Unhurried Living | Helping Christians Rest Deeper & Lead Better

Latest Episodes:

Never Settle (Alan with Greg Holder) Nov 30, 2020

Show notes

Author, Greg Holder, in his book Never Settle, suggests that “while we don’t consciously choose a less-than-life, it happens.

Little by little, we start putting down roots in a land of less than: less than satisfying, less than interesting, less than helpful, and certainly less than hopeful. Before we know it our faith is lukewarm, apathetic, bland.

Never Settle is a tangible reminder that every choice in your day is crackling with God’s redemptive power –God is calling us—you and me—to participate in what God is doing in his world. Can you think of a more significant and exciting invitation. I hope you’ll listen as we talk about resisting the temptation to become lukewarm.

Greg Holder is a pastor, author, speaker, and story-teller. He has been the Lead Pastor for 20+ years at The Crossing, a multi-site church that reaches 8,000+ people across four campuses in the St. Louis, Missouri area and a thriving online community. He is the author of The Genius of One, Advent Conspiracy, and translator of the book of Jeremiah for The Voice Bible.

The Genius of One Conference has trained 1,000+ pastors across India, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. With a diverse assortment of interest, gifts, and training, including degrees in psychology and counseling, Greg brings unique insight into the development of God-honoring relationships.

Connect with Greg on Social Media at:
Facebook @GregHolder0
Instagram @gregholder_
Twitter @gregholder_

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

Live the Questions (Gem interviewed by Yohonna Smith on Girl’s Talking Life Podcast) Nov 23, 2020

Show notes

Can you believe that What Does Your Soul Love? released just a little over a year ago? With 2020 being what it is, that seems like an entire lifetime ago. Today, I’m sharing with you a bonus episode and it’s a bit different than usual. It’s different because I’m on the other side of the microphone in this conversation. And I loved this interview so much that I wanted to share it with you, here, on the Unhurried Living Podcast.

Enjoy other episodes of Girls Talking Life podcast with Yohonna Smith. You can connect with them on social:
Instagram @girlstalkinglife
Facebook @girlstalkinglife

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

Tempered Resilience (Alan with Tod Bolsinger) Nov 16, 2020

Show notes

Most of us would agree that 2020 continues to be one of the most trying years in our adult lives. So much change. So much pain. So much conflict. I’m talking to a lot of leaders these days who are just plain tired. They are struggling to be hopeful. We need a vision of how this year could actually be an opportunity and not just a challenge. That’s why I’m especially glad to be sharing my recent conversation with Tod Bolsinger about his book, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change.

Many of us just might say that we’ve experienced more change in this single year than we had faced in just about any previous year. Sometimes change can be refreshing and envigorating, but a lot of the change we’ve faced this year has been painful and draining. I’ve needed to gain the perspective of living in an eternal kingdom in the midst of a very challenging season.

That’s why I’m so glad to share a recent conversation I had with Tod Bolsinger about his latest book, Tempered Resilience. He uses the core image of a blacksmith turning scraps of iron into beautiful and useful tools to describe how God just might use seasons like the one in which we find ourselves to help us remember who we really are and to engage in the very good work God has actually entrusted to us. We have good reason to be very hopeful.

Tod Bolsinger is the vice president and chief of leadership formation and associate professor of leadership formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the Community of God Transforms Lives, and Show Time: Living Down Hypocrisy by Living Out the Faith. A frequent speaker, consultant, and blogger, he serves as an executive coach for corporate, nonprofit, educational, and church organizations in transformational leadership. Tod and his wife, Beth, have two children.

Connect with Tod on social:
Facebook @Tod-Bolsinger for his blog
Facebook @Tod.Bolsinger
Twitter @todbol

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

Engaging the Enneagram for Formation (Gem with Mary Linam) Nov 09, 2020

Show notes

The Enneagram has been more widely circulating for a few years now and most of us have a basic understanding of the types. But once you learn the types, the real question is, so what? What do I now do with all of this great information? What difference can the Enneagram make in my life?

My dear friend, Mary Linam, is a trained and highly skilled Enneagram coach. I’m sharing her with you today because I want you to glean from her wisdom and to be in touch with her if you want to dig into the Enneagram further. I’ve known Mary almost as long as I’ve known Alan, and you know that’s a long time.

Mary has taken her life with God very seriously and has made her relationship with God, and his formation of her soul, the center of her life. This is what sets her apart in this field. Mary merges her deep soul work with the process of the Enneagram. And so you get spiritual director level care as she walks you through the process. Our conversation today is out beyond the types and is more Enneagram 201 than 101. So buckle up and enjoy our conversation.

Learn more about Mary on social:
Facebook @mary.g.linam
Instagram @choosinggrace

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

Longing for Revival (Alan with James Choung) Nov 02, 2020

Show notes

In the book Longing For Revival, authors James Choung and Ryan Pfeiffer remind us of a simple and encouraging reality: Revival begins with God. It happens in our lives and we cooperate with what God is doing, but God is the reviver of our souls, our communities, our world. In this season that feels so straining and wearying, God wants to refresh, renew and revitalize our lives so we can join God in the good work of the kingdom.

Gem and I have been grateful to have been given moments of encounter with God along the way that have revitalized our souls and transformed our work. We’ve come to believe that these were moments or even season of God-given revival. We often remember these moments when we hit hard places in the journey.

I’m so glad that James Choung and Ryan Pfeiffer have written a book to help us understand, enter into and even lead others into the reality of revival. James and I had a conversation recently about Longing For Revival, which I’m pleased to be able to share with you today.

Rev. Dr. James Choung serves as Vice President of Strategy & Innovation — overseeing evangelism, discipleship, planting, growth, missions, multiethnic initiatives, and the Creative Labs — at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA. He is also ordained with the Vineyard USA, and has written both True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In and its follow-up, Real Life: A Christianity Worth Living Out. He speaks frequently at campuses, churches, seminaries, and conferences, and teaches seminary classes on culture, leadership development and evangelism. James, his wife and two sons live in Los Angeles, CA.

Connect with James on social:
Facebook @jameschoung
Instagram @jameschoung
Twitter @jameschoung

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

Open or Closed: Welcoming an Expansive View of God (A Spiritual Practice with Gem) Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

2020 has been a rough year. And that is an understatement. It may seem counterintuitive to at least some of us, but one thing that can help us is to see this year up against the expansive backdrop of God’s eternal presence. Christ crucified is a witness to everything we are seeing. Christ crucified is present in our pain, our outrage, our anxiety, our fears. Let’s dig into a practice that can help us envision God’s presence and expanse now.

Before we dive in here, I want to be sure you know that I’m not trying to paint a rosy picture or act like nothing is wrong. I am living in this culture and watching the news, just like you. I see what is going on and I feel it. The anger, the injustice, the contempt. It’s all right there for us to see.

The word “but” is not coming next. Instead of the word “but” I want to use the word “and.” AND, in the midst of the difficulty and overwhelm, we can stand firmly on the realities of the kingdom of God. It is not impossible. I know this because God’s people did it all throughout scripture and Jesus consistently modeled this for us.

There is a phrase of scripture in the Old Testament that says, “Is the Lord’s arm too short?” This was in the context of God making a way for his people yet again. And now is just as good a time as any to bring that phrase to the front of our minds: Is the Lord’s arm too short?

You can follow Gem on social:
Facebook @gemfadling
Instagram @gemfadling
UnhurriedLiving.com

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

The Possibility of Prayer (Alan with John Starke) Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

There are so many reasons we might feel that cultivating a deep life of prayer is just impossible. We feel too busy. We feel we don’t deserve such a life. We imagine that kind of prayer is for someone more spiritual than me. But today, John Starke, author of The Possibility of Prayer, will remind us that prayer is always possible because prayer is a gift we receive more than a life we achieve.

A mentor of mine, Chuck Miller, often reminded us that prayer isn’t so much something I do as it is Someone I’m with. Prayer is more about a Person than it is about a practice. We listen. We pour out whatever it is that fills our hearts and minds. And God listens. We are cultivating a conversational relationship with God. But it’s a gift and not an achievement. These are just a few of the themes John and I touched in our conversation about his book The Possibility of Prayer.

Let me take a moment to tell you a little more about John Starke.

He grew up in the Midwest but has lived in Arizona, South Carolina, Kentucky, and now lives in New York City with his wife Jena and their four children. He pastors Apostles Church Uptown in Manhattan. In addition to The Possibility of Prayer, John has written for for Christianity Today, Books & Culture, Comment Magazine, and others.

Connect with John on social media:
Facebook @jbstarke
Instagram @john_starke
Twitter @john_starke

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

Try Softer (Gem with Aundi Kolber) Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

The subtitle of Aundi Kolber’s book, Try Softer, is “a fresh approach to move us out of anxiety, stress, and survival mode—and into a life of connection and joy.” Now, who doesn’t need that?! Aundi is a trauma informed therapist and she is going to help us learn what “try softer” really means, today, on the Unhurried Living Podcast.

Aundi Kolber believes that we don’t have to white-knuckle our way through life. In her debut book, Try Softer, she’ll show us how God specifically designed our bodies and minds to work together to process our stories and work through obstacles. Through the latest psychology, practical clinical exercises, and her own personal story, Aundi equips and empowers us to connect us to our truest self and truly live. This is the “try softer” life.

Aundi Kolber is a Licensed Professional Counselor, writer, and speaker in Castle Rock, Colorado. She specializes in trauma- and body-centered therapies and is passionate about the integration of faith and psychology. She has written for Relevant, CT Women, and (in) courage. As a survivor of trauma, Aundi brings hard won knowledge around the work of change, the power of redemption, and the beauty of experiencing God with us in our pain.

Connect with Aundi on social media at:
Facebook @aundikolberwrites
Instagram @aundikolber
Twitter @aundikolber

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

What is the Church? (Alan with Tim Soerens) Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

What is the purpose of the church? Why does it exist and what is on God’s heart as far as its aims? As of the airing of this episode, I have not been part of an in-person gathering of church for more than six months. And then many of the portrayals of church in contemporary media are less than encouraging. The emerging generation has been opting out of the church in large numbers as it is.

My guest today, Tim Soerens, has written a book called Everywhere You Look to highlight the gracious opportunity that the times we find ourselves in presents us.

In my conversation with Tim today, he shares that the church is on the edge of a new possibility at the very moment so much of it feels like it's falling apart. In his extensive travels in all kinds of neighborhoods, Soerens has seen the beginnings of this movement firsthand. In Everywhere You Look, he lays out practical, actionable steps for building collaborative communities in any neighborhood.

He is a pastor, social entrepreneur, and co-founding director of the Parish Collective. In addition to Everywhere You Look, he is also the coauthor of "The New Parish".

Connect with Tim on social at:
Tim Soerens website
Instagram @timsoerens
Twitter @timsoerens
Facebook @tim.soerens

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

Resilient Americans (Gem with Diane Cox) Sep 28, 2020

Show notes

“Anything that alienates and divides us leaves us weak and exposed to disaster. Simple human compassion is more essential to our national resilience and strength than most of us recognize.” Today, I’m talking with my long time friend, Diane Cox. She is a business owner, a beautiful writer, and an even more glorious human being. And she actually makes resilience something fun and intriguing to talk about.

With anecdotes and unexpected stories about growing up during the 60s and 70s in Los Angeles, and from her work in disaster recovery, Diane Burden Cox illustrates the importance of our relationship with each other to our national resilience in her book, Resilient Americans.

If we want a resilient infrastructure as a nation- clean water supply, buildings, bridges, roads, energy grids, health and education systems- we need to recognize it rests on the strength of our interactions with each other. Resilience isn't just one more thing to put on our national to-do list, it's something we can actually enjoy and have fun cultivating together.

Diane Burden Cox is the CEO of Disaster Scope, Inc., an Emergency Management consulting firm based in Southern California. She and her husband, Graeme, have lived across the United States, working together on recovery efforts after major disasters. In Resilient Americans, Diane shines a light on the foundations of resilience with hopeful and compelling stories of simple ways we can move forward as individuals, communities and as a nation.

Connect with Diane socially:
Twitter @BurdenCox
Facebook @DianeBurdenCox, Author
Instagram @DianeBurdenCox

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