Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.

He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.

Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast, The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.

Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

Patrick Schreiner is an associate professor of New Testament and Biblical theology at Midwestern baptist Theological Seminary. He is also an elder at Emmaus Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author numerous books, including Matthew, Discipels and Scribe; a commentary on Acts, The Ascension of Christ; and The Kigndom of God and the Glory of the Cross.

Patrick joins me on today's episode to discuss his new book, The Transfiguration of Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Reading. We take a closer look at Jesus's transfiguration and why it matters for how we read the gospels and think about Christ.

Brian Croft is the former Senior Pastor of Au-burn-dale Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky and is the Founder of Practical Shepherding. He is also Senior Fellow for the Mathena Center for Church Revitalization and an Adjunct Professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Ronnie Martin is founder and lead pastor of Substance Church (EFCA) in Ashland, Ohio. Before pastoral ministry, Ronnie was an internationally known recording artist, producing and releasing over 15 albums for the Tooth and Nail Records label. In addition to pastoring Substance, Ronnie is also the Director of Leader Renewal for Harbor Network, a church planting collective based out of Louisville, Kentucky. He has authored 6 books, including The God Who Is With Us, and regularly speaks at conferences for pastors and church planters.

Brian and Ronnie join me to discuss their new book on the unhurried pastor and how we can redefine productivity for a more sustainable ministry.

Ryan Rush, serves as pastor of Kingsland Baptist Church, in Katy, Texas.

He has spent more than 20 years working in ministry, and during that time, he has been on a mission to connect church and home life, becoming a national voice for the “Faith at Home” movement.

In over a decade serving as Adjunct Professor at Liberty University, he has taught more than 1,500 students the course he helped to design, “Theology of the Family.” Ryan currently teaches Doctoral students in the Marriage and Family program at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Ryan is a graduate of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and holds a PhD in Christian leadership with a ministry concentration from the Cook School at Dallas Baptist University.

He is the author of several books, Home on Time, Why Everybody’s Stuck, and his latest book, Restore the Table: Discovering the Powerful Connections of Meaningful Mealtimes. In today's conversation, we'll be exploring the place of tables in the ministry of Jesus and how meals are an important part of the Christian calling.

David Kaywood is a senior pastor at Eastside Community Church in Jacksonville, Florida. He is the author of A Call to Contentment: Pursuing Godly Satisfaction in a Restless World. He is the founder of gospelrelevance.com and a contributor to The Gospel Coalition. He lives in Jacksonville Beach, Florida with his wife and two children.

In our conversation, we explore the Christian call to contentment in a restless world. How can Christians experience contentment, and how can we, as Christian writers, do our work without the restless anxiety it often causes?

I'm joined on today's podcast by Editor Todd Hains and Illustrator Natasha Kennedy. Together, they have been working on Lexham's new series of children's books, known as the FatCat series. We discuss the current state of Christian children's literature, Catechism, and Classical Education, and how we can be intentional about teaching our children the language and the theology of our faith.

Drew Dyck is the author of multiple books, including Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets To Self Control From The Bible And Brain Science (2019), and the book he joins me to talk about today, Just Show Up: How Small Acts of Faithfulness Change Everything (2023).

Drew is an editor at Moody Publishers and the former managing editor of Leadership Journal. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Christianity Today, Relevant Magazine, The Gospel Coalition, and CNN.com.

Drew grew up in Canada and now lives in the Portland area with his wife, Grace, and their three children.

Mark Fugitt has been a pastor for eighteen years and an adjunct professor for a decade. He has a bachelor’s in history; master’s degrees in history, theological studies, and theology; and his PhD in biblical studies and historical theology. He lives with his wife Laura and four children on a farm in the hills of Missouri.

He joins me to talk about his new book: Lost Shepherd: What Believers Once Knew About Paslm 23 That the Modern World has Forgotten