Good Faith

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Katelyn Beaty on Celebrity Culture, AI, and the Risks of Disembodied Faith Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

Are Megachurches, Christian Influencers, and Artificial Intelligence Breaking the Church?

This week on the Good Faith podcast, Katelyn Beaty joins host Curtis Chang to confront the church's growing addiction to celebrity culture, asking how celebrity pastors, megachurch platforms, and AI are changing the way Christians are formed. Curtis even asks Katelyn to evaluate whether his public persona and the Good Faith platform risk becoming part of the very problem they're critiquing. If faith is becoming more online, more branded, and less embodied, this conversation asks the hard question: what happens to authentic Christian community, spiritual growth, and discipleship when personality starts to outrun the way of Jesus?

02:06 - Defining Persona vs. Fame

04:14 - Embodied Relationships vs. Platform

05:17 - Curtis's Personal Experience with Platform

09:56 - Dangers of Platform Culture for the Church

14:27 - Curtis's Dilemma: Content vs. Persona

17:58 - Navigating Platform Tensions as a Christian Leader

20:09 - Case Studies: Celebrity Gone Wrong and Right

25:34 - Community and Spiritual Formation Beyond Megachurches

30:10 - Technology, Evangelicals, and the Attention Economy

33:00 - AI and the Future of Persona and Platform

36:12 - Final Hope: Embodied, Material Christian Life

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Mentioned in This Episode:

More about Katelyn Beaty
Katelyn Beaty's Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church
TIME: The True Story Behind the FX Documentary Series The Secrets of Hillsong
Christianity Today's podcast: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
New York Times: How the Willow Creek Church Scandal Has Stunned the Evangelical World
More about Eugene Peterson
Curtis Chang's The Anxiety Opportunity

More from Dave Evans:

Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life
Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work
Dave Evans Praxis Mentor page
Check out: Designing Your Life website

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Good Faith ep. 68: The Impact Fetish (with Andy Crouch)

Good Faith on Instagram

Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)

Good Faith on Facebook

Can We Pray Together? with Curtis Chang & DT Slouffman Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

Prayers of the People: The Power of Prayer in Difficult Times

The Good Faith Podcast host Curtis Chang and producer DT Slouffman guide listeners through a communal time of prayer. Responding to heartfelt prayer requests from newsletter subscribers, they reflect on themes of hope, family reconciliation, and finding peace amid uncertainty. Each request is followed by a moment of silent prayer, inviting listeners to participate. The episode emphasizes surrendering to God's will, the challenges of strained relationships, and seeking God's presence in suffering.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV)
Ephesians 3:14-15 (ESV)
C.S. Lewis' book The Four Loves

Good Faith on Instagram

Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)

Good Faith on Facebook

Brian Webb's Stubborn Optimism: A Christian Case for Climate Action Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Can Missionaries, Not Politics, Depolarize Climate Change for Christians?

Climate change isn't a partisan talking point—it's a discipleship test, and Brian Webb, a seasoned sustainability director and educator, joins Curtis Chang to make the case that climate ignorance hurts both the body of Christ and the world God made for our flourishing. From typhoons overseas to Lyme disease at home, Webb shows how climate change is already hurting real people—and why Christians can't shrug it off. Forget guilt and "change your light bulb" advice: Brian and Curtis lean into stubborn optimism and practical action for churches, workplaces, and local communities.

06:01 - A Faith Journey Becomes A Creation Care Story

08:23 - Creation Care and 1 Corinthians 12

14:06 - Connecting Climate Change Impact to Human Suffering

18:30 - The Problem of Warming From California Wildfires to Lyme Disease

33:35 - Examples of Institutional Action

39:10 - Measuring Institutional Progress

40:16 - Missionaries Sounding the Alarm

43:56 - Dealing with Discouragement and Stubborn Hope

50:01 - Series Wrap-Up and Final Takeaways

Learn more about George Fox Talks

Mentioned In This Episode:

Colossians 1:15-17 (ESV)
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (ESV)
Read the Cape Town Commitment
Learn more about A Rocha USA
Learn more about the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus
The YWAM (Youth With A Mission) School of Sustainable Development
Learn about the Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP)
Learn about Typhoon Haiyan survivor Marinel Ubaldo (Noble Women's Initiative)
Tuvalu & the Pacific Conference of Churches

Organizations Helping Tuvalu:

Good Faith on Instagram

Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)

Good Faith on Facebook

Tuvalu Is Disappearing: Life at Ground Zero of the Climate Crisis Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

Vanishing Coastlines, Dying Reefs, and the Future of an Island Nation

In this short Good Faith podcast story, Taualo Penivao, General Secretary of the Christian Church of Tuvalu, shares a firsthand witness of how climate change is reshaping daily life, faith, and the difficult questions of land reclamation and climate migration. Hear why Tuvalu is often called "ground zero" for the global climate crisis—and what support is needed to help protect its people, culture, and future.

Learn more about George Fox Talks

Organizations Helping Tuvalu:

Good Faith on Instagram

Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)

Good Faith on Facebook

N.T. Wright: Heaven Isn't the Endgame — New Creation and God's Homecoming Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

Is The Greatest Shift in Christian Theology Going From Heaven to Earth?

Heaven isn't the point of the gospel—and N.T. Wright challenges the "accept Jesus and escape earth" narrative of Christianity. Curtis Chang talks with Wright, leading theologian and prolific author, about New Creation and his latest book God's Homecoming: The Forgotten Promise of Future Renewal, asking whether the Bible's promise is the Kingdom of God on earth—or simply going to heaven when you die. They examine the "royal priesthood" calling, what this means for life after death and suffering now, and the true purpose of Christian faith.

Learn more about George Fox Talks

03:43 - The Continuity Between Old and New Testaments

05:05 - Reject Platonism and Embracing New Creation?

08:04 - A Vision More Demanding Than The "Ticket To Heaven" Gospel

13:48 - What Does This Mean For Grace, Works, and Human Vocation?

19:53 - Divergence on the Meaning of The Kingdom of God

27:24 - The Problem of Evil and the "Now and Not Yet"

34:59 - A Pastoral Response to Heaven-Focused Theology

40:41 - How Are Heaven and Earth Interlocking Realities?

47:59 - The Royal Priesthood: Humanity's Biblical Mandate

51:47 - Tom Wright's Future Projects and Reflections

Scriptures:

Revelation 5:9-10 (ESV) - kingdom + priests reign on the earth
Exodus 19:6; Deuteronomy 7:6; 1 Peter 2:9 (ESV) - royal priesthood
Genesis 1-2 (ESV) - creation "very good"; humanity's vocation
Revelation 21–22 (ESV) - new heaven/new earth; God dwelling with humanity
Romans 12:2 (ESV) - renewing of the mind
Romans 8:21–23 (ESV) - creation set free; redemption of bodies
Malachi 3:1 + Isaiah 40:3 (ESV) - prepare the way; the Lord coming to his temple
Psalm 8 (ESV) - humanity crowned with glory/honor; vocation
Ephesians 4 (ESV) - new humanity; community ethics

Mentioned in This Episode:

N.T. Wright's book God's Homecoming: The Forgotten Promise of Future Renewal
N.T. Wright's book Surprised by Hope
What is the Bar Kokhba Revolt?
What is the Mishnah?
"Teach Me, My God and King" (George Herbert / "The Elixir")
Tom Holland's book Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
C.S. Lewis' book Miracles
Scot McKnight's book Reading Romans Backwards: A Gospel of Peace in the Midst of Empire

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