https://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/melinda-schmidt8-7-17.mp3 https://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/melinda-schmidt8-7-17.mp3 It’s great to have Melinda Schmidt back on the podcast. On this week’s episode I read emails from podcast listeners. We get real. I give out info on how to donate to the podcast. If you missed it, you can either give via PayPal or mail a check.…

https://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Caryn-and-Jennifer8-7-2017.mp3https://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Caryn-and-Jennifer8-7-2017.mp3 Caryn Rivadeneira and Jennifer Grant join me on this week’s Faith Conversations. The main topic is writing. To be more specific, writing for children and middle grades. Both of these amazing authors have ventured into the children’s literature category and I give their works a big thumbs up. Evidently…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Lori-Neff7-24-2017.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Lori-Neff7-24-2017.mp3 Lori Neff joins me on the podcast this week. We worked together for years on Moody Radio. Today Lori is working as a marketing specialist for InterVarsity Press. We cover a lot of ground on the podcast. We talk radio and publishing and poetry and looking forward after a…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Josh-Larsen7-17-2017.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Josh-Larsen7-17-2017.mp3 Josh Larsen is co-host of the radio show and podcast Filmspotting, as well as an editor and film critic at Think Christian, an online faith and culture magazine. He has recently written Movies Are Prayers: How Films Voice Our Deepest Longings. On the podcast we delve into how movies function as expressions to God…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Jennifer-Grant07-03-17.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Jennifer-Grant07-03-17.mp3 I’m on the road for a month. Currently back in Chicago and recording new podcasts that will release starting next week. Gonna leave this great conversation with Jennifer Grant up for another week on the homepage. Jennifer Grant is a terrific author. She’s written on everything from adoption in…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChristineVaultersPaintner-06-19-17.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChristineVaultersPaintner-06-19-17.mp3 I’ve been a fan of Christine Valters Paintner for a long time. She has authored a number of books, but her book The Soul of a Pilgrim came along at just the right time in my life.  It’s a helpful resource for someone going through a transition or for a person who…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PeteScazzero06-12-17.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PeteScazzero06-12-17.mp3 Pete Scazzero has been talking and writing about living an emotionally healthy spiritual life for years. I often quote this line from Pete’s book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: “You can’t be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” Too many Christians don’t believe this statement or live it out. Pete is an engaging communicator…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sharon-Swing06-05-17.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sharon-Swing06-05-17.mp3 Sharon Swing is all about story—our story and God’s story, and how the two connect. I wanted to talk with Sharon on Faith Conversations to introduce people to Listen to My Life, an amazing visual tool. It contains a series of Maps for recognizing and responding to God in our stories. What could it…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/trevor-hudson-4-10-17.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/trevor-hudson-4-10-17.mp3 Trevor Hudson is first and foremost a pastor. After you hear him talk, you’ll wish he was your pastor. The next best thing is letting him shepherd you through his books. He is the author of a book that my husband Mike and I recommend often. We’ve taken small…

http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/carol-howard-merritt-05-01-2017.mp3http://media.blubrry.com/anitalustrea/anitalustrea.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/carol-howard-merritt-05-01-2017.mp3 Carol Howard Merritt has done a great service to those hurt by the Church. Her book, Healing Spiritual Wounds, is helping many recover from a hurtful experience and reconnect with a loving God. Carol is an award-winning author, speaker, and minister whose other books include Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation and Reframing…