The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey

My guest for The Happy Hour #393 is Mark Clark. Mark Clark is the founding pastor of Village Church in Canada and its passion is to reach skeptics and challenge Christians. He is the author of The Problem of Jesus and The Problem of God, both wonderful books that I would highly recommend! In today’s show, we talk about things like deconstruction and North American Christianity. Mark also really dives into the problem of people using Jesus as a label to stroll through life with. But Mark shared something that really stopped me in my tracks. He said “The issue isn’t if we’re following Jesus, it’s why.” I started to ask myself “why am I choosing to follow Jesus?” because truly, it’s an answer I should know. We have to know the why, because if we don’t understand that, we may not truly understand who Jesus is. I’m really thankful for the way Mark challenged me in this interview. Don’t miss this one! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour today is Pastor Louie Giglio. Louie Giglio is Pastor of Passion City Church and the original visionary of the Passion movement, which exists to call a generation to leverage their lives for the fame of Jesus. He is also the national-bestselling author of over a dozen books including his newest release, Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table! In this show, Louie talks a bit about Passion being entirely God’s idea and vision, and I share with him how both Aaron and I were saved at the conferences and it completely changed the trajectory of our lives and family. Louie also dives into the message of his book Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table and what it really looks like to reject the enemy’s presence in your life. Rather than being fixated on the Enemy, we should be focused on the Shepherd sitting with us at the table, fighting our battles for us. Louie really gave a powerful statement when he said “Nothing gives God glory more than your enemies watching you be satisfied in Him in the middle of the battle.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #391 is Natalia Kohn Rivera. Natalia Kohn Rivera is an Argentine Armenian American, born in Argentina and raised in Los Angeles, California. She's a Bible teacher, writer, speaker, teacher, and coach. Natalia also released a book back in 2019 called Hermanas, a beautiful book written for Latina women to deepen their identity. This interview has been a long time coming and I’m so thankful we could finally make it happen! In today’s episode, Natalia dives into ethnic identity, and her passion for loving the Muslim community and seeing them come to Jesus. There has been an elephant in the room for a long time about how Christians can be in Christ-loving relationships with people of other religions. It can seem uncomfortable, but Natalia shares that it doesn’t need to be. Wherever we encounter people, whether it’s a neighbor or someone overseas, let’s turn to prayer instead of fear. I love when Natalia says “We don’t need a passport to pray.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #390 is Jon Acuff. Jon Acuff is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including his newest release, Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking. He lives just outside of Nashville with his wife and two teenage daughters. This conversation was such an encouragement to me and I hope it will be the same for you! In today’s show, Jon talks about growing up as a pastor’s kid and how often we can obsess about overthinking. He also dives into the topic of his new book, Soundtracks and how to fight the problem of overthinking and instead use it to drive yourself closer to your dreams and creativity. So often we listen to false thoughts about ourselves and we genuinely believe they’re right about us. But Jon says, “The broken soundtracks will never tell you who you are.” YES. I needed that. This episode is loaded with goodness so don’t skip it! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #389 is Elizabeth Passarella. Elizabeth Passarella is the author of the essay collection Good Apple: Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York. She has been a magazine writer and editor in New York for more than 20 years. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and now lives with her husband and three kids in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. So many people told me to read Elizabeth’s book and I’ll admit - I was nervous when I read the subtitle but I’m so glad I went for it anyway. It was wonderfully written and something I know so many of you will enjoy. In today’s episode, she dives into the experiences that inspired her book, and how growing up as a southern evangelical helped shape so much of her current life in New York. There’s definitely a bit of a stigma with how southern evangelicals view new yorkers and vice versa! But I love when she says “I wanted both of those groups of people to challenge their assumptions about a certain type of new yorker, and challenge their assumptions about a certain type of Christian.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #388 is the wonderful Toni Collier! Toni Collier is the founder of an international women’s ministry called Broken Crayons Still Color, which helps women process through brokenness and get to hope. She serves alongside her husband Sam who is the Lead Pastor of Hillsong Atlanta. She is a speaker, host, and is teaching people all over the globe that you can be broken and worthy and unqualified and still called to do great things. Building a friendship with Toni was probably my favorite part of 2020 and I’m SO happy she is joining me on the podcast! In today’s episode, Toni dives into her difficult childhood and overcoming church hurt due to following a pastor instead of focusing on Jesus. We’ve all seen it happen, and the problem of putting pastors and leaders on a pedestal. But I love when Toni says “A pastor is in the four walls of a church. A Savior is everywhere.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #387 is Debra Fileta. Debra is a Licensed Professional Counselor, national speaker, relationship expert, and author of several books including Choosing Marriage, True Love Dates, and Are You Really OK? which comes out on the 18th! May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Debra is the perfect person to have this conversation with. In today’s show, Debra gets vulnerable about a traumatic loss she experienced and the grieving process she walked through. She also dives into the importance of mental health check-ups and how the church has often responded to topics surrounding mental and emotional wellness. Debra has a very true reminder for us. She says, “Just because we’re Christians, doesn’t mean we’re healthy.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #386 is Sam Allberry. Sam Allberry is a pastor, apologist, and author of books such as Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With? and 7 Myths About Singleness. He is from the UK and is in the process of moving to Nashville and serves at Immanuel Church Nashville! I’ve been wanting to chat with Sam for a while and I’m so glad we finally made it happen! In this episode, Sam really dives into some of the myths of singleness. Y’all, let me tell you. If you’re married, you may think this episode is not for you but I’m telling you right now, this episode is for everyone. He talks about how we’ve made marriage and the nuclear family the basic unit of church life. We build the church around nuclear families and we try to fit singles into that, as if our full selves and calling in Christ cannot be achieved without another person. But I love when Sam says “Whatever we’ve got wrong about singleness, we’ve probably got the equivalent wrong about marriage.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #385 is Amanda Bible Williams. Amanda is the author and cofounder/CCO of She Reads Truth! From She Reads Truth Bibles and studies to Kids Read Truth Bibles and podcasts, Amanda is passionate about building a community of women who read God's word every day together! In today’s episode, Amanda talks about She Reads Truth turning 10 years old soon, and the Faithful Project, which is a wonderful collaboration of ministry partners including a book, album, and tour of live events! Amanda also dives into her family’s journey of parenting a medically fragile child and the hard seasons that have come from it. I’ve definitely had times in my life where I’ve wondered if a situation was truly God’s plan because it’s so hard in the moment, and feels like we’re walking down the wrong road. But I admire when Amanda talks about the song The Detour and the encouragement it offers: “The Detour we are walking, that IS the road.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

My guest for The Happy Hour #384 is Ginny Owens. Ginny has had an award-winning career that includes two decades as a singer/songwriter, recording artist, author and speaker. During that time, Ginny has released 10 albums, five EPs and two Christmas projects! Ginny currently lives in New York City and is in her final year of a Master of Biblical Studies at seminary! I’ve been listening to Ginny’s music for years so I’m thrilled to have her on today! In this episode, we talk about her background in music, losing her eye-sight at the age 2 and how it has affected her story. Ginny also dives into her newest book, Singing in the Dark which talks about how to cultivate hope and have joy no matter what challenge we’re facing. I love SO much when Ginny says “[Jesus] is a God that is very familiar with our suffering.” For the full summary and links to the show, click the link below! Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE