Stories are pouring in about the healing impact of The Shack and, as I write this, the book is #8 on Amazon. Not bad for a book that Young wrote as a gift to his 6 children and was never intended to be published. Join us as we talk about some of the controversy surrounding The Shack, but more importantly, William Paul Young's personal journey and how it shaped the book that is now a phenomenon.

Visit TheShackBook.com for more on the book and visit WindRumors.com for more from Mr. Young.

Today, 05.16.08 - Guest: William Paul Young - Author of The Shack.

Friday, 05.23.08 - Guest: Dr. Marvin Olasky - Vice president for academic affairs at The King's College-New York City and author of The Tragedy of American Compassion.

Friday, 05.30.08 - Guest: Marcia Ford - Author of We the Purple: Faith, Politics and the Independent Voter.

Join us for the recordings and talk to our guests by calling in on Fridays from noon -1 ET at 1.888.54.STEVE (1.888.547.8383).

Also, feel free to leave any guest suggestions in the comments on this post. (Or if you feel led, have a long discussion that has nothing to do with this post instead of creating a thread in the forums.)

When homosexuals listen to evangelicals, what do they hear? One friend of mine suggested that we sound like the teacher from the Peanuts cartoons, "Wa wah wa. Wah wa wa wah." But much of the time, our words are far more caustic. Join us as we discuss the subject in the context of Michael's insightful and controversial piece, What do Gays and Lesbians Hear?.

Michael Spencer is a popular blogger, podcaster and self-described post-evangelical. Go to InternetMonk.com for his regular posts and podcasts. Also, visit The Guest Room for his piece, Jesus Watches Your Church Ad.

Michael has been blogging since 2000. He has a master's degree in Theology, is currently a campus minister living in a Christian community in southeastern Kentucky, and has been a teacher in churches and schools for more than 30 years.

Max has a new album out called The Blood that explores his gospel roots and features collaborations with Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Joanne Cash and a dcTalk reunion with Kevin and former band members TobyMac and Michael Tait (they cover the Prince tune The Cross). We talk about that, his upcoming film The Imposter and being honest in art and in life. Don't miss it.

Also, don't forget to join the Steve Brown Etc. Facebook group and connect with other SBE listeners from around the world.

Click here to join the Steve Brown Etc. group.

Click here to join the Key Life Network group.

And for Etcetera listeners, Mark has set up a group for that program as well. Click here to join the Etcetera group too.

Once you join up, invite all your friends! If we can get enough members, I won't have to stop…I mean…you can help spread the good news of God's love and grace!

The national coordinator of Emergent Village, Tony Jones joins us on this edition of SBE to discuss the emergent phenomenon in the context of his new book, The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. Use one of the options below to listen.

Also, click here if you'd like to view the video with R.C. Sproul and Al Mohler from which we took sound bites for today's program.

Bill Mallonee has released 25 albums over his 20 year career to much critical acclaim. Paste Music Magazine, in a poll conducted by both writers and artists, listed Bill as 65 in their "100 Greatest Living Songwriters Poll." Musically, his songs tend towards a very broadly defined Americana, embracing Folk-rock, Brit-pop, psychedelia and troubadour folk.

Check out this podcast we did with Bill, and read on to get Bill's take on music and life on the road.

I've tended to see most of my work as a yearning, a quest, a journey. An awakening to something undeserved. I think that must be why the image and metaphor of the road, both literally and figuratively, figure so large in my songs. The road became a 2nd home for me for the better part of 20 years and 25 records. In the long run, it was never all that good to me. And yes, there are costs for buying such dubious property. Those many years of viewing the world from inside a van or a car can change the way you look at the world…and more n' likely they'll change you, too…

…Such events destroyed a marriage. And later the remorse and grinding poverty made such romantic notions as "artistic integrity vs. lack of commercial success" wear threadbare. Me? I never knew what I was made of until I was tested…and after 20 years the road, being a sort of laboratory herself, showed me deficient in painful ways … (Read More)

Again, don't miss the show at Taste in College Park, tomorrow, April 26 at 8 PM. I'll see you there!

Fridays at noon ET - Steve Brown Etc.

At show times, go to the Etcetera page or the Steve Brown Etc. page and click on the "Listen Live" button in the header for the live stream. (You'll need Real Player: click here to download.) And remember, you're always welcome to join us live by calling toll free, 1.888.547.8383. The recordings of each show will post to the site as soon as possible.

I hope you'll join us and I apologize in advance for Etcetera. Without the gravity of the Steve Brown part, things tend to spin out of control.

Dr. Armstrong has taken heat for his stance on the issue and for writing things like…

"Racism can be variously understood and thus most of us who are white are convinced that we are not racists at all. But racism is more than personal prejudice. It is social prejudice joined with power. And it is systemic."

Join us as we discuss racism in the Church with John Armstrong, founder and president of ACT 3, a ministry for the advancement of the Christian Tradition in the third millennium. He is a former pastor and church-planter, of more than twenty years, the author/editor of eight books, and the author of hundreds of magazine, journal, and Web based articles.

Also, a big thanks to Bill Mallonee for providing music for the show. Bill will be playing Taste near Orlando on April 26 at 8 PM. I'll see you there!

What happens when an agnostic journalist and author in New York City sets out to follow over 700 Biblical rules as literally as possible for an entire year? We're talking everything from the Ten Commandments to obscure stuff like not wearing clothing of mixed fiber, not shaving the sides of his beard and blowing a horn on the first of every month. Thou shalt use one of the options below to listen and find out!

A.J. is editor at large of Esquire and author of the New York Times bestseller The Know-It-All. Click here to see pictures of Jacobs' extreme spiritual makeover.

And thanks to Leo Nevilo for the Beastie Boys remixes we used as bumper!

Dr. Os Guinness joined us this week to answer that question and talk about his new book, The Case for Civility: And Why America's Future Depends on It. Use one of the options at the bottom of this post to listen.

Dr. Guinness is a social critic and author/editor of over 25 books, including The Call, Long Journey Home, Unspeakable, and The American Hour. He's also the co-founder of The Trinity Forum and he brews a mean stout (I've been an admirer of Guinness' work for years).

In addition to civility, Dr. Guinness also discussed his Books & Culture piece on Frank Schaeffer and his book, Crazy for God. Don't miss this program!

What are the moral and social issues that concern Christian voters the most? How do those concerns compare with the U.S. population as a whole? And what about the volatile utopian cocktail that often results when mixing faith and politics? Use one of the options below to listen.

Since joining Barna in 1995, David has designed and analyzed nearly five hundred research projects for clients like the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, NBC-Universal, Campus Crusade, Focus on the Family, and Time-Life. He's also co-author of the book, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity…and Why it Matters.

As the son of famous evangelists Francis and Edith Schaeffer, Frank grew up at L'Abri in Switzerland, and eventually helped to form the Religious Right.

As he worked with guys like Robertson, Falwell, and Dobson, he felt increasingly alienated. Then he chucked all (or almost all) of it. Listen to this from the dust cover of the book…

Schaeffer, whom Cal Thomas, Vice President of the Moral Majority, once introduced at a huge rally as "the best speaker in America," was reduced to stealing pork chops and smuggling them out of stores in his underwear rather than return to the fold to take on any more high-paying evangelical speaking gigs.

Man, you gotta really hate evangelical speaking gigs to smuggle pork chops in your skivvies. Either that, or you really like pork chops. Anyway, check out the show. It's a good one.

In an age of prosperity and plenty, hundreds of thousands of people continue to find themselves homeless. As one of Canada's leading papers has noted, "Tim Huff is not just another outreach worker, but a tireless activist for the cause of the homeless." Tim has traveled throughout Canada, the US and Europe training people in creative and compassionate responses to poverty.

Tim both wrote and illustrated The Cardboard Shack Beneath the Bridge, a book that lays the groundwork for parents and teachers to start talking with children about homelessness. He's also the author of Bent Hope: A Street Journal.

Also, Steve's left-wing, old white guy buddy Tony Campolo stopped by to tell us who he'll vote for and give us his red letter Christian plan for dealing with the immigration issue. Use one of the options below to listen.

Tony is a popular media commentator on religious, social and political issues and the author of 35 books, his most recent being Red Letter Christians: A Citizen’s Guide to Faith & Politics.