Inspired Human Podcast

Welcome to the Inspired Human Podcast!Today we’ve got the one and only Dr. Andrew Root. Andy is a friend. He’s a prolific author. If you have never read his Ministry in the Secular Age book series, you have to stop what you’re doing right now and start reading. Most recently, Andy wrote a book with his wife, Kara, called Pilgrimage into Letting Go: Helping Parents and Pastors Embrace the Uncontrollable. No surprise, but it is WONDERFUL. We talk about this book, and his other somewhat new-ish book called Evangelism in an Age of Despair: Hope beyond the Failed Promise of Happiness. In the book, Andy charts how we in the modern west have become “happiness hunters,” and how as happiness hunters we are mostly becoming sad. We live as sad people, in many cases, living in sad times. Christians, he rightfully points out, can and should console these sad people and in turn invite people to Jesus in the life of the Church.Nick published a book review for the Military Chaplaincy Review in February 2026 on Andy’s book Evangelism in an Age of Despair. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Inspired Human Podcast, Season 4, episode 2.Welcome Frank Shirvinski! Frank and Nick are co-authoring a book for Purpose Press with an expected publication date of late 2026 or early 2027. Frank is quite literally a jack of all trades (who has mastered them all). He is a full time aerospace engineer, Christian minister, and co-founder of Purpose Press with his daughter Abigail. Purpose Press is a platform for faith-centered books and study resources designed to help readers deepen their relationship with God and engage Scripture more meaningfully. They chase purpose not profits. Drawing on decades of experience in both technical and theological fields, Frank has authored a range of titles published, including Before the Day Ends, The Trail, and the Toward the Horizon Bible study guides. He blends biblical insight with practical application for individuals and small groups. His work spans children’s stories that point young readers to spiritual truths as well as devotional and study guides that invite believers of all ages to explore faith with confidence and curiosity. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Thanks for reading Inspired Human Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.Welcome to Season 4 of the Inspired Human Podcast.This season is all about interviews with Christian thinkers and Christian pastors.We welcome Dr. Hans Boersma!Why did we interview him?* We respect him. He’s a wonderful priest and pastor and a brilliant scholar.* His books on the Beatific Vision and his writings about Scripture have deeply impacted us!Dr. Boersma is an Anglican theologian and priest who holds the Saint Benedict Servants of Christ Chair in Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House Theological Seminary and previously taught at Regent College in Vancouver. He is a leading voice in contemporary sacramental theology and patristic studies, engaging theological traditions from East and West to enrich Christian thought and practice. His influential works include Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition, which explores classical Christian understandings of the vision of God; Scripture as Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Church, a study of patristic biblical interpretation; and Sacramental Preaching: Sermons on the Hidden Presence of Christ, which offers a theological approach to preaching informed by tradition. His scholarship has shaped discussions on theological interpretation, ecclesiology, and the recovery of pre-modern theological insights for the church today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Friends! This is it. The final episode of Season 3. Let's call it an Epilogue, but it's really a conclusion with a ton of "what do we do now" kind of stuff. It's a wrap-up, so in many ways, it could have made a great intro episode as well. Whether this is the first episode you've heard, or the final one of the season... enjoy!/////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Season 3, episode 8: "Parenting in the You Do You Era."This episode is our attempt at re-focusing parenting on raising disciples of Jesus.To that end, we draw from parenting "fails" that stem from the junk values of the YDYE, and ultimately encourage Christian parents to help their children see themselves in God's story. Helping our kids see themselves in God's story allows us to help them "figure out who they are and what they want" in light of their identity as a child of God./////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Season 3, episode 7: "Love and Marriage in the You Do You Era."When relationships are simply an additional tool for you to be "your best self" or to find who you are...then you know you're living in the You do You Era. Today we chat about how love, and marriage itself, has been influenced by the junk values of the YDYE. But, we don't just whine and complain. We also turn to the New Testament, especially Paul's theology of submission, in order to beckon Christians back to a cross-centered foundation for our most intimate relationships. /////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Season 3, episode 6: "Technology is Forming You and Failing to Transform You."Your phone is not a tool. It is not neutral.Your phone is a cash-cow device designed to get you to pick it up, use it, never put it down, and in the process, make other people lots and lots of money.Friends, we are being formed by an algorithm, created by neuroscientists and computer programmers in California, on full display across all major social media platforms. Our eyes and our minds get pulled into video after video, feed upon feed, all based on what other people perceive we want to look at or consume.We are being formed...or perhaps, de-formed.The You Do You Era is marked by rampant use of electronic devices: Phones, tablets, computers, watches, and more. Our behaviors have become daily liturgies. Rather than organizing ourselves around time in service to God-in-the-world, most everything we do is orchestrated around or deeply influenced by inputs from our smart devices. In this episode, we pull heavily from James K.A. Smith and Andy Crouch (The Tech Wise Family). We unashamedly encourage you to be weird, to adopt odd practices and thick boundaries around technology. Why? Because you and your kids are being formed by these practices....or, perhaps, de-formed! The question to consider is "What image am I being formed into?" /////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Season 3, episode 5: "Depression thrives on the You Do You Era's narrative."Humans have never had more access to self help media and mental health drugs than right now. And yet, depression and anxiety are the hallmark pathologies of the You Do You Era. All the statistics show the same thing: We're more depressed, more anxious, and less happy, even though we have more creature comforts than ever in human history. Why is this?Obviously, the answer is very complicated....more complicated than what we could cover in this episode.But here's the deal: Modern society makes us ill. Many people are anxious and depressed not because there is something wrong with them, but because something is wrong with the water (culture) that we are swimming in. It's polluted. It points you inward and then leaves you all alone.Research shows that religious faith, connected to a healthy Church, is a buffer, a HUGE buffer, against depressive disorders. Why? Because a healthy Church offers a counter narrative to the You Do You Era. You belong to God (See Alan Noble's You Are Not Your Own); You are a baptized child of God; God is the center, not you; these Church folk love you and you are accountable to them; you are not the king /queen of your life. And this counter narrative will change your habits, and your habits may lead you to God./////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Season 3, episode 4: "The World has Lost its Enchantment."Key to the You Do You Era's self-focused ideas for what it means to be a human is this: The world is disenchanted; everything has a natural explanation; God is cool and all, but he can't be involved in the world and in our lives because it sounds dumb to say it out loud. How do we talk about God in light of scientific discoveries? Did God heal my loved one from cancer, or was it the oncologist? How should I think about words like "sacred" and "spiritual"?Why does my church gather in a multi purpose room instead of a sanctuary?My friends, even Christians struggle with this topic. And that's OK, because we are swimming in the same You Do You Era cultural waters as everyone else!We'll give you the spoiler alert up front on this episode: The world is enchanted. God is active. God works to achieve God's good, right, and just purposes for the world through human beings. God animates you and draws close to you through ordinary things: Bread and wine (communion), water (baptism), the prayers of the Church, acts of loving kindness, fasting, feasting, and (yes, this one is important) even through pain and trials of life. Sometimes, we can explain these things. Other times, we cannot. Either way, the world is enchanted and God is present. /////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Season 3, episode 3: "How the Concept of Faith has been Distorted and Makes us More Selfish."Friends! Faith is a private matter, and God just wants you to do what feels good, be the best version of yourself, and be a good dude, as long as you aren't hurting anyone. Right? These are the claims about FAITH that the You Do You Era preaches. And these claims are shallow, unfulfilling, erase the need for a Messiah like Jesus, and it leads only to more self-centered living.But there is a better way! To be fully human is to be like Christ. Why? Because Christ was the fullest, most whole/complete/perfect human to ever have lived. So, to be more human, is to be more like Christ...not to follow ourselves, but to put our minds on things above, to die the first death (to ourselves) so we might be made alive in Christ (Colossians 3)./////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Season 3, episode 2: "Seeing Yourself in God's Story...not the other way around."Friends: To be fully human is to be authentic to yourself and your inner voice above all others...That's the mantra of the You Do You Era. But, this way of being human overpromises (that you'll be happy and whole!), and it under delivers (we end up unfulfilled).One way we attempt to break free from the You Do You Era's hold on our lives is by seeing ourselves as characters in God's story of redemption, not the other way around.We often see God as a key member of our story. This is not strong enough in the You Do You Era. It still keeps me at the center of the world: My vision, my thoughts, my goals, my feelings, my identity. We need a stronger vision for being a whole and complete human, one that helps us to see ourselves as key players in God's story (not our story), empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring about God's good, right, and just purposes for the world./////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Following Jesus in the You Do You Era.Season 3 is here!Be true to yourself...Follow your heart...Be authentic to yourself...Live your best life...You are the captain of your fate...Chart your own path...Walk your own way...Live your life for yourself...Friends- Welcome to the You Do You Era: Where listening to your own voice above all others, and expressing yourself in whatever way you want (as long as it doesn't hurt anybody and is authentic) is the most vital way of being human.But this weight - of choosing our own path and being given so much individual independence to curate my identity - is too much for us to bear./////////Throughout this season, we want to remove the cultural scales from our eyes using insight from:Alan Noble (You are Not your Own)Andrew Root (Ministry in the Secular Age series)Alan Ehrenberg (Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age) Charles Taylor (A Secular Age)Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family)Leonard Sax (The Collapse of Parenting)All of Jean Twenge's (SDSU) recent interviews / articles / and her booksJames K.A. Smith's books and articlesN.T. Wright (The Day the Revolution Began among others)Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) The New and Old Testaments... plus other works that we sprinkle throughout. [The views presented are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Nick and Dairus team up to talk about "When Things in Life Just Don't Work out." - When you move the chess pieces of your life the right way, but you still don't get the job or assignment or position.- When you marry the right person and have a great family, but you still find yourself lonely and tired and wondering if life is supposed to feel this way.- When you find out that the ancient church had a way of describing this phase of your identity-formation: The Desert Way. In the desert, when comfort and assumptions are stripped away, God opens our eyes. To what, exactly? Good question. Perhaps, in the desert moments of our lives, we learn to see God. Or, perhaps, we learn to see the world for what it is (broken) and are invited to join God in renewing it and restoring it through the love of God... starting with ourselves. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Welcome to Dr. Matthew Sleeth!Dr. Sleeth:- Former ER physician and Chief of Medical Staff.- Resigned to teach about faith and health.- His uncle wrote a book with J.R.R. Tolkein!!- His first religion was the American Dream.- Then, after embracing Christian faith, he and his family sold their huge house and moved to a place the same size as their old garage and started a new life.Dairus talks to him about Sabbath and Suicide and 9/11 and health and faith. I know…it's a lot.... But let’s do it! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Dairus sits down with John Garland, pastor in San Antonio, TX.John has spent his entire career in ministry serving in places with extreme poverty and suffering, notably along the southern border.They talk about:- Suffering as a pit.- The Gospel as a path.- Using the Psalms in your prayers.- The difference between trauma management and stress management. - Why and how Christianity has transformed instruments of trauma in redemptive ways. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Hello friends! Nick sits down with senior chaplain for U.S. Special Operations Command, Dave Bowlus.He and I reflect on the low points and high points of his ministry over the last 20 years, and chat about how families might “keep the wheels on the bus” in the midst of military life. As a reminder: The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker(s), and do not necessarily represent the views of the DoD or its components. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Dairus sits down with 3x CrossFit Games athlete, former Army Officer, former West Point collegiate wrestler, and all-round INCREDIBLE human being, Chandler Smith.We chat about set backs...how they surprise us, and how an active reflective practice combined with a trustworthy circle of like-minded friends is the pathway through the pain.Did we mention how much we love Chandler Smith yet? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com

Welcome Mike Sanders, former Strength and Conditioning coach at the University of Denver, and current Human Performance Coach for U.S. Special Operations Forces. Mike's an OG. He's been around. I absolutely love his wisdom, probably even more than his feats of strength.We chat about human potential, that feeling we get after accomplishing something great and assuming it was going to do more than it promised, and why vocation and identity are a dangerous marriage. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredhuman.substack.com