United? We Pray

Rashan Frost joins Austin to discuss the ten year anniversary of the shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Frost is the ERLC director of research and senior fellow focused on issues of human dignity. He is the teaching pastor of Centerpoint Church in North Charleston, South Carolina, and is also an adjunct professor of Christian Studies at Charleston Southern University. He and Austin discuss the tragedy, the responses, and how Charleston has changed as a result. This is an anniversary we are not happy to observe, but we hope you will listen and lift up the families affected in prayer. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:Here is an article by Dr. Frost that published on the day of the anniversary. This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.ABOUT UWPUnited? We Pray (UWP) is a ministry to help Christians pray and think about racial strife. We want to encourage Christians amid the strife to rely upon God in prayer. So our prayers can be informed, we strive to learn and write about race, racism and its effects, and theology. We aim to be biblical, beneficial, and clear in all our efforts. While we’re burdened for all racial strife, we focus on racial strife between Christians because of the unique privilege and stewardship God has given his people: to bear witness to Him and to love all people, especially one another (Gal. 6:10).Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Ivan Gonzalez serves at Christos Para Las Naciones Church in Penson, Alabama, which is a Hispanic Church primarily serving immigrant families. Ivan joined Austin to talk about what life is like for Christians in Hispanic churches in 2025. We really enjoyed this conversation because Ivan is so Biblical in his approach to ministry. We hope you are encouraged to pray for your Hispanic brothers and sisters from this conversation. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.ABOUT UWPUnited? We Pray (UWP) is a ministry to help Christians pray and think about racial strife. We want to encourage Christians amid the strife to rely upon God in prayer. So our prayers can be informed, we strive to learn and write about race, racism and its effects, and theology. We aim to be biblical, beneficial, and clear in all our efforts. While we’re burdened for all racial strife, we focus on racial strife between Christians because of the unique privilege and stewardship God has given his people: to bear witness to Him and to love all people, especially one another (Gal. 6:10).Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dr. Daniel Rienhardt is a 24 year veteran of the police force. He is the author of Rethinking the Police: An Officer's Confession and the Pathway to Reform (IVP, 2023). This book is a refreshing change from most conversations about police reform. Daniel is a retired officer brimming with love for his fellow officers but who understands that serious changes need to be made. We hope this conversation gets you thinking and hope that you'll read and share the book!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:Dan's book on police reform here. This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.ABOUT UWPUnited? We Pray (UWP) is a ministry to help Christians pray and think about racial strife. We want to encourage Christians amid the strife to rely upon God in prayer. So our prayers can be informed, we strive to learn and write about race, racism and its effects, and theology. We aim to be biblical, beneficial, and clear in all our efforts. While we’re burdened for all racial strife, we focus on racial strife between Christians because of the unique privilege and stewardship God has given his people: to bear witness to Him and to love all people, especially one another (Gal. 6:10).Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Caryn Rivadeneira is the author of several books for both children and adults. Her latest book, Gritty and Graceful (Beaming Books) is one we would recommend to all of our listeners. Caryn managed to give a Biblical survey of the work of women in redemptive history and did so in an age-appropriate way for little girls and boys. It's really special. We hope this conversation is encouraging to you and we hope you'll check out the book!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.ABOUT UWPUnited? We Pray (UWP) is a ministry to help Christians pray and think about racial strife. We want to encourage Christians amid the strife to rely upon God in prayer. So our prayers can be informed, we strive to learn and write about race, racism and its effects, and theology. We aim to be biblical, beneficial, and clear in all our efforts. While we’re burdened for all racial strife, we focus on racial strife between Christians because of the unique privilege and stewardship God has given his people: to bear witness to Him and to love all people, especially one another (Gal. 6:10).Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Gavin King is a partner at Beasley Allen law firm in Montgomery, Alabama. He has been a friend of this ministry for a long time, and in this episode, he talks with Isaac about growing up in the black church and highlights some of his personal heroes of the faith. We hope this testimony of deep roots encourages you to press on. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Walter Strickland is Assistant Professor of Systematic and Contextual Theology at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the author of Swing Low: A History of Black Christianity in the United States (Intervarsity Press, 2024). Dr. Strickland joins Austin to talk through his new book. Dr. Strickland approached his new book theologically, which is not a surprise for a theology professor. He has chronicled a massive amount of source data and come up with a list of five theological characteristics of the theology of black Christians over time. He and Austin discuss those characteristics and their history. Through it, we see God's faithfulness to His people over many generations. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Dr. Strickland's excellent book here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

On January 31, United? We Pray's longest-serving staff member resigned to spend more time with her family. Jeri Choi has been a blessing to this ministry for many years, and all of our listeners have benefitted from her hard work. Please join us in thanking her and praying for God's blessing on her life and family!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Walter Strickland is Assistant Professor of Systematic and Contextual Theology at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the author of Swing Low: A History of Black Christianity in the United States (Intervarsity Press, 2024). Dr. Strickland joins Austin to talk about black history, and why he took a slightly unusual path to write his book. Often times, works on black history can focus more on the oppression black people have faced more than the accomplishments and contributions they offer. Dr. Strickland's work is a refreshing change of pace. We hope you are encouraged by this conversation. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Dr. Strickland's excellent book here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Grace and peace! It's 2025 and United? We Pray is in an exciting place as a ministry. Last year, we recorded more content than any year prior. In today's episode, Isaac and Austin sit down to talk about where we are as a ministry and what you can expect from the podcast and other arms of the ministry in 2025. As always, we covet your prayers over this work and partnership. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

UWP Founder Isaac Adams recently preached from Revelation 22 to Iron City Church in Birmingham, AL. We're grateful to be able to share this with you, because the ministries of Iron City Church and United? We Pray are intertwined and mutually reinforcing. You will be able to tell from this sermon that the unity we speak about in this ministry is vitally important in the life of our church. We hope this is an encouragement to you as you start the new year. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dustin Ratcliff is a pastor at Iron City Church in Birmingham, Alabama. In this sermon, he preaches from Exodus 33 on what it means to be in a relationship, even friendship, with God. Understanding these truths from Scripture has a profound impact on our prayer lives. We hope you are as encouraged and moved by this sermon as we were.LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

As many of you know, Isaac Adams, who founded our ministry is pastor of Iron City Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This week's episode is an excerpt of a sermon he recently preached on the perseverance of the black church. We hope this testimony of God's faithfulness encourages you!Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Author and Pastor Ryan King joins Austin to talk about his new book, Every Man's Conscience, which explores the contributions of 17th Century Baptists to political theology. That might sound academic, but we have a lot to learn about honoring the conscience of our neighbors and Ryan has much help to offer. As counter-intuitive as it might seem to us, liberty of conscience is a good thing for our churches, our evangelism, and our neighbors.LINKS & SHOW NOTES:You can find Ryan's excellent book here. This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dr. Timothy Paul Jones is a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He joins the show today to lend his historical expertise to our conversation about political idolatry. This is the final installment of the series, so if you haven't heard the others, we encourage you to check those out. Dr. Jones surprised us by quoting a lot of second and third century Christian thinkers about the freedoms we should extend to our neighbors. Truly there is nothing new under the sun!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:You can find a collection of our political resources here. This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

A little different this week. We're just praying for the nation. Please join us in doing so.LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Election week is finally here. By the time the next episode airs, votes will be cast. Whether or not we know who won by this time next week. pastor Jared Torrence joins Austin this week to talk about what we need to remember to make sure our joy is tied to the eternal plan and character of God, regardless of who is in the white house. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is the episode we referenced with Steve Bateman. Here are the rest of the episodes from our politics series. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Rev. Dr. Arthur Price, Jr. graciously hosted us at his home church: 16th St Baptist, which was home to a terrible bombing in 1963, which claimed the lives of four little girls. Though 16th St Baptist is a national historic landmark, Dr. Price is clear that his church is not a museum - it is a living, thriving outpost of gospel ministry. We hope you are encouraged by Dr. Price's testimony. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.To learn more about 16th St. Baptist Church, click here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Jared Torrence is back with us to discuss the dynamics of raising mixed kids in multiracial families. As always on these family episodes, we are grateful for Jared sharing his experience, which is instructive for us whether we share his same family dynamic or not. Jared reminds us of the pillars we should be teaching our kids, which are especially important when they are in multiracial families. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Pastor Jared Torrence of Covenant Fellowship Church in Glenn Mills, PA joins Austin to talk about the relationship between fighting racism and preaching the gospel. Pastor Jared reminds Christians of the power of God for both salvation and sanctification that are found in Jesus and the attitudes Christians should have toward all kinds of sin, racism included. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Author, evangelist, and apologist Preston Perry joins the show today to discuss his new book, How to Tell The Truth: The Story of how God Saved me to Win Hearts, Not Just Arguments (Tyndale, 2024). Preston has much wisdom to share about how Christians should engage the lost world around us. He teaches us about humility, boldness, and relying on God in prayer. We hope you are emboldened to share the Gospel with folks after this!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Preston's book here. Preston co-hosts a podcast with his wife Jackie, which you can find here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dr. Nate Brooks, professor at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary joins Austin today to talk about a few important doctrines of the Christian faith. The first is the sufficiency of Scripture and the second is God's common grace. How are we to think about the Bible? What about other resources like books by non-Christians? Dr. Brooks gives us a helpful framework that prioritizes Scripture and honors God's common grace to us through other means. We hope this episode encourages you to read your Bible!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Check out our interview with former Klansman Tom Tarrants here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Adrianna Anderson is back once again as we wrap up our study through the Old Testament. Today we're looking at the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. There is so much in here about how to live a righteous life, how to seek and acquire wisdom, and how to live at peace with our fellow believers. If we would pay more attention to this portion of Scripture, there is much for us to learn on how to disagree well. We hope you've enjoyed this series, but more than that, we hope you are spending time in God's word!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dr. Paul D. Miller is a professor at Georgetown University's school of foreign service. He is a veteran, patriot, and author of The Religion of American Greatness: What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism (IVP: 2022). Dr. Miller joins Austin today to talk about Christian Nationalism - what it is, isn't, and what it gets wrong about both the church and the state. Many of us have loved ones who hold these views, and it is important for us to understand them in order to love them well. Dr. Miller is careful and fair in how he engages, and we hope this episode helps you. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Dr. Miller's book is available here.If you missed our conversation with John Wilsey a few weeks ago, you can find it here.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Austin is joined today by Dr. Robert Elder, Associate Professor of American History at Baylor University. We're talking about the Lost Cause - the myth that the Confederacy was a noble institution and those who fought for it are worthy of our veneration. The truth is more complicated, as we discuss. Dr. Elder is a model of both clarity and charity in how he deals with this topic and shows how we can be both clear-minded about the past without wrongly celebrating things we should denounce. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Dr. Elder's books for sale here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

In the final episode in this series on virtue, Kaitlyn Schiess joins us to think about the virtue of love, and how we as Christians can exercise this virtue in service of our neighbors. How can we love our neighbors with our politics? How can we cultivate the virtue of love in our hearts? How have we gotten this wrong in the past? What's the role of the local church in all of this? We discuss all of these questions and more, as Kaitlyn shares insights from her book, The Liturgy of Politics. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Kaitlyn's excellent book here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Continuing our series on political virtues, Joshua Chatman joins Austin to talk about the Christian virtue of hope and the difference hope makes for our political engagement. Josh introduces several categories of hope which he and Austin then apply to political engagement. By being hopeful rather than fearful, Christians can stand out in this anxious generation. We hope you are encouraged. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Learn more about Josh and his podcast here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Pastor Steve Bateman hosted Austin and Isaac for a discussion on the political virtue of faith. Pastor Steve believes that despite the trouble regarding Christianity and politics, Christians should remain politically engaged. By exercising our faith and being reasonable (Philippians 4), we can bless our neighbors with our political engagement. Steve speaks about the fear and anxiety that so often dominate our political engagement and shows how Scripture gives us the answers to today's problems. We hope this episode encourages you in everyday faithfulness in the political realm. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Steve Bateman and FBC Decatur here.Here is the article referenced in the episode on political virtue. Here is Steve's article about discerning truth. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Austin is joined today by Dr. John D. Wilsey, author of American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (IVP, 2015). Dr. Wilsey has much to teach us about history and how Americans have thought about themselves and their place in the world. While American Exceptionalism has sometimes referred to an imperialist mindset, Dr. Wilsey encourages us to lean into the legacy of people like Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Dr. King who called us to live up to the ideals expressed in our nation's founding documents. We hope this episode encourages you toward greater love of God and neighbor. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can purchase Dr. Wilsey's excellent book here. This is the recent article Austin referenced by Dr. WilseySupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Justin Giboney is a husband, father, attorney, ordained minister, and author. He is the co-founder & president of the & Campaign and host of the church politics podcast. He joins Austin and Isaac to talk about politics and race. Political convictions aren't the only things that divide Christians. We are still divided by ideas about race as well. Justin has much wisdom to share on both politics and race, and we are grateful he spent this time with us. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Justin's ministry here or subscribe to his podcast here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Austin and Isaac are joined by Dr. Derwin Gray to discuss political idolatry in our churches. Dr. Gray is both a pastor and scholar. We wanted to hear from him about this difficult topic, and the fruit he's seeing from it in our churches. We discuss the different manifestations of political idolatry, its causes, and the terrible fruit it produces. Despite that, Dr. Gray is encouraged because Jesus is still building His Church. We hope you are encouraged to fight sin after hearing this. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can find Dr. Gray's books here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Pastor Joshua Chatman joins Austin to talk about how to be agents of unity in difficult political seasons. We learned during the last election cycle of the deep divides within the Church over politics. Josh and Austin talk about what we should not do, and what we should do as we relate to our brothers and sisters who think differently about politics. When the watching world thinks about Christians and politics, we hope they have a more positive example in the future than they have had in our recent past. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dan Darling joins the show once again to talk through political convictions. It's no secret that this is a difficult political season for a lot of Christians. Without diving into the weeds of any specific issue, Dan and Austin discuss how we should arrive at our political convictions and how we should relate to brothers and sisters who have arrived at different convictions. Please join us in praying that we'd all do better in showing love and charity towards those with whom we disagree. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Dan here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Happy fourth of July! This week we are joined by special guest, Pastor Bobby Scott. "Bible Bobby" is a friend of the ministry who has been on the podcast and has written for us several times. He has a particular interest in black history and all the ways our nation has failed to live up to its ideals in its treatment of black people. Despite this, Bobby is a proud military dad and a patriotic American. We talk through that tension and think about what it means to love an imperfect nation. We hope you are encouraged and that this spurs you to pray for our country. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

On today's special episode, Pastor Isaac Adams interviews one of his church members, Brittany Elmer. Brittany and her husband have adopted three special needs children, none of whom share their ethnicity. Her son, Isaac, went to be with the Lord earlier this year. Brittany shares how the prayers of her friends carried her through that tragedy, and how she is still learning about special needs and transracial adoption. We hope Brittany's testimony and example are an encouragement to you. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dr. Timothy Muehlhoff is a professor of communication at BIOLA University in California. He is also co-author of End the Stalemate: Move Past Cancel Culture to Meaningful Conversations along with his BIOLA colleague Sean McDowell. This book, which came out today, is an excellent resource for what to do when conversations feel stuck, as can often happen when discussing race. We encourage you to check out the book and hope you are helped by this conversation. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can buy End the Stalemate here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Brittany Salmon is a scholar and author of It Takes More than Love: A Christian Guide to Navigating the Complexities of Cross-Cultural Adoption (Moody, 2022). She is also the adoptive mother to three children who do not share her ethnicity, so her teaching on transracial adoption is not simply academic. She has spent many hours listening to birth mothers and adult adoptees whose experience has shaped her thinking on transracial adoption. She stopped by to talk with Austin about pitfalls Christians should avoid as we try to do the good work of caring for widows and orphans (James 1:27). She also offers helpful insight in how to care for transracial adoptive families, so we hope you will listen and share this episode so we can all support multi-racial families. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

We're back in our Bible study series with Adrianna Anderson. Today we look at the minor prophets, where we see a fuller picture of God's mercy to His people, Israel, and to the nations. There are plenty of sober warnings of judgment, but God's mercy shines through these books as time and again the people are given chances to repent and know God as father rather than judge. God's mercy extends to the ends of the earth, and these 12 authors drive that point home. Along the way, we also get more details on the day of the Lord and the coming Messiah. We hope you read along and are encouraged as we continue to see God's mercy and faithfulness to all people. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Few things are as difficult as parenting. If you desire to raise your kids to be agents of unity among God's people, it is even harder. Josh Chatman, host of the Train 'em Up podcast stops by to talk about parenting. Austin and Josh shared their experience of both raising children who do not share their ethnicity. We hope this episode is helpful beyond the context of multi-ethnic families. As discussed on the episode, diversity and representation is a good thing for all children. All of us have ways we can help raise the next generation of bridge builders. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Today, Adrianna and Austin are exploring the major prophets and seeing God's plan for His people from all nations. While these books occur in the context immediately preceding and during the Exile, God's faithfulness permeates the whole thing. We see that God has not forgotten His people or His covenant with them. We see that while He uses the nations for judgment, He remains faithful to Israel and will deliver them from the consequences of their sin. God's faithfulness extends also to the nations, who have been a part of His plan from the beginning. We hope you are enjoying this series and that you are sharing with your family and friends, but more importantly, we hope that you are reading and praying along with us. Time in God's word is never wasted! LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

What does the Bible say about interracial marriage? Adrianna Anderson and Austin Suter continue this exploration of Biblical Theology as we look at Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra. These books represent the exile and the mercy of God in allowing the exile to end and for God's people to return to Jerusalem. Ezra and Nehemiah both contain references to God's people taking foreign wives, and these passages have been abused, particularly in America, to suggest that Scripture is opposed to interracial marriage. Adrianna is careful to teach us that the thing foreign about the women in this passage was not their ethnicity (which we see clearly in the lives of Zipporah, Rahab, and Ruth) but their religion. We hope you will see how using these passages to teach against interracial marriage is just bad Bible study. We hope you are encouraged by God's faithfulness and mercy in these books and we hope you are reading along with us!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Is the idea of race in the Bible? In the last episode of this series, Adrianna Anderson joined Austin to study the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. This week, we’re looking at the history books of the Old Testament: Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. God’s desire for His people was to be a light to the Nations. In these books, we see Israel relating to the surrounding peoples and sadly being influenced by them instead of the other way around. Despite their unfaithfulness, God remains faithful to His covenant and committed to blessing the nations through His chosen people, Israel. While it would be incorrect to apply modern conceptions of race to Scripture, the idea that God calls people of every tribe, tongue, and nation to follow Him is clear from the earliest pages of Scripture.LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Adrianna Anderson is back as we continue walking through the Old Testament. These three books, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, share the history of God's people in the promised land. There is much history here to lament and learn from, and thankfully there is history to celebrate as well. We see the people being influenced by the nations around them, and see examples of faithfulness at the same time. Through it all, God is faithful to provide for His people. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Adrianna Anderson is back with us to discuss the law: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. We take a high-level view of these books and see the many lessons God has for His people in dealing with the nations. From this, we are able to start building a Biblical theology of race and ethnicity as we see God's heart for the nations present from the beginning of Scripture. We hope this series encourages you in your reading of Scripture!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

We continue our Bible study series by looking at the book of Exodus. There are many ethnic issues in this book, from the oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians, to the covenant faithfulness of Zipporah. This was a fascinating discussion and we hope you are encouraged. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here's a link to John Currid's Against the Gods. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

We are kicking off our Bible Study or Biblical Theology series with the book of Genesis. Adrianna Anderson brings her expertise as a Bible scholar to help us look at Scripture to see God's plan for diversity and ethnic harmony. There is so much in Scripture on this topic. Genesis is packed full of promises for the nations, as you will hear in this episode. Take up and read with us!LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Here is the series Pastor Chris Davis wrote for us on the Curse of HamSupport the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Austin and Isaac were pleased to welcome Courtney Reissig to the studio today. Courtney is an accomplished author who has also been writing for us for years. We talked with her about her burden to speak out on racial matters and overcoming her own self-consciousness to do so. We hope you're encouraged by her example and our conversation together. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Link to Courtney's books.Link to Courtney's articles for us.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

What does multi-ethnic ministry look like in different contexts? Pastor Yannick Christos-Wahab joins us to talk about his church in London. We hear about similarities and differences between the UK and the US, and Yannick gives us a positive vision for being salt and light in a dark world. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can learn more about Yannick and his church here. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Isaac and Austin sit down for the second installment in our FAQ series with a question we often get on the road - "what if my church doesn't care about ethnic unity?" We talk through scenarios when someone might want to leave their church, but spend most of the conversation cautioning against making quick decisions or judgments about others. Not everyone has to care about and pursue ethnic unity in the exact same way. In God's economy, our differences are actually a good thing. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Our episode on how hard bridge-building can be.Our episode on whether to stay with or leave a difficult church. Alicia Akins' article on being patient with others. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Dr. Randy Newman joins Austin to discuss the disturbing increase in antisemitism happening in the world right now. Randy shares his own experience with antisemitism, shares some of his family history, and provides a theological perspective on why history keeps repeating itself. We hope you will join us in praying for our Jewish neighbors. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.You can pre-order Randy's new book here. Here's the book by Michael Brown that randy referenced in the episode. Here's Austin's article on antisemitism that was referenced. Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!

Pastor Josh Chatman is back with us because he thinks Christians need to grow in our application of charity. Christian charity is just another way to speak about loving our neighbors, which is a duty all of us have. We don't have to agree with, understand, or even like someone to be kind to them. We do this in our churches, families, and workplaces, and when we do it well, God is glorified. Please join us in praying we'd look more like Jesus as we apply Christian charity. LINKS & SHOW NOTES:This UWP Podcast Episode was produced by Josh Deng with editing by Roshane Ricketts.Support the showTo learn more about United? We Pray, follow us on Instagram and keep exploring our website. Please consider rating the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe using your favorite podcast client to hear more!