Finding Holy: Recent Episodes
Ashley Hales
Big things matter, but so does the laundry. Connecting the dots between what we believe and how we live, expect practical starting places and deep and lively conversation on the Finding Holy Podcast -- along with guests' laundry routines. More at aahales.com/podcast.
Are the culture wars a White thing? How do we think about race in America and the church? What might be the way forward? In this hopeful conversation with Pastor Brandon Washington he describes his multi-ethnic ministry and how the gospel compels us to strive for deliberate and sacrificial integration—the unity of believers of all ethnicities. Be sure to listen to other episodes in the series and we'd be grateful if you left us a review on iTunes.
Resources mentioned: Brandon's book, A Burning House: Redeeming American Evangelicalism by Examining Its History, Mission, and Message Brandon's "Black and Evangelical" article in Christianity Today James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
Other episodes in this series: Episode 1: Stuck in the Middle Episode 2: How'd we Get Stuck in the Middle? Episode 3: A Culture War Alternative with Mark Labberton Episode 4: Agent of Grace or Culture War Victim with Dan Darling Episode 5: What if Culture Wars are your Work? with Pete Wehner Episode 6: Beauty as an Antidote to the Culture Wars with Susannah Black Roberts
The Cartographers is a production of Willowbrae Institute. Find out more at willowbrae.org. Be sure to signup for Willowbrae's newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When the world feels unstable, we double-down on fear and tribalism. Beauty is an antidote to culture war fear. Hear one New York writer's story of conversion and how the Christian gospel is more solid than secularism in this episode with Susannah Black Roberts. You can follow Suzannah Black Roberts on Twitter, Plough, or read her Substack with husband, Alistair Roberts.
Resources mentioned: "Babette's Feast" CS Lewis, Surprised by Joy
Other episodes in this series: Episode 1: Stuck in the Middle Episode 2: How'd we Get Stuck in the Middle? Episode 3: A Culture War Alternative with Mark Labberton Episode 4: Agent of Grace or Culture War Victim with Dan Darling Episode 5: What if Culture Wars are your Work? with Pete Wehner
The Cartographers is a production of Willowbrae Institute. Find out more at willowbrae.org. Be sure to signup for Willowbrae's newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When your job is politics, how do you get away from the rhetoric and tribalism of the culture wars? In this episode, Bryce Hales and Ashley Hales talk with Peter Wehner, a contributing editor for The Atlantic and a former presidential speech writer, about navigating culture war topics. Pete Wehner is a Senior Fellow at Trinity Forum @trinityforum; he writes for @nytimes & @TheAtlantic. He has worked in Reagan/Bush41 administrations and Bush43 White House. He’s also the author of The Death of Politics.
Resources mentioned: Pete's work in The Atlantic James Davison Hunter, Culture Wars "Four Forces Bind Trump's Supporters More than Ever," Atlantic For more on Mark Labberton, listen to our episode with him on the beauty of exile
Other episodes in this series: Episode 1: Stuck in the Middle Episode 2: How'd we Get Stuck in the Middle? Episode 3: A Culture War Alternative with Mark Labberton Episode 4: Agent of Grace or Culture War Victim with Dan Darling
The Cartographers is a production of Willowbrae Institute. Find out more at willowbrae.org. Be sure to signup for Willowbrae's newsletter.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What happens if you've been a victim of the culture war? When Daniel Darling was fired from a prominent evangelical organization, he knew he needed not to capitulate to the culture wars, but to find a robust unity. His newest book, Agents of Grace, embodies one way to move beyond warring factionalism and embody the gospel Christians believe. Be sure to listen to the series to chart your way through the culture wars.
Resources mentioned: Dan's book, Agents of Grace Dan's CNN appearance Keller's Center Church Niebuhr on 4 postures (synopsis by Brad East at Mere Orthodoxy) Adventures in Evangelical Civility, Mouw Mark of a Christian, Schaeffer Non-Anxious Presence, Sayers Rene Girard on currency of victimhood (summary at Washington Examiner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Do you feel rushed or overwhelmed this time of year? During Advent, Ashley speaks with Jen Pollock Michel about how we might better think about living in the time that is given to us. In this episode we talk about the time anxiety that attends us during the holiday rush and some practical steps forward. We're also giving away 5 copies of In Good Time! To enter, rate and review the podcast and let me know you've done it by sending an email to findingholypodcast@gmail.com.
LINKS Jen’s book, In Good Time Pre-order Bonus: 4 week course on a rule of life Win 1 of 5 copies of In Good Time! Just rate and review the Finding Holy Podcast! When you do just send me a quick note to findingholypodcast@gmail.com and you’ll be entered to win a copy!
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What does it mean to practice time-keeping as a Christian? In this episode, Ashley sits down with Hannah Anderson to talk about Advent, our need for liturgies, and what creation can teach us. Listen in and grab a copy of Hannah's book.
LINKS Hannah and Nathan's book, Heaven and Nature Sing Follow Hannah on Twitter Hannah's website
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Are you overwhelmed? Ashley Hales talks with Ann Swindell about her devotional, The Path to Peace. As we walk through the lives of several biblical characters, we'll begin to see that the point is less to do with our circumstances and more about knowing God. Listen in to this hopeful conversation.
LINKS Ann's website, including her writing courses Ann's book, The Path to Peace
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with Glenn Packiam, Ashley talks with Glenn about resilience, discipleship and ways to move forward. Chock full of hope, data, and practical steps. Listen in.
LINKS Glenn's website Rockharbor Church Glenn's book, The Resilient Pastor Resilient pastor resources (podcast, cohorts, etc).
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation, Ashley talks with Gem Fadling about low-grade anxiety, a Christian's thought life and how we might notice and discern the voices in our heads to "take every thought captive." Listen in to a practical conversation.
LINKS Follow Gem and Unhurried Living on Instagram Unhurried Living, Inc. Replenish Community Gem's most recent book, Hold That Thought
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode, Ashley and Bryce Hales sit down with Angie Ward, editor of Kingdom and Country, a book that helps us discern allegiance to Christ our King and what our relationship to the nation might be. In this conversation, we chat about ideas surrounding Christian nationalism and what postures we might take in this moment in time.
LINKS Kingdom and Country: Following Jesus in the Land that you Love
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley and Bryce Hales talk with journalist Bonnie Kristian about our knowledge crisis and what we can do about it. While it can feel like people aren't even living in the same reality anymore, Bonnie gives some practical and hopeful starting places in our day and age. We highly recommend her book!
LINKS Bonnie's book, Untrustworthy: How the Knowledge Crisis is Breaking our Brains, Ruining our Politics and Corrupting Christian Community Follow Bonnie on Twitter
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley sits down with Shannan Martin as they talk together about how to be a good neighbor -- in our neighborhoods and in virtual spaces, too. Get some great ideas on how to grow your relationships in Shannan's newest book, Start with Hello.
LINKS Shannan on Instagram Shannan's book, Start with Hello Shannan's substack We mention a conversation with Bonnie Kristian (and her book Untrustworthy); that conversation will be out next week!
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What does it mean to live a sacramental life? Ashley is joined by Bryce Hales for this invigorating conversation with Anglican pastor, Aaron Damiani. We talk about practical starting places when we can't think our way to God, feel our way to God, or serve our ways to God. Listen in -- you'll find some hope for belief in this moment in time.
LINKS Aaron's book, Earth Filled with Heaven Patient Ferment of the Early Church O Gracious Light prayer Links to the Nicene Creed and Apostles Creed for your one small step this week
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com and signup for her substack. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales sits down with Amanda Held Opelt to talk about how we might normalize grief, pain, loss and death. With her background in aid work, she thought she would prepared, but wasn't when her sister Rachel Held Evans was hospitalized and died. But studying grief rituals was one way through. Listen in to this hopeful, thoughtful and rich conversation and let it help you process your own losses.
LINKS Amanda's book, A Hole in the World Connect with Amanda on her website Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What do we do with our questions? In this conversation, Ashley talks with Lore Ferguson Wilbert about questions faith poses and what a curious faith looks like. This conversation moves past hot takes on deconstruction and into the questions we ask of God, he asks of us, and we ask together in community. Listen in.
LINKS Sign up for Lore's substack Lore's most recent book, A Curious Faith Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Weekly episodes are back! Join us each Tuesday as we connect the dots between big ideas and everyday life in culture, theology, and the arts. Expect thoughtful, deep and lively conversation and guests' laundry routines! This week, Ashley sits down with Andrew Arndt to talk about the gifts of the desert fathers and mothers. You'll hear about Andrew's own spiritual journey and how these ancient, wise voices may help those doubting and pave the way forward for our polarized culture.
LINKS Andrew's website Andrew's book: Streams in the Wasteland Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com. Be sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join Ashley as she talks with Mark Sayers about his recent book, A Non-Anxious Presence, and all about church renewal, church hurt, and hope for institutional clarity and mission in this moment and time. Mark Sayers is pastor of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia, and podcast host of Rebuilders. Not to be missed!
LINKS Mark's latest book, A Non-Anxious Presence Learn more about Mark on his website, including his podcasts
Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales interviews Mako Fujimura on his artistic process, how faith and art meet and collide and give hope for sorrow and our cultural moment. Not to miss!
LINKS Learn more about Mako Art + Faith book Art + Faith group reading guide Academy Kintsugi Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. You can find out more about her work and speaking at aahales.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Austin Carty about how reading forms us as leaders, how we can get started reading again, and some practical steps forward, especially for pastors and leaders. Pick up a book today and become less anxious, more content, and more empathetic. Listen in.
LINKS Austin’s book: The Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for Ministry Other books mentioned: The Brothers Karamazov Anna Karenina Marilynne Robinson’s novels: Housekeeping, Gilead, Home, Jack, Lila John Hart Kashiguro, The Remains of the Day Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Eric Costanzo, an author (along with Daniel Yang and Matt Soerens) of Inalienable, about hope for the American church. We don't have to give up on Jesus' bride, but we do need to find ways to heal. Listen in to Eric's practical and thoughtful wisdom about how to live with hope for the church. Listening to and learning from marginalized voices shows us the way forward.
LINKS Eric's book, Inalienable Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. Sign up for Ashley’s substack here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Beth Silvers (one half of the Pantsuit Politics duo, along with Sarah Stewart Holland) about how we move forward with grace and hope in politics, in community, and with one another. Listen in for some practical ways to think institutionally, act kindly, and reknit our social fabric.
LINKS
Beth and Sarah's book: Now What? How to Move Forward When We're Divided About Basically Everything Listen to Pantsuit Politics Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. Sign up for Ashley’s substack here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Gordon T. Smith on calling, vocation and how all of what we do matters — not just our careers.
LINKS Gordon’s book, Your Calling Here and Now Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. Sign up for Ashley’s substack here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Hannah Nation and Ryan Zhang about their work with the book, Faith in the Wilderness: a book translating Chinese pastors' sermons on the intersection of the pandemic and persecution. Listen in to hear what Hannah (as the editor) and Ryan (as a translator) learned about resilience and growth and what the Chinese church can teach the Western church.
LINKS
Faith in the Wilderness China Partnership, https://www.chinapartnership.org/ China Partnership Prayer Guide: https://www.chinapartnership.org/pray House Church Theology, https://www.housechurchtheology.com/ House Church Theology Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hu63I1 Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Amy Julia Becker about healing and wholeness for persons, places, and communities. Listen in to this conversation about the wellness industry, the healing Jesus offers, and some practical steps foward. LINKS Amy Julia’s book, To Be Made Well White Picket Fences And for fun: Dryel dry cleaning product! Ashley’s most recent book, A Spacious Life is in paperback, ebook and audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales and Jake Meador talk about what Christians offer the world in this moment in time. A practical and thoughtful conversation on Christian community, imagination, and care for our environment and families -- don't miss it.
LINKS + RESOURCES Jake's newest book, What Are Christians For? Jake's first book, In Search of the Common Good Episode 35 where we talked about loneliness and the common good Ashley's newest book, A Spacious Life Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley and Hans Boersma talk about the whole point of life — moving toward union with God and what the blessed life looks like now. This conversation may help you tap into the transcendent life in your ordinary one.
LINKS Hans Boersma’s book, Seeing God Hans’ website: https://www.hansboersma.org/ Ashley’s more recent book, A Spacious Life Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley is joined by Mark Noll, Christian historian, as they talk about the word "evangelical," if it could and should be saved, and what to do about the intellectual project for Christians.
LINKS + WORKS MENTIONED Books by Mark: Mark's updated classic, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind History of Christianity in American and Canada America’s book (out in May) Others mentioned: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Sojourner Truth, Narrative of Sojourne, Tr Truth Harriet Tubman, The Road to Freedom Biologos Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory
Ashley's most recent book: A Spacious Life Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley and Anjuli talk about staying awake rather than numbing, hiding, or sidestepping life. We talk about conflict, faith, and how to move forward. A helpful, practical conversation especially if you feel unmoored in the last several years.
LINKS Follow Anjuli on Instagram Anjuli's second book, Awake Anjuli's first book, Stay Ashley's most recent book, A Spacious Life Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Susan Mettes about the loneliness epidemic, the research that informs this challenge, what needs to change in the church, and how to move forward.
LINKS Susan's book, The Loneliness Epidemic Follow Susan on Twitter
Get your Holy Week at Home Bundle for just $5 here. It includes a workbook to help you process your joys and losses with Jesus, as well as recipes for sourdough and tomb cookies. You'll also get Walking at a Human Pace audio prayer devotionals for Holy Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Often going back to go forward looks like naming depression or anxiety and finding a path through. In this conversation with Diana Gruver, she and Ashley talk about mental health and where we find companions in darkness in the church through time.
LINKS Diana's book, Companions in the Darkness Follow Diana on Twitter Ashley's book, A Spacious Life Get your Holy Week at Home Bundle for just $5 here. It includes a workbook to help you process your joys and losses with Jesus, as well as recipes for sourdough and tomb cookies. You'll also get Walking at a Human Pace audio prayer devotionals for Holy Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What do we do with fear, polarization, and the call to love not just our neighbors, but also our enemies? Catherine McNiel and I talk about this radical and inviting call with her book, Fearing Bravely.
LINKS Catherine's book, Fearing Bravely Follow Catherine on Twitter Catherine's other books, All Shall Be Well and Long Days of Small Things
Get your Holy Week at Home Bundle for just $5 here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What does it mean to go back to go forward? In this series, we're talking about how as we move backward -- in history, in place, in our lives -- we'll begin to grow and be transformed spiritually. Kicking us off is Kevin Adams. We talk about baptism and how being part of "the baptized" changes everything. Listen in to hear how Kevin Adams learned and grew as he surveyed a wide variety of believers and how baptism changes how we live now .
LINKS Living Under Water Kevin’s church, Granite Springs Church Everett Ferguson’s book Kevin mentioned, Baptism in the Early Church
It's the last few days to get "Walking at a Human Pace," a 40-day walking devotional to settle your heart as we move towards Easter. It's available in my shop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation, Ashley talks with Elizabeth Santelmann about limits in our lives: from our past, in our parenting, and online. It's a great conversation on character, wisdom, and not doing it all.
LINKS Follow Elizabeth on Instagram @sunshineinmynest Elizabeth's website: https://sunshineinmynest.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How does fiction help us live as people of faith? When we read a novel, how might we grow? In this episode, Jessica Hooten Wilson and I talk about holiness in fiction and how reading forms us.
LINKS Jessica's book, The Scandal of Holiness: Follow Jessica on Twitter
Special Offer: Join us this Lent for 40 walking devotionals. "Walking at a Human Pace" is $10 in my shop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What is your human pace? This episode I'm letting you preview the first day of a 40-day journey this Lent called, Walking at a Human Pace." Lace up your shoes, put in your earbuds, listen to the episode and be welcomed into an experience of movement, scripture and prayer.
LINKS Get Walking at a Human Pace now at this link: www.aahales.com/shop/walking
Follow Ashley on Instagram or use the hashtag #walkingatahumanpace to join in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this fascinating conversation with Chris Green, we talk about Jesus as the basis for beauty. Listen in for big ideas made accessible and inspirational to help you live out your ordinary life well. LINKS Chris' book, All Things Beautiful: https://amzn.to/36miwym Chris' website: https://www.cewgreen.com/
**Be sure to get a reminder when my Lenten offering, "Walking at a Human Pace," drops on March 1. Sign up here. It's a 40-day contemplative walking journey as we move towards Easter. Move your body and spend some reflective time in prayer. As always, my most recent book, A Spacious Life, is available wherever books are sold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re creative beings because we’re made in the image of a creative God. Listen in to this conversation with Ned Bustard, a visual artist, as we talk about imagination, the church, and the limits of art and life to draw us towards God.
LINKS In this wide-ranging conversation, we mention so many works, books, and more. Use the links below to get started in this wider conversation. Get Ned’s art from Every Moment Holy: https://store.rabbitroom.com/products/liturgy-prints-every-moment-holy?variant=599658266638 Follow Ned and his art: https://www.worldsendimages.com; https://www.instagram.com/p/CXEjPwLvLMd/ Malcolm Guite’s Lifting the Veil (Ned designed): https://www.squarehalobooks.com/#/lifting-the-veil/ Books mentioned: https://www.everymomentholy.com; https://www.squarehalobooks.com/#/how-to-see/; https://www.squarehalobooks.com/#/revealed/; https://www.squarehalobooks.com/#/objects-of-grace/; https://www.ivpress.com/the-o-in-hope; https://www.ivpress.com/saint-nicholas-the-giftgiver; https://www.everymomentholy.com; https://www.crossway.org/books/bible-history-abcs-case/; https://www.squarehalobooks.com/#/naming-the-animals/ CIVA: https://www.squarehalobooks.com/#/civa/
Grab a copy of A Spacious Life on audio, ebook or paperback. You can also get a reminder when the Lenten project I’m offering, “Walk at a Human Pace,” releases. More details at aahales.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Professor Daniel Bowman about his autism spectrum diagnosis as an adult and the gifts and limits of knowledge and art. A great conversation you won’t want to miss.
LINKS
Dan’s book, On the Spectrum: https://amzn.to/35psP4f Follow Dan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielbowmanjr
You can grab a copy of Ashley’s A Spacious New Year workbook to help you create sustainable rhythms this year. It’s just $6 in her shop. Be on the lookout for a Lent offering; so be sure to follow her on Instagram at @aahales and grab a copy of A Spacious Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Daniel Silliman on the gifts and limits of fiction — particularly evangelical popular fiction over the last several decades — and what it means for faith and culture.
LINKS Daniel’s book, Reading Evangelicals: https://amzn.to/3416fhJ Follow Daniel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielsilliman Ashley’s book, A Spacious Life
Be sure to grab a copy of “A Spacious New Year” — it’s just $6 and will help you create healthy rhythms. You can grab a copy along with A Spacious Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Tanner Olson about his newest book of poetry and how poetry can be a vehicle to connect with others.
LINKS Follow Tanner on Instagram @writtentospeak: https://www.instagram.com/writtentospeak/ Tanner’s book, Walk a Little Slower: https://amzn.to/3rrLdko Other books of poetry recommended: Denise Levertov, Mary Oliver, Malcolm Guite
Grab your “A Spacious New Year” workbook for $6 to help you create sustainable rhythms in 2022 (not the crazy goal-setting, wrestle-your-life list). You can grab it in Ashley’s shop and also pick up a copy of her book, A Spacious Life.
Subscribe and share Finding Holy today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join Ashley as she talks with Professor Kelly Kapic as they dive into the topic of limits — and as she kicks off this series on art and limits. How do limits grow our creativity? How do they make us more human? Listen in. As you settle into a new year, this conversation is sure to help you connect the dots between goals and how to also be well, human.
LINKS
Kelly Kapic’s book, You’re Only Human (out on Jan 18): https://amzn.to/3HPXJRj Kelly Kapic’s Amazon page Pick up a copy of Ashley’s book, A Spacious Life. Or connect at her website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Need some thoughtful conversation on healthy bodies when all forms of media will want you to be discontent with who you are? Listen in to this conversation with Ashley and Jennifer Wagner, author of Your Good Body.
LINKS
Jennifer’s book (out in January!): Your Good Body, https://amzn.to/3yOdXad Follow Jennifer on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifertaylorwagner/ Be sure to pick up a copy of Ashley’s latest book, A Spacious Life (https://amzn.to/3pjXxTO). It’s available wherever books are sold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As we consider health in these few episodes this month, we talk spiritual health and rhythms with author and pastor, Tim Challies. The rhythms we can do this season are smaller than we think and more important than we believe.
LINKS Tim’s blog: https://www.challies.com/category/articles/ Tim’s book, Knowing and Enjoying God: https://amzn.to/3oT3XJK A Spacious Life is out now! Pick up a copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. If you’re looking for A Spacious Season, get this exclusive 6-episode audio devotional and workbook on the women in Matthew’s genealogy: A Spacious Season: A Weary Mom Rejoices is just $15 in my shop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks to Jon Medlock about his research into what makes a pastor and church healthy. Listen in for antidotes to narcissism, burnout, and 3 things to help you to grow in spiritual and church health.
LINKS
Download the research findings: https://pcarbi.org/resources/wellbeing-report-2021/ A Spacious Life is out now! Take your Hustle Habit quiz at aspacious.life, get your roadmap to help you live within your limits, and pick up a copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. If you’re looking for A Spacious Season, get this exclusive 6-episode audio devotional and workbook on the women in Matthew’s genealogy: A Spacious Season: A Weary Mom Rejoices is just $15 in my shop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As we consider topics of health in these four episodes, Ashley talks with Liuan Huska and Jon Terry about creation care and the Au Sable Institute.
LINKS
Au Sable Institute Get your workbook here: www.ausable.org/liturgies Liuan’s book, Hurting Yet Whole: https://amzn.to/3FOx9Hk Book mentioned, Saving Us: https://amzn.to/3I5Vn1N A Spacious Season: A Weary Mom Rejoices is available in the Shop on Ashley’s website: www.aahales.com/shop/aspaciousseason A Spacious Life is out now! Take your Hustle Habit quiz at aspacious.life, get your roadmap to help you live within your limits, and pick up a copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We need to see our story — and our parenting journey — in light of God’s big story of redemption. The challenge can be when there’s so much that calls for our attention, or you find yourself unable to make space for scripture reading and contemplation — you need gentle starting places. A Spacious Season is your invitation. It’s on-the-ground resource for busy moms (and dads!) like you. We don’t need to do more this holiday season, we likely need to do less. A Spacious Season helps you think clearly about what matters most to you this season and gives you biblical content to help you see your mothering story in light of the mothers in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew. Included in A Spacious Season are 6 audio devotionals and a workbook to help you stop and slow down. Plus a Spotify playlist! For Finding Holy listeners, you'll get a discount good through this Friday 11/19. Use code FINDINGHOLY at checkout for $3 off!
Get A SPACIOUS SEASON today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation Ashley talks to counselor Sharon Morginsky about what it looks like to embrace our limits. We talk about re-parenting ourselves, individual and communal limits, and how to move forward with grace.
LINKS
Sharon’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharonmorginskycounseling/ Find out more about her counseling practice and global counseling network Curt Thompson’s books (some mentioned): Anatomy of the Soul, The Soul of Shame and The Soul of Desire
A Spacious Life is out now! Take your Hustle Habit quiz at aspacious.life, get your roadmap to help you live within your limits, and pick up a copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How do we choose good limits? Ashley talks with Shannan Martin about how her limits of place have provided challenge and freedom.
LINKS Follow Shannan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannanwrites/ Sign up for Shannan’s email list: The Soup Her books: Falling Free, The Ministry of Ordinary Places A Spacious Life is out now! Take your Hustle Habit quiz at aspacious.life, get your roadmap to help you live within your limits, and pick up a copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with Karla Reed, we talk about why I dedicated A Spacious Life to her and her husband and what it looks like to create a spacious place for others. We talk about grief and anxiety and what reframing looks like. Don’t miss it.
LINKS Follow Karla on Instagram Buy A Spacious Life at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EbmMfV, or your favorite retailer
A Spacious Life is out now! Take your Hustle Habit quiz at aspacious.life, get your roadmap to help you live within your limits, and pick up a copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join Ashley as she talks with Aubrey Sampson about naming and being known, moving past shame, and how a spacious life fits in.
LINKS Aubrey's book, Known Follow Aubrey on Instagram Connect with Aubrey at her website Ashley's book, A Spacious Life
A Spacious Life will help you recover joy, purpose and rest in a world of hurry and hustle. Be sure to take your Hustle Habit quiz, get your roadmap and pick up a copy of A Spacious Life today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Kayla Craig on liturgy, prayer, and what to do when we don't have the words.
LINKS Kayla's book, To Light Their Way: https://amzn.to/3mGyWGq Follow Kayla on Instagram on her personal page and Liturgies for Parents Ashley's book: A Spacious Life: https://amzn.to/2YQtrwR
Take your Hustle Habit quiz here and grab your roadmap to help you find your way out. A Spacious Life is available wherever books are sold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks to Amy Cate Gannett about why theology matters and how what we know can lead to how we love.
LINKS
Amy’s book, Fix Your Eyes: https://amzn.to/3alb7OR
Grab your copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. It’s out everywhere!
Don’t forget to take your Hustle Habit quiz, get your Pocket Practices, and find out more at aspacious.life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Listen in to this conversation with Sharon Hodde Miller as she and Ashley talk about leadership and limits.
LINKS Sharon on Instagram and Twitter Sharon's latest books, Nice and Free of Me Ashley's book: A Spacious Life Get Pocket Practices and take your Hustle Habit quiz!
Get a copy of A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation Ashley talks with Tish Harrison Warren about how to pray when we can't, the limits and invitations of liturgy, our own limits of time and ability, and what a spacious life might look like.
LINKS Tish's book, Prayer in the Night: https://amzn.to/3CmMo8s Follow Tish on Twitter Tish's NYT newsletter: https://www.nytimes.com/column/tish-harrison-warren Ashley's book, A Spacious Life: https://amzn.to/2XDlCdi Follow Ashley on Twitter and Instagram
Take your hustle habit quiz here and get your roadmap to help you find a way out. Don't forget to pick up a copy of A Spacious Life! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We're flipping the mic and Ashley is the one answering questions! Join Laura Fabrycky as she asks insightful questions and she and Ashley discuss how we can find a spacious life in the midst of our everyday lives. Don't miss this episode!
A Spacious Life is out today! Help out by ordering a copy or reviewing on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million or wherever you buy books. Thank you!
Follow Ashley on Twitter and Instagram and take your hustle habit quiz today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jen Pollock Michel talks with Ashley about what a spacious life looks like and what is the good news when "balance" doesn't work out. Listen in to how Jen's limits have been invitations she didn't know she needed.
LINKS Jen's most recent book, A Habit Called Faith: https://amzn.to/3nj2VWG Find out more about Jen and her work at her website: https://www.jenpollockmichel.com/ Follow Jen on Twitter and Instagram
IT'S THE LAST WEEK TO PREORDER A Spacious Life! Get your free pocket practices when you preorder before 9/14. Details at aspacious.life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with Sandra McCracken, we talk about the creative process, the valleys in our lives, our limits, and how we can abide with God in the dark valleys in our souls. Listen in: you'll find your soul uplifted through her wisdom.
LINKS Sandra's book, Send Out Your Light Follow Sandra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandramccracken/ Listen to Sandra on Spotify Pre-order Ashley's book, A Spacious Life
*Take your Hustle Habit quiz here and get your free roadmap to help you find healthier rhythms. Get pocket practices when you preorder A Spacious Life. Details here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with Jennifer Dukes Lee, we talk about fear, the goodness of growing slow, what the land has to teach us, and small habits we can practice now.
LINKS Get Jennifer’s book: Growing Slow Follow Jennifer on Instagram Get Habits of the Unhurried here for free. Preorder A Spacious Life
*Take your Hustle Habit quiz here and get your free roadmap to help you find healthier rhythms. Get pocket practices when you preorder A Spacious Life. Details here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley talks with Marlena Graves about boundaries, hurt and trauma, calling, and what it might look like to embrace our limits. If you’re looking for some guidelines about when and what to speak out on, this is a great conversation — and one that helps you see the beauty of self-restraint.
LINKS Get Marlena’s most recent book, The Way Up is Down: https://amzn.to/3yUPTSo Pre-order Ashley’s book, A Spacious Life: https://amzn.to/37ZS4IJ Follow Marlena on Twitter and Instagram *Take your Hustle Habit quiz here and get your free roadmap to help you find healthier rhythms. Get pocket practices when you preorder A Spacious Life. Details here.
A SPACIOUS COMMUNITY opens August 9th and closes August 17th! Get coaching, teaching, advanced access to A Spacious Life, and practical spiritual formation practices when you join. Will you say yes to a spacious life? Details at: aspacious.life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Listen in to this conversation with Alan Noble as we talk about the problem with unlimited autonomy today, how we might engage thoughtfully with social media, how not to curate a life, and the psychic load on people today. We discuss how limits and belonging to God begin to help us navigate a path forward.
LINKS Preorder A Spacious Life: https://amzn.to/3lGNLtD Preorder You Are Not Your Own: https://amzn.to/3Anwude Follow Alan on Twitter and Instagram
A SPACIOUS COMMUNITY opens to new members on August 9th and closes this week! Get coaching, teaching, advanced access to A Spacious Life, and practical spiritual formation practices when you join. Will you say yes to a spacious life? Details at: aspacious.life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode, kicking off Season 5, Ashley sits down with her literary agent and editor to talk about A Spacious Life. How does an idea go from concept to book? What drew Don Gates and Elissa Schauer to the project? Listen in -- and don't forget to find out their hustle habit and laundry routines!
Links Pre-order A Spacious Life at Amazon, IVP, or wherever books are sold. Join the Spacious Community (opens 8/9 and kicks off 8/16 when you fill out this form: http://aspacious.life/ Don Gates, The Gates Group Elissa Schauer at InterVarsity Press
What's your Hustle Habit? Take the quiz and get a 1-page roadmap to help you take practical steps toward a more spacious life now: http://aspacious.life/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
There's more than hurry and hustle. Welcome to a spacious life -- where we're learning to see our limits as good. Here's your invitation to know that there's a spacious life waiting for you in the midst of your actual one. This season I'll be sitting down with artists, activists, professors and writers to talk about how our limits are good, what my guests' hustle habits are, and of course, their laundry routines. Pre-order A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits. Just one pre-ordered copy gets you access to the Spacious Community. We open our doors August 9. Details at aspacious.life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kendra Adachi and Ashley Hales talk about laundry as an act of love, vulnerability and messiness, and how we connect the dots between the meaning behind chores and the task itself. Listen in to get some genius tips on finding out what matters most to you.
Links Kendra's book: The Lazy Genius Way Follow Kendra on Instagram Kendra's podcast: The Lazy Genius Check out last week's episode, The Laundry Episode.
Next Steps As a small next step, find what matters to you -- in laundry and in life. Let the rest go. Take the Hustle Habit Quiz: aspacious.life. Pre-order Ashley's book: A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits.
Season 5 kicks off in August! Subscribe to not miss out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What does our laundry have to do with the big ideas of life? At the Finding Holy podcast, I ask all my guests about their laundry routines. In this episode, hear why I ask that question, some memorable routines, and some tips for you as you connect the dots between the things that matter and your everyday, holy life.
LINKS The Quotidian Mysteries by Kathleen Norris: https://amzn.to/3AStaYD Follow Ashley on Twitter or Instagram
Curious about the original episodes? Check these out: Jen Pollock Michel, episode 70 on habits of faith Katelyn Beaty, episode 69, on influencer culture and women John Starke, episode 68, on prayer in a pandemic Sam Wheatley, episode 8, on parking in NYC Leslie Leyland Fields, episode 47, on how your story matters Dennae Pierre, episode 25, on ministry in an ordinary place Mike Cosper, episode 21 , on imagination, mental health and writing
Season 5 -- all about finding a Spacious Life through your limits -- starts in August! Subscribe to stay tuned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mike Cosper joins us on the Finding Holy Podcast to talk about: church hurt, his recent CT podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, and power and hope for the church. Listen in.
Listen to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rise-and-fall-of-mars-hill/id1569401963 Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeCosper
Your One Small Step Consider: Are your communities repentant communities? Are they safe places to process pain?
Make nuance and listening great again! Subscribe and share for better conversations about faith, culture, and hope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this best of series, Alan Noble joins Ashley Hales to talk about our digital lives. You can preorder his next book, You Are Not Your Own, here. His first book is Disruptive Witness and you can follow him on Twitter. Subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and leave a review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is such an important conversation about the nature of courage, how we might maintain civic identities, and love our neighbors -- and learn more about the witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. You can pick up a copy of Keys to Bonhoeffer's Haus here. Follow Laura on Instagram and Twitter.
Don't forget to subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and leave a review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Enjoy this "best of" episode with Karla Reed as we talk generosity, creativity, and spending. Though this came out at the beginning of the pandemic, it's a helpful way to think about how we spend and what we do affects what we love. Listen in! Follow Karla on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How do we reckon with our own doubt? Can we do so in the context of the church? Listen in to this wide-ranging conversation with A.J. Swoboda to find a pathway and roadmap through — to see doubt not as an absence of faith but a sister to it.
LINKS A.J’s newest book, After Doubt A.J.’s website Follow A.J. on Twitter Another great book of his, Subversive Sabbath
ONE SMALL STEP Spend 10 minutes is silence and solitude before God. Write down your doubts. See what happens. Bring some of those doubts to your real, embodied community. Find safe, wise, and trusted people to share them with and ask them to walk with you in and through them. Consider reading After Doubt together.
GIVEAWAY! As we go through this short series on the pandemic and relationships, leave a review of the Finding Holy Podcast on iTunes! Make sure to tag me on social media so I can enter you to win a copy of one of the great books we’re hearing about! Here’s how to leave a review: How to leave an rating or review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS device or computer) 1 Open the Podcasts app or go to podcasts.apple.com. 2 Choose “Search” and search for “Finding Holy Podcast.” 3 Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes) 4 Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews 5 Click “Write a Review” underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. Your listenership helps good conversations happen! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going.
*links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The global Covid-19 pandemic has taught us that resilience is an important muscle we need to flex (and to learn how to do so better). Listen in to this conversation with Rhonda Spencer-Hwang about what you can do for yourself and your family to practice new habits.
LINKS Pre-order Rhonda’s book: Raising Resilient Kids Rhonda’s website: https://drrhondaspencer.com/
ONE SMALL STEP Pre-order Rhonda’s book here. Take a 20-minute walk each day this week. Get your body moving and get out in nature. This is a great way to practice holistic health and build resilience for you and your children.
WIN A BOOK! As we go through this short series on the pandemic and relationships, leave a review of the Finding Holy Podcast on iTunes! Make sure to tag me on social media so I can enter you to win a copy of Rhonda's book or one of the great books we talk about in the coming weeks! Here’s how to leave a review: How to leave an rating or review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS device or computer) 1 Open the Podcasts app or go to podcasts.apple.com. 2 Choose “Search” and search for “Finding Holy Podcast.” 3 Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes) 4 Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews 5 Click “Write a Review” underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. Your listenership helps good conversations happen! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going.
*links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is a great conversation on how the pandemic has changed marriages and what it might look like to begin to imagine more for our marriages. Listen in to author, speaker, and photographer Dorothy Greco as she shares practical and soulful ways to connect.
LINKS Marriage in the Middle: https://amzn.to/33Bn3bQ Dorothy’s first book: Making Marriage Beautiful Dorothy’s website: https://www.dorothygreco.com/ My review of Dorothy’s book, Marriage in the Middle, for Christianity Today
ONE SMALL STEP If you’re married, one great question might be to ask your spouse where he or she sees that you’ve lost imagination. Dorothy also recommends a practice of Examen, or even just confession, as the glue that holds her marriage together. Spend some time in prayer asking for your own heart and behavior to be illuminated. Then confess your sin to each other knowing we have a good God who loves you and wants the best for your marriage. Tag me at @aahales on Twitter or Instagram to let me know what works for you.
GIVEAWAY! As we go through this short series on the pandemic and relationships, leave a review of the Finding Holy Podcast on iTunes! Make sure to tag me on social media so I can enter you to win a copy of Todd’s book or one of the great books we hear about in the coming weeks! Here’s how to leave a review: How to leave an rating or review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS device or computer) 1 Open the Podcasts app or go to podcasts.apple.com. 2 Choose “Search” and search for “Finding Holy Podcast.” 3 Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes) 4 Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews 5 Click “Write a Review” underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. Your listenership helps good conversations happen! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going.
*links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is a great conversation on how social media and the pandemic has changed relationships in the church. Listen in to Todd Wilson help listeners learn about the Enneagram, the wisdom of dark emotions, and being self-aware for the sake of others.
LINKS Todd’s book: https://amzn.to/3xLWbnd Todd’s website: https://www.toddawilson.com/ Follow Todd on Twitter Check out The Road Back to You as an Enneagram primer IVP's Enneagram devotionals are a great gift for you or a friend
ONE SMALL STEP Todd reminds us that the best way we have to love others sacrificially is often by leaning into the part of ourselves that we tend to repress: thinking, feeling or doing. Consider which is hardest for you to access or which question seems the fuzziest: What do I think about this? What do I feel in this situation? or What it mine to do? Then, as you reenter community and relationships post-pandemic, begin to ask yourself that question. If your doing center is repressed instead of thinking too much or feeling, what can you do? If the thinking center is repressed, consider how you might begin to think through a particular challenge. If your feeling center is repressed, ask what you feel in a given situation and how might you consider others’ feelings? Tag me at @aahales on Twitter or Instagram to let me know what works for you.
GIVEAWAY! As we go through this short series on the pandemic and relationships, leave a review of the Finding Holy Podcast on iTunes! Make sure to tag me on social media so I can enter you to win a copy of Todd’s book or one of the great books we hear about in the coming weeks! Your listenership helps good conversations happen! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going.
*links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is a great conversation on how faith might grow, not because we have it mentally sorted or we’re traveling from emotional high to emotional high, but because we practice particular habits. Jen Pollock Michel joins me to talk about habit, corporate practices of faith, and how we might explore the bible with others (for those who believe and those who don’t — including ourselves at times).
LINKS Jen’s latest book, A Habit Called Faith Jen’s website to check out her other work: https://www.jenpollockmichel.com/ Follow Jen on Twitter or Instagram Book mentioned, One to One Bible Reading You can listen to Jen’s episodes on Finding Holy about finding home in a big city (Episode 3), and an Advent series we did together beginning on Episode 28.
ONE SMALL STEP Think of one of the small habits you already have — like doing a load of laundry or going on a daily walk — and consider what sort of habit of faith you might add to it. Maybe you talk to a friend on your walk about spiritual matters, or listen to scripture being read as you fold laundry. Find ways to attach a faith habit to the habits you already have. Tag me at @aahales on Twitter or Instagram to let me know what works for you.
SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW! Your listenership helps good conversations happen! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going.
*links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is a great conversation on how the pandemic has changed life for women, why institutions matter, the nature of power, and the culture of social influence in Christian spaces.
LINKS Katelyn’s first book, A Woman’s Place Katelyn’s podcast, Saved by the City Katelyn’s website: http://www.katelynbeaty.com/ Follow Katelyn on Twitter
ONE SMALL STEP Consider taking a social media fast — try a week, or turn off your phone off on Sunday. We are formed by what we ingest and social media without some limits can malform us easily. When you take a social media fast, we can come to terms with missing something and realize this is not the end. It might bring up some hard emotions, but will help us remember that we don’t have to be formed by the hashtags.
SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going.
*links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation, Ashley sits down with pastor and author John Starke to talk about praying in a pandemic. John Starke is lead pastor at Apostles Church Uptown in New York City. He is the coeditor (with Bruce Ware) of One God in Three Persons. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children.
LINKS John Starke's book, The Possibility of Prayer John's substack newsletter: https://johnstarke.substack.com/ Follow John on Twitter
ONE SMALL STEP Make a list of what is making you mad, sad and glad today. Maybe you're mad at God, or sad about a life circumstance or glad about a relational breakthrough. Practice this small way to pray to bring your whole self to God. Consider praying as a family or in community so that you're also bringing your real self to others. Don't forget to pick up a copy of John's book, The Possibility of Prayer.
SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going.
*links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation, Ashley sits down with Hannah Anderson to talk about a liturgy within nature and how this effects our faith. We talk spiritual formation, a new way of seeing, and what nature has to teach us.
MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST Hannah Anderson is the author of several books, the most recent of which is Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season and Spirit. She is an author, speaker, and works alongside her husband in rural ministry with their three children in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.
LINKS Hannah Anderson’s latest book, Turning of Days Hannah’s website: https://www.sometimesalight.com Follow Hannah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sometimesalight
SHARE “I’m asking readers to develop a new way of engaging the world.” @sometimesalight @aahales #findingholypodcast “I'm drawing connections between nature and trying to translate that. I wanted to help readers understand that for themselves.” @sometimesalight @aahales #findingholypodcast “There are deep truths that weave through the warp and woof of creation. The God who wrote the scripture is the God who created the world.” @sometimesalight @aahales #findingholypodcast “Nature is a common tongue. We have so little that is shared or agreed upon now.” @sometimesalight @aahales #findingholypodcast “The conversation around creation shouldn’t just engage around natural revelation or creation care.” @sometimesalight @aahales #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Get outside! Go out in nature 5 days a week. Bring someone with you. Take a walk. Pay attention to lessons nature has to teach you! Consider praying and asking: What does nature have to teach me about myself, God, others, and my place? Tag me at @aahales on Instagram or Twitter to discuss what you’re learning.
SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW! If you’ve found this episode helpful and encouraging, please share it with a friend! Leaving a review on iTunes helps keep the conversations going. *links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation, Ashley sits down with Julia Lambert Fogg to talk about how we understand scripture, how our neighbors influence our faith, cross-cultural realities, and what Christian faith has to say about immigration.
MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST Julia Lambert Fogg is a professor at Cal Lutheran University as well as an author and speaker. Fogg argues that Christians must step out of their comfort zones and learn to cross social, ethnic, and religious borders—just as Jesus did—to become the body of Christ in the world in her book Finding Jesus at the Border. LINKS Julia’s website Julia’s book, Finding Jesus at the Border: https://amzn.to/3fvKV7D Freedom for Immigrants group
SHARE “That church community changed how I read scripture.” Julia Lambert Fogg #findingholypodcast “How are we expanding our limits and borders to connect with our neighbors in need?” Julia Lambert Fogg #findingholypodcast “We’re not called to be unsafe. But we are called to be uncomfortable. If we’re not uncomfortable, we’re not growing.” Julia Lambert Fogg #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Wave at someone who is different than you. Practice learning about someone else’s experience through books. These are small steps to begin to cross borders of belonging.
SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW! *links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation, Ashley sits down with Wendy Alsup to talk about what it might look to suffer well and what hope we have. This is a beautiful, real, and hopeful conversation that can help you lament and hope in light of the covid-19 pandemic and recent mass shootings.
MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST Wendy Alsup is an author who encourages women to engage theology for themselves. She is the author of several books including Practical Theology for Women, The Gospel-Centered Woman, and By His Wounds You Are Healed. She also teaches math at a local community college and is editor at theologyforwomen.org. She lives in Saint Matthews, South Carolina, with her two sons.
LINKS Wendy’s website: https://www.wendyalsup.com/ Theology for Women: https://theologyforwomen.org/ Wendy’s book, Companions in Suffering: https://amzn.to/3cbror7 Wendy mentions the book Beyond Ourselves
SHARE “I have come to think of suffering as our collective and individual groaning with the weight of the consequences of the fall of man.” @wendyalsup @aahales #findingholypodcast “Suffering well is not making your peace with death or divorce or cancer. It’s not putting on a happy face.” @wendyalsup @aahales #findingholypodcast “You have not fully understood Jesus until you see him as suffering servant.” @wendyalsup @aahales #findingholypodcast “It’s less painful to hate someone than hurting because I love my neighbor.” @wendyalsup @aahales #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Wendy talks about friends who were able to read scripture to her and pray with her during deep grief and suffering. They would talk her through her pain without being threatened by it. They would remind her words of scripture. As we’ve experienced so much suffering this last year, think about how you can grieve well and fully and who you might want to bring along. We may need to sit in Lamentations or have a sobbing prayer meeting. Repeat the strories of pain and retell the stories of grace. Story by story, pray: Lord this is not what you created. Redeem this, we pray.
JUST FOR YOU! As we pass the one-year mark of the pandemic shutdown, so many emotions come up. Get your free Pandemic Anniversary Journal to help you process this time with God. I’m also sending out my Holy Week at Home journal this weekend. Get that when you sign up. *links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation, Ashley sits down with Sheila Wise Rowe to talk about forms of racism, racial trauma, and the hope of Christ. It’s a practical, rich, and kind conversation you don’t want to miss.
MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST Sheila Wise Rowe is a graduate of Tufts University and Cambridge College with a master's degree in counseling psychology. For over twenty-five years she has counseled abuse and trauma survivors in the United States. Sheila ministered to homeless and abused women and children in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she also taught counseling and trauma-related courses for a decade. She lives in the Boston area, where she is a writer, counselor, speaker, and spiritual director.
LINKS Sheila’s website: https://sheilawiserowe.com/ Sheila’s Operation Exodus article in the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/01/03/opinion/essay-50-years-after-operation-exodus-racial-trauma-remains/ Healing Racial Trauma: https://amzn.to/2OZAVII
SHARE “I came out of that questioning my identity.” @sheilawiserowe and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “There’s a mistaken notion that racism is just an interpersonal issue.” @sheilawiserowe and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “So often we have rushed to racial reconciliation without reckoning with the trauma.” @sheilawiserowe and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “Unhealed trauma can show up as rage or as exhaustion, fear, silence.” @sheilawiserowe and @aahales on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Sheila reminds us that we have to look at trauma with others and the Lord. Practice this week lamenting before the Lord. Use Psalm 142 to help frame your prayer. Listen. Sheila asks: How can I minister the love and care of Jesus to who needs it — whether or not they’re believers? Pray in the minute — when you’re hearing someone else’s pain, or in a heated argument — to ask your thoughts captive in the moment to help you listen.
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In this conversation, Ashley sits down with Scott Sauls to talk about ways to bridge divides in outrage culture. We talk about spiritual formation, living eulogies, and of course his laundry routine. Scott Sauls is Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN and author of several books, including A Gentle Answer. LINKS Scott’s website Christ Presbyterian Church: A Gentle Answer SHARE “We ought to be much less offensive and offendable than the average person.” @scottsauls on #findingholypodcast with @aahales “If you want to persuade people, scolding is not the way to do it.” @scottsauls on #findingholypodcast with @aahales “You can’t get to virtue without Jesus.” @scottsauls on #findingholypodcast with @aahales “Beautiful people don’t just happen. It has to be reinforced in a liturgy.” @scottsauls on #findingholypodcast with @aahales ONE SMALL STEP One way to practice growing in gentleness is to choose to go first. Scott Sauls reminds us there’s a power in going first — in sharing vulnerably, in asking for forgiveness, in helping to release tension, rather than stir it up. What would it look like to go first? Scott Sauls talks about giving “living eulogies” amongst his church staff. Start a family dinner or a work meeting with the things you love about another person — it should help decrease tension and help bring gentleness back into the conversation. SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! If you’re looking for thoughtful conversations with a practical starting point, please subscribe and share this episode. More at www.aahales.com. *links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with Michael Wear, we talk about how we can actually have hope as Christians as we engage politically. He provides us with some frameworks about voting, and helps us think Christianly about how we might engage profitably in the public sphere. Don’t miss it! Share far and wide! Make sure you listen to last week’s episode with Kaitlyn Schiess, too. Join us for Season 4 as we consider hot-button issues alive and well in our world today: Living Faithfully in an Upside-Down World.
LINKS Michael’s website: https://www.michaelwear.com/ Michael’s most recent book, Compassion (&) Conviction, https://amzn.to/354MoLo Michael’s first book about his time in the Obama White House: Reclaiming Hope, https://amzn.to/31aAxud The AND Campaign: https://www.andcampaign.org/ Follow him on Twitter: @michaelrwear BONUS! Have a listen to Bryce Hales’ and Brad Edwards’ podcast, Everything Just Changed, especially their interviews with David French on politics and faith (and the substack associated with the podcast).
SHARE The question that’s shaped Michael Wear in politics and faith: “What is it to be faithful in public things?” #findingholypodcast @michaelrwear @aahales “Politics is causing spiritual harm in American lives.” @michaelrwear @aahales #findngholypodcast What does it mean to expect the fruit of the Spirit to show up in our public life? @michaelrwear #findingholypodcast @aahales “Politics is an essential form for loving our neighbor, not the form.” @michaelrwear #findingholypodcast @aahales “As Christians, we bring to politics a level of ambivalence, a level of humility.” @michaelrwear #findingholypodcast @aahales
ONE SMALL STEP It’s easy to argue online about politics. Instead, let’s think about how loving our neighbor matters to how we vote and act in the public sphere. Your small step this week is to talk with someone you disagree with politically. Practice asking questions. Let me know how it goes!
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! This whole season we’ll be talking with pastors, theologians, activists, professors and how we live right now with this confluence of a pandemic, racism, uncertainty and a partisan culture. *links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with Kaitlyn Schiess, author of The Liturgy of Politics, as we talk about how we’re formed by politics and how we’re formed by Christian faith. How do these two relate? Listen in to some great questions as you consider this fraught political climate as people of faith. And get some pointers to how to talk politics around the Thanksgiving table. Share far and wide! Join us for Season 4 as we consider hot-button issues alive and well in our world today: Living Faithfully in an Upside-Down World.
LINKS Kaitlyn’s website: https://kaitlynschiess.com/ Kaitlyn’s book, The Liturgy of Politics: https://amzn.to/33GzxPZ Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlynschiess
SHARE “I joke that I started writing a book about politics, but I wrote a book about the church.” @kaitlynschiess Do we have a sense of being connected to the body of Christ across the globe then to my political party? @kaitlynschiess “We have considered ourselves as Christians to be a lobbyist group. But we don’t have the option of acting as a special interest group.” @kaitlynschiess “Treat your vote like the thing that it is. Don’t weigh it down with the things that it isn’t.” @kaitlynschiess
ONE SMALL STEP Take one of Kaitlyn’s questions and use it in a real-life, face-to-face conversation this week — or even use it to think through your own approach to politics.
What would it look like for your community to flourish?
What do you want?
What do you think your vote means?
Who do you most feel the need to protect or be protected from?
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! This whole season we’ll be talking with pastors, theologians, activists, professors and how we live right now with this confluence of a pandemic, racism, uncertainty and a partisan culture. *links to Amazon are affiliate links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with Irwyn Ince, we talk about race, a theology of beauty, unity and diversity, how to communicate on sticky topics online, and what hope we have for this moment in time. Not to be missed! Join us for Season 4 as we consider hot-button issues alive and well in our world today: Living Faithfully in an Upside-Down World.
LINKS Irwyn’s website: https://www.irwynince.com/about Irwyn’s book, The Beautiful Community: https://amzn.to/3hTQ9aS Book mentioned: On Beauty and Being Just: https://amzn.to/3clmxC1
SHARE “All beauty has God as its source. All beauty is derived beauty.” @irwyn @aahales #findingholypodcast "God is in himself unity in diversity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit." @irwyn @aahales #findingholypodcast “We ought to pursue unity in diversity across lines of difference. We ought to talk about reunification of the human race in Jesus Christ. As a part of that we need to honest about the things that have caused our divides.” @irwyn @aahales #findingholypodcast “There’s no ‘out clause’ on loving my neighbor. And I don’t get to say, ‘You’re not a neighbor.’” @irwyn @aahales #findingholypodcast “There is no risk-free way to engage in these issues. That’s why we should be grateful for the means of grace.” @irwyn @aahales #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Spend less time on social media this week. In a polarized world with fear and hate spewed on the Internet, a breath prayer helps orient you. Practice a breath prayer as you open social media this week. Lord Jesus Christ (breathe in), Have mercy on me, a sinner (breathe out). Then pray for the Spirit to guide you into love — rather than fear — as you interact online.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! This whole season we’ll be talking with pastors, theologians, activists, professors and how we live right now with this confluence of a pandemic, racism, uncertainty and a partisan culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation with D.L. Mayfield, we talk about systems in America, how place, education, and opportunities are unequal and strategies for resilience. Join us for Season 4 as we consider hot-button issues alive and well in our world today: Living Faithfully in an Upside-Down World.
LINKS D.L. Mayfield’s website: http://www.dlmayfield.com/ Danielle’s book, The Myth of the American Dream https://amzn.to/337kzkN Danielle’s first book, Assimilate or Go Home: https://amzn.to/3k1l9HI Follow Danielle on Twitter: @d_l_mayfield
SHARE “I saw my city through refugee eyes.” @d_l_mayfield @aahales #findingholypodcast “You do have a responsibility to be honest about where you are. If you’re a Christian, you have to ask: do I use this power or privilege to love my neighbor? How do I create a world that is just?” @d_l_mayfield @aahales #findingholypodcast “If we don’t lament, we won’t have the scriptural imagination to consider something new.” @d_l_mayfield @aahales #findingholypodcast “We engage in self-care to build resilience.” @d_l_mayfield @aahales #findingholypodcast “Proximity without mutuality only makes things worse. The dream for mutual flourishing is God’s dream.” @d_l_mayfield @aahales #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Now, in a global shutdown, take this moment to think about neighborliness and educate yourself about what you want to change when things open up. Start by reading or following social media accounts. Look at your church, your parks, your schools, your neighborhood. Does everyone look like you, act like you, vote like you? Try to change one of those things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How do we talk about race and ethnicity as a discipleship issue and not a partisan issue? David Swanson talks about his book, Rediscipling the White Church and creative possibilities for this moment in time. Join us for Season 4 as we consider hot-button issues alive and well in our world today: Living Faithfully in an Upside-Down World.
LINKS David’s book, Rediscipling the White Church: https://www.ivpress.com/rediscipling-the-white-church David Swanson’s site: https://dwswanson.com/
SHARE
”Every congregation gets to be a part of reconciliation for the body of Christ for the glory of God.” @davidswanson “What Jesus accomplished on the cross includes justice as well.” @davidswanson “By pursuing racial justice, we’re alerting our communities that the kingdom of God has come near. There is a new way of living.” @davidswanson “Politically we’re often more aligned with people of our same race than with Christians of other races.” @davidswanson “As Christians, we don’t have to content ourselves with American optimism.” @davidswanson “Race detaches us from place.” @davidswanson
ONE SMALL STEP Use your internet scrolling time to do a little research project: take a few minutes to do a google search about your place. Who were the first inhabitants? What were housing laws like? Did an indigenous people group live there? Find out about the land underneath your feet and bring those findings to a God, in whose image we all are made.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! This whole season we’ll be talking with pastors, theologians, activists, professors and how we live right now with this confluence of a pandemic, racism, uncertainty and a partisan culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this first episode of Season 4 on Living Faithfully in an Upside-Down World, David Taylor and I talk about the language of the Psalms and how they can help chart the way forward for Christians living now — in a pandemic, in an election year, with polarizing tensions, racial violence, inequality and more swirling around us. Find language, practices, and habits to root you now.
LINKS David Taylor’s book, Open and Unafraid: https://amzn.to/3hfwtPk David’s website: http://artspastor.blogspot.com/ Follow David on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wdavidotaylor
SHARE The Psalms give us edited language for our unedited emotions, and permission to say certain things to God. @wdavidotaylor The Psalms remind us: Be a mess but do so before the face of God. @wdavidotaylor
ONE SMALL STEP Grab one other person and read through the same psalm a day for a week. Ask a daily question: What is one thing that caught your attention? The next day, follow up on that question with your person. Commit to read daily, connect somehow, and pray.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! This whole season we’ll be talking with pastors, theologians, activists, professors and how we live right now with this confluence of a pandemic, racism, uncertainty and a partisan culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We need thoughtful voices that can ask hard questions and gently lead us forward. We need help as we consider how to vote, how to love our neighbor, and how to flex during this pandemic. Join us for Season 4: Living Faithfully in an Upside-Down World.
Share a favorite episode on social media and tag me at @aahales (on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook) and you'll be entered to win a free copy of my book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs!
For more info and past episodes, listen at www.aahales.com/podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales and Anjuli Paschal talk about what it looks like to stay in our emotions and bring them to Jesus, how to stay with others in the midst of racial tensions, political polarization, and the pandemic. Be sure to catch up: Episodes 50-55 all deal with emotional health (listen here) Tell us what you want to hear! 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE.
LINKS Anjuli’s website: https://www.anjulipaschall.com/ Follow Anj on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/lovealways.anjuli/ Anjuli’s book: Stay https://amzn.to/2D3coML
SHARE Emotions aren’t your enemy. @lovealways.anjuli @aahales #findingholypodcast Staying is being attentive to God and my emotions. Resistance can tell you so much about what is going on in your soul. @lovealways.anjuli @aahales #findingholypodcast Feelings are gifts point us to the conditions of our heart. @lovealways.anjuli @aahales #findingholypodcast “Tell me your experience” is a great way to start on conversations with race. @lovealways.anjuli @aahales #findingholypodcast It’s vulnerable to ask. It’s vulnerable to listen. It’s vulnerable to speak. @lovealways.anjuli @aahales #findingholypodcast Healing can start at our dinner tables. @lovealways.anjuli @aahales #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP What are you resistant to doing? Feelings are gifts point us to the condition of our heart. If resistance is a gift to you, try going there for just 5 minutes a day. After you brush your teeth, take 5 minutes for a resistance check-in. What have you resisted throughout your day? Bring those emotions to God and trust the Holy Spirit to teach you to welcome resistance as a gift.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends!
We're taking a little break...We’ll be back in the middle of August for Season 4 of The Finding Holy Podcast on the Upside-Down Kingdom in a Divided World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales and Rebecca Brewster Stevenson talk about waiting on God, what that looks like in Covid-19, and how to practically deal with your emotions. Other applicable episodes: Episode 46 with Meredith McDaniel on God’s steadfastness, Episode 38 with Laura Wifler and Emily Jensen on a scaffolding for faithfulness, and Episode 35 on loneliness and the common good. Tell us what you want to hear! 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE.
LINKS Rebecca’s website: https://rebeccabrewsterstevenson.com/ Rebecca’s book, Wait: https://amzn.to/3j1s5EM
SHARE “Waiting is always the absence of the ability to make something happen.” @rebeccabrewsterstevenson @rbstevenson1 @aahales on #findingholypodcast “There is a lament and grief to waiting.” @rebeccabrewsterstevenson @rbstevenson1 @aahales on #findingholypodcast “Make space to grieve. Make time.” @rebeccabrewsterstevenson @rbstevenson1 @aahales on #findingholypodcast “The God of the universe wants to hear from me about the needs of the world.” @rebeccabrewsterstevenson @rbstevenson1 @aahales on #findingholypodcast “Look past the thing you want to the God who is doing a thing.” @rebeccabrewsterstevenson @rbstevenson1 @aahales on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Have a couch moment. As you pass through your home, sit down on the couch. Check in with your body and your emotions: Are you feeling dejected, anxious, are you leaking your emotions all over your family or the internet? Check in. Bring those in prayer to God.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Don’t forget to fill out that survey to help out: 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales and Aundi Kolber talk about Aundi's new book, Try Softer, and emotional health now. Aundi Kolber is a Licensed Professional Counselor (MA LPC), writer, and speaker in Castle Rock, Colorado. She specializes in trauma- and body-centered therapies and is passionate about the integration of faith and psychology. Connect with Aundi at aundikolber.com, on Facebook at aundikolberwrites, and on Instagram at aundikolber Tell us what you want to hear! 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE.
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app. Other applicable episodes: Episode 51 with K.J. Ramsey on suffering on hope, Episode 18 on talking about race with Cara Meredith, and Episode 52 on transforming ordinary losses with Stephanie Lobdell.
LINKS Aundi’s book, Try Softer: https://amzn.to/3fanxto Aundi’s website: https://aundikolber.com/ Aundi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aundikolber/ Faithful Counseling link for FInding Holy listeners:
SHARE We need to create more language around trauma. Try Softer is the response. @aundikolber with @aahales on #findingholypodcast Try Softer allows our bodies to soften into the grace of wholeness. @aundikolber with @aahales on #findingholypodcast Compassion is a softened posture. It allows us to ask: is this in alignment with who I am? @aundikolber with @aahales on #findingholypodcast Taking a break is a form of resilience. @aundikolber and @aahales on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP As an ending prayer for your day — a sort of prayer of Examen — notice where you were outside of your window of tolerance. Instead of shaming yourself notice, too, what can help ground you and keep you in your window of tolerance. Things like nature, moving your body, times of silence or beauty, might be some things you choose. Write down three and choose to follow them this week as life-giving gifts (not a list of "shoulds", “or else.”).
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Don’t forget to fill out that survey to help out: 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales and Stephanie Lobdell talk about loss shaming, church hurt, and we can lean into a narrative of hope in practical ways right now.
Rev. Stephanie Lobdell, MDiv, is a pastor and writer. She served as co-lead pastor with her husband, Tommy, for ten years and is now the Campus Pastor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio. She is the author of Signs of Life: Resurrecting Hope out of Ordinary Losses and co-author of Lenten Postcards. Stephanie and Tommy have two children, Josephine and Jack.
Other applicable episodes: Episode 51 with K.J. Ramsey on suffering on hope, Episode 36 with Richella Parham on Life behind Lifehack Answers, and Episode 22 with Catherine McNiel on Hope in Chaos.
LINKS Stephanie Lobdell’s website: http://www.stephanielobdell.com/ Stephanie’s book: Signs of Life: https://amzn.to/2ZAmAnO 2 MINUTE SURVEY about the podcast HERE
SHARE Right now it feels like a feverpitch of loss. @srdlobdell and @aahales on #findingholypodcast What does the resurrection mean for us now? God breaks in to creation. @srdlobdell and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “I love Jesus but I’m not willing to lie about what hurts.” @srdlobdell and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “You cannot hustle your way to wholeness or resurrection.” @srdlobdell and @aahales on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Practice keeping a pen and paper list of your losses (your ordinary ones as well as the large ones) with a corresponding gratitude list. It’ll be a way to move through rather than around pain and loss. This is how we practice resurrection.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Don’t forget to fill out that survey to help out: 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE — and you’ll get a chance to win a copy of my book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales and K.J. Ramsey talk about loss and suffering as an invitation to God and community. K.J. RAMSEY (BA, Covenant College; MA, Denver Seminary) is a licensed professional counselor, writer, and recovering idealist who believes sorrow and joy coexist. Her writing has been published in Christianity Today, Relevant, The Huffington Post, Fathom Magazine, Health Central, and other publications on the integration of theology, psychology, and spiritual formation. She and her husband live in Denver, Colorado. Follow K.J.’s writing at kjramsey.com and across social media at @kjramseywrites. Tell us what you want to hear! 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE — and you’ll get a chance to win a copy of my book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs!
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app. Other applicable episodes: Episode 42 on Cultivating Hope with Lore Ferguson Wilbert, Episode 48 with Risen Motherhood’s Laura Wifler and Emily Jensen on a Scaffolding for Faithfulness, and Episode 19 with Aubrey Sampson on lament.
LINKS K.J’s book, This Too Shall Last: https://amzn.to/37XpAhK K.J.’s website: http://kjramsey.com/ K.J.’s podcast, This Too Shall Last: http://kjramsey.com/podcast
Follow K.J. Ramsey on Instagram and Twitter. SPECIAL OFFER: Counseling with Faithful Counseling — get 10% off your first session here: getfaithful.com/findingholy.
SHARE “Our suffering is an invitation to turn and see our suffering Savior.” @kjramseywrites Being more present to the moment we’re in enables us to dwell in peace and extend peace to others. @kjramseywrites “We weren’t made for pain. We were made for love.” @kjramseywrites Bear witness to what you feel and experience. That’s showing hospitality to yourself. @kjramseywrites “Suffering is an invitation to wake up to a God who is here.” @kjramseywrites
ONE SMALL STEP Pay attention to your overwhelm and note where what triggers it. Practice praying a breath prayer in moments of overwhelm. Try a few lines from a psalm, such as “The Lord is my shepherd” (breathe in), “I shall not want, (breathe out).
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Don’t forget to fill out that survey to help out: 2 MINUTE SURVEY HERE — and you’ll get a chance to win a copy of my book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ashley Hales and Heather Caliri talk about anxiety, vulnerability and church and what to do about it from a Christian perspective. Heather Caliri is a writer and artist who is happily content with being an awkward Christian. Tired of anxiety controlling your life? Try her mini-course, “Five Tiny Ideas for Managing Anxiety," for free here. LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app. Other applicable episodes: episode 49 on hustle, episode 21 on mental illness and a Christian imagination, and episode 37 on ovewhelm and a rule of life.
LINKS Heather course: https://www.heathercaliri.com/anxiety/ Heather’s website: https://www.heathercaliri.com/ Follow Heather on Instagram: @heathercaliri SPECIAL OFFER: Counseling with Faithful Counseling — get 10% off your first session here: getfaithful.com/findingholy.
SHARE “There was this awkwardness where my insides didn’t match up with where I thought I should be.” @heathercaliri #findingholypodcast Anxiety often presents itself in the word, “enough.” If I just did that, then that would be enough.” @heathercaliri on #findingholypodcast “We feel awkward and so we stop asking questions. Awkward places are a place of invitation.” @heathercaliri #findingholypodcast Naming brings order out of chaos. @aahales @heathercaliri on #anxiety #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP We’re all experiencing a level of anxiety during a global pandemic and during national turmoil. Here’s a 5-minute check-in: 1. Pay attention to your body. Where do you feel tension? What is tight or hurting? 2. Ask yourself curiosity questions. Use phrases like “I wonder what that’s about…” 3. Bring these to God in prayer. 4. Ask asking this, we can start formulating next steps — and ask about how about who to invite into our overwhelm, how to share, and how we need help.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this conversation Ashley Hales and Daniel Im talk about hustle culture and what the lies about our work tell us about our souls. LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app.
LINKS Daniel’s book, You Are What You Do: https://amzn.to/2Uvwwxc Daniel’s website: https://www.danielim.com/ New Churches Q&A Podcast: https://www.danielim.com/new-churches-qa-podcast/ The ImBetween Podcast: https://www.danielim.com/imbetweenpodcast/ SPECIAL OFFER: Counseling with Faithful Counseling — get 10% off your first session here: getfaithful.com/findingholy.
SHARE Listen to Daniel Im on the gig economy and how it shapes our souls on #findingholypodcast @danielsangi “The lie of the gig economy is a life of freedom and absolute control.” @danielsangi “I wonder if this is God’s moment to attack the consumeristic impulses of Western Christianity.” @danielsangi on #findingholypodcast “We can actually use these lies as conversation starters with people.” #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Positive self-talk is a bandage, Daniel reminds us. Ask yourself some questions when you think of all the lies you are believing: Where did that start? How do I feel? Then take those laments to Jesus. Then, practice reading through the Psalms as a pattern of reorientation. Practice spending time with Jesus before you scroll or read the news.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We talk about empathy, trauma, care for the sexually abused, and telling your story. Please note we talk about sexual abuse in this episode. But do know that the conversation is full of grace and aware of trauma and the healing of God. We talk what the church can do, too. LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app.
LINKS Mary DeMuth’s book, We Too: How the Church can Respond Redemptively to the Sexual Abuse Crisis: https://amzn.to/2Wu8vbb Mary’s site: https://www.marydemuth.com/ Resources for pastors from Mary: https://www.wetoo.org/resources/ Mary’s podcast: https://www.marydemuth.com/pray-every-day-podcast/ SPECIAL OFFER: Counseling with Faithful Counseling — get 10% off your first session here: getfaithful.com/findingholy.
SHARE “The church has been my avenue of healing.” @marydemuth on the #findingholypodcast #wetoo #metoo “This journey has been fits and starts, trauma therapy, and underneath it all is this dogged desire to be whole.” @marydemuth on #findingholypodcast “What I would love to hear is survivor stories from the pulpit” @marydemuth #findingholypodcast “To work through the trauma that resides within you: Be tender with yourself.” @marydemuth #findingholypodcast “My spiritual habits of my sabbatical have served me during Covid-19.” @marydemuth #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP This week’s small step is to practice the prayer Mary prayed. Here it is: “I can’t. You can. Please help.” This might be a great companion as you think about your own story and moments when you need God’s provision and help. You might want to start by telling your story to a licensed counselor. My friends over at Faithful Counseling offer a special discount for Finding Holy listeners. Get that here.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Leslie Leyland Fields and I chat about place and how and why our stories matter. When the world has been upended by COVID-19, maybe some gentle writing practices might help you recover yourself and help you live into the questions. Leslie Leyland Fields is the multi-award winning author/editor of twelve books. Her newest isYour Story Matters: Finding, Writing and Living the Truth of Your Life which includes an 8-part RightNow Media DVD series filmed with Ann Voskamp. Her other books include Crossing the Waters: Following Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt and the Seas, which won Christianity Today's 2017 Book Award in Christian Living. (And is also available as a DVD video series) and The Wonder Years: 40 Women Over 40 on Aging, Faith, Beauty and Strength. LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app.
LINKS Leslie’s site: http://www.leslieleylandfields.com/ Join in on Leslie’s class that goes through her book for FREE: https://books.thedisciplemaker.org/why-your-story-matters/ Leslie’s newest book, Your Story Matters and available at NavPress. Harvester Island Writers Workshop: http://www.leslieleylandfields.com/harvester-island-writers-workshop SPECIAL OFFER: Counseling with Faithful Counseling — get 10% off your first session here: getfaithful.com/findingholy.
SHARE There’s so many ways to attend to our places and our stories. @leslielfields on #findingholypodcast Writing comes out of both silence and space. @leslielfields on #findingholypodcast I never thought I would write a writing book. @leslielfields on #findingholypodcast Writing is more than recording, but is a way to ask a lot of questions. @leslielfields on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Use one of Leslie’s prompts: For once I want to tell the truth about ___________. Use it to word seek into it. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Don’t think about what comes out. Pursue God, the logos and truth and wait to see what new understanding comes from that.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How do we live when circumstances are wonderful or when we’re in the middle of anxiety and fear? Meredith McDaniel, author of In Want + Plenty and invites us into spiritual practices to sustain our weariness, increase our vulnerability, be a real community, and see the provision of God. LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app.
LINKS Meredith’s site: https://www.meredithmcdaniel.com/ Her book, In Want + Plenty: https://amzn.to/3adGyrB Morning pages, an idea from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way: https://amzn.to/3cl72Jh A new podcast, Everything just Changed with Bryce Hales and Brad Edwards
SHARE “We need eyes to see how heaven is meeting earth, every single day.” @meredith_mcdaniel @aahales on #findingholypodcast “We need to slow down, pay attention to our bodies and reach out.” @meredith_mcdaniel @aahales on #findingholypodcast We need to look back and trace God’s hand. We start to find our “manna moments” and we can point to God’s hand in our story. @meredith_mcdaniel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast Life is hard and God is good. We need embodied practices. @meredith_mcdaniel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Pause in your morning. Turn off the news. From the first second of your day, surrender your day to God and ask to hear from him. Borrow Suzanne Stabile’s question, “What is mine to do today?” Consider how you can share your own search for “manna” with others.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Don’t you long for your life to feel seamless — not boxed into categories or feelings? This lovely conversation with the brilliant and kind Steven Garber is one step in the right direction. Join us as we talk about place, spiritual disciplines, family stories, and the invitation to live an integrated, whole life.
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS and MEGAPHONE.FM or your favorite podcast-listening app.
LINKS Steven’s most recent book, The Seamless Life (available on ebook now from Amazon and InterVarsity Press, and in paperback now from IVP (Amazon will catch up later). Steve’s book, Visions of Vocation Simone Weil, “Reflections of the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God” Get your FREE PANDEMIC ANCHORING POINTS from Ashley here (including Holy Week at Home). Worksheet on vocation
SHARE “When the day of the Lord comes, even the cooking pots will be called holy to the Lord.” Steven Garber on vocation and a seamless life on #findingholypodcast The task of the Christian student is to learn to pay attention. Steven Garber on #findingholypodcast “We live off of our eschatological commitments whatever they are.” Steven Garber and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “To see the questions behind my work, was my father’s prayer each day.” Steven Garber on #findingholypodcast We need to hold together more honestly and truthfully what we believe to be true about the future and how we live today. Steven Garber on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales. We’re feeling the curse of anonymity. It’s not a good thing for the human heart to be unknown. Steven Garber on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Take a sheet of paper and make a cross in it with four sections: work, rest, play and worship. Free associate. What do you love? What elements in each speak to you? Write them down. You can make it easy by downloading and printing a sheet right here (aahales.com/podcast-notes/stevengarber). Then circle the words or phrases that continually crop up. You’ll find a few answers to how God’s made you and how you can even find some solace during this pandemic.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’d love it if you could subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast and tell your friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Laura Fabrycky and I talk about how people belong to people and places, about our choices for the good of community, acedia, and what Bonhoeffer has to teach us today. Laura M. Fabrycky is a American writer and poet, currently residing in Brussels, Belgium. She is the author, most recently, of Keys to Bonhoeffer's Haus: Exploring the World and Wisdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Fortress Press, 2020), a historically grounded memoir of her experience as a volunteer guide at the Bonhoeffer-Haus during her family's diplomatic assignment to Berlin, Germany. She focuses on questions of political theology and the moral imagination in cultivating the common good.
LINKS Laura’s book, Keys to Bonhoeffer Haus: https://amzn.to/2UAFwRP, or at ChristianBook.com: shorturl.at/xFVX8 Laura’s website Acedia & Me by Kathleen Norris ANCHORING POINTS IN A PANDEMIC, a free resource from Ashley Hales
SHARE We see him as more than a hero, we see him as a human being. What I have to do is figure out dinner. There are aspects of Bonhoeffer but they have to be expressed in my own life. It might look very small. What are the stories I’ve inherited as an American? Listen in to @lmfabrycky on #findingholypodcast How do ordinary rhythms of life matter to my neighbor? @lmfabrycky on @aahales’ #findngholypodcast The safety of my children is intricately entertwined with others’ safety. @lmfabrycky #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Laura offers us so many thoughtful starting places that are particularly helpful right now during a pandemic. Each day, take this question with you: What’s the small choice to choose to engage instead of choosing to withdraw? Pray through your key chain as your places of responsibility. Pray about the stories that are represented there.
SUBSCRIBE + SHARE Each time you share or subscribe more people find life-giving conversations. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Share and you could win a copy of Laura’s book! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join us for this special bonus episode with Karla Reed, a style influencer on Instagram and a Christian. We're not economists (at all!) but we talk about all the confusion about how to think about our spending during the current pandemic. Do we support local businesses? Do we go on a spending freeze? How do we use our money in wise and generous ways when the future is uncertain? Listen in to Karla’s pathways towards generosity and her own rooting practices. Karla Reed uses Instagram to educate women on sustainable fashion, help women be creative with what they wear, and feel less alone. She's the mother of 3, wife to Jason, and lives in southern California. You can follow her on Instagram at @KarlaReed. LISTEN IN ON APPLE PODCASTS OR MEGAPHONE.FM.
LINKS Follow Karla on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karlareed/ FIND YOUR ANCHORING POINTS IN A PANDEMIC (a resource) from Ashley Hales Ashley's book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs, available in ebook for $3.99 or in paperback and audio: https://amzn.to/3bylOfj
SHARE What do you do when your livelihood depends on other people shopping? Join us on the #findingholypodcast How do we think about our spending or our lack of spending with the economy has grinded to a halt? What practices enable you to be generous even when it looks like resources are scarce? Join us for a bonus episode with Instagram influencer, Karla Reed How might we practice creativity and generosity during a pandemic? Join us for a bonus episode with Karla Reed on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Pray through your budget. We're all experiencing this pandemic differently. Some have been let go, others are in stable positions, others are largely dependent on others for their income. If all of our resources are gifts from God, then we need to not act as if they are ours to control. Pray through your budget. Consider where you can cut back to be increasingly generous. Give and receive. We can easily default to hoarding -- either to hoard our excess in times of plenty or hoard our small resources in times of scarcity. Pray about how you might give -- money to a struggling friend, an extra roll of toilet paper, supporting local or small businesses, etc -- and then actually do it. Pray as you give, placing your trust in a good God. Also, receive the gifts of God's provision, too and practice gratitude.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! The Finding Holy podcast is still new and we'd love more people to be involved in conversations. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and let me know on social media at @aahales (on IG and Twitter) and you'll be entered to win a book!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join us for a special series in the month of March on Lenten practices with Lore Ferguson Wilbert. This week, we’re all in need of hope. Join us. Lore is a writer, thinker, learner, and author of Handle with Care. She writes for She Reads Truth, Christianity Today, Lifeway, and more, as well as her own site, Sayable.net. You can find her on social media @lorewilbert. She has a husband named Nate, a puppy named Harper Nelle, and too many books to read in one lifetime. Listen at Megaphone.fm here, on Apple Podcasts here or on Google Podcasts, here. Win a copy of Lore’s book! Contact me on social media at @aahales!
LINKS Lore’s website: Sayable.net Lore’s book: Handle with Care https://amzn.to/32PrMFz Ashley book on sale for $3.99 on Kindle this week! https://amzn.to/2UqTKUq FREE PANDEMIC INFOGRAPHIC for rooted practices in the midst of a pandemic
SHARE We live in this already-not yet life. We have hope as we meet with Christians on Sundays. They’re all echoes of one another. @lorewilbert @aaahales #findingholypodcast We forget who we are. The Sabbath gives us a taste of God’s goodness. @lorewilbert @aahales #findingholypodcast Hope — like grief and sadness — can’t be borne alone. @aahales @lorewilbert It’s easier to be known for anger and self-righteousness than hope and peace. @lorewilbert @aahales #findingholypodcast Do the small things and that God is not wasted in small things. @lorewilbert @aahales #findingholypodcast
YOUR ONE SMALL STEP Choose something small that is your stake in the ground that you are choosing hope. Think about drinking your 8 glasses water, taking a walk, or memorizing a portion of scripture. Take one small step. Check it off. Watch for God’s faithfulness.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend.
We’ll be giving away a copy of Lore’s book, so if you’re a new subscriber, contact me @aahales on social media to let me know! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This week, Lore Ferguson Wilbert and I take a break and talk about finding anchoring points during COVID_19.
Lore is a writer, thinker, learner, and author of Handle with Care. She writes for She Reads Truth, Christianity Today, Lifeway, and more, as well as her own site, Sayable.net. You can find her on social media @lorewilbert. She has a husband named Nate, a puppy named Harper Nelle, and too many books to read in one lifetime.
LINKS Lore’s website: Sayable.net Lore’s book: Handle with Care https://amzn.to/32PrMFz Ashley book on sale for $3.99 on Kindle this week! https://amzn.to/2UqTKUq
SHARE The Lord will keep you. The boundary lines show us our limitations. @lorewilbert @aaahales #findingholypodcast We share some anchoring points during this global pandemic on #findingholypodcast with @aahales and @lorewilbert How scripture, prayer, lists and apps are helping us during #covid_19. #findingholypodcast with @aahales + @lorewilbert Consider ways you can be creative loving others during the pandemic. A roll of toilet paper, a note, an offer to pray. @aahales @lorewilbert
YOUR ONE SMALL STEP Practice a breath prayer: Breathe in. “The Lord keeps me.” Breathe out. “in his perfect peace.” Choose one of the anchoring points we mention — drinking water, praying throughout your day, keeping a list — and let us know how it goes.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend.
We’ll be giving away a copy of Lore’s book, so if you’re a new subscriber, contact me @aahales on social media to let me know! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join us for a special series in the month of March on Lenten practices with Lore Ferguson Wilbert — this week’s is on rhythms of fasting and feasting.
Lore is a writer, thinker, learner, and author of Handle With Care. She writes for She Reads Truth, Christianity Today, Lifeway, and more, as well as her own site, Sayable.net. You can find her on social media @lorewilbert. She has a husband named Nate, a puppy named Harper Nelle, and too many books to read in one lifetime.
LINKS Lore’s website: Sayable.net Lore’s book: Handle with Care https://amzn.to/32PrMFz Ashley book on sale for $3.99 on Kindle this week! https://amzn.to/3aIBLPu
Mentioned: Tish Harrison Warren, “Why I Fell in Love with the Season of Advent, NYT Babette’s Feast Ashley’s article on Lent mentioned from inTouch Magazine, “Across the Threshold”
SHARE God had the full feast for his kids and one thing he asked them to deny themselves. @lorewilbert @aahales #findingholypodcast We are fasting from the wrong things and with the wrong eye. @lorewilbert @aahales #findingholypodcast Seasons of anxiety and what you go to for ultimate comfort on #findingholypodcast with @lorewilbert and @aahales An encouragement to watch our language of “bad” and “good” during Lent. Listen in with @lorewilbert and @aahales on #findingholypodcast We aren’t made clean based on what we do or do not eat. @lorewilbert @aahales #findingholypodcast
YOUR ONE SMALL STEP Pick one thing to fast from this week and one thing to feast towards this week. Maybe it’s checking your email, or eating certain foods, or reading everything you can online that you know will just provoke your anxiety. And choose the best possible thing to feast!
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend.
We’ll be giving away a copy of Lore’s book, so if you’re a new subscriber, contact me @aahales on social media to let me know! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Church has historically practiced Lent as a period of preparation for Easter. What does it have to do with our bodies? Why does this matter to our spiritual lives? Join me and Lore Ferguson Wilbert for a special four-week series on Lent. Lore Ferguson Wilbert is a writer, thinker, learner, and author of Handle With Care. She writes for She Reads Truth, Christianity Today, Lifeway, and more, as well as her own site, Sayable.net. You can find her on social media @lorewilbert. She has a husband named Nate, a puppy named Harper Nelle, and too many books to read in one lifetime. LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast.
LINKS Lore’s website: Sayable.net Lore’s book: Handle with Care https://amzn.to/32PrMFz Ashley’s article mentioned from inTouch Magazine, “Across the Threshold”
SHARE How do our bodies matter to the life of faith and to Lent particularly? Join @lorewilbert and @aahales on the #findingholypodcast Jesus sees women in their wholeness and we don’t experience that today often as women because we’re trying to fit into a man’s world. @lorewilbert on #findingholypodcast Denying is important and caring is important. On bodies this #Lent with @lorewilbert on #findingholypodcast The reward for giving up a chocolate bar might not be a chocolate bar. The reward is God himself. @lorewilbert on #lent and #bodies for #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Practice caring for your body this week. Maybe you notice how you feel after a walk, or you enjoy a bath, or have tasty food and a glass of water. If we’re choosing to deny our bodies, we can also choose to care for them properly and honoring God through them. For me, I’m taking daily walks and actually stretching after them! What about you? Let me know how it goes — tag me on social media at @aahales or #findingholypodcast. I’d love to hear!
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What does it look like to build a sustainable life as a mother? I talk with Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler for more. Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler are in the trenches of motherhood, right alongside their readers. With a combination of accessibility, relatability, and solid Biblical knowledge, Emily and Laura have a knack for simplifying complex Biblical truths, revealing how they relate and apply to everyday life. As the co-founders of the Risen Motherhood ministry, and co-hosts of the chart-topping podcast, God has consistently and powerfully used the voices of these two moms as a vehicle to captivate women around the world with the gospel. As sister-in-laws, Emily and Laura both live in central Iowa with their families. LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast.
LINKS Risen Motherhood website and podcast Emily and Laura’s book: Risen Motherhood: https://amzn.to/2I0ClvI Resources mentioned: David Powlison’s book, How Does Sanctification Work? Valley of Vision Prayer Book: https://amzn.to/2vmR5T5 Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss: https://amzn.to/32wT7fj Valmarie Journal: http://www.valmariepaper.com/about/journal/ Give Me Jesus Journal by Well-Watered Women: https://shop.wellwateredwomen.com/products/give-me-jesus-journal-2
SHARE WIN A COPY of RISEN MOTHERHOOD! Subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast. Contact @aahales on social media and you could win! #findingholypodcast
How can we know if we’re a good mom? @Risenmotherhood’s @laurawifler and @emily__jensen on #motherhood and the #gospel on @aahales’ #findingholypodcast How do we remain faithful to God in our ministry (in and outside the home)? What’s the scaffolding of a life? @risenmotherhood Wouldn’t it be horrible if you became famous for gospel-centered motherhood and your own family didn’t see that in you? Real life with @risenmotherhood @emily__jensen and @laurawifler “I don’t know what’s big and what’s small and my job is just to be faithful.” @emily__jensen @laurawifler @risenmotherhood How do we live a quiet life? is still a question we ask. @risenmotherhood on #findingholypodcast Good questions for your closest relationships in your busy seasons @risenmotherhood @emily__jensen @laurawifler What a gift it is to create a safe space for our children to work through hard things — to learn how to fail and how to trust God. @risenmotherhood
ONE SMALL STEP Set a timer to read your bible every day for Lent. 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 30… whatever it is try out a new habit. Also, consider using your imagination as you read. Maybe you imagine yourself into one of the stories of healing in one of the Gospels. Where do you need healing? How is God meeting you? Let me know how it goes — tag me on social media at @aahales or #findingholypodcast. I’d love to hear!
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Stay tuned for a special series for Lent with Lore Ferguson Wilbert during the month of March! If you’re a new subscriber and want to win a copy of Risen Motherhood, subscribe and email me at findingholypodcast@gmail.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Listen in to a conversation about overwhelm and how to order a life that really matters. My guest today is Justin Whitmel Earley, author of the book The Common Rule, a CT Book Award Winner. It’s 40% at IVP this week here! Justin Whitmel Earley graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in English Literature before spending four years in Shanghai, China, teaching and writing. He got his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and he now practices business law, writes and speaks in Richmond, Virginia. He is married to Lauren and has four sons – Whit, Asher, Coulter and Shep. InterVarsity Press published his book on formational habits, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction. You can learn more about cultivating a formational set of habits at www.thecommonrule.org and more about his law practice at www.earleylegalgroup.com. LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast.
LINKS Justin’s book, The Common Rule: https://amzn.to/2v2TYIz Justin’s website: www.thecommonrule.org Twitter: @thecommonrule Instagram: @justinwhitmelearley
SHARE “The architecture of my life was just like everyone else’s. Which worked until I collapsed.” @thecommonrule “What was a game changer was putting some habits and limitations around my schedule.” @thecommonrule “We like quick fixes instead of small changes. We ask pastors and doctors for a principle or a pill.” @thecommonrule We ask our phones (rather than God): “who do I need to become today?” not just “what I need to do today?” @thecommonrule “You are free when you are free to do what you’re made to do. Pick the master whose yoke is light.” @thecommonrule We’re going to bow our knee to something. Personal choice at every moment leads to decision fatigue. @thecommonrule
ONE SMALL STEP
Flip the order of your morning — like Justin talks about “scripture before phone” as a habit that has a big impact. This week, I’ll invite you into kneeling prayer at noon. Read a Psalm and kneel at lunchtime to humble yourself before God — to take the limits he gives as good gifts. SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE!
We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. RATE and REVIEW this podcast and send me an email to win a copy of Justin’s book! findingholypodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When we realize we’ve been sucked into comparison, what do we do? When the “you’re perfect” line or the 5 steps to stop comparing” doesn’t cut it, how do we grow? Richella J. Parham is the author of Mythical Me: Finding Freedom from Constant Comparison (InterVarsity Press) and A Spiritual Formation Primer (Renovaré). She has blogged for over a decade at ImpartingGrace.com. Richella serves as a member of the Ministry Team and as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Renovaré, a Christian spiritual formation ministry. She also serves as Worship Coordinator for The Gathering Church of Chapel Hill/Durham, North Carolina, and is a member of Redbud Writers Guild. The mother of three young adult sons, Richella lives in Durham with her husband, Jack. For Finding Holy Listeners!! WIN a copy of Mythical Me! Just rate and review Finding Holy HERE on Apple Podcasts and then email me at findingholypodcast@gmail.com to let me know! LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast.
LINKS WIN A COPY OF MYTHICAL ME! Just rate and review Finding Holy HERE on Apple Podcasts and then to let me know by emailing findingholypodcast@gmail.com! Richella’s website: www.richellajparham.com/ and blog: https://www.impartinggrace.com/ Richella’s book, Mythical Me: https://amzn.to/2SzNoBa Richella’s book, A Spiritual Formation Primer: https://amzn.to/2OGg4Ht
SHARE Comparison has been a life-long struggle for me. @richellaparham on #findingholypodcast Enter to win a copy of @richellaparham’s @ivpress winning book, #MythicalMe from @aahales #findingholypodcast “Love and acceptance is an irreducible human need. We’re looking for the knowledge that we’re acceptable. One of the ways we look for that is noticing those around us who appear to be loved and accepted.” @richellaparham on #findingholypodcast “With the advent of social media, the problem of comparison has gone viral.” @richellaparham on #findingholypodcast “We need a habit to replace the habits of comparison. @richellaparham on #findingholypodcast on comparison
ONE SMALL STEP Use a timer for your use of social media use to begin to awaken yourself to your habits and where you’re looking for comfort and meaning. Share it with us at @aahales on social media or using the #findingholypodcast hashtag. Pray the Lord’s Prayer before your feet touch the floor in the morning. Use your actual spaces — like Richella did when she felt pulled to compare (your bathroom, your kitchen, your office desk) and ask God’s will be done in those places. Don’t forget to enter to WIN a free copy of Richella’s book!
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If the social fabric has broken down, what do we do about it? What might Christians have to offer our neighbors who are in search of the common good? We talk everything from loneliness, work, and ideas about how the church can be good neighbors, and how to build real community. Join me as I chat with Jake Meador — he’s the author of In Search of the Common Good and editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. He lives with his wife and three children in Lincoln, Nebraska. LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast.
LINKS Mere Orthodoxy Jake’s book: In Search of the Common Good Ashley’s book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much: https://amzn.to/2FQr67Z
SHARE How can Christians be a good neighbor in a very alienating culture? @jakemeador on #findingholypodcast Marriage, work, and sabbath are the norms of people before the Fall. @jakemeador on #findingholypodcast We shouldn’t be surprised that people who are hungry are finding their own way to the dinner table. On faith and the common good with @jakemeador on #findingholypodcast We have neighbors who are desperately lonely and we have something to offer them. @jakemeador on #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Notice something beautiful. Draw your own attention to things going around you that are beautiful and done well. Use it to talk with the others in your real life — your kids, your colleagues — bring someone along with you. Consider ways to share in your neighborhood — share resources. Find a need. Use the need to create relationships.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For three weeks, our Suburban Bootcamp helps you take the big ideas of secularism and connect the dots to your everyday, holy life. How do we live ordinary lives well in a secular age? Here’s some practical places to start. Bryce Hales (church planter at Resurrection Orange County) and Ashley Hales talk about freedom and secularism, how social media changes us, and how secularism affects those of us who live in suburbs and live rather ordinary lives. We talk about secularism of the right, give you some resources, and help you connect the dots between secularism and habits to move you towards the things of God. Listen in, share and subscribe! LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast. Check out Episode 32 for our first episode in Suburban Bootcamp 2020.
LINKS Our church, Resurrection Orange County: https://www.resurrectionoc.com/ Ashley’s book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much: https://amzn.to/2FQr67Z And particularly check out this resource specifically for churches: aahales.com/forchurches
Mentioned this episode: Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon, David Kinneman and Mark Matlock
SHARE How has secularism infiltrated not only urban progressive places but the suburbs? Join @aahales and pastor @bahales of @res_oc talk about #secularism: Join @aahales and @bahales as they talk right-leaning secularism on #findingholypodcast We talk resilient disciples, information from @barnagroup, secularism, and more on #findingholypodcast The secularism of the right looks more reactionary than outward-focused. #findingholypodcast Meaningful life = community + freedom in a suburban secular age. Listen in to @aahales and @bahales on #findingholypodcast Thick identities are formed through story, attention and what community we’re doing life with. @aahales and @bahales on #findingholypodcast We have the story of the gospel in our heads but we have the story of the culture in our bones. @bahales and @aahales #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP To form a gospel identity — consider what you give your attention to and what people you’re doing life with. Choose to commit to your community: go to church. Make it a priority from now before Easter. Choose to show up for the same group of ordinary people and see how it goes! If regular church-going is already your thing, consider what you might do to show up and volunteer regularly. We don’t want to see our church communities as yet another consumer product.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! Get special info for your church here: www.aahales.com/forchurches We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For three weeks, our Suburban Bootcamp helps you take the big ideas of secularism and connect the dots to your everyday, holy life. How do we live ordinary lives well in a secular age? Here’s some practical places to start. Bryce Hales (church planter at Resurrection Orange County) and Ashley Hales talk about freedom and secularism, how social media changes us, and how secularism affects those of us who live in suburbs and live rather ordinary lives. We talk about secularism of the right, give you some resources, and help you connect the dots between secularism and your phone. Listen in, share and subscribe! LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast. LINKS Our church, Resurrection Orange County: https://www.resurrectionoc.com/ My book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much: https://amzn.to/2FQr67Z
Mentioned this episode: Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon, David Kinneman and Mark Matlock Tish Harrison Warren, “Want to Get into the Christmas Spirit?” New York Times Pete Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day-by-Day and the EHS course here. More on secularism: Charles Taylor, A Secular Age: https://amzn.to/2FQSqTA James K. A. Smith’s synopsis of Taylor, How (Not) to be Secular: https://amzn.to/2FRhLx1 SHARE How has secularism infiltrated not only urban progressive places but the suburbs? Join @aahales and pastor @bahales of @res_oc talk about #secularism: Join @aahales and @bahales as they talk right-leaning secularism on #findingholypodcast We justify ourselves and the right-now experience and so we use our kids as the excuse for that” @bahales and @aahales talk about suburban secularism on the #findingholypodcast We talk resilient disciples, information from @barnagroup, secularism, and more on #findingholypodcast Christianity is important because we do talk about routines, habits, and liturgies, yet nothing of those are supposed to be rote. #findingholypodcast #secularism “Secularism sees suffering as the only evil. When we’ve been insulated from suffering, we don’t feel our need for God” — #findingholypodcast with @aahales and @bahales There’s even secular ways to even read your bible. @bahales and @aahales on #findingholypodcast talking on secularism. We don’t like the idea that God is going to shake things up in the affluent suburbs. @bahales and @aahales on #findingholypodcast Gut check: I’ve been pursuing happiness. Am I happy? asks @bahales @aahales on #secularism on #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP Practice pausing in the middle of your day to remind yourself that you’re in God’s presence. We’re often not aware that we are always in God’s presence. Put an alarm on your phone or put a bright orange sticky note on your bathroom mirror to practice pausing during your day. Read a Psalm. Move your body in a different way — sit down or stand up, kneel or go for a walk. Practice one small step to connect with the grander story of the gospel instead of the story of hurry and hustle. Let us know how it goes: tag me at @aahales or use the hashtag #findingholypodcast to tell us about it. SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For the month of January, our Suburban Bootcamp helps you take the big ideas of secularism and connect the dots to your everyday, holy life. How do we live ordinary lives well in a secular age? Here’s some practical places to start. Bryce Hales (church planter at Resurrection Orange County) and Ashley Hales talk about freedom and secularism, how social media changes us, and how secularism affects those of us who live in suburbs and live rather ordinary lives. We talk about secularism of the right, give you some resources, and help you connect the dots between secularism and your phone. Listen in, share and subscribe! LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS OR ONLINE AT MEGAPHONE, or wherever you listen to podcasts subscribe to the FINDING HOLY podcast.
LINKS This Cultural Moment podcast with Mark Sayers and John Mark Comer Our church, Resurrection Orange County: https://www.resurrectionoc.com/ My book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much: https://amzn.to/2FQr67Z Charles Taylor, A Secular Age: https://amzn.to/2FQSqTA James K. A. Smith’s synopsis of Taylor, How (Not) to be Secular: https://amzn.to/2FRhLx1 James K. A. Smith, On the Road with St. Augustine: https://amzn.to/3acimqJ
SHARE How has secularism infiltrated not only urban progressive places but the suburbs? Join @aahales and pastor @bahales of @res_oc talk about #secularism: Join @aahales and @bahales as they talk right-leaning secularism on #findingholypodcast “What looks like happiness is: “I get to choose.” We see this on the right and the left. In cities and suburbs and everywhere in-between.” Join @aahales and @bahales for Suburban Bootcamp on the #findingholypodcast: “With social media, we are the product now.” Join @aahales and @bahales as they talk about secularism in the suburbs for #findingholypodcast “Political ideology of the left and the right is taking the place of religion in people’s lives.” @bahales and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “We don’t have to create an identity for ourselves.” Listen in to #findingholypodcast with @bahales and @aahales:
ONE SMALL STEP Think about where you put your phone! Grab an old-fashioned alarm clock and plug in your phone across the house. Instead of reaching for your phone as a first step each day — essentially giving our to-do lists, email and social media accounts pride of place in our lives — start your day with your true identity. Read a psalm to start off your day to remind yourself of whose you are. Let us know how it goes! Tag @aahales and use the hashtag #findingholypodcast to share what changes you’re making (and your laundry routine)!
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kate Bowler, academic and author, writes about women and power in Christian circles in her latest book, The Preacher’s Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities. Ashley Hales was able to interview Kate Bowler courtesy of The Englewood Review of Books. You can read the interview at The Englewood Review. Thanks to Englewood, here’s a longer version of the article that appeared in print. We talk about roles of women, authenticity, forms of power, and what cuts it in the marketplace and in institutions. This is not an episode to miss! At the Finding Holy podcast, we connect the dots between the things that really matter and your everyday, holy life. Subscribe now.
LINKS The Preacher’s Wife: https://amzn.to/2QyBMyu Everything Happens for a Reason: https://amzn.to/2N8wyXW Kate’s website: KateBowler.com SHARE “I would be nothing without the institutions that shelter me.” @katecbowler with @aahales on #findingholypodcast “Why else spend a decade researching? I just want to be helpful.” @katecbowler on #thepreacherswife on #findingholypodcast “The marketplace can’t punish people appropriately. Without time and nuance, irresponsible promises are made because they sell.” @katecbowler on #findingholypodcast “When I was researching this book, I was trying to not die.” @katecbowler on #findingholypodcast “My research made me more empathetic to these women who have been release valves for other women.” @katecbowler on performed #vulnerability on #findingholypodcast SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. COMING UP! Suburban Bootcamp where we talk real-talk about ministry boots-on-the-ground and the influence of secularism and the digital age. Subscribe so you don’t miss it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re busy and yet we want to connect with God. Listen in to these four weeks of short conversations that you can listen to in the midst of your real life with Ashley Hales and Jen Pollock Michel. We talk about the reality of December with busy schedules and messy pine needles and how to meet God in the real instead of the ideal. Listen in wherever you listen to podcasts! *A quick note: I wanted to let you know that we’ve changed podcast hosts. So make sure you’ve subscribed to this RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/CHRTDY4295404622 LINKS Jen’s reflections on Advent are available to her email subscribers here. Jen’s book, Surprised by Paradox (which has a section on the incarnation). Ashley’s book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs, (which is helpful on consumerism and generosity this season). Works mentioned (and recipes): Acedia and Me, Kathleen Norris Jen’s plum torte recipe available here. Ashley’s millionaire shortbread recipe here. SHARE Food sure makes us laugh this episode. Get @jenpmichel’s plum torte and @aahales’ millionaire shortbread this episode! #findingholypodcast Meals were so special that the whole story of Jesus can be told in a meal. This brings us back to the why. @jenpmichel @aahales #findingholypodcast We deny the pleasures of eating. Hospitality portends something different. Listen in to @aahales and @jenpmichel on #findingholypodcast There is both an asceticism and a pleasure or indulgence to the story of God. @aahales and @jenpmichel on #findingholypodcast The food imagery in the Bible is no accident. @jenpmichel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP Who needs a spot at my table? Take this question with you through the month of December. Touch your table and pray. Ask God to show you how you can use your table as a welcome for Jesus. Keep the conversation going by tagging Ashley at @aahales on Twitter or using the hashtag, #findingholypodcast.
SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. See you in January! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re busy and yet we want to connect with God. Listen in to these four weeks of short conversations that you can listen to in the midst of your real life with Ashley Hales and Jen Pollock Michel. We talk about the reality of December with busy schedules and messy pine needles and how to meet God in the real instead of the ideal. Listen in wherever you listen to podcasts! *A quick note: I wanted to let you know that we’ve changed podcast hosts. So make sure you’ve subscribed to this RSS feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/CHRTDY4295404622 LINKS Jen’s reflections on Advent are available to her email subscribers here. Jen’s book, Surprised by Paradox (which has a section on the incarnation). Ashley’s book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs, (which is helpful on consumerism and generosity this season). Tish Harrison Warren in the NYT: “Want to Get into the Spirit of Christmas? Face the Darkness” SHARE “Advent isn’t just a private experience. It’s public witness.” @jenpmichel on #Advent with @aahales on #findingholypodcast We have to face that Advent actually sends us into the public sphere: a cataclysmic message that God is fixing the world through Jesus. @jenpmichel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast God surprises us in how he fulfills our longings. @aahales @jenpmichel on #findingholypodcast this #Advent Who am I in relationship with that I can be more intentional with? @aahales @jenpmichel on #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP Take 5 minutes each day to slow down. There’s so much to be gained by In those 5 minutes! Put away your to-do list, your sense of control, and instead welcome a bigger story by giving your full attention to the people around you — from your family, to friends, to a neighbor. Chat on social media chat with us by using the hashtag #findingholypodcast and let us know how your five minutes a day goes! And for you planner-types, consider Jen’s question: How am I going to make room for God’s mission in 2020? SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re busy and yet we want to connect with God. Listen in to these four weeks of short conversations that you can listen to in the midst of your real life with Ashley Hales and Jen Pollock Michel. We talk about the reality of December with busy schedules and messy pine needles and how to meet God in the real instead of the ideal. Listen in wherever you listen to podcasts! LINKS Jen’s reflections on Advent are available to her email subscribers here. Jen’s book, Surprised by Paradox (which has a section on the incarnation). Ashley’s book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs, (which is helpful on consumerism and generosity this season). SHARE “I like that stories of doubt are included in the Christmas story. Uncertainty is part of faith.” @jenpmichel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “Scripture is full of real people, not idealized ones.” Listen in to the #findingholypodcast this #Advent with @aahales and @jenpmichel Advent is a reminder that the road never becomes clear. We don’t have certainty, just a little bit of light.” @jenpmichel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “Faith is not formed when we have all the coordinates,” @jenpmichel and @aahales on detours, plans, and saying yes to God on #findingholypodcast “Our yeses are built incrementally” @jenpmichel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast on #Advent. ONE SMALL STEP Advent might be a time for you to take a posture of submission, to practice some silence to hear God speak. Make a list: what are yeses, what are your no’s, and what are your “wish you could’ve” things this Advent season. Bring your list to God. This helps us bring our actual self to God, not an idealized SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re busy and yet we want to connect with God. Listen in to these four weeks of short conversations that you can listen to in the midst of your real life with Ashley Hales and Jen Pollock Michel. We talk about the reality of December with busy schedules and messy pine needles and how to meet God in the real instead of the ideal. LINKS Jen’s reflections on Advent are available to her email subscribers here. Jen’s book, Surprised by Paradox (which has a section on the incarnation). Ashley’s book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs, (which is helpful on consumerism and generosity this season). Other works mentioned: James K. A. Smith, You Are what You Love and On the Road with St. Augustine Edith Schaeffer, What is a Family? Athanasius, On the Incarnation SHARE “On the one hand I sense a longing for God and yet there are a gazillion things to do.” @jenpmichel on the #findingholypodcast Listen in to @jenpmichel and @aahales talk about the surprise of Advent in this series on the #findingholypodcast Incarnation is the death of abstraction. The invitation is for us notice being in a body this Advent. Listen to @jenpmichel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast “We keep pushing off the ideal for the real” @aahales and @jenpmichel on #findingholypodcast “Advent had been the occasion of my annual meltdown” @jenpmichel and @aahales on #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP A question for you to ponder: What would it look like for you to embrace the real rather than the ideal this season? Practice embracing the real instead of pining for the ideal this Advent season? SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE! We’re a new podcast and we’d love for more people to connect the dots between the things that really matter and their everyday lives. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share with a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After three great episodes on how our places shape our loves and what we do about it as believers, Ashley Hales and Brandon J. O’Brien give listeners a road map for what to do next. We invite you into a thicker discussion about faith and culture here at the Finding Holy Podcast. LINKS Win a free book here: aahales.com/giveaway Ashley’s book: amzn.to/2OdABDi Brandon’s book: amzn.to/2DcVqsk Jose’s book: amzn.to/2QH0NIe SHARE Even with different places and cultural histories, we’ve been able to identify why place matters with @dennaepierre @brandonjobrien and @aahales on #findingholypodcast. Listen in. The places we live pre-date us. Our relationship to place and time are complex. @aahales and @brandonjobrien on #findingholypodcast Staying put helps you take place seriously for your own formation. Listen in to @josehumphreys @dennaepierre @brandonjobrien on #findingholypodcast on culture, church planting and place. There’s something deeply Christ-like to stay put, to let a place shape you even if you expect there are ‘better’ opportunities elsewhere. Listen in to @aahales and @brandonjobrien on a #theologyofplace on #findingholypodcast. ONE SMALL STEP We ask you a few questions to help you work through your spot in your place:
Look at the root systems where you live — how did things become the way they are? Start as locally and concretely as possible.
How can I see a bigger picture about what my place is really like right now? What do I not see?
Explore the idea of staying put — what’s appealing and what’s scary about it? Place effects us internally.
What is God asking me to do right now: Who is in front of me who needs to be seen?
Enter to win a free book in our big November giveaway: aahales.com/giveaway Sign up for Brandon’s free email course here: www.brandonjobrien.com. SUBSCRIBE, SHARE AND WIN: Subscribe, rate and review the Finding Holy Podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts! Make sure to win a free book in our big giveaway this month: www.aahales.com/giveaway We want to invite you into a free email course Brandon is offering for our polarized nation! Sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/2c670cdfc8b6/email-course Coming up this December: Advent reflections coming up with Jen Pollock Michel on the Finding Holy Podcast during the month of December. Sign up for Jen’s reflections here. Make sure you’re subscribed to the Finding Holy Podcast so you don’t miss our conversations! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Our places shape our loves. Can the church stick with a place? We continue this mini-series in November on place with series co-host, Brandon J. O’Brien, and today we bring in José Humphreys of East Harlem, NYC. José Humphreys is a facilitator and pastor of Metro Hope Covenant Church, a multiethnic and multicultural church in East Harlem, New York City. He is also a social worker, consultant and author. Humphreys is involved in shalom-making in New York City through facilitating conversation, contemplation, and action across social, economic, cultural, and theological boundaries. Catch the first episode on place here, and the second one with Dennae Pierre here. LINKS Connect with Jose on his website: https://www.josehumphreys.com Buy Jose’s book: https://amzn.to/2qjUxvk Jose’s church: Metro Hope Church Giveaway to win Jose’s book (and other books too!): www.aahales.com/giveaway SHARE “We all show up with a certain gospel story…” @josehumphreys on #place and #churchplanting on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales “How do we live mindfully in the places God has put us?” A fabulous conversation with @josehumphreys and @brandonjobrien on a #theologyofplace “The theology we’ve inherited is very much about Sunday and resurrection. How is disorientation important part of the Christian life?” We talk place, race, gender and the gospel on #findingholypodcast with @josehumphreys @brandonjobrien Instead of thinking about property values of what a place has for us, start by looking at the cultural, political, colonization root systems of our places. @josehumphreys on #findingholypodcast “Staying put means that place can shape us as much as people, or other categories.” @josehumphreys on #findingholypodcast with @aahales and @brandonjobrien ONE SMALL STEP Start to think through the tender places in your own life about staying put in your place. What hurts about staying put? What’s exciting? Where are the tender places in your own life and desires where staying put feels a little achy? Name those tender places. Tag Ashley @aahales on Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag #findingholypodcast to join the discussion. SUBSCRIBE, SHARE AND WIN! Subscribe to the Finding Holy podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. We’d be thrilled if you rated and reviewed it on iTunes and shared with a friend! Don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY NOW at aahales.com/giveaway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dennae Pierre is executive director of The Surge Network, a movement of local churches partnered together to put Jesus on display in Arizona. She is a graduate of Covenant Theological Seminary and serves as one of the Co-Directors for City to City North America. Dennae has been involved in church planting, community development, and started a non-profit that serves birth mothers whose children are in the foster care system. Dennae is married to Vermon and they have four children: Marcel, Mya, Judah, and Jovanna! Where does our faith provide the ability to cross boundary lines? LINKS The Surge Network: http://surgenetwork.com Foster Care Iniatives: http://www.fostercareinitiatives.org GIVEAWAY: www.aahales.com/giveaway SHARE “I grew up with a lot of awareness of racial tension in our city. My life was constant boundary-crossing.” @dennaepierre on #place on #findingholypodcast “We don’t just want diversity. We actually want reconciliation.” @dennaepierre on place, church planting, and living out the kingdom of God in Phoenix on #findingholypodcast: “You can’t remain in tension without remaining in Christ — through prayer and identifying with the sufferings of Christ.” @dennaepierre of @surgenetwork “Pick an average place and give your life to it. And just be faithful. God has done amazing things.” @DennaePierre “The evangelical story of “go find your place where you can live your life to the fullest” is such an individual story of greatness. You don’t see that in scripture.” @dennaepierre of @surgenetwork Hear the good news of solidarity with your city, evangelism, and reconciliation from @dennaepierre of @surgenetwork on #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP Dennae encourages to press into places of pain in our cities and suburbs. What might it look like to stay put where you are? Practice taking a walk around your neighborhood, or put yourself in a new habit (try volunteering and getting to know a new segment of your city if you’re disconnected). Let us know how it goes by tagging @aahales or using the hashtag: #findingholypodcast SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE Make sure to subscribe and share this episode! Head on over to be entered to win one of 100s of books at www.aahales.com/giveaway! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Are you a citizen of the world or a good neighbor? We have a special series just for you! Through the month of November, we’ll be taking all about how places actually form our loves. We’ll walk you through the virtues of staying put, stories of what it looks like to embody the message of Jesus in your place, and give you some small steps for you in your own place. Brandon J. O’Brien and I kick off this first conversation. Brandon J. O'Brien (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Director of Content Development and Distribution for Redeemer City to City, an organization that supports church planting in global cities. Brandon is author of several books, the most recent of which is Not From Around Here: What Unites Us, What Divides Us, and How We Can Move Forward (Moody, 2019). He lives with his wife, Amy, and two children in Uptown Manhattan. LINKS Brandon’s website: https://www.brandonjobrien.com Buy Brandon’s book, Not From Around Here: https://amzn.to/2CndJuh Enter the giveaway here: www.aahales.com/giveaway Books in the giveaway: Not From Around Here: https://amzn.to/2CndJuh Finding Holy in the Suburbs: https://amzn.to/2WPSavX Seeing Jesus in East Harlem: https://amzn.to/2PWsMD9
SHARE “I’d always attributed differences to culture or theology, but realizing how much geographical places affect us was eye-opening for me.” @BrandonJOBrien From Walmart’s hometown to Chicago suburbs to Manhattan, @BrandonJOBrien shares about how where he’s kicks us off on #place on #findingholy Don’t miss this conversation on place where @brandonjobrien talks about how our Christian discipleship is actually affected by where we live on #findingholypodcast. “The way we’re talking about our faith is actually similar to how we’re talking about other cultural issues” @ We’re all shaped by forces other than the Bible and our convictions. Paying attention to our places can make us more empathetic. We talk about how the story of the Bible is a story of place, too — and each individual Christian is bound to a place. “We have a tendency to abstract our Christian faith” @brandonjobrien How our digital lives intersect with our emplaced lives — so much here with @brandonjobrien and @aahales on #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP Consider putting something off and putting something on through this month’s series on place. Maybe you want to put your phone on a curfew or fast from social media so that you’re embodied and emplaced for a bit. Also consider taking a new form of transportation SUBSCRIBE, SHARE AND GET YOUR FREE BOOK! We’re a new podcast and every time you share and subscribe, we get to bring others in to the conversation. So subscribe and share today! And what you’ve all been waiting for: a huge giveaway! Head on over to aahales.com/giveaway Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this interlude, Ashley Hales introduces one small step to push back against the consumerism that wants to form us in its image AND an invitation to a special series on place coming up in November with Brandon J. O’Brien, Dennae Pierre, and Jose Humphreys. Right now, be entered to win a free book bundle on place: fill out your form here! Share with your friends! SHARE In November, get a chance to win one of over 100 books given away on place! Head to aahales.com/giveaway “Our loves are actually the things that move us into change, into personal and communal transformation.” @aahales on #findingholypodcast “If you value thoughtful work, you need to support it in the marketplace with your marketplace dollars.” @aahales on #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP Two, this week! 1) Support work you love that is thoughtful, nuanced, and challenging with your marketplace dollars, or even write a note of encouragement to someone in the church or public sector who is working for dialogue and change; 2) Head on over to aahales.com/giveaway to be entered to win a free book bundle for our November series! SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE Be sure to subscribe to the Finding Holy Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! We’re still a new podcast so when you subscribe, share and rate the podcast, it helps more listeners find us! Thank you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s hard to see the deeper things when life is full and busy. In this conversation with Catherine McNiel, we talk about how we can be awakened to God’s presence in creation. We’re invited to see God move in our actual, concrete reality — in the beauty and in the decay and despair. This isn’t a garden-variety book (or conversation). She says, “if we’re not tempted by despair, I don’t think what we’re experiencing is actually hope.” Listen in to a wonderful conversation and win a free book too! Here’s a bit about Catherine: Catherine McNiel is a writer and speaker who seeks to open eyes to God’s creative, redemptive work in each day—while caring for three kids, two jobs, and one enormous garden. She’s on the lookout for wisdom, beauty, and iced coffee. Catherine is the author of All Shall Be Well: Awakening to God's Presence in His Messy, Abundant World and Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline which was an ECPA finalist for New Author. LINKS Buy Catherine’s book: All Shall Be Well Buy Catherine’s book: Long Days of Small Things Subscribe to Catherine’s newsletter Follow Catherine on Twitter: www.twitter.com/catherinemcniel SHARE “It’s really important to me that it’s not just that we find God in the beauty of creation, but even in the darkness.” @catherinemcniel @aahales #findingholypodcast: https://tinyurl.com/findingholypodMcNiel “Your book can really be a corrective for this idea that life should always be improving and going up and to the right", @aahales says of @navpress book, #allshallbewellbook on #findingholypodcast: https://tinyurl.com/findingholypodMcNiel “Winter comes, but so does spring, so does the dawn.” We trust God through the repetition. @catherinemcniel on #allshallbewellbook on @aahales’ #findingholypodcast: https://tinyurl.com/findingholypodMcNiel Learn how @catherinemcniel learned to live her book after writing it through darkness, sitting in a chair and what sustained her on @aahales’ #findingholypodcast: https://tinyurl.com/findingholypodMcNiel “The suffering was not the bondage, it was the freedom.” @catherinemcniel on #findingholypodcast: https://tinyurl.com/findingholypodMcNiel “I’m grounding theology in our real life. The truth of God is applicable wherever I happen to be right now.” @catherinemcniel #findingholypodcast https://tinyurl.com/findingholypodMcNiel
ONE SMALL STEP Give yourself a 5-minute brainstorming session. During your time, write and think about: Where are the moments in your life where you see despair? Where do you see hope? In another 5 minutes, offer your findings to God. Honesty can unite the things that we say we believe about God and our experience of God. Share your list, your thoughts and this episode by tagging me at @aahales and using the hashtag, #findingholypodcast. SHARE, SUBSCRIBE AND WIN! We’re still a new podcast. We’d LOVE it if you could subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and share with all of your people! And we have a special surprise! One winner will win a copy of Catherine’s book, All Shall Be Well! To enter: All have you do is: 1) subscribe, 2) email me that you subscribed at findingholypodcast@gmail.com and one lucky winner will get a free book! Giveaway ends October 31. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On this episode I chat with Mike Cosper about everything from great sentences, to mental illness, leaving church ministry, to the Enneagram and how to develop a Christian imagination. It’s a fruitful conversation that we hope helps you connect the dots between the things that really matter and your everyday, holy life. (Bonus! You can also listen to me on Mike’s podcast, Cultivated here). Mike Cosper is the author of several books, including Recapturing the Wonder, Rhythms of Grace, and Faith Among the Faithless. He served for fifteen years as the pastor of worship and arts at Sojourn Church in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2017, he founded Narrativo, a podcast production studio, and Harbor Media, a non-profit producing podcasts for Christians in a post-Christian world. He and his wife Sarah have two daughters and live in Louisville, Kentucky. LINKS Buy Mike’s book: Recapturing the Wonder Some of Mike’s other books: Faith Among the Faithless, Rhythms of Grace, The Stories We Tell Mike’s podcast, Cultivated: Listen here Mike’s podcast company, Narrativo Works Mike mentions: George Orwell, Politics and the English Language James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to be Secular Charles Taylor, A Secular Age SHARE We talk imagination, meaning, the Enneagram, church ministry and good sentences on the #findingholypodcast with @mikecosper: “I think of myself more as an interpreter of ideas than an originator of them.” @mikecosper on @aahales’ #findngholypodcast “We have to keep our metaphors fresh, our ideas fresh. We have be allergic to cliches.” @mikecosper on imagination, writing, and living in a secular age on #findingholypodcast “What are ways to get back into an imaginative space as Christians?” @aahales asks @mikecosper on #findingholypodcast “I crashed emotionally. I had a deep season of depression.” @mikecosper on mental illness, life in the church, and the Christian imagination on #findingholypodcast For the first time @mikecosper shares his surprising laundry secret on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales. ONE SMALL STEP Pay attention to the small moods or states of being that you might have a hard time accessing at this time in your life (think of things like joy or anxiety or depression). Name it. Give yourself a homework assignment of sorts and pick one activity you could do to begin to engage that emotion. Take a walk and snap photos of things that strike you as beautiful. Laugh with a child. Read a poem or visit an art gallery to jog your imagination awake. Sit in the silence and name the fears, worries, or sadness that you hurry past. Let us know how it goes by tagging @aahales on social media and using #findingholypodcast hashtag. BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE wherever you listen to podcasts. We’d love if you left a review on Apple Podcasts. The Finding Holy Podcast has a special treat for you during the month of November where we’ll be kicking off conversations with folks in global cities and small towns about place and the gospel. Plus, there will a TON of GIVEAWAYS. Don’t miss it: subscribe today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s easier to numb ourselves than feel our pain. This helpful and insightful interview with Seth Haines (author of Coming Clean and the forthcoming The Book of Waking Up) shows us a way forward. We talk about so much: addiction, sobriety, political polarization, rhetoric, the church, and parenting. Don’t miss this one! LINKS Preorder Seth’s new book coming in January: The Book of Waking Up: https://amzn.to/2po4hUe Seth’s book, Coming Clean: https://amzn.to/2oA7gsz Seth’s website: http://www.sethhaines.com Seth’s Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/sethhaines A video of John Michael Talbot Seth speaks about in the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gma2z9GCPp8&t=228s
SHARE “The primary addiction I notice is Facebook, Twitter, social media. We all use some method to numb pain.” @sethhaines “When you’re the addiction guy, people confess these things.” @sethhaines “Why don’t you think we have more robust ways to deal with pain?” @aahales asks @sethhaines on the #findingholypodcast “I had to invite God into that pain through silence and solitude.” @sethhaines on #addiction, recovery, and pain on #findingholypodcast “Personal transformation gave way to communal transformation.” @Sethhaines on the church, spiritual practices, and addiction on #findingholypodcast “These are the things that keep you sober. Don’t live lives of isolation. Also the community is necessary.” Listen to @sethhaines on #findingholypodcast “ The best thing we can do as parents is model lives of temperance.” @sethhaines @aahales #findingholypodcast
ONE SMALL STEP Give yourself just 10 minutes a day of quiet. Start by making a list. Ask: Am I in a season of stress? Make a list of your stressors. Also consider the things you cannot not do — maybe you have to watch Netflix every night, or have a drink or a bowl of ice cream. Maybe you find yourself scrolling through social media whenever there’s a quiet moment, or shopping online, or getting enraged on social media. When you go to these things, ask: what am I avoiding? Get curious about what those things do for you. I hope you’ll find some insight in the process.
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We talk about pain, suffering and lament and where to find hope in this episode with Aubrey Sampson. If you feel like you’re praying to the ceiling fan or can’t find God, then this episode is for you. This is a rich conversation that will help you develop a vocabulary for pain and lament. If you’ve lost someone, are disappointed, have chronic pain, or know someone who does, please have a listen. Aubrey is a church planter and the director of discipleship and equipping at Renewal Church, the author of The Louder Song and Overcomer. A member of the Redbud Writers Guild, Aubrey also contributes to Propel Women. She is a speaker, preacher, wife, and mama of three boys. LINKS Aubrey’s book, The Louder Song: https://amzn.to/2liGhjU Aubrey’s book, Overcomer: https://amzn.to/2mLFsQU Aubrey’s website: www.aubreysampson.com Book Aubrey to speak: http://www.aubreysampson.com/speaking-2/ SHARE “If it weren't for the biblical language of lament, I don’t know if I’d be walking with God right now.” @aubsamp on @aahales’ #FindingHolyPodcast “I’m good with pain…but I couldn’t handle my own pain,” @aubsamp on #lament on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales ‘Knowing we actually have permission to talk to God in anger, and grief and suffering…” @aubsamp with @aahales on #findingholypodcast
”Let’s make some intentional appointments to allow for our suffering and lament in the church.” Listen to @aubsamp on #lament in the church with @aahales on #findingholypodcast ““How” is one of those big questions of lament and it’s kind of an accusation against God….and we can eventually get to the “Yet’s”. ONE SMALL STEP Ekah is the Hebrew word for “how.” Hows start our journeys of of lament. Grab a journal (or the back of a receipt!) and simply list your “how’s”: How long do we need to wait for a child? How could you let this happen? How could he lose his job? How could she betray my friendship? Imagine God holding these. God may not answer specifically, but he will meet you with his presence. He will meet you in the how’s. WE’D BE HONORED if you shared how you’re working through material from The #FindingHolyPodcast on social media. Subscribe + share an episode with a friend! Tag @aahales on social media and use the #FindingHolyPodcast hashtag. Keep up to date on all #FindingHolyPodcast here: https://mailchi.mp/ddd0fd792a7b/findingholypod A LITTLE SOMETHING SPECIAL! Join Aubrey and Ashley on Instagram LIVE Thursday, October 3 at 8:30am Pacific to talk about God, pain, and the Enneagram and you could win a FREE BOOK! Follow Ashley at instagram and we’ll see you Thursday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Conversations around race and justice can be hard, vulnerable, and polarizing. Yet because we believe God created all of us as image bearers of himself, we need to enter in. So many people don’t have the tools to know how to navigate those conversations well. Cara Meredith is a great conversation partner as we talk through issues of race and justice and how her marriage to the son of black Civil Rights icon shaped her future. LINKS Article Cara mentioned about diverse friendships around their table: https://amyjuliabecker.com/guest-post-cara-meredith/ Cara’s website: https://www.carameredith.com Cara’s book, The Color of Life: https://amzn.to/2muBKuY Cara’s blog on Patheos: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/coloringoutsidethelines/ Cara’s speaking: https://www.carameredith.com/speaking SHARE “Coming from a white suburban background, I realized that, over time, issues of race also had to do with me.” @caramac54 on #FindingHolyPodcast with @aahales “Marrying my husband, the son of a Civil Rights icon, entered me into conversations about race and how to raise mixed-race children.” @caramac54 at #FindingHolyPodcast with @aahales: “As a child, I didn’t believe issues of race had to do with me.” Get a few small steps to talk about race with @caramac54 “My motto is to listen, learn, and listen some more.” @CaraMac54 on #racialjustice ONE SMALL STEP Identify one small way you’re seeking power or privilege — it might be even as small as not paying attention to those who are in a place of vulnerability (rather than power) in your community. Spend a few minutes taking stock of where you spend your time, who you hang out with, and ask: how is my “normal” not like other people’s “normal”? Make a list. Pray through your list. Ask God to open your eyes to people who are different from you. Practice one small step of intentionally moving towards others. Pick a place and pick your prayer. How can you be intentional to enter into friendships from those who are different from you? WE’D BE HONORED if you shared how you’re working through material from The #FindingHolyPodcast on social media. Subscribe + share an episode with a friend! Tag @aahales on social media and use the #FindingHolyPodcast hashtag. Keep up to date on all #FindingHolyPodcast here: https://mailchi.mp/ddd0fd792a7b/findingholypod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re connecting the dots between the things that really matter and our everyday, ordinary lives. Today, I sit down with Casey Tygrett to talk about memories. We talk about how they influence our lives and communities and how God might be inviting us into a larger story of redemption through spiritual practices. It’s a wide-ranging conversation — from memories of God’s people in the bible, to how God might make our memories sacred again, and how pain fits into the picture. Plus we talk about how the soul is like a burrito. Listen in. Casey Tygrett is an author, pastor, and host of the otherWISE podcast. His new book is called As I Recall: Discovering the Place of Memories In Our Spiritual Life . He is also the author of Becoming Curious: A Spiritual Practice of Asking Questions. You can connect with Casey and find more information on his website or read his weekly Patheos blog “Everything Becoming”. Casey and his wife Holley and daughter “The B” live just outside of Chicago, IL. LINKS
Casey’s book, As I Recall: https://amzn.to/2tCELJH Casey’s book, Becoming Curious: https://amzn.to/2U1ytir Casey’s website: http://www.caseytygrett.com Casey’s podcast: https://apple.co/2tA2WbM Patheos Blog: https://bit.ly/2TbGzb7 SHARE “The soul is like a burrito” and other fun things I heard @cktygrett say with @aahales on the #findingholypodcast: “Our memories have written a through line and the Spirit of God says I can take this and do something with it.” @cktygrett on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales: “Memories have seasons.” @cktygrett on @aahales’ the #findingholypodcast “Communities have memories. Lament can help us acknowledge pain.” @cktygrett on @aahales’ the #findingholypodcast ONE SMALL STEP We’re borrowing one right from Casey’s playbook, try taking 5 minutes today and writing out (scripting) a memory. Write down the who, what, when, and where. Involve your senses. Tell a concrete story with details. Then take just 2 minutes of solitude and silence and ask God: What might you be wanting me to do or know from this memory? Invite the Spirit of God in to your memories. It’s part of how we experience God’s presence in a daily way. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of As I Recall for more great practices. Casey is a trusted guide to walk alongside you. And — make sure you tag us to talk more! Because big things matter but so does the laundry! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We don’t often think about how our places shape us and our stories. We often think of our places as a backdrop to all the living we do, just the context for how we’ll move about in the world. We don’t clearly articulate how places shape our souls. My guest today has a particularly helpful take on place — partly because she’s lived on different continents as a minority and has learned how to navigate majority cultures. She’s lovely to talk to and offers us so much wisdom (and stories) about how to tell our stories of place well. Patrice Gopo articulately explains how places have shaped her in this episode. Patrice Gopo is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants and was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. She is a personal essayist and often writes about topics of race, immigration, and belonging. Her first book, a collection of personal essays entitled All the Colors We Will See, is a Fall 2018 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Patrice is a firm believer in the power of personal narratives to create pathways of connection and understanding in society. When she’s not writing and reflecting about her own journey, she teaches and speaks about the importance of personal storytelling. LINKS Buy Patrice’s book, All the Colors We Will See: http://bit.ly/patricegopo Website: patricegopo.com/subscribe Instagram: @patricegopo Facebook: @patricegopowrites SHARE How do places form our loves? Listen to @patricegopo on place, race, immigration, and the stories our places tell on the #FindingHolyPodcast with @aahales. What does moving across the world, writing our stories, and doing the laundry have in common? Find out from @patricegopo on the #findingholypodcast. Don’t miss this fantastic episode with @patricegopo and @aahales on the #findingholypodcast. It’s a theology of place unpacked. ONE SMALL STEP Give yourself a 10-minute assignment: think about your place. Go on a walk in your neighborhood. Brainstorm in your journal. But give yourself 10 minutes to start noticing how who, what, when, where and what happens right where you live forms your loves. Curious what that might look like? You can go to aahales.com, scroll to the bottom, and enter your email: then you’ll get a free download of the first chapter of my book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs, about how Target forms our desires. Red carts, coffee, and clearance sections, oh my! (And the book is 40% off right now at IVP as part of their Summer Reading List, details here). Remember, no matter where you live, that you get to live the story of Jesus. But don’t forget the laundry — because big things matter, but so does the laundry! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you’re someone who struggles to know how our bodies fit into our faith, this conversation is for you. There’s so much around the idea of touch in the church and in our culture that feels like a landmine. While we can be tempted to believe we’re brains on sticks or disembodied souls, Jesus came as a man to show us the power and ministry of touch. You’ll want to listen in this week to hear Lore’s wisdom about embodied faith, touch, and her new book releasing in 2020, Handle with Care. Lore Ferguson Wilbert has lived all over the United States and is unsettled enough to call nowhere home, but she lives in Flower Mound, Texas for now. She is a wife to her husband and a member of The Village Church where they both serve. She writes and edits full time for many publications like The Gospel Coalition, CT, Revive Our Hearts, Fathom Magazine, and The Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission on spiritual formation, faith, culture, and theology in life. You can read more of her work at sayable.net. LINKS Lore’s blog: www.sayable.net Lore’s book, Handle with Care: https://amzn.to/305tS1c ONE SMALL STEP Begin your day by praying over your body. Thank God for each part. Pray for healing for each part. Thank God for your body – for your brain, your heart, your belly, your hips, your toes. Ask the Holy Spirit to comfort you and show you the goodness of the gospel through your body and where you move today. Thanks again for being a part of this conversation! As always, we love to hear from you. Email your comments to findingholypodcast@gmail.com and don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review: “Big things matter, but so does the laundry.” May your laundry folding, dinner-preparing, walking-self experience God more fully because of your body this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sometimes when we’re in the thralls of our normal routines, our roles in our families and in our neighborhoods, it’s hard to stop and pay attention. Shawn Smucker, author, husband, and busy father to 6, talks with us about what it looks like to choose presence from cross-cultural friendships with a refugee and with his own family. Here’s a bit more about Shawn: He lives in Lancaster, PA with his wife, Maile, and his 6 children. He’s the author of The Day the Angels Fell, The Edge of Over There, Once We were Strangers, and the forthcoming novel, Light from Distant Stars. Be sure to preorder his latest release before July 16 for a free peek into the life and journal of a novelist. You’ll want to listen in for wisdom about parenting, about how to navigate cross-cultural friendships and be present to your actual neighbors. But you’ll also want to stick around to hear his laundry routine for a family of 8, how his wife Maile and he aren’t just sliding into established roles in their writing and parenting lives together, and how you can take one small step of presence in a culture that idolizes hurry and busyness. LINKS: Link to purchase The Day the Angels Fell: https://amzn.to/2X7B2oL Link to purchase The Edge of Over There: https://amzn.to/2RwDsr3 Link to purchase Once We Were Strangers: https://amzn.to/2X2iIgR Link to pre-order Light from Distant Stars: https://amzn.to/2X6MBws More about Shawn, his work, and his writing services: http://shawnsmucker.com SHARE: Listen to @ShawnSmucker discuss his friendship with a Syrian refugee and what it taught him about a “drop in” friendship in a culture of busyness on the #FindingHolyPodcast with @aahales Curious about how to navigate a meaningful life in the midst of marriage and family life? You’ll want to listen to @shawnsmucker on the #findingholypodcast Listen to how @shawnsmucker and his wife reevaluated roles, made time for the work they love, and still manage to get the laundry done for a family of 8 on The #FindingHolyPodcast ONE SMALL STEP: Move your communication from social media to one-on-one for a week. Write a note of gratitude. Look your children in the eye. Practice presence in small and unseen ways. We’d even love to get a note here at the podcast (email us at findingholypodcast@gmail.com) and would love for you to stay in the conversation by subscribing. Keep the conversation going by purchasing Finding Holy in the Suburbs for a friend and see how your can love your place, your actual neighbors, and those right in front of you. Better yet, buy it from real people (we recommend Hearts & Mind Bookstore, who will send it from real people not a drone!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This a great conversation on quiet, stillness, habits, and brain neural pathways. You’ll love learning about why our brains react against stillness and quiet. even task-positive network and default mode network in the brain and how this all fits into how we connect with God. A Massachusetts native, Michelle DeRusha moved to Nebraska in 2001, where she discovered the Great Plains, grasshoppers the size of Cornish hens ... and God. She writes about listening to your soul speak at michellederusha.com, as well as a monthly column for the Lincoln Journal Star. Michelle earned a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Massachusetts and a Master's Degree in English from the University of Connecticut. She worked as a magazine writer and editor in New York City, a PR and marketing specialist for a community college and a fundraiser for PBS and NPR before settling down into her career and calling as a writer. Here’s why you should listen: If you’re longing to connect with God, be present to yourself and people around you, you’ll want to see how something as small as 5 minutes of quiet a day has reframed our guest today. Stick around: You’ll get one small step to help you connect yourself to God and the wider community of faith at the end. SHARE “Ultimately coming to understand your identity as a child of God, is that you’ll naturally start to turn outward to community.” @michellederusha on #FindingHolyPodcast “Our brain literally forgets how to rest.” Listen to @michellederusha on our restless age and what can help on #TheFindingHolyPodcast with @aahales “I practiced directed rest and it took weeks before I could push below that upper level of distraction.” @michellederusha LINKS Link to purchase Michelle’s latest book, True You: https://amzn.to/2K7e1LU Link to purchase 50 Women Every Christian Should Know: https://amzn.to/2MQ2qmL Link to purchase Katarina and Martin Luther: https://amzn.to/2ML2aVI Link to purchase Spiritual Misfit: https://amzn.to/2KDGLLt Michelle’s website: http://michellederusha.com NEXT SMALL STEP: The point isn’t just about being silent or even paying attention to nature. Ultimately we need to know ourselves well enough to know what we each need to do to pay attention to how we connect to God. Michelle talks about how embracing silence allowed her to get to her true self – the self exposed before God. Let’s try something small just like Michelle: if 5 minutes feels like a lot, even start with 2 minutes of quiet a day. Put an alarm on the phone and practice 2 (or 5) minutes of silence. You might even have to lock yourself in a bathroom, but it’s worth it! Before you begin give your time of quiet to God, asking him to focus your mind and return your attention and affections to him in your moments of directed rest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Darryl Dash is pastor of Liberty Grace Church in Toronto, and author of How to Grow: Applying the Gospel to All of Your Life. He is also cofounder of Gospel for Life and director of Advance Church Planting Institute. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and has over 25 years of ministry experience. Darryl is married to Charlene and has two adult children: Christy and Josiah. You can find Darryl online at DashHouse.com. WORKS MENTIONED Darryl Dash’s book : How to Grow: Applying the Gospel to All of Life: https://amzn.to/2JT07g8 Gretchen Rubin, Better than Before: What I learned about Making and Breaking habits: https://amzn.to/2JWrVjL M. Scott Peck, on the stages of community: http://atlc.org/members/resources/four_stages_community.html SHARE “I am famished for God’s presence…I say that as someone desperate.” @dashhouse on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales: “The church is going to be disillusioning. Yet there is something that happens. God uses the church to grow us.” @dashhouse on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales: “Habits are valuable insofar that they lead me to God.” @dashhouse on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales: How to commit to 3 small habits to grow in your faith. @dashhouse on the #findingholypodcast with @aahales: ONE SMALL STEP Join me with one small step – let’s make a habit. For the next 21 days, let’s commit to reading our Bibles. It doesn’t need to big or studious. Start small – just even one verse before you check your email or grab your keys and coffee in the morning. Let me know how it goes! Email me on the contact form on the website: aahales.com. IF YOU HAVEN’T YET… Subscribe to The Finding Holy Podcast on itunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Share an episode. Read — continue the conversation by reading Finding Holy in the Suburbs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On this second edition of a “Suburban Bootcamp,” Bryce and Ashley Hales talk together about how the gospel reorients our relationships vertically with God and horizontally with others. So how do we make the mental shift from the allure of convenience to moving outwards towards others? Hospitality flows from God who has made room for us — seen most clearly in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Ashley posed a few helpful diagnostic questions as we think about hospitality and making room: SOME QUESTIONS Where am I making room in my time? Where am I making room in my body for others — do I look at people? Do I see the needs around me? Where am I making room in my affections — so that I’m looking for ways to connect with others who are far from God? But where do we start? Bryce encourages to embrace awkward and be a good neighbor and start today in one small step. ONE SMALL STEP Put a date on the calendar three weeks out. Create a reason to get together with some friends, neighbors, and people you sort of know. Try out your favorite barbecue recipe, or grab a Costco lasagna. The point is to make room in your schedule and your home to really see people. GET INVOLVED Hooray! A Leader’s Guide is coming soon for Ashley’s book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much. With chapters on hospitality and busyness, you won’t want to miss the book, or the chance to read and talk about with friends. Buy yourself a copy (hey! pick one up for your whole group) and stay tuned for the release of the Leader Guide! If you’re looking for a little reminder about the things that matter in a noisy world, make sure you get The Essential 3. It’s a small dose of beauty, truth, and goodness in the form of 3 links sent directly to your inbox each week. It’s short, sweet, and just what you might need. Get it here. SHARE “Hospitality is about making room.” @aahales @bahales #Findingholypodcast #suburbanbootcamp What to do when you feel like hospitality is all about Martha Stewart. It starts with a Costco lasagna and baby wipes. #hospitality #suburbanbootcamp #FindingHolyPodcast @aahales “Making room” makes the gospel and hospitality feel accessible. #findingholypodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s 2019! Welcome back to The Finding Holy Podcast, where we connect the dots between the things that matter and your everyday, holy life. Before we kick off season 2, we’re going to have a three-week interlude. During these three weeks, I sit down with my husband and pastor, Bryce Hales, and we host a little suburban boot camp. It’s short. It’s sweet and it will give you some concrete action to take. This first session we talk about the allure of convenience and how consumerism has infiltrated the church. Listen in for a short episode with a lot of laughter, one small step, and how to begin to think about our lives less as consumers and more as lovers of our places and our churches. A SMALL STEP Plan and cook a meal. This will slow your body down and get you into the moment. The process of planning and cooking helps us give rather than receive, or seeing ourselves as consumers. Our favorite soup recipe can be found at aahales.com/Podcast. Let us know how it goes! SHARE + SUBSCRIBE Will you help us grow? Be sure to share the show and subscribe wherever we listen to podcasts. “When we view church as event rather than as family we are poorer for it.” #findingholypodcast “The Bible commends faithfulness and perseverance far more than we do.” #findingholypodcast “How we talk — “I have to” is really “I don’t want to.” Start noticing.” #findingholypodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
My guest this week is Rev. Sam Wheatley, who we met when he was our pastor in Salt Lake city, UT. Whereas we’ve moved on to church planting in the SoCal suburbs, Sam and his wife Kate have moved back to NYC. Sam is the Executive Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church Downtown. He and his wife, Kate, have three grown children. Places form our loves. They also form our habits. I’d noticed how Sam was chronicling his new life in NYC on Instagram and how moving the car had become a spiritual space for contemplation and exploration. I was fascinated and I wanted to know how the big city connected with the gospel. Listen in. ONE SMALL STEPIdentify one transitional moment — find one spot in your day, whether that’s moving the car, doing the laundry, or your morning commute and consider how you can turn it Godward instead of selfward (or simply distracting yourself with technology). Identify one transitional step — meditate on a line from scripture, or say a simple prayer in your transitional moment. These sorts of small habits fashion our attention toward God and his gospel rather than towards self. THANK YOU! Thank you for joining us in Season One. May I ask you to do three things? Subscribe to The Finding Holy Podcast on itunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Share an episode. Read — continue the conversation by reading Finding Holy in the Suburbs. UNTIL NEXT TIME We’ll be back in January for a special edition of “Suburban Bootcamp” with Bryce and Ashley Hales. In January expect a few episodes where Bryce and Ashley Hales sit down to talk about how to start from the ground up creating a culture of generosity, vulnerability and hospitality. You’ll want to listen in if you’re in ministry, if you live in the suburbs, or even if you’re curious about how to take some practical steps in conjunction with my book Finding Holy in the Suburbs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
My guest today lives in rural Appalachia -- probably not a spot most of my listeners live in. The temptation could be to skip this episode because you don’t live in a rural spot. Maybe you live in the city or suburbs or a small town. But here’s the thing -- no matter where we live, we have to figure out how to live in that place well and there’s lots of crossovers between Appalachia and the suburbs. So listen in. My guest today on Episode 7 is Hannah Anderson. We talk about living as an outsider in a rural community, wisdom gained through discernment, her calling to her place and to her writing, and her new book, All That’s Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment. Hannah lives with her pastor husband and three children in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She’s the author of Made for More, Humble Roots, and All that’s Good. In addition to writing and speaking, she also hosts The Persuasion Podcast with Erin Straza for Christ and Pop Culture Stick around: You’ll find some gold nuggets to encourage you to stay rooted in your place -- whether you’re in the country, city, or suburbs. And at the end, you’ll have your one small step to help take all the things that matter into your ordinary, holy, life. Hannah provided us some wonderful questions to help us in the ways of discernment: --How would what I share (online) affect my real-life relationships? --What is the point of correcting? Would it build the community? --What would I say to this person if this person was in my kitchen? Proximitiy checks our tendencies. A SMALL STEPThis week remember to lighten up. Humor disarms. Try a family dance party to get out of your own head or using a self-deprecating joke. It’ll allow you to begin to empathize instead of using truth as a weapon. LINKS Hannah’s website: https://www.sometimesalight.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sometimesalight Persuasion Podcast: https://persuasionpodcast.buzz/ Link to purchase Made for More: https://amzn.to/2QMwArB Link to purchase Humble Roots: https://amzn.to/2rtISa3 Link to purchase All that’s Good: https://amzn.to/2QINKpZ SHARE Discernment simply means developing a taste for what’s good. --@sometimesalight on #FindingHolyPodcast How does discernment equip us to navigate a broken, complicated world with confidence and joy? -- @sometimesalight #FindingHolyPodcast Hannah Anderson talks about rural, working class Appalachia, the mistakes she’s made and how she’s practicing discernment on #FindingHolyPodcast: “The nature of truth is communal.” Listen in to @sometimesalight on #FindingHolyPodcast: A GIFT FOR YOU Share an episode of The Finding Holy Podcast online and review it on iTunes. Then take a screenshot and send it to me at findingholypodcast@gmail.com. I’ll send you your very own Finding Holy journal! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
You’ll love this interview with author and activist Micha Boyett. She and her family live in San Francisco, CA. Micha Boyett, author of Found, talks motherhood, raising a son with Down Syndrome, and what it looks like to be a good neighbor in San Francisco. Don’t miss her helpful tips on practicing to see the way Jesus sees -- even when you’re in the school pick-up line. Here’s a bit more about our guest: Micha Boyett is a poet, activist and author of the book, Found: A Story of Questions, Grace and Everyday Prayer. She has an MFA and writes on spiritual formation, down syndrome and motherhood. She hosts The Lucky Few podcast which focuses on changing the narrative about Down Syndrome. A SMALL STEP It’s Micha’s practice. → Create a visual clue for the change you want to see. Try grabbing a sticky note right now. Write a word, phrase, or portion of scripture that you want to meditate on. (For me, I’m putting a bright pink sticky note on the fridge that says “breathe.” so that when the noise of four small kids gets too much, I’ll remember that breathing is one way we rewire those neurons)! So grab a sticky note, put on a word or phrase and put it where you’ll see it. Let me know how it goes! It’s one small way to begin to take the ideas we want to embody -- like peace, love, and kindness -- and begin to make a practice of them. LINKS Micha’s website: https://www.michaboyett.com/ The Lucky Few Podcast: www.theluckyfewpodcast.com/ Twitter: @michaboyett Link to purchase Micha’s book, Found: https://amzn.to/2SsFZBY Link to purchase No Drama Discipline: https://amzn.to/2QDlnK4 Link to purchase The Whole-Brained Child: https://amzn.to/2SuidWf SHARE “Spiritual discipline is sometimes about retraining our brains.” —@michaboyett on #findingholypodcast with @aahales: “The smallest choices are usually the ones that effect you the most.” —@michaboyett on #findingholypodcast with @aahales “Spiritual discipline is always going to be a practice.” —@michaboyett on #findingholypodcast with @aahales “Thanksgiving is always the heart of change.” —@michaboyett on #findingholypodcast with @aahales A GIFT FOR YOU Head over to aahales.com, enter your email, and you’ll get a free download of the first chapter of my book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs. (Or you can purchase it here). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
My guest for Episode 5 is Russ Ramsey. Russ Ramsey is the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church Cool Springs in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and four children. He grew up in the fields of Indiana and studied at Taylor University and Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM). Russ is the author of the Retelling the Story Series (IVP, 2018) and Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death (IVP, 2017). In Episode 5, we talk about the best burrito restaurant in Nashville and how to creatively engage social media through pursuing beauty. We also chat about our actual places, and a few small steps to jog our imaginations as Christians -- and, of course, I ask about his laundry routine. Russ has some great tips to share about how to approach scripture this Advent season. As your small practical step, I’d simply encourage you to try something this Advent season a little differently. Let's jog our imaginations. --Take a different route home -- Frequent a local business --Engage scripture differently --Read a gospel through the Advent season --Try to get your laundry into the basket (Just kidding!) Here are Russ’s tips for engaging scripture: Read a portion of scripture beginning to end. Read aloud. Listen to scripture audio recordings. Engage your imagination: look for details in what you read. Scripture gives us wisdom, not necessarily answers. It forms the way you think. How are you formed as you read? LINKS: Russ’s website: http://russ-ramsey.com/ Christ Presbyterian Church Cool Springs: https://www.christpres.org/visit-cool-springs/ Twitter: @russramsey Baja Burrito (best burritos in Nashville): http://www.bajaburrito.com Link to purchase The Advent of the Lamb of God: https://amzn.to/2r3JNOf Link to purchase The Mission of the Body of Christ: https://amzn.to/2TJ8dtA Link to purchase The Passion of the King of Glory: https://amzn.to/2TKTs9t Link to purchase Struck: https://amzn.to/2P2984w SHARE: “When you see social media as a tool...when it’s not the main thing, then you can use it for good.” @russramsey on social media #artwednesday #findingholypodcast “Story is a trojan horse for truth.” @russramsey on #findingholypodcast “We hide scripture in the heart by way of imagination.” @russramsey on #findingholypodcast DON'T FORGET: -Subscribe to #FindingHolyPodcast -Share a link o a favorite episode on social media. Screenshot it and send it to me. I'll send you a little gift in the mail! Email me your photo at findingholypodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In Episode 4, I sit down with Bronwyn Lea. Bronwyn Lea is originally from South Africa and brings a unique perspective to American listeners, not just on America, but on the way the places we live shape our lives. Bronwyn Lea is an author, speaker, activist, and most recently, editorial curator for Propel Sophia. She loves Jesus, puns, her home country of South Africa, her adopted country of the US, her endlessly patient husband, her three goofy kids, wisdom and justice, seeing women thrive in the Kingdom, and quality ice-cream (in no particular order). As a response to the interview, I simply invite you to pray. As you pray consider these questions from Bronwyn: Can you start by processing things with God in private? Tell God what I’m sad and mad about. Is this between just God and me? Do I need to speak out? Do I need to be quiet? Secondly, I'd love to hear if you took one small step towards being hospitable with your neighbors. Try something like a Trader Joe's Open House. Tell me all about it. As always we love when people subscribe and leave reviews on iTunes! When we get to 20, the first 20 reviews will get a free "Finding Holy" journal! (Screenshot it and send it to me at aahales AT gmail). Links: https://aahales.com/ Bronwyn's website: http://bronlea.com/ Twitter: @BronLeaTweets Propel Sophia: https://www.propelwomen.org/content/propel-sophia-landing-page/gk9bjk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Award-winning author Jen Pollock Michel and I talk about how you can belong to a place when you’re an expat, our longings for home, and her amazing laundry song. You won’t want to miss this conversation about the incarnation, owning dogs, and how we belong to our places. We want the Finding Holy Podcast to help connect the dots between the things that matter and your everyday, holy life. Find out more at aahales.com/podcast. Here’s one small step to take to do just that: Take a walk. With or without a dog or kids. This allows you to meet neighbors and begin to hear their stories. So schedule a walk in your neighborhood this week. Simply start paying attention to the needs around you. As you walk more regularly, you’ll meet people, see needs to meet, and make time and space to pray and reflect. GIVEAWAY Leave a review on iTunes and I’ll contact you to receive your free Finding Holy journal for the first 20 reviews! LINKS: Link to purchase Teach Us to Want: https://amzn.to/2EkuI4n Link to purchase Keeping Place: https://amzn.to/2Cg6CVI Jen’s website: https://www.jenpollockmichel.com/ Twitter: @jenpmichel Share: “We can actually look at salvation itself as an act of housekeeping.” -@jenpmichel on home, Toronto, laundry and paradox for the #findingholy podcast with @aahales: https://apple.co/2CeiHLg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the first episode of “The Finding Holy Podcast,” I sit down to talk with Alan Noble, author of the book Disruptive Witness. We talk about everything from Twitter, Instagramming your hike, to best practices online, his book, ironing, dressing nicely and doing the laundry. Find out more at https://aahales.com/podcast ONE SMALL STEP Connect the dots between the things that matter and your everyday, holy life: 3 questions for you as you consider how to interact in online spaces: What are my triggers? (Do I go to Twitter when I’m angry, sad or lonely? What are other ways I might deal with my emotions?) What is a healthy amount of time to be online? (And, when am I consciously turning off?) What practices might I take up to engage with God, myself, or others this week? (Try taking a walk like Alan).
LINKS Link to purchase Disruptive Witness: https://amzn.to/2P2ZnnL Christ and Pop Culture: https://christandpopculture.com/ Alan’s website: oalannoble.com Twitter: @TheAlanNoble
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The Finding Holy Podcast is coming soon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices