The Way of Presence: The Empowering Reality of God-With-Us launches September 8. Today, I'm sharing here a conversation with my friend and fellow author, Casey Tygrett, about the book and its life-giving message. Casey Tygrett is author of the recent Christianity Today award-winning book As I Recall , was able and willing to join me in a conversation about my new book. I know you'l appreciate how Casey helps get at the heart of what I’ve sought to say through this new book project. Jesus being t...
Sep 07, 2020•38 min•Ep. 139
Our guest today is Marlena Graves, author of The Way Up Is Down . In her own words: “…we’ll explore ways in which God is calling you and me to surrender continually to being emptied and then filled with his abounding grace. We’ll soon discover that this is the process whereby saints are made. This is the selfless-way, the God-shaped life.” For writer, pastor, and activist Marlena Graves , formation and justice always intertwine on the path to a balanced life of both action and contemplation. Mar...
Aug 31, 2020•39 min•Ep. 138
Many of you who listen to this podcast are leaders in business, church, nonprofit and other organizational settings. Others of you may not have a leadership title, but you live a leadership life…a life of influence. Today’s episode is going to help a lot. I’m talking with Jerome Daley, author of the book Gravitas: The Monastic Rhythms of Healthy Leadership about where spiritual depth and authority in leadership come. These continue to be challenging days for Christian leaders. Gem and I have had...
Aug 24, 2020•43 min•Ep. 137
Summer is another beautiful soul that Gem has met on Instagram. Last year Gem and Summer had the treat of meeting each other in person at a conference in the Midwest. Summer is a caring and wise listener and teacher and we can’t wait for you to learn from her today. Summer is an Anglican priest, spiritual director, homeschool mom of three, and still madly in love with her high school sweetheart. She comes alive listening to people’s hard and holy stories and setting the table for them to spend t...
Aug 17, 2020•45 min•Ep. 136
We are living in a season where “us and them” thinking can be very tempting. Political differences, racial tensions, generational and even religious differences can push us to build thick walls we think will protect ourselves and keep bad things out. But reality is always bigger than simple “us and them” categories. Today, I’m talking with my friend, J. R. Briggs about his new book, releasing Sept. 8, titled The Sacred Overlap: Learning to Live Faithfully in the Space Between . In it, he communi...
Aug 10, 2020•28 min•Ep. 135
In my second book, An Unhurried Leader , I wrote a chapter based on Paul’s story of the thorn in his flesh that, no matter how many times he prayed, God did not remove or resolve. As leaders, there are things about us that we want to see changed. But sometimes, instead of changing what is unpleasant or difficult for us, God chooses instead to be graciously and lovingly present to us in the midst of what doesn’t change. Instead of resolution, God offers us transforming presence. Today, I’ve invit...
Aug 03, 2020•41 min•Ep. 134
Editor and spiritual director Cindy Bunch calls us to self-care through greater compassion for ourselves. She helps us pay attention to the frustrations that bug us in order to identify negative thinking about ourselves or others. As we do so, we can discern what we need to let go. This allows us to lean into the things that bring us joy. Each chapter of her book, Be Kind to Yourself , is filled with spiritual practices and creative exercises for reflection and celebration. So, be kind to yourse...
Jul 27, 2020•27 min•Ep. 133
In her new book, Soul Care in African American Practice , Dr. Barbara L. Peacock illustrates a journey of prayer, spiritual direction, and soul care from an African American perspective. She reflects on how these disciplines are woven into the African American culture and lived out in the rich heritage of its faith community. Using examples of ten significant men and women―Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Darrell Griffin, Renita Weems, Harold Carter, Jessica Ingram, Corett...
Jul 20, 2020•52 min•Ep. 132
In my coaching, consulting and leadership training work, I have the privilege of interacting with Christian leaders around the world. And one thing is clear: our experience of church has radically changed over the last few months. It has been for some a painful challenge, but it has also been for some a unique opportunity. Jay Kim, author of the book Analog Church, talks about this church reality. Your experience of church has probably changed as much as ours has over the last many months. In mi...
Jul 13, 2020•33 min•Ep. 131
“To be human is to be lonely.” Jason Gaboury was deeply affected by these words from his spiritual director. Most of us have experienced loneliness multiple times over the course of our lives. And in this season of pandemic and self-isolation, that loneliness has only deepened for some. Jason has a message of connection and God with us that can inspire us all. Sharon Garlough Brown , author of the Sensible Shoes series, has this to say about Jason’s book, Wait With Me : “What if loneliness becom...
Jul 06, 2020•51 min•Ep. 130
Christian faith has often focused on right beliefs and right choices as the key to personal growth. But biblical evidence and modern brain science show that our character is shaped more by whom we love than merely by what we believe. In Renovated , Jim Wilder shows us how we can train our brains to relate to God based on joyful, mutual attachment, leading to emotional and spiritual maturity, as our identity and character are formed by our relationship with God. Dr. Jim Wilder is a neurotheologia...
Jun 29, 2020•45 min•Ep. 129
How do we live in a way that doesn’t leave us drained and weary? How do we lead from places of refreshment and vitality instead? Alan recently enjoyed a great conversation about “sustainable leadership” with Alan Briggs from Stay Forth Designs. Briggs work intersects at many points with what Gem and Alan have been doing for a while now. So sustainable leadership is what we’ll be talking about today. As we continue to navigate the practical changes that COVID-19 has made to our way of working, co...
Jun 23, 2020•46 min•Ep. 128
No one is going to argue that we have entered uncharted territory with the ongoing dynamics of COVID-19, and then with the painful wounds of injustice that are being rightly protested. It’s a season when we’ve perhaps never needed good leadership more, and when the complications of how leadership will adapt to the needs of this season may never have been higher. When I talk about unhurried leadership, I’m not talking about being slow to respond to real needs. I’m talking about slowing down enoug...
Jun 15, 2020•28 min•Ep. 127
Many of our listeners are leaders and it can be easy for any of us to fall into the groove of teaching or leading for mere information or knowledge …and not into the deeper levels of formation and change. Of course, knowledge is important and we must begin there. But transformation must be right on its heels or the process is incomplete. Our guest today, Diana Shiflett , has written a very practical and hands-on book entitled Spiritual Practices in Community . And it gets at what I said earlier ...
Jun 15, 2020•42 min•Ep. 126
We’ve seen the news stories and heard the rumors. Maybe we ourselves have been hurt by a narcissistic church leader. It’s easy to throw the term around and diagnose others from afar—but what is narcissism, really? And how does it infiltrate the church? Chuck DeGroat has been counseling pastors with narcissistic personality disorder, as well as those wounded by narcissistic leaders and systems, for over twenty years. He knows firsthand the devastation narcissism leaves in its wake and how insidio...
Jun 01, 2020•28 min•Ep. 125
Alan loved getting the opportunity to talk with a fellow author about the challenge of hurry in our world today. Today, we're sharing his recent conversation with Jeff Bethke, author of To Hell With the Hustle . In today’s episode, you’ll gain insight into how we can reclaim our lives in an overwhelmed, overspent, and overconnected world. Jeff is the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus > Religion and It’s Not What You Think . He and his wife, Alyssa, host The Real Life Podcast and run ...
May 18, 2020•30 min•Ep. 124
Today we’re sharing a five part framework for change. We’ve been using this process in our own lives for years and it has kept us on track. Last Fall, our book What Does Your Soul Love? was published. It’s a book about necessary change--a book about how to cooperate with the transforming work of God in us and through us. What does it take to stay on this journey of change over our lifetime? We know that you’re the kind of person who is hungry to make good progress in your life and in your work. ...
May 14, 2020•15 min
Many of us treat suffering like a problem to fix. Simply put, we’d rather not suffer at all, but if we do, we prefer it to be short. But what if our pain or suffering linger? What if it doesn’t go away quickly or at all? We may wonder if God sees us or if we’ve somehow failed God. We may question God’s very nature. If God loves us, why does he allow us to hurt? Today, Gem is talking with KJ Ramsey who has suffered with pain every day for the last 11 years. And she has much to say about the prese...
May 04, 2020•44 min•Ep. 123
The radical changes to our lives and our work continue as we stay home and distance ourselves to slow the spread of the coronavirus. We don’t know how this has impacted your emotions, but we’ve wrestled with anxious thoughts and feelings many times since our stay-at-home orders began in mid-March. On Sunday after Easter, Alan spoke for our online church service on the theme of peace. We needed it then, and we need it now. The good news of Jesus brings us peace in these uncertain times. Instagram...
Apr 28, 2020•23 min
According to our guest, Josh Larsen , “Films and faith have been intertwined in my head since childhood. As a practicing film critic, I hope to encourage other Christians in a nuanced, aesthetically focused, and theologically rooted exploration of the art of cinema.” Movies Are Prayers explores how modes of prayer—praise, confession, lament—are modeled by all types of films. In this fashion, Josh’s book illuminates the richness of both cinema and prayer. Josh Larsen is the co-host of the podcast...
Apr 13, 2020•41 min•Ep. 122
We are living in one of the most polarizing times in terms of the public conversation that I can remember in forty years of adult life. And we are being invited to be the people of God in this very world. What is Jesus inviting us to? What is on the heart of Jesus for his people in such a time as this. And how does Jesus’ prayer that we would be one as he and the Father are one provide guidance for us now? Alan recently enjoyed a conversation with Greg Holder about his book The Genius of One . H...
Apr 06, 2020•37 min•Ep. 121
Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray that these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us ....
Mar 30, 2020•9 min•Ep. 120
“A celebration of hope. An encounter with grace. A restoration of the heart. A healing of wounds. An anthem of freedom. All Along You Were Blooming is the ultimate love letter from the pen of popular Instagram poet Morgan Harper Nichols to your mind, to your heart, to your soul, and to your body.” This is a description of Morgan’s new book, All Along You Were Blooming. But it’s an even greater way to describe Morgan herself. A hopeful, gracious, restoring healing artist and creative. We just “ha...
Mar 23, 2020•44 min•Ep. 119
We know that you all have been inundated with information about COVID-19 this past week. Our intention in this brief podcast is to come alongside you as you process what is occurring in the world around you, in your community, your home, and especially within yourself. We care about your mental, emotional and soul well-being and that’s where we will focus today. We hope that what we share can be added to what you are already learning and doing, and that our words will encourage you to relax insi...
Mar 16, 2020•10 min•Ep. 118
Over the years, one of my great challenges as a leader has been the dynamic of anxiety: my own and the anxiety of those I serve. Too often in the past, anxiety has been an engine that drove my leadership activity. So I’m glad to be able to share a recent conversation I had with Steve Cuss about his important book, Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs. Reading from the back cover of Managing Leadership Anxiety, Steve Cuss asks a simple question: “Does anxiety get in the way of your abili...
Mar 09, 2020•32 min•Ep. 117
Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us ....
Mar 02, 2020•8 min•Ep. 116
You are in for a real treat today. We could not have enjoyed our conversation with Father Albert Haase more that we did. He is a truly engaging presence and you will not want to miss what he says about living in the present moment, how the beatitudes can re-wire our ego obsessions, and what it looks like to pray from the heart. A little more about Father Albert – He is a preacher, teacher, and spiritual director. A former missionary to mainland China for over eleven years, he is the award-winnin...
Feb 24, 2020•38 min•Ep. 115
Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us ....
Feb 17, 2020•9 min•Ep. 114
Personality. Achievements. Skills. Relationships. Appearance. Richella Parham was haunted by thoughts of not measuring up. She writes, “No matter how well-intentioned the teachings or pithy the advice, I found that most of it didn’t help me change.” She discovered that cultural and spiritual myths about others, God, and ourselves keep us trapped. From there she found that the journey is a spiritual one. If you’ve ever suffered from tortured moments of comparison on Facebook, in the office, or in...
Feb 10, 2020•49 min•Ep. 113
Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us ....
Feb 03, 2020•8 min•Ep. 112
