The Pivot

I’m not sure exactly when I started following Michael Wear’s work. I think I just gradually noticed that a lot of people I respected continued to quote him and reference him, so I had to go see who this guy was. Well, it turns out, this guy is pretty dang amazing. The headline is that he led the faith outreach for Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign, served in the White House, leading evangelical outreach and helping to manage The White House’s engagement on religious and values issues. That’s pretty awesome. But what drives all of this great work is that Michael draws from a deep well of his own personal faith, his growing-any-day-now family, and a strong and intentional community. I won’t lie. I was really looking forward to this interview, and then it was SO MUCH MORE AWESOME than I expected. It was just a joy to talk with Michael and I feel like I genuinely learned a great deal. I will be listening to this episode a couple more times, I promise you that. You can find Michael all over the internet: on his website michealwear.com Twitter @michaelrwear Or you can subscribe for more in depth weekly articles and commentary at reclaiminghope.substack.com Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today! And here’s my music, if you’re interested… Thank you all! Now go do something awesome.

This conversation I had with Justin McRoberts was one of my favorites in a long while. I took a few great practical things away from this, as well as just deeply enjoying the time. Justin’s work has taken on many shapes over the years: pastor, author, singer/songwriter, YoungLife guy, career coach, podcaster… but at the heart of it, he’s really done one thing this whole time. You’ll have to listen to find out what it is. Also, his books on prayer: “Prayer” and “May It Be So”, are very much two of my favorites. I feel like I know Justin way more than the amount of time we’ve spent together should allow. He just goes deep fast and so when we do get to spend time together, it always feels like it counts. I think a lot of people feel that way about Justin, and after you spend this next hour with us, I hope you feel it, too. You can find his books, his coaching and courses, and his music at justinmcroberts.com And check out his podcast “At Sea” Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today! And here’s my music, if you’re interested… Thank you all! Now go do something awesome.

Stu G. The legend. Like many of us, I first learned about Stu through his epic guitar presence in the band, Delirious, who basically introduced the world to modern worship music. Over the years I have heard people talk about Stu in hushed whispers and deep reverence. People don’t just like his guitar playing; This is a guy who carries deep respect. About a year and a half ago I started to find myself in the same rooms and got to know him just a little and I understood immediately that this guy was a deep well. He’s spent the past few years curating a film / book / music and e-course project around the Beatitudes: Jesus’s “Blessed are the poor, Blessed are the weak…” teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. Plus, we got to chat about him playing guitar with Michael W Smith and me with Steven Curtis Chapman. Perhaps it’s about time that Stu G and I start a band called Secret Adventure. NOBODY KNEW HIS SECRET GREAT ADVENTURE!! To learn about The Beatitudes Project CLICK HERE Follow Stu on Instagram Guitar nerds! Get his tones for your Helix or Kemper! Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today! And here’s my music, if you’re interested… Thank you all! Now go do something awesome.

Songwriter, author, recording artist, mother… These are just a few of the hats Cindy Morgan wears. As a songwriter she’s been a part of many more songs than you would imagine, from artists like Vince Gill, India.Arie, Rascal Flatts, Ricky Skaggs, Amy Grant, Mandisa to Brandon Heath, Sandra McCracken, Josh Garrels, Sierra Hull, and EchoSmith. As you’ll learn, Cindy just writes ALL the time. I’ve gotten to work with her musically a few times in various places over the years and it’s been wonderful. But more than that, she has been a clear and consistent voice of kindness and encouragement to me and that has really meant a lot. It was such a treat to sit down and hear more about her journey, and talk about long-lost Nashville restaurant, The West End Cooker, and why High School Musical is so strangely great. Listen to Cindy’s new single with her band St. Lola in the Fields - and follow them on instagram. For more about Cindy and her writing, check out her website, or follow her on instagram. Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today! And here’s my music, if you’re interested… Thank you all! Now go do something awesome.

FRIENDS!! It has been a long time!! I did not intend to take this long between episodes, but between the election and a little Christmas covid (all recovered now, thankfully) it’s felt like a good time to take a little break. But we’re back now with a GREAT one!! Professor Paul C. H. Lim (PhD, Cambridge) is associate professor of the history of Christianity (Divinity School) and affiliate professor of history (College of Arts & Science) at Vanderbilt University, and is an award-winning historian of Reformation - and post-Reformation Europe. One of his books, Mystery Unveiled: The Crisis of the Trinity in Early Modern England, won the 2013 Roland H. Bainton Prize as the best book in history/theology by the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference. I’ve been a part of a nine-month fellows program with the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work and Dr. Lim has been teaching us through some of the great works of historical Chrstianity (Luther, Calvin, Augustine) as well as current authors like Tim Keller, N.T. Wright and Latasha Morrison. It is, to put it politely, kicking my butt and is one of the highlights of my week right now. Paul studied at Yale, Princeton and Cambridge before teaching at Gordon Conwell and now Vanderbilt. I’ve been a rising sophomore since 1998. Getting to know Dr. Lim and learn from his wisdom in a small group setting this past number of months has been incredible and I can’t wait for you to get to know him over this next hour as the Pivot returns from hiatus!! Hear more from Paul in this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ9TfkdgeFc&ab_channel=DigAndDelve You can find Paul’s books at: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=paul+c.h.+lim&dc&ref=a9_asc_1 CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!! Click here to check out my music. Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!

Santosh John is from India and now lives in Atlanta, where he recently founded the3CG.com - a ministry for people of a Third Culture, who don’t live in their birth or heritage country but also don’t quite fit into the culture in which they live in now. This was the first ever LIVE episode of The Pivot. Santosh John and I got to have this conversation as a part of the Rabbit Room’s virtual 2020 Hutchmoot Homebound conference. We got to talk about exile, family, science, 90’s radio jams, Rich Mullins and Caedmon’s Call, all in front of a small, kind and socially distant audience of the Rabbit Room community. This was a powerful and moving interview that first aired during the conference a few weeks ago and I’m so thrilled to share it with you today. You can find Santosh and his wife Shiny, at The3cg.com CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!! Click here to check out my music. Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!

It’s safe to say that not many kids grew up more deeply in the bubble of evangelicalism than Barnabas Piper. It’s led to some amazing books: about being a pastor’s kid, about doubt, and about having the ability to ask hard questions of God. Now Barnabas is an author, a father, and a new pastor after two decades in the book publishing business. He wrote a new book called “Hoping For Happiness” as he was making that career change. I love that he calls himself a “recovering cynic”, as that’s a phrase I’ve attached to myself, and it was great to get to talk to him about it. Barnabas is one smart dude and I’m so thankful he’s taken his experience and wisdom and shared it with us. You can find Barnabas at his website BarnabasPiper.com You can order his new book “Hoping For Happiness” here. CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!! Click here to check out my music. Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!

Every single person who knows Tim Timmons seems to have this same response when his name comes up: “Dude! Timmons! I LOVE that guy!” It just seems like he has poured his heart and life into every third person I’ve met in the past few years. He’s a musician, a pastor by default, a writer and a family man. The crazy thing? Twenty years ago he was told he had five years to live. Talk about a pivot, right? For Tim this has led to a conscious decision to rejoice that, as he says, “I woke up today!” Tim’s new single “You Never Let Go” just released a couple weeks ago, and it is so good it has genuinely brought tears to my eyes. I have wholeheartedly joined the club of people who say “Timmons! I love that guy!” Listen in and I think you’ll feel the same. Click here to listen to “You Never Let Go” Here’s 10,000 Minutes and here’s Tim’s instagram. CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!! Click here to check out my music. Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!

Ben Young is an author, a speaker, and a pastor at Second Baptist Church in Houston (one of the largest churches in Texas), But what’s super fun about this for me is that he is the brother of one of my former bandmates, Cliff Young, of Caedmon’s Call. I used to see Ben ALL the time, as the band really used Second Baptist as our headquarters. It’s where we rehearsed, borrowed musical gear (with at least the intent to eventually return it), and ate, as Cliff would always say, all the Nutter Butters a Baptist Church could give us. Ben just released a book LAST WEEK called "Survive the Day: Thriving in the Midst of LIfe's Storms". It’s a good book for the Pivot Podcast if ever there was one. And most definitely a good book for whatever you want to call this hot mess of a year we’re all living through. What I love about this book is that it’s relational and easy to read, but also really USEFUL. He takes his years of experience not only as a pastor, but also as a person who has lived through a lot of pain, to give practical tools and insight to actually help you navigate those metaphorical “storms” we all go through. It was so fun to “virtually” see him again and to catch up, and to finally thank him for causing the emotional pain that went on to provide for my family in my 20’s. CLICK HERE to get Ben’s book and HERE for his website CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!! Click here to check out my music. Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!

Davy Basinger was the lead singer of a band called Bleach. If you were in a youth group in an American church in 1998 then you know EXACTLY who I’m talking about. Bleach and my first band, The Normals, were on the same label and had the same manager, and so we found ourselves getting to play a bunch of shows with them when we were getting started. They were a few years ahead of us and they became like super cool older cousins to us. Davy and I actually reconnected while working on the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB with Food For The Hungry, where he works now. He designed the amazing coffee mug I’m posting here with my adorable parents. It’s been so fun to catch up and this was really special to me. We got to cover a lot of ground, from songwriting to his work with Food for the Hungry to living in an RV and starting over after divorce. This was a wild one and so fun. Bleach / Normals reunion show after we get out of quarantine, Davy? I’ve got a super good feeling about it… To catch up with Davy on your own, you can find his instagram HERE. CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!! CLICK HERE to see Eric Brown’s beautiful garden prints. Click here to check out my music. Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!