New Creation Conversations Scott Daniels

Welcome to episode one hundred and one of New Creation Conversations. This week’s conversation is with my wonderful friend and gifted thinker, Dr. Kara Powell. Kara is chief of leadership formation, the executive director of Fuller Youth Institute, and professor of youth and family ministry at Fuller Seminary. She holds degrees from Stanford, Bethel Seminary, and her PhD is in Practical theology from Fuller.
Kara also serves as a Youth and Family Strategist for Orange and has served in a number of local church ministries. Just two or three years ago Christianity Today named Kara as one of the “50 Women to Watch” in Christian leadership. She has written and contributed to a number of books and has been on the podcast with me before. This time, Kara and I talk about her soon to be released book written by Kara and her research partners. The book’s title is Faith Beyond Youth Group: 5 Ways to Form Character and Cultivate Lifelong Discipleship – published by Baker Books with a release date of November 7.
 Building on two decades of the Fuller Youth Institute’s work and incorporating extensive new research and interviews, Faith Beyond Youth Group identifies the reasons youth ministry often flops both short-term and long-term, and offers five ways adult youth leaders can cultivate character for a lifetime of growing closer to Jesus rather than drifting away. One reviewer calls it “a game-changing resource for anyone in youth ministry.” It is a wonderful resource and an enlightening conversation. 

Welcome to episode one hundred of New Creation Conversations. This week’s conversation is with my longtime friend and colleague, Dr. Brent Peterson. Brent currently serves as the Dean of the College of Theology and Christian Ministries at Northwest Nazarene University (where he has been on faculty for the last 15 years). Brent is an alum of NNU, has a Master of Divinity degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary, and got his PhD from Garrett-Evangelical Seminary. In addition to his teaching, Brent has been in local ministry in a number of churches and is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene. He has a great interest in theology related to the church, the formative nature of liturgy, and writes often about the intersection of theology and ecclesiology.
In our conversation we talk about Brent’s newest book – which is also the most recent addition to The Wesleyan Theology Series published by The Foundry – a book simply entitled The Church. It is the first of two contributions Brent is making to that series. In the Spring his volume on the sacraments will also be released. It is a wonderful series, a very helpful book, and (as you would expect from two old friends) a very fun and thoughtful conversation.

Welcome to episode ninety-nine of New Creation Conversations. This week’s conversation is with author, speaker, pastor, and podcaster Skye Jethani. Skye has had a number of roles in ministry including local pastoral ministry. He served in a number of positions at Christianity Today including senior editor of Leadership Journal and as the Director of Mission Advancement for CT. These days, Skye is probably best known as the co-host of the popular Holy Post podcast (with Phil Vischer) and as the author and regular contributor to the With God Daily app and email service.  
Skye has become a very important voice and thought-leader in today’s church. He is an award-winning author, having written about a dozen books. We spend our conversation talking about most recent book, What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven?: A Visual Guide to Experiencing God’s Kingdom Among Us (published by Brazos Press and being released today October 17). It is the next volume in Skye’s incredible “What if Jesus Was Serious…” series. Even though it is easy to read and filled with great illustrations, it will challenge you to think deeply about what the Bible has to say about what our hope and our destiny is in Christ Jesus.
It is a great book and a fun conversation. I’m a big fan of The Holy Post and was delighted to get a chance to talk with Skye and to get to bring this conversation to you. 

Welcome to episode ninety-eight of New Creation Conversations. This week’s conversation is with Kaitlyn Schiess. Kaitlyn is a writer, minister, and doctoral student at Duke Divinity School studying political theology and biblical interpretation. She has written about theology, politics, and culture for Christianity Today, The New York Times, Christ and Pop Culture, RELEVANT, Sojourners, and the Huffington Post. These days she may be best known for her participation on The Holy Post Podcast with Phil Vischer and Sky Jethani. 
We spend our time discussing her most recent book, The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here (Brazos). In the book, Kaitlyn unpacks the history of America and how we have connected the Bible to politics in the past and explores what lessons and warnings we can glean from those moments. She combines American political history and biblical interpretation to help readers faithfully read Scripture, talk with others about it, and apply it to contemporary political issues – and to their lives.
It is a wonderful and important book, especially in the current moment. I’m really thankful for the work Kaitlyn is doing in this area, and am a little jealous of her ability (at such a young age) to reflect so insightfully on both our history and our moment. I’m a big fan of The Holy Post and was delighted to get a chance to meet Kaitlyn and have this rich conversation. 

Welcome to episode ninety-seven of New Creation Conversations. This week’s conversation is with Dr. Andrew Whitehead. Andrew is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Association of Religion Data Archives at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUI (Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis). He is a graduate of Purdue University and got his PhD in sociology from Baylor University. He is one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States. He’s written 50+ peer reviewed articles and has been featured across several national outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, CNN, The Today Show, The Economist, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian.
 His first book, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (published by Oxford and co-written with Sam Perry), won the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. We spend our time discussing his most recent book, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church (Brazos). In the book, Andrew not only describes the history and problems related to Christian nationalism, but he also takes on its three great idolatries: power, fear, and violence.
There has been a lot of healthy conversation in the US church on this issue over the last few years, and Andrew’s book brings a lot of the issues into a clearer light. The book is timely, especially as we get ready to head into another potentially divisive presidential election season. One of the things I like most about the book is that Andrew doesn’t just analyze the problem but gives examples of churches and communities of faith that are working for the good of our world without being absorbed into its idolatries. It’s an important book and a rich conversation. 

Welcome to episode ninety-six of New Creation Conversations. I’m joined this week by writer, professor, and expert on theology and literature, Dr. Karen Swallow Prior. Karen did her PhD at the State University of New York at Buffalo with a specialization in eighteenth century British literature. Karen taught in seminaries for a number of years, and she is a contributing editor for Comment, a founding member of The Pelican Project, a Senior Fellow at Trinity Forum, a Senior Fellow at the International Alliance for Christian Education, a Senior Fellow at the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture and is a former member of the Faith Advisory Council of the Humane Society of the United States. She and her husband live on a 100-year-old homestead in central Virginia with dogs, chickens, and lots of books.
Karen has written and contributed to several books. We discuss her most recent work, The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Brazos Press). In the book she examines evangelical history – both good and bad. By analyzing the literature, art, and popular cultural that has surrounded evangelicalism, she unpacks some of the movement’s most deeply held concepts, ideas, values, and practices to consider what is Christian rather than merely cultural. The result is a clearer path forward for evangelicals amid their current identity crisis – and insight for others who want a deeper understanding of what was best about the evangelical movement, and what possibilities might still be in its future. As many of you know, I am a fan of theology and literature, and I love the way Karen blends those too with important cultural and philosophical analysis. It is a very thoughtful and helpful book. And a very fun conversation.