The Digital Examen

Latest Episodes:

Discovering Joy by Savoring Childhood with Grace Pouch Mar 18, 2026

Show notes

Our often hurried pace of life not only affects us as adults, but also our kids.

How can we create rhythms of rest, play, and delight to help our kids savor their childhood years—even as we learn rich spiritual lessons from them as adults?

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Grace Pouch, educator, content manager for Renovaré, and author of Savoring Childhood. Together, they talk honestly about the frenzied pace of modern life—how it impacts young people, families, and the adults we become—and propose gentler rhythms centered on trust, presence, and joy.

Pouch shares her own journey as a parent and teacher, reflecting on how savoring the moments of childhood, lingering with familiar stories and practices, and embracing Sabbath rest can help children and adults recover a sense of identity and connection with God and one another. They discuss why nurturing play, creativity, and even boredom are essential in a world obsessed with productivity and achievement.

If you sense that life has become too rushed and wonder how to recapture joy, trust, and deep spiritual formation for yourself or the children in your life, this episode is for you.

This episode highlights the following themes:

The importance of savoring childhood
Spiritual formation is a slow work
Sabbath as a space for trust and rest

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Grace Pouch
Read Grace Pouch’s book, Savoring Childhood
Discover Renovaré and resources for spiritual renewal
Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight.In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice.

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Discovering Joy in Each Season of Life with Ronald Rolheiser Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

With the infinite knit into our very being, our brief life cannot bring us ultimate joy and satisfaction.

And yet, as we long for eternity, we can find meaning and peace by resting in God, serving others, and cultivating a mellow heart.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, acclaimed Roman Catholic priest and author, whose spiritual trilogy offers wisdom for following Jesus in our youth, mid-life, and final years: The Holy Longing, Sacred Fire, and Insane for the Light. Drawing from decades of pastoral experience, Fr. Rolheiser explores the cultural obsession with staying young, the challenge of aging well, and the deep joy that comes from surrender and gratitude.

Together, Kim and Fr. Rolheiser reflect on the power of everyday rituals, our modern misunderstanding of happiness, and how true spiritual maturity is cultivated by serving others with an open heart. Through this, they explore how tending a forgiving and thankful spirit is how we can be subversive instruments of joy in the world.

Tune in to discover how to follow Jesus in each of life’s unique seasons, wrestle with our longings, and find true rest in God’s presence.

This episode highlights the following themes:

How restless longing shapes all stages of life and can only find rest in God
How delight, mellow-heartedness, and forgiveness connect to true meaning and maturity
Simple practices for channeling desire, sustaining love, and finding God in ordinary moments

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Fr. Ronald Rolheiser
Explore Fr. Rolheiser’s trilogy: The Holy Longing, Sacred Fire, and Insane for the Light
Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Discovering Joy When Life Feels Empty with Isaac Serrano Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

In seasons when life feels meaningless, how can we perceive purpose, hope, and even joy?

Amid our deeply materialistic culture, the purpose of life can seem to simply be the elimination of pain and inconvenience. Yet the answer to our deepest aches lies in the joy of serving others, the wisdom of our ancestors, and the worthiness of Jesus.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with Isaac Serrano, lead pastor at South Valley Community Church in Gilroy, California and author of When Life Feels Empty. He also serves on the leadership team of the ReGeneration Project and is an adjunct professor teaching theology and ministry at Western Seminary. Together, Kim and Serrano draw from ancient Christian wisdom and their experiences as pastors in Silicon Valley to discuss how discerning our telos, embracing connection with others, and locating ourselves with God’s story are essential to experiencing joy in our digital age. Serrano shares why the antidote to pain and suffering isn’t positive thinking or attempting to escape pain, but embracing endurance, selflessness, and age-old practices like communal singing, thanksgiving, and prayer.

If you long to experience tangible meaning in your everyday, this episode offers hope, clarity, and practical next steps toward a life filled with purpose and deep joy.

This episode highlights the following themes:

The search for meaning in an age of emptiness
How timeless practices can help us recalibrate our lives toward joy, meaning, and connection with God and others
Endurance and faith in the midst of suffering

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Isaac Serrano
Read Isaac Serrano’s book, When Life Feels Empty
Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Read Analog Church and Analog Christian by Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen.

Links and Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Discovering Joy by Pressing Pause with Karynthia Glasper Phillips Feb 25, 2026

Show notes

Many of us are trapped in a default state of hurry, leaving little space for self-care, spiritual depth, or true rest. The cost is palpable: frayed nerves, drained energy, and fractured relationships—with ourselves, others, and God.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Karynthia Glasper Phillips, physician assistant, minister, and author of Press Pause: Making Time for God in an Overscheduled Life. Drawing from her 20+ years in family medicine and ministry, Glasper Phillips shares why our culture’s pace taxes mind, body, and soul—and she offers clear ways to notice the early symptoms of burnout: scuttle sickness, fast fever, and frenzy sickness. Her story—shaped by personal health trials and insights from working with patients—reveals both the lie of self-sufficiency and the healing power of sacred pauses in God’s presence.

Together, Kim and Glasper Phillips discuss recognizing the hurried heart, finding God at work in quiet moments, and learning the rhythms of rest that reawaken joy, creativity, and meaningful connection. You’ll find practical ways to start your day with intention and embrace the wholeness that comes from being present with God, with yourself, and with others.

If you’re weary, stretched thin, or on the verge of burnout, tune in for an opportunity to pause in God’s loving presence and experience his restorative rejuvenation.

This episode highlights the following themes:

How hurry syndrome erodes our health, relationships, and spiritual life
The power of Sabbath and practical strategies for true rest
Why self-care and spiritual wholeness matter for loving others well

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Karynthia Glasper Phillips
Preorder Karynthia Glasper Phillips’s book, Press Pause: Making Time for God in an Overscheduled Life
Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Discovering Joy through Honest Prayer and Music with Jon Guerra Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

How do we move beyond performative spirituality and instead bring our whole selves to God in prayer—including our boredom, sorrow, and joy?

It can be hard to believe that the entire spectrum of human experience and emotion is welcome in God’s presence. Music, beauty, and art can help us.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes singer-songwriter Jon Guerra, known for his deeply honest and beautiful devotional music. Guerra opens up about his journey from writing congregational worship songs to creating what he calls "Monday morning prayer music," offering language and space for the full range of our human experiences with God—not just the triumphant. Kim and Guerra reflect on the power of music and art to help us process truth, perceive the invisible, and uncover the delight that can only be experienced alongside grief. Guerra shares practical wisdom for cultivating our inner life with God, the importance of silence and lament, and how all of art ultimately moves towards prayer.

Tune in to discover how prayer is both the antidote for performative living and an invitation to a more spacious, grounded, and joyful faith.

This episode highlights the following themes:

How prayer forms the core of a healthy spiritual life
The ways beauty and music connect us to God and each other
The freedom found in acknowledging our raw emotions with God

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Jon Guerra and his music
Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Discovering Joy in the Patterns of Scripture with Hakeem Bradley Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

Reading the Bible can sometimes feel like a chore or duty. But when we slow down, we notice the text carries an invitation to join a story that’s vibrant, creative, and deeply personal.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes biblical scholar and founder of Sacred Patterns, Hakeem Bradley, whose unconventional journey to faith and research expertise invites us to see the Bible afresh. Bradley holds a Master’s in Theological and Biblical Studies from Western Seminary and is currently a PhD candidate in New Testament Studies at Ridley College in Melbourne. He has served communities across the United States and Canada through preaching, teaching, and research.

Alongside Kim, Bradley reveals that our delight in Scripture grows as we slow down and are attentive to its patterns, which reveal key themes, practical wisdom, and God’s heart. He speaks about how the Scriptures reflect not only historical accounts, but also our own family heritage and an ongoing story that we are invited to partake in today. Bradley also emphasizes the importance of reading the Bible slowly, as well as his heart to equip children and families to see Scripture as their own living story. Together, they uncover that true joy is found in God’s presence, where we are seen by God in all of our sorrow, grief, and brokenness.

Listen in for inspiration to slow down, delight in Scripture’s sacred patterns, and reimagine your place in God’s story.

This episode highlights the following themes:

Why repetition and patterns shape our spiritual formation
How scripture becomes a living family history, not just an ancient text
How deep biblical joy is possible even amid intense suffering

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Hakeem Bradley and Sacred Patterns
Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Discovering Hidden Joy on Our Average Days with Tish Harrison Warren Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

For many of us, the possibility of joy can feel intimidating or unattainable. Sometimes elusive and hard to pin down, we wonder if joy is simply a feeling or if it could involve our emotions in any substantial way.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Anglican priest and author Tish Harrison Warren, whose books Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night have resonated with thousands searching for meaning in the everyday journey of faith.

Together, they probe our cultural inability to sustain our attention to both God and life itself. Warren talks candidly about what happens to our souls when our capacity to contemplate is lost, how we can overanalyze moments of revival, and how we are often not very effective at talking about biblical joy. By confronting our fear of encountering God in the intimate setting of the mundane, they affirm that God desires to meet with and speak to us on any given Wednesday. As they share stories of family life and honest reflections on burnout, they uncover that true joy is both deeply spiritual and rooted in our human experiences.

Tune into this conversation for an invitation to discover God’s sacramental joy even on your most ordinary days.

This episode highlights the following themes:

Why “ordinary” days are sacred
Joy as a gift, practice, and a muscle
Honest hope when everything feels like it’s falling apart

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Tish Harrison Warren
Read Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren
Check out Tish Harrison Warren’s upcoming book: What Grows in Weary Lands
Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Discovering the Gift of Abundant Joy Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

What do we do when the “spark” of life fades?

The sorrows and fleeting pleasures of life can leave each of us despairing, burnt out, and unfulfilled. Yet even here, God offers us an alternative: real joy.

In this season’s opening episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim unpacks what Scripture really teaches about "joy." As Kim explains, the pursuit of pleasure in our modern age is like running endlessly on a treadmill—you never truly arrive. Yet, the entire Bible testifies to the joy God offers: a lasting inner steadiness built upon the goodness of God. Together, we’ll find that Jesus himself embraced a life of both palpable grief and abundant joy.

If you long to live a life marked by grounded delight, join us as we look to the most joyful being in the universe: God. You'll be encouraged that joy is not just possible, but readily available to you as a gift from God.

This episode highlights the following themes:

The difference between fleeting pleasures and lasting joy
Deep joy is rooted in the presence and goodness of God
How true joy prevails even amid suffering and struggle

Links from this episode:

Read the transcript here
Learn more about The Digital Examen
Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim
Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
Download a Guide to The Examen

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Season 3 Trailer: Discovering Joy at God’s Pace Jan 07, 2026

Show notes

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. And experiencing joy amid the pressure to produce can feel impossible.

But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight.

In season three of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians—including Malcolm Guite, David Taylor, Jon Guerra, Tish Harrison Warren, and many others—to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view.

Season three of The Digital Examen launches Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or tune in on the IVP YouTube channel.

Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice.

Links from this episode:

Read the transcript here
Learn more about The Digital Examen
Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim
Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
Download a Guide to The Examen

The world is full of noise. Many are exhausted by the cacophony and chaos of the modern, digital age, where peace is scarce and self-reflection is infrequent. In The Digital Examen, a podcast from IVP, author and pastor Jay Y. Kim converses with a variety of leaders, pastors, and scholars who are working to reorient their lives in the direction of listening, tuning their hearts and minds to hear the voice of God in all of its clarity, kindness, and strength.

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Noticing God in Season Two: Going Slowly with God and Others with Jay Y. Kim Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

Life is a mysterious gift—a gift meant to be given for the sake of others.

While our individualistic and speed-driven culture urges us to prioritize our own needs and desires, serving others can offer us not only a profound sense of freedom but also a heart more attuned to noticing God every day. By lifting our gaze from ourselves, we recognize that walking slowly with God includes an invitation to live at the countercultural pace of his love.

As we conclude the second season of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim reflects on our journey of learning to notice God together. Kim draws inspiration from the Romantic painting "The Wanderer above the Sea Fog," by Caspar David Friedrich, which helps us see beyond our immediate self-interests and embrace the ambiguities of life with God. Kim also illustrates the joy of living in service to others and intimacy with God. Finally, Kim invites us to go patiently with God by saturating ourselves in Scripture, making a regular practice of prayer, and inviting a local Christian community to accompany us along the way. In due time, these everyday practices will help attune us in heart, soul, mind, and strength to more readily experience God’s voice and presence, forming us into people who are more alive to him in all of life.

As we offer our attention to the needs of others and daily spiritual rhythms, we can grow to notice God in all of the mundane and majestic moments of our everyday lives. Tune in to learn more.

This episode highlights the following themes:

Experiencing freedom by casting our anxieties on God
Noticing God through humility and service
Trusting God to complete his work in you in due time

Links from the episode:

Read the transcript here

God is present; do we notice him? As the world gets louder, listening to God’s voice becomes increasingly challenging. We are bombarded by the chaos of our feeds, by distractions both inside and out, and by the everyday cacophony that drowns out the calm of a life lived in close communion with God. In this season of The Digital Examen, pastor, and author Jay Y. Kim guides us toward reorienting our lives so that we can notice God with the entirety of our beings—heart, soul, mind, strength—in both the mundane and majestic moments of everyday life.

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Read Analog Church and Analog Christian by Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen.

Links and Credits

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPOD25 for 25% off any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Production Assistant: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Managers: Allie Noble and Makayla Payne