The Apprenticeship Way with Marc Alan Schelske

Episode 056 - When the Marginalized Are Our Prophets (With Jenai Auman) The person who truly understands "what's going on" in any room is often not the one in charge. Instead, it's usually those on the margins—individuals whose lives and survival depend on recognizing the hidden structures of power—who see things most clearly. In her new book, Jenai Auman shares her experiences as a Filipina-American woman in the Evangelical church in the American South and challenges us to adopt a more inclusive way of being. Show Notes Othered: Finding Belonging with the God Who Pursues the Hurt, Harmed & Marginalized The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Johnson, et. al. Lisa Oakley, UK Spiritual Abuse Researcher Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Jenai Auman is a Filipina-American writer, artist, & storyteller living in Houston, TX with her husband and two boys. Drawing on her years of church ministry experience, education, and trauma-related training, she writes on healing, hope, and the way forward for those who have experienced spiritual abuse and religious trauma. Her work has been featured on Christianity Today’s Better Samaritan Blog, She Reads Truth, and The Fallow House. Her people are those who feel “othered” and unwelcome in traditional Christian spaces. As a trauma recovery-focused spiritual director/companion, she also serves as a story-holder & space-maker. Find Jenai at https://www.jenaiauman.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenaiauman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenaiauman Today's Sponsor Not Just One More Thing: Spiritual Growth for Busy People - a ten-week on-demand course to help you move into a practical spirituality that fits into your busy life. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 56: When the Marginalized Are Our Prophets. THIS WEEK'S SPONSORToday's podcast is made possible by Not Just One More Thing: Spiritual Growth for Busy People. Is it possible to grow spiritually in the midst of a busy life? You're a follower of Jesus, but you're starting to wonder if you're really following? That's not a question about belief; it's a question about trajectory. Are you really going somewhere? And not just to heaven someday, maybe, whatever that means, but now. You want to grow and mature spiritually, and that's why you listen to this podcast. But your life is full, and it's fast-paced. You want to slow down, but you're not sure how. Life is busy and full of obligations and demands time and energy. And you can't opt out of most of that stuff. When you think about spiritual maturity, you think of maybe retired people who have hours to sit around reading their Bibles or volunteering at church and praying, or maybe monks who live in a quiet cloister where they can think big thoughts about God all day long, but that's not your life. Do you wonder if it's even possible to grow spiritually in the midst of the busy life you have? Well, it is. Being spiritual when you're on vacation or when you have a lot of free time on your hands is easy. That's when you have all the time in the world for reading and reflecting and journaling, engaging in deep conversations, and worshiping. Anyone can do that. But keeping your spiritual head above water when life is busy is the real test. Not Just One More Thing: Spiritual Growth for Busy People is an on-demand video course that I wrote after I saw that I kept answering the same kinds of questions when I was talking to folks as a pastor. So it's a 10-week course that will help you take small practical steps to integrate your spiritual life into your regular life. Because the last thing you need is a bunch of homework.

Episode 054 - A Better Place Than Here (With Jennifer Knapp) What would you learn if you had the opportunity to go back and revisit your spiritual journey of twenty-five years ago? What if that experience happened in community, with folks who were there with you, when it happened? What would you learn? How are you different? What losses and what growth would you notice? The release of Kansas 25, a re-recording of her award-winning album, Kansas, gave singer songwriter, Jennifer Knapp, just that experience. Show Notes Get Kansas 25 Digital, CD & Vinyl Streaming on all major services. Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Jennifer Knapp is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, author, speaker, and advocate whose two-decade career has significantly impacted the music industry. With over one million albums sold from her first three releases—"Kansas" (1998), "Lay It Down" (2000), and "The Way I Am" (2001)—Knapp achieved Gold certification for "Kansas" and earned four Dove Awards along with two Grammy nominations. Originating from Kansas, she has performed globally alongside artists like Jars of Clay and participated in the Lilith Fair Tour in 1999 and 2010. Known for her poignant exploration of human experiences and spirituality, Knapp took a seven-year hiatus in 2002, returning with the album "Letting Go" in 2010, which debuted at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 200 Chart. Beyond music, she is a pioneer in LGBTQ+ advocacy within Christian communities, being the first major artist to openly discuss her identity, which sparked national dialogue and led to appearances on platforms like Larry King Live and TEDx. In 2012, she founded Inside Out Faith, a non-profit organization advocating for LGBTQ+ rights in faith contexts. Recently, she completed a master’s degree in theological studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School, reinforcing her commitment to social justice through music and advocacy. Jennifer Knapp’s diverse talents and dedication to inclusivity continue to inspire audiences worldwide. Find Jenn at https://jenniferknapp.com Facebook: JenniferKnappMusic Instagram: @JenniferKnappMusic Today's Sponsor The Apprenticehip Notes Newsletter - Monthly-ish writing just for you on spiritual growth in the other-centered, co-suffering way of Jesus. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth, following the way of Jesus. This is episode 55: A Better Place Than Here. THIS WEEK'S SPONSORToday's podcast is made possible by The Writers Advance. I'm a writer. I love supporting writers. Five years ago, I created The Writer's Advance. It's exactly what I needed--A writing weekend that has been crafted to be precisely what writers need to push forward their current project. It's not about networking or listening to experts speak or trying desperately to get an agent or editor to notice you. Nope. It's about writing and reconnecting with why writing matters to you. At the end of every writing weekend, I send all the participants an anonymous survey to get feedback so that I can improve the experience. You can read their words on the event website, but I wanted to just read a couple of their comments to you right now, because they really tell the story. This is an anonymous feedback from the retreat two years ago. "This was an amazing weekend. The hosting was on target. The venue was peaceful and offered more than I expected. I loved the pacing. Marc is a great host and guide, and provides just the right amount of encouragement and accountability. So looking forward to the next one." Here's another. This is a comment about last year's event. "This weekend reenergized my commitment to my writing craft. It was an excellent blend of accountability, flexibility,

Episode 054 - Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (With Sarah Sanderson) Do you know the hidden history of the place where you live? If we want to be part of God’s work of bringing restoration and liberation, we can’t ignore what’s happened in the past. Telling this truth is the only way to get to healing. Show Notes Get Sarah's book: The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate Other Books Mentioned: Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair by Duke Kwon & Greg Thompson The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby Dear White Peacemakers: Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace by Osheta Moore Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Sarah L. Sanderson is a writer, speaker, and teacher. Her writing has appeared in PBS Newshour, Blackpast, Christianity Today, and various other journals. She’s a thoughtful human, a justice-minded Christian, and a skilled writer. Find Sarah at www.SarahLSanderson.com Threads: @sarahlsandersonwriter Facebook: sarah.sanderson Instagram: @sarahlsandersonwriter Today's Sponsor The Apprenticehip Notes Newsletter - Monthly-ish writing just for you on spiritual growth in the other-centered, co-suffering way of Jesus. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Do you know the hidden history of the place where you live? If we want to be part of God's work to bring restoration and liberation, we can't ignore what's happened in the past, as much as we'd like to. Telling this truth is the only way to get to healing. Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 54. Knowing the past to make a better future. THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR Before we start, I'd like to tell you about Apprenticeship Notes. Apprenticeship Notes is my new email newsletter. What is this? Why should you subscribe? Why on earth would you want one more newsletter in your inbox? I'm glad you asked. Social media has just stopped working well for many people. Our social media feeds used to be spaces where we had some control. We could choose to follow people who are interesting to us. We could connect with friends, we could learn from the experience and wisdom of other people. For well more than 10 years, my social media feeds, particularly Twitter, were a significant benefit to me, especially as a writer. But nowadays, in most cases our social media feeds are filled with ads, sponsored posts that are ads but don't look like ads, and influencers trying to sell us on their latest master course. And even when we find and follow the people we want to hear more from, the black-box algorithms determine whether or not we get to see what they have to say. And usually what the algorithm shows us is just stuff that gets us ramped up. That means more anger, more division. It's a mess. I've been slowly transitioning away from using social media as the main avenue for communicating about my writing. It's really scary. I can't even express to you how big of a change this is. At one point I had 35,000 followers on Twitter, I could reliably post a new blog and around a thousand people would see it. But that's not true any longer and it hasn't been for a while. And so I decided to begin building a different kind of space where I could write, encourage people, and serve folks who want to grow spiritually and value the writing that I do. The first step of this new plan is my newsletter. It's called Apprenticeship Notes because the spiritual life, following the way of Jesus, is something you learn by doing. This newsletter comes out monthly. OK, honestly, monthly-ish, probably about nine to 10 times a year. So what will you find if you subscribe? Well, each edition starts with Today's Note,

Episode 053 - What if the Bible isn't perfect? (With Zach Hunt) There are many debates and disagreements within Christianity. Behind most of these, you’ll find one very significant issue. How we read the Bible. The way we read the Bible and what we believe about how the Bible came to be directly gets at what we believe about God. Can Christianity work if the Bible isn't perfect? Show Notes Get Zach's books: Godbreathed: What it Really Means for the Bible to Be Divinely Inspired Unraptured: How End Times Theology Gets It Wrong Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Zack Hunt has spent the last decade writing about the interplay of faith and politics in the public sphere on his eponymous blog, Substack, and Patheos as well as contributing articles to multiple publications. He’s also made appearances in Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and various other media outlets. Find Zack at www.TheWayIsTheWay.org Threads: @zaackhunt Facebook: @zlhunt Instagram: @zaackhunt Today's Sponsor Journaling for Spiritual Growth - Six weeks to build a habit that fosters spiritual and emotional maturity. This little book is a generous and hospitable guide to establishing a sustainable spiritual practice. Try it now. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting into my email list. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 53. What if the Bible isn't perfect? TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by Journaling for Spiritual Growth. This is my new book. It launched in November of 2022, so it's just a few months old, but it's already finding its people. And that is so exciting to me, especially since this is a book with a pretty small target audience. I heard from one woman who grew up in the church, and her comment after reading Journaling For Spiritual Growth was how relieved she felt. For her, this little book helped her to untangle her picture of God and find a healthy way to pursue spiritual growth. I teared up, listening to her. Here's an Amazon review that just moved me. "I wish this book had been around when I was at the start of my deconstructing process and trying to form a new connection to my last shred of spiritual practice with the Bible. After reading this book, I can tell you it is something special. I found this book clear, focused, and transparent in its intentions. It became my friend in a way as I explored the prompts. It makes room for one's personal story and experience. Give it a try. I hope it gracefully surprises you as it did me." As an author, I could not ask for higher praise than that. This little book is a six-week process to gently guide you through building a lasting and sustainable journaling practice, where you'll experience spiritual and emotional growth. My intention was to write something helpful and healing. And if that sounds intriguing, you can get it in all the book places where you can get a signed copy directly from me at my website. Learn more about the book and the places that you can get it at www.JournalingForSpiritualGrowth.com. INTRODUCTION Marc Schelske 1:50 There is significant division and disagreement in the greater Christian community. This includes long historical arguments about theology, like exactly what it means that Jesus saves us and exactly how that comes about,

Episode 052 - Childlike Faith vs. Childish Faith (With Pastor Mandy Smith) Often the church seems in a panic to avoid the influence of culture, but what if the church is already fully bought into the assumptions of culture? Western culture assumes that strength, leadership, and being right are the way of success. Does the way of Jesus calls us to something different?. Show Notes Get Mandy's books: The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower our Ministry Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith beyond the Baggage of Western Culture Mandy's Website: www.TheWayIsTheWay.org Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partners Mandy Smith is a pastor, author, and speaker. She pastors St. Lucia Uniting Church, in St. Lucia, in Queensland, Australia. She's a regular contributor to Christianity Today and Missio Alliance. Find Mandy at www.TheWayIsTheWay.org Twitter: @MandySmithHopes Facebook: Mandy Smith Today's Sponsor The Untangled Heart Course - We don’t need to live with fear that our emotions will overwhelm us. We can learn to experience them in a way that allows us access to the wisdom they carry! More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting into my email list. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 52. Childlike faith is better than childish faith. TODAY'S SPONSOR Marc Schelske 0:18Today's podcast is made possible by the Untangled Workshop. Some of us don't do too well with emotions, ours, other peoples'. It doesn't matter. For some of us, they're confusing. For some of us, they're overwhelming. For some of us, it feels like we live at the whim of emotions that are explosively beyond our control. Others of us can't seem to feel anything at all, even when it seems like we should. For most of my life, emotions were a deep struggle for me. I had no idea how much my early childhood trauma had shaped the way I experienced my emotions. I just knew that my emotions, other people's emotions, anyone's emotions made me uncomfortable. Things are much better for me now, but I remember what that ache was like. And that's why I teamed up with a skilled trauma therapist, Byron Kehler, to create The Untangled Workshop, a roadmap for understanding and navigating our emotions. We filmed this training live, and then created an on-demand video course that you can watch on your own time and review as needed. In this workshop, you'll learn why we often disconnect from our emotions, how our emotions serve a vital role in living a fulfilled life, and what's happening in our brain and body when we feel an emotion. In addition, we'll teach you a simple to understand roadmap for how to experience, to sit with your emotions and understand what your emotions might be telling you, and then give you some tools you can immediately use to improve your own emotional life and your emotional connection with others. The course cost $65. That includes ten sessions with five hours of video teaching, multiple questions for each session that allow you to journal and reflect on the content and process what you're learning, a 23-page downloadable notes packet and a two-page full color downloadable emotions reference card, something that was really really helpful and important to me in my own emotional recovery. Along with that you get the ability to ask clarifying questions and get answers directly from me.

Episode 051 - Faith when you don't Feel Faithful (With Ben Stenke & Matt Tebbe) The life of a follower of Jesus is not about assent to an idea, or rigorous attention to a life of religious activity. Matt Tebbe says, "There aren't two things: faith and action. There's just one thing: Faithful Action." We discuss. Show Notes Get the book: Having the Mind of Christ Gravity Leadership's Excellent Podcast: The Gravity Leadership Podcast Gravity Cohorts: https://gravityleadership.com/academy/ Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partners Ben Sternke is an Anglican priest, author, and leadership trainer. He's one of the co-founders of Gravity Leadership and pastors at The Table Indy, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Find Jonathan at www.GravityLeadership.com Twitter: @bensternke Facebook: Ben Sternke Matt Tebbe is also an Anglican priest, author, and leadership trainer. He's the other co-founder of Gravity Leadership and pastors at The Table Indy, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Find Matt at www.GravityLeadership.com Twitter: Matt Tebbe Facebook: Matt Tebbe Today's Sponsor Journaling for Spiritual Growth - Yes! My new book is out and in pre-order mode. Head over and check it out and maybe order a copy or three. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting into my email list. Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 51: "Faith when you don't feel faithful." TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by Journaling for Spiritual Growth. This is my new book. It launched in November of 2022. So it's just a few months old, but it's already finding its people. And that is really exciting to me, especially since I knew going into it that this book had a pretty small target audience. A few weeks ago, I was talking to a woman who read the book and had grown up in the church, and her comment after reading Journaling for Spiritual Growth was how relieved she felt. For her, this little book helped her untangle her picture of God, and find a healthier way to pursue spiritual growth. I teared up, listening to her. Here's an Amazon review I want to share with you this really moved me: "I wish this book had been around when I was at the start of my deconstruction process, trying to form a new connection to my last shred of spiritual practice with the Bible. After reading this book, I can tell you it is something special. I found the book clear, focused, and transparent in all its intentions. It became my friend in a way as I explored the prompts. It makes room for one's personal story and experience. Give it a try. I hope it gracefully surprises you as it did me." As the author who wrote this book, I could not ask for higher praise than that. This little book is a six-week process to gently guide you in building a lasting and sustainable journaling practice where you'll experience spiritual and emotional growth. I intended to write something helpful and healing. And if that sounds intriguing to you, you can get it on all the online bookstores, or you can buy a signed copy directly from me at my website. Learn more about the book and what's in it at www.JournalingForSpiritualGrowth.com. WHERE HAVE I BEEN? It's been a while, hasn't it? My last podcast episode was almost six months ago. Well, I've been up to my ears in research for my master's thesis,

Episode 050 - Letting God Change Our Minds —or, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Devotional (With Jonathan Puddle) What do you do with an opportunity that comes your way that isn't right for you? That happened for Jonathan Puddle, and he turned into something beautiful. Show Notes Jonathan's new devotional: Mornings With God: Daily Bible Devotional for Men Jonathan's first devotional: You are Enough: Learning to Love Yourself the Way God Loves You Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Kevin Makins is a writer, speaker, and maker of things, who is also just a regular pastor, serving at Eucharist Church, in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Find Jonathan at www.jonathanpuddle.com Twitter: @jonathanpuddle Instagram: @jonathanpuddle Facebook: Jonathan Puddle Today's Sponsor Journaling for Spiritual Growth - Yes! My new book is out and in pre-order mode. Head over and check it out and maybe order a copy or three. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list. Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00 So are we willing to let God change our minds? Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, And this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 50. When God changes our minds, or maybe a better title: A weird thing happened on the way to the devotional book. You'll see what I mean. TODAY’S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by Journaling For Spiritual Growth. Yes, finally! My new book has at long last made it through all of the hurdles of writing and editorial and revision and design and all that stuff. Pre-orders are live right now. And on November 15, it will be available to you. I'm so excited about this. Now, if you follow me online, or you're a regular podcast listener, you already know I'm a big advocate for practical, doable, intentional practices that contribute to personal and spiritual growth. And that's what this is about. Journaling has been a part of my spiritual practice for about 30 years now. And working with lots of people as a pastor, and in other capacities, for more than two decades, I've seen that for many people, journaling is the most consistently transformative practice. But I've also seen a lot of people try journaling and then give up. A lot more are intimidated about starting. It feels like a really big deal. So, I wanted to offer an easy-to-follow process that can help a person start a flexible, gracious, sustainable journaling practice that can serve over the long haul. That's what this little book is about. It's a day-by-day guide that will, over the course of six weeks, help you set your expectations, lay the groundwork, and begin building a habit of journaling that is specifically focused on personal and spiritual growth--and that will work in your actual life. If that sounds intriguing, you can learn more about the book at www.JournalingForSpiritual growth.com. And as I said, the book is presently in preorder. That's really important. Why? Because when people preorder a book that does two things. First, it tells the all-seeing algorithms over at Amazon and on social media what's interesting to people. When that happens, the algorithm start sharing it with people that we don't even know. But the second thing is that all those pre-orders get counted as sales on the first day the book goes live. That boost helps the book become visible through all the noise of all of the...

Episode 049 - Church, Stop Acting Like a Hot Topic—or, Building a Church People Actually Want To Go To (With Kevin Makins) Why would anyone bother to go to church? I don't mean why would Christians bother. I mean, if someone outside of the church was thinking about getting involved, why would they? What might it look like to build a church that people attend because it's meaningful to them, not out of obligation or habit? What would a church look like that was truly loved by its neighborhood? Show Notes The Nones: Where they came from, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, by Ryan Borge Article: OK, Millennial. Don't Blame Boomers for the Decline of Religion in America, by Ryan Borge Kevin's Book: Why Would Anyone Go to Church? Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Kevin Makins is a writer, speaker, and maker of things, who is also just a regular pastor, serving at Eucharist Church, in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Find Kevin at www.KevinMakins.com Learn more about his church: https://eucharistchurch.ca/ See Kevin's short films about being human and his 60-min one-man show, "Holy Shift." Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinmakins Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinmakins/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevinmakinsstuff Today's Sponsor My Summer Inflation Sale - I am trying to raise some funds this summer to make up for a shortfall in income. If you've been thinking about buying anything I make, now is a great time! These sale prices will be active through August 1st. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list. Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00 Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske and this is The Apprenticeship Way, A podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 49. Church stop acting like a hot topic! Or maybe a better title is "Building a church people actually want to go to." TODAY’S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by My Summer Inflation Sale. You heard me! Life has gotten expensive, hasn't it? Gas, groceries, it's all a bit much. Now, Christina, my wife, is a teacher. And so the normal gig is that our family is without a second paycheck for a couple of months every summer. In past years, we've budgeted to cover that. But this year, the dramatic increase in prices of essential things has just outpaced our budget. So I'm looking for some extra income. So if you've ever thought about buying something I make, now is an excellent time. So what could you get? Any and all of my books, my online courses, and of course for some people, there's the work that I do to support writers. See it all with special summer inflation sale prices at www.MarcAlanSchelske.com/ Summer-Inflation-Sale. Those prices will be available until August 1. So act fast, I've got some bills to pay. INTRODUCTION I grew up in Ohio, the American Midwest, in the 1980s. And in that place and time, everyone went to church, everyone I knew. The only question was how into it were you, but everyone went to church. Fast forward through two recessions (maybe three now), the 9-11 attacks, a pointless 20 Year War, a housing bubble (or two), and a global pandemic that shut down in-person gatherings for, in some cases, a year or more, and the world has changed. The assumption that everyone goes to church is just no longer true, especially where I live here in the Pacific Northwest. Ryan Burge wrote a book called "The Nones" about t...

Episode 048 - Empathy Is Not a Sin (With Becky Castle Miller) Recently a number of Christian leaders and teachers have been making waves saying that empathy is a sin--or at least something that good Christians need to be very careful with. Why would they say this? What do they get out of it? And why should you be concerned if you hear this line of thinking? Show Notes Following King Jesus by Scot McKnight and Becky Castle MillerCheck out Seminary Now, where Becky works.One source on Calvin's letter justifying the murder of Servetus: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8.iv.xvi.xxii.html Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Becky Castle Miller writes and speaks on emotional, mental, and spiritual health in the church. She recently graduated from Northern Seminary with a master's in New Testament Context, studying with Dr. Scot McKnight. Her discipleship workbook with Dr. McKnight is called Following King Jesus. She is working on a new book about Jesus's emotions. She, her husband, their five kids, and cat returned to the US after living in the Netherlands for eight years, where she worked at an international church. She is presently the Program Manager for Seminary Now. Becky writes on Medium: https://medium.com/wholeheartedTwitter: @bcastlemillerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckycastlemillerblog/ Today's Sponsor The Wisdom of Your Heart - This book debunks several myths about emotions that are often taught in church, presents a healthier theology of emotions, and our best current understanding of what emotions mean when we have them, and how we can learn to hear wisdom in them. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00 Hey friends, I'm Marc Alen Schelske and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 48. Empathy is not a sin--and anyone who tells you so is trying to control you. TODAY’S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by The Wisdom of Your Heart. We're talking about empathy today and that means we're going to touch on the world of our emotions. This is a subject close to my heart. I spent a lot of my life deeply disconnected from my emotions and it costs me gravely. You can hear the story of my recovery in my book, The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Power and Purpose of Your Emotions. In this book, I also debunk several myths about emotions that are often taught in church, I present a theology of emotions, and I talk about our best current understanding of what emotions mean when we have them and how we can learn to hear wisdom in them. So, if today's conversation is helpful, or if you're unpacking difficult emotions from your past, or bad emotional teaching from the church, I invite you to check out The Wisdom of Your Heart. It's available in all the book places. Learn more at www.TheWisdomOfYourHeart.com. INTRODUCTION In the past couple of years, the strangest controversy has emerged and it's only getting worse. It turns out that a number of pastors and theologians have been teaching that empathy is a sin. Empathy, you know, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, that? Yeah, empathy is a sin. Now, the idea that empathy is a sin strikes me as patently absurd and dismissible. This whole podcast could boil down to me saying, "No, guys. No, it's not."

Episode 047 - Don't Choose Shallow Formation (With Rich Vellodas) Does our faith enable us to be “a good gift” to our neighbors, even the neighbors we disagree with? Many Christians, it seems, are living in ways that contradict the core ethic of our faith loving our neighbors as ourselves. What is going on? It seems like we are witnessing a mass failure of discipleship. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? Show Notes The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformational Values to Root us in the Way of Jesus by Rich Vellodas Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazerro Rich Vellodas preaches about Racism as it is manifested in human structures and institutions. Worth your time. Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about Rich Vellodas Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading widely, preaching, and writing on contemplative spirituality, justice-related matters, and the art of preaching. He's been married to Rosie since 2006 and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan. His Website: www.RichVillodas.com Twitter: @richvillodas Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rvillodas Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance - A unique twice-a-year writers weekend that's focused on writing. No break-out sessions. No listening to experts talk about what worked for them. No networking. No social media. Just a small group of writers encouraging each other to write. One-on-one coaching and group feedback available. Just a few spots remain for the April weekend. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list. The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions. Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00 Does our faith enable us to be a good gift to our neighbors? Even the neighbors we disagree with? Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is the Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 47. Don't choose shallow formation. TODAY’S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by The Writers Advance. I'm a writer, and I love supporting writers. Three years ago, I created the writer's advance. It's a writer's weekend. And it's been crafted to be exactly what writers need to push forward their current project. It's not about networking or listening to experts speak or trying desperately to get an agent or an editor to notice you. It is about writing and reconnecting with why writing matters to you. Now, at every event I send all the participants an anonymous survey. You can read their words on the event website, but I want to read a few of their comments right now because they tell the story. They're writers who have come to this event. And this is what they have to say. This is from the anonymous survey from the most recent event in November of 2021. "This was an amazing weekend. The hosting was on target, the venue was peaceful, and offered more than I expected. I love the pacing. Often retreats such as these are nice getaways with lots of listening to people speak. And I really appreciated the time to write and to wind down with points of contact along the way. Mark is a great host and a guide and provides just the right amount of encoura...

Episode 046 - A More Beautiful Deconstruction (With Dr. Bradley Jersak) Deconstruction is everywhere. People are doing it. Some leaders are fighting it. Some people are excited by it. Some people are terrified of it. Is it just a trendy new word for leaving the church? No. It's a process that's necessary for spiritual maturity--and how we think about it matters. Show Notes A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel A More Christlike Way: A More Beautiful Faith A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the Emmaus Way Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about Dr. Bradley Jersak Dr. Bradley Jersak is an author of multiple books. He's a professor of theology and the Dean of theology and culture at St. Stephen's University, New Brunswick. He serves as a reader and monastery preacher at an orthodox monastery, and he lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia with Eden his wife. Let's talk deconstruction. His Website: www.BradJersak.com Clarion: Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice: www.clarion-journal.com/ Twitter: @bradjersak Facebook: www.facebook.com/bradley.jersak Today's Sponsor The Wisdom Of Your Heart - A unique twice-a-year writers weekend that's focused on writing. No break-out sessions. No listening to experts talk about what worked for them. No networking. No social media. Just a small group of writers encouraging each other to write. One-on-one coaching and group feedback available. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list. The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions. Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00 Is deconstruction just a trendy word for backsliding or leaving Christianity? No. deconstruction is a necessary part of faith and how we think about it matters. Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske and this is the apprenticeship way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is Episode 46. A more beautiful deconstruction. TODAY’S SPONSOR Today's podcast is sponsored by The Wisdom Of Your Heart. Imagine having two legs, two strong, healthy, functional legs, but then your parents and your teachers, maybe a pastor of the church who grew up in told you that in order to be a good person, a strong person, someone that really does what God wants, you need to only ever use one of those legs. Now you're a kid, you believe what trusted people tell you. And so you do it. You try living life on just one leg, you hop around, you end up sometimes losing your balance, you get pretty bruised up, but you know that you're doing what God wants. So you're being strong and good, even though sometimes you get hurt pretty badly or hurt other people around you. This isn't a made up story. A lot of people who grew up Christian are living like this. Maybe it's you! Were you told that emotions are untrustworthy or immature are only capable of deception? Were you taught that good decision making, clear thinking, and even godly doctrine can never be influenced by emotion, by our feelings? Did some pastor tell you that empathy is a sin? Or maybe you experienced profound trauma that shut down your emotions or made your emotion swing wildly. Living like that is like trying to live with only one leg when you have two functional healthy legs. You're not using the tools God gave you. You're only going to end up hurting yourself and others.

Episode 045 - Let's Normalize Being Wrong (With Matt Tebbe) I grew up in a faith tradition where being right was essential. It's what kept us in community. It's what we thought honored God. For many other reasons--temperament, trauma, and even privilege--being right became an identity issue for me. Then I heard Matt Tebbe suggest that we need to normalize being wrong. For some of us this is the medicine we need. Show Notes "Let's normalize being wrong. Make Repentance Great Again" - Matt TebbeJohn 10:18Philippians 2 Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about Matt Tebbe Rev. Matt Tebbe (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) has been a coach, communicator and consultant with churches in North America since 2011. He has experience as a youth pastor, a bi-vocational church planter, and working on a team at a large church to transition it from a Sunday-centric worship service to a discipleship and mission paradigm. He has written for Leadership Journal, Shattered Magazine, and contributed to the book “What Pastors Wish Their Congregations Knew” by Kurt Fredrickson and Cameron Lee. He’s also been a featured writer at Missio Alliance and The V3 Movement. He co-founded Gravity Leadership, and is planting a church (The Table) in the northeast suburbs of Indianapolis, where he and his wife Sharon live with their children Deacon and Celeste. His Church: www.thetableindy.orgGravity Leadership: www.gravityleadership.comTwitter: @matttebbeFacebook: www.facebook.com/matttebbe Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance Weekend - A unique twice-a-year writers weekend that's focused on writing. No break-out sessions. No listening to experts talk about what worked for them. No networking. No social media. Just a small group of writers encouraging each other to write. One-on-one coaching and group feedback available. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00 Did you know you don't have to correct other people? Did you know you can be wrong, and the world won't end? Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alen Schelske. This is the apprenticeship way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is Episode 45. Let's normalize being wrong. TODAY’S SPONSOR Now, before we jump into that conversation, I'd like to tell you that today's podcast is made possible by The Writers Advance. I'm a writer, I write this podcast. I write blog posts. I write sermons, I've written three books. I've got two manuscripts in the oven right now. I think I've written something close to a million words at this point. And all of that writing, I have learned that there really is only one significant obstacle to writing just one. Life. Life and all its business, obligations, responsibilities, chores, people who need you to do stuff right now. And all that stuff, it takes time. And even when you sit down to write and try to focus at all intrudes into the space into your emotions. So, one of the disciplines that I have learned over the years of writing is that periodically, I need to get out of my life in order to focus. Not an out-of-body experience, I just need to get off the grid, I need to be out of the reach of my schedule and phone, I need to retreat so that I can advance my writing. That's why I created the writer's advance. This is a very unique event for writers.

Episode 044 - Your Suffering is Sacred (With K.J. Ramsey) Are you allergic to happy clappy Christianity? There’s a good reason for thats. Churches that ignore suffering are ignoring Jesus. Many churches are not good at holding suffering. People who find themselves in extended suffering — maybe living with depression or anxiety, other mental health issues, or even invisible chronic illness — sometimes find there’s not a place for them in the church. In this episode, I talk with KJ Ramsey who has particular experience with this, and we talk about the gospel according to suffering. Show Notes "There needs to be more room in the Body of Christ to stand in the ground of our sorrow and see our suffering Savior." - KJR"We prefer to keep death out of sight and any reminders of the decay in our bodies or being less than dazzling, we want to hide and pretend it doesn't exist but the good news is that's not the way of Jesus." -KJR"If you're in a church where they say 'This table is for all,' but you're not actually included, leave. You don't need to stay in a community that crushes you...You are not faithless if you need to walk away." - KJR"To deconstruct the 2x4s of a house that was never actually God's house is a gift that you give to your future self." -KJR Follow KJ Ramsey & Get her Book K.J. Ramsey (BA, Covenant College, MA, Denver Seminary) is a licensed professional counselor, writer, and recovering idealist who believes sorrow and joy coexist. She is the author of This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers, and her writing has been published in Christianity Today, RELEVANT, The Huffington Post, Fathom Magazine, Health Central, and more on the integration of theology, psychology, and spiritual formation. She and her husband live in Denver, Colorado. At her website: http://www.kjramsey.comInstagram: @kjramseywritesTwitter: @kjramseywritesFacebook: @kjramseywritesGet her book, This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers OTHER LINKS You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. Today's Sponsor Untangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom - If you’re like me, you might not have really been equipped to face difficult feelings. Distraction and denial were my favorite emotional tools. Projects. Video Games. TV. Social Media. More Work. Anything to not feel the discomfort. Learning how to sit with my feelings and understand what they really meant has been life changing. I wanted to share that with people I work with, so I wrote this little journal. The first 30 pages teach you the basics of how emotions work in our bodies and our brains, and how make meaning out of all of that. Then you learn a step-by-step template that guides you through processing an emotional reaction. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 043 - Your Purity & Piety Will Get You Nowhere You want to grow as a person. You want a sense of intimate connection with the Divine. You believe or suspect that the way of Jesus has something to say about this. That’s why you’re here. That’s why I write. But in order to grow in the way of Jesus, we have to unpack some ideas we have about the spiritual life, so we can clear away some of the garbage that’s getting in our way. One obstacle to growing spiritually is the picture we have in our minds about what a really spiritual person looks like. Yea. Our expectation of spirituality can be an obstacle to encountering Jesus. Show Notes Do you have either of these ideas internalized?"If we want to know and experience God, we must deal with sin in our lives. Intimacy with God and spiritual growth is tied to our purity.""If we want to know and experience God, we have to really, really want it and demonstrate commitment through an investment of time and effort. Intimacy with God and spiritual growth is tied to our piety."If you're not sure, try this quick test. What is your immediate gut response to the question, "How are you doing spiritually?" If your answer is tied to dealing with sin or spending more time in spiritual practice, then one of these ideas has taken root in your heart.We often compare ourselves to an imaginary ideal holy person in our minds. Whatever this holy person looks like will shape how we feel about ourselves and what we think we need to do to have an encounter with God. Consider a different narrative about encounter with God:Reflect on the story of Jacob. (Read it for yourself in Genesis 32)Jacob encounters God while wrestling in the dark. He doesn't recognize God. He didn't go into the dark to be spiritual. He was at the end of his rope. Do we feel like God isn't present in our lives because we are expecting God's presence to be something we recognize?Jacob has to tell the truth about himself. The stranger asked for Jacob's name. In his culture a person's name represented their character. Jacob's name was "Heal Grabber," a conniver, a cheater, a betrayer. God gave him a new name and a new story, but before that he had to admit the truth of who he was. Do we miss God's presence because we are clinging to justifications and lies about who we are?Jacob wouldn't let go. Even though he had lost the fight, he would not let go until he received a blessing. Do we sometimes feel like God isn't present because after we have prayed a little while, we don't feel like we've gotten an answer or a sense of God's presence, and we give up? You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor My Youtube Channel - I'm working this year to build my Youtube channel. Why? Isn't this a podcast? Aren't podcasts audio? It's really simple. Youtube is one of the largest search engine when you count the number of searches. When people want to learn how to do something, Youtube is the first place they go. My whole purpose with this podcast is to help people develop a healthy, inner life following the way of Jesus. A bunch of those people are never going to search “Christian Podcasts” in a podcast app. But they do come to Youtube and search for practical spiritual insight. I want to meet them there, and you can help. Head over to my channel and subscribe. Every time you like, comment and share a Youtube video, the algorithm assumes that people like you would like that video. That's how the algorithm knows who to recommend videos to. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online.

Episode 042 - Can You Imagine Jesus Demanding Sex? - Interview with Sheila Wray Gregoire. Christian teachers notoriously have lots of opinions about sex. Sometimes they even claim those opinions are God’s will. But what if some of those teachings are hurting people and wrecking marriages? In this interview with Sheila Wray Gregoire we talk about the stunning findings from her survey of 20,000 Christian women about their sex lives, beliefs, and what they were taught in church about sex. This is a crucial conversation if the church is going to be healthy, life-giving community. Show Notes CONTENT ADVISORY: We’re going talk frankly about sex, body parts, sex acts, and porn. Sexual abuse, rape, and marital rape will be mentioned. Meet Sheila: Sheila Wray Gregoire is passionate about changing the evangelical conversation about sex! A popular speaker, marriage blogger, and award-winning author of nine books, including The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex, she wants to challenge Christians to go beyond pat answers on marriage to reach real intimacy. Sheila believes in authenticity, and gives real solutions to the very real and messy problems women, and couples, can face. She and her husband Keith spend a lot of their time touring North America in an RV, speaking at marriage conferences, hiking, and birdwatching. The parents to two adult daughters, you can usually find her in Belleville, Ontario, where she’s either knitting, blogging, or taking her grandson out for a walk. Gregoire's study evaluated the impact of the following beliefs taught many in Fundamentalist or Evangelical churches:"Boys will want to push girl's sexual boundaries.""All men struggle with lust. It is every man's battle.""If you have sex before you are married, that means you have less of yourself to give your future spouse because a part of you will always belong to someone else.""The only Biblical reason for divorce is an affair.""It is a man's God-given role to provide for his family and a woman's God-given role to stay home raising her children.""Women should have frequent sex with their husbands to keep them from cheating or watching porn.""A wife is obligated to give her husband sex when he wants it." Interesting CommentsIn regard to the belief about lust being every man's battle: "We are conflating sexual attraction with sin." Sexual attraction is normal and healthy. Lust is objectification that turns people into objects for our pleasure.In regard to the belief that wives are obligated to provide sex to their husbands on demand. One of the consequences of this belief is physical pain. "Evangelical women have twice the rate of sexual pain as the general population." This is on par with the rates for women who experienced childhood abuse. This belief is abusive."Consent is the conversation that is missing in our resources." Almost all of the Christian books on marriage and sex reviewed in this study did not mention consent at all! Gregoire's Rubric for evaluating Christian Sex & Marriage BooksSee the questions used to evaluate the sex & marriage books mentioned. Finding more from Sheila Wray Gregoire:Website: tolovehonorandvacuum.comInstagramFacebookTwitter Get the Book:AmazonAll other vendors You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Untangled Heart Online Course - An online workshop to help you learn to sit with your emotions, identify them, and discern wisdom in what you learn from them. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Gro...

Episode 041 - Trust Your Instinct About the Church - Interview with Fr. Kenneth Tanner. After everything that’s happened in the past year, are you wondering about whether there’s a place for you in the church? Are you asking questions like "Where do I fit? What I’m seeing around me doesn’t look like Jesus. What do I do? I love Jesus. I want to follow Jesus, but if these other Christians are any indication, I don’t even know if I’m Christian anymore." Have you had those thoughts? Well, I can tell you from my own experience, and stacks of emails in my inbox, that you are not alone. In this interview with Father Kenneth Tanner, we'll talk about steps you can take. Show Notes What should we say to people asking these questions?"Yes. This doesn't look good.""You are not alone.""If you're alarmed by what you see in the church in America, you have good spiritual intuition." How do we fix this problem of feeling alienated?Admit we have a problem. Our Christian movements and leaders have to admit there is a problem if we want to fix it.Face our amnesia. Most of us have no attachment to the history of Christianity, and some of us have forgotten the testimony of folks who encountered Jesus throughout history. (Not just Biblical history) The historical church in Africa, Asia Minor, and Ireland for instance have much to teach us. If we forget our history, we won’t really know our identity.Listen to the words of our Lord in Matthew 25. Instead of looking to the institution, go to the margins. Jesus says that He will meet us there among the poor, the sick, the hungry, and those who are oppressed. By talking with, being in relationship with, we will be changed and encounter Jesus. Historically, Christians were the most impactful when they went to the margins and served people. This is where we’re off track, trying to amass influence and power for our team.We need the grand reorientation of our minds and hearts to begin to see the world and other human beings the way the Human God does. And then Fr. Tanner just started preaching the gospel. Here's some quotes: “God loves the world. God made the world in love. It’s because God loves the world that he doesn’t seek to escape the world. He enters the world. He decided to become human, forever identifying himself with every human person.” - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. “Christians must fundamentally begin with the revelation of God that we have in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the one who reveals the Father.” - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. “Jesus always only brings life. He never brings death. He only always brings healing and not disease. He only always brings liberty and not oppression.” - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. “We only come to the point where realize we’re ready to embrace the judgement of God when we understand his character. Perfect love casts out all fear.” - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. Where can we find hope? By looking to the broader tradition of Christian history. Listen to faithful Christians from every tradition. In order to see the full picture of Jesus, we must listen to the broad range of traditions—particularly the Christian East of the first 800 years of Christianity. And much more including thoughts on God’s wrath & Judgement, cancel culture, spiritual intuition, the controversies around how to respond to COVID-19 You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor Discovering Your Authentic Core Values - Life presents us with way too many options. We’re surrounded by potential opportunities, obligations, and distractions. On top of that, our time is limited. We can’t do everything. A meaningful life that is not stretched thin comes from learning when to say no and when to say yes. In Discovering Your Authentic Core Values, I walk you thought a simple, step-by-step process that will help you clearly identify a compass for your life that is unique to you.

Episode 040 - This IS Us. We Need To Own It. “This isn’t us. This isn’t America. We are better than this.” Have you heard—or said—those words recently? Well, you may not want to hear this, but the only way forward is to let those words go. Show Notes On January 6th, 2021 there was a historic and unprecedented event where people who had gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the certifying of the results of the presidential election turned into a violent mob that stormed the capital building. While details about exactly who was involved and what happened are still coming out at this time, one thing is clear. The majority of the participants were white, and many of them were Christian.Saying "This isn't us. This isn't how real Americans behave" or "No real Christian would do this," is a form of denial, meant to shield us from facing difficult truth.Spiritual maturity requires naming the lies we've accepted and choosing to repent of them and change our ways.Name the lie. Renounce the lie. Repent of your participation in the lie. Then, only then, can there be healing, and growth.If we want a more free and equal country, we need to stop denying our difficult past and the ways that past still shapes our life together.If we want more Christlike and impactful churches, we need to stop denying the ways we use power to get what we want, and follow the way of Jesus which means laying down our power and privilege to serve others.For another viewpoint on the issue of saying "This isn't us," read this article by Soraya Nadia McDonald. Let her viewpoint challenge you.Verifying ownership for Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/3lwZx96NSx1/ You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance - A Weekend for Writers to Write - This is the perfect weekend for writers who are serious about getting their project moved forward. This is not a weekend to learn from experts or do networking. This is a weekend where you will write in an inspiring venue, where you'll have great food, lots of space, and just enough structure and encouragement to get those words out. The next Writers Advance is in April of 2021. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 039 - You Need an Architecture of Grief (Interview with James Prescott) Twenty Twenty seems to be the car wreck that just keeps going, and the result is that many of us are experiencing more and more pain and grief. How are we to deal with this? Writer James Prescott and I discuss the ways we structure our lives for either avoiding or entering into and processing our grief. You've got to do it! Show Notes We all have an "architecture" to our lives. This is the structure of our lives that makes living our lives the way that we do easiest for us. Much of this structure is inherited and unconscious.Most of us live with an unconscious architecture that protects us from experiencing our grief. We hide from pain, and try to live our lives in such a way that the pain isn't visible.For a healthy life, where we grow personally and spiritually, we need an architecture of grief, structures in our life that enable us to experience and process our grief without being controlled by it. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance - A Weekend for Writers to Write - This is the perfect weekend for writers who are serious about getting their project moved forward. This is not a weekend to learn from experts or do networking. This is a weekend where you will write in an inspiring venue, where you'll have great food, lots of space, and just enough structure and encouragement to get those words out. The next Writers Advance is in April of 2021. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 038 - Would Jesus call you (or your church) Satan? “Get behind me, Satan!” Those are the words Jesus said to Peter. Yikes! But as I survey the current landscape of Christianity, I wonder if Jesus is saying this to us, or to our churches. In this episode, I reflect on what Jesus meant when he said these words to his friend, and what they might mean for us. Show Notes Read the scripture passages for yourself. The story: Matthew 16:21-28The background of Peter's declaration. Matthew 16:13-20Paul's eloquent description of the Christian attitude toward power: Phil 2:3-11The Hebrew root and meaning for the word Satan. May you Have the courage to let go of power, to use what you’ve been given to serve others, to use your privilege to bring more people to the table, to use your vote to speak for those who our society considers least. May you follow the peaceful path of Jesus into other-centered co-suffering love. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions. You can't grow spiritually if you're not growing emotionally. Explore the vital importance of emotional wellness and growth in your discipleship. The Wisdom of Your Heart tackles some of the myths Christians have learned about emotions, looks at emotions in scripture, what we understand about emotions in the body and the brain, and offers a process for sitting with and understanding our emotions. Available in Paperback, ebook, and Audible audiobook. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 037 - Looking for God in All the Wrong Places - Interview with Paul J. Pastor Do you sometimes feel like your spiritual life is supposed to be in color, but you can only see it in black & white? Do you worry that we might be numb to God’s presence? Are you looking for a goose-bump moment and overlooking God in the process? In this episode, I ask Paul J. Pastor about this. Paul's the author of The Face of The Deep: Experiencing the Beautiful Mystery of Life with the Holy Spirit, a book that tackles the mysterious sacredness of God's presence. Show Notes More from our guest:Check out Paul's website: www.PaulJPastor.comPick up The Face of the Deep. It's available in paper, ebook, and an amazing audiobook with an original score.Paul also has written two of the very best daily devotionals I've ever read, The Listening Day, Volume 1 and Volume 2.Note: Those links are Amazon Affiliate links. If you buy a book through those links I will receive an infintesimal kickback that I promise to spend on good books and frivolous electronics. More info here You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. Other Links Mentioned Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.