Homebrewed Culture Cast

What is an Evangelical today? In this episode, Christian, Amy, and friends talk about evangelicals and evangelicalism. White Evangelicals were largely responsible for getting Trump elected. This seems very strange (to some of us), considering he is considered neither a Christian nor a moral person. So considering this, we posed 3 questions to some of our… Read more about What is an Evangelical Today?

White nationalism looks a lot different today than it used to. In this episode Christian and Amy discuss the new face of white nationalism, how Trump is setting that example, and how we can counteract it. Where is the line between presidents as public figures and human beings? Do comments made by the president normalize… Read more about Racism in the White House and How to Train an Activist with Michael Poffenberger

Michael Collins is back on the CultureCast to talk about net neutrality and cyber ethics. Who will feel the effects of the repeal of net neutrality the most? Is there an ethical argument against net neutrality? Will the end of net neutrality bring with it the censorship of internet content? Plus, Amy and Christian discuss… Read more about Kids and the Internet, Net Neutrality, and the Big Bad Wolff

Welcome to Homebrewed SabbathCast! Amy and Christian are not talking about anything serious on this week’s episode. Well, they try not to. Christian talk to Dana Trent, author of For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need For Rest, Worship, and Community. Is the Sabbath just something we’re supposed to give to God? Where does personal rest come into… Read more about Homebrewed SabbathCast

Christian and Amy go through the Acts of Mercy (Matt. 25) and give the country a grade for our efforts in food and nutrition, clean water access, affordable housing, homelessness, health care, prison reform, and immigration. How would Jesus say we’re doing? Are we living into the things Jesus calls us to? Plus, a look… Read more about Matthew 25’s Acts of Mercy: A National Report Card with John Burnett

This week’s theme: when doing good breaks the law. Christian and Amy take a look at civil disobedience and discuss their personal struggles with protest and civil disobedience, Jim Wallis’s recent arrest for civil disobedience in the Senate Office Building, the 6 steps to prepare your community for civil disobedience, the most (and least) effective… Read more about When Doing Good Breaks the Law with John Kiriakou

What does it mean when we send a citizen away to fight for their country? Can we still be proud to be an American? Do we make our leaders into saviors? In this episode, Christian and Amy talk about national pride, how it has changed, what it looks like, where the trends are headed, and… Read more about Proud to be American? with Martha Raddatz

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Rick Steves, travel journalist and host of  the PBS show Rick Steves’ Europe, and the public radio show Travel with Rick Steves, sat down with Christian and Amy in Washington DC to talk about the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Is the Reformation still… Read more about Reformation 500 with Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Rick Steves

Coming at you LIVE from Surly Brewing in Minneapolis, it’s the Homebrewed CultureCast. Get ready to wade into nerdy theological waters. Right after Christian keynoted at the Voices Conference, he hung out with Dr. Kyle Roberts and Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde of the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Up first, Kyle talks about his work and… Read more about Homebrewed CultureCast LIVE from Minneapolis

This is perhaps the nerdiest episode of the CultureCast: an all politics-nerd episode. In it, Christian and Amy talk about the special election in Virginia, the anniversary of the 2016 election, the Mueller investigation, and what the Democrats need to do for 2018. Trump has quietly accomplished more than it appears… so Christian and Amy… Read more about Trump, Mueller & Dems Dos-Don’ts in 2018

When does religion become a cult? What groups might qualify? And who decides? In this episode of the CultureCast, Christian and Amy talk about the 6 criteria used to determine if a group is in fact a cult, have we as a nation become a cult, and are certain brands of Christianity cult-ish? Christian interviews… Read more about When Religion Becomes a Cult with David Trotter

There’s no question that what the word “family” means today, which means the values of what make for a good family, are changing as well. We’ve all heard that we need to get back to “Biblical family values,” but that does that mean? We break out a list of some models of family and what… Read more about Redefining Family Values with Amber Cantorna

Will our connections be our salvation? Or our destruction? In this Homebrewed CultureCast episode, Christian and Amy explore: how we are bound together by trauma, silence, and genetics the connection between neutron stars, gravitational waves, and Christian’s wedding ring difference and balance between cultural appropriation and respectful connection Christian talks with AJ Jacobs, author of The… Read more about Our Connections Can Save (and Destroy) Us

Our nation is founded on the principle of placing central in our value system, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” But sometimes one negatively affects the other. Also, being “pro life” can mean so much more than most people assume. We discuss Diana Butler Bass’ recent claim that maybe church has reached a necessary… Read more about This Episode is (Kinda) a Matter of Life and Death

Salon Magazine asked a poignant question recently after a spate of domestic mass shootings: why is it always the white guy? While middle class males, in particular, are supposed to have more power and privilege than anyone else on the whole in America, so why are so many of us so filled with rage and… Read more about White Men: Most Dangerous People in America?

About one in four Americans identify as a “None,” which means, when asked about their religious affiliation, they claim “none of the above.” And yet so many of them claim some form of spirituality, or at least a hunger for exploring the possibility of God. In his new move, “Becoming Truly Human,” Nathan Andrew Jacobs… Read more about Prophets, Priests, Heretics, Nones and Becoming Truly Human

Hurricane Harvey was a “1,000-year storm” that will have an impact on the Houston area for years or even decades. But what does such disaster tell us about God? More important, perhaps, is what it tell us about ourselves and how we understand God. Megachurch Pastor and Prosperity Gospel Preacher Joel Osteen commits a “Sin… Read more about A Theology of Disaster, Osteen’s Sin of Sodom and Welcoming Disruption

In a special double episode that combines both a CultureCast and a Homebrewed Christianity episode, we celebrate Tripp Fuller’s 1,000th episode LIVE from the main stage at Wild Goose. On the CultureCast, Christian is joined by Tripp, Kristen Howerton and pastor-cum-rapper JKwest, while Tripp welcomes Christian, Micky ScottBey Jones and Robyn Henderson Espinoza. Tripp “Takes… Read more about Wild Goose LIVE: CultureCast and Homebrewed Christianity Double Episode

Anyone who knows a few pastors probably knows someone who has struggled with burnout. Ministry always has been an atypical job with lots of unique demands and stressors, but as reported in a Barna Research Group study discussed in a new article called “Why Pastors Leave the Ministry,” it’s a growing trend. Then author and… Read more about Pastoral Burnout, Healing Spiritual Wounds and How To Hack an Election

What’s it like raising a child on the autism spectrum? Or being married to an adult on the spectrum? In an extended special segment, Amy and Christian Piatt talk about living with these and other realities, as well as how Church deals (or sometimes doesn’t) with special needs. We look into an online resource for… Read more about God, Gays, Autism and Embodiment