Unhurried Living | Helping Christians Rest Deeper & Lead Better

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ICDT 58: The Best of You (Gem with Dr. Alison Cook) Nov 14, 2022

Show notes

Today I’m talking with Dr. Alison Cook and we’ll be discussing how to discover the BEST OF YOU (also the title of her latest book).

Dr. Alison delivers life-changing strategies for helping women develop their voices, forge healthy relationships, and embrace the holy, sacred work of becoming their true selves in God.

I’m sharing with you a portion of the conversation I had with Alison for our Replenish Community. She shares about the difference between selfishness and selfhood, which leads into a conversation about following the example of Jesus in the area of boundaries.

Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website

Learn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

233: How to Inhabit Time (Alan with James K. A. Smith) Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

Today, I’m sharing a recent conversation with James K. A. Smith about his latest book, How to Inhabit Time. The moment I saw this title, I knew there would be some wonderful intersections with our core idea here of learning to live and lead in the unhurried way of Jesus. I wasn’t wrong about that. There is a depth of thinking and a beauty of language in this book. It really was a pleasure to read.

There is an invitation to live well in the present moment. The language of “inhabiting” takes me to the invitation of Jesus to “abide in him” like a branch remains connected to a vine to be lush and fruitful. Each “now” is the place where we can do that. But we are so often rushing past the present moment (or trying to) and missing the grace that is available to us right here. I know you’re going to enjoy our conversation about these things today.

Connect with Alan to let him know what you think of this episode and your take on "time". You can also learn more about Alan, his book and Unhurried Living on the Unhurried Living website.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

ICDT 57: The God of All Comfort Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever experienced a moment when scripture came to life? More than just words on a page or a passage that you memorized, I’m talking about a time when reality-wisdom bowled you over. Well, today I’m sharing a time when scripture leapt off the page and overwhelmed me with the felt reality of its truth.⁠

⁠This week on I Can Do That! Podcast, I share how a reading in church changed how I view and receive scripture.⁠

Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website

Learn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

232: How to Cultivate a Robust Faith (Alan with Ben Sternke & Matt Tebbe) Oct 31, 2022

Show notes

Today, I’m sharing a recent conversation with Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke about their book Having the Mind of Christ. In it, they talk about what they call eight axioms for cultivating a robust faith. In a day when so many are disappointed with the faith they were given by the church of their early formation, we need a more vital vision of the life to which Jesus is actually inviting us.

Too often, our assumptions, our expectations, even our values are shaped more by popular cultural voices than they are by the beautiful ways of God’s kingdom. This is a big part of the reason that Unhurried Living exists. We really believe the pace of the kingdom of Jesus is very different than the cultural one that surrounds us.

Our guests, Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke, are the cofounders of Gravity Leadership, an organization focused on transformational leadership and discipleship. They provide coaching, consulting, and workshops for pastors and ministry leaders. They are also copastors of a church in Indianapolis called The Table and cohosts of the Gravity Leadership podcast.

Connect with Matt and Ben on Instagram
Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

231: A Practice in Working with God Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

Today, rather than sharing an author interview or a leadership conversation, I’m going to share a daily practice that has been an important element of my unhurried life and work rhythms for a while now. It’s rooted in some of the insights I wrote about in the last chapter of An Unhurried Leader, which is titled “Working with God.”

By the way, episode 205 of this podcast, “Working for God or Working with God,” based on that chapter, is one of our top five most downloaded episodes. If you haven’t already listened to that one, I encourage you to go back to it. This has been a big idea that’s been transforming how I think about and engage my work.

The daily practice I’m going to share with you in this episode is one I’ve come to call, “Praying my Work.” Perhaps like you, I keep track of my work in terms of projects and tasks that I’m engaging in a personal task manager that syncs between my computer and my smartphone. There are plenty of tools like this, and you probably use a tool like this to manage your own work.

The daily practice of “Praying my work” begins at the end of each day as part of my night prayer. I enjoy starting and ending my day with the daily office of The Book of Common Prayer. This rhythm of praying historic prayers and key passages of scripture has been one important way of praying for me for years now.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

ICDT 56: Choose the Narrative Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

A few years ago I was reading a book by Mary Pipher, entitled, Women Rowing North. In it, a notable epiphany is had by a woman named Sylvia, whose life took some unexpected turns. Pipher writes, “Sylvia in Austin has learned that she is in control not of life, but of the story about her life.“

The same time I was reading this book, I ran into some very unexpected and unwelcome travel issues. And I had to chance to try on this new insight. I have my own story to tell today, one about crafting renewed narratives.

Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website

Learn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

ICDT 55: Taming the Voice of the Inner Critic (Gem with Marla Christian) Oct 17, 2022

Show notes

The voice of the inner critic is another voice from my new book Hold That Thought. The inner critic has an opinion about everything and she will be sure to tell you. The inner chatter produced by this voice leads to thoughts that can feel judgmental and can even lead to resentment. Here are a few of her choice thoughts: Why can’t you get this right? Couldn’t you have done better than that? Why do you always keep me waiting? Things could be so much better than this. You don’t look-sound-smell right. Fix it! Do better. Be more. And it had better be perfect!

Today, I’m talking with my friend, Marla Christian. She has a long history with the voice of the inner critic and I’m so glad she’s here to share with us today. We can glean a lot from her story.

Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website

Learn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

230: Ancient Sources of Spiritual Renewal (Alan with Andrew Arndt) Oct 17, 2022

Show notes

Today, I’m sharing a recent conversation with Andrew Arndt about his book Streams in the Wasteland. In it, he shares the ancient wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers who journeyed to the wilderness to seek a closer journey with Christ. Andrew shares some of the parallels between their experience with Rome then and our experience today.

I was first introduced to the desert fathers and mothers in the late 1980s when I read Henri Nouwen’s The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary. It was his sharing of the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers, especially about solitude, silence, and prayer, that launched me on a very different spiritual trajectory than the frantically busy one I’d been on up until then.

Andrew Arndt is the lead pastor of New Life East, one of seven congregations of New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Prior to joining New Life's team, he served as the lead pastor of Bloom Church, a network of house churches in Denver. He is the host of the Essential Church podcast, a weekly conversation designed to strengthen the thinking of church and ministry leaders. Andrew received his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is currently working on his DMin with Western Theological Seminary. He has written for Missio Alliance, Patheos, The Other Journal, and Mere Orthodoxy. He is the author of Streams in the Wasteland and All Flame. Andrew lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Mandi, and their four kids.

Connect with Alan at the Unhurried Living website.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

ICDT 54: Taming the Voice of the Stressed Achiever (Gem with Morgan Northway) Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

The voice of the stressed achiever has much to do. She likes to focus on accomplishments and she cares about the opinions of others. Never allowing a break, the stressed achiever keeps you driving forward. She’ll have nothing to do with laziness. But what hums underneath is a fear that she doesn’t exist apart from her accomplishments. These are her mantras: Staying busy proves my worth. The more I produce, the more I am. Someone must push this thing up the hill. Let’s get going!

Today, I’m talking with Morgan Northway. She has a before and after story of dealing with her inner stressed achiever and it is truly inspiring.

Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website

Learn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

229: The Discerning Life (Alan with Steve Macchia) Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

This week Alan interviews friend and fellow author, Steve Macchia, about his latest book The Discerning Life. When we use the language of “discerning” in popular culture, we often mean something like having good taste—like knowing good wine from average. As a spiritual capacity, it’s much more than that as you’ll see.

In more particularly Christian contexts, we may use the language of discernment as it relates to decision-making. We come to a fork in the road and we feel the need for wisdom to take the best path. But discernment is bigger than this as well. As you listen to my conversation with Steve, you’re going to appreciate the depth and breadth of just what a discerning life can be for us.

Steve Macchia is founder and president of Leadership Transformations, Inc., a ministry which focuses on the spiritual formation needs of leaders and the spiritual discernment processes of leadership teams in local church and parachurch ministry settings nationwide. He is also the director of the Pierce Center for Disciple-Building at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and previously served for fourteen years as president of Vision New England. Steve is the author of several other books, including Broken and Whole, Becoming a Healthy Church, and Crafting a Rule of Life.

Connect with Alan at the Unhurried Living website.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

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