Open Spaces

Director at NBC/ Universal Studios in Cyber Security, a great job, great income, great family, grandkids, President of C-Suite for Christ...why pursue anything else. Passion will do that to you. It makes you dissatisfied with the status quo. It leaves you thirsting for more. Andrea's story fits right up there with all the other stories we've heard this season, so take a listen!

Chasing success has its financial rewards, but at the pinnacle it may leave you feeling empty and hollow! Chasing your passion on the other hand guarantees that you'll live a fulfilled life, because, as Myles Munroe always said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you discovered why." Join my guest and I this week as we navigate the undulating road of his journey towards fulfilling his passion. You won't be sorry you did, so invite a friend and get comfortable.

The struggle is real! Sometimes, the greatest loss in the pursuit of your passion is the loss of relationships. While, people "cancelling" you because you see things differently than them, is definitely contrary to the teachings of Jesus, it's probably safe to say that it demonstrates a sad reality, "Our beliefs are stronger than our love!" - Hope Clark What if we risked it all and chose to pursue that passion in spite of the potential fallout and potential losses? What would that look like for you? Joseph Campbell said, (and yes, I'm quoting a Mormon), "The cave you fear to enter often holds the treasure you seek."

Have you ever asked yourself what you could do if you removed all the excuses and barriers to simply pursuing your passion? This season my guests give you insight into how they answered that question. What does it look like to pursue your passion with all the attendant risks, fears, failures, and challenges? Listen in to this season of Open Spaces with Joseph Thompson, as we explore what it looks like to be, "IN PURSUIT OF PASSION".

Sometimes it's simply a succession of serendipitous events that bring you face to face with an overwhelming sense that you need to pursue your passion at the expense of all else. My guest this week has just such a story, and you'll want to hear it. Who said you couldn't find your passion running into a stranger at a laundromat??? Still have questions? Come meet Kayse!

Living vibrantly takes courage. Choosing to pursue your passion in the face of opposition, criticism, and your own personal 'demons' of insecurity may cause anxiety beyond any you've ever experienced. But once you make the leap of faith, you ask yourself only one question; "Why did I wait so long to do this?"

Would you believe me if I told you that it's possible to chase your passion even when you're just fifteen years old? No? Challenge accepted! Come meet my guest on this episode of IN PURSUIT OF PASSION, on this season of Open Spaces with Joseph Thompson. No she's not fifteen, but her journey began when she was. You might learn a thing or two about pursuing your passion as you listen in on Kylee's story, and don't be selfish, invite a friend or two!

What would it cost you to give up the security of a regular guaranteed income and take a step off the cliff of uncertainty to pursue your passion? That's the question I'm asking my guests who've already taken that step, and their answers may surprise as well as inspire you. Join me this week as we explore the fears, uncertainties, insecurities, and triumphs that accompany a leap of faith into the unknown when the only thing your certain of is that you're truly passionate about what you're pursuing!

Graveyards are littered with untold stories, unfinished projects, unrealized dreams and desires, simply because too many of us are afraid to take the leap of faith required to chase our passion. It requires faith in Someone or something bigger than yourself. Faith isn't jumping off a cliff with a parachute, it's free-falling with the clear understanding that if Someone or something doesn't catch you, there's no surviving the fall. So what exactly is passion, and what does it look like to pursue it? Over the last couple of years I've met several people who are discontent with the status quo, whether in their faith, their work-life, their family, and in various other areas that determine the direction of their lives. Many of these people left full-time employment that provided the security of a guaranteed paycheck, to explore what it would look like to pursue their passion. Join me as I talk with some of them this season.

What exactly is passion, and what does it mean to pursue it? Over the last couple of years I've met several people who are discontent with the status quo, whether in their faith, their work-life, their family, and in various other areas that determine the direction of their lives. Many of these people left full-time employment that provided the security of a guaranteed paycheck, to explore what it would look like to pursue their passion. This season I'm talking to various individuals who've pursued their passions while experiencing different emotions and having different personalities, and who are in various stages of that endeavor. Come and find out how their passion has made, not just theirs, but other people's lives better. Their stories just might inspire you to begin to pursue your own passion.

Far too often, I've seen pastors of mega churches react negatively to staff members who feel called to step away from their roles into a different season of ministry. Why do we do that? Could it be because we're insecure about our own leadership abilities? Paul modeled so well for us how we are to treat people that we're leading, so as to create spiritual "sons and daughters" rather than create acrimony. Join me on the season finale of Open Spaces to join the conversation. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Paul writing to Timothy declares: The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. - 1 Timothy 2: 1-3 (MSG) So I ask, is there a formula by which we can know how much prayer is sufficient to ensure that these Scripture verses hold true in our lives? Join me in this episode of Open Spaces to find out. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

God's provision of Manna in the wilderness was from heaven not from Publix, Walmart, or some little kids packed lunch. At no point did God scratch His head in confusion and then invite Moses' input on how to go about feeding six million people wandering in the desert for forty years. So when He fed the 5000 men plus women and children, the blessing for the disciples was in the fact that Jesus included them in the miracle! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Have you ever felt that successful people simply "lucked" into their success by being at the right place at the right time? If you answered yes to that question, I hate to burst your proverbial bubble, but you're completely wrong. Innate in all of us is the seed of success, and "The tree is in the seed." Out of a tiny seed grows a tree that may ultimately emerge as a room of exquisitely crafted oak furniture...the list of possibilities for the future of that seed are limitless.

In a world where we often wear "busyness" like a crown jewel (often because we mistake it for productivity or success), do you ever feel like your day is just too hectic to squeeze in time alone with God in prayer? If you answered yes, you're not alone! Join me as I explore the only answer to that insufferable question this Friday.

What do you say to people who are walking through unimaginable pain, loss, hardship, difficulty... trauma? What are the perfect Bible verses that demonstrate the right amount of sympathy or empathy? Don't answer that. It's a trick question!!! Listen in this Friday for an honest, heartfelt conversation about Lament: An Invitation To Tell The Truth. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Many years ago my friend, Alex McManus, opened my eyes to the reality that, as Christ followers preaching the gospel, we're much like foreigners trying to speak a different language. For the most part you can tell a foreigner from a native speaker by the distinct accent that sets us apart. Alex opined that this makes us "Experiments in translation." We're interpreting an ancient text in a present context, and interpretation requires a colloquial, cultural, and context understanding. This means that we don't always get it right.

Matt Walsh recently released a video which the mainstream media and streaming services refuse to air. To find out more go here: https://www.documentarymania.com/player.php?title=What+Is+a+Woman Matt reveals a strategy to defeat the collective insanity that appears to have taken over our society. On his often comical, yet deeply disturbing journey, he answers the question which generations before us never knew they needed to ask: What is a woman? This weeks episode dives into the science, religion, and angry vitriol that attends this volatile, yet critically important issue, regardless of what the current cultural zeitgeist is! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

For those who position themselves against the idea of Christians deconstructing their faith, I'd ask just one simple question: How do you grow and learn if you don't deconstruct? There are few things that will shake your faith more than the death of a loved one in a preventable plane crash! The storms and vicissitudes of life bring pain, hardship, failure, betrayal and all the things that attend a life lived, dressed in human skin. And that WILL, to a significant degree, changed the lens through which one views Scriptures (Note that I didn't say it would change the Scriptures or their meaning). When your sight is failing, you change lenses. That is the nature of deconstruction! Like the storm that just hit Florida, I promised an explosive Season 7. Here it is!!! (PS: Listen to episode 1 before you listen to this) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

For those who position themselves against the idea of Christians deconstructing, I'd ask just one simple question: How do you grow and learn if you don't deconstruct? I've cringed while listening to some of the sermons I taught 20 or more years ago. Why? Because, as I've grown, I've experienced life, pain, hardship, success, failure, joys, betrayal and all the things that attend a life lived, dressed in human skin. And that has, to a significant degree, changed the lens through which I view Scriptures (Note that I didn't say it has changed the Scriptures or their meaning). When your sight is failing, you change lenses. That is the nature of deconstruction! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

With the chaos that attends our world, and similarly the Church, what should our attitude be? Should we leave the Church and simply live a private faith? After all, too many of our leaders seem to betray their calling and their confidence in God, so why should we continue to trust and believe? Great questions. Let's explore the answers together this Friday. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

There's nothing more frightening, yet more fulfilling, than stepping into the void of uncertainty knowing that God's got your back. Steve Harvey contends that there's no one who's ever been successful at fulfilling the purpose to which God called them, who hasn't had to take a leap of faith off the cliff of certainty into uncertainty. In part 2 of this 2-part series, I conclude a heartwarming and encouraging conversation with my only guests of the season. Join the conversation this Friday with Hope, Kenneth, and I, and don't forget to invite a friend...or ten!!! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

There's nothing more frightening, yet more fulfilling, than stepping into the void of uncertainty knowing that God's got your back. Steve Harvey contends that there's no one who's ever been successful at fulfilling the purpose to which God called them, who hasn't had to take a leap of faith off the cliff of certainty into uncertainty. This week and next, I engage in a heartwarming and encouraging conversation with my only guests of the season. Join the conversation this Friday, and invite a friend...or ten!!! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

"The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" - Matthew 8:25-26 (NLT)" Could it be that Jesus is still asking the same question of us today? Join me on this episode of Open Spaces with Joseph Thompson and find out! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

"Discouragement is a satanic tool that seems to fit my disposition well." - Jim Elliot What do you do when discouragement comes to sit uninvited at your table? How do you escape the feeling of the walls pressing in around you? Join me as we answer these and other questions on this weeks episode of Open Spaces with Joseph Thompson. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The beginning and the end of your story are typically the easiest places to navigate. The beginning is filled with hope and passion, and the end holds the fulfillment of the promise. But in-between the beginning and the end is the messy middle where there's betrayal, false accusations, deception...and every conceivable hurt that threatens to derail your dreams. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

For the Christ follower, the beginning and the end of God's promises are relatively easy to navigate because at the beginning we're full of hope and passion, while at the end we experience the euphoria of the actualization of the promise. But in-between the beginning and the end is the messy middle. What's that? Join us on the journey and find out. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

While vulnerability may leave you emotionally at risk, it is never a weakness, but actually true and considerable strength. So what is vulnerability and what does it look like for you and I? Join me as we explore the answers to those questions here on Open Spaces. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

As we learn to navigate the vicissitudes and vagaries of life, we can borrow wisdom from the Buffalo who runs headlong into the storm. Join me for the new season of Open Spaces with Joseph Thompson where we explore a host of ideas to make us better humans. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In a world where familiarity often breeds contempt, how do we allow people to see us close up yet not lose sight of the value we bring? Inattentional blindness is a condition that plagues us all, but it doesn't have to have the final word. Tune in and find out how to overcome this condition. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The Church is called to "Go into all the world..." but some of us are more inclined to focus on what's happening in the building. Is that wrong? Do we all have to feel called to "do the work of an evangelist?" My guest and I tackle yet another hot-button issue in an attempt to understand our different callings. Pull up a chair, you'll need to sit down for this one! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We're touching all the sensitive nerves in this two part series. Last week, in part 1, we talked about abortion and the likely reversal of Roe v. Wade. This week we're talking about gun control, immigration, and the Christian position on both...if there actually is one. Join us from the relative safety of your "chair" as my guest and I take on these behemoths that have threatened to destroy the most hardy of relationships. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

With the seemingly inevitable reversal of Roe v. Wade, what does that portend for pro-choice advocates? Will abortion become illegal across the United States? Will the sudden rise of illegal abortion clinics take advantage of women at their most vulnerable? I put my guest on the spot this week and insist that he speaks about issues that make grown men tremble and quake in their shoes. Join us from your comfortable "chair" and listen in on the conversation. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Vibrant living is so much more than being part of a nuclear family. My guest today has lived this truth and shares an incredible amount of wisdom with our audience. You won't want to miss this! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Vulnerability defined is the willingness to show emotion or to allow one's weaknesses to be seen or known....It is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change. Shame, on the other hand is the swampland of the soul, and secrecy, silence, and judgment are the key ingredients in the petri dish of shame. Want to find out more? Tune in this Friday! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

What are the things that matter most to you as you navigate the journey of life? My guest and I discuss some of those things as we recount our journey. This promises to be an enlightening conversation! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

I'm on a quest to become a better version of myself with each passing day, but it can sometimes be so frustrating as I find myself failing...a lot! But it appears I'm in good company. With whom? Well, why don't you tune in and find out? See you in Open Spaces. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

What does it take for your dreams to become your reality? Kalpana Chawa said, "The path from dreams to success does exist," but I'm under no illusions that it takes work and a change in your mindset. Join us as we discuss that in this episode. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Have you ever met someone who invented something and became rich, and you thought, "Why don't I have the smarts to come up with inventions like that?" Could it be that you're just a run of the mill average Joe? Listen in and find out. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The original Greek word for wisdom as used in the Scriptures is Sophia (I've always loved that name), but how does it differ from any other kind of wisdom? Better yet, how do I get this kind of wisdom? Join me and find out on the season finale of Open Spaces. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

If we take off the costumes we all wear, we're more likely to understand the myriad ways in which people express their humanity. Only then can we truly love the way Jesus calls us to. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Deconstructing racial and religious programming isn't the same as denying reality. Join my guest and I on her, over twenty year journey of deconstructing certain beliefs she's held. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We humans have a way of creating a narrative that soothes our collective conscience and makes us feel better about behaviors that are cringeworthy. In the inimitable words of President Francis Underwood, "Welcome to the death of the age of reason." No matter what side of the current geo-political climate you fall on, you're going to want to hear this episode. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In life, while the destination is often exciting, the journey is really what it's all about. The cruise ship industry has figured that out and use it to their advantage. Ultimately, a cruise isn't really about where you're going or the ports you're calling at, but about the journey itself, and so the best cruise liners go out of their way to create an experience worthy of sharing and even repeating. But I digress! I'm not talking about cruise ships in this episode, however my guest and I are talking about the journey so far and what a day in the life of the adventure we're on might look like for her. Figured out who my guest is yet? Don't worry, you don't have to guess. Just click on the hyperlink and join us for a great experience. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

How do I respond when I'm feeling unfairly beaten up by life's relentless pressures? There are primarily two kinds of games in the gaming industry, the finite and the infinite. The goal of the finite game is simply to win! Once you win it's over. The goal of the infinite game is to keep playing. It's never ending and you simply continue to climb to higher levels with each successive conquest. Most infinite games are free to download but have in-app purchases that provide greater and greater incentives that commit you to the game. If we distill life down to the analogy of a video game, then life is the infinite game version. Want to understand how and why? Tune in and find out! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this episode we explore the ties that bind us together. We reminisce about the past, live in the present, and dream about the future. My guest isn't a stranger to our long time listeners, but the new season calls for a new outlook and a fresh perspective. No matter what obstacles life throws at you, as a Christ follower you've been uniquely equipped to face the challenges, head right into the storm, and come out the other side a stronger and better person. I love the raw and honest journey this episode will take you on. Don't listen alone, invite a friend or two, and definitely invite family. You can thank me later! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Mark Batterson, in his devotional titled, Flip The Script, suggests that: "If your life isn't what you want it to be, it may be because you're telling yourself the wrong story." You see, as a Christ follower I've always maintained that stories shape the ethos of any community--in other words, stories shape the characteristic spirit of a culture or community as manifested in said culture's beliefs and aspirations. If this is true, and I'm confident that it is, then what is the ethos of the Christ-following community? What narrative are we telling ourselves and the rest of the world that makes our story valuable and worthy of pursuing? I invite you to join me on this episode as I explore the answers to these troubling questions. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week my guest and I discover a few "hidden" secrets which we explore in some detail. Living life requires so many things of us, and the truth is that sometimes the best--or at least the most useful--part of the lessons we learn from life are actually not found in the destination but in the journey itself. Ultimately, what adds the greatest value from your journey, in helping other people navigate theirs, is your story. So what's your story? How are you using it to make the world around you better? Don't even know what that means or where to begin? Then this podcast will help give you perspective. Invite your friends and family, and you can thank me later! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, "The "heart" in the Biblical sense is not the inner life, but the whole man in relation to God. But as a man lives just as much from the "outwards" to "inwards" as from "inwards" to "outwards," the view that his essential nature can be understood only from his intimate spiritual background is wholly erroneous." Hollywood, on the other hand, would suggest that love is the potent emotional connection you feel with someone you're attracted to the moment you set eyes on them. Yet, more often than not, that warm fuzzy feeling is simply a misguided, unchecked emotion masquerading as love. Love has a significant cost for all who dare to truly love. Find out in this episode what that might be! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Unless you've been living under a rock or were born yesterday, you've probably heard or even used the expression "Christmas Spirit." But what is it? I bet if I asked the question in a room of ten people, there'd be eleven different definitions. Culture has redefined so much of our vocabulary and Christmas has become just another holiday in which Hallmark thrives, we give all our money to the stores, and we're nice to everyone including the people we don't really like. So how do you get the Christmas Spirit? Or better yet, how do you recognize the Christmas Spirit when you see it? Let's explore the answers together so as to ensure that the Christmas Spirit is present in all our celebrations this Christmas. Merry Christmas from our house to yours! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

I couldn't think of a more fitting guest to end the season and close out the year. Dr. Dwight Bain is a national expert on strategic thinking to solve high stress situations. He is a trusted media expert quoted by hundreds of radio and TV on air personalities. But more than all that, Dwight is a fellow traveler on the road of life and he's experienced his fair share of "lessons along the way" that more than qualify him to talk about the issues in our world that create controversy, pain, uncertainty, and fear. Dwight is a thought leader helping to shape change, adaptation, and SQ (Spiritual Intelligence). You're in for a treat in this episode, and yes...you can thank me later! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app