Reading to Make Sense of The World: The Wingfeather Saga

In this episode of Good Faith Presents: Reading to Make Sense of the World, Curtis Chang and author-professor Jessica Hooten Wilson dive into Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga to explore why fantasy literature matters—and why it’s important for both children and adults. Together, they unpack some of the deep truths found in imaginative stories and discuss how these tales can shape our understanding of the world. They also share practical steps for making reading with your children a meaningful and transformative practice.

Make a year-end tax deductible gift to Redeeming Babel: HERE

Resources or references mentioned in this episode:

• Wingfeather Saga books

• Wingfeather Saga book club kits

• Wingfeather Saga television adaptation

• G.K. Chesterton’s “The Ethics of Elfland” from the larger work Orthodoxy 

• Walter Wangerin Jr.

More From Jessica Hooten Wilson:

• Jessica Hooten Wilson's website

• Explore Jessica’s books HERE

• Read articles and Essay by Jessica HERE

How does love show up in the creative recipe?

In the final episode of the Good Faith Advent series, host Curtis Chang is joined by Wingfeather Saga author and singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson to explore the theme of Advent love. Together, they discuss how love inspires and sustains creativity, emphasizing that "art at its best is a way of loving." Curtis and Andrew reflect on the creation of the Rabbit Room community, Andrew’s connection to the works of Lewis and Tolkien, and how art like the album Behold the Lamb of God exemplifies the power of sharing the creative process as an act of love. Prepare for Christmas with this heartfelt reminder from Peterson, “Jesus is God, and He loves you.”

Make a year-end tax deductible gift to Redeeming Babel: HERE

Send your Campfire Stories to: [email protected]

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Other Advent Episodes:

Choosing Hope When It feels Out of Reach (Sara Billups)

Rethinking Heavenly Peace (Andy Crouch)

Joy Is More Than A Feeling (with Chuck Mingo)

Referenced in This Episode:

• At Home in the Borderlands A talk by Andrew Peterson 

• Walter Wangerin Jr.

• A Prayer Book For Husbands (excerpt) by Walter Wangerin Jr.

• “The Brave One” by Andy Gullahorn

• The Borderlands by Roger Lloyd

• Living Into Focus by Aurthur Boers

• Adam Duritz (The Counting Crows) on songwriting

• Tolkien's Essay: On Fairy-stories

• Pit of Despair drawn by John Hendrix

• Behold the Lamb of God

• The Inklings 

• Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life by Makoto Fujimura

• George MacDonald "A Born Preacher" article by Robert H. Ellison

• Wingfeather Saga (animated series)

More From Andrew Peterson:

• Andrew Peterson's website

• The Rabbit Room

• Hutchmoot

• A Guide to the Work of Andrew Peterson

Have you ever thought, “I’m happy to be in this with you, God”?

In the third episode of the Good Faith Advent series, host Curtis Chang is joined by pastor and author Chuck Mingo to explore the true meaning of Advent joy. Together, they discuss how joy differs from fleeting happiness, and explain why joy deepens when shared with others. Curtis and Chuck also offer practical ways to nurture joy during life’s setbacks and “in-between” spaces. They suggest meaningful practices that can become joy-sustaining traditions, such as affirmations shared with loved ones and gratitude-centered journaling. Join this conversation and discover how joy can be cultivated and spread during the Advent season and beyond.

Make a year-end tax deductible gift to Redeeming Babel: HERE

Send your Campfire Stories to: [email protected]

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

ENTER to win our Rabbit Room/Andrew Peterson Christmas Giveaway.

Other Advent Episodes:

Choosing Hope When It feels Out of Reach (Sara Billups)

Rethinking Heavenly Peace (Andy Crouch)

Referenced in This Episode:

• The Slaughter of the innocents

• The Flight of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to Egypt

• The bombing of Martin Luther King, Jr's parsonage

• Black taxi drivers' role during the Montgomery bus boycott

• Handel’s Messiah (original)

• Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration

• Eyes On The Prize (PBS series)

• Reepicheep from the Chronicles of Narnia

• Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating

• Future That Awaits You (Amazon)

• The Songs of Zechariah & Mary

• Psalm 103

More From Chuck Mingo:

• Chuck’s work at Undivided

Chuck’s work at Crossroads Church

What is Advent peace? Does it mean inner peace, world peace, or maybe peace with God and others?

In this second episode of the Good Faith Advent series, Curtis Chang is joined by Good Faith contributor Andy Crouch to explore the true meaning of the peace promised by the coming of Jesus. Together, they challenge common assumptions about peace, using the historical context of Jesus' birth to scrutinize familiar Christmas messages. Curtis and Andy invite listeners to consider an Advent peace that acknowledges suffering and speaks into the hard realities of the holiday season—and everyday life.

Make a year-end tax deductible gift to Redeeming Babel:  www.redeemingbabel.org/donate

Send your Campfire Stories to: [email protected]

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Referenced in This Episode:

• Watch Curtis and Sara Billups’ Advent conversation about hope

• Read about Pax Romana (Roman Peace)

• Explore Simeon’s words to Mary

• Read about the Wales Window of Birmingham, Alabama

• Buy & Read Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ

• Read one woman’s account of the Camino de Santiago

• Read the story behind Silent Night

• Read the story behind O Little Town of Bethlehem

• Read about the Massacre of the Innocents

• Watch Curtis’ conversation with Amy Low

• Watch/Listen to The Lord Will Have His Way

Explore Andy Crouch’s work:

• Interact with Andy’s website

• Check out Andy’s work at Praxis

• Read Andy’s book: The Life We're Looking For

What is Advent hope, and how do we hold onto it when life feels overwhelming?

In this first episode of a four-part Good Faith Advent series, Curtis Chang and author Sara Billups explore what true hope looks like for 21st-century Christians navigating consumer culture, climate anxiety, and widespread disillusionment with the church. Drawing on her experiences as a caregiver for her aging parents and as a Gen Xer shaped by the fundamentalism of the 1970s and 80s, Sara reflects on the Gospel story of Simeon, whose patient hope in the long-awaited birth of Jesus offers a timeless example for mid-lifers, millennials, and anyone yearning for hope in troubled times. With practical tips for sharing Advent’s meaning with children, this episode provides encouragement for the whole family.

Make a year-end tax deductible gift to Redeeming Babel:  www.redeemingbabel.org/donate

Send your Campfire Stories to: [email protected]

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Referenced in This Episode:

• Kate Bowler Everything HAppens for A Reason and Other Lies

• Misgivings About Hal Lindsay’s “Planet Earth” by John Piper

• Engage with the Daily Office

• Use the Pray As You Go application

• Read The Morning Offering prayer

• Teaching Children The Examen Prayer

• Order a copy of Every Moment Holy

• Read The Benedictine Rules of Fidelity and Stability (PDF)

More From Sara Billups:

• Check out Sara Billups’ Bitter Scroll Substack

• Buy & read Orphaned Believers by Sara Billups

• Listen to the That's The Spirit podcast with Sara Billups and Morgan Page

A sister listens to her family even when disagreement over abortion makes it hard.

Good Faith's series of Campfire Stories, invites listeners to share how the podcast has inspired them to engage deeply with their families and communities. These personal narratives illuminate how individuals like you are grappling with complex issues and fostering meaning right where they live. Join us for Alyssa's Campfire Story.

Send your Campfire Stories to: [email protected]

Is it true that “you can’t believe” anything you read? Can we consume news with a mindset other than cynicism, outrage, or fear? 

Host Curtis Chang welcomes journalist and author Jon Ward to discuss why Christians need to care about a well-functioning news culture. With an AP poll on mainstream media showing trust at an all-time low, they explore the reasons behind this crisis—political isolation, social media's influence, and potential media bias. Together, they offer a framework for healthy news consumption, focusing on the postures of spectator, student, and servant, while Jon shares his personal strategies for staying informed in a fractured media landscape.

Referenced in This Episode:

• Gallup: Media Trust Data

• AP Media Trust Polling

• Gallup: Ideology percentages in the U.S.

• Media Bias Chart (based on self-identified ideology)

• The Highest Paid Media Personalities

• Top News Anchor Pay Cuts

• Tucker Carlson’s 2009 Defense of The New York Times

Jon Ward’s Suggested Media Sources:

• The Associated Press

• The New York Times

• The National Review

• Politico

• The Dispatch

• Axios

• The Liberal Patriot

• Wake Up To Politics

Some Local News Options

• The Baltimore Banner

• The Texas Tribune

• Streetcar Suburbs Publishing

More From Jon Ward:

• Check out Jon Ward’s Border-Stalkers Substack

• Buy & read Jon Ward’s book  Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation

• Listen to Jon Ward’s podcast The Long Game 

Send your Campfire Stories to: [email protected]

Join the Redeeming Babel Team: Marketing Manager Job Opening

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

What level of crazy or calm will the next Trump White House bring with it? 

Host Curtis Chang is joined by Tim Alberta, author of The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory, to explore the turbulence surrounding the final days of Donald Trump's 2024 campaign and what it might signal for the next administration. They analyze potential picks for key cabinet roles, examining what these choices could mean for America's future both domestically and abroad. Curtis and Tim go beyond the palace intrigue to offer thoughtful ways to pray for the president-elect, urging listeners to consider Trump’s humanity, vulnerabilities, and penchant for chaos.

*This episode was recorded on Tuesday Nov 12, 2024 before some of the administration picks had been made.

Referenced in this Episode:

• Read Tim Alberta's The Atlantic piece about the last days of the Trump campaign

• Engage with our course The After Party 

• Read  1 Timothy 2:1-2

More From Tim Alberta:

• Check out all of Tim Alberta’s writing for The Atlantic  HERE

• Buy & read Tim Alberta’s books HERE

• Follow Tim Alberta on https://x.com/TimAlberta

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Enter to win tickets to Andrew Peterson’s sold-out Behold the Lamb of God performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium 

Join the Redeeming Babel Team: Marketing Manager Job Opening

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Trump Wins, Good Faith Reacts

America elected a new president, and a familiar administration is poised to return to the White House. What does it all mean for Christians? Host Curtis Chang is joined by "founding friend" David French and public theologian Russell Moore to explore the intense emotions many are experiencing in the wake of this election. Together, they dive into listener questions about the global repercussions of another Trump presidency, the complex feelings some Christians experience about the political choices of fellow believers, and the evolving role of the church in a deeply divided America. Confronting shared experiences of anguish, alienation, and anger, the trio offers thoughtful insights into how we can navigate this challenging landscape of emotions about the known and unknown implications of the vote.

Referenced in this Episode:

• Engage with our course The After Party 

• Read an interview with Reinhold Niebuhr HERE

• Read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden online

• More on Augustine and the fall of Rome

• Neil Postman predicted Donald Trump in 1985

• Explore the J.R.R. Tolkien Society HERE

• 85 quotations from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings

• C.S. Lewis on courage

• Listen to The Kingdom of Jesus by the Jon Guerra, Sandra McCracken, and Porter’s Gate

More From David French:

• Read David French’s opinion pieces HERE

• Follow David French on Threads  

• Listen to David on the Advisory Opinions podcast

More From Russell Moore:

• Read Russell Moore’s Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America 

• Listen to The Russell Moore Show podcast

• Explore Russell’s Christianity Today pieces

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Are you ready to cast your ballot?

In this final episode before the presidential election, host Curtis Chang and “founding friend” David French explore the tense feelings and tough questions Christians face as they prepare to vote. They explore how political instability might actually be a gift that pushes Jesus followers to adopt a mindset that seeks to defend the vulnerable, and when it’s necessary challenges “people of good will.” Curtis and David also discuss how social media often amplifies instability rather than providing insight, the importance of finding a virtuous purpose amid uncertainty, and the need for prayers of lament.

Referenced in this Episode:

• Read Curtis Chang’s Washington Post opinion piece Anxious about the nail-biter election? Here's how to survive it.

• Read Augustine’s City of God online

• Read Curtis Chang’s book Engaging Unbelief: A Captivating Strategy from Augustine and Aquinas 

• Read Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl

• Engage with our course The After Party 

Engaging with Prayers of Lamentation:

• Learning to Lament: A Guide to Praying in Our Hardest Moments 

• Dare to Hope in God: How to Lament Well 

More From David French:

• Read David French’s opinion pieces HERE

• Follow David French on Threads  

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Join the Redeeming Babel Team: Marketing Manager Job Opening

Join us for the following The After Party/Good Faith virtual events:

November 4th all-comers election eve noontime prayer

November 6th post-election podcast recording

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Enter to win the Good Faith Book Giveaway: The After Party Edition! 

Why is truth-telling so hard to do within the church? Host Curtis Chang and renowned therapist and author Dan Allender explore the complex crossroads of theology and psychology, tracing the evolving, sometimes fraught relationship between the Christian church and therapy. With warmth and candor, Dr. Allender shares both his love for and ambivalence toward psychotherapy, reflecting on how it can challenge our understanding of the role trauma plays in the search for God’s truth. Together, they invite listeners to consider how an imaginative rethinking of the "war within you" can open new pathways to authentic worship.

Drawing upon material from a past conversation, this episode will inspire a continued reimagining of therapy’s place in faith communities.

Join the Redeeming Babel Team: Marketing Manager Job Opening

Join us for the following The After Party/Good Faith virtual events:

October 28th pre-election podcast recording

November 4th all-comers election eve noontime prayer

November 6th post-election podcast recording

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Bring The After Party course to your church or small group! 

Enter to win the Good Faith Book Giveaway: The After Party Edition! 

Referenced in this Episode

• Read Calvin’s Institutes online

• Learn more about Christian Smith and Melissa Lundquist Denton’s Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

• Find out about Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy

• Read about Rollo Mae and existential therapy

• Read C.S. Lewis’s "Weight of Glory" sermon online

More From Dan Allender:

• Learn more about Dan’s work at The Allender Center

• Check out Dan Allender’s books