Created in the Image of God

Wade Fransson
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Religion
  • Updated Weekly

Tune in every Tuesday for an inspiring journey on Created in the Image of God: Building Vibrant Communities. Wade Fransson and his distinguished guests explore the essence of human nature and the transformative power of unity in diversity through live-streamed discussions rooted in the Independent Investigation of Reality. This series advocates for authentic connections among individuals to foster thriving, inclusive communities. Anchored in spiritual truths and a collective quest for understanding, these conversations inspire growth and progress toward a harmonious world. soopllc.substack.com wadefransson.substack.com

  1. 2d ago

    Building a Kingdom Business Without the Grind with Brian Adamson | Created In The Image of God 266

    Brian Adamson is a Kingdom business coach, co-founder of Purpose to Profits, and host of the Believers N Biz podcast. He helps faith-driven coaches, consultants, and experts grow to six and seven figures through scalable business models built on biblical principles rather than hustle, burnout, or constant one-to-one effort. After leaving corporate at 35 and building his own online business to nearly $10 million, Brian developed his “1 to Many” system to help purpose-driven entrepreneurs expand their impact without sacrificing what matters most.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Brian joins Wade for a practical and faith-centered conversation about what it means to grow a business God’s way. Together, they explore how entrepreneurs can move beyond inconsistent income, overwork, and survival mode into models shaped by clarity, conviction, and Kingdom alignment.They also discuss why focusing on the right inputs matters more than obsessing over outcomes, how biblical principles can reshape the way we think about scaling, and what becomes possible when our work is anchored in truth and surrendered to God. For anyone building a business while trying to stay faithful, present, and sane, this episode offers both strategy and encouragement. Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

  2. 4d ago

    The Spacious Way of Jesus with Jen Pollock Michel | Created In The Image of God 265

    Jen Pollock Michel is an author, speaker, and writing mentor whose work circles around desire, time, home, and the ordinary practices that shape a life with God. She has written six books—Teach Us to Want and In Good Time (both award‑winners), Surprised by Paradox, Keeping Place, A Habit Called Faith, and her forthcoming A Rule for the Rest of Us. With degrees in French, literature, and an MFA in creative writing, she now mentors writers in Whitworth University’s MFA program and pens a popular Substack of “Monday letters” from her near‑empty nest in Cincinnati.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Jen and Wade trace the story beneath those books: a childhood spent moving around the Midwest and South as her English‑teacher dad pursued a PhD in communications; a home where poems were written for birthdays and words were the family currency; and a church life rich in Bible drills and doctrine, but—at least at first—thin on joy. As a teen, Jen assumed she’d follow Jesus “later,” once she’d had her fun. Then, at 16, a youth camp encounter shifted everything, turning faith from cramped rules into a spacious path of joy, obedience, and grace.From there, the conversation dives into how we misunderstand God’s law as mere restriction, why “choose to sin, choose to suffer” is more about reality than lightning bolts, and how being re‑storied by Scripture helps us love rightly—God, neighbors, children, and even our own desires—in proper proportion.For anyone who grew up in church but quietly wondered if a life with God would be too small, Jen’s story is an invitation into a bigger, truer way of being human: one where limits are gifts, obedience leads to joy, and every ordinary day can be woven into God’s surprising, spacious grace. Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Jul 15

    Cultural Witness from the Midst of Conflict with Vinoth Ramachandra | Created In The Image of God 264

    Vinoth Ramachandra is a Sri Lankan theologian, writer, and international lecturer who has spent decades helping Christians engage the university and public life with intellectual rigor and social integrity. Trained in nuclear engineering at the University of London, he returned to Sri Lanka rather than pursue an academic career in the West, helping to build an inter-denominational Christian university ministry and later serving on IFES’s Senior Leadership Team as Secretary for Dialogue & Social Engagement. His work has also included civil rights advocacy in Sri Lanka, global networks for development and justice through Micah Network, creation care with A Rocha, and advisory roles with the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Vinoth joins Wade for a searching conversation about cultural witness shaped not in comfort, but in the midst of conflict. From Sri Lanka’s long civil struggles to the wider myths of nationalism, secularism, and Western modernity, he explores how Christians can resist shallow narratives and recover a more faithful, globally aware discipleship. Drawing on books like Gods That Fail, Subverting Global Myths, and Sarah’s Laughter, Vinoth brings theology into conversation with suffering, doubt, politics, and hope.Together, they ask what faithful public presence looks like in a fractured world—and why genuine witness must be courageous, dialogical, and deeply attentive to the humanity of every person. Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jul 13

    The Pace of Peace with Jay Kim | Created In The Image of God 263

    Jay Kim is a pastor, author, and cultural observer who serves as lead pastor of WestGate Church in the heart of Silicon Valley. He is the author of The Pace of Peace, Listen Listen Speak, Analog Christian, and Analog Church, where he explores what it means to follow Jesus with depth, attention, and embodied presence in a distracted digital age. A contributor to outlets like Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and Relevant, Jay also hosts IVP’s Digital Examen Podcast.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Jay joins Wade for a searching conversation about faith, technology, church hurt, and the pressures of modern life. Born in South Korea and raised in Silicon Valley after his mother’s dramatic conversion to Christianity, Jay grew up in the world of the immigrant church—where faith, belonging, and community were deeply intertwined. But when that world fractured through betrayal and pain, he walked away, only to find his way back through the patient love of friends who embodied Jesus differently.Together, they explore what it means to pursue peace in an anxious age, why digital life so easily fragments our attention, and how a more faithful Christian presence begins not with speed or performance, but with slowness, depth, and love. Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Jul 8

    The Wonder‑Filled Universe with Jennifer Wiseman | Created In The Image of God 262

    Jennifer J. Wiseman is an astrophysicist whose journey runs from a childhood in rural Arkansas to labs and observatories connected with MIT, Harvard, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. As an undergraduate she discovered the periodic comet Wiseman–Skiff and has since become a leading expert on star‑forming regions, studying interstellar clouds, protostars, and stellar outflows across the Milky Way.Beyond her research, Jennifer is widely known for her work at the intersection of science, faith, and public life—directing the AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion, and serving with organizations like BioLogos and the American Scientific Affiliation. In this episode of Created In The Image of God, she and Wade explore what our rapidly expanding picture of the universe means for life on Earth: from galaxies, dark matter, and black holes to the emerging science of astrobiology and the search for life beyond our planet.Together they ask how cosmic discovery can deepen, rather than diminish, our sense of wonder, ethics, and responsibility. What does it mean to speak of being created in the image of God on one small world in a vast, ancient cosmos? How might the possibility of other worlds and other lives reshape the way we think about God’s creativity, human humility, and our call to care for this planet and each other? Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Jul 6

    Our Judeo‑Christian Heritage with Tremper Longman III | Created In The Image of God 261

    Tremper Longman III is one of the world’s leading Old Testament scholars, serving as Distinguished Scholar and emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College after nearly two decades there and eighteen years at Westminster Theological Seminary. Trained at Ohio Wesleyan, Westminster, and Yale (PhD in Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern studies), he has written influential commentaries on Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Daniel, Jeremiah, and more, and co‑edited the award‑winning Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings. As a senior translator for the wisdom books in the New Living Translation and author of works like Confronting Old Testament Controversies and The Bible and the Ballot: Using Scripture in Political Decisions, he is known for combining rigorous scholarship with accessible guidance for Christians wrestling with Scripture and contemporary issues.In this episode of Created In The Image of God, Tremper and Wade ask what our “Judeo‑Christian heritage” really means. If the Bible helped shape Western law, notions of justice, and the very idea that humans bear God’s image, is it still relevant for public life today? How should Scripture inform political decisions without becoming a partisan weapon—or being pushed to the margins as merely “private” belief?Together they explore how the Old Testament speaks into questions of justice, power, character, and community, and how believers can engage culture and politics with humility, wisdom, and a deeper respect for the text at the heart of their faith. Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 1

    From Saigon to “Promised Land” with David Truong | Created In The Image of God 260

    Born in Vietnam and forced to flee as a child after the fall of Saigon, David Truong’s life traces a modern Exodus—from war, displacement, and refugee camps to rebuilding in America and discovering a deeper freedom in Christ. After escaping by boat and surviving the uncertainty of camp life, he and his family eventually resettled in the United States, an experience he recounts in his memoir Escape to America, featured on NPR and in regional media.Today David is a husband, father, corporate attorney, and deacon at Dulles Church of Christ, a Bible‑based congregation he helped plant more than 20 years ago. In this episode of Created in the Image of God, he reflects on how God met him in trauma and transition, reshaped his understanding of freedom, duty, and opportunity, and turned a family’s desperate escape into a story of redemptive love and purpose.We talk about memory, migration, and gratitude—what it means to honor the life you narrowly escaped, the life you were given, and the responsibilities that come with both. For anyone wrestling with hardship, origin stories, or the meaning of “promised land” in their own journey, David’s story offers a sober, hope‑filled look at providence, perseverance, and thankfulness. Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Jun 29

    From Hustle to Holy Habits with Jason Heinritz | Created In The Image of God 259

    Jason Heinritz grew up in a conservative Christian home in Waukesha, Wisconsin—church on Sundays, sports and good grades through the week. But underneath the wholesome exterior, he learned to draw his worth from performance: being liked, being captain, winning. In college, that drive found a perfect outlet in direct sales with Cutco Cutlery, where he quickly became a top producer and then a successful office owner.Through his twenties, Jason lived the classic “work hard, party hard” script: binge‑drinking weekends, achievement‑driven hustle, and a faith life largely reduced to an hour on Sunday. He still called himself a “Jesus guy,” but his real priorities were trips, trophies, and building his own kingdom. The breaking point came when he got engaged in a relationship built on chemistry and convenience more than shared calling—and realized, just months before the wedding, that he couldn’t honestly bring God into a future he was already compromising.In this episode, Jason unpacks that wake‑up call and the year of reset that followed: calling off the wedding, stepping back from dating, diving into Scripture, morning routines, and wholehearted surrender. We trace how God led him from divided loyalties into a life of “holy habits”—launching the Wake Up Jesus People movement, the 40 Forge Challenge, and the journal and practices now helping believers move from hustle to sustainable rhythms with Jesus.If you’re tired of living split between your public success and your private soul, Jason’s story is a practical, hopeful invitation to let God reorder your days—so you can live with deeper peace, purpose, and joy in a noisy, distracted world. Get full access to Created in the Image of God at wadefransson.substack.com/subscribe

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Tune in every Tuesday for an inspiring journey on Created in the Image of God: Building Vibrant Communities. Wade Fransson and his distinguished guests explore the essence of human nature and the transformative power of unity in diversity through live-streamed discussions rooted in the Independent Investigation of Reality. This series advocates for authentic connections among individuals to foster thriving, inclusive communities. Anchored in spiritual truths and a collective quest for understanding, these conversations inspire growth and progress toward a harmonious world. soopllc.substack.com wadefransson.substack.com

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