Unpacking the Gospel with Melanie Brooks

Описание: Unpacking the Gospel with Melanie Brooks

A conversation about dogs, marriage, faith, and learning—often late—what actually makes a life gentler and more humane.

My friend Melanie Brooks and I sat down together to talk about The Gospel of Zip—a book I worked on for seven years and didn’t really understand until it was finished. We talk about dogs, marriage, failure, and the slow process of learning how to love other people without trying to control them.

We spend a lot of time talking about Zip, my dog, and what dogs teach us about seeing people as human first—before politics, before labels, before judgment. Melanie helps me unpack what I call the “survival of the friendliest,” and how love, caregiving, and simple presence do more to hold communities together than ideology ever has.

We also talk honestly about my marriage to Genie—how it started too young, survived too much, and eventually became something strong and generous. Melanie asks the kinds of questions that let me tell the truth about where I came from, what I got wrong, and what I had to unlearn growing up in an evangelical household.

Toward the end of the conversation, I explain why I decided to give The Gospel of Zip away for free on YouTube. (That said, if you still want to buy a copy, please do!) But I’m also giving it away for free because some things like love, forgiveness, and whatever wisdom comes from finally paying attention aren’t meant to be monetized or gatekept.

I hope you’ll accept my gift by watching it and sharing it with anyone you think might be helped by its message.

Watch “The Gospel of Zip”

   • The Gospel of Zip  

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com/p...