Brian talks with Dr. Heather Holleman, Penn State writing professor and author, about the final book in her middle-grade series, This Seat Is Yours, which follows a seventh-grade girl discovering her identity as "seated with Christ" from Ephesians 2:6. Heather discusses the decline of pleasure reading among middle schoolers amid short-form media and AI book summaries, and why fiction remains a powerful tool for mental, emotional, and spiritual development. She walks through the series' arc — rejection, jealousy, popularity, and purpose — and explains the "seated and sent" framework she and her husband use to help both kids and adults move from comparison and anxiety into a settled identity in Christ that overflows into blessing others.

Brian talks with Dr. Heather Holleman, Penn State writing professor and author, about the final book in her middle-grade series, This Seat Is Yours, which follows a seventh-grade girl discovering her identity as "seated with Christ" from Ephesians 2:6. Heather discusses the decline of pleasure reading among middle schoolers amid short-form media and AI book summaries, and why fiction remains a powerful tool for mental, emotional, and spiritual development. She walks through the series' arc &mdash; rejection, jealousy, popularity, and purpose &mdash; and explains the "seated and sent" framework she and her husband use to help both kids and adults move from comparison and anxiety into a settled identity in Christ that overflows into blessing others.

The idea of “the common good” has a rich history within the Christian church. It’s the notion that, as we pursue Jesus in our lives and in the lives of others, we are fulfilling God’s purposes for His creation. This pursuit can be messy. It means rolling up our sleeves and creating space for hard conversations about real issues that impact our lives. Things like parenting, marriage, finances, politics, art, and culture. On The Common Good, Brian From creates space to have these conversations, to sit with the big questions that we all have, to sometimes disagree, but to always look for the chance to create common good, by following after Jesus. Brian welcome listeners to join them in these conversations, to bring their own questions, hopes, and struggles, and to ultimately share in a journey to see God’s design for all of us fulfilled.

The idea of &ldquo;the common good&rdquo; has a rich history within the Christian church. It&rsquo;s the notion that, as we pursue Jesus in our lives and in the lives of others, we are fulfilling God&rsquo;s purposes for His creation. This pursuit can be messy. It means rolling up our sleeves and creating space for hard conversations about real issues that impact our lives. Things like parenting, marriage, finances, politics, art, and culture. On The Common Good, Brian From creates space to have these conversations, to sit with the big questions that we all have, to sometimes disagree, but to always look for the chance to create common good, by following after Jesus. Brian welcome listeners to join them in these conversations, to bring their own questions, hopes, and struggles, and to ultimately share in a journey to see God&rsquo;s design for all of us fulfilled.

The Common Good Podcast

The Common Good

Helping Middle Schoolers Find Their Identity in Christ with Heather Holleman

With the midterms a week away, Brian From responds to a Christianity Today report on Republican candidates courting evangelical voters, arguing that evangelicals are a movement of Christ followers, not a voting bloc. He reacts to Dictionary.com naming “maxing” its word of the year, and pushes back on a viral post claiming it’s fine for Christians to “disagree with Paul,” urging a high view of Scripture. He questions a pastor’s claim to be one of the most gifted storytellers God ever made, and shares Tim Challies’s warning that we become like the people who influence us. Brian admits to falling for a misleading headline about George W. Bush and the Texas Senate race, and discusses Highland Park United Methodist Church’s vote to leave its denomination. In the second hour, he looks at people using apps to make friends, Mark Cuban’s regret over missing time with his kids, and a 93-year-old Japanese woman who helped police catch a scammer. He also covers Relevant’s advice to “define enough” before building wealth and a New Jersey bill that could ban gum over microplastics, then closes with a Gospel Coalition call to attempt small, faithful things for God.

With the midterms a week away, Brian From responds to a Christianity Today report on Republican candidates courting evangelical voters, arguing that evangelicals are a movement of Christ followers, not a voting bloc. He reacts to Dictionary.com naming &ldquo;maxing&rdquo; its word of the year, and pushes back on a viral post claiming it&rsquo;s fine for Christians to &ldquo;disagree with Paul,&rdquo; urging a high view of Scripture. He questions a pastor&rsquo;s claim to be one of the most gifted storytellers God ever made, and shares Tim Challies&rsquo;s warning that we become like the people who influence us. Brian admits to falling for a misleading headline about George W. Bush and the Texas Senate race, and discusses Highland Park United Methodist Church&rsquo;s vote to leave its denomination. In the second hour, he looks at people using apps to make friends, Mark Cuban&rsquo;s regret over missing time with his kids, and a 93-year-old Japanese woman who helped police catch a scammer. He also covers Relevant&rsquo;s advice to &ldquo;define enough&rdquo; before building wealth and a New Jersey bill that could ban gum over microplastics, then closes with a Gospel Coalition call to attempt small, faithful things for God.

Evangelicals Are a Movement, Not a Voting Bloc, and Scripture Isn’t Something We Get to Edit

Brian From returns from Dallas, where he officiated the wedding of a former youth group student, reflecting on how staying connected to Jesus is the key to a strong marriage. He passes along an Uber driver’s wise advice for empty nesters: keep seeing each other. He airs some frustrations about air travel etiquette, applauds a megachurch pastor for urging every Christian to vote without telling them how, and sides with apologist Frank Turek in his disagreement with Ken Ham, arguing that the age of the earth is an important question but not a test of orthodoxy. Brian wonders why so many in Gen Z are delaying their driver’s licenses, pushes back on Carl and Laura Lentz’s media tour for their book on infidelity, and discusses a UC Berkeley professor who stopped grading homework for correctness because of AI. He reflects on Paul’s call in Philippians 1:27 to live worthy of the gospel “whatever happens,” and remembers the 1999 plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart. He warns that Eric Trump’s claim that “we’re saving God” turns a politician into an idol. He closes with John Piper on why true fulfillment is found in God rather than the self, and a Charles Stanley devotional on everyday disciple-making.

Brian From returns from Dallas, where he officiated the wedding of a former youth group student, reflecting on how staying connected to Jesus is the key to a strong marriage. He passes along an Uber driver&rsquo;s wise advice for empty nesters: keep seeing each other. He airs some frustrations about air travel etiquette, applauds a megachurch pastor for urging every Christian to vote without telling them how, and sides with apologist Frank Turek in his disagreement with Ken Ham, arguing that the age of the earth is an important question but not a test of orthodoxy. Brian wonders why so many in Gen Z are delaying their driver&rsquo;s licenses, pushes back on Carl and Laura Lentz&rsquo;s media tour for their book on infidelity, and discusses a UC Berkeley professor who stopped grading homework for correctness because of AI. He reflects on Paul&rsquo;s call in Philippians 1:27 to live worthy of the gospel &ldquo;whatever happens,&rdquo; and remembers the 1999 plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart. He warns that Eric Trump&rsquo;s claim that &ldquo;we&rsquo;re saving God&rdquo; turns a politician into an idol. He closes with John Piper on why true fulfillment is found in God rather than the self, and a Charles Stanley devotional on everyday disciple-making.

Christians Can Disagree About the Age of the Earth, but No Politician Is Saving God

Brian From talks with New York Times bestselling author and Washington, D.C. pastor Mark Batterson, a Naperville native, about his new book, Not My Circus: Living with Courage, Conviction, and Compassion in a World of Chaos. Mark explains the title’s double meaning: the familiar proverb about healthy boundaries, and Paul’s call in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to a world whose largest building, Rome’s Circus Maximus, shaped what people cheered and feared. He describes the cultural “three-ring circus” of shaming, blaming, and faming that traces back to Genesis 3, and argues that grace and truth must go together. Grace without truth is “weak sauce,” truth without grace is “hot sauce,” and together they’re the “secret sauce.” For recovering people pleasers, Mark offers the fear of the Lord as the cure for the fear of man. Drawing on 30 years of pastoring on Capitol Hill, he reminds listeners heading into the midterms that politics matter but are never ultimate, because administrations come and go while God’s kingdom endures.

Brian From talks with New York Times bestselling author and Washington, D.C. pastor Mark Batterson, a Naperville native, about his new book, Not My Circus: Living with Courage, Conviction, and Compassion in a World of Chaos. Mark explains the title&rsquo;s double meaning: the familiar proverb about healthy boundaries, and Paul&rsquo;s call in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to a world whose largest building, Rome&rsquo;s Circus Maximus, shaped what people cheered and feared. He describes the cultural &ldquo;three-ring circus&rdquo; of shaming, blaming, and faming that traces back to Genesis 3, and argues that grace and truth must go together. Grace without truth is &ldquo;weak sauce,&rdquo; truth without grace is &ldquo;hot sauce,&rdquo; and together they&rsquo;re the &ldquo;secret sauce.&rdquo; For recovering people pleasers, Mark offers the fear of the Lord as the cure for the fear of man. Drawing on 30 years of pastoring on Capitol Hill, he reminds listeners heading into the midterms that politics matter but are never ultimate, because administrations come and go while God&rsquo;s kingdom endures.

Helping Middle Schoolers Find Their Identity in Christ with Heather Holleman

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