Spring 2023 ESN Conversations

Our crocuses and daffodils are up after an unusually warm February. While it was fun to be out in short sleeves (in Central Ohio), this also just didn’t seem right. It makes me interested in what our guest for our March ESN Conversation will have to say. But with spring’s early approach, I also thought it would be fun to share with you our whole line up for ESN Conversations. We have some outstanding guests joining us. Here’s the schedule with links to register today.

ESN Conversation: Following Jesus in a Warming World with Kyle Meyaard-Schaap

March 15, 2023, 12 pm ET

Have you ever looked at the effects of climate change and the apathy of so many around you and wondered, “What are we missing here?” Climate activist Kyle Meyaard-Schaap understands this feeling from personal experience. But in his years of speaking to and equipping Christians to work for climate action, he’s seen the trend begin to shift. More and more young Christians are waking up to the realities of climate change. They want to help, but they’re not sure how.

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap is vice president of the Evangelical Environmental Network. 

ESN Conversation: Non-Toxic Masculinity with Zachary Wagner

April 18, 2023, 12 pm ET

Dismissals such as “boys will be boys” and “not all men” are ingrained in our world. And the purity culture of our youth sold the same excuses with a spiritual spin. Can we break the toxic cycle and recover a healthy identity for men? In “Non-Toxic Masculinity,” Zachary Wagner tells men, “If you are in Christ, this is your problem—and you should be part of the solution.”

Zachary Wagner is an ordained minister and editorial director for the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is currently pursuing a PhD in New Testament at the University of Oxford. He lives in Oxford, England, with his wife and three children.

ESN Conversation: On Getting Out of Bed with Alan Noble

May 17, 2023, 1 pm ET

We aren’t always honest about how difficult normal human life is.

For the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make—like the daily choice to get out of bed.

Alan Noble (PhD, Baylor University) is associate professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, cofounder and editor in chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and an advisor for the AND Campaign. His book is a deeply personal narrative on the difficulty of life, and the witness to God and to life’s goodness sometimes expressed in the simple act of getting out of bed.

ESN Conversation: Being God’s Image with Carmen Joy Imes

June 20, 2023, 3 pm ET

What does it mean to be human? This timeless question proves critical as we seek to understand our purpose, identity, and significance. Amidst the many voices clamoring to shape our understanding of humanity, the Bible reveals important truths related to our human identity and vocation that are critical to the flourishing of all of creation.

Carmen Joy Imes seeks to recover the theologically rich message of the creation narratives starting in the book of Genesis as they illuminate what it means to be human.

Carmen Joy Imes (PhD, Wheaton) is associate professor of Old Testament at Biola University.

Special discounts will be available for the books by our guests. The conversations will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel, but if you join us, you get the chance to personally interact with our guests. I hope you will join us and others in the ESN community!