Winsome Conviction

There are a handful of bedrock principles and practices that inform having a winsome conviction, and a big one is perspective-taking. Tim digs into his graduate education in communication studies and draws out the difference between listening to evaluate and listening to understand . Usually, we jump right to evaluation before seeking to understand, and this often results in communication gridlock...

Tim and Rick discuss a recent Barna study that highlights notable differences involving perceptions - how Christians perceive themselves and how Christians are perceived in culture. Rick also draws from his bag of metaphors and considers whether the Church is a thermometer or a thermostat in the argument culture, and they spend some time discussing aspirations to holiness and the charge in the old...

For another segment on Reports from The Front, Tim and Rick continue the discussion with pastor Dan Broyles on how social services and faith communities can work together to address social problems. Dan talks about the misconceptions social services and faith communities have of each other that oftentimes prevent collaboration, and they consider ways these groups might build trust and partner to h...

How do we engage with people who hold different beliefs? Oftentimes, the impulse is to correct the other, and this is especially the case in the argument culture. But what if we began by connecting, establishing a baseline of trust and finding points of agreement? Dan Broyles is a pastor in LA County who is doing just this, and he joins the podcast today to speak with Tim and Rick on the ways he i...

When arguments escalate, we need to know how to make our words and actions less forceful and extreme. While many listeners will not find themselves in an argument that leads to a physical confrontation, self-defense expert Nick Drossos speaks with Tim on disciplines in self-defense that help to de-escalate heated conversations and hostile arguments. Tim and Nick discuss training in breathing and p...

Back in April, to help draw attention to Sexual Assault Awareness month, the Winsome Conviction Project partnered with Biola’s Center for Marriage and Relationships to host a series of events to raise awareness of sexual violence and educate communities on how to prevent it. Chris Grace, co-host of the Art of Relationships podcast, joined with Tim to speak with Nick Drossos, a self-defense expert,...

Russell Moore (PhD) is back on the podcast to speak on “convictional kindness” and how to apply it in a divisive culture. The conversation draws from 2 Timothy 2 where the apostle Paul instructs Christians to "be kind to everyone" and to "correct opponents with gentleness." Can Paul’s instruction to Christians work in our own time when we face hostility? And what factors influe...

Prashan De Visser returns to the podcast to speak with Tim and Rick on trends and themes he observes in America that undermine peacemaking efforts. Drawing from his experience with Global Unites , Prashan underscores the importance of working with the young generation and how the older generation can help the younger generation. They also discuss theological underpinnings for peacemaking as well a...

Tim and Rick sit down with Dr. Robert George, a renowned professor, legal scholar, political philosopher, and public intellectual, and this year’s recipient of Biola University’s Charles W. Colson Conviction and Courage award. Dr. George has maintained a very devout and a very public Christian faith, and he is a model of what sociologist James Davison Hunter calls "faithful presence" at...

The temptation to resist being gentle is strong, especially in the argument culture. Personal slights and hostile communication all prey upon the urge to respond in kind, with harshness, and a gentle response most often feels irritating and ineffective. Yet, can a Christian opt out of being gentle? In this episode, Rick and Tim explore how gentleness was Jesus’ favored way of speaking up, notably...

Trading an insult for an insult is tempting, at times fiendishly satisfying, and doing so will surely deepen division. It may be for this reason Peter warns the Church against this manner of engagement and urges another way. In today’s episode, Tim and Rick look at 1 Peter 3 and reflect on Peter’s counsel to the early Christians when they experienced insult and draw relevance and application for u...

How should Christians express a Christ-like posture in the public square? What expression should that posture take when political disagreements arise? Patrick Miller is back on the podcast to speak with Rick about influences shaping how communities of Christian faith engage in disagreement, notably when disagreement involves political concern. They discuss empathy, the cost of not knowing someone...

When relationships are fractured and church communities are splintering, what can we do to help put an end to the divisions? Rick speaks with Patrick Miller, pastor and co-author of the book, Truth Over Tribe: Pledging Allegiance to the Lamb, not the Donkey or the Elephant , on cultural influences contributing to division and how Jesus models a way forward that we can put into practice. Show notes...

We’re trying something new on the podcast today. Rick draws from Psalm 46 to help us reflect on fears we are experiencing with respect to political issues and engagement. Remembering that God is “a refuge” and “a help” and “a hope” has been vital for God’s people throughout history, and these truths provide needed perspective for us today in our own cultural moment. Show notes and a full transcrip...

Tim and Rick have a civil disagreement with atheist philosopher and popular YouTuber Tom Jump. They explore dynamics of religious belief and factors that influence belief toward or against God. They illustrate how we might have a civil disagreement on issues involving theistic belief and religious conversion. Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Here at the Winsome Conviction Project we engage differing and diverse perspectives, so we’re grateful to have Tom Jump, an atheist and philosopher who runs a popular YouTube channel, join today’s episode. Tom shares some of his story that influenced a shift away from Christianity and toward atheism. Tim, Rick and Tom also discuss the influence of online chats within today’s argument culture and t...

Prashan De Visser knows something about working through contention. Following 26 years of civil war in Sri Lanka, in 2009 he founded Sri Lanka Unites and began placing his effort to heal his home country by promoting hope and reconciliation. Since that time, Sri Lanka Unites has expanded to 13 countries and is known as Global Unites . They have engaged 1.5 million youth who are learning to build a...

You’re enjoying some festive fare and then it happens: you hear an offensive comment or a family member says something disagreeable and your emotional heat begins to boil. What do you do? How do you respond? Is there anything you can do preemptively to help yourself and the situation in that moment? On this episode, Tim and Rick discuss spiritual discipline exercises you can do to prepare for hard...

The holidays can be a meaningful time with friends and family, but gathering at the holiday table can also be trying and fraught with difficult conversations on hot-button issues. On this episode, Tim and Rick discuss how to navigate difficult conversations this holiday season in the hope of preserving relationship and deepening connection with others.  Show notes and a full transcript are availab...

American theologian philosopher Richard Mouw has been championing a call to civil discourse on religious, political, and other social issues for well over four decades. On this episode, he resumes the conversation with Tim and Rick on a distinctly Christian approach to civility. Dr. Mouw shares personal experiences in interfaith dialogues and other exchanges involving pointed disagreement where he...

Can we think about civility from a distinctly Christian perspective? American theologian philosopher Richard Mouw joins the podcast to explore this question with Tim and Rick. Dr. Mouw has been thinking about civility and helping religious and political parties engage in civil discourse for over 40 years, and he sits down to share stories and insights gained. The conversation ranges over the bibli...

Tim and Rick resume the conversation with Andrew Sullivan on civility and its vital role in a healthy democracy. In this episode, Andrew reflects on the quality of generosity in many Americans, a bright spot in dark times of the argument culture; the discussion then turns to the topic of cancel culture where Andrew candidly shares his experience of being cancelled; and they round out the discussio...

Civility is a requirement for a healthy republic. But we seem to be losing faith in civility, and people are confused on what civility involves and when to be civil. Andrew Sullivan joins the podcast to speak with Tim and Rick on a range of social issues that bear on civility. In this episode, they discuss the danger of labels and the importance of humanizing others before mining the secret of a h...

Tim resumes the discussion with Stephanie Bennett (PhD) on her new book, “Silence, Civility, and Sanity: Hope for Humanity in a Digital Age.” They take a deeper look at silence as a set of practices for counteracting unhealthy and uncivil discourse. Dr. Bennett unpacks two types of silence - contemplative silence and ontological silence - to help us reclaim civil communication and healthy public c...

Stephanie Bennett (PhD) joins Tim to discuss her new book, “Silence, Civility, and Sanity: Hope for Humanity in a Digital Age.” In this episode, they discuss features of the fallout from digital culture on our communication, including the dangers of immediacy, the prevalence of noise, and other dynamics in our speech that prevent or erode healthy, meaningful, and civil dialogue. They begin to expl...