The Intersection with Dr. J + Friends

Justin Detmers
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

Intersections are high-traffic areas, with people coming from and heading in all sorts of directions. While intersections are places of potential collision and calamity, they are also the very places where we can find direction and learn where to go. The Intersection is a podcast where faith engages the complexities of our modern world. Though intersections sometimes feel risky, they are where real dialogue happens, they are where we find direction and discover where to go next.

  1. Aug 28

    A Theology of Sports with Phil Gillespie

    Dr. J talks with Phil Gillespie of Athletes in Action for a conversation about something many of us treat as mere entertainment but may reveal something much deeper about what it means to be human. With more than three decades in sports ministry, Phil brings a theological lens to our fascination with competition, asking why we care so much about who wins, who loses, who gets remembered, and who gets to stand on top. Drawing on C.S. Lewis and the idea that we were made with a deep desire to be desired and approved of, the conversation explores sports as an “iceberg”—with the visible excitement of competition revealing deeper longings for glory, identity, connection, and transcendence. Because beneath our obsession with the scoreboard may be a much more fundamental question: what are we actually longing for? Rather than treating sports as a distraction from discipleship, Justin and Phil consider what happens when we see athletics as a genuine site of spiritual formation. The church has often treated sports as secular territory—something Christians participate in but rarely think theologically about. Phil challenges that assumption, arguing that the fields, courts, locker rooms, teams, rivalries, victories, and defeats of everyday athletic life can become places where relationships are formed, character is revealed, and faith is lived out organically. Along the way, they explore why competition can be both deeply compelling and spiritually dangerous, how our pursuit of glory can become an attempt to secure an identity that only God can give, and why the church may be overlooking one of the most significant discipleship environments in contemporary culture. At the center of it all is a distinctly Christian vision of play: sports aren’t simply about winning, and play isn't simply wasted time. If human beings were made for glory, joy, creativity, community, and delight, then our impulse to play may itself be a clue to the goodness for which we were created. Even in the renewed creation, Phil argues, play will have a place—because the Christian hope isn’t the escape from embodied life but its restoration. For anyone who loves sports, has ever wondered why competition feels euphoric, or suspects that our obsession with athletics is about more than games, this episode offers a different way to see the field: a window into our theology of glory, a laboratory for discipleship, and a surprisingly glimpse of what we were made for. LINKS: MSU Athletes in Action Book: Away Game: A Christian Parent's Guide to Navigating Youth Sports by Brian Smith and Ed UszynskiMiracle: Herb Brooks' Speech on YouTube

    A Theology of Sports with Phil Gillespie

  2. Aug 14

    The Wisdom of Sleep with Brett McCracken

    Dr. J talks with author and cultural commentator Brett McCracken for a conversation about something most of us treat as an inconvenience, but Scripture treats as a gift: sleep. Rather than framing rest as a productivity hack or a wellness trend, Brett resists the impulse to treat sleep as merely biological maintenance. From the strange, fascinating facts of what our brains do while we're unconscious to what he calls the deeper trouble with a culture that prizes hustle over rest, the conversation explores how our discomfort with sleep often reveals a deeper discomfort with dependence. The result? We treat rest as a weakness to manage rather than a truth to receive. Viewing sleep not as downtime but as doxology, Dr. J and Brett draw on Scripture, theology, and everyday habits to explore how sleep mirrors God's own design—his rest, his sustaining care while we're unaware, even Jesus asleep in the boat during a storm. Because if trust in God's provision is at the heart of the gospel, why wouldn't our nightly surrender to sleep be an embodied rehearsal of that same trust? Along the way, they tackle the pride and overwork baked into modern culture, the way technology and constant attention erode our capacity for rest, and practical habits for reclaiming healthier sleep in a distracted age. At the center of it all is a distinctly Christian claim: creation matters, embodiment matters, and because God meets us in our weakness and unconsciousness alike, sleep can become a physical, embodied ritual of faith. As Brett puts it, "entering God's rest is the point of life"—and sleep, far from a wasted third of our days, is a nightly invitation to practice it. For anyone running on empty, suspicious of hustle culture, or longing for a faith that meets them even in their most vulnerable, unconscious hours, this episode offers both a diagnosis and an invitation: recover a vision of rest as worship. LINKS: New Book: The Wisdom of Sleep by Brett McCrackenBrettMcCracken.com || TwitterThe Wisdom Pyramid Scrolling Ourselves to Death The Gospel Coalition

    The Wisdom of Sleep with Brett McCracken

  3. Jul 24

    Beauty Healing a Divided World w Chris Richards

    Dr. J sits down with Chris Richards to explore a provocative question: What if our divisions are rooted in something deeper than politics, and what if beauty is part of the cure? Rather than reducing polarization to bad ideas or bad actors, this conversation examines the broader economic forces that have reshaped modern life. Chris argues that self-interested economics and the attention economy have not simply changed our politics—they have altered how we understand identity, community, and even ourselves. As wealth, power, and influence become increasingly concentrated, many experience a growing sense of dislocation, making outrage, consumerism, and politics attractive substitutes for belonging. Yet this episode is not an exercise in cynicism. Instead, it offers a hopeful vision rooted in the Christian imagination. Beauty, hospitality, music, and the shared experience of creation can cultivate deeper forms of love, community, and spiritual formation. They also consider how Christians can recover the practice of discerning authentic beauty in an age where nearly everything is commodified. How might recovering wonder and pursuing the common good become acts of resistance against outrage and consumption? And what would it look like for Christians to become people who don't merely criticize, but create? For listeners interested in public theology, polarization, sociology, and the relationship between beauty and discipleship, this episode offers a thoughtful and hopeful vision for healing a divided world. LINKS: The Secular Age by Charles TaylorCitizens United Supreme Court Case

    Beauty Healing a Divided World w Chris Richards

  4. Jul 20 ·  Bonus

    Quick Episode: Updates & Feedback Request

    In this short bonus episode, Justin gives some insight about the podcast’s journey and desire to create meaningful dialogue between society and Christian faith centered around thought leadership.  Highlights: The Intersection now has over 40 episodes and thousands of downloads from over 40 countries. Ask: Holler with topic and guest suggestions for future episodes by emailing: podcast@RivChurch.com.  Thanks for listening and sharing!

    Quick Episode: Updates & Feedback Request

  5. Jun 26

    When the Old Maps Stop Working: Rethinking Apologetics with Luke Cawley

    In a moment marked by declining church attendance and religious affiliation, competing truth claims, and growing scepticism toward institutions, Dr. J chats with Luke Cawley to explore a pressing question: How should Christians think about evangelism and apologetics in a post-Christian world? Far from merely winning arguments or using urgent emotional appeals, this conversation examines the deeper currents shaping the foundations of un/belief today. Drawing from his extensive study and ministry experience across Europe and beyond, Luke argues that faith is never found in a vacuum. Every culture creates conditions that make certain beliefs seem plausible or difficult to imagine. As traditional assumptions lose their cultural footing, Christians must learn to engage the environments, stories, and social realities that shape how people make sense of the world. Globalization, technological change, and generational shifts have transformed the landscape of not just faith conversations but also the plausibility structures that contain them. As such, the conversation explores why storytelling often matters as much as argumentation, and how apologetics must adapt to a fragmented secular age. The conversation also challenges some of the assumptions that have shaped modern evangelism, particularly in how American Evangelicalism relates to cosmopolitan post-Christian settings.  What if the goal is not merely to provide stock answers but to help people see Christ in a way that is more fitting and compelling? How can Christians create spaces where honest questions are welcomed, and the gospel can be heard within contemporary realities? And what opportunities might exist for Christian witness in a culture where inherited faith can no longer be taken for granted? For listeners interested in evangelism, apologetics, cultural engagement, and the future of faith in the West, this episode offers a thoughtful reexamination of how Christians can be more faithfully present in a rapidly changing world. LINKS: The Invisible Castle Podcast (Spotify) (Apple) (Amazon)Substack: @invisiblecastle Website: lukecawley.orgBook(s): Somethingism: Exploring Our Sense of More | The Myth of the Non-Christian | other books

    When the Old Maps Stop Working: Rethinking Apologetics with Luke Cawley

  6. Jun 12

    Developing a Theology of Politics w Dr. Michael Giles

    In a political culture overflowing with opinions but often lacking deeper reflection, Dr. J sits down with Dr. Michael Giles to explore a deceptively simple question: What is political theology, and why does it matter? Far more than partisan preferences or ideological instincts, political theology asks how our understanding of God, human nature, authority, and the common good shapes the way we think about politics. Drawing from Augustine and various intellectual traditions, Dr. Mike argues that every political vision rests upon deeper assumptions about reality, whether we recognize them or not. Along the way, Justin and Mike trace the historical roots of modern democracy, examining the influences of ancient Athens, the Roman Republic, Christianity, and the humanism of the Enlightenment. They discuss how Christian ideas of human dignity helped transform political thought and why understanding these historical foundations remains essential for navigating contemporary debates. The conversation also confronts a challenge unique to every generation: our tendency to become prisoners of our own moment. As Dr. Giles observes, we often swim in cultural waters we scarcely notice, making it difficult to recognize the assumptions and narratives shaping our political imaginations. How have Christian, Enlightenment, and other philosophical ideas shaped democratic institutions? And how can historical awareness help us better understand the opportunities and tensions of our present age? For listeners interested in faith, politics, history, and public life, this episode offers an introduction to political theology and a compelling invitation to think more deeply about the ideas that shape our civic lives. LINKS: Website: michaeltgiles.comCity of God by AugustineAugustine & the Limits of Politics by BethkeA Common Wealth of Hope by Michael Lamb

    Developing a Theology of Politics w Dr. Michael Giles

  7. May 22

    Victorian Ghosts in the Evangelical Machine with Dr. Karen Swallow Prior

    Dr. J sits down with Karen Swallow Prior for an incisive conversation about the evangelical imagination. In a moment where many seem more discipled by the trappings of a subculture and internet tribalism than by wisdom, beauty, or truth, Karen argues that the crisis facing evangelicalism is not merely theological or political, but imaginative. Drawing from history, literature, theology, and cultural criticism, Justin and Karen explore the powerful but often invisible forces that shape how evangelicals engage the world. From Victorian moralism and sentimentalism to modern consumerism and culture war reflexes, they unpack the “social imaginary” that forms contemporary faith long before believers ever articulate doctrine.  As Karen points out, our water is imbued with the Victorian era. In other words, many have inherited a cultural mood they mistake for Christianity itself. The conversation makes a case for recovering art, literature, beauty, and moral imagination as essential components of formation. Along the way, they wrestle with evangelicalism’s credibility crisis, the fallout of deconstruction, generational disillusionment, shallow conversion practices, and the difficulty of cultivating discipleship in an age increasingly allergic to nuance. The episode also explores the unique role stories play in shaping culture and belief. Rather than offering simplistic nostalgia or culture-war panic, Justin and Karen cast a hopeful vision for faithful presence in a pluralistic world. The task, they argue, is not merely to condemn culture nor mindlessly reproduce it, but to help cultivate healthier cultural ecosystems rooted in wisdom, humility, creativity, and love of neighbor.  LINKS: Substack: @karenswallowpriorWebsite: karenswallowprior.comBook(s):The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis || other books & articlesThe Trinity ForumModern Social Imaginaries by Charles Taylor

    Victorian Ghosts in the Evangelical Machine with Dr. Karen Swallow Prior

  8. May 15

    Talking about Gender, Like Christians with Jamie Carlson

    Dr. J chats with seminarian and writer Jamie Carlson for a candid and humanized conversation about the state of evangelical gender discourse—and why so much of it feels simultaneously overheated and unserious. In a cultural moment shaped by tribalism, suspicion, and outrage, Jamie argues that many Christian conversations about gender have become less about seeking truth together and more about protecting camps and caricatures. The result is a discourse that often forgets the humanity of the people involved. Rather than reducing the conversation to slogans or talking points, Justin and Jamie explore what it might look like to recover genuinely Christian dialogue marked by humility, charity, patience, and love in truth. Along the way, they wrestle with the emotional and spiritual cost of divisive church culture, the ways mistrust corrodes Christian community, and why so many believers feel exhausted by debates that seem designed more to win than to understand. As Jamie bluntly puts it, “Mistrust is the opposite of love.” Amen.  The episode also moves beyond abstract theology into lived experience—examining how institutional failures, personal wounds, church dynamics, and differing Christian traditions shape the way people approach questions surrounding gender, leadership, and authority. Rather than pretending these conversations are easy, the case is made for faithful dialogue without abandoning conviction or complexity. Goodwill, they argue, is not compromise. It is discipleship. Can Christians disagree meaningfully without dehumanizing one another? Can theological conviction coexist with gentleness, curiosity, and honest self-examination? And what might happen if believers became known less for outrage and more for wisdom, compassion, and spiritual maturity? For listeners weary of endlessly polarized debates, this episode offers something increasingly rare: a serious conversation about difficult issues that refuses to sacrifice either truth or love. LINKS: Article: Why Evangelical Discourse is Unserious via Mere Orthodoxy, on Substack Substack: https://jamiecarlson.substack.com/Kierkegaard, Works of LoveThe Nicene CreedThe Apostles' CreedHenri Nouwen on Silence

    Talking about Gender, Like Christians with Jamie Carlson
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Intersections are high-traffic areas, with people coming from and heading in all sorts of directions. While intersections are places of potential collision and calamity, they are also the very places where we can find direction and learn where to go. The Intersection is a podcast where faith engages the complexities of our modern world. Though intersections sometimes feel risky, they are where real dialogue happens, they are where we find direction and discover where to go next.

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