Gravity Commons Podcast

In this podcast, Dr. Nathan Cartagena, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College, discusses the history of white supremacy in the United States. He covers topics such as the impact of white supremacy on indigenous peoples and Africans, the role of white supremacy in US expansion, and the historical context of white supremacy and racial identity. This eye-opening conversation sheds light on the complexities and contradictions within federal Indian law and the systemic injustice experienced by marginalized groups.

We are re-posting our 4-part series with Dr. Nathan Cartagena on Critical Race Theory (CRT) from a couple years ago. This is Part 2, where Dr. Cartagena outlines a brief history of white supremacy in the United States (using lots of original sources). It's REALLY eye-opening (and will be continued in the next part).Dr. Cartagena is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College (IL), where he teach courses on race, justice, and political philosophy. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Unidad Cristiana, a student group working to enhance Christian unity and celebrate Latina/o cultures. Connect with Dr. Cartagena at his website or on Twitter.More info on critical race theory:Sojo article: Why Nathan Cartagena Teaches Critical Race Theory to EvangelicalsWhat is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 1What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 2What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 3What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 4Connect with Gravity LeadershipLeave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.Check out the Gravity Commons, a place to connect and learn with others in the Gravity community.Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Over the next few weeks, we are re-posting our 4-part series with Dr. Nathan Cartagena on Critical Race Theory (CRT) from a couple years ago. Back in 2021, people were claiming that critical race theory was a grave threat to the gospel. But what in the world IS critical race theory, anyway?In this first episode, Dr. Cartagena helps us understand what we're actually talking about. In Parts 2 and 3, Dr. Cartagena will give us a brief history of white supremacy in the United States (using lots of original sources), and part 4 will be an episode on why this all matters for the church. Buckle up, because this is a master class on critical race theory.Dr. Cartagena is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College (IL), where he teach courses on race, justice, and political philosophy. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Unidad Cristiana, a student group working to enhance Christian unity and celebrate Latina/o cultures. Connect with Dr. Cartagena at his website or on Twitter.More info on critical race theory:Sojo article: Why Nathan Cartagena Teaches Critical Race Theory to EvangelicalsWhat is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 1What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 2What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 3What is Critical Race Theory? by Nathan Cartagena Part 4Connect with Gravity LeadershipLeave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.Check out the Gravity Commons, a place to connect and learn with others in the Gravity community.Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Light as Air: Practicing Authenticity, Depth, and Purpose in a World of Empty Promises. offers readers freedom from unmet desires, a way to disrupt broken systems, and an invitation into a life of depth and creative action. How? By exploring the story of Jesus and the way his kingdom engages our dissatisfaction and invites us into the life we were made for. Jesus' kingdom is a political reality that overthrows broken systems, cultivates meaningful connection, and empowers us for creative action. Light as Air shows us how to live into and out of Jesus' kingdom in a way that gives hope to a dissatisfied world.Jonny Morrison is a church planter, pastor, and writer known for his integration of creativity, spirituality, and culture. Jonny and his wife, Tory, live in Salt Lake City, where he co-pastors Missio Dei SLC church. Jonny graduated from Western Seminary with an MA in biblical and theological studies and received his doctorate of contextual theology from Northern Seminary. You can find more of Jonny's work at jonnyis.com.Connect with Gravity LeadershipLeave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.Check out the Gravity Commons, a place to connect and learn with others in the Gravity community.Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Seems like everyone's talking about Amazon's new docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, so we wanted to host a discussion about it, and the issues it brings up. We invited Rebekah Mui and Dr. Laura Robinson to join us for this very wide-ranging, longer-than-usual discussion. Have fun!Rebekah Mui is a PhD Student in political, social, ethical and cultural thought (ASPECT) at Virginia Tech and researches postcolonial political theology, Christian anarcho-pacifism and Anabaptism. She is the editor of the Kingdom Outpost (http://kingdomoutpost.org) and publishes personal essays on http://medium.com/@rebekahmui and can be found on Twitter at @rebekahmui.Dr. Laura Robinson (PhD, Duke) is the co-host the New Testament Review Podcast. You can follow her writings on her excellent Substack newsletter.Connect with Gravity LeadershipLeave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.Check out the Gravity Commons, a place to connect and learn with others in the Gravity community.Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer's book A Church Called Tov, readers wrote in with stories of abuse and practical questions, such as:How can I transform the culture in my church or organization to make it tov?I believe my workplace has unhealthy values. How do I initiate change?How do I unleash a culture of goodness in my ministry?I’m not in a position of church leadership. What are some red flags that indicate a toxic culture, and what can I do if I see them?These questions are answered in their new book Pivot: The Priorities, Practices, and Powers That Can Transform Your Church into a Tov Culture.We talked with Scot and Laura about how churches can implement practices, establish priorities, and cultivate the Kingdom Gospel-centered qualities that resist abuse and cultivate goodness cultures.Connect with Gravity LeadershipLeave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.Check out the Gravity Commons, a place to connect and learn with others in the Gravity community.Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Learning to hear God's voice can be a difficult and confusing experience for many. But if we can start with getting real about what's happening in our hearts, we can begin to untangle the mess of our thoughts and feelings and create a stillness that makes it easier to hear what God is saying to us and sense what God is doing in us.Megan Nilsen wrote Untangled Faith: How Honest Conversations with God Lead to Deeper Connections, Clarity, and Peace and created the "Beautiful Exchange Journaling" method to give people a safe, intentional space to sort out our thoughts through honest conversations with God. Megan is a speaker, author, life coach, and founder of the Beautiful Exchange Community. She offers Christ-centered coaching for those seeking kingdom alignment and strategy during a transitional season in faith, relationships, or vocational calling. She loves discovering what God put in the hearts of women that will help them walk in greater confidence, fulfillment, and purpose.Show notes / links:Megan's website and podcastDiscerning God's voice bookmark (free download)Megan's social media: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedInMegan's booksConnect with Gravity LeadershipLeave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.Check out the Gravity Commons, a place to connect and learn with others in the Gravity community.Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A few days ago Gravity Podcast co-host Matt Tebbe wrote an article about 2 kinds of anger: the legitimate anger of the oppressed that tells the truth about injustice, and the illegitimate anger of the powerful who seek to maintain their own privilege at the expense of others.If we can’t discern the difference, we lump all expressions of anger together, and anger itself seems to be our main problem (we often call it “polarization”). We develop an allergy to anger that serves to hide injustice.We wanted to talk in more depth about this issue, so we invited Jonny Rashid to join us to talk about anger, power, and the unavoidable political facets of the gospel.Jonny Rashid is pastor of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship, an Mennonite Church USA congregation in Philadelphia. He blogs at jonnyrashid.com. His book, Jesus Takes a Side, was published by Herald Press in 2022.Show notes:Jonny's SubstackMatt's SubstackBen's SubstackConnect with Gravity LeadershipLeave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.Join our online community for free to get a curated list of interesting and edifying links each week, plus all kinds of other goodies.Check out the Gravity Commons, a place to connect and learn with others in the Gravity community.Check out Gravity Leadership Academy, our 12-month training intensive for Christian leaders who want to bring lasting transformation to their culture.Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Leadership Podcast? Contact us at podcast@gravityleadership.com.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jeff Crosby, author and publishing executive who explores language and longing, joins to trace how deep desires shape faith. He discusses saudade as a frame for yearning. Short reflections cover roots of desire, meaningful work as service, befriending anxious longings through spiritual practices, and how music guided his book’s structure.

They offer eight practical parenting pro-tips like reparenting yourself and using collaborative, age‑appropriate consequences. They normalize apologizing and celebrating each child’s unique strengths. They discuss defining clear family values, focusing on heart transformation over mere behavior, spending more one‑on‑one time, and inviting consistent adult mentors into kids’ lives.