For those willing to be curious, dig deep, and be surprised by God, this is your safe place to wrestle with the challenging and paradoxical tenets of the Christian faith. Host Christine Chandler Prater shares art, story, and humor that inspires and chats with community-builders and other fascinating folks that are shifting the perspective on Jesus. Join us as we explore the upside-down kingdom of God as the right way forward for the world.
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Does your faith journey sometimes feel like stumbling blindly through a dark valley? Have you ever felt paralyzed by fear of the unknown? Christine chats with Fr. Cliff Warner about walking in freedom and learning how to live healed and whole. If you have experienced loss, grief, or doubt and are questioning how you can keep faithing forward in the…
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Christine chats with author & scholar Kaitlyn Schiess about faithfully (and theologically) engaging with politics and power. They discuss the formational force of fear and lament over how it has divided families, churches, and communities. Kaitlyn also shares the four false political gospels she believes plague the modern evangelical American churc…
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EPISODE 18: BEING WITH AND BECOMING LIKE JESUS
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41:14
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Christine chats with Pastor Ian Simkins about church hurt and the “upside-down” kingdom way of Christ. They discuss why our greatest calling is to be with—and become like—Jesus (and why it must happen in that order,) and commiserate about ending up in ministry rather accidentally and against their will. If you have been wounded by/disillusioned wit…
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EPISODE 17: SOMETIMES WOMEN LIE ABOUT BEING OKAY
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Christine chats with writer Rachel Joy Welcher about the purpose of poetry and how it serves as an invitation to notice beauty and interact with the sorrows, joys, and tensions of life. Rachel shares more about the loves and losses that have inspired her work, and Christine asks her to read some of her favorite poems aloud. Rachel then offers helpf…
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EPISODE 16: MAKING FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORING WELL
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39:28
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Christine chats with author Shannan Martin about creating lasting connections by living as “ambassadors of awkwardness.” Together, they explore why “loving our neighbors is not the same as not hating them” and the vital role curiosity, hospitality, and empathy play in neighboring well. Christine gets advice on making friends as the introverted new …
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What do Jesus and the Bible have to say about women’s roles in marriage, life, and the church? Christine chats with author Kelley Mathews about the competing positions on the topic and why developing and holding those positions with humility matters. Kelley also explores some of the toughest questions she and her co-author, Dr. Sue Edwards, wrestle…
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Christine opens up about her recent struggle with burnout and chats with rest and worthiness expert, Emily K. Louis. Together, they discuss the endemic exhaustion that women are especially experiencing and why so many of us confuse people-pleasing productivity with God-glorifying priorities. Emily then shares 3 practical practices to help us SHIFT …
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Christine chats with author and pastor Scott Sauls about regret, shame, and redemption. Scott shares highlights from his newest book, Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen, and why he believes that faith is formed more deeply in church basements than in sanctuaries. Together, they discuss the vital roles confession and community play in spiritual grow…
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EPISODE 12 - PEACEMAKING IN A POLARIZED WORLD
41:10
41:10
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Christine chats with Jason Porterfield, author of Fight Like Jesus, who offers a definition of peace and outlines how Jesus exemplified living as a peacemaker in a polarized world. Together, they discuss some “Kingdom Contrasts” Jesus makes during the week leading up to his crucifixion and resurrection and what “Kingdom allegiance” really looks lik…
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EPISODE 11 - FOLK THEOLOGY + FALSE DICHOTOMIES
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37:08
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Christine chats with Kate Boyd about the “messy middle” of disentangling faith from culture to gain a clearer vision of God. They lament the “Folk Theology” that permeates both church and culture and explore some false dichotomies such as Eternal Life vs. Abundant Life. Kate also shares how we can draw together the strands of theology, history, and…
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EPISODE 10 - COURAGE, CALLING & COMMUNITY
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35:32
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Christine chats with Ashley Casebier, who shares her story of giving up the relative safety and security of corporate success to obey God’s calling in her career and in the context of community. They laugh about how they met, share tips on discerning God’s will, and discuss why both calling and community are commanded by God and require such courag…
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If you have a prodigal in your life or are struggling with knowing how to love a difficult person well, this episode is for you. Judy Douglass shares her story of clinging to hope while raising a rebellious child and offers tips on partnering grace with boundaries in any relationship. She and Christine explore the challenge of “speaking the truth i…
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EPISODE 8 - HEALING FROM GRIEF AND GROWING IN COMPASSION
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33:04
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Christine chats with Crickett Berlin, who shares helpful tips on dealing with our own grief and ways to offer compassion to others who are hurting. They explore the true meaning of Jesus’ paradoxical statement, “Blessed are those who mourn,” and why community is crucial to healing. They also discuss the struggle to believe in the goodness of God in…
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Lauren Alexander shares her crazy and inspiring journey in becoming a foster and adoptive mom and helps us see how Scripture commands everyone to care for the widow and the orphan in some capacity. This episode will help us all explore Jesus’ paradoxical teaching that in the upside-down kingdom of God, the leaders must become the servants, and “the…
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Christine chats with author Mary DeMuth who shares her story as a survivor of sexual abuse and the heart behind her advocation for women’s stories to be understood accurately and treated redemptively. Mary also helps us explore some women from the Bible that we may have been misjudging and misunderstanding. This episode will help us all ponder the …
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Ever struggle with burnout, bitterness, or hopelessness? Christine chats with Lisa Bonnema about the paradoxical truth that surrender leads to victory in the upside-down kingdom of God. Plus, Lisa offers helpful tips for avoiding bitterness and burnout and shares her story of learning to cling to hope, even in difficult circumstances. View Show Not…
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EPISODE 4 - LOVING THE SPECIAL NEEDS COMMUNITY
27:48
27:48
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Christine chats with Amy Sutherland, Director of Embrace—a ministry serving individuals with special needs and supporting families of kids, teens, and adults affected by disability. Respecting human dignity is a core value of The Holy Shift, as we believe that we are all made in the image of God by the hand of God. This episode will help us all bet…
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We are all viewing the world through lenses colored by our own experiences and limited by our own familiarities. We can’t help but paint the world with our own broken brushes. Detangling myth from veracity and tradition from truth can feel a little bit like the ground is shifting beneath our feet. But once we separate God from our own misconception…
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Christine is back with author, speaker, and professor, Dr. Sandra Glahn—this time to explore a collection of Jesus’ teaching that revealed humanity’s “Spiritual Vertigo.” Dr. G walks us through that teaching and explores why folks (then and now) find it so darn challenging. Then things get personal! Christine gets a little feisty as she unveils her…
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EPISODE 1 – WHAT’S UP WITH “THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM?”
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Christine chats with author, speaker, and Dallas Theological Professor, Dr. Sandra Glahn to explore this thing called, “The Upside Kingdom of God.” (If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry! They explain it without too much speaking Christianese.) They also talk about what it means to pursue God and his kingdom in our current cultural context an…
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What if our understanding of who God is—and what he wants for and from us—is inverted? What if the answers to the most important questions in life are not found in ourselves, our politics, or our ideals, but in the upside-down kingdom of God? And what if upside-down is the right way forward? Join Christine Chandler Prater as she explores the cure f…
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