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How to Tell Your Story
The first half of this series offered ways to actively listen to another's story. Now in Part 3, we shift to how you can tell your story to others well.
156 | Blessing and Cursing
Our words hold immense power. We understand that on a relational level. But spiritually, far more is at play. Throughout scripture, God reveals how your words, thoughts, and actions can either bless or curse your health, home, and work. And it's not just what you speak or think. We receive the blessing and cursing of others, too. This conversation shines light on why words matter even more than we realize.
Becoming a King
Discover the path to restoring the heart of a man in this powerful conversation with John and Morgan. To pre-order Morgan's book, Becoming a King, and receive free bonus content, visit www.BecomingAKing.com.
155 | Annie Grace: The Alcohol Experiment
Our experience with alcohol varies wildly from person to person. For some, it's an occasional beer or celebratory toast. For others, it ranges from a source of relief to a secret addiction they can't break. Annie Grace, author of The Alcohol Experiment and This Naked Mind, reveals why we reach for what we reach for. She's helped countless people rethink their relationship with alcohol by replacing feelings of shame and guilt with motives of curiosity and joy.
A Needed Shaking
In the second half of this series on the pandemic, John reveals how to interpret and pray about what's shaking our world today.
154 | Share Jesus by Sharing Your Life
These strange times provide countless opportunities to talk with others about the Kingdom, but religious language gets in the way. Here's a simple way forward: rather than talking about Jesus from some memorized script, just talk about your heart. Why? Because Jesus isn't abstract; he's revealed in the concrete territory of your daily life. Then, ask what these times are stirring in the person you're talking with. To hear what this sounds like, listen in on six conversations with friends sharing how this season is affecting their hearts and hopes.
Don't Miss This Moment
John offers wisdom for how we, as friends of Jesus, can tune out the fears and distractions around us in order to hear more clearly what God is saying during this pandemic.
153 | Compete for the Outcome
We're good at doing, but we tend to question the value of pausing. This intentionally brief podcast is about a shift - from saying more to praying more. The world downplays prayer as a legitimate response to global events. But prayer is a mighty power we've been given to co-determine the future with God, and to compete for the many uncertain outcomes of this global moment. So now more than ever, let's pause. And pray.
Responding to Someone's Story
In part two of our four-part series on how to tell your story and listen to another's story, we discuss how to respond to a person's story in ways that honor their history and their heart.
152 | Celebration Is Essential
The celebration of key events happens regularly in childhood. But then we get older and they stop. We hit a milestone dead zone where important things go unacknowledged - whether the start of a job, the birth of a child, or the loss of a dream. In fact, right now, COVID-19 has caused a full-on celebration moratorium. And the cost is real. Without celebrations, we quit trying. We feel unseen or alone as new chapters come and go with no recognition. Luke Eldredge joins Sam and Blaine for this conversation on the appeal of rituals and need for shared experiences.
How to Listen to Someone's Story
We can't love people well or experience true community until we know each other's story. The first of this four-part series reveals how to be a good listener.
151 | Return to Basics
How does the trained professional survive hard times? By simplifying. It is the dominant strategy of the mature through the ages: double down on first principles. But those skills don't just magically appear in the moment of need. We learn by doing. Only then can we rely on past training and muscle memory. Hard times reveal the areas where we've grown soft and need to return to basics. Who could you become if you saw this season as real-life training rather than simply waiting for life to go back to how it was?
Hope Beyond The Present
In this conclusion to the Expecting the Wonderful series, John, Blaine, and Allen discuss how to actively pursue hope and wonder in a world consumed with fear.
150 | The Only Safe Place to Take Shelter
We live in unprecedented times where scarcity and fear strike in the middle of the day and the dead of night. Yet God promises to provide and sustain us. How can we hold to the belief that God is good when circumstances shout otherwise? Hebrew scholars (and self-proclaimed nerds) Scott and Mandy unpack how Psalm 91 is our rescue once we realize what the invitation to take shelter under the shadow of the most high God really means.
The Hour We're In
John Eldredge offers thoughts and answers questions via a Facebook Live conversation regarding this unique moment in time.
149 | What Does a Mature Man Do In a Crisis?
When hard times hit the fan, how shaky is your foundation? The pull is often to gain control...or at least more information. But doing so causes us to miss the deeper initiation. With God, we are fundamentally safe even when nothing in our world is safe. That's because true hope never rests in things being better than they are - but in God's nature and his promise to ultimately make all things right.