Episodes

Are we living in a "paid friend" culture? 🛋️ As mental health awareness skyrockets, the Church is at a crossroads. We’re seeing more counseling centers, more pastoral care roles, and more conversations about anxiety than ever before—but are we missing the spiritual heart of the matter? In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer and Ashish Varma are joined by Dr. Michael Milco , a seasoned counselor and former professor at Moody Bible Institute. Together, they pull back the curtain...

When faith leaders gathered at the White House for an Easter luncheon, the prayers offered weren't just politically awkward — they were theologically problematic. In this episode, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Ashish Varma move past the headlines to examine the deeper issues: What happens when national identity absorbs Christian identity? What does the Bible actually say about kings, suffering, and God's purposes for nations? And what does faithful Christian engagement with political power look like...

Is the way we view church leadership actually doing more harm than good? In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer sits down with Dr. Christa L. McKirland—Dean of Faculty at Carey Baptist College and author of A Theology of Authority —to dismantle the "CEO model" of ministry and rediscover a biblical, communal framework for the Body of Christ. Why This Episode is a Must-Listen: Beyond "Because I Said So" : Discover why imperative authority—the power to command and compel conseque...

How can local churches maintain a historic Christian sexual ethic while still being a place where anyone can belong, ask tough questions, and encounter Jesus? In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer welcomes back Pieter Valk, a licensed clinical counselor and the director of Equip. Together, they tackle the practical, often messy realities that local churches face today when navigating LGBTQ+ topics. Rather than sticking our heads in the sand, Pieter advocates for a framework b...

“Have a safe summer!” “Travel safe!” “Stay safe!” 🛡️ In today’s world, safety isn’t just a wish—it’s a multi-billion dollar industry and a modern obsession. But as Christians, are we sacrificing our mission at the altar of security? In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer sits down with Dr. Jeremy Lundgren , author of The Pursuit of Safety: A Theology of Danger, Risk, and Security . Together, they dismantle the cultural "tokens of safety" and explore how our reliance on technol...

What happens when a life shaped by violence, poverty, and abandonment meets consistent love, purpose, and the message of the Gospel? In this powerful episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer sits down with Greg Harris, Executive Director of Counteract International, to explore the realities facing incarcerated youth in Central America—and the transformative work being done to restore their lives. Drawing from his book Counteract: Walking Alongside Incarcerated Youth in Central America f...

What should Christians do with the hardest laws in the Bible—texts about slavery, sexual violence, capital punishment, and social inequality? Should they be explained away… or even crossed out? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer is joined by Dr. Gary Edward Schnittjer , Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Cairn University , to discuss Schnicker’s recent article in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society examining a provocative proposal by bib...

In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer is joined by Dr. Jillian Ross , professor of biblical studies at Liberty University, to discuss her article in JETS titled “Let Mercy Triumph Over Judgment: A Theology of Law in Judges.” Together, they explore why the book of Judges is so ethically and theologically unsettling—and how the Torah itself provides the interpretive framework that makes sense of it. Many Christians read Judges and walk away confused: Why are leaders celebrated ...

In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer is joined by Rev. Dr. Andrew Hale , pastor, author, and host of CBF Conversations and Clergy Confessions , to discuss his new book Mending the Fracturing Church: How to Navigate Conflict and Build Trust for Thriving Communities . Drawing on decades of ministry experience—and insights from cognitive psychology, social psychology, trauma studies, and theology —Andrew argues that church conflict today cannot be understood merely as a theolog...

In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer is joined by John Stonestreet , president of the Colson Center , to discuss the Truth Rising Project —a collaboration between the Colson Center and Focus on the Family . John explains how Truth Rising emerged from a growing realization: many of the cultural “hypotheticals” Christians debated decades ago have become lived realities. The project frames our moment as what Oz Guinness calls a civilizational moment —a tipping point where cultu...

What should Christians do with the hardest laws in the Bible—texts about slavery, sexual violence, capital punishment, and social inequality? Should they be explained away… or even crossed out? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer is joined by Dr. Gary Edward Schnicker , Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Cairn University , to discuss Schnicker’s recent article in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society examining a provocative proposal by bibl...

What if the most spiritually formative season of the Christian year isn’t Advent or Lent—but the long stretch of ordinary time in between? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer is joined by Dr. Amy Peeler , Kenneth T. Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College , to discuss her book Ordinary Time: The Season of Growth , part of the Fullness of Time series from IVP. Together, they explore how the church’s longest season—often overlooked or misunderstood—sh...

The abortion conversation in the church is often framed as a political battle— pro-life versus pro-choice , red versus blue. But what if that framing itself is the problem? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer talks with Angela Weszely , author of Becoming Pro-Grace: Expanding the Abortion Conversation Beyond Life Versus Choice and founder of the Pro-Grace movement, about why Christians need a distinctly theological framework for engaging abortion—one rooted in J...

Was America founded as a “new Israel”? And if so, what happens when biblical conquest narratives are used to justify colonization, displacement, and violence? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer speaks with Dr. Daniel Hawk , professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary and author of Undoing Manifest Destiny: Settler America, Christian Colonists, and the Pursuit of Justice , about how Christian theology became entangled with the American ...

Can Christians pursue success in business without sidelining their faith—or turning God into just another “box” in life? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer sits down with Andrea Anderson , Christian business coach and author of Bread Like Rain , to talk about surrendered strategy , discipleship, and what it really means to follow Christ in entrepreneurial work. Andrea shares her journey from cultural Christianity to atheism and agnosticism—and eventually to a l...

What do you do when faith feels dry, confusing, or emotionally barren—when God seems absent, or even uncomfortably near? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer talks with Dr. Noelle Forlini-Byrte , author of God in the Desert: A Spiritual Theology of Wilderness in the Old Testament and part-time lecturer at Samford University , about the wilderness as a spiritual landscape for real Christians living real lives. Noelle shares how this book was “twenty years in the m...

What if a major driver of today’s mental health crisis isn’t simply “more disorders,” but more people who feel unseen, unheard, and alone ? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast , Dr. James Spencer talks with Dr. Jackie E. Perry —Clinical Supervisor, Professor of Counselor Education at Columbia International University , and President of the Soulwell Center —about loneliness, the loss of emotional connection, and why the church must recover the skill of attuned listening . Jackie exp...

In this final episode of our German Reformation series, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Greg Quiggle step back from the 16th century to ask a pressing modern question: what does it actually mean to be Protestant today—and what have we gained (and lost) since the Reformation? Greg frames Protestantism with a memorable realism: it isn’t perfect— it’s the “least problematic” of the major options (Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism). From there, the conversation explores Protestantism...

In this episode of our German Reformation series, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Greg Quiggle pivot to one of the defining features of Protestant tradition: the Reformation Solas —and why they still matter for Christians today. Rather than beginning with a list of “five solas,” Greg frames the Reformation around three theological questions that generated the solas: What is the Church? (ecclesiology) How am I saved / how do I stand before God? (soteriology) Who or what has ultimate authority to define...

In this episode of our German Reformation series, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Greg Quiggle begin exploring what happens after the attempt to reform the Catholic Church breaks down and the division becomes permanent: What does Protestantism look like under Luther once it’s no longer simply a reform movement? The conversation opens with a key structural issue: the evolving relationship between church and state in early Protestant contexts. Greg explains that most Protestants still lived inside the w...

In this episode of our German Reformation series, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Greg Quiggle linger in Wittenberg before the Diet of Worms and Wartburg Castle to unpack the moment everyone knows—but few understand: Luther’s 95 Theses. Greg begins with the real backstory: indulgence-selling tied to the fundraising machine behind the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica and a chain of financial incentives involving an ambitious archbishop, borrowed money, and a gifted salesman— Johann Tetzel —whose catc...

In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Greg Quiggle pick up the story after Luther’s intensifying crisis of conscience. If the monastery wasn’t bringing peace—what could? Luther’s mentor, Johann von Staupitz , attempts an intervention, first by sending Luther to Rome , hoping the pilgrimage and the center of the Church might relieve the pressure. Instead, Rome does the opposite. Luther returns disillusioned by the moral and spiritual decay he sees—corruption, scandal, ...

In this episode of Thinking Christian , Dr. James Spencer is joined by Dr. Greg Quiggle to continue the German Reformation series—this time focusing on Martin Luther’s years in Erfurt and the startling turn that led him into the Augustinian monastery . Luther wasn’t headed toward ministry. He was a brilliant student on track for law, positioned to become his father’s “golden ticket” in a world with no social safety net. But beneath the surface, Luther’s life was haunted by a question that mediev...

In this first episode of a new Thinking Christian series on the German Reformation , Dr. James Spencer is joined by Dr. Greg Quiggle —a historian, former Moody Bible Institute professor, and leader of Tours for Ten —to set the stage for the world that produced Martin Luther and the Lutheran Reformation. Before you can understand Luther, you have to understand the world Luther lived in: a late-medieval Germany marked by constant death, recurring plague, widespread poverty, church corruption, and ...