Unhurried Living | Helping Christians Rest Deeper & Lead Better

When it comes to talking about and understanding our life with God, I’ve long loved the image of a journey as a way of talking about it. Our life of faith isn’t merely a static set of beliefs to defend or argue about. It isn’t just being part of the right association. It is a way of life in which each of us grows, learns and develops. It is a life in which we deepen in trust, broaden in love, strengthen in hope. I recently enjoyed a conversation with a good friend of ours, Bill Gaultiere, about a new book he and his wife, Kristi, have written called Journey of the Soul. We’ve been grateful for their presence in our lives for some time now. In their new book, they share insights into the shape that our journey of growth in Christ might take. Before we go there, let me tell you a bit more about Bill. He is a psychologist and a spiritual director. By the age of 30 he had published three books with mainline Christian publishers and sold over 40,000 copies. But then God led him into a 20 year hiatus from publishing in order to better love Christ, his wife and three children, and everyone in his circle of influence. It was a longer journey than he’d expected. Bill and Kristi have their doctorates in psychology and are the founders of Soul Shepherding, Inc., a nonprofit ministry that cultivates intimacy with Jesus for pastors and other servant leaders. Learn more and connect with Bill on social:Facebook @soulshepherdingInstagram @soulshepherdingTwitter @SoulShepherdingYoutube @billgaultierePodcasts @soultalks Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Along the way, God uses our life experiences to form us and to help us lead from an authentic and healthy place. The power of God’s presence is not just for your benefit but also for all in your sphere of influence. Today, I’m talking with Ebony Small, a younger leader who serves as a pastor and a mentor. Ebony has a wealth of experience in both churches and organizations. She's got practical and biblical wisdom to offer whether you are just starting or are looking for a fresh start in your life and leadership. Ebony is vice president of global ministries at PULSE Movement, a ministry committed to awaken culture to the reality of Jesus. She was formerly the director of Movement Day Expressions at MOVEMENT.ORG, where she was dedicated to catalyzing leaders to affect cities across the globe. She was selected to attend the Lausanne Younger Leaders gathering in 2016. Ebony also serves as an associate pastor at Bethel Gospel Assembly in New York City. If you are a younger leader or you’ve got younger leaders on your team, I hope you’ll encourage them to tune in and listen with you to Ebony’s encouragement and inspiration.Bethany would love to connect with you on social at:Instagram @bethanyssmallFacebook @ebonysmallauthorTwitter @EbonySmallYoutube @ebonyssmall  Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We continue to find ourselves in unsettling times, don’t we? I’m sure I don’t need to unpack that any further for you, right? Many of us have struggled with what prayer looks like in this season when things are happening we never asked for. How do we pray when life feels more like a threatening night than a bright and dawning day?It was good to have a chance to speak recently with Tish Harrison Warren about her new book, releasing tomorrow in fact, called Prayer in the Night. Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, which was Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year. She has worked in ministry settings for over a decade as a campus minister with InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries, as an associate rector, with addicts and those in poverty through various churches and non-profit organizations, and, most recently, as the writer in-residence at Church of the Ascension in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a monthly columnist with Christianity Today, and her articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Religion News Service, Christianity Today, Comment Magazine, The Point Magazine, and elsewhere. She is a founding member of The Pelican Project and a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. Connect with Tish on social at:Instagram @tishharrisonwarrenFacebook @tish.h.warrenTwitter @Tish_H_Warren Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

My guest today is Nikole Lim and she’s written a book entitled, Liberation is Here. Nikole weaves together a narrative of God’s grace and healing amid fear and trauma. Her journey proves that liberation is not just near, but it is here―in the eyes of the broken, the hearts of the oppressed, and the untold stories of our global community. Because of today’s subject matter, I want to extend a trigger warning for those of you who have or are experiencing capital T trauma right now. Nikole’s book is, of course, empowering, and yet it is full of raw stories and our conversation may be too much for some of you. So please take care of yourself in this regard. As I introduce our guest today I want to share this from the book’s description: As a freelance filmmaker, Nikole Lim's career allowed her to step in and out of the lives of marginalized people around the world. But when confronted with the prevalence of sexual violence in Kenyan and Zambian communities, she commits to advocating alongside the courageous survivors whose lives have intersected with hers. These women's powerful stories inspire her to embark on a new vocation, partnering with survivors of sexual violence to launch a nonprofit organization that equips women to lead through the rewritten stories of their lives. But as Lim seeks to help her friends experience healing and liberation, her perspective is altered. Spiritually depleted, she finds herself ministered to by the women she came to serve―the once oppressed become her liberators.Nikole Lim is a speaker, educator, and consultant on leveraging dignity through the restorative art of storytelling. She is the founder and international director of Freely In Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending sexual violence through their rewritten stories. Nikole graduated with a degree in film production from Loyola Marymount University and is currently pursuing a masters in global leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary.Find her on social at:Instagram @NikoleLimFacebook @nikolelimTwitter @nikole_lim Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Creation is a living masterpiece of God. It is full of life, beauty and vitality. And maybe one of God’s greatest creative expressions is a tree. They are the longest-lived of God’s creations. They are the lungs of the planet. They are a wonderous reminder that the good God does develops over decades, even centuries. Trees remind us of God’s unhurried way. Recently, Gem and I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Dr. Matthew Sleeth about his book Reforesting Faith. In it, he shares his own journey of discovering the importance of trees for our world and for God’s creation.  As a former emergency room physician, Dr. Matthew Sleeth felt like he was straightening deck chairs on the Titanic saving a patient at a time while the whole ship (Earth) was going down. Together with his wife and two children, he began to bring his lifestyle in line with his values, cutting back on their fossil fuel by two thirds and electricity use by nine tenths.  Following a new calling, Dr. Sleeth resigned from his position as chief of the medical staff and director of the ER to teach, preach, and write about faith and the environment throughout the country. Dr. Sleeth is a graduate of George Washington University School of Medicine and has two post-doctoral fellowships.  Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today, we are going to talk about easing into the new year with gentleness and grace. This is much needed after making it through 2020. What does 2021 hold for us? We don’t know what circumstances will arise, but, as always, we have a choice about what we think and how we act within every situation. So, let’s lean into some gentleness and grace.For all of the complaining we can do (and rightfully so) about social media, I have met some genuine, lovely, heart-forward women on Instagram. Like anything else in life, you get out what you put in. And I’ve been collecting the goodness of these women over the last few years. Kathryn Carrington is one of these women. She is a holy yoga instructor and I have loved her posts and her sweet nature. She and her husband have a similar calling in that they long to encourage Christian leaders. They are working toward having a retreat center some day, dedicated to this purpose. Kathryn has been practicing yoga for seven years and has attained over 500 hours of world class yoga training. Her passion for movement and art began at an early age with dance, voice, music and art lessons. She continues to practice, create and live out of the radical freedom she’s been given through her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Kathryn believes that every breath is Holy and encourages her students to practice the ongoing flow of worship and devotion on and off their mat.Connect with Kathryn on social at:Facebook @kathryn.carrington.3Instagram @kathryncarringtonyoga Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This episode is airing on the last Monday of 2020. I know that many can’t wait to put this year behind us and hope for a better 2021. But just as true as it is that 2020 was a hard year full of troubles, it was also a year in which God was doing very good work in his people and through his people. It is a gift to turn back and look for evidences of God’s measureless grace at work, especially in the midst of a very hard season. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Last December Alan interviewed John Mark Comer. His episode has remained near the top of our 10 most downloaded shows. So we thought we’d replay it for you today. I think it’s because John Mark is singing the same song as Unhurried Living and Alan’s book, An Unhurried Life. John Mark wrote The Relentless Elimination of Hurry and we are delighted to share the replay of Alan’s conversation with him now. John Mark Comer lives, works, and writes in the urban core of Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Tammy, and their three children.  He is the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church and has a master’s degree in biblical and theological studies from Western Seminary.  John Mark is also the author of God has a Name,  My Name Is Hope, Loveology, and Garden City. Alan so enjoyed having a conversation with John Mark, hearing the story behind his book, and interacting about some of his key insights about following Jesus’ unhurried way of life and work.Connect with John on his website or via social at:JohnMarkComer.comFacebook @johnmarkcomerInstagram @johnmarkcomerTwitter @johnmarkcomer Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We live in a profoundly wordy world. I sometimes feel utterly surrounded by words: social media, emails, text messages, news feeds, websites, television, radio. And it seems rare that words are being used to simply tell the truth and describe reality. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus had some profoundly powerful words to say about how we speak. Alan Fadling, (MDiv),serves as a frequent speaker and consultant with local churches, national organizations and leaders internationally. His content is approachable, usable and transferable. He shows leaders how to get perspective so their leadership flows from a full soul and out of healthy rhythms of rest and work. A trained Spiritual Director, Alan is author of An Unhurried Life (IVP 2013) and An Unhurried Leader (IVP 2016).Connect with Alan on social:Facebook @alanfadlingInstagram @alanfadling Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We live in a visual culture. Just a few years ago the Internet Trends Report shared that an average of 1.8 billion images were uploaded to the internet daily. That adds up to 657 billion photos in one year. Every two minutes, people take more photos than existed in total 150 years ago.With all of that imagery floating through our consciousness every day, how might we use intentional imagery to grow closer to God? If a picture is worth a thousand words, is it also conducive to prayer?I’m welcoming Brenda Renderos on the podcast today. Brenda has been kind enough to “interview” me about Inviso. And I am also going to interact with her about how she uses Inviso in her own life. Brenda Renderos is a spiritual mentor with a degree in Christian Studies and 13 years of experience including ministry leadership, soul care, speaking and teaching, as well as guiding interns exploring vocational ministry. Brenda sees the immense need for soul care and spiritual formation and she's devoted her life to growing and sharing in this area. She also greatly enjoys life with her husband and their three kids. You can catch her on Instagram @brenrenderos.Download a sample of Inviso. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.