Jeff Haanan is the founder of The Denver Institute for Faith and Work. He has a lot to say about practicing faith in the marketplace but also about how to live and work from a deeply authentic place. He also writes for Christianity Today and is the author of two books on work. One is An Uncommon Guide to Retirement, and his most recent is called Working From the Inside Out. When Jeff talks about work, he talks about things like thinking theologically about your job, and about living a holy life through your work.  Its a great conversation about a huge chunk of our lives … I hope you listen. Show Notes: Jeff's Study Guide:  A0331-study-guide.pdf (ivpress.com)

This week, we talk to Dr. Dennis Edwards, an author, pastor, educator, and activity, about the fascinating topic of humlity. In his latest book, Humility Illuminated, Dr. Edwards talks about an under-processed character trait that is actually central to holy living. Dr. Edwards is associate professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He has planted churches and worked in inner city ministries, was educated at Cornell, Trinity Evangelical, and Catholic University of America. He writes on race and power and justice, and now he offers a word on the personality of Christ. 

Maxie D. Dunnam is the former president and chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary. He is now Senior Pastor Emeritus and Executive Director of CCGlobal at Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis. Dr. Dunnam is a powerful and prolific writer, having authored more than forty books, including the Workbook of Living Prayer, which sold more than one million copies.

Sandra Glahn has a PhD from the University of Texas and teaches at Dallas Theological Seminary. Her interests range widely from art, gender, sexual intimacy in marriage, first-century backgrounds as they relate to gender, bioethics ... so you can see why she advocates for "thinking that transforms." She is a thinker, and among the best. She has more than twenty books to her credit, along with multiple Bible studies and online ventures. It is a privilege to talk with her today about her latest book, Nobody's Mother which addresses the topic of women in church leadership through the lens of Paul's word to the church in Ephesus about women and childbearing. 

Brian Russell is a gentle force. He is an author, blogger, coach, mentor to many, and among the most accessible academics we know. He is a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, but he is so much more. He has written deeply on the devotional study of scripture and also on the practice of centering prayer. On his website, brianrussellphd.com, he makes the bold statement, “I can help you thrive and flourish as the person God created you to be.” And that’s his mission. It is to help the rest of us flourish as followers of Jesus. Today we talk to him about his passions — centering prayer and reading scripture transformationally, and  about his new book, “Astonished by the Word: Reading Scripture for Deep Transformation.” 

Dan Wilt is the co-author of Sheltering Mercy and Endless Grace: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms (Brazos), as well as Jesus in the Wild (Seedbed), and is a writer, speaker,worship leader, songwriter, and encourager of Christians in many streams of the Church.Dan is part of the Vineyard and Anglican communions of the Church, and has taught in conferences, university settings, seminaries, and churches across streams of the Body of Christ.He is completing his doctoral studies with Asbury Theological Seminary in KY, and is a part of the team at Seedbed and New Room—serving the church with resources and events encouraging awakening in our generation.Dan lives with his wife Anita outside of Nashville, TN, and they have three grown children.

Mark Elliott is a retired professor of history, having taught at Asbury University, Wheaton College, Samford University, and Southern Wesleyan University. Dr. Elliott has a remarkably deep global perspective with particular expertise in East-West Christian studies. He has traveled extensively in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. And he brings all this experience and a well-honed mind for history to the work of chronicling the Asbury outpouring. We are thrilled to have his wisdom, perspective, and experience in this conversation about just what happened in Wilmore in February, 2023. 

This is another great conversation with Dr. Steve Seamands, who is one of our favorite people in the world. Dr. Seamands served as the Professor of Basic Christian Doctrine at Asbury Seminary for close to 40 years. In addition to that class, he taught Introduction to Spiritual Warfare, Introduction to Healing Prayer, and a class studying the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. So Steve knows healing! He has authored several books, including Wounds That Heal and Ministry in the Image of God (a Christianity Today book award winner), and his new book, Follow the Healer: Biblical and Theological Foundations for Healing Ministry (Zondervan, 2023) is maybe his best yet. He takes us “under the hood” of healing ministry and helps us understand the theory behind the practice. I (Carolyn) am so excited about this book, because it roots the charismatic work of healing solidly in the Wesleyan tradition.

We have a lot of reasons to love Becky Castle Miller. She is a PhD student in Biblical and Theological Studies at Wheaton College, under the supervision of Esau McCauley (an Anglican priest we follow and love!). She is an adjunct professor at Northern Seminary so hangs out regularly with Scot McKnight (who we also love!). She regularly quotes Pete Scazzero (we love his work), and Alison Cook (whose work is admirable). And!… Becky is diving deep into the whole area of Jesus and the Spirit-led emotional life, and what she has to say on this subject is just fascinating and oh-so helpful. May this conversation inspire you toward emotional wholeness and deeper intimacy with God. 

This week, we are working together with our dear friends at Spirit and Truth, a renewal ministry led by Matt Reynolds. This time, Matt asked if he could interview us, so we all sat down for a more personal conversation about how our podcast happened, what it’s like to do ministry with family, and where the Lord is leading from here. Enjoy this look behind the scenes of The Art of Holiness. 

Bryan Loritts is a prolific writer, dynamic preacher, and strong advocate for multiethnic communities of faith. He is a teaching pastor at The Summit Church in Memphis and serves as the President of The Kainos Movement, an organization that “ exists to see the multiethnic church become the new normal in our country.” Dr. Loritts is the author of eight books, including The Offensive Church, Insider Outsider, and Saving the Saved (which won a Christianity Today book award in 2017). In today’s podcast, we talk together about ethnic unity, how the church can navigate the coming election season, and how we can all play offense in the work of building ethnic unity in the church. 

Dr. Pete Bellini is the Professor of Church Renewal and Evangelization at United Theological Seminary. His areas of interest are our areas of interest … particularly the intersection of pneumatology and holiness. I mean, does it get any better than that? I don’t think so. Dr. Bellini has written exceptional books on both mental health and deliverance ministry. His latest books, The X Manual (out last year) and Thunderstruck! The Deliverance Ministry of John Wesley (out this year) offer us a deep dive into Wesleyan spirituality and its take on deliverance ministry. This is deep-end stuff ... and good. I hope you listen. 

Brenna Bullock is the worship leader of The Harvest, a contemporary worship expression, at The Woodlands Methodist Church. Brenna has a heart to see all people encounter the presence of God and be transformed. Brenna and her husband are passionate about writing songs that will align every heart with the power and truth of the gospel. Brenna helps lead Bristol House, a worship collective of worship leaders writing new songs for the people called Methodists. 

Dr. Chris Bounds, professor of theology at Asbury Theological Seminary, has literally written the book on holiness … or should I say books. His upcoming book, co-authored with Matt Ayers and Caleb Friedman, is called Holiness: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Theology. That one will be released this fall. But he has also co-authored, with Jim Harlow, Christy Lipscomb and Joann Lyon … one of my favorite people on the planet … a book called Holiness: The Power to Transform You, Your Church, and Your World. I’m thinking that book may have been re-released as Holiness for the Real World. And then just to make sure we get it that there is a lot more to say about holiness than we’ve thought about, he also co-authored with Jim Lo a book called Unholiness: Overcoming the Forces that Attack Your Soul. That’s a lot of holiness coming out of one guy. This is going to be a great conversation about something we’re all about … the art of holiness.

The world needs more people like Beth Felker Jones. She has a PhD from Duke and teaches theology at Northern Seminary. She has a dozen books to her credit, including a seminary staple -- Practicing Christian Doctrine: And Introduction to Thinking and Living Theologically -- which is now in its second printing. Dr. Felker Jones is a prolific writer, on-fire blogger, and truly beautiful human being, and it is our pleasure to talk all kinds of theology with her on today's podcast. 

Dr. David Watson is the academic dean and professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of Honor Among Christians, and Scripture and the Life of God: Why the Bible Matters Today More than Ever (Seedbed). In this episode, we chat about an article David has written for Good News Magazine on holiness and what it means to be a Wesleyan Christian. We also talk to him about honor and humility in the life of Christ and in Christian culture. This one is all about the art of holiness!

In this episode, we interview Eric Peterson, a writer and pastor raised into faith by one of our generation's most well-known spiritual voices -- Eugene Peterson. We talk with Eric about his father's spirituality and about the re-release of Traveling Light, a thoughtful commentary on the book of Galatians. This one is all about genuine, biblical freedom, something we're all hungry to encounter. 

Todd Hunter is the founding Bishop of an Anglican diocese called Churches for the Sake of Others. His spirituality has been raised up through leadership in Alpha USA, so he has been formed by that deep heart for gospel-centered evangelism. His native language is Kingdom, justice, peace, Spirit-empowered leadership and missional ecclesiology. And his passions play out in places like The Center for Formation, Justice and Peace, which he founded … and in seminaries and universities all over the country where he participates in training up the next generation of spiritually formed, justice-seeking followers of Jesus. Bishop Hunter is a gift to the Church, and his latest book — What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion — is written to call that Church to become all it is meant to be. 

Paul Lawler is the pastor of Christ Church Memphis. He comes to this role after fifteen years at Christ Church Birmingham, where he cast a vision that saw hundreds of new church plants and ten of thousands of people come to Christ. His heart for evangelism is both courageous and contagious. We wanted to talk to him about that, and about the move of Christ Church to the GMC, and about his vision for reviving a heart for evangelism in the Methodist tribe.  

Dr. Scot McKnight is a world-renowned speaker, writer, professor and equipper of the Church. He is a recognized authority on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, and the New Testament. He blogs at a Christianity Today site called Jesus Creed, and more recently on his own sub stack newsletter (Scot’s Newsletter). He writes prolifically there, offering book reviews, social commentary, and solid scholarship on all kinds of topics relevant to the Church today. Scot is a recognized authority on the New Testament, and has two books out just this year — Revelation for the Rest of Us, and The Second Gospel. That’s a lot of productivity for one guy! We sat down to talk to him about both of these solid books. 

Max Wilkins is the President of TMS Global (TMS stands for Train. Mobilize. Send.) and a man with a fire for global missions. He travels the world encouraging cross-cultural witnesses, developing training materials for those called to serve cross-culturally, and raising up leaders in the Christian movement. His enthusiasm for the world Christian movement is contagious. We hope you listen. 

Rev. Mark Sorensen is the senior pastor of the Woodlands Methodist Church in The Woodlands Texas, just north of Houston. Mark has stepped into the beautiful history of The Woodlands Methodist Church of 45 years. Mark is the second senior pastor of in the church's history. While honoring the past leadership of Dr. Ed Robb, Mark is also bringing in his new vision that builds upon what has been. We will hear all about Mark's story and his vision for where the church is leaning in this new season. It was an honor to have him on the podcast! 

Austin and Maddie Wofford are the head pastors at Arise Church, which is a house church movement based in Lexington, Kentucky. They meet in House Churches across the city and every first Sunday of the month all Arise House Churches meet together! Arise Church is birthed out of a conviction around church looking like a place for people to be deeply loved, discipled, challenged, and formed into a lifestyle and identity that reflects Jesus.Austin and Maddie have a deep heart for the next generation, prayer, revival, and discipleship. Come listen and catch the fire of God they carry. 

Aaron Calhoun, is a Foursquare pastor, church planter, and Director of next gen ministries with the FourSquare Church. He is bright, humble, faithful, and curious about how to build intergenerational relationships inside the church. Listen to him say more about intergenerational ministry at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TNu8LQRufs. Such a great conversation.

Dr. Sandra Richter is with us for a second time, to talk about the prophetic life. Hers is a voice you want to hear on this subject. She is an internationally known Old Testament scholar, the author of the extraordinary Epic of Eden Bible study, and professor and Dean at Westmont College. Raised in a pentecostal tradition and trained at Harvard, she relates to the beautiful subtleties of God’s voice in our lives like few people do. We hope you listen to this one, and find fresh energy for listening for God’s voice. 

Pete Greig is someone we keep coming back to, because his ministry and story have so much to offer. What a great example he is of one who has given himself deeply to the work of prayer over most of a lifetime. Pete is the founder of 24-7 Prayer Network, which reaches more than half the nations on the globe. He is also the pastor of Emmaus Road in England. In this podcast, we talk about the art of prayer and the extraordinary work of living out a long obedience. 

Bishop James Swanson is well-known name among Methodists. He has served as a bishop in the United Methodist Church since 2004, and travels widely sharing love and Jesus as a charismatic and prophetic preacher of the Word. In this conversation, he shares his own story of being raised in a Pentecostal tradition and coming home to Methodism as an adult. 

Join Pastors Carolyn Moore and Pierce Drake in this introductory conversation and hear why they've decided to start this podcast. You'll hear a little bit of their stories as well as their hope and prayer for this community. We are excited to have you in this conversation!