Afleveringen
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The cross is the heart of Scripture.
Everything about the gospel message leads to the cross, and proceeds from the cross. In fact, within the narrative of Scripture, the crucifixion of Jesus is literally the crux of the storyāthe axis upon which the biblical story turns. But it would be a mistake to think we could sum up the significance of the crucifixion in a tidy sentence or two.
That kind of thinking only insulates us from the magnificence of what God has done. In our ongoing quest to make meaning of the cross, we need to recognize that this conversation will never concludeāthat there is always something more to be said.
In his book, The Wood Between the Worlds, Brian Zahnd reminds us that the meaning of the cross is multifaceted and touches every aspect of our lives. It is an invitation to encounter the cross of Christ anew.
Just as gazing through the eyepiece of a kaleidoscope reveals a new geometric image with every turn, Zahnd helps us see that there are infinite ways to behold the cross of Christ as the beautiful form that saves the world.
Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is also a pastor-theologian who has authored eleven books, including Sinners In the Hands of a Loving God, When Everythingās on Fire, and The Wood Between the Worlds. Brian is enthusiastic about music, literature, mountains, and long-distance pilgrimages.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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In the retelling of the Mary and Martha story, many inadvertently pit these sisters against each another. We are forced to make a choice: āIām a Maryā or, more regularly I hear, āIām a Martha.ā As though these women were tropes or types on a personality test.
This is unfortunate, because then we are drawn to take sides and defend one or the other. Our own identity becomes wrapped up in one woman or another.
Before I unpack this further, Iāll give you the spoiler: This story isnāt about busy people and lazy people. We are ALL invited to follow the example of Mary and focus on the one thing of Jesus.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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What do we mean when we talk about the importance of prayer? What is prayer? Is it mainly the words we say to God about our concerns, our needs, our hopes, our desires? What is the difference, if any, between saying prayers and being prayerful?
Today, Iām sharing a conversation with a wise Franciscan priest who has been practicing prayerfulness for over 50 years.
Albert Haase, OFM, is a preacher, teacher, and spiritual director. A former missionary to mainland China for over eleven years, he is the award-winning author of ten books on popular spirituality and the presenter on five bestselling DVDs. He holds a PhD in historical theology from Fordham University and an MDiv from Catholic Theological Union. He is currently serving as chaplain at Cedarbrake Retreat Center near Austin, Texas.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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God's face is always shining toward us. Our God is not asleep, nor indifferent. But we don't always experience this nearness or the depth of how beloved we truly are--especially if we have experienced neglect, betrayal, or indifference in our formative human relationships.
In her book, The Emmanuel Promise, Summer Joy Gross acts as a nurturing guide, as she helps us make our way to the transformative dynamics of presence, attachment and Godās love. Together, weāll discover the Security of a Life Held by God.
Summer Joy Gross (MDiv, Virginia Theological Seminary) is an Anglican priest, retreat leader, and spiritual director whose work is guided by the belief that our stories can be transformed by God's invitation to make his love our home base. She is associate faculty of spiritual formation and the art of spiritual direction at the Healing Care Ministries' spiritual direction school. She is the host of The Presence Podcast and lives in North Georgia with her husband and their three teenagers.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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Iāve written and said plenty about the problem of hurry in our lives and in our world. There is a condition called hurry sickness, which is the feeling of always being rushed as though you were lagging behind in some race. This raises our stress levels. A sense that we donāt have enough time for everything we have to do is a sign of hurry sickness. We can end up feeling increasing frustration with anyone or anything that gets in the way of what you have to do. Multitasking is one of our strategies to somehow boost productivity, at least in the short-term. But the long-term costs can be pretty high for our present hurry.
In this episode and a couple of future ones this season, Iām going to talk about core drivers of hurry that Iāve been addressing in my own life since I wrote An Unhurried Life. Today, in the spirit of my new book A Non-Anxious Life, Iāll unpack how anxiety drives hurry in our lives.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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For the last few years I have enjoyed meeting with women in coaching groups or soul care groups. It is such a beautiful and vulnerable way to share our lives. The women who attend are always leaning in toward God and desiring to connect at a deeper level with others.
A while back I decided I wanted to share with these women the scriptures that have helped form me. These verses helped me focus on the centrality of Godās love, Jesus and the process of being transformed. Iād like to share these passages with you today.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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For too many, work feels tedious, painful, even meaningless. And we donāt seem to know what to do about it. There is a familiar crisis of meaning and of sustainability. Youāve probably heard the alarming statistics: how so many who lost work during the pandemic just arenāt interested in returning to their jobs.
We need to find a way out of disintegration so that we can discover how work can be an experience of loving God, serving our neighbors, and living out the good news of Godās kingdom in the world that surrounds us.
Today, Iāll talk with author Jeff Haanen about his book, Working from the Inside Out. In it, he talks about the integration of our life with God and our work with God.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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As young children its easy to pick up beliefs and behaviors that seem to work for us, but as we move into adulthood, we find that is no longer the case. Today, Iām going to share with you a personal story of how one of my early unhelpful behaviors was transformed by God into something beautiful and useful for me today.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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In the summer of 2023, I finally got the opportunity to make a retreat at a place Iāve been wanting to visit for years. I drove up to the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California for an eight-day silent retreat. Iāve done week-long retreats before on the East Coast, but never here in California.
Iāve been wanting to share the story of my experience of extended retreat here on the podcast. Iām glad to finally get that opportunity today.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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One of my mentors often liked to ask a couple of simple questions when we were together: first, āWhat is the Christian life?ā and second, āWhat is the church?ā At first glance, those feel like beginner questions. Of course we know what a Christian is and what church is about.
But how many of our assumptions about our life in Christ together look more like being a twenty-first century North American more than an apprentice of Jesus in the here and now of our lives? To what degree are we letting the way of Jesus transform our expectations, our values and our pursuits into a very different way from the culture that surrounds us?
John Mark is a teacher and writer from Topanga Canyon in Southern California. For nearly two decades, he was the founding pastor at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon where he spent many years working out discipleship to Jesus in the post-Christian West, organized their community around a simple idea: practicing the Way of Jesus together.
In 2021, after leading a five-year initiative around spiritual formation called āPracticing the Way,ā John Mark stepped away from his pastoral role to create simple, beautiful formation resources for church communities around the world.
Today, John Mark is developing new practices, courses, and podcasts for Practicing the Way and serves as a teacher in residence at Vintage Church LA with his wife and their three kids.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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Women have been important leaders throughout church history. There are multiple stories in the Old and New Testaments about the powerful and unique ways women lead. Think Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, Phoebe, Priscilla and more. There are the desert mothers, and women such as Julian of Norwich, Clare of Assisi and Teresa of Avila, who have given us wisdom for the ages. Sometimes out in front, sometimes behind the scenes, but always, women have contributed to the spiritual and relational life of the church.
Today my guest is Kimberly Deckel and we are going to dive into the important role of women and how she comes alongside women in ministry to encourage and empower.
Kimberly Deckel is the Executive Pastor at Church of the Cross in Austin, TX. Before transitioning into full time ministry, Kimberly worked in the field of social work for over a decade serving as therapist, hospice social worker, and working in foster care and adoptions. She completed her MA in Missional Theology through the Missional Training Center and served as a priest and church planter in Phoenix, as well as the director of operations for Surge Network. Kimberlyās husband is Steve and her daughter is Keenan.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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Having written a book about anxiety, Iāve seen a lot of promises about how to solve it. A life hack here. Six easy steps there. But my own experience with anxiety has been anything but easy. Today, I want to share some of the more unexpected pathways to peace Iāve discovered in my journey.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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Hard. Crusty. Unyielding.
Rootless. Shallow. Burning out. Withering.
Thorny. Distracted. Choked. Pressed.
Good. Healthy. Vibrant. Thriving.
What is this list of (mostly disturbing) words Iāve just uttered? Especially when the title of this episode includes, āA Gracious Reflection.ā Well, itās a list that came to mind upon a recent encounter with the Parable of the Sower from Mark 4. I was struck by the inner dynamics described by Jesus. Iāve taken his four types of soil and created some reflection questions that you can use for a heart-check-in.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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The greatest priority in the kingdom of God is simple and straightforward. Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).ā That sentence will not surprise a single one of you listening.
But, in my own experience of the Christian life, it has often felt like we majored on loving God with our minds over loving God with our souls, or hearts, or physical strength. Weāve often valued the right ideas over the right sort of heart or fruitful practice. Today, weāll talk about how we might experience a more creative way of living our lives in God.
Our guest today is Amy Pierson and we're chatting about her recent book Makers in a Thinkersā World. She writes at the intersection of neuroscience, spiritual formation, creativity and lived experience. She speaks from a long journey with Jesus in these practices and disciplines.
AMY PIERSON is the founder of Burning Heart Workshops (a soul care ministry) and former executive director of the Spiritual Formation Alliance. A writer, speaker, artist, mom, and Gamma of two, Amy lives in the Denver area with her hilarious husband, Bill, and their ridiculous golden retriever.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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In Anne Lamott's book, Traveling Mercies, she shares the story that led her to take the leap into her own faith journey. It was the story of Abraham and Isaac that caught her attention. The reality and authenticity of Abraham's belief and trust in God's provision compelled her. It led me to ponder and process that moment in Abraham's life. This is where weāre headed today on the Unhurried Living Podcast.
And these are some of the questions we will be addressing:
If we place ourselves in Abrahamās place, what level of trust might emerge from our own deep place? How far would I go in sacrificing that which I hold most dear?
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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Sometimes, anxiety rises in my thoughts, emotions, and body as an overwhelming wave. Iām tempted in moments like that to let myself be overcome, whether by allowing anxiety to immobilize me, to chase me away from what God has given me to do, or even to drive me to ways of working that seem to be only thinly aware that God is with me as I work.
Iāve been learning that over time that anxiety became embedded in my mind, my emotions, even my body. But Iāve also been learning that the peace of Christ can displace anxiety in me. I can learn to let the peace of Christ protect me from anxious worry in the midst of my many concerns. And I wanted to share with you what Iāve been learning, and more about what I wrote in A Non-Anxious Life.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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Spiritual growth is often sparked by great love or deep pain. But so much of our world conspires to keep us too busy to feel loved or to pay attention to our deep feelings. We want to grow, but we arenāt always aware of the points at which God is inviting us forward. We need mentors and tools that will help slow us down to notice God with us, and to see where we may be welcoming the grace of God in our lives and where we may be resisting Godās initiative and work.
One tool that has helped me immensely over the years is the Enneagram. Itās become rather popular in the church in recent years. My guests today, Bill and Kristi Gaultiere, have written an important book that unpacks this tool titled Healthy Feelings, Thriving Faith: Growing Emotionally and Spiritually through the Enneagram. I really appreciate how they make the Enneagram understandable as a tool for growth.
Bill and Kristi have been counseling and ministering to people for thirty years. Bill is a psychologist who has served in private practice, co-led a New Life psychiatric day hospital, and pastored churches. Kristi is a marriage and family therapist who has also served in private practice and church ministry. Together they are the founders of Soul Shepherding, a nonprofit ministry to help believers discover their next steps for growing in emotional health and intimacy with Jesus.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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One-third of our waking lives is spent at work. Work is where we make culture and come into contact with our world. Work is central to God's mission to redeem souls, systems, and structures. And God works through our work to bring hope to the brokenness of our surrounding culture.
The way of Jesus Christ is good news for the world, and that includes the transformation of our ordinary work into a sacred calling. Ross Chapman and Ryan Tafilowski show how work is a way to love God, serve our neighbors, and live the ways of Jesus. With a broader understanding of God's work in the world, we are able to engage our daily work as part of how God makes all things new.
Ross, co-author of Faithful Work: In the Daily Grind with God and for Others, invites you to reflect on the meaning and purpose of your life's work and to transform your work into service to those around you.
Ross Chapman is the CEO of Denver Institute for Faith & Work. He previously founded and served as president and executive director of For Evansville in Evansville, Indiana. He holds a doctorate of ministry in faith, work, economics, and vocation from Fuller Theological Seminary. He lives in the Denver area with his wife, Candace, and their three sons.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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Weāre living in anxious times. I donāt hear anyone saying otherwise. And many feel utterly overwhelmed and powerless against the flood of anxiety that fills our hearts, our minds, our news feeds and our social media communities.
Two weeks ago my latest book, A Non-Anxious Life, was released. The more I talk with leaders about soul hurry, the more I realize that a very common variety of it is anxiety. I know anxiety has driven a lot of my own work over the years. That kind of busyness may look impressive, but it hasnāt born good, lasting fruit.
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Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. Learn more about Unhurried Leaders membership.
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1990 was a momentous & tragic year for me. Sadly, it was the year my dad passed away. His was a traumatic and life-altering death. I was just 26-years-old.
Unfortunately, my dadās death was just the beginning of a five-year season of loss. So much to experience by one so young.
Today, Iāll be sharing with you my journey of loss and how God met me with great grace.
Abiding video referenced in episode.
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Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community.
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