Shifting Culture

Joshua Johnson

Shifting Culture invites you into transformative conversations at the intersection of faith, culture, justice, and the way of Jesus. Each episode, host Joshua Johnson engages guests who challenge conventional thinking and inspire fresh perspectives for embodying faith in today's complex world. If you're curious about how cultural shifts impact your faith journey and passionate about living purposefully, join us as we explore deeper ways to follow Jesus in everyday life. Subscribe now and shift your perspective.

  1. Ep. 349 Peter Greer Returns - How Leaders Lose Their Way

    16H AGO

    Ep. 349 Peter Greer Returns - How Leaders Lose Their Way

    What causes leaders to lose their way? It’s rarely one catastrophic decision, it’s usually the slow drift of small compromises, unaddressed habits, and unchecked desires. In this episode, Peter Greer talks about the hidden currents that pull leaders off course. We explore the dangers of personal and mission drift, the importance of confession and accountability, the tension between culture and structure, and why humility and downward mobility are essential for long-term faithfulness. Peter shares practical tools - from succession planning to building rhythms of transparency - that help leaders prevent drift and finish well. Peter Greer is the president and CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered nonprofit working to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship and discipleship in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. He is a bestselling coauthor of over 15 books, including Mission Drift, Rooting for Rivals, Lead with Prayer, and How Leaders Lose Their Way. Before joining HOPE, Peter worked internationally in microfinance in Cambodia, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda and holds a graduate degree from Harvard Kennedy School.  While his sports loyalties remain in New England, Peter and his family live in Lancaster, PA. Peter's Book: How Leaders Lose Their Way Peter's Recommendations: Where the Light Fell Soul Survivor Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Contact me to advertise: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Support the show

    50 min
  2. Ep. 348 Sharon Hodde Miller Returns - Gazing at God: Finding Freedom Beyond Self

    3D AGO

    Ep. 348 Sharon Hodde Miller Returns - Gazing at God: Finding Freedom Beyond Self

    Sharon Hodde Miller returns to Shifting Culture to talk about her new devotional, Gazing at God. Building on her earlier work in Free of Me, Sharon explores how the lies of insecurity and comparison keep us trapped in self-preoccupation and how the way of Jesus frees us to lift our eyes toward God and others. Together we talk about why self-esteem culture falls short, how worship reorients us when we spiral inward, the difference between healing the self and neglecting the self, what true success in the kingdom of God looks like, and how abiding in Christ becomes the foundation for real freedom. This is a hopeful and practical conversation about identity, healing, and the joy of gazing at God. Sharon leads Bright City Church in Durham, NC with her husband, Ike, which they planted together in 2018. Sharon earned her M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and her PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where she researched the topic of women and calling. In addition to writing for sites like Christianity Today, She Reads Truth, Propel, Relevant, and more, she is the author of three books: Free of Me: Why Life Is Better When It’s Not about You, Nice: Why We Love to Be Liked And How God Calls Us to More, and The Cost of Control: Why We Crave It, the Anxiety it Gives Us, and the Real Power God Promises. Sharon travels the country speaking at churches and conferences, and then she loves to return home to her three awesome kids! Sharon's Books: Free of Me Gazing at God Sharon's Recommendations: Regenerative Performance Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

    56 min
  3. Ep. 347 Nijay Gupta - Slow Theology: Resilient Faith in a Turbulent World

    6D AGO

    Ep. 347 Nijay Gupta - Slow Theology: Resilient Faith in a Turbulent World

    Nijay Gupta is back on Shifting Culture to share about his new book with A.J. Swoboda, Slow Theology. Together we talk about what it means to follow Jesus at a different pace - resisting the constant pressure to react, hurry, and perform, and instead cultivating practices that lead to depth and resilience. In this episode, we explore the role of lament, the necessity of community, and how theology is less about abstract answers and more about orienting our whole lives toward God. Nijay offers wisdom for living faithfully in a turbulent age and shows us how slowing down might be a core practice for our spiritual formation today. Nijay Gupta (DPhil, University of Durham) has written several academic books including Paul and the Language of Faith, and Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. He has co-edited The State of New Testament Studies, and The State of Pauline Studies. Nijay co-chairs the Pauline Theology seminar of the Institute for Biblical Research and serves as a senior translator for the New Living Translation. Nijay and A.J.'s Book: Slow Theology Nijay's Recommendations: Becoming God's Family The Fourth Synoptic Gospel Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

    55 min
  4. Ep. 346 Joshua Ryan Butler - God is On Your Side

    SEP 26

    Ep. 346 Joshua Ryan Butler - God is On Your Side

    What do we do when it feels like God isn’t on our side? In this episode of Shifting Culture, I talk with Joshua Ryan Butler about his new book God Is On Your Side and the ways he’s wrestled with that very question through seasons of heartbreak, illness, and despair. Josh takes us into the Gospel of John, where one-on-one encounters with Jesus become mirrors for our own stories - the paralyzed man, the woman at the well, the man born blind, Lazarus in the tomb. Each scene reveals a God who sees us before we see Him, who calls us beloved, and who can turn even the hardest places into holy places. This conversation is about finding hope in the dark, learning to trust God in uncertainty, and remembering that we are never abandoned. Joshua Ryan Butler is a Teaching Pastor with the Willamette family of churches in the Portland area and the author of God is On Your Side, The Party Crasher, Beautiful Union, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, and The Pursuing God. Josh loves shifting paradigms, to help people who wrestle with tough topics of the Christian faith by confronting popular caricatures and replacing them with the beauty and power of the real thing. He and his wife, Holly, along with their three children, live in Portland, Oregon. They enjoy spending time with friends over great meals and exploring the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Josh's Book: God is On Your Side Josh's Recommendations: Art of Memoir Unbroken Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

    56 min
  5. Ep. 345 Joash P. Thomas - The Justice of Jesus

    SEP 23

    Ep. 345 Joash P. Thomas - The Justice of Jesus

    Joash P. Thomas joins me to talk about the justice of Jesus and what it means for the gospel to truly be good news for the poor and the oppressed. We trace Joash’s journey from growing up in Mumbai to working in U.S. politics, and then to encountering Jesus on the margins. Along the way, we explore how colonialism has shaped both the Global South and the Western church, why decolonizing our own assumptions is vital, and how Jesus’ ministry invites us into a justice that is both spiritual and physical. This episode is an invitation to imagine a church rooted not in empire or success, but in faithfulness, humility, and solidarity with our marginalized neighbors. Rev. Joash P. Thomas is an author, speaker, and global human rights leader. Drawing from his St. Thomas Indian Christian roots and a decolonized, justice-centered understanding of Scripture, Joash helps audiences reimagine a faith that unites rather than divides—and that stands firmly with neighbors on the margins. Through speaking engagements, teaching, and advocacy, he calls Christians to a more contemplative yet courageous activism, motivated by the grace-filled, non-violent way of Jesus. Born and raised in India, Joash served as a U.S. political consultant and lobbyist before pivoting to global human rights advocacy. Now based in the Toronto area, he holds a master’s degree in Political Management from The George Washington University and has completed master’s degrees in Christian Leadership and Christian Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. A Deacon in the Diocese of St. Anthony, Joash is also the author of the forthcoming book The Justice of Jesus (Brazos Press, September 2025). Joash's Book: The Justice of Jesus Joash's Recommendations: A More Christlike God Better Ways to Read the Bible Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

    55 min
  6. SEP 22 · BONUS

    Keeping the Stories Alive Together - A Call to Support the Show

    In this episode, I want to take a moment to step aside from the interviews and speak directly to you. Shifting Culture has always been about telling better stories - stories that help us live more faithfully and compassionately in a world that’s so often divided by fear. But to keep these conversations going, I need your help. My wife and I spend our lives training and coaching disciple makers and storytellers around the world, and this podcast is part of that same mission. You can support the work through our donation link or by subscribing on ShiftingCulture.Substack.com, where you’ll get early ad-free episodes, thoughtful articles, and be part of a community committed to the way of Jesus. I’ll close by reading one of those articles - Breaking the Binary: Building Longer Tables in the Way of Jesus - as an invitation to imagine what’s possible when love is stronger than fear, and when we build longer tables instead of higher walls. Thank you for listening, for your support, and for embodying the ways of Jesus in this world. Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

    12 min
  7. Ep. 344 Edwina Findley Dickerson - The World is Waiting For You: Dream Big, Hear from God, and Live Your Purpose

    SEP 19

    Ep. 344 Edwina Findley Dickerson - The World is Waiting For You: Dream Big, Hear from God, and Live Your Purpose

    In this episode, I sit down with actor, author, and speaker Edwina Findley Dickerson to talk about her new book, The World Is Waiting for You. Edwina shares her journey of listening for God’s voice, navigating seasons of waiting, and discovering a deeper purpose beyond achievement. Together, we explore the tension between intentional planning and radical surrender, how to overcome fear and step into our God-given dreams, and why true purpose is found not only in what we do, but in who we are becoming. This is a conversation for anyone longing to live with clarity, courage, and faith in a noisy world. Edwina Findley is an award-winning film, television, and theatre actress, celebrated by critics as "a marvel to watch." Known to global audiences as the hilarious 'Sheila' in Shonda Rhimes' hit Netflix series "The Residence," Edwina first captured hearts as 'Tosha' on HBO's groundbreaking series "The Wire,” and garnered critical attention for her role as Rosie in Ava DuVernay's Sundance award-winning feature "Middle of Nowhere.” She then earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female for her "skin-prickling performance" in "Free In Deed.” A vibrant and versatile actress, Edwina starred opposite Toni Collette in Amazon’s global thriller ”The Power,” as Kevin Hart's wife, Rita, in Warner Bros' hit comedy "Get Hard" with Will Ferrell, "Fear The Walking Dead," Tyler Perry’s “If Loving You is Wrong,” HBO’s “Veep,” “Rogue Agent,” “Black Lightning,” ”Chicago Med," HBO's "Treme," and "Shots Fired” from “Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood. Edwina is a native of Washington, DC, where she attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts then studied drama at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Edwina continued her studies at UCLA, Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), and with Yale Drama’s Gregory Berger-Sorbeck. Theatrically, Edwina has performed around the world and at some of the nation’s finest theaters, including The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Juilliard, Atlantic Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, Baltimore Centerstage, and Cleveland Playhouse. Edwina received a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for the historical drama Gee’s Bend, and an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Eclipsed, set during the Liberian war. Proclaimed in the New York Times as a “life force,” Edwina is a global speaker, mentor, and CEO of Abundant Life University. Edwina’s most cherished blessings are her loving husband Kelvin Dickerson and their bright and beautiful little girls, Victoria and London. Connect with Edwina at www.edwinafindley.com Edwina's Book: The World is Waiting For You Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

    40 min
  8. Ep. 343 Andrew & Kara Root - A Pilgrimage Into Letting Go

    SEP 16

    Ep. 343 Andrew & Kara Root - A Pilgrimage Into Letting Go

    In this episode I sit down with Andrew and Kara Root to talk about their new book, A Pilgrimage Into Letting Go. Written out of their journey walking St. Cuthbert’s Way with their children, the book reflects on parenting, pastoring, and the hard but necessary work of releasing control. Together we explore why modern life pushes us to manage every detail, how uncontrollability can actually be a gift, and what it looks like to see parenting as a pilgrimage. Along the way, we talk about prayer as listening, the difference between being a tourist and a pilgrim, and the ways God encounters us when we surrender to presence. This is a conversation about trust, family, and faith that invites us to walk with open hands and open hearts. Andrew Root is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, USA. He writes and researches in areas of theology, ministry, culture and younger generations.  His most recent books are Evangelism in an Age of Despair (Baker, 2025), The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms (Baker, 2023), Churches and the Crisis of Decline (Baker, 2022), The Congregation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2021), and The Pastor in a Secular Age: Ministry to People Who No Longer Need God (Baker, 2019). In addition, he serves as theologian in residence for Youthfront.  Rev. Kara K. Root is the author of The Deepest Belonging (2021) and Receiving This Life: (2023). ​Pastor of Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, MN, a Christian community that shapes its life around worship, hospitality and Sabbath rest, she is a trained Spiritual Director and Certified Educator in the PCUSA.  Being mom to two intriguing teenagers (and a sweet dog), and wife and proofreader to a wily theologian, spices up her vocational calling and keeps her fully immersed in life. She has written for Sparkhouse, Working Preacher, Christian Century, Christianity Today, Faith and Leadership, Patheos and more. Kara leads retreats and workshops on sabbath rest, prayer practices, and church leadership and transformation.  ​​ Andy & Kara's Book: A Pilgrimage Into Letting Go Kara's Recommendation: How to Inhabit Time Subscribe to Our Substack: Shifting Culture Connect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.us Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTube Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Support the show

    56 min
4.9
out of 5
62 Ratings

About

Shifting Culture invites you into transformative conversations at the intersection of faith, culture, justice, and the way of Jesus. Each episode, host Joshua Johnson engages guests who challenge conventional thinking and inspire fresh perspectives for embodying faith in today's complex world. If you're curious about how cultural shifts impact your faith journey and passionate about living purposefully, join us as we explore deeper ways to follow Jesus in everyday life. Subscribe now and shift your perspective.

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