of  The Just Different Podcast , to talk about how they built an engaged podcast community. Darin and Jordan speak transparently and wisely about topics such as love, sex, purpose, and shame. They also share their experience with mentorship, finding their “why,” and why they believe God doesn’t need us to be perfect,...

In today’s episode Heather unpacks some of the key themes and learnings from the past four weeks of our “Lessons from My Mentor” pod-class series. She is joined by special guests Arleny Aquino and Xavier Thomas , two of her students at Andrews University, who share their reflections on mentorship and what they were most challenged and encouraged by in the Viral Jesus pod class. They also discuss w...

Today’s episode concludes our four-part, pod-class series on mentorship. And what better way to finish than with godly wisdom and inspiration from another one of Heather’s favorite online mentors? We’re thrilled to welcome Beth Moore to Viral Jesus. Last week, Jo Saxton guided us through practical tips on what mentoring is, and why we need to cultivate environments that allow us to use our gifts....

In today’s episode we continue with part three of our four-part pod-class series on mentorship. If you missed it, please check out last week’s episode with Christine Caine , where Christine cautioned us to not confuse platform with ministry. This week we sit down with Jo Saxton to gain some practical tips on what mentoring is, how we can get a mentor, and why we need to cultivate environments that...

In today’s episode we present part two of “Lessons from My Mentor,” our four-part, pod-class series on mentorship. In  part one , Heather introduced us to Pastor José Rojas, her personal mentor and a former White House advisor. This week we learn from author, activist, and evangelist Christine Caine in a power-packed conversation about what it means to trust God, pursue your calling, and lean into...

José Rojas went from a 1.7 GPA to a career at the White House and a lifetime of empowering others, including the host of this podcast. Today’s episode is part one of “Lessons from My Mentor,” our new four-part, pod-class series on mentorship. To kick off the series Heather sits down with Pastor Rojas, her personal mentor, to discuss the power of servant leadership. José recounts his ministry journ...

In today’s episode Heather puts on her professor’s hat to walk us through the social psychology behind why human beings are wired to exist in relationship with one another. Heather says this is where evolutionary biology and Christianity can agree, that human beings are social beings whose mental and spiritual wholeness depends on our connection to other people and our connection to God. We were c...

In today’s episode Heather sits down with her friends Ty Gibson and David Asscherick to discuss what we may be getting wrong about the character of God. David and Ty walk us through Scripture and show us what has been there all along: God is love . What would happen to our evangelism and conversations if we, as a church body, truly started believing that this statement is true? You won’t want to m...

In today’s episode Heather visits with one of her favorite theologians, Joel Muddamalle, for an energetic and insightful conversation about God’s original vision for the church and how we often miss it. Joel unpacks what it means to be ambassadors for Christ in a fragmented world; he cautions us against letting social media divide our souls; and he reminds us that ethnic and cultural diversity in...

In this episode Heather begins our three-part series of conversations with evangelical thought leaders who are challenging us to reconsider some of our long-held beliefs about God. We’re calling this pod-class series “Things You May Be Getting Wrong About God.” If you missed last week’s episode , you may want to go back to hear Heather’s personal reflections on the theme and why she hopes you’ll j...

It’s our first new episode of 2023, and Heather opens the new year by introducing our latest pod-class series, “Things You May Be Getting Wrong About God.” She shares thoughts from Isaiah 30, a passage of Scripture she’d been reading in worship that prompted her to confront some of her shortsighted ideas about how God was moving in her life. In addition to her own personal reflections, over the ne...

In today’s episode Heather sits down with Jonathan Evans to talk about his latest book, Fighting Your Battles: Every Christian’s Playbook for Victory . In this conversation Jonathan describes a God who has often “unsettled” him. What do we do when life brings us conflict and disappointment instead of comfort and security? It starts, Jonathan says, by realizing that Christian maturity is not indepe...

In today’s episode Heather is joined by youth ministry expert Kara Powell to talk about Kara’s latest book, 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager . Kara will teach us how to connect with Generation Z, what they need in order to thrive spiritually, and how we can help them as they wrestle with questions of identity, purpose, and belonging. But first we visit with Mandy Majors , author of Keepi...

This week, Heather sits down with social media influencer and Bible teacher Anh Lin to talk about all things YouTube and content creation. You’ll hear from one of the most dynamic content creators in the online lifestyle space about how she built her platform, what she discovered about handling burnout, and how being vulnerable about her failures helped save a life. Also, learn how Anh, a self-pro...

This week, we review and reflect on what we learned in our “pod-class” series on gaining self-confidence. Heather shares feedback from her listeners and reminds us that God often moves in our lives gradually— little by little —one small shift after another. If you’re new to our pod-classes, you may want to pause this episode and start with Heather's preface to the series, “ On Gaining Self-Confide...

Welcome to part three of our three-part “pod-class” series on gaining self-confidence. Heather visits with author Tori Hope Petersen to discuss Tori’s incredibly inspiring story of growing up in foster care, becoming a 4x track state champion, and eventually becoming Mrs. Universe. By the end of their lively and thoughtful chat, you'll understand a truth that drives Tori's ministry: “Healed people...

Welcome to part two of our three-part pod-class series on gaining self-confidence. Heather sits down with author Jordan Lee Dooley to discuss what you should do when “almost” disrupts the life you thought God was calling you to. “Your greatest disappointment can be one of two things,” writes Jordan, “dead ends or defining moments.” If you’re new to our “pod-class,” you may want to pause this episo...