CrossWalk America's podcast

This is a recording of a 9/16 radio interview on "The God Show" where host Pat McMahon talks with Eric Elnes, CWA Co-Founder, about the emerging Christian faith at the grassroots. Elnes contends that, based on CrossWalk America's experience of walking across the country and meeting with thousands of Christians at the grassroots, the Christian faith looks very different (and hopeful) than media reports suggest.

This week Eric reads from his new book, Asphalt Jesus: Finding a New Christian Faith Along the Highways of America. The book chronicles the surprising and inspiring encounters CrossWalk America walkers had last year as they walked across the U.S. meeting with Christians and the "spiritually homeless" at the grassroots. It offers a VERY different view of Christianity in the U.S. than is typically portrayed in the media and gives those with yearnings for a more inclusive, compassionate Christian faith solid reasons for hope.

Bishop John Shelby Spong writes of Elnes' book, "Asphalt Jesus is as exciting as the adventure it describes ... This is a 'must read' if you are concerned with what is happening to Christianity in the United States."

Asphalt Jesus was just released by Jossey-Bass and is available at your local bookstore and at www.Amazon.com and www.BarnesandNoble.com. For more info go to www.crosswalkamerica.org

CrossWalk America's Dr. Eric Elnes interviews Prof. Joan Roughgarden, evolutionary biologiest from Standford University and author of Faith and Evolution: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist. In this interview, Prof. Roughgarden offers a unique perspective on the Creation vs. Evolution debate, pointing to how the biblical faith itself is essentially compatible with modern scientific understandings of evolution.

When it comes to a Christian understanding of Creation, can faith and science coexist? Despite protests by fundamentalists over the Bible being read in light of modern science, the vast majority of the Christian tradition has answered this question with an overwhelming, "Yes!" The biblical worldview itself saw the realms of head and heart as seamlessly integrated.

One significant recent attempt to reclaim this affirmative Christian understanding in the public square is the Clergy Letter Project, headed by Michael Zimmerman - a biology professor and Dean of Students at Butler University in Indianpolis (www.clergyletterproject.org). A couple years ago in response to a local controversy in a public school in Wisconsin, Prof. Zimmerman sent out a letter for clergy to sign who affirmed that faith and evolution are compatible. This letter took on a life of its own and, to date, has been signed by over 10,500 clergy.

In this interview, CrossWalk America's Dr. Eric Elnes and Prof. Michael Zimmerman discusses faith, evolution, "intelligent design," and the Clergy Letter Project's effort to reclaim Christianity's heart AND mind.

Eric Elnes interviews Brian McLaren, author of numberous books included A Generous Orthodoxy and The Secret Message of Jesus. Brian gives his views of what the emergent church movement is for those who may be unfamiliar with it. He also discusses a basic paradigm shift taking place in our culture that may very well influence the course of Christian faith for the next five hundred years, including the role of the Phoenix Affirmations in what's taking shape.

Recording note: Brian's voice levels are a little low. I'm learning to hold the microphone closer to people!

In this episode, CrossWalk America co-president Eric Elnes talks with Barbara Rossing, author of The Rapture Exposed, about the basic beliefs forming the foundation of the popular Left Behind books and recently released video game. She exposes these beliefs as unbiblical, straying substantially from the main stream of Christian tradition, yet notes these are exerting dangerous influence on American foreign policy in the Middle East and on Christian views of the earth and care for the environment.

For more resources, along with CrossWalk America's press release on the Left Behind video game, go to www.crosswalkamerica.org.

CrossWalk America co-president Eric Elnes interviews Rev. Bruce Van Blair (pictured left), who has made a special study of the Book of Revelation for the past 30 years. Recently Bruce published a 40-page "Paper for My Friends" distilling the essence of what he has learned of the book, its distinctive meaning and purpose, and its message for today. We asked Bruce to distill the essence of that paper for us in a 14-minute interview in which he voices a provocative and compelling understanding of Revelation that stands in stark contrast to that represented in the popular Left Behind book series, and now, video game. His paper is available on the CrossWalk America website (www.crosswalkamerica.org).

This is my first-ever podcast interview! Here I interview Rev. Thomas Ott or the United Church of Christ in Webster, NY in the Papago Brewing Company on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Tom is just completing a 3-month sabbatical which has taken him all over the world to find ways he can equip his congregation to practice their faith in the midst of their everyday lives. His quest is to make faith more real, tangible, and concrete not only on Sunday mornings but throughout the week. This is an unedited interview in which Tom speaks frankly about reasons for both hope and despair in the faith landscape of America, and points ot nuggets of deep wisdom he has gleaned from visiting faith communities in the USA and following the footsteps of the apostle Paul in Greece and Turkey.

CrossWalk America interview with Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. This 24 min. interview was taken for possible inclusion in an upcoming film by Creatista Productions commissioned by CrossWalk America (www.CrossWalkAmerica.org). This is raw audio in which Barry speaks frankly about contemporary issues impacting the separation of church and state including so-called Faith Based Initiatives, the historical context of the First Amendment, and biblical/theological rationale for keeping a solid wall between church and state.

This piece is a timely one in light of David Kuo's new book, Tempting Faith, in which the former second-in-command of the Faith Based Initiatives Office claims that through the Faith Based Initiatives Office, Christians in America were used by a political system that could care less about Christian values than Christian votes.

Voices on the podcast besides Barry Lynn are Scott Griessel, the interviewer and film director, and Rebecca Glenn and Eric Elnes, co-presidents of CrossWalk America who ask questions of Barry in the final few minutes.