J.D. Walt, former dean of the chapel at Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, KY, and founder of Seedbed, joins Chris and Eddie with a strong conversation about the gospel being a transformative force, rather than a self-improvement program. Walt dives into how sin is like cancer, and later discusses his newly released book on Romans.

Not only is Matt Campbell a licensed psychologist, he’s also a friend of Eddie and Chris (and a member of Chris’s church—which also used to be Eddie’s church—in Oxford, MS). Matt has worked in private practice since 2003, and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Mississippi Psychological Association, and the National register of Health Service Psychologists. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Clemson University and his PhD in clinical psychology from The University of Mississippi.

“Everybody in the system affects everybody else in the system.”

Chris McAlilly and Eddie Rester dive into a thoughtful discussion about what it means to have a healthy church culture and leadership. They discuss everything from trust to gratitude to humor, while discussing their own personal experiences and with growing a strong team dynamic.

In this powerful discussion around faith, justice, and courage, Chris and Eddie sit down with Peter Storey, former president of the Methodist Church of South Africa and the South African Council of Churches. With over forty years of ministry, including serving as a prison chaplain on Robben Island, Peter shares firsthand experiences of following Jesus in the midst of apartheid and his time alongside Desmond Tutu.

Dr. Mark Chancey joins Eddie and Chris for an open and frank conversation about moral formation. Where should children learn about the Ten Commandments? Is it within families and the church or should it be put into public schools, as it has in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas? What are the implications of using religious symbols like the Ten Commandments to gain political influence?

Dr. Ted Campbell is a returning guest to The Weight, this time for an introduction into the Nicene Creed. 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which originally created the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that declares God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and affirms the divinity and humanity of Jesus. The Nicene Creed is one of the most widely used Christian creeds, and unites Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestant denominations.

Suffering and pain are part of life. We all struggle with finding meaning in our suffering and the suffering of others. We all need help finding hope and encouragement in dark times, and one place we can find that hope is in prayer. It’s through prayer that we stand alongside our suffering friends and neighbors to offer them our attention and empathy. Prayer connects each of us in ways that can transform the world.

“I’m not necessarily a winner. Maybe I’m a loser that just never gave up.”

No one would call Robert St. John a loser. A life-long Mississippian and a successful restaurateur and entrepreneur, Robert has turned his mistakes and failures into valuable learning experiences that push his desire to help others. In addition to being a restaurateur, Robert is also an author and philanthropist and an advocate for the state of Mississippi, a place where he sees potential and opportunity for growth and change.

Eddie and Chris are joined by previous guest Austin Carty for the first part of a double episode about his new book, Some of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon. Preachers are human, and just like all of us, they are influenced by their past, their community, and their surroundings. Preaching is a form of self-discovery that not everyone experiences, but Austin encourages all of us to take some time to sit with our pasts and write it out--if only to allow the transformational Spirit to work through us.

Zach Lambert wants to give you a better way to interpret the Bible, so he wrote the book on it. In Better Ways to Read the Bible: Transforming a Weapon of Harm Into a Tool of Healing, Zach helps us deconstruct four common lenses for reading the Bible that lead to harm and then offers four new lenses that promote healing and wholeness.

Rev. Dr. Javier Viera is the President of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. A long-time friend of Eddie’s, Javier served in multiple roles in a congregational setting before becoming the Dean of Drew Theological School at Drew University. He earned his master of divinity from Duke Divinity School, a master of sacred theology from Yale Divinity School, and his doctor of education from Columbia University.

Javier’s experience gives him a deep understanding of how important diversity is in theological education. Including voices with varying backgrounds will only strengthen the formation of Christ-centered leaders who courageously cultivate communities of justice, compassion, and Gospel hope.

This episode is a special conversation between a father and son, two pastors in different eras of their ministerial careers. Chris is joined by his father (but not by Eddie), retired Bishop Bill McAlilly, to talk about Bill’s faith journey, his growth as a pastoral leader, and how he created and equipped leaders in his many congregations.

Can science and faith exist together? If God created the world and then created people in God’s own image, why do we experience suffering? How do we reconcile the hard facts of science with the miraculous story of God’s own faithfulness and actions in the world? These are difficult but not impossible topics to explore, and today’s guest offers us a way into those hard conversations.

In this episode, Eddie and Chris are joined by Dr. Warren Kinghorn, a psychiatrist who focuses on a more holistic approach to mental health, and health in general. Warren looks beyond merely reducing or eliminating the symptoms, because we aren’t machines. We are beings who need nurture and care and love. He believes that being in community with one another and walking alongside each other in our struggles plays a significant role in caring for our hurting neighbors. Christian community can offer support in ways that help us to know and to affirm the truth of God’s love, even in moments when we might not have the capacity to feel that love.

Today’s guest, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, has a challenge for all of us: to engage the Bible more deeply, and to do that in a way that’s faithful to the historical context in which the scriptures were written. Jews during the Second Temple period were aware of the societal context in which they lived, just as we are aware of ours today. But because we don’t experience that ancient context in today’s world, we lose the nuance of Jesus’ teachings. Putting Jesus back in his historical time and place gives Christians a deeper understanding of the scriptures and allows for us to wrestle with the text, to push back and ask questions.

Mark DeYmaz is a pastor, author, and champion of the multi-ethnic church movement. He spent eighteen years as a youth pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas, before stepping away to plant the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. Mark has a clear vision for what the Church should look like: bringing diverse people together to walk, work, and worship God, while investing in the local community. Church should reflect the diverse world we live in, as a true reflection of the Kingdom of God.

Dr. Corneilus Plantinga has a few words to say about gratitude, and it may just change your life--physically, spiritually, and emotionally. A habit of gratitude can lower your blood pressure and help you sleep better. But the habit of gratitude also ties us together collectively, in community and in church. When there is genuine appreciation of an act of kindness or a loving word, the memory of that “thank you” is a cushion when disagreement tries to divide us. Gratitude for God’s gifts reminds us daily that we can find something good, even in tough situations.

Hunter Evans is the owner of Elvie’s that serves seasonal dishes and highlights ingredients from local farmers. For Hunter, owning a restaurant is first about hospitality. He focuses on making connections with his patrons, and is a champion of a city in Mississippi that often gets overlooked or looked down on. He also focuses on the wellbeing of his staff, because he believes that if he’s asking his staff to take care of others, they have to be taken care of first.

John T. Edge joins Chris and Eddie for a conversation that takes them all over the South. John T. is a writer, commentator, the former director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and host of the television show True South. He is the director of the Mississippi Lab at the University of Mississippi, and his latest passion project is the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency, which will offer space for writers of all kinds to step away from the real world and put their focus and attention on their writing project, whether that’s a song, a poem, a novel, or a scientific paper.

We’re kicking things off with someone who has a lot of fun while doing a lot of important work: Annie F. Downs.

Annie’s podcast, That Sounds Fun, has been on air for 10 years, and this year, she’s shaking things up a little. She’s helping her listeners navigate the seasons of their life by using the seasons of nature--winter, spring, summer, and fall--to bring some clarity and compassion to those moments when we feel our lowest and to bring joyful ownership to those times when we are at our best.