Cultivated: A podcast about faith and work

When Mars Hill Church was planted in Seattle in 1996, few would have imagined where it would lead. But in the next 18 years, it would become one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most influential churches in the United States. Controversy plagued the church, though, due in no small part to the lightning-rod personality at its helm: Mark Driscoll. By 2014, the church had grown to 15,000 people in 15 locations. But before the year was over, the church collapsed. On January 1, 2015, Mars Hill was gone. Produced by Cultivated host Mike Cosper,The Rise and Fall of Mars Hillexplores the inside story of this church, its charismatic leader, and the conflicts and troubles that brought about its end. You’ll hear from insiders and experts, tracing the threads of this story to so many others that shape the church today. Listen to the trailer and subscribe today. The full series launches on June 22. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Jen Pollock Michel is a writer based in Toronto, CA. She’s the author of several books, including Surprised by Paradox and A Habit Called Faith, which is releasing this week. On the podcast, she describes the road that led her to writing, the relationship between her vocations as a writer and a mother, and the place women writers occupy in Christian publishing. She also talks about A Habit Called Faith, a book that invites seekers, skeptics, and Christians alike to explore a deeper experience of Christianity through a 40-day experience in the book of John and the book of Deuteronomy. If you have feedback for us, you can email us at podcasts@christianitytoday.com [podcasts@christianitytoday.com] Subscribe to our show, and if you can – leave us a rating and review in iTunes. Cultivated is produced and hosted by Mike Cosper It’s edited by Mark Owens Our music is by Dan Phelps Our theme song is “Eden Was A Garden” by Roman Candle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Doug Logan was running a barbershop in Patterson, New Jersey when he met Jesus. Doug, who is black, quickly married his girlfriend Angel, who is white. Within days, he was preaching on the streets to the homeless. In the twenty-five years since, their interracial marriage has been a kind of proving ground for the experience of racial tensions that have come along with being black and Reformed, both in majority white and in majority non-white contexts. That included serving at a historic, majority-white Presbyterian church in Philadelphia and planting a church in Camden, New Jersey. Now, Doug serves as the Associate Director of Acts 29 and the president of Grimké Seminary, where he hopes to equip more pastors like him to bring new expressions of Reformed theology to the urban context. Listen in as he shares his story, his passion for the gospel, and his vision for racial reconciliation at the foot of the cross. Produced by Mike Cosper Edited by Mark Owens Theme Song “Eden Was a Garden” by Roman Candle Music by Roman Candle and Dan Phelps Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

We’re often unprepared or unwilling to face experiences of loss and suffering. But in fact, they are opportunities for deep encounters with the presence and mercy of God. Tish Harrison Warren is a writer and a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. Her book Liturgy of the Ordinary was Christianity Today’s 2018 book of the year, and she just released Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep a few weeks ago. This episode ends up being a deep-dive into the subject of suffering, grief, and lament, exploring the various ways North American culture both inside and outside the church have taught us to avoid them. And while the conversation is weighty, it’s not without hope. At its heart, the Christian faith has its roots in the knowledge that our God not only meets us in suffering, but as Tish puts it, he got there first. His presence with us is our hope for both life and death. Cultivated is a production of Christianity Today. It was produced by Mike Cosper. It was edited by Mark Owens. Our theme song is “Eden Was A Garden” by Roman Candle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Makoto Fujimura is a painter and the author of several books on the intersection of faith, culture, and the arts. Most recently he’s published Art and Faith: A Theology of Making. In this episode, Mako describes his calling as an artist and how living three blocks from the World Trade Center transformed his painting. He also describes his work in kintsugi – the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics by pouring gold between the shattered pieces. The medium itself is a vision of grace: taking something that appears ruined and making it more beautiful and more valuable than the original. It’s a conversation about vocation, creativity, the abundance of God’s love, and the importance of culture making as vision of the new creation. Produced by Mike Cosper Edited by Mark Owens Music by Dan Phelps Theme Song “Eden Was a Garden” by Roman Candle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]