When You Realize Parenting Is One Long Goodbye

Brian reflects on a season of family transitions, then moves through a series of short devotional and cultural topics: Wendell Berry’s legacy, a take on old fashioned baby names, a critique of Anne Hathaway’s abortion comments, and a look at JD Vance’s candid comments about doubt. The episode also…

Sojourn Church: Reaching Metro Detroit's Unchurched, One Conversation at a Time

Brian talks with Steve Van Noort and Scott Wyatt, lead and assistant pastors of Sojourn Church, a new PCA church plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan started through the Detroit Project. Steve explains their mission to specifically reach the unchurched and lost rather than draw people from other con…

A Chilling Documentary, Sportsmanship That Shines, and Daryl Strawberry's Redemption

Brian discusses the disturbing new Netflix docuseries on the death of pastor's wife Mika Miller and the alleged abuse she suffered, pushing back hard against the narrative that her husband's horrific actions represent normative evangelical teaching on marriage. He shares a Nine Marks article on how…

From Gang Member to Pastor, and God's Call to Bold Enjoyment

Brian defends a well-known pastor criticized for using AI as a research tool in sermon preparation, arguing it's no different than consulting commentaries as long as it stays in its proper place in the process. He shares a powerful Christianity Today testimony from David Washington, a former Chicag…

Learning to Notice God's Subtle Movements with Jeremy Sims

Brian talks with Jeremy Sims, professor of spiritual formation and author of The Way of the Spirit: Recognizing and Responding to God's Subtle Movements. Jeremy explains "attentiveness to the Spirit" — the practice of recognizing the Holy Spirit's quiet, often unspectacular work drawing us toward J…

Performative Politics, Worship Without Feelings, and Bending the Knee to Jesus

Brian opens frustrated by what he sees as performative culture at every level — from politicians renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" to grandstanding pastors — contrasting it with Jesus's call for authentic inner transformation over outward appearance. He shares a study linking over 150 minutes of…

Coyote vs. Acme and a Petra-Fueled Christian Throwback with Paul Asay

Filling in for Adam Holz once again, Plugged In's Paul Asay joins Brian for a fun Friday lineup. They dig into Coyote vs. Acme, the long-shelved live-action/animated hybrid where Wile E. Coyote finally sues Acme Corporation (run by Foghorn Leghorn) for decades of exploding gadgets, now getting a th…

Focus on the Family Begins Search for Its Next President

Brian talks with Gary Schneeberger, assistant to the president for media relations at Focus on the Family, about the ministry's search for a new president as Jim Daly, nearing 65, begins a planned transition after 20 years of leadership. Gary explains the search process — conducted with the help of…

Processing Tragedy in Nepal, the Backlash Over Dolly Parton, and the Case for Christian Joy

Brian opens with a heavy reflection on catastrophic glacial flooding in Nepal, using the tragedy to talk about the fragility of life and living with urgency and eternal perspective. He calls out a Christian social media user who publicly declared Dolly Parton "likely in hell" within hours of her de…

The Case of the Missing Youth Pastors with Sarah Zylstra

Brian, a former youth pastor himself, talks with Sarah Zylstra of The Gospel Coalition about her article investigating why so many church youth pastor positions sit unfilled. Sarah traces youth ministry's evolution from the evangelistic, games-and-pizza model of the 80s and 90s through the seeker-s…