The UpWords Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

What happens when artificial intelligence enters the sanctuary? In this episode of The UpWords Podcast, host Daniel Johnson talks with author and researcher Todd Korpi about his new book, AI Goes to Church (InterVarsity Press, 2025). They explore how AI is already shaping the church, the ethical and theological questions Christians must wrestle with, and how technology can be used to foster—not fracture—human flourishing. Todd (DMiss, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a pastor, missiologist, and church consultant. He is dean of digital ministry programs at Ascent College, assistant professor of Christian leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, and works in several capacities at OneHope.

Key Topics:

• Why Todd wrote AI Goes to Church
• Defining AI and its influence on everyday life
• How algorithms shape spiritual formation
• Theological frameworks for engaging technology
• Ethics: Is technology neutral?
• AI and the future of work, rest, and human flourishing
• Higher education’s evolving posture toward AI
• Practical advice for churches: “Automate the boring bits”

Links & Resources:

• 📙Get the book: AI Goes to Church - https://www.ivpress.com/ai-goes-to-church
• Learn more about the SL Brown Foundation STUDIO - https://slbf.org/studio

Forgiveness is one of the most challenging—and liberating—virtues we can practice. In this episode of The UpWords Podcast, host Jean Geran, sits down with Dr. Robert Enright, a pioneer in the scientific study of forgiveness and the founder of the International Forgiveness Institute. Bob shares his remarkable journey from asking a “dangerous question” about the purpose of his research to becoming a global leader in forgiveness education.

We explore:

• What forgiveness is—and what it is not
• Why forgiveness is a moral virtue
• The psychological and spiritual benefits of forgiving
• How forgiveness can break cycles of generational trauma
• Practical steps for forgiving others and yourself

Resources Mentioned:

• https://internationalforgiveness.com
• Free curriculum guides: Email director@internationalforgiveness.com and mention this podcast

Subscribe & Share:

If this conversation inspired you, subscribe to The Upward Podcast, leave a review, and share with a friend.

In this conversation, host Daniel Johnson welcomes author and leader Peter Greer, who discusses his latest book, How Leaders Lose Their Way: And How to Make Sure It Doesn't Happen to You. Drawing from decades of leadership experience and research, Peter explores the subtle and often invisible forces that cause leaders to drift from their mission, values, and integrity. The episode is a deep dive into the habits, mindsets, and relationships that help leaders finish well.

🧭 Key Topics Covered

• Mission Drift & Leadership Drift
• Building on his earlier book Mission Drift, Peter explains how both organizations and individuals can lose sight of their purpose.
• Writing Your Eulogy & Resignation Letter
• Peter shares how these two exercises helped him recalibrate his identity and leadership priorities.
• Misguided Pursuits: Achievement & Power
• The dangers of idolizing success and influence, especially in mission-driven work.
• The Role of Speed & Isolation in Drift
• How hurry and lack of authentic relationships contribute to leaders losing their way.

Whether you're a senior leader or a rising one, this episode offers practical wisdom and soul-searching reflection. Peter’s insights challenge us to slow down, build authentic relationships, and stay rooted in purpose. Leadership isn’t just about achieving—it’s about finishing well.

Peter Greer is president and CEO of HOPE International, a global nonprofit working to alleviate physical and spiritual poverty in 29 countries around the world. Peter’s favorite part of his role is spending time with the remarkable entrepreneurs HOPE serves. A graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School, Peter has co-authored over 15 books, including Lead with Prayer, Mission Drift, Rooting for Rivals, and How Leaders Lose Their Way. While his sports loyalties remain in New England, he lives with his wife, Laurel, and their four children in Lancaster, PA.

📚 About the Book

Title: How Leaders Lose Their Way

Author: Peter Greer

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Year: 2025

Website: HowLeadersLoseTheirWay.com

🔗 Resources & Links

• 📖 Purchase the book from InterVarsity Press = https://www.ivpress.com/how-leaders-lose-their-way
• 🌍 Hope International = https://www.hopeinternational.org/
• 🏛️ S.L. Brown Foundation = https://slbf.org/
• 📺 Watch this episode on YouTube = link fourth coming

A theme we return to time and again at Upper House is whole life integration. This means we desire to see Christians who have brought their faith to bear on every aspect of who they are: their minds and emotions, their actions, and their relationships—and also their work. It can often seem like the church is the primary way to serve God, but that’s not how the Bible portrays work.

In this episode, we hear from the executive director of the faith and work organization Made to Flourish. His name is Matt Rusten and he is sitting down with Upper House's executive director, John Terrill, to talk about the importance of “closing the gap between Sunday and Monday”—erasing the artificial lines many Christians draw between the church and work life, and between sacred and secular work.

Matt Rusten received his master of divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has served in churches in North Dakota, the Chicago area, and Kansas City. Before entering his current role as exec director of Made to Flourish, he was pastor of spiritual formation at Blackhawk Church here in Madison.

As always we invite you to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast app or send us a comment at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org.

Credits: Music by Micah Behr, audio engineering by Jesse Koopman, graphic design by Madeline Ramsey.

We live in polarizing times that seem to affect every corner of our society. Could the solution to polarization be friendship? That’s what this episode’s guest proposes. We’re listening in on a recent talk delivered at Upper House by sociologist Angel Adams Parham, titled “Civic Friendship & Christian Faith in Polarized Times.” While it might sound trite to say all we need is friendship, Angel challenges us to engage with a tradition of thinking about civic and political friendship stretching from ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to contemporary political theorist Danielle Allen. Angel asks each of us to explore intellectual and spiritual topics in the context of friendship and community.

Angel Adams Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology and senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture (IASC) at the University of Virginia. In July she co-authored with Anika Prather The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature.

As always we invite you to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast app or send us a comment at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org.

Credits: Music by Micah Behr, audio engineering by Jesse Koopman, graphic design by Madeline Ramsey.

How does our thinking, expectations, social pressures we feel shape our roles in life? Upper House's Susan Smetzer-Anderson and Christina Lee Kim—author of an essay titled "The 'Good' Mother" (in a new book released by IVP, titled Power Women: Stories of Motherhood, Faith, and the Academy) honestly discuss the importance of unmasking the ideologies that compel our choice-making. Christina's authentic sharing of her own experience as a mother and professional academic—combined with her astute and research-based observations about powerful assumptions about motherhood that permeate families and cultures—make for a conversation that is both particular and broad in its relevance.

Christina Lee Kim is an associate professor of psychology at Biola University and a licensed clinical psychologist. In addition to teaching, she researches cross-cultural and multicultural psychology, mental health issues and the church, and Asian-American psychology. Dr. Kim and her husband and their three daughters reside in Fullerton, CA and are members of Crossway OC church, where Dr. Kim serves as one of the worship leaders.

As always we invite you to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast app or send us a comment at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org.

Credits: Music by Micah Behr, audio engineering by Jesse Koopman, graphic design by Madeline Ramsey.

Our tagline at Upper House is Think-Be-Do, which is a nod to our understanding that God cares deeply about us as whole people: what we think, who we are, and what we do. In this episode, Fellows Program Director, Eric Carlsson, discusses with biblical scholar J. Richard Middleton his personal journey exploring the concept of calling, and the advice he has for understanding what God is calling us to be and do.  

J. Richard Middleton is professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary and adjunct professor of Theology at Roberts Wesleyan College, both in Rochester, New York. He is widely published in religious journals and is the author of four books, including Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God, and A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology. 

As always we invite you to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast app or send us a comment at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org. 

Credits: Music by Micah Behr, audio engineering by Jesse Koopman, graphic design by Madeline Ramsey.

We all have a conscience, but what is it and where does it come from? In this episode, Dan interviews fellow historian Peter Cajka, who has recently published Follow Your Conscience: The Catholic Church and the Spirit of the Sixties. In this conversation, we explore the history of Christian thinking about the conscience and the parallels and incongruities in the Catholic and Protestant perspectives.

Peter Cajka is Assistant Teaching Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. His research focuses on American Catholicism, the history of ideas, and the history of sexuality.

As always we invite you to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast app or send us a comment at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org.

Credits: Music by Micah Behr, audio engineering by Jesse Koopman, graphic design by Madeline Ramsey.

In this callback episode to 2020, we listen in on an interview with author Marilyn McEntyre, hosted by our Director of Programming, Melissa Shackelford. They discuss the immense power of words, and the ways in which they are used to high effect, but also often abused. They explored the effect of allusion, metaphor, euphemizing, and the ways in which we muddle distinct language from different contexts into one.

Marilyn McEntyre is an author and teacher who has taught for decades on a variety of topics related to writing, language, and the humanities. She’s written many books covering a wide range of topics including her book, “Speaking Peace in a Time of Conflict,” which is covered in part in this episode.

As always we invite you to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast app or send us a comment at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org.

Credits: music by Micah Behr, audio engineering by Jesse Koopman, graphic design by Madeline Ramsey.

Preaching is one of those things that can often be hit or miss. A person can be captivated, moved and even changed, but other times you have to fight to stay awake after 10 minutes into a message. Powerful preaching is something this week’s guest specializes in. We hosted a recent event at Upper House “Thinking Theologically About These Times” and we took advantage of having the guest speaker, Rev. Dr. William Curtis, in-house to hear his story.

William Curtis is a native of Baltimore. Since 1997, he has served as the Senior Pastor at Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Curtis holds degrees from Morgan State University, and Howard University School of Divinity, and a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary. Aside from being a pastor, he is co-owner of The Church Online, a technology, and full-service marketing firm that provides services all over the world.

This episode's guest interviewer, who you’ll hear first in the interview, is Dr. Marcus Allen, pastor of Madison’s own Mt Zion Baptist Church. Dr. Allen also serves on Upper House’s local advisory council and is one of our favorite partners in the city of Madison.

As always we invite you to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast app or send us a comment at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org.

Credits: music by Micah Behr, audio engineering by Jesse Koopman, graphic design by Madeline Ramsey.