Author

  1. 430: Tolkien - The Journey Through the Desert: The Lenten Quest

    book
    02/27/26
    12 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Lent in Middle-earth. In this episode, we discuss the Lenten subtext, language, and images in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Return of the King.” What can Christians learn from fiction authors about the faith, devotional reading, understanding the world outside the churches through the view of the cross, and how all of reality is bent towards Easter at all times, in all places, by all people? This and much, much more on today’s show.
    430: Tolkien - The Journey Through the Desert: The Lenten Quest

  2. Monday, February 16, 2026

    book
    02/16/26
    13 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we head to the mailbag to answer a question about Dan’s favorite books.
    Monday, February 16, 2026

  3. The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: Comfort Ye, the Story of Handel’s Messiah

    book
    01/24/26
    5 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Weekend Edition for January 24-25, 2026
    The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: Comfort Ye, the Story of Handel’s Messiah

  4. 425: Lewis - Myth Became Fact

    book
    01/23/26
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    The Hangman’s Nous. In this episode, we read an excerpt from The Maniac, by G.K. Chesterton, followed by Myth Became Fact, from C.S. Lewis’ book of essays, “God in the Dock.” The primary question we discuss, then, is whether men and women can live a healthy and sane life with mystery, without myth, and without higher truth. What has happened to modern churches that exorcised mystery from preaching, teaching, evangelism, and worship? What anchors the Body of Christ when it’s unmoored from Church history and tradition? What have been the consequences for churches that treat the Christian story as more fantasy than fact? What does Lewis mean that God is “mythopoeic”? What does it mean that Christianity is, according to Lewis, “perfect myth and perfect fact”?
    425: Lewis - Myth Became Fact

  5. 422: Post-Christmas and Post-New Year Debrief

    book
    01/03/26
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? In this episode, we gather for a post-Christmas, post-New Year pastoral debrief. We talk about symbols and meaning, Christmas and holidays, signs and seasons, and how modern churches quietly cleared the path for culture to push Christ out of Christmas without much resistance. We explore the strange and largely arbitrary ways the world measures time, along with the old Adam’s never-ending pyramid project. That is, his need to build meaning upward by effort, progress, and control rather than receive it as a gift. From there, we return to symbol and meaning. We ask why ancient liturgy’s nostalgia or ornamentation, but the distilled shape of reality itself, why the Lord’s Supper isn’t a side practice, but the beating heart of the Church, of worship, and of the Christian life. And why stories’ decorations for faith, but the way truth takes on flesh and finds us where we actually live. This is a conversation about time, worship, memory, and why the Church invents meaning but receives it again and again at the table.
    422: Post-Christmas and Post-New Year Debrief

  6. The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: Reprise! Mark Heard, Poet and Prophet

    book
    12/27/25
    5 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Weekend Edition for December 27-28. 2025
    The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: Reprise! Mark Heard, Poet and Prophet

  7. Monday, September 29, 2025

    book
    09/29/25
    14 mins
    By Sam Leanza Ortiz
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we go to Washington, D.C., to consider one of the world’s most famous cathedrals.
    Monday, September 29, 2025

  8. Jeremiah 20:7-18 When Emotions Collide. Chris Lizotte sings "Open the Skies"

    book
    09/26/25
    7 mins
    By Chad Bird
    In this passage Jeremiah is enthusiastically praising God, then cursing the day he was born, then speaking as a warrior, then speaking fearfully.
    Jeremiah 20:7-18 When Emotions Collide. Chris Lizotte sings

  9. Lamentations 3:1-33 Jeff Anderson sings "Great Is Thy Faithfulness"

    book
    09/19/25
    4 mins
    By Chad Bird
    Chad tells us the story behind this timeless hymn, and we also look into the struggles of the great prophet Jeremiah.
    Lamentations 3:1-33 Jeff Anderson sings

  10. Psalm 31 (our very first episode of Hidden Streams featuring Kris Winrich singing "Waiting for My Deliverance"

    book
    09/12/25
    4 mins
    By Chad Bird
    Waiting on God, Who alone is our only hope in this life and will safely guide us to be with Him for eternity.
    Psalm 31 (our very first episode of Hidden Streams featuring Kris Winrich singing

  11. Jeremiah 18:18-23 Colin Heinrich sings "Hear Me, Lord"

    book
    09/05/25
    7 mins
    By Chad Bird
    This episode deals with the all too familiar situation known as "No good deed goes unpunished".
    Jeremiah 18:18-23 Colin Heinrich sings

  12. Jeremiah 17:14-17 Mikaela Adams sings "Christ Have Mercy"

    book
    08/28/25
    8 mins
    By Chad Bird
    We've all been wronged, sometimes by those closest to us, or those who we trust the most. So, how do we respond, especially when we know that we can't truthfully claim our own righteousness and demand God's wrath against those who have hurt us. Oftentimes we hold our feelings inside, keeping our thoughts to ourselves, which only makes things worse.
    Jeremiah 17:14-17 Mikaela Adams sings