Shifting Culture
Shifting Culture invites you into transformative conversations at the intersection of faith, culture, justice, and the way of Jesus. Host Joshua Johnson engages thoughtful guests in conversations about spiritual growth, justice, creativity, and healing - drawing from the teachings of Jesus to break cycles of division, violence, and pain.
If you're searching for practices that go beyond theory into real-life change - a way of living that honors the dignity of every person and seeks reconciliation even with those we disagree with - this podcast offers fresh perspectives for navigating today's complex world.
Subscribe now and shift your perspective.
Episodes
378 episodes
Ep. 375 Leonard Sweet - Living into the Imagination of Jesus, the Maker, Mender, Minder, Master
In this episode, I’m joined by theologian and storyteller Leonard Sweet for a deep conversation on the imagination of Jesus and why imagination is central to faith, discipleship, and what it means to be human. We talk about how Jesus doesn’t si...
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Episode 375
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49:46
Ep. 374 Kate Murphy - The Way of Jesus is Often Found in the Lost, Hidden, and Small
In this episode, pastor and author Kate Murphy shares the surprising story behind Lost, Hidden, Small, a season when ministry fell apart, illusions shattered, and the only way forward was surrender. Kate reflects on discovering that Go...
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Episode 374
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55:53
Ep. 373 William J. Kole - Gun Violence Must End: Evangelical Gun Culture and the Nonviolent Way of Jesus
Journalist and author William J. Kole joins me to unpack the deep and often hidden ties between white evangelicalism, politics, fear, and America’s gun culture. Drawing from his new book In Guns We Trust, Bill shares how his own...
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Episode 373
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51:06
Ep. 372 Dorothy Littell Greco - Rooting Out Misogyny For the Love of Women
In this conversation, I sit down with Dorothy Greco to explore misogyny not just as individual prejudice, but as a system that shapes our culture, our institutions, our churches, and even our closest relationships. Dorothy walks me through how ...
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Episode 372
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53:05
Ep. 371 Valentyn Syniy - Serving God in the Midst of the War in Ukraine
In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Valentyn Syniy, president of a theological seminary in Kherson, to explore what it means to lead, shepherd, and hold on to hope in the midst of war. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Valentyn lost almos...
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Episode 371
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53:36
Ep. 370 Stephanie Spellers - What the Nones and Dones Teach Us About the Future of Faith
The church is in a moment of honest reckoning. Attendance is shrinking, institutions are thinning, and many who once belonged now stand on the outside looking in. In this conversation with author and priest Stephanie Spellers, we explore what t...
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Episode 370
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57:50
Ep. 369 Mark Yarhouse & Julia Sadusky - Navigating and Understanding Emerging Sexual Identities
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Mark Yarhouse and Dr. Julia Sadusky about the rapidly expanding language of emerging sexual identities and what it means for the young people we care about. We explore why new terms keep appearing, how identity ...
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Season 1
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Episode 369
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57:38
Ep. 368 Faith Womack - Discovering the Fullness of Scripture: Context, Wonder, and Worship
In this episode, I’m joined by Faith Womack, known to many as Bible Nerd Ministries, for a deeply refreshing conversation on how to read Scripture with clarity, curiosity, and joy. Faith shares her own story of growing up with mishandled and mi...
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Episode 368
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53:29
Ep. 367 Brian Recker - How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love
In this episode, I talk with Brian Recker about his new book Hell Bent and the ways fear-based theology has shaped so many of our spiritual imaginations. Brian grew up learning about hell and God in the same breath, and he unpacks how ...
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Episode 367
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1:03:42
Ep. 366 Jenny Marrs - Trust God, Love People
In this episode, I sit down with Jenny Marrs, author, adoptive mom, and co-host of HGTV’s Fixer to Fabulous, for a tender and deeply human conversation about grief, waiting, restoration, and the steady presence of God in the middle of ...
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Episode 366
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51:48
Ep. 365 Diana Butler Bass - Time, Love, and a Calendar that Says No to Imperialism and Empire
In this episode, I talk with Diana Butler Bass about her new book A Beautiful Year and the deeper story that sits beneath our experience of time. We explore how the Roman calendar still shapes us with the imagination of empire - milita...
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Episode 365
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1:00:11
Ep. 364 Justin Giboney - Conviction and Compassion that Lead Us Out of the Culture War
In this conversation, I talk with Justin Giboney, cofounder of the AND Campaign and author of Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around, about how we can follow Jesus faithfully in the midst of the culture war. Justin shares how the civil right...
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Episode 364
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52:10
Ep. 363 Chris Hoklotubbe & Danny Zacharias - Reading the Bible on Turtle Island: Indigenous Wisdom and Interpretation
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Chris Hoklotubbe and Dr. Danny Zacharias about their book Reading the Bible on Turtle Island and how Indigenous wisdom invites us to see Scripture through a different lens. We explore how the Bible, wri...
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Episode 363
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59:51
Ep. 362 Glen Henry - Father Yourself First
Glen Henry, the creator of Beleaf in Fatherhood, shares his story of how resistance turned into calling - how learning to father himself helped him become the father his children needed. We talk about the inherited baggage we carry, the control...
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Season 1
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Episode 362
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52:47
Ep. 361 Kat Armas Returns - Liturgies for Resisting Empire
Kat Armas joins Shifting Culture to talk about her new book, Liturgies for Resisting Empire, a powerful exploration of how empire shapes the way we think about God, community, time, and ourselves. She names the ways control, h...
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Season 1
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Episode 361
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56:14
Ep. 360 Mark Batterson - Your God-Sized Dreams Happen Gradually, Then Suddenly
Pastor and author Mark Batterson joins me to talk about his new book Gradually, Then Suddenly, a powerful invitation to dream God-sized dreams, start small, and stay faithful long enough to see legacy take root. We explore what it mean...
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Season 1
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Episode 360
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52:19
Ep. 359 Sara Billups Returns - Spiritual Practices to Calm Anxiety in Your Body, the Church, and Politics
Sara Billups returns to Shifting Culture to talk about her new book Nervous Systems: Spiritual Practices to Calm Anxiety in Your Body, the Church, and Politics. Together we explore the anxiety running through our lives, our churches, a...
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Season 1
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Episode 359
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55:05
Ep. 358 Fr. Ronald Rolheiser - Insane for the Light: A Spirituality for Our Wisdom Years
Fr. Ronald Rolheiser joins me to talk about his new book Insane for the Light, the final part of his spiritual trilogy that began with The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire. Together, we explore what it means to live faith...
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Season 1
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Episode 358
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56:18
Ep. 357 Carmen Imes - Why Church Still Matters
In this episode, Carmen Imes joins me to explore her new book Becoming God’s Family: Why Church Still Matters. We look at why the church, despite its failures, divisions, and imperfections, remains central to the way of Jesus. Carmen t...
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Season 1
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Episode 357
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55:59
Ep. 356 Andrew DeCort - Neighbor Love and the Abolition of Othering
Andrew DeCort joins me to explore what it means to love our neighbor — not as a vague ideal, but as a radical way of living that can heal our divisions and reshape our world. Drawing from his own story in Ethiopia and his new book Reviving ...
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Season 1
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Episode 356
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59:05
Ep. 355 Kelsey McGinnis & Marissa Burt - The Myth of Good Christian Parenting
What happens when “biblical parenting” becomes more about control than compassion? In this episode, I talk with Kelsey McGinnis and Marissa Burt, authors of The Myth of Good Christian Parenting, about the rise of evangelical parenting ...
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Season 1
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Episode 355
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1:01:00
Ep. 354 Greg Boyd - God Looks Like Jesus
What if God really looks like Jesus? Not partly loving and partly wrathful, but fully revealed in the crucified Christ. In this conversation, Greg Boyd helps us reimagine everything - our picture of God, how we read Scripture, and how we live i...
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Season 1
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Episode 354
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51:42
Ep. 353 Phil Sokell-Miles - How God is Moving in Prayer Spaces in Schools
Phil Sokell-Miles has spent nearly two decades helping students encounter God in the most ordinary of places - schools. As part of the 24-7 Prayer movement, he helped pioneer Prayer Spaces in Schools, a global initiative inviting child...
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Episode 353
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1:01:21
Ep. 352 Heath Hardesty - How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World
We live in what Heath Hardesty calls the age of disintegration - a world marked by fragmentation, distraction, and disconnection. I feel that deeply. So many of us are trying to hold our lives together in a culture that constantly pull...
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Episode 352
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58:22
Ep. 351 Justin McRoberts - In the Low: A Collection of Helpful Things
Justin McRoberts weaves together art, prayer, and spiritual direction to help others find their way through seasons of loss, disappointment, and hope. In this conversation, Justin shares how letting go of outcomes opens us to God’s presence, wh...
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Season 1
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Episode 351
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53:58
