Daniel Darling

We took two weeks off for the Thanksgiving holiday, but we are back today with a new episode of The Way Home Podcast! This week we have John Wilsey joining Dan to talk about the topic of Conservatism. We hope that you’ll enjoy this great conversation between these two well-known Public Theologians. Give it a listen below! Dr. John Wilsey is Professor of Church History and Philosophy at Southern Seminary. He is a Georgia native whose studies are primarily in the fields of the History of American Religious Nationalism and American Conservatism. He earned his B.A. from Furman University and his M.Div., and Ph.D. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. Some of his works have been published in the National Review, The American Conservative, Thinking in Public, along with many other media outlets. Dr. Wilsey is also the author of Religious Freedom: A Conservative Partner (Eerdmans, 2025), Democracy in America: A New Abridgement for Students (Lexham, 2016), One Nation Under God?: An Evangelical Critique of Christian America (Pickwell, 2011), along with a few other books.

Welcome back to The Way Home Podcast! We took a few weeks off from uploading as Dan has been travelling with the release of his new book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism. If you haven’t already, you can click the link below to purchase a copy. Buy Dan's Book We are so excited to have Chap Bettis as our special guest this week on The Way Home to discuss how to manage your household well. We talk about Chaps’s new book: Managing Your Household Well. Chap is the founder and executive director of The Disciple-Making Parent, a ministry that assists parents to help them disciple their children. He is a graduate of Southern Seminary, is married to his wife Sharon, and has four children. Give the podcast a listen below!

Welcome back for this week’s episode of our podcast, The Way Home. We have Mark David Hall joining us as our special guest this week on The Way Home Podcast! He joins Daniel Darling to talk about how Christianity has influenced our government and on the topic of Christian patriotism. Give it a listen now! Mark Hall is a faculty member at Regent University in Virginia and is a scholar in the field of early America. He earned his B.A. in Political Science at Wheaton College and his PhD. in Government from the University of Virginia. He has written or edited over a dozen books, including Who’s Afraid of Christian Nationalism: Why Christian Nationalism is Not an Existential Threat to America or the Church, Proclaim Liberty Through All the Land: How Christianity Has Advanced Freedom and Equality for All Americans, and Did America Have a Christian Founding? Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth.

The Way Home Podcast returns from hiatus! Today, we have Caleb Morell on The Way Home Podcast! Caleb Morell is the associate pastor of the historic Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and its influence on Baptist and evangelicalism across our nation’s history. Today on The Way Home Podcast, Dan and Caleb discuss the long and rich history of CHBC doing ministry in the nation’s capital. This story is captured well in Morell’s new book, A Light on the Hill: The Surprising Story of How a Local Church in the Nation’s Capital Influenced Evangelicalism (2025). Show Notes Caleb Morell: Caleb Morell grew up as a missionary kid in Stockholm, Sweden. He became a member of Capitol Hill Baptist Church when he moved to Washington DC to attend Georgetown University in 2012. After graduating, Caleb completed the Pastoral Internship program at CHBC and worked in college ministry with Campus Outreach DC from 2016 to 2019 while completing his Masters of Divinity at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 2017 Caleb married his college sweetheart, Clare. They live with their two children and many books on Capitol Hill. Since working for two years as Mark Dever’s personal assistant, Caleb has been working to write a book on the history of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Guest’s Book: A Light on the Hill: The Surprising Story of How a Local Church in the Nation’s Capital Influenced Evangelicalism (2025)

The Way Home Podcast returns from hiatus! Today, we have Knox Thames on The Way Home Podcast! Dr. Eric Patterson is the current Special Advisor for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South / Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State. Today on The Way Home Podcast, Dan and Knox discuss the unique breadth and depth of America&#8217;s advocacy for religious freedom, how advocating for this freedom benefits believers, and how America&#8217;s civic values shape foreign policy. If you want to better understand the history of advocacy for religious freedoms, the developing state of these freedoms worldwide, and how these things should influence how one thinks about American influence around the globe, then this episode is for you! Show Notes Knox Thames: Knox Thames is an international human rights lawyer, advocate, and author who has dedicated his career to promoting human rights, defending religious minorities, and combating persecution. Over his 20 years of service in the U.S. government, Knox held several key positions advocating for freedom of religion or belief, including at the State Department and two different U.S. government foreign policy commissions. Knox has deep experience regarding South/Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and U.S. foreign policy relating to human rights. Serving in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations, he has worked at the intersection of global affairs, religion, and human rights. Known for his nonpartisan approach to advocacy, both the Obama and Trump administrations appointed Knox as the Special Advisor for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South / Central Asia at the State Department. The first to serve in this special envoy role, he received a civil service appointment to lead State Department efforts to support religious minorities in these regions. In April 2023, Knox joined Pepperdine University as a Senior Fellow, directing the new Program on Global Faith and Inclusive Societies from the Washington DC campus, thanks to a grant from the Templeton Religion Trust. He is also an Associate with the Center for Law and Religion at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University.​ A recognized expert, Knox has spoken before the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, the European Parliament, the Organization of American States, the OSCE, as well as to the Atlantic Council, the Foreign Service Institute, and U.S. military war colleges. He has written widely, including for USA Today, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, TIME, CNN, Newsweek, RealClearPolitics, the Times of London, the Harvard Human Rights Journal, the Yale Journal of International Affairs, the Small Wars Journal, and others. ​During his 25-year career of service, Knox has also worked at the U.S. Institute of Peace, the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission), the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), AmeriCorps VISTA, and the U.S. Army War College as an Adjunct Research Professor. In addition, from 2004-2012, he was a State Department appointee to the OSCE Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief. He was also a finalist to serve as the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Originally from Kentucky, he received a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown College, a Juris Doctorate (cum laude) from American University&#8217;s Washington College of Law, and a Master&#8217;s in International Affairs from the School of International Service at American University. In addition, he studied at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. Guest&#8217;s Books: International Religious Freedom Advocacy: A Guide to Organizations, Law and NGOs (2009), <a href="https://www.amazon.