Upstream
304 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago -There are no ordinary things. We can meet God in the most surprising places…if we only know how to look. Go Upstream, discover a world charged with the grandeur of God—and learn to live in that bigger world.
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Episodes
Further Upstream - Our View of Time vs. God’s
November 04, 2022 12:00 - 41 minutes - 58 MBShane welcomes Tim Padgett to reflect more deeply on God’s gift of time. How have modern inventions left us feeling like we have so little time? Are natural rhythms better than artificial ones? And how does God, Himself, relate to time?
God Made Time for Us | Matthew Clark
November 01, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 86.1 MBShane welcomes singer-songwriter and 2022 Imagination Redeemed speaker Matthew Clark for a conversation about God’s mysterious gift of time, and how He uses it to welcome humans into His family.
Further Upstream - Teaching Students ‘Why,’ Not Just ‘How’
October 28, 2022 12:00 - 46 minutes - 64.9 MBShane and Tim Padgett think more deeply about the purpose of sending students to school (or teaching them at home), and explain why education that doesn’t instill the right values is futile.
What’s the Point of Education, Anyway? | Nathan Johnson
October 25, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 89.4 MBShane welcomes Nathan Johnson to explore an older and more Christian philosophy of education designed to set students free and to help them know and seek the God who created them.
Further Upstream - Mythos and Logos
October 21, 2022 21:18 - 41 minutes - 58.2 MBTim joins Shane again to test the boundary between meaning-making stories and historical fact, and to explore the ways in which myth and history intersect in the Christian story.
The Weaving Women of Myth | Heidi White
October 18, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 98.5 MBShane welcomes Christian classical educator Heidi White to reintroduce a forgotten way of knowing truth and teaching meaning. Heidi draws on four ancient stories about weaving women and uses them to illustrate how myths, as well as facts nourish our faith and imaginations.
Further Upstream – God’s Image and Presence in Our Bodies
October 14, 2022 12:57 - 38 minutes - 54.3 MBShane and Tim revisit the conversation with Dr. John Kleinig about theology of the body, and explore how knowing God’s high purpose and design for our bodies allows us to draw moral conclusions without proof-texting.
A Temple, Not an Amusement Park | John Kleinig
October 11, 2022 13:06 - 1 hour - 90.2 MBWhy do we have bodies, what did God intend for them, and how are they involved in our redemption? Shane welcomes Dr. John Kleinig to attempt a distinctively biblical and Protestant approach to theology of the body using his book, Wonderfully Made.
Further Upstream – C. S. Lewis on What’s Really Real
October 07, 2022 17:51 - 40 minutes - 56.8 MBShane and Tim revisit the conversation with Dr. Joe Rigney on education and The Abolition of Man, and explore the many ways our culture’s abandonment of value judgments has unmoored us from reality. Dr. Joe Rigney's talk at the 2022 Miami National Conservatism Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eDcy7rFgJY&ab_channel=NationalConservatism
The Abolition of Education | Joe Rigney
October 04, 2022 12:10 - 1 hour - 85.2 MBIn this re-air from October 2021, Shane welcomes Dr. Joe Rigney to unpack C. S. Lewis’ brief but prophetic masterpiece, The Abolition of Man, and to help us discover a richer vision of what it means to educate our children.
Further Upstream – Why We Love Reading Chesterton
September 30, 2022 12:00 - 47 minutes - 66.9 MBTim and Shane revisit the conversation with Dale Ahlquist about G.K. Chesterton’s famous book, The Everlasting Man, and reflect on the surprising ways this early 20th century writer is relevant and valuable to the church today.
The World According to G.K. Chesterton | Dr. Dale Ahlquist
September 27, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 86 MBIn this favorite episode from March, Shane welcomes Dale Ahlquist for an introduction to the faith and writing of one of the 20th century’s most influential Christian minds: G.K. Chesterton. Shane and Dale dive into Chesterton’s famous retelling of the human story, The Everlasting Man.
Further Upstream – Jesus (Probably) Has an Accent
September 23, 2022 12:00 - 42 minutes - 59.7 MBTim and Shane discuss recent episodes on the Christian theology of limits, why Jesus redeems people biographies all, and how we can avoid the mistake of pitting God’s creation against His work of restoration.
Finitude Isn’t Fallenness | Kelly Kapic
September 20, 2022 15:57 - 55 minutes - 77.6 MBGod created us as limited creatures, and He called those limits good. But we often confuse our limits with sin. Shane welcomes Dr. Kelly Kapic, author of You’re Only Human, to explore the ways we try to transcend our limits, and how God wants us to embrace them, instead.
Further Upstream – It’s Good to be a Creature
September 16, 2022 18:26 - 36 minutes - 51.3 MBHave you ever been knocked off your feet by an ocean wave or gotten stuck on a mountain after dark? Shane and Tim reflect on how modern life allows us to forget our limits and our dependence on God, and how remembering those limits can restore our joy.
Loving Your Limits | Ashley Hales
September 13, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 88.7 MBShane welcomes Dr. Ashley Hales, author of A Spacious Life, to dispel the myth that you have to do everything, be everywhere, know it all, and never rest in order to be successful. God gave us our limits, and in Jesus Christ, He joined us in them.
Further Upstream – Is There Bad Art?
September 09, 2022 12:00 - 44 minutes - 62.8 MBShane and Tim revisit the conversation with Bruce Herman on beauty, and challenge the idea that “the beautiful” is impossible to define. Does that mean anything can be beautiful? And has modern art taken a wrong turn? They consider these hard questions in light of Christian wisdom and God’s self-revelation.
The Mystery of Beauty | Bruce Herman
September 06, 2022 17:42 - 1 hour - 87 MBShane welcomes Gordon College Fine Arts Chair, Bruce Herman, for a challenging discussion on the meaning and purpose of beauty, how we recognize it, and why beauty is inseparable from truth and goodness.
Further Upstream – We’re Not Angels or Animals
September 02, 2022 12:00 - 36 minutes - 51.1 MBShane and Tim reflect on the conversation with Matthew LaPine and sketch the unique and life-giving ways Christians can approach mental health and psychology.
Synapses or the Soul? | Matthew LaPine
August 30, 2022 12:00 - 57 minutes - 80.2 MBShane welcomes Dr. Matthew LaPine, author of The Logic of the Body, to examine two stories about the human mind and emotions, and to offer an older and richer way of understanding ourselves and trusting God through mental struggles.
Further Upstream – Natural Law Leaves No Excuse
August 26, 2022 12:00 - 43 minutes - 61 MBTim Padgett joins Shane again to continue the conversation on natural law, and to point out how the Bible, Christian morality, and even our secular culture assume moral truth exists, and that it is evident to all.
Right and Wrong in the Book of Nature | David Haines
August 23, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 96.4 MBShane welcomes back Dr. David Haines to discuss natural law, where it’s taught in Scripture, and how the Church today can rediscover this ancient and deeply Christian type of moral reasoning.
Further Upstream – Scientists Are Human, Too
August 21, 2022 00:30 - 40 minutes - 57.5 MBTim Padgett joins Shane to reflect on the conversation with Dr. Stephen Meyer, and to explore the ways in which even scientists can fall prey to human biases and blind spots, especially when it comes to origins.
How Science Reveals (and Requires) God | Stephen Meyer
August 16, 2022 12:30 - 56 minutes - 79.4 MBAtheists tell us science has no need for the “God hypothesis.” But three discoveries in the 20th century challenged materialism and revealed the Mind behind the universe. Dr. Stephen Meyer joins Shane to explore his book, “The Return of the God Hypothesis.”
Further Upstream – The Sins and Sacredness of the Senses
August 05, 2022 10:30 - 37 minutes - 53.4 MBTim Padgett joins Shane to dig deeper into the conversation with Joel Clarkson on his book, Sensing God. Tim and Shane explore the ways in which our culture abuses the senses, and how sin itself is rooted in disordered desire for good things.
Receiving God Through Our Senses | Joel Clarkson
August 02, 2022 12:39 - 59 minutes - 83.7 MBShane welcomes Joel Clarkson, author of Sensing God: Experiencing the Divine in Nature, Food, Music & Beauty to help us recover a theology of the senses, and to understand how our physical experiences were designed to spark worship.
Further Upstream – Don’t Settle for an Imaginary Jesus
July 29, 2022 12:45 - 35 minutes - 50.6 MBTim Padgett joins Shane to reflect on the conversation with Rebecca McLaughlin, and to challenge those who cite Jesus without consulting the inspired accounts of His life, the four Gospels.
Why Does Everyone Admire Jesus? | Rebecca McLaughlin
July 26, 2022 12:30 - 1 hour - 85.9 MBWhy is it that even those who don’t accept Christian theology can’t help but admire the character of Jesus? Shane welcomes author and apologist Rebecca McLaughlin to explain why all of us need to reencounter the hero of the Gospels, and guides us using her book, Confronting Jesus.
Further Upstream – Can Christian Values Survive Minus Christ?
July 22, 2022 13:30 - 37 minutes - 53.4 MBTim Padgett joins Shane again to reflect on the conversation with Glen Scrivener, whose book, The Air We Breathe challenges our secular neighbors to ask where their moral values come from, and whether they can hold on to those values without the Savior who taught them.
How Jesus Made Us W.E.I.R.D | Glen Scrivener
July 19, 2022 12:30 - 1 hour - 92.5 MBChristianity remade the world so completely that even so-called “secular” values are just an echo of Christian morality. Shane welcomes speaker, filmmaker, and priest Glen Scrivener to talk about his new book, “The Air We Breathe,” and to reveal what the West owes Jesus, even if we no longer worship Him.
Further Upstream - Taunting the Prophets of Baal
July 15, 2022 13:42 - 40 minutes - 57.5 MBTim Padgett joins Shane again to reflect on this week’s episode with Dr. Brendan Case about the Christian use of mockery and satire, and how they are compatible with the command to love our enemies.
When Is It Loving to Mock? | Brendan Case
July 12, 2022 21:55 - 56 minutes - 79 MBIs it possible to make fun of an opponent and still love them? Blaise Pascal thought so. Shane welcomes Dr. Brendan Case, Associate Director for Research in The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, to explain what a seventeenth century controversy can teach us about mockery and winsomeness.
Further Upstream - The False Promise of 'Coexist'
July 08, 2022 15:20 - 37 minutes - 53.4 MBWhat are the limits of religious freedom? Is it possible to “live and let live” in a society where our neighbors have fundamentally different beliefs about the way human sexuality and families work? Tim Padgett joins Shane again to unpack his recent conversation with Jack Phillips and Barronelle Stutzman at the 2022 Wilberforce Weekend.
When Our Lives Become A Fight | Barronelle Stutzman & Jack Phillips
July 05, 2022 12:00 - 48 minutes - 68 MBShane welcomes Barronelle Stutzman & Jack Phillips to talk about the importance of standing firm in our convictions, even when it costs us dearly. Sometimes life becomes a fight, the spotlight turns on us and our convictions, and faithfulness is doing the next thing in faith and obedience.
Further Upstream - The Ugly Logic of Abortion
July 02, 2022 12:00 - 40 minutes - 57.1 MBShane welcomes Colson Center theologian-in-residence Tim Padgett to talk more about his interview with Ryan Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis and to identify the ugly assumptions that left over 60 million dead in the aftermath of Roe.
How Abortion Tears Us Apart | Ryan Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis
June 28, 2022 17:07 - 56 minutes - 78.7 MBAbortion hasn't just affected unborn babies—it's poisoned our culture, institutions, even our instinctive attitudes toward our kids. Shane welcomes Ryan Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis, who point the way toward restoration in a discussion of their new book, Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing.
Further Upstream- How to Watch Summer Movies
June 16, 2022 20:07 - 44 minutes - 62.7 MBIn Wayne Stender's last episode as product manager, Shane and Wayne pick up on the conversation with Kasey Leander, and go deeper into questions about how to watch "popcorn flicks" like reflective Christians.
Don’t Switch Off Your Brain at the Movies | Kasey Leander
June 14, 2022 13:24 - 1 hour - 85 MBShane welcomes Colson Center colleague Kasey Leander to continue a conversation they had recently about summer blockbuster movies, and how there’s more going on in supposedly “mindless entertainment” than we often imagine.
A Christian Worldview of Leisure - Further Upstream
June 11, 2022 15:10 - 22 minutes - 30.6 MBShane fields some questions on his recent conversation on rest and leisure. Producer Wayne Stender asks Shane a pair of important questions that explore a Christian worldview of the difference between resting and "vegging out" and what God intends leisure to look like.
The Meaning of Leisure | Dale Stenberg
June 07, 2022 10:18 - 1 hour - 88.3 MBShane welcomes Davenant Institute teaching fellow Dale Stenberg back to Upstream to talk about the badly misunderstood concept of leisure, and how classical and Christian thought can improve the way we relax, rest, and celebrate.
Further Upstream - Imagination and the Value of Backstage Life
June 03, 2022 13:42 - 50 minutes - 68.8 MBWayne Stender visits with Jennifer England, who has managed theatre and radio theatre before joining the Colson Center. Jennifer provides an understanding to the value of performance drama in this cultural moment. Wayne and Jennifer revisit Shane's conversation with Max McLean, founder of the Fellowship for Performing Arts, considering why performance arts can have an incredible role to play in this cultural moment for Christians. For more on the Fellowship for Performing Arts visit htt...
C. S. Lewis’ Redeemed Life | Max McLean
May 31, 2022 16:29 - 49 minutes - 68.2 MBShane sits down with award-winning actor and Fellowship for the Performing Arts president Max McLean at the 2022 Wilberforce Weekend in Orlando, Florida. They discuss the extraordinary conversion of C. S. Lewis as told in McLean’s recent movie, The Most Reluctant Convert.
Christian Nationalism and the Christian Calling
May 28, 2022 13:07 - 54 minutes - 74.5 MBWayne visits with Dr. Timothy Padgett abour Shane's conversation with Os Guinness. Wayne asks Dr. Tim to clarify the role of nation, how Christians should exist inside a nation, and responding the claim that Christians simply want a theocracy in America.
Does God Redeem Nations? | Os Guinness
May 24, 2022 13:15 - 46 minutes - 64.2 MBShane sits down with author and social critic Os Guinness at the 2022 Wilberforce Weekend in Orlando, Florida. They ask whether God is in the business of redeeming nations, and what redemption would look like for America.
Christians, Ecology, and the Call to Stewarding or Dominion, or Both?
May 20, 2022 10:15 - 54 minutes - 75.7 MBWayne asks Shane to explain why Christians have problems with environmentalism. The pair then descends into a conversation on the distinction between stewarding and exerting dominion over creation, especially considering our role in God's story to bring redemption and restoration to a broken world. To close, Wayne asks why we have lost trust in the area of environmentalism with ourselves, each other, and our loss of trust even with creation.
Rethinking Environmentalism| Dr. Rick Lindroth
May 18, 2022 10:12 - 56 minutes - 79 MBShane welcomes ecologist Dr. Rick Lindroth of the University of Wisconsin, Madison to discuss the troubled relationship Christians often have with environmentalism, and to suggest a way forward that honors God’s command to steward His world.
Christianity's Beautiful Answer to Depression and Suicide - Further Upstream
May 14, 2022 11:54 - 47 minutes - 66.1 MBShane responds to questions and challenges from Wayne on if and how Christians can present beauty to a world that is battling depression, sadness, and the epidemic of suicide.
Unraveling Suicide and Mental Illness | Dr. Matthew Sleeth
May 10, 2022 10:13 - 58 minutes - 80.4 MBShane welcomes Dr. Matthew Sleeth back to the program to tackle difficult questions about the rising tide of suicide and other mental health problems in America, and to suggest ways Christians can improve our responses during National Mental Health Awareness Month. Matthew's website: http://matthewsleethmd.com/ Matthew's Books: Hope Always: How to be a Force for Life in a Culture of Suicide Reforesting Faith: What Trees Teach Us About the Nature of God and His Love for Us 24/6...
The Mirth of God? - A Conversation on Orthodoxy | Further Upstream
May 06, 2022 11:01 - 40 minutes - 57.3 MBShane fields a host of questions from producer, Wayne Stender. Wayne asks first if one needs to convert to Catholicism to have rightly read Chesterton. Then, Wayne asks Shane to explain why he finished the book with tears in his eyes, when Trevin wax highlights that Chesterton is a "laughing prophet." To close, Wayne pushes Shane to explore how and why spiritual insight is afforded to the most immature Christian and the experienced faith follower with similar impact while there's differe...
Understanding G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy| Trevin Wax
May 03, 2022 12:23 - 57 minutes - 79.9 MBShane welcomes author and North American Mission Board vice president Trevin Wax to guide us through G. K. Chesterton’s most famous book, Orthodoxy, and to explain how this masterpiece can reignite the wonder of faith.