Good Faith

Miracles, Heartbreak, and the Fight Against Human Trafficking
 
Nearly 50 million people remain trapped in modern slavery—but International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen believes it could end in our lifetime. He joins host Curtis Chang to explore how IJM fights human trafficking by transforming broken justice systems, where God is amid horrific evil and patient prayer, and how Christians can stop watching from the sidelines and join the fight.
 
02:23 - The Evolution of IJM's Strategy of Strengthening Local Justice Systems
08:30 - US Complicity in Global Slavery
13:48 - The Impact of Unpredictable US Government Action 
18:24 - Is Their a Contradiction in Evangelical Support?
24:23 - The Role of Miracles in Fighting Evil
28:56 - Waiting For Prayers to Be Answered 
33:51 - The Dangers of Christian Hero Worship
45:26 - A Call to Action Against Modern Day Slavery
 
To give to Good Faith: https://goodfaith.org/donate
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Gary Haugen's biography
IJM's work fighting trafficking and slavery
IJM's response to the State Department funding pause
U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report
Global Estimates of Modern Slavery
Child trafficking and forced labor on Ghana's Lake Volta
Good Faith episode 224: Francis Collins and Kristine Torjesen
 
Scriptures:
Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
Matthew 25:14–30 (ESV)
 
International Justice Mission:
Get involved with IJM
Pray with IJM
Support IJM's advocacy work
IJM resources for churches
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Untangling America's Socialist Fever and Fear
 
Host Curtis Chang and Good Faith "founding friend" David French ask whether democratic socialism is your grandparents' socialism, the left's answer to MAGA, or something more sinister. They unpack what Christians should make of its growing influence by exploring the DSA, economic inequality, America's national debt, the influence of Big Tech, and why Christians who feel politically homeless still have an obligation to stay engaged.
 
00:44 - Introduction to Democratic Socialism
02:19 - Can We Define a Democratic Socialist?
04:04 - Should Socialism Scare Us?
08:39 - Is the DSA the Left's MAGA?
17:38 - The Electoral Risk of Extremism
21:21 - Is There a Theological Take on Socialism?
25:19 - Has Debt Seized the Means of Production?
28:45 - Policy Must Be Effective, Not Just Well-Intentioned
33:13 - The Role of Economics in Moral Reasoning
34:19 - The Homeless Political Middle
36:43 - The Legitimate Grievances Fueling Extremism 
42:08 - Socialism and the Threat of Big Tech
43:52 - The Presumption of Socialism and Economic Freedom
47:13 - Encouragement for the Politically Homeless
 
To give to Good Faith: https://goodfaith.org/donate
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Ten Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Arguments for Socialism and Why They're Wrong (CATO Institute)
Hasan Piker: What You Need to Know (Anti-Defamation League)
Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum (the basis for solidarity and subsidiarity)
Congressional Budget Office: the federal debt / long-term budget outlook
What is the Federal Debt right now? (Peter G. Peterson Foundation)
Noah Smith: No one knows how much the government can borrow
David French's How Can America Be So Miserable When It's So Rich?
Starlink in the Russian-Ukrainian war
More about labor leader Eugene Debs
More about 20th Century economist Friedrich August Hayek
 
Scriptures:
Proverbs 22:7 (ESV)
1 Kings 19:18 (ESV)
Romans 11:4 (ESV)
 
More From David French:
David French's New York Times pieces HERE
Follow David French on Threads
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Why Are We So Lonely Even When We're Not Alone?
 
Host Curtis Chang talks with psychologist and podcaster Dr. Alison Cook about why America's loneliness epidemic can't be solved by simply adding more people to our lives. They explore how attachment wounds, anxiety, distraction, and modern life leave us disconnected—and how solitude and honest prayer can become paths toward healing. Dr. Cook offers a practice for loneliness: "recognize and return"—name what you feel, then remember, "I am loved even here."
 
02:46 - Why Do We Minimize Loneliness?
05:12 - What Is Attachment Theory?
10:31 - Childhood Wounds and Cultural Context
13:42 - Where God Enters the Healing Process
16:14 - The Inner Dialogue with God
20:44 - The Importance of Solitude
27:20 - The Modern Epidemic of Loneliness
35:16 - Loneliness as a Holy Longing
39:22 - Spiritual Practices for a Healthy Inner Life
 
To give to Good Faith: https://goodfaith.org/donate
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Dr. Cook's The Secure Soul: Finding Inner Strength and Connection When Trust Doesn't Come Easy
The U.S. Surgeon General's report: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation
Professor Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together
 
Scriptures:
Psalm 42 (ESV)
Psalm 131 (ESV)
Psalm 139 (ESV)
Genesis 2 (ESV)
Romans 8 (ESV)
 
More From Alison Cook:
Dr. Alison Cook's Website
Dr. Alison Cook's The Best of You podcast
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Do friction, struggle, and silence make you fully human?
 
AI can generate an answer, but it cannot suffer with you, worship, love a neighbor, or become wise. Host Curtis Chang and Andy Crouch, the partner for theology and culture at Praxis, explore how AI may weaken our minds, distort relationships, and tempt us to outsource the very experiences that form wisdom, wonder, and sacrificial love. From chatbot "companionship" and AI-assisted grief to medicine, spiritual counsel, and the loss of silence, Curtis and Andy ask whether convenience is quietly creating a kind of cognitive metabolic syndrome and what we can do about it.
 
00:01:22 - Introduction to AI's Impact on Our Minds.
00:04:35 - Lessons from Social Media's Evolution
00:08:26 - Cognitive Metabolic Syndrome
00:18:45 - What Is the Purpose of the Human Mind?
00:25:23 - Wonder vs. Power
00:26:49 - Love Requires Suffering and Friction
00:34:38 - The Limits of AI in Healthcare
00:40:53 - The Danger of Outsourcing Life's Hardships
00:51:23 - The Loss of Silence
00:58:11 - The AI Forced Conversation on Being Human
01:01:03 - Practical Ways to Protect Our Humanity
 
To give to Good Faith: https://goodfaith.org/donate
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Andrew Briggs and Roger Wagner's The Penultimate Curiosity: How Science Swims in the Slipstream of Ultimate Questions
Thomas Fuchs' In Defence of the Human Being 
Victor Hugo's Les Misérables
Tristan Harris on How AI Worsens Ills Caused by Social Media (The Economist)
Explore the work of The Future of Life Institute
Emma Pearson's I'd Rather Risk Cancer Than See AI Move This Fast (The Atlantic)
 
Scriptures:
Mark 12:30–31 (ESV)
Matthew 22:37–39 (ESV)
Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV)
Luke 10:27 (ESV)
 
More From Andy Crouch:
Check out Andy's website
Check out Andy's work at Praxis
Read Andy's book: The Life We're Looking For
Read Andy's book The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place 
 
Follow Us:
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Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)
Good Faith on Facebook
 
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

How Does Therapy Culture Undermine True Healing?
 
Host Curtis Chang talks with physician and author Matthew Loftus about how therapeutic language can distort ordinary suffering, turn disagreement into "gaslighting," and leave people feeling less capable of changing their lives. They examine the overmedicalization of grief and anxiety, the rise of mental health culture in schools, and why churches risk losing their purpose when pastors start acting like therapists.
**This is not an attack on therapy or psychiatric medication. It is a provocative conversation about when mental health care becomes a worldview—and whether our relentless focus on feeling better is actually making us sicker.
 
02:10 - Therapy Practice vs. Therapy Culture
03:52 - The Importance of Personal Experience
06:34 - The Three Elements of Therapy Culture
10:09 - The Problem with Focusing on Mental Health
13:22 - The Suggestive Power of Diagnosis
15:30 - A Christian Understanding of Suffering
17:57 - Finding Solace in the Midst of Suffering
21:40 - The Role of Medication in Mental Health
25:49 - Knowing When Therapy Becomes Unhelpful
28:30 - The Unique, Healing Functions of the Church 
32:21 - How Parents Can Counter Therapy Culture in Schools
35:01 - A Final Word of Encouragement
 
To give to Good Faith: https://goodfaith.org/donate
 
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Matthew Loftus's Resisting Therapy Culture
Curtis Chang's Anxiety Opportunity
Kathryn Greene-McCreight's Darkness Is My Only Companion
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
 
 
Further Reading:
DSM5 and the Medicalization of Grief: Two Perspectives (article)
Matter over mind: How mental health symptom presentations shape diagnostic outcomes
Effectiveness of school-based mental health programs on mental health among adolescents
 
 
Scriptures:
Romans 8:38–39 (ESV)
 
More From Matthew Loftus:
Matthew's website
Matthew's writing at Mere Orthodoxy
Matthew's articles at Plough
 
 
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)
Good Faith on Facebook
 
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.