17 Sep 2018

Aaron Niequist-episode 145

Aaron Niequist joins me on the podcast this week. He is an influential worship leader who combines ancient and modern Christian spiritual practices to help people who might feel stuck on their spiritual journey. This is part of Aaron’s own story which led him to launch a service called “The Practice,” which is all about a practice-based faith—a Christian faith that embraces tradition while recognizing that belief alone isn’t enough. He has recently written The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us From Drowning.

If you find yourself unsure of why you attend church, or questioning leaving your current place of worship, I encourage you to read Aaron’s book. It might just help keep you connected to God and the larger Christian community.

As we talked, Aaron mentioned Dallas Willard’s book, The Divine…Read More

10 Sep 2018

Steve McConnell-episode 144

I’m excited to have one of my pastors, Dr. Stephen McConnell, on Faith Conversations this week. He is the Senior Pastor of Church of the Palms in Sarasota, Florida. Our conversation was really an opportunity for me to get to know more of his story while I introduced him to my podcast audience. He is a 4th generation Presbyterian pastor, and I think you will enjoy his story as pieces of it unfold on the podcast.

The books mentioned are:
The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Middlemarch, Silas Marner, Daniel Deronda, The Mill on the Floss – all by George Eliot
Steve has written these three titles:
Take Me to Aslan
When the Wind Is Against You
Safe at Home
&n…Read More

03 Sep 2018

Parker Palmer-episode 143

Parker Palmer joins me on the podcast this week. I asked Mike to co-host and we had an incredible conversation with this nearly 80-year-old Statesman. Parker is founder and senior partner emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal and the author of ten books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, and Healing the Heart of Democracy. On the podcast we talk about his latest and possibly final book, according to him, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old.

Parker’s latest book, as well as much of our conversation, settles on “reframing aging as a passage of discovery and engagement, not decline and inaction.” How inviting is that?

Please check out this website that includes some original songs by Carrie Newcomer that correspond with Parker’s new book.

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27 Aug 2018

John Lustrea & Mike Murphy-episode 142

On the podcast this week, we tackle the question, “What is God compelling us to respond to in the world around us as we see injustice unfold?” We also talk about the posture we need to take doing that as well as take a look at what we might be resisting and why.

John starts us off with an experience he had that made him think more deeply about how we engage with the world, and I wrap up our time talking about an experience I had that has me researching where I might volunteer.

Lots of resources and links mentioned this week. I’ll try to link them all right here!

Book mentioned: When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey

Movie mentioned: The Dark Knight, which will be our next movie discussion podcast. We’ve been tasked to watch it using the lens of heroism. The link here is where you can rent or purchase via Amazon…Read More

20 Aug 2018

Suzanne Stabile-episode 141

Suzanne Stabile is an internationally recognized Enneagram master teacher. I’ve been greatly anticipating her follow-up book to The Road Back to You for a while now. The Path Between Us is more than I’d hoped for as it talks about an Enneagram journey to healthy relationships.

I love talking about the Enneagram, but even I wondered what more we could say on the podcast. With master teacher Suzanne Stabile, I should have put those thoughts to rest. We went a number of different directions and what transpired was a quality conversation on this week’s podcast. I hope you not only listen, but share it with a friend or two. Also, I keep forgetting to ask if you would be so kind as to leave a review on iTunes about Faith Conversations. That would help me out a whole lot!

We talked about Life in the Trinity Ministries that Suzanne …Read More

13 Aug 2018

Michelle Van Loon-episode 140

Michelle Van Loon is one of my favorite conversation partners. This week on Faith Conversations she responds to a listener email, talks about The Perennial Gen Workshop coming up September 15, and talks about her brand new book, Born to Wander. What happens when we are uprooted or displaced? And what does it look like to recover the value of our pilgrim identity? Michelle talks about all of that on this edition of Faith Conversations.

Follow Michelle on Twitter @michellevanloon and on Facebook.

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06 Aug 2018

Margo Tirado-episode 139

Do you ever feel guilty when you rock the boat? Are you ever afraid to fail? How about having a high tolerance for crap? Check out this week’s podcast with Margo Tirado, a psychotherapist with over 25 years of clinical experience. She has spent approximately 40,000 hours observing the human spirit and with those hours has come insights that empower women, especially, to appreciate and honor the power of their voices. Struggling to uncover your authentic voice? This week’s message is just for you!

Check out all Margo offers here.

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30 Jul 2018

Lori Neff-Book Club-episode 138

It’s the first Book Club podcast. Thanks to Lori Neff, we are periodically going to read and discuss a book on Faith Conversations. Our first selection is by Billy Coffey, titled When Mockingbirds Sing. Anna Joujan is the listener that won a copy of the book and agreed to discuss it with Lori and me.

Lori mentioned Soul Reading Journal which you can find on the Soul Librarian website. And I mentioned Billy Coffey’s latest novel, Steal Away Home.

You can follow Lori on Twitter @lorineffsd and you’ll want to check out her website, too.

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23 Jul 2018

Reesheda Graham-Washington & Shawn Casselberry-episode 137

What does it look like to empower people to transform their lives and communities? That’s the focus of this week’s conversation with Reesheda Graham-Washington and Shawn Casselberry. Both are nationally known nonprofit leaders who spend their lives helping people pivot toward courage, community, and change. This is a podcast about building bridges instead of barriers and moving from self-centeredness to solidarity among other things.

Here’s where you can learn more about Reesheda:
• www.livexclamation.com
• www.cfapartners.org
Follow Reesheda on Twitter:

• @livexclamation
• @cfapartners

Here’s where you can learn more about Shawn:

• www.missionyear.org
• www.shawncasselberry.com

Follow Shawn:

• Twitter @scasselberry
• Facebook

…Read More

16 Jul 2018

Phileena Heuertz-episode 136

Phileena Heuertz joins me this week on Faith Conversations. She is founding partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism. She is a spiritual director, yoga instructor, speaker, and retreat guide. We talk about what a pilgrimage of the soul looks like. As we look at Phileena’s book Pilgrimage of a Soul, we look at what our awakening might look like as well as some of the darkness we can face while on the journey of transformation. We wrap our time by talking about what Union with God really looks like.

…Read More