The Apprenticeship Way with Marc Alan Schelske

Episode 054 - A Better Place Than Here (With Jennifer Knapp) What would you learn if you had the opportunity to go back and revisit your spiritual journey of twenty-five years ago? What if that experience happened in community, with folks who were there with you, when it happened? What would you learn? How are you different? What losses and what growth would you notice? The release of Kansas 25, a re-recording of her award-winning album, Kansas, gave singer songwriter, Jennifer Knapp, just that experience. Show Notes Get Kansas 25 Digital, CD & Vinyl Streaming on all major services. Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Jennifer Knapp is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, author, speaker, and advocate whose two-decade career has significantly impacted the music industry. With over one million albums sold from her first three releases—"Kansas" (1998), "Lay It Down" (2000), and "The Way I Am" (2001)—Knapp achieved Gold certification for "Kansas" and earned four Dove Awards along with two Grammy nominations. Originating from Kansas, she has performed globally alongside artists like Jars of Clay and participated in the Lilith Fair Tour in 1999 and 2010. Known for her poignant exploration of human experiences and spirituality, Knapp took a seven-year hiatus in 2002, returning with the album "Letting Go" in 2010, which debuted at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 200 Chart. Beyond music, she is a pioneer in LGBTQ+ advocacy within Christian communities, being the first major artist to openly discuss her identity, which sparked national dialogue and led to appearances on platforms like Larry King Live and TEDx. In 2012, she founded Inside Out Faith, a non-profit organization advocating for LGBTQ+ rights in faith contexts. Recently, she completed a master's degree in theological studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School, reinforcing her commitment to social justice through music and advocacy. Jennifer Knapp's diverse talents and dedication to inclusivity continue to inspire audiences worldwide. Find Jenn at https://jenniferknapp.com Facebook: JenniferKnappMusic Instagram: @JenniferKnappMusic Today's Sponsor The Apprenticehip Notes Newsletter - Monthly-ish writing just for you on spiritual growth in the other-centered, co-suffering way of Jesus. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth, following the way of Jesus. This is episode 55: A Better Place Than Here. THIS WEEK'S SPONSORToday's podcast is made possible by The Writers Advance. I'm a writer. I love supporting writers. Five years ago, I created The Writer's Advance. It's exactly what I needed--A writing weekend that has been crafted to be precisely what writers need to push forward their current project. It's not about networking or listening to experts speak or trying desperately to get an agent or editor to notice you. Nope. It's about writing and reconnecting with why writing matters to you. At the end of every writing weekend, I send all the participants an anonymous survey to get feedback so that I can improve the experience. You can read their words on the event website, but I wanted to just read a couple of their comments to you right now, because they really tell the story. This is an anonymous feedback from the retreat two years ago. "This was an amazing weekend. The hosting was on target. The venue was peaceful and offered more than I expected. I loved the pacing. Marc is a great host and guide, and provides just the right amount of encouragement and accountability. So looking forward to the next one." Here's another. This is a comment about last year's event. "This weekend reenergized my commitment to my writing craft. It was an excellent blend of accountability, flexibility,

Episode 054 - Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (With Sarah Sanderson) Do you know the hidden history of the place where you live? If we want to be part of God's work of bringing restoration and liberation, we can't ignore what's happened in the past. Telling this truth is the only way to get to healing. Show Notes Get Sarah's book: The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate Other Books Mentioned: Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair by Duke Kwon & Greg Thompson The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby Dear White Peacemakers: Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace by Osheta Moore Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Sarah L. Sanderson is a writer, speaker, and teacher. Her writing has appeared in PBS Newshour, Blackpast, Christianity Today, and various other journals. She's a thoughtful human, a justice-minded Christian, and a skilled writer. Find Sarah at www.SarahLSanderson.com Threads: @sarahlsandersonwriter Facebook: sarah.sanderson Instagram: @sarahlsandersonwriter Today's Sponsor The Apprenticehip Notes Newsletter - Monthly-ish writing just for you on spiritual growth in the other-centered, co-suffering way of Jesus. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Do you know the hidden history of the place where you live? If we want to be part of God's work to bring restoration and liberation, we can't ignore what's happened in the past, as much as we'd like to. Telling this truth is the only way to get to healing. Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 54. Knowing the past to make a better future. THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR Before we start, I'd like to tell you about Apprenticeship Notes. Apprenticeship Notes is my new email newsletter. What is this? Why should you subscribe? Why on earth would you want one more newsletter in your inbox? I'm glad you asked. Social media has just stopped working well for many people. Our social media feeds used to be spaces where we had some control. We could choose to follow people who are interesting to us. We could connect with friends, we could learn from the experience and wisdom of other people. For well more than 10 years, my social media feeds, particularly Twitter, were a significant benefit to me, especially as a writer. But nowadays, in most cases our social media feeds are filled with ads, sponsored posts that are ads but don't look like ads, and influencers trying to sell us on their latest master course. And even when we find and follow the people we want to hear more from, the black-box algorithms determine whether or not we get to see what they have to say. And usually what the algorithm shows us is just stuff that gets us ramped up. That means more anger, more division. It's a mess. I've been slowly transitioning away from using social media as the main avenue for communicating about my writing. It's really scary. I can't even express to you how big of a change this is. At one point I had 35,000 followers on Twitter, I could reliably post a new blog and around a thousand people would see it. But that's not true any longer and it hasn't been for a while. And so I decided to begin building a different kind of space where I could write, encourage people, and serve folks who want to grow spiritually and value the writing that I do. The first step of this new plan is my newsletter. It's called Apprenticeship Notes because the spiritual life, following the way of Jesus, is something you learn by doing. This newsletter comes out monthly. OK, honestly, monthly-ish, probably about nine to 10 times a year. So what will you find if you subscribe? Well, each edition starts with Today's Note,

Episode 053 - What if the Bible isn't perfect? (With Zach Hunt) There are many debates and disagreements within Christianity. Behind most of these, you'll find one very significant issue. How we read the Bible. The way we read the Bible and what we believe about how the Bible came to be directly gets at what we believe about God. Can Christianity work if the Bible isn't perfect? Show Notes Get Zach's books: Godbreathed: What it Really Means for the Bible to Be Divinely Inspired Unraptured: How End Times Theology Gets It Wrong Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Zack Hunt has spent the last decade writing about the interplay of faith and politics in the public sphere on his eponymous blog, Substack, and Patheos as well as contributing articles to multiple publications. He's also made appearances in Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and various other media outlets. Find Zack at www.TheWayIsTheWay.org Threads: @zaackhunt Facebook: @zlhunt Instagram: @zaackhunt Today's Sponsor Journaling for Spiritual Growth - Six weeks to build a habit that fosters spiritual and emotional maturity. This little book is a generous and hospitable guide to establishing a sustainable spiritual practice. Try it now. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting into my email list. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 53. What if the Bible isn't perfect? TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by Journaling for Spiritual Growth. This is my new book. It launched in November of 2022, so it's just a few months old, but it's already finding its people. And that is so exciting to me, especially since this is a book with a pretty small target audience. I heard from one woman who grew up in the church, and her comment after reading Journaling For Spiritual Growth was how relieved she felt. For her, this little book helped her to untangle her picture of God and find a healthy way to pursue spiritual growth. I teared up, listening to her. Here's an Amazon review that just moved me. "I wish this book had been around when I was at the start of my deconstructing process and trying to form a new connection to my last shred of spiritual practice with the Bible. After reading this book, I can tell you it is something special. I found this book clear, focused, and transparent in its intentions. It became my friend in a way as I explored the prompts. It makes room for one's personal story and experience. Give it a try. I hope it gracefully surprises you as it did me." As an author, I could not ask for higher praise than that. This little book is a six-week process to gently guide you through building a lasting and sustainable journaling practice, where you'll experience spiritual and emotional growth. My intention was to write something helpful and healing. And if that sounds intriguing, you can get it in all the book places where you can get a signed copy directly from me at my website. Learn more about the book and the places that you can get it at www.JournalingForSpiritualGrowth.com. INTRODUCTION Marc Schelske 1:50 There is significant division and disagreement in the greater Christian community. This includes long historical arguments about theology, like exactly what it means that Jesus saves us and exactly how that comes about,

Episode 052 - Childlike Faith vs. Childish Faith (With Pastor Mandy Smith) Often the church seems in a panic to avoid the influence of culture, but what if the church is already fully bought into the assumptions of culture? Western culture assumes that strength, leadership, and being right are the way of success. Does the way of Jesus calls us to something different?. Show Notes Get Mandy's books: The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower our Ministry Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith beyond the Baggage of Western Culture Mandy's Website: www.TheWayIsTheWay.org Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partners Mandy Smith is a pastor, author, and speaker. She pastors St. Lucia Uniting Church, in St. Lucia, in Queensland, Australia. She's a regular contributor to Christianity Today and Missio Alliance. Find Mandy at www.TheWayIsTheWay.org Twitter: @MandySmithHopes Facebook: Mandy Smith Today's Sponsor The Untangled Heart Course - We don't need to live with fear that our emotions will overwhelm us. We can learn to experience them in a way that allows us access to the wisdom they carry! More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting into my email list. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 52. Childlike faith is better than childish faith. TODAY'S SPONSOR Marc Schelske 0:18Today's podcast is made possible by the Untangled Workshop. Some of us don't do too well with emotions, ours, other peoples'. It doesn't matter. For some of us, they're confusing. For some of us, they're overwhelming. For some of us, it feels like we live at the whim of emotions that are explosively beyond our control. Others of us can't seem to feel anything at all, even when it seems like we should. For most of my life, emotions were a deep struggle for me. I had no idea how much my early childhood trauma had shaped the way I experienced my emotions. I just knew that my emotions, other people's emotions, anyone's emotions made me uncomfortable. Things are much better for me now, but I remember what that ache was like. And that's why I teamed up with a skilled trauma therapist, Byron Kehler, to create The Untangled Workshop, a roadmap for understanding and navigating our emotions. We filmed this training live, and then created an on-demand video course that you can watch on your own time and review as needed. In this workshop, you'll learn why we often disconnect from our emotions, how our emotions serve a vital role in living a fulfilled life, and what's happening in our brain and body when we feel an emotion. In addition, we'll teach you a simple to understand roadmap for how to experience, to sit with your emotions and understand what your emotions might be telling you, and then give you some tools you can immediately use to improve your own emotional life and your emotional connection with others. The course cost $65. That includes ten sessions with five hours of video teaching, multiple questions for each session that allow you to journal and reflect on the content and process what you're learning, a 23-page downloadable notes packet and a two-page full color downloadable emotions reference card, something that was really really helpful and important to me in my own emotional recovery. Along with that you get the ability to ask clarifying questions and get answers directly from me.

Episode 051 - Faith when you don't Feel Faithful (With Ben Stenke & Matt Tebbe) The life of a follower of Jesus is not about assent to an idea, or rigorous attention to a life of religious activity. Matt Tebbe says, "There aren't two things: faith and action. There's just one thing: Faithful Action." We discuss. Show Notes Get the book: Having the Mind of Christ Gravity Leadership's Excellent Podcast: The Gravity Leadership Podcast Gravity Cohorts: https://gravityleadership.com/academy/ Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partners Ben Sternke is an Anglican priest, author, and leadership trainer. He's one of the co-founders of Gravity Leadership and pastors at The Table Indy, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Find Jonathan at www.GravityLeadership.com Twitter: @bensternke Facebook: Ben Sternke Matt Tebbe is also an Anglican priest, author, and leadership trainer. He's the other co-founder of Gravity Leadership and pastors at The Table Indy, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Find Matt at www.GravityLeadership.com Twitter: Matt Tebbe Facebook: Matt Tebbe Today's Sponsor Journaling for Spiritual Growth - Yes! My new book is out and in pre-order mode. Head over and check it out and maybe order a copy or three. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting into my email list. Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske 0:00Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 51: "Faith when you don't feel faithful." TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by Journaling for Spiritual Growth. This is my new book. It launched in November of 2022. So it's just a few months old, but it's already finding its people. And that is really exciting to me, especially since I knew going into it that this book had a pretty small target audience. A few weeks ago, I was talking to a woman who read the book and had grown up in the church, and her comment after reading Journaling for Spiritual Growth was how relieved she felt. For her, this little book helped her untangle her picture of God, and find a healthier way to pursue spiritual growth. I teared up, listening to her. Here's an Amazon review I want to share with you this really moved me: "I wish this book had been around when I was at the start of my deconstruction process, trying to form a new connection to my last shred of spiritual practice with the Bible. After reading this book, I can tell you it is something special. I found the book clear, focused, and transparent in all its intentions. It became my friend in a way as I explored the prompts. It makes room for one's personal story and experience. Give it a try. I hope it gracefully surprises you as it did me." As the author who wrote this book, I could not ask for higher praise than that. This little book is a six-week process to gently guide you in building a lasting and sustainable journaling practice where you'll experience spiritual and emotional growth. I intended to write something helpful and healing. And if that sounds intriguing to you, you can get it on all the online bookstores, or you can buy a signed copy directly from me at my website. Learn more about the book and what's in it at www.JournalingForSpiritualGrowth.com. WHERE HAVE I BEEN? It's been a while, hasn't it? My last podcast episode was almost six months ago. Well, I've been up to my ears in research for my master's thesis,

Episode 050 - Letting God Change Our Minds —or, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Devotional (With Jonathan Puddle) What do you do with an opportunity that comes your way that isn't right for you? That happened for Jonathan Puddle, and he turned into something beautiful. Show Notes Jonathan's new devotional: Mornings With God: Daily Bible Devotional for MenJonathan's first devotional: You are Enough: Learning to Love Yourself the Way God Loves You Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Kevin Makins is a writer, speaker, and maker of things, who is also just a regular pastor, serving at Eucharist Church, in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Find Jonathan at www.jonathanpuddle.comTwitter: @jonathanpuddleInstagram: @jonathanpuddleFacebook: Jonathan Puddle Today's Sponsor Journaling for Spiritual Growth - Yes! My new book is out and in pre-order mode. Head over and check it out and maybe order a copy or three. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske  0:00   So are we willing to let God change our minds? Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, And this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 50. When God changes our minds, or maybe a better title: A weird thing happened on the way to the devotional book. You'll see what I mean. TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by Journaling For Spiritual Growth. Yes, finally! My new book has at long last made it through all of the hurdles of writing and editorial and revision and design and all that stuff. Pre-orders are live right now. And on November 15, it will be available to you. I'm so excited about this. Now, if you follow me online, or you're a regular podcast listener, you already know I'm a big advocate for practical, doable, intentional practices that contribute to personal and spiritual growth. And that's what this is about. Journaling has been a part of my spiritual practice for about 30 years now. And working with lots of people as a pastor, and in other capacities, for more than two decades, I've seen that for many people, journaling is the most consistently transformative practice. But I've also seen a lot of people try journaling and then give up. A lot more are intimidated about starting. It feels like a really big deal. So, I wanted to offer an easy-to-follow process that can help a person start a flexible, gracious, sustainable journaling practice that can serve over the long haul. That's what this little book is about. It's a day-by-day guide that will, over the course of six weeks, help you set your expectations, lay the groundwork, and begin building a habit of journaling that is specifically focused on personal and spiritual growth--and that will work in your actual life. If that sounds intriguing, you can learn more about the book at www.JournalingForSpiritual growth.com. And as I said, the book is presently in preorder. That's really important. Why? Because when people preorder a book that does two things. First, it tells the all-seeing algorithms over at Amazon and on social media what's interesting to people. When that happens, the algorithm start sharing it with people that we don't even know. But the second thing is that all those pre-orders get counted as sales on the first day the book goes live. That boost helps the book become visible through all the noise of all of the other books. So,

Episode 049 - Church, Stop Acting Like a Hot Topic—or, Building a Church People Actually Want To Go To (With Kevin Makins) Why would anyone bother to go to church? I don't mean why would Christians bother. I mean, if someone outside of the church was thinking about getting involved, why would they? What might it look like to build a church that people attend because it's meaningful to them, not out of obligation or habit? What would a church look like that was truly loved by its neighborhood? Show Notes The Nones: Where they came from, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, by Ryan BorgeArticle: OK, Millennial. Don't Blame Boomers for the Decline of Religion in America, by Ryan BorgeKevin's Book: Why Would Anyone Go to Church? Scroll down for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Kevin Makins is a writer, speaker, and maker of things, who is also just a regular pastor, serving at Eucharist Church, in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Find Kevin at www.KevinMakins.comLearn more about his church: https://eucharistchurch.ca/See Kevin's short films about being human and his 60-min one-man show, "Holy Shift."Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinmakinsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinmakins/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevinmakinsstuff Today's Sponsor My Summer Inflation Sale - I am trying to raise some funds this summer to make up for a shortfall in income. If you've been thinking about buying anything I make, now is a great time! These sale prices will be active through August 1st. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske  0:00   Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske and this is The Apprenticeship Way, A podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 49. Church stop acting like a hot topic! Or maybe a better title is "Building a church people actually want to go to." TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by My Summer Inflation Sale. You heard me! Life has gotten expensive, hasn't it? Gas, groceries, it's all a bit much. Now, Christina, my wife, is a teacher. And so the normal gig is that our family is without a second paycheck for a couple of months every summer. In past years, we've budgeted to cover that. But this year, the dramatic increase in prices of essential things has just outpaced our budget. So I'm looking for some extra income. So if you've ever thought about buying something I make, now is an excellent time. So what could you get? Any and all of my books, my online courses, and of course for some people, there's the work that I do to support writers. See it all with special summer inflation sale prices at www.MarcAlanSchelske.com/ Summer-Inflation-Sale. Those prices will be available until August 1. So act fast, I've got some bills to pay. INTRODUCTION I grew up in Ohio, the American Midwest, in the 1980s. And in that place and time, everyone went to church, everyone I knew. The only question was how into it were you, but everyone went to church. Fast forward through two recessions (maybe three now), the 9-11 attacks, a pointless 20 Year War, a housing bubble (or two), and a global pandemic that shut down in-person gatherings for, in some cases, a year or more, and the world has changed. The assumption that everyone goes to church is just no longer true, especially where I live here in the Pacific Northwest. Ryan Burge wrote a book called "The Nones" about that category of people who identify themselves as spir...

Episode 048 - Empathy Is Not a Sin (With Becky Castle Miller) Recently a number of Christian leaders and teachers have been making waves saying that empathy is a sin--or at least something that good Christians need to be very careful with. Why would they say this? What do they get out of it? And why should you be concerned if you hear this line of thinking? Show Notes Following King Jesus by Scot McKnight and Becky Castle MillerCheck out Seminary Now, where Becky works.One source on Calvin's letter justifying the murder of Servetus: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8.iv.xvi.xxii.html Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about My Conversation Partner Becky Castle Miller writes and speaks on emotional, mental, and spiritual health in the church. She recently graduated from Northern Seminary with a master's in New Testament Context, studying with Dr. Scot McKnight. Her discipleship workbook with Dr. McKnight is called Following King Jesus. She is working on a new book about Jesus's emotions. She, her husband, their five kids, and cat returned to the US after living in the Netherlands for eight years, where she worked at an international church. She is presently the Program Manager for Seminary Now. Becky writes on Medium: https://medium.com/wholeheartedTwitter: @bcastlemillerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckycastlemillerblog/ Today's Sponsor The Wisdom of Your Heart - This book debunks several myths about emotions that are often taught in church, presents a healthier theology of emotions, and our best current understanding of what emotions mean when we have them, and how we can learn to hear wisdom in them. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske  0:00   Hey friends, I'm Marc Alen Schelske and this is The Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 48. Empathy is not a sin--and anyone who tells you so is trying to control you. TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by The Wisdom of Your Heart. We're talking about empathy today and that means we're going to touch on the world of our emotions. This is a subject close to my heart. I spent a lot of my life deeply disconnected from my emotions and it costs me gravely. You can hear the story of my recovery in my book, The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Power and Purpose of Your Emotions. In this book, I also debunk several myths about emotions that are often taught in church, I present a theology of emotions, and I talk about our best current understanding of what emotions mean when we have them and how we can learn to hear wisdom in them. So, if today's conversation is helpful, or if you're unpacking difficult emotions from your past, or bad emotional teaching from the church, I invite you to check out The Wisdom of Your Heart. It's available in all the book places. Learn more at www.TheWisdomOfYourHeart.com. INTRODUCTION In the past couple of years, the strangest controversy has emerged and it's only getting worse. It turns out that a number of pastors and theologians have been teaching that empathy is a sin. Empathy, you know, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, that? Yeah, empathy is a sin. Now, the idea that empathy is a sin strikes me as patently absurd and dismissible. This whole podcast could boil down to me saying, "No, guys. No, it's not."

Episode 047 - Don't Choose Shallow Formation (With Rich Vellodas) Does our faith enable us to be “a good gift” to our neighbors, even the neighbors we disagree with? Many Christians, it seems, are living in ways that contradict the core ethic of our faith loving our neighbors as ourselves. What is going on? It seems like we are witnessing a mass failure of discipleship. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? Show Notes The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformational Values to Root us in the Way of Jesus by Rich VellodasEmotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete ScazerroRich Vellodas preaches about Racism as it is manifested in human structures and institutions. Worth your time. Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about Rich Vellodas Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading widely, preaching, and writing on contemplative spirituality, justice-related matters, and the art of preaching. He's been married to Rosie since 2006 and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan. His Website: www.RichVillodas.comTwitter: @richvillodasFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rvillodas Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance - A unique twice-a-year writers weekend that's focused on writing. No break-out sessions. No listening to experts talk about what worked for them. No networking. No social media. Just a small group of writers encouraging each other to write. One-on-one coaching and group feedback available. Just a few spots remain for the April weekend. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske  0:00   Does our faith enable us to be a good gift to our neighbors? Even the neighbors we disagree with? Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske, and this is the Apprenticeship Way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is episode 47. Don't choose shallow formation. TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is made possible by The Writers Advance. I'm a writer, and I love supporting writers. Three years ago, I created the writer's advance. It's a writer's weekend. And it's been crafted to be exactly what writers need to push forward their current project. It's not about networking or listening to experts speak or trying desperately to get an agent or an editor to notice you. It is about writing and reconnecting with why writing matters to you. Now, at every event I send all the participants an anonymous survey. You can read their words on the event website, but I want to read a few of their comments right now because they tell the story. They're writers who have come to this event. And this is what they have to say. This is from the anonymous survey from the most recent event in November of 2021. "This was an amazing weekend. The hosting was on target, the venue was peaceful, and offered more than I expected. I love the pacing. Often retreats such as these are nice getaways with lots of listening to people speak. And I really appreciated the time to write and to wind down with points of contact along the way. Mark is a great host and a guide and provides just the right amount of encouragement and accountability.

Episode 046 - A More Beautiful Deconstruction (With Dr. Bradley Jersak) Deconstruction is everywhere. People are doing it. Some leaders are fighting it. Some people are excited by it. Some people are terrified of it. Is it just a trendy new word for leaving the church? No. It's a process that's necessary for spiritual maturity--and how we think about it matters. Show Notes A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful GospelA More Christlike Way: A More Beautiful FaithA More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the Emmaus Way Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about Dr. Bradley Jersak Dr. Bradley Jersak is an author of multiple books. He's a professor of theology and the Dean of theology and culture at St. Stephen's University, New Brunswick. He serves as a reader and monastery preacher at an orthodox monastery, and he lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia with Eden his wife. Let's talk deconstruction. His Website: www.BradJersak.comClarion: Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice: www.clarion-journal.com/Twitter: @bradjersakFacebook: www.facebook.com/bradley.jersak Today's Sponsor The Wisdom Of Your Heart - A unique twice-a-year writers weekend that's focused on writing. No break-out sessions. No listening to experts talk about what worked for them. No networking. No social media. Just a small group of writers encouraging each other to write. One-on-one coaching and group feedback available. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske  0:00   Is deconstruction just a trendy word for backsliding or leaving Christianity? No. deconstruction is a necessary part of faith and how we think about it matters. Hey friends, I'm Marc Alan Schelske and this is the apprenticeship way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is Episode 46. A more beautiful deconstruction. TODAY'S SPONSOR Today's podcast is sponsored by The Wisdom Of Your Heart. Imagine having two legs, two strong, healthy, functional legs, but then your parents and your teachers, maybe a pastor of the church who grew up in told you that in order to be a good person, a strong person, someone that really does what God wants, you need to only ever use one of those legs. Now you're a kid, you believe what trusted people tell you. And so you do it. You try living life on just one leg, you hop around, you end up sometimes losing your balance, you get pretty bruised up, but you know that you're doing what God wants. So you're being strong and good, even though sometimes you get hurt pretty badly or hurt other people around you.  This isn't a made up story. A lot of people who grew up Christian are living like this. Maybe it's you! Were you told that emotions are untrustworthy or immature are only capable of deception? Were you taught that good decision making, clear thinking, and even godly doctrine can never be influenced by emotion, by our feelings? Did some pastor tell you that empathy is a sin? Or maybe you experienced profound trauma that shut down your emotions or made your emotion swing wildly. Living like that is like trying to live with only one leg when you have two functional healthy legs. You're not using the tools God gave you. You're only going to end up hurting yourself and others.  If you've been trying to live like this--avoiding painful emotions,

Episode 045 - Let's Normalize Being Wrong (With Matt Tebbe) I grew up in a faith tradition where being right was essential. It's what kept us in community. It's what we thought honored God. For many other reasons--temperament, trauma, and even privilege--being right became an identity issue for me. Then I heard Matt Tebbe suggest that we need to normalize being wrong. For some of us this is the medicine we need. Show Notes "Let's normalize being wrong. Make Repentance Great Again" - Matt TebbeJohn 10:18Philippians 2 Download a full transcript here or scroll to the bottom of the page for a full transcript of this episode.You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. More about Matt Tebbe Rev. Matt Tebbe (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) has been a coach, communicator and consultant with churches in North America since 2011. He has experience as a youth pastor, a bi-vocational church planter, and working on a team at a large church to transition it from a Sunday-centric worship service to a discipleship and mission paradigm. He has written for Leadership Journal, Shattered Magazine, and contributed to the book “What Pastors Wish Their Congregations Knew” by Kurt Fredrickson and Cameron Lee. He's also been a featured writer at Missio Alliance and The V3 Movement. He co-founded Gravity Leadership, and is planting a church (The Table) in the northeast suburbs of Indianapolis, where he and his wife Sharon live with their children Deacon and Celeste. His Church: www.thetableindy.orgGravity Leadership: www.gravityleadership.comTwitter: @matttebbeFacebook: www.facebook.com/matttebbe Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance Weekend - A unique twice-a-year writers weekend that's focused on writing. No break-out sessions. No listening to experts talk about what worked for them. No networking. No social media. Just a small group of writers encouraging each other to write. One-on-one coaching and group feedback available. More from Marc Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideSubscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World. Transcription Marc Schelske  0:00   Did you know you don't have to correct other people? Did you know you can be wrong, and the world won't end? Hey, friends, I'm Marc Alen Schelske. This is the apprenticeship way, a podcast about spiritual growth following the way of Jesus. This is Episode 45. Let's normalize being wrong.  TODAY'S SPONSOR Now, before we jump into that conversation, I'd like to tell you that today's podcast is made possible by The Writers Advance. I'm a writer, I write this podcast. I write blog posts. I write sermons, I've written three books. I've got two manuscripts in the oven right now. I think I've written something close to a million words at this point. And all of that writing, I have learned that there really is only one significant obstacle to writing just one. Life. Life and all its business, obligations, responsibilities, chores, people who need you to do stuff right now. And all that stuff, it takes time. And even when you sit down to write and try to focus at all intrudes into the space into your emotions.  So, one of the disciplines that I have learned over the years of writing is that periodically, I need to get out of my life in order to focus. Not an out-of-body experience, I just need to get off the grid, I need to be out of the reach of my schedule and phone, I need to retreat so that I can advance my writing. That's why I created the writer's advance.  This is a very unique event for writers.

Episode 044 - Your Suffering is Sacred (With K.J. Ramsey) Are you allergic to happy clappy Christianity? There's a good reason for thats. Churches that ignore suffering are ignoring Jesus. Many churches are not good at holding suffering. People who find themselves in extended suffering — maybe living with depression or anxiety, other mental health issues, or even invisible chronic illness — sometimes find there's not a place for them in the church. In this episode, I talk with KJ Ramsey who has particular experience with this, and we talk about the gospel according to suffering. Show Notes "There needs to be more room in the Body of Christ to stand in the ground of our sorrow and see our suffering Savior." - KJR"We prefer to keep death out of sight and any reminders of the decay in our bodies or being less than dazzling, we want to hide and pretend it doesn't exist but the good news is that's not the way of Jesus." -KJR"If you're in a church where they say 'This table is for all,' but you're not actually included, leave. You don't need to stay in a community that crushes you...You are not faithless if you need to walk away." - KJR"To deconstruct the 2x4s of a house that was never actually God's house is a gift that you give to your future self." -KJR Follow KJ Ramsey & Get her Book K.J. Ramsey (BA, Covenant College, MA, Denver Seminary) is a licensed professional counselor, writer, and recovering idealist who believes sorrow and joy coexist. She is the author of This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers, and her writing has been published in Christianity Today, RELEVANT, The Huffington Post, Fathom Magazine, Health Central, and more on the integration of theology, psychology, and spiritual formation. She and her husband live in Denver, Colorado. At her website: http://www.kjramsey.comInstagram: @kjramseywritesTwitter: @kjramseywritesFacebook: @kjramseywritesGet her book, This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers OTHER LINKS You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. Today's Sponsor Untangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom - If you're like me, you might not have really been equipped to face difficult feelings. Distraction and denial were my favorite emotional tools. Projects. Video Games. TV. Social Media. More Work. Anything to not feel the discomfort. Learning how to sit with my feelings and understand what they really meant has been life changing. I wanted to share that with people I work with, so I wrote this little journal. The first 30 pages teach you the basics of how emotions work in our bodies and our brains, and how make meaning out of all of that. Then you learn a step-by-step template that guides you through processing an emotional reaction. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangled Heart Course Online. Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step Guide Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 043 - Your Purity & Piety Will Get You Nowhere You want to grow as a person. You want a sense of intimate connection with the Divine. You believe or suspect that the way of Jesus has something to say about this. That's why you're here. That's why I write. But in order to grow in the way of Jesus, we have to unpack some ideas we have about the spiritual life, so we can clear away some of the garbage that's getting in our way. One obstacle to growing spiritually is the picture we have in our minds about what a really spiritual person looks like. Yea. Our expectation of spirituality can be an obstacle to encountering Jesus. Show Notes Do you have either of these ideas internalized?"If we want to know and experience God, we must deal with sin in our lives. Intimacy with God and spiritual growth is tied to our purity.""If we want to know and experience God, we have to really, really want it and demonstrate commitment through an investment of time and effort. Intimacy with God and spiritual growth is tied to our piety."If you're not sure, try this quick test. What is your immediate gut response to the question, "How are you doing spiritually?" If your answer is tied to dealing with sin or spending more time in spiritual practice, then one of these ideas has taken root in your heart.We often compare ourselves to an imaginary ideal holy person in our minds. Whatever this holy person looks like will shape how we feel about ourselves and what we think we need to do to have an encounter with God. Consider a different narrative about encounter with God:Reflect on the story of Jacob. (Read it for yourself in Genesis 32)Jacob encounters God while wrestling in the dark. He doesn't recognize God. He didn't go into the dark to be spiritual. He was at the end of his rope. Do we feel like God isn't present in our lives because we are expecting God's presence to be something we recognize?Jacob has to tell the truth about himself. The stranger asked for Jacob's name. In his culture a person's name represented their character. Jacob's name was "Heal Grabber," a conniver, a cheater, a betrayer. God gave him a new name and a new story, but before that he had to admit the truth of who he was. Do we miss God's presence because we are clinging to justifications and lies about who we are?Jacob wouldn't let go. Even though he had lost the fight, he would not let go until he received a blessing. Do we sometimes feel like God isn't present because after we have prayed a little while, we don't feel like we've gotten an answer or a sense of God's presence, and we give up? You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor My Youtube Channel - I'm working this year to build my Youtube channel. Why? Isn't this a podcast? Aren't podcasts audio? It's really simple. Youtube is one of the largest search engine when you count the number of searches. When people want to learn how to do something, Youtube is the first place they go. My whole purpose with this podcast is to help people develop a healthy, inner life following the way of Jesus. A bunch of those people are never going to search “Christian Podcasts” in a podcast app. But they do come to Youtube and search for practical spiritual insight. I want to meet them there, and you can help. Head over to my channel and subscribe. Every time you like, comment and share a Youtube video, the algorithm assumes that people like you would like that video. That's how the algorithm knows who to recommend videos to. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Untangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online.

Episode 042 - Can You Imagine Jesus Demanding Sex? - Interview with Sheila Wray Gregoire. Christian teachers notoriously have lots of opinions about sex. Sometimes they even claim those opinions are God's will. But what if some of those teachings are hurting people and wrecking marriages? In this interview with Sheila Wray Gregoire we talk about the stunning findings from her survey of 20,000 Christian women about their sex lives, beliefs, and what they were taught in church about sex. This is a crucial conversation if the church is going to be healthy, life-giving community. Show Notes CONTENT ADVISORY: We're going talk frankly about sex, body parts, sex acts, and porn. Sexual abuse, rape, and marital rape will be mentioned. Meet Sheila: Sheila Wray Gregoire is passionate about changing the evangelical conversation about sex! A popular speaker, marriage blogger, and award-winning author of nine books, including The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex, she wants to challenge Christians to go beyond pat answers on marriage to reach real intimacy. Sheila believes in authenticity, and gives real solutions to the very real and messy problems women, and couples, can face. She and her husband Keith spend a lot of their time touring North America in an RV, speaking at marriage conferences, hiking, and birdwatching. The parents to two adult daughters, you can usually find her in Belleville, Ontario, where she's either knitting, blogging, or taking her grandson out for a walk. Gregoire's study evaluated the impact of the following beliefs taught many in Fundamentalist or Evangelical churches:"Boys will want to push girl's sexual boundaries.""All men struggle with lust. It is every man's battle.""If you have sex before you are married, that means you have less of yourself to give your future spouse because a part of you will always belong to someone else.""The only Biblical reason for divorce is an affair.""It is a man's God-given role to provide for his family and a woman's God-given role to stay home raising her children.""Women should have frequent sex with their husbands to keep them from cheating or watching porn.""A wife is obligated to give her husband sex when he wants it." Interesting CommentsIn regard to the belief about lust being every man's battle: "We are conflating sexual attraction with sin." Sexual attraction is normal and healthy. Lust is objectification that turns people into objects for our pleasure.In regard to the belief that wives are obligated to provide sex to their husbands on demand. One of the consequences of this belief is physical pain. "Evangelical women have twice the rate of sexual pain as the general population." This is on par with the rates for women who experienced childhood abuse. This belief is abusive."Consent is the conversation that is missing in our resources." Almost all of the Christian books on marriage and sex reviewed in this study did not mention consent at all! Gregoire's Rubric for evaluating Christian Sex & Marriage BooksSee the questions used to evaluate the sex & marriage books mentioned. Finding more from Sheila Wray Gregoire:Website: tolovehonorandvacuum.comInstagramFacebookTwitter Get the Book:AmazonAll other vendors You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Untangled Heart Online Course - An online workshop to help you learn to sit with your emotions, identify them, and discern wisdom in what you learn from them. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Gro...

Episode 041 - Trust Your Instinct About the Church - Interview with Fr. Kenneth Tanner. After everything that's happened in the past year, are you wondering about whether there's a place for you in the church? Are you asking questions like "Where do I fit? What I'm seeing around me doesn't look like Jesus. What do I do? I love Jesus. I want to follow Jesus, but if these other Christians are any indication, I don't even know if I'm Christian anymore." Have you had those thoughts? Well, I can tell you from my own experience, and stacks of emails in my inbox, that you are not alone. In this interview with Father Kenneth Tanner, we'll talk about steps you can take. Show Notes What should we say to people asking these questions?"Yes. This doesn't look good.""You are not alone.""If you're alarmed by what you see in the church in America, you have good spiritual intuition." How do we fix this problem of feeling alienated?Admit we have a problem. Our Christian movements and leaders have to admit there is a problem if we want to fix it.Face our amnesia. Most of us have no attachment to the history of Christianity, and some of us have forgotten the testimony of folks who encountered Jesus throughout history. (Not just Biblical history) The historical church in Africa, Asia Minor, and Ireland for instance have much to teach us. If we forget our history, we won't really know our identity.Listen to the words of our Lord in Matthew 25. Instead of looking to the institution, go to the margins. Jesus says that He will meet us there among the poor, the sick, the hungry, and those who are oppressed. By talking with, being in relationship with, we will be changed and encounter Jesus. Historically, Christians were the most impactful when they went to the margins and served people. This is where we're off track, trying to amass influence and power for our team.We need the grand reorientation of our minds and hearts to begin to see the world and other human beings the way the Human God does. And then Fr. Tanner just started preaching the gospel. Here's some quotes: “God loves the world. God made the world in love. It's because God loves the world that he doesn't seek to escape the world. He enters the world. He decided to become human, forever identifying himself with every human person.” - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. “Christians must fundamentally begin with the revelation of God that we have in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the one who reveals the Father.” - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. “Jesus always only brings life. He never brings death. He only always brings healing and not disease. He only always brings liberty and not oppression.” - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. “We only come to the point where realize we're ready to embrace the judgement of God when we understand his character. Perfect love casts out all fear.”  - Fr. Kenneth Tanner. Where can we find hope? By looking to the broader tradition of Christian history. Listen to faithful Christians from every tradition. In order to see the full picture of Jesus, we must listen to the broad range of traditions—particularly the Christian East of the first 800 years of Christianity. And much more including thoughts on God's wrath & Judgement, cancel culture, spiritual intuition, the controversies around how to respond to COVID-19 You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor Discovering Your Authentic Core Values - Life presents us with way too many options. We're surrounded by potential opportunities, obligations, and distractions. On top of that, our time is limited. We can't do everything. A meaningful life that is not stretched thin comes from learning when to say no and when to say yes. In Discovering Your Authentic Core Values, I walk you thought a simple, step-by-step process that will help you clearly identify a compass for your life that is unique to you.

Episode 040 - This IS Us. We Need To Own It. “This isn't us. This isn't America. We are better than this.” Have you heard—or said—those words recently? Well, you may not want to hear this, but the only way forward is to let those words go. Show Notes On January 6th, 2021 there was a historic and unprecedented event where people who had gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the certifying of the results of the presidential election turned into a violent mob that stormed the capital building. While details about exactly who was involved and what happened are still coming out at this time, one thing is clear. The majority of the participants were white, and many of them were Christian.Saying "This isn't us. This isn't how real Americans behave" or "No real Christian would do this," is a form of denial, meant to shield us from facing difficult truth.Spiritual maturity requires naming the lies we've accepted and choosing to repent of them and change our ways.Name the lie. Renounce the lie. Repent of your participation in the lie. Then, only then, can there be healing, and growth.If we want a more free and equal country, we need to stop denying our difficult past and the ways that past still shapes our life together.If we want more Christlike and impactful churches, we need to stop denying the ways we use power to get what we want, and follow the way of Jesus which means laying down our power and privilege to serve others.For another viewpoint on the issue of saying "This isn't us," read this article by Soraya Nadia McDonald. Let her viewpoint challenge you.Verifying ownership for Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/3lwZx96NSx1/ You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance - A Weekend for Writers to Write - This is the perfect weekend for writers who are serious about getting their project moved forward. This is not a weekend to learn from experts or do networking. This is a weekend where you will write in an inspiring venue, where you'll have great food, lots of space, and just enough structure and encouragement to get those words out. The next Writers Advance is in April of 2021. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 039 - You Need an Architecture of Grief (Interview with James Prescott) Twenty Twenty seems to be the car wreck that just keeps going, and the result is that many of us are experiencing more and more pain and grief. How are we to deal with this? Writer James Prescott and I discuss the ways we structure our lives for either avoiding or entering into and processing our grief. You've got to do it! Show Notes We all have an "architecture" to our lives. This is the structure of our lives that makes living our lives the way that we do easiest for us. Much of this structure is inherited and unconscious.Most of us live with an unconscious architecture that protects us from experiencing our grief. We hide from pain, and try to live our lives in such a way that the pain isn't visible.For a healthy life, where we grow personally and spiritually, we need an architecture of grief, structures in our life that enable us to experience and process our grief without being controlled by it. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Writers Advance - A Weekend for Writers to Write - This is the perfect weekend for writers who are serious about getting their project moved forward. This is not a weekend to learn from experts or do networking. This is a weekend where you will write in an inspiring venue, where you'll have great food, lots of space, and just enough structure and encouragement to get those words out. The next Writers Advance is in April of 2021. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 038 - Would Jesus call you (or your church) Satan? “Get behind me, Satan!” Those are the words Jesus said to Peter. Yikes! But as I survey the current landscape of Christianity, I wonder if Jesus is saying this to us, or to our churches. In this episode, I reflect on what Jesus meant when he said these words to his friend, and what they might mean for us. Show Notes Read the scripture passages for yourself. The story: Matthew 16:21-28The background of Peter's declaration. Matthew 16:13-20Paul's eloquent description of the Christian attitude toward power: Phil 2:3-11The Hebrew root and meaning for the word Satan. May you Have the courage to let go of power, to use what you've been given to serve others, to use your privilege to bring more people to the table, to use your vote to speak for those who our society considers least. May you follow the peaceful path of Jesus into other-centered co-suffering love. You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. RESOURCES & OTHER LINKS Today's Sponsor The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions. You can't grow spiritually if you're not growing emotionally. Explore the vital importance of emotional wellness and growth in your discipleship. The Wisdom of Your Heart tackles some of the myths Christians have learned about emotions, looks at emotions in scripture, what we understand about emotions in the body and the brain, and offers a process for sitting with and understanding our emotions. Available in Paperback, ebook, and Audible audiobook. Find My Stuff Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List. You'll get a free copy of a little book called The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer & Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 037 - Looking for God in All the Wrong Places - Interview with Paul J. Pastor Do you sometimes feel like your spiritual life is supposed to be in color, but you can only see it in black & white? Do you worry that we might be numb to God's presence? Are you looking for a goose-bump moment and overlooking God in the process? In this episode, I ask Paul J. Pastor about this. Paul's the author of The Face of The Deep: Experiencing the Beautiful Mystery of Life with the Holy Spirit, a book that tackles the mysterious sacredness of God's presence. Show Notes More from our guest:Check out Paul's website: www.PaulJPastor.comPick up The Face of the Deep. It's available in paper, ebook, and an amazing audiobook with an original score.Paul also has written two of the very best daily devotionals I've ever read, The Listening Day, Volume 1 and Volume 2.Note: Those links are Amazon Affiliate links. If you buy a book through those links I will receive an infintesimal kickback that I promise to spend on good books and frivolous electronics. More info here You can also watch and share the video version on Youtube. Other Links Mentioned Get The Anchor Prayer: A Prayer and Process for Remaining Grounded in a Chaotic World - This little book is free for you by opting in to my email list. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 036 - Don't Avoid Starting Over I like knowing stuff. I like being seen as a good person. I love being an expert. Weird that I became a pastor, right? But here's the thing. As much as I like this stuff, I've discovered it's not very good for me. Turns out that being an expert doesn't help you grow spiritually. Consider this: What you think you know about God might be getting in the way of really knowing God. Show Notes Scriptures referenced:The story of Abraham's calling. Genesis 11:27 - 12:4The story of Nicodemus. John 3:1-12 Two of the most famous stories in the Bible, one from the Hebrew scripture and one from the Christian gospels, tell the same exact story in different contexts.The Divine Voice invited Abram to leave behind everything he knew and head out into the unknown.The Divine Voice through Jesus invited Nicodemus to set aside what he thought he knew in order to start again spiritually.Being an expert or being comfortable can be an obstacle to spiritual growth and a deeper connection to God.Consider if God is saying, "What you think you know about Me is getting in the way of really knowing me." If you prefer, watch and share the video version on Youtube. https://twitter.com/schelske/status/1303084395142639616 https://twitter.com/schelske/status/1303084775725391872 Other Links Mentioned Do You Need a Speaker? - Our all-online world of Zoom gatherings has made it really easy to bring in guest speakers. I'd be happy to come speak for your church, retreat, organization, or event. We can talk about spiritual growth, inner life health, emotional health, core values, navigating a polarized world as a follower of Jesus, or any number of things. Click the link and let's talk. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom.Untangled Heart Course Online. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 035 - Your Values are Showing! Pain is a terrible thing to waste. At least, that's what my Trauma Therapist friend says. So, how are we using the pain of this difficult time of pandemic and protests so that we can be better people? This is part 3 of my 3 part conversation with Byron Kehler, a trauma therapist with nearly 40 years of experience. In this last conversation we'll talk about who the pandemic is revealing us to be, and how we can come out the other side better people. Show Notes Byron Kehler is a trauma therapist with nearly 40 years of professional experience. Learn more about him at www.ByronKehler.com. Production Note: My apologies for the less than ideal audio and a bit of video lag. I'm learning the ropes with remote interviews, and this one didn't turn out as well as I would like. It's been edited so that it is as enjoyable as possible.We are experiencing a Real-time Values Clarification Exercise:Therapists and psychologists often use hypothetical situations to help people think through their priorities and values. What we are experiencing right now with the pandemic, protests, and political division is working this same way."The way we are reacting right now to the circumstances we find ourselves in is revealing our true values." - Byron Kehler.Values are our priorities and deeply held beliefs including our internal motivations. They serve as a compass for our actions and reactions and often go unevaluated.Aspirational Values are values that we wish we held or even that we say we hold, but that our behavior doesn't align with.A question we must consider: what does it mean to "love our neighbor as ourselves" in the midst of a pandemic?Here's a great summary article to Lawrence Kolberg's Stages of Moral Development that Byron referred to. If you prefer, watch and share the video version on Youtube. Resources Mentioned The Untangle Workbook - Sort out your complicated feelings with this guided journal. The first 30 pages teach you the basics of what emotions are, what is happening in your body and brain when you feel them, and what they mean. The rest of the workbook is a template you can use to walk through an emotional experience so that you can understand it and respond with wisdom. Learn more at the link above. The Untangled Heart Workshop Online - Learn what's happening in your body and brain when you feel those big emotions, how they are connected to your story, and how to navigate them with wisdom. This is the online version of the live workshop. 5 hours of video teaching, guided journaling exercises, 23-page downloadable notes packet and more. Learn more at the link above. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 034 - The 5 Stages of Pandemic Grief We are going through deep weeds right now -- pandemic, protests, unemployment, so many losses -- and it doesn't look like it's going to get better any time soon. But there's one important factor that will determine how well we deal with all of it. We are all feeling an important emotion we might not even realize we're feeling: Grief. What's going on? Why is this happening? What can we do about it? This is part 2 of my conversation with Byron Kehler, a trauma therapist with nearly 40 years of experience. He's got some really helpful things to say about what we're all feeling and how we can face it well. Show Notes Byron Kehler is a trauma therapist with nearly 40 years of professional experience. Learn more about him at www.ByronKehler.com. One emotion almost all of us are feeling right now is grief.Grief is the natural emotional processing of loss. Nearly everyone has lost something during the pandemic. That means we are holding grief.We are really bad at expressing and processing grief because we want to avoid it.Failing to name and process our grief will lead us to much more emotional discomfort and undermine our emotional and spiritual health. If you prefer, watch and share the video version on Youtube. Resources Mentioned Tear Soup - a great book about the process of healing from grief. Also appropriate for children. Sacred Sorrows - a great book about the process of healing from grief. The Untangle Workbook - Sort out your complicated feelings with this guided journal. The first 30 pages teach you the basics of what emotions are, what is happening in your body and brain when you feel them, and what they mean. The rest of the workbook is a template you can use to walk through an emotional experience so that you can understand it and respond with wisdom. Learn more at the link above. The Untangled Heart Workshop Online - Learn what's happening in your body and brain when you feel those big emotions, how they are connected to your story, and how to navigate them with wisdom. This is the online version of the live workshop. 5 hours of video teaching, guided journaling exercises, 23-page downloadable notes packet and more. Learn more at the link above. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 033 - Why are we feeling so crazy, and what can we do about it - Trauma response in the time of pandemic & protests Covid-19, Masks, Quarantine, and now protests against racial injustice and police brutality? If you're feeling overwhelmed, or depressed, or angry, or confused, you are not alone. Why are we feeling this way and what can we do about it? Show Notes Byron Kehler is a trauma therapist with nearly 40 years of professional experience. Learn more about him at www.ByronKehler.com. The next wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is trauma. You may already be experiencing it.How you are responding to the pandemic, as well as the protests, is shaped by your story because of the impact of State-Dependent Memory.State-Dependent Memory is the psychological phenomenon where certain kinds of memories are easier to recall (sometimes involuntarily) when you are in the same or similar physiological state.The pandemic and protests are bringing up unresolved pain and even trauma from the past. This is manifesting in feelings of powerlessness, increased anxiety, fear of uncertainty, anger in response to feeling violated, and binary responses and polarization. What can we do to limit the impact of these factors in our lives?1) Be aware of the impact of your own story. Ask yourself, "Where else in my life did I feel like this growing up?" Consider how your current reactions might connect to your story.Note that the more out of proportion your emotional response, the more likely it is involving your story.2) If your routine has been disturbed by the new COVID & Social-Distancing reality, built a new routine. Routine is a "container" for our mental health.3) Keep up with your basic self-care. Eat. Sleep. Rest. Limit news and social media.4) Spend time outside and in nature, when possible.5) Stay connected to your family, friends, or supportive community through whatever means you are able to.6) Reduce media consumption. If you prefer, watch and share the video version on Youtube. Resources Mentioned The Untangled Heart Workshop Online Learn what's happening in your body and brain when you feel those big emotions, how they are connected to your story, and how to navigate them with wisdom. This is the online version of the live workshop. 5 hours of video teaching, guided journaling exercises, 23-page downloadable notes packet and more. Learn more at the link above. The Untangle Workbook Sort out your complicated feelings with this guided journal. The first 30 pages teaches you the basics of what emotions are, what is happening in your body and brain when you feel them, and what they mean. The rest of the workbook is a template you can use to walk through an emotional experience so that you can understand it and respond with wisdom. Learn more at the link above. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps.Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 032 - Pentecost, Breathing & George Floyd This is the air I breathe! My heart broke open this week as I watched the events unfold around the murder of George Floyd, and the protests and riots that followed. At the same time, I was studying the lectionary passages for Pentecost. This is an edited version of the sermon I preached at Bridge City Community Church. Let me be clear: In this sermon I am a white preacher speaking to white Christians about a topic that white people have to own and take action on. It might be heavy and uncomfortable... but it's a lot less uncomfortable than 400 years of oppression. So, keep your arms and hands inside until the ride has come to a complete stop. And I promise -- I'll give you practical steps you can take. Show Notes The song I referred to: This is the Air I Breathe. In scripture, both in Hebrew and in Greek, the word for the Holy Spirit and the word for breath is the same. Ruach in Hebrew and Pneuma in Greek.The well-known Pentecost passage is Acts 2.The lesser-known Pentecost passage is John 20:21-22. Jesus' mission statement is found in Luke 4:18-19Steps white Christians must take to obey the Spirit's call to anti-racism:1. Listen & Learn. An excellent reading list can be found at the end of this post.2. Interrogate Your Feelings. (I've got lots of posts and resources on how to work through difficult emotions. Let me know if you want support in that area.)3. Use your privilege to support and protect people of color, including your finances, your influence, your bodily safety, and your vote.Drew Brown, the musician, who wrote the prayer I closed with, can be found here: http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/ If you prefer, watch and share the video version on Youtube.

Episode 031 - COVID, Suffering & Jesus How are you doing with this COVID-19 thing? Are you afraid? Are you angry? Are you confused by all the different information about what to do? Are you just ready for it to be over? I get it. I've been all those things, and my feelings change from day today. Part of that is because this is a big deal, but part of it is because you and I—we're just not that good at dealing with suffering. Show Notes COVID-19 should not have been a surprise. It's a direct result of the way we have structured our lives and our world.The real surprise is how taking reasonable safety measures has become controversial, especially for churches.The absurd levels of reactivity speak directly to this: We don't handle suffering well.When we face suffering, our knee-jerk reaction is to deny it, try to explain it away or try to figure out who to blame. These are all ways to avoid facing suffering.Christians practice the same kind of denial, but with religious and spiritual tools.Perspectives that can help us in suffering:#1 - Suffering is Normal. (1st Peter 4:12). This is in contrast with our embedded American view that progress and prosperity is the norm.#2 - Suffering is an opportunity to experience Jesus (1st Peter 4:13) This is in contrast with our Modern American Christian view that prosperity and comfort is a sign of God's blessings.Many in the early church believed that our suffering was done in fellowship with Jesus, a sharing (koinoneo) in Jesus' experience.If suffering is normal, then it doesn't reflect on our faith or on God's presence.If our suffering is sharing in Jesus' suffering, then we can find God in the middle of our suffering. Scriptures & References in this episode 1st Peter 4:121st Peter 4:13If you were intrigued by the idea that the Bible itself can contain multiple theological perspectives about the same issue, check out How the Bible Actually Works, by Pete Enns. (Amazon Affiliate Link) New Stuff The Untangled Heart Workshop Online About 8 months ago, the Untangled Heart Workshop came into existence. I collaborated with a good friend, Byron Kehler, who is a trauma therapist, and together we created a one-day training focused on helping people understand and navigate their emotions. We did the event live and it was a fantastic experience.  We planned to start doing it live regularly, but circumstances have changed, haven't they? So, instead, we've taken all the teaching and created an online course. So, if you're feeling a lot of big emotions, or are surprised at how our Stay-At-Home circumstances have brought up grief or anger for you, or if you've been thinking that you'd like to improve your ability to be present to the people you love, The Untangled Heart Worshipshop Online, may be perfect for you. You can learn more of what's included in the course and see the lesson topics for your self over at the link above. Bring Me to speak to your group digitally. In this new Zoom world, it's so easy to bring in a guest speaker. Would your group benefit from learning about emotions, how we process emotions, and how emotions are a vital part of faith? Are you a pastor who could really use a week off? Hit the link above and let's talk. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 030 - Faith Isn't Certainty Faith is at the very heart of Christianity. It's crucial. Without Faith, scripture says, it's impossible to please God. But more than any other part of the spiritual life, faith is misunderstood. When we get this wrong, we set ourselves up for an ugly, painful crash. (And if faith isn't certainty, then what is it?) Show Notes A commitment to certainty is a real threat to our life of faith.Doubt and evaluating our beliefs is a necessary part of growth.That means Deconstruction can be a healthy part of faith development.It is much healthier to think of faith as relational trust."Faith is an orientation of the soul toward God in the form of deep trust." - Brian Zahnd Scriptures & References in this episode Hebrews 11:1Hebrews 11:6Hebrews 12:1-2The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desired More Than Our Correct Belief, by Pete Enns. (Amazon Affiliate Link) New Stuff The Untangled Heart Workshop Online About 8 months ago, the Untangled Heart Workshop came into existence. I collaborated with a good friend, Byron Kehler, who is a trauma therapist, and together we created a one-day training focused on helping people understand and navigate their emotions. We did the event live and it was a fantastic experience.  We planned to start doing it live regularly, but circumstances have changed, haven't they? So, instead, we've taken all the teaching and created an online course. So, if you're feeling a lot of big emotions, or are surprised at how our Stay-At-Home circumstances have brought up grief or anger for you, or if you've been thinking that you'd like to improve your ability to be present to the people you love, The Untangled Heart Worshipshop Online, may be perfect for you. You can learn more of what's included in the course and see the lesson topics for your self over at the link above. Bring Me to speak to your group digitally. In this new Zoom world, it's so easy to bring in a guest speaker. Would your group benefit from learning about emotions, how we process emotions, and how emotions are a vital part of faith? Are you a pastor who could really use a week off? Hit the link above and let's talk. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 029 - The Trip is the Point What are you gonna be when you grow up? What college do you want to go to? What are you gonna do when you graduate? Where are you going on your vacation? How soon do you think you can retire? You've been asked those questions, or questions like them, right? What do they all have in common? A destination. Our culture is absolutely infatuated with the destination. And that kind of thinking will wreck your spiritual life. It's also why I've stopped asking people if they are saved! Show Notes "Destination Thinking" in a life of faith looks like: Focusing entirely on getting to heaven.Focusing on getting your theology right above all else.Buying into the prosperity gospel.A spiritual entitlement that if we've done the right things God owes us. All of these ways of thinking about faith undermine our spiritual growth, and lead to performance spirituality, legalism, purity and doctrine policing, celebrity Christianity and so many other soul-crushing ways of thinking about God. Scriptures & References in this episode Luke 11:1-4 The Lord's Prayer is not a model prayer in the sense that it's meant to be a template of words to repeat. It's not the "right kind of prayer," that we who know better can pray. It is better thought of as a model for how to organize our lives as we go through the process of life. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 028 - Low-Stress Knowing God's Will I grew up in a church community where finding out God's will was a big deal. Imagine the horror of living your whole life and then discovering you had missed God's will? So, we spent a lot of time and energy trying to get clear on God's will for us. I don't think our urgency was warranted. Today I want to share with you my stress-free guide for finding God's will. Show Notes Six principles for knowing God's will without feeling stress about it: Don't sweat the obvious stuff. If something is repeatedly covered in scripture and in alignment with Jesus' way—like not Lying or Murdering—best assume that's God's will. Get counsel from people you trust spiritually. More heads are better than one, especially if those people are spiritually mature and have practiced listening for the Spirit's lead. Consider trajectory rather than circumstances.Consider trajectory rather than circumstances. Pay attention to how you got where you are, and what God seems to have been doing in your life lately.Look for settledness rather than certainty. Certainty is often a trap, especially if we need it to find peace.Be suspicious of your desire to run away. Stop and consider why you feel this. If you're trying to avoid a hard decision, or difficult relationship, or something that will stretch you, your desire to run may not be from God.Focus on character and relationships. Consider that what you're praying about might not be a high priority to God. Scriptures & References in this episode Matthew 5:44Matthew 7:12Ephesians 4:11-13 New Links Pick up Try Softer by Aundi Kolber. -- This is an amazing book and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is the best, most helpful, most accessible treatment of mental health from a faith perspective. If you have been wondering about starting therapy, struggling with undermining thoughts, dealing with depression, or love someone who is--get this book. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 027 - In You I Remain So what's the main goal of Christianity? What is it that we're all about? Is it about becoming better and better people? Is it about becoming more and more theologically correct? Is it to get us and everyone we love to heaven? If you said yes to any of those, I'm going to disagree. But before you bail, or dismiss me as a heretic, let me tell you what I mean. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Get caught up on the Anchor Prayer series Part 1 - How Abiding is possible.Part 2 - Is memorized prayer the missing key?Part 3 - What is the Anchor Prayer?Part 4 - I Rest in FaithPart 5 - I Walk by FaithPart 6 - I Hear in Faith The Anchor Prayer Here's the full text of the Anchor Prayer: I rest in faith trusting Father. I walk by faith following Jesus.I hear in faith obeying Spirit.In You I remain. Scriptures & References in this episode John 15:4Romans 8:1Philippians 3:8-9John 1:4Ephesians 3:121st Corinthians 2:16Philippians 4:13 New Links How to grow spiritually in the middle of a busy, stressful life. -- I'm doing another round of these online teachings. 40 minutes of your time. 1 important perspective change and 2 simple practices. Details and registration here: http://live210.com/busy-growth-event Writers -- Join me for a weekend designed to help you get your project moving. The Writers Advance, coming up soon March 27-29, in Mt. Angel, Oregon. Only 2 spaces remain! Get the details about this amazing weekend here: http://thewritersadvance.com/ Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 026 - I Hear in Faith I've been to some very busy places. Giant concerts surrounded by the press of people. City Wide Festivals. Time Square, Grand Central Station. Places where there is so much noise, so much going on, just overwhelming sensory input. But even having been in those kinds of places, I think the busiest place in the world is inside: The human mind. All that busyness, all that noise in our hearts, makes it hard to really hear the spirit of God. Let's talk about how to cut through the noise. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Get caught up on the Anchor Prayer series Part 1 - How Abiding is possible.Part 2 - Is memorized prayer the missing key?Part 3 - What is the Anchor Prayer?Part 4 - I Rest in FaithPart 5 - I walk by Faith Scriptures & References in this episode John 16:13John 16:12Psalms 139:7-10Galatians 5:25 New Links Do you have a writing project that you need to jump-start? Do you want to move your work in progress forward? Join me for a weekend designed to help you do just that. The Writers Advance, coming up soon March 27-29, in Mt. Angel, Oregon. Only a few spaces remain! Get the details about this amazing weekend here: http://thewritersadvance.com/ Have me out to speak about inner life growth, following Jesus, or emotional discipleship. Also scheduling the Untangled Heart workshop. Booking events through 2020. Let's make something happen! Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God-Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 024 - I Rest in Faith I have been addicted to an illusion, a false belief. It made me feel better, and so I keep running back to it. But it's not real. My illusion? I am in control. Part of growing up, part of maturing spiritually, has been learning this obnoxious, even painful truth. I am not the final say. I'm not in charge of the universe, or the weather, or other people. I am not without limits. Remembering this is key to spiritual growth. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Get caught up on the Anchor Prayer series Part 1 - How Abiding is possible.Part 2 - Is memorized prayer the missing key?Part 3 - What is the Anchor Prayer? Scriptures & References in this episode Matthew 11:28 Matthew 3:13-17Matthew 17:1-13Isaiah 43:1Proverbs 3:5-6 New Links Reserve your spot my next live teaching, How to Grow Spiritually in the Middle of a Very Busy & Stressful Life. This will be a tight 35-minute teaching that is very practical, plus you'll get a free PDF of a great Gratitude practice, one of my best book recommendations and more. Info & Sign up Here: http://live210.com/busy-growth-event Have me out to speak about inner life growth, following Jesus, or emotional discipleship. Also scheduling the Untangled Heart workshop. Booking events through 2020. Let's make something happen! Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 023 - It's Time to Listen to the Survivors of Sexual Abuse One of the easiest ways to fail to love well is to assume that YOUR experience is canonical and that others have had the same experience you've had. We often do this with survivors of trauma. In this episode Mary DeMuth, author and advocate for sexual abuse victims, speaks to the issue of how Christians and Church Leaders often fail the survivors of trauma and how we can do better. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. More from Mary DeMuthHer website https://www.marydemuth.comHer book We Too's site: https://www.wetoo.org/Her book on Amazon New Links Get caught up on the Anchor Prayer episodes before I continue the series.How abiding is possible (Anchor Prayer 1)Is memorized prayer the thing you've been missing? (Anchor Prayer 2)What is the anchor prayer? (Anchor Prayer 3) Reserve your spot my next live teaching, How to Grow Spiritually in the Middle of a Very Busy & Stressful Life. This will be a tight 35-minute teaching that is very practical, plus you'll get a free PDF of a great Gratitude practice, one of my best book recommendations and more. Info & Sign up Here: http://live210.com/busy-growth-event Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 022 - We've Gotten God's Glory Upside Down I grew up learning a Christian story that the most important thing was God's glory. We gave God glory by what we believed, how we behaved, and how we talked about God to other people. Good Christians and Good churches would focus on giving God glory above all else. To kick off season 2 of the podcast, I'm going to share with you how I'm learning we may have misunderstood God's glory. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Scriptures Cited1 John 4:8 - The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.John 10:30 - The Father and I are one.John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.Colossians 2:9 - For the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ.Hebrews 1:1-2 - Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him.John 17:3 - This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.1 John 4:20 - If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.Matthew 22:37 - He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.John 13:34 - I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.Matt 5:46 - For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?Luke 10:25-37 - The parable of the Good Samaritan.1 John 3:16 - This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.1 John 4:16 - And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.Jude 1:25 - To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,[a] be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time,[b] now and forever. Amen. New Links Get caught up on the Anchor Prayer episodes before I continue the series.How abiding is possible (Anchor Prayer 1)Is memorized prayer the thing you've been missing? (Anchor Prayer 2)What is the anchor prayer? (Anchor Prayer 3) Reserve your spot for the upcoming live teaching, How to Grow Spiritually in the Middle of a Very Busy & Stressful Life. This will be a tight 35-minute teaching that is very practical, plus you'll get a free PDF of a great Gratitude practice, one of my best book recommendations and more. Coming up on 10/8 and 10.10. Find My Stuff The Wisdom of Your Heart: Discovering the God Given Purpose and Power of Your Emotions.Discovering your Authentic Core Values: A Step-by-step GuideUntangle Workbook: A guided journaling process for untangling emotions and finding wisdom. Subscribe to my Email List.Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.

Episode 021 - What is the Anchor Prayer? Our church building roof has rock climbing anchors installed on it. It's a very steep and high roof. Doing maintenance and repair work up there is risky. Those anchor points allow people working on the roof to anchor themselves so they can go about their work and not fall off. In this series, I'm sharing with you a prayer that has become a similar kind of anchor to me in my life. Along the way, we're touching on how our brains work, how "abiding in Christ" is a habit we can build, and how memorized prayer helps shape our thinking. Plus I'll introduce you to the words of this prayer that means so much to me. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Recap from the series so far:On Abiding:Jesus taught us that our primary task of faith is to abide or remain. See John 15.Abiding or remaining are not theological abstractions, but a lived experience we can practice.Abiding is about where our minds come to rest.For example, worry is a kind of "abiding." When we get preoccupied with worry or "future-tripping" we are letting our minds abide in that place. This is a kind of prayer or meditation on imagined worst-case scenarios.On renewing our minds:Paul, in Romans 12:2, tells us that we are to cooperate with God in the process of having our minds (and thus, thoughts) renewed.This is, at least partly, about our mental habits. We have life-long mental habits that don't lead toward abiding in Christ. But we can also develop new habits!On Prayer:Extemporaneous (or spontaneous and informal) prayer is great at taking our concerns to God, but it doesn't do much to form us or shape our thoughts.Liturgical Prayer, often drawn from scripture, or from truth found in scripture, can help shape our thoughts. Memorized liturgical prayer is ideal for this.The Anchor Prayer:I rest in faith, trusting Father. I walk by faith, following Jesus. I hear in faith, obeying Spirit. In You, I remain.A tip-of-the-iceberg prayer, that brings to mind important truth about our identity before God."It reminds me of the Father's sovereignty and grace for me, and that my posture toward the world is to be rest. I'm not in charge. I'm not God. It reminds me of my identity as a follower of Christ, that my life is to be made up of steps, actions, choices, that follow after Jesus and his way—and that I do this by faith, not because I'm certain. It reminds me that I am not alone, that God is with me through the indwelling Spirit, and that if I pay attention that Guidance is available to me. It reminds me that God is ultimately relationship, Father, Son & Spirit, honoring and loving one another in a never-ending dance of creation and that I am invited into that relationship. It reminds me that my primary work is not to strive, but to remain." My Links Get the The Wisdom Of Your Heart Audiobook now!On Audible.com.On Amazon.com.On iTunes.If you've never had an Audible.com account, you can get The Wisdom of Your Heart for FREE, by following this special link and creating a new paid account. If you love audiobooks this is the very best way to get them. Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship? Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small,

Episode 020 - Is Memorized Prayer the key you've been missing? Today I'm going to make a recommendation that is honestly surprising to me. My spiritual life has been deeply impacted by a practice that I looked down on for most of my life. I'm learning I'm not as smart as I thought I was! Hopefully, my learning can be a benefit to you. Oh, and in case the title doesn't grab you, this is about mental habits, how we can really experience abiding in Christ, and a prayer that has changed my spiritual life. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. This is part 2 of the Anchor Prayer Series.Jesus taught us that our primary task of faith is to abide or remain. See John 15.“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”This is often called The Abiding Life, Abiding in Christ, or just "life in Christ."How do we really do this? Not as a theological abstraction, but as a lived and experienced reality?We already abide. Whatever thoughts we allow to occupy our mind is where we're abiding.Many of our thoughts (most?) are actually the result of mental habits that we've built over the course of our life. The more practice certain kinds of thoughts, the easier and more natural those thoughts become.Abiding in Christ isn't difficult because he is far away. He's not far. He is in all ways near:Psalms 34:18. God is close to the brokenhearted.Ephesians 2:13. We have been "brought near" through Christ.John 14:18. Jesus promised not to leave us as orphans.Matthew 28:20. Jesus promised to be with us always.John 14:20. Jesus told us that He was with us intimately. "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you."Abiding in Christ is difficult because the habits of our mind lead us to focus on other things. But that means we can learn new habits!Prayer can be a part of this process.Extemporaneous Prayer -- The way many of us have been taught to pray. Spontaneous, focused on our needs, authentic to what we are feeling, hoping, needing. Very good at helping us express ourselves to God. See Philippians 4:6Prayer has another purpose, and extemporaneous prayer is not very good at this one. Prayer is meant to form us, to shape our thoughts.Memorized, or Liturgical prayer, is best for this 2nd purpose. By repeating words of truth, often based on scripture, we plant those words in our minds, and they form the basis of new ways of thinking.This is part of how we participate in the Spirit's work of "renewing of our minds." (Romans 12) My Links You are invited to my first live event! June 1st, in Vancouver WA. The Untangled Heart Workshop. I'm doing this in collaboration with a close friend who is a trauma therapist with more than 30 years of experience. This 1-day event will give you practical tools so that by the end of the day you'll be better able to navigate your own emotions and the emotions of other people. More info or to register: Go here!Get the The Wisdom Of Your Heart Audiobook now!On Audible.com.On Amazon.com.On iTunes.If you've never had an Audible.com account, you can get The Wisdom of Your Heart for FREE, by following this special link and creating a new paid account. If you love audiobooks this is the very best way to get them. Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practical spiritual growth,

Episode 019 - How Abiding is Possible Jesus told us to live connected to the vine. We often refer to that as the Abiding Life. If you grew up in the churh you probably heard about that a lot. Well, I wonder... Do you have an ongoing sense of Jesus' presence in your life? Do you even believe that's possible? Would you think I'm crazy if I suggest that we really can have a persistent sense of the Divine in our lives? And what if I suggested this had to do with your mental habits? Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. This is Episode 1 of the Anchor Prayer series.The anchor we need to hold us steady in a chaotic world is abiding in Christ. But what does that even mean?Jesus taught this principle in the Upper Room in John 15.Theology (intellectual ideas) is not enough to provide us with a solid anchor in a chaotic life.Trying to force ourselves to think about God a lot is also not a good enough anchor to keep us steady.The key to abiding has to do with our mental habits. Mental habits are patterns of thought and emotion that we have practices over and over. As a result, they become easier, more natural, even second nature.We often practice a kind of mental liturgy when we worry. Repeating our worries over and over, we focus our minds on those worrying concerns, and they grow larger in our mental experience. This is almost like a prayer, only the focus is our worries rather than God.The more often we engage in this "liturgy" the easier it becomes for us.If we are going to really experience abiding in Christ, we are going to need different mental habits. My Links You are invited to my first live event! June 1st, in Vancouver WA. The Untangled Heart Workshop. I'm doing this in collaboration with a close friend who is a trauma therapist with more than 30 years of experience. This 1-day event will give you practical tools so that by the end of the day you'll be better able to navigate your own emotions and the emotions of other people. It's gonna cost $90 and will be well worth it, but if you register quick you can get the early-bird registration rate of $65.00!More info or to register: Go here!Get the The Wisdom Of Your Heart Audiobook now!On Audible.com.On Amazon.com.On iTunes.If you've never had an Audible.com account, you can get The Wisdom of Your Heart for FREE, by following this special link and creating a new paid account. If you love audiobooks this is the very best way to get them. Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship? Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do. I don't have a Patreon or other means for donations, so signing up for a membership is a great way to support my work in an ongoing way.

Episode 018 - 4 Clues You Need Emotional Growth I went through a major crash that was the result of emotional immaturity and brokenness. But it shouldn't have come as a surprise. There were clues that I ignored. Maybe some of these clues are in your life as well? Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Looking back on my life I can now see that there were clues that my inner life was a wreck. Emotional immaturity and untended wounds were doing damage, and I didn't see it.Do you see any of these clues present in your life?#1 - You are known for outbursts. You frequently over-react, blowing $1000 of emotional energy on a $5 problem. #2 - You are easily offended. Irritation is your constant companion, and even small things offend you. Some people walk on eggshells around you.#3 - You are always fine. Things that excite others do nothing for you. Sad or painful things don't deeply impact you. You are rarely vulnerable.#4 - You hide behind solo activities. You often choose solo activities to avoid discomfort that comes up in the emotional connections of relationship.If any of these show up frequently in your life, it may indicate that there are untended wounds that need healing, or emotional immaturity.The more disconnected we are from our own emotions, the harder it will be is to connect emotionally with other people, and even with God.You inner life is the wellspring from which every other part of your life flows. My Links You are invited to my first live event! June 1st, in Vancouver WA. The Untangled Heart Workshop. I'm doing this in collaboration with a close friend who is a trauma therapist with more than 30 years of experience. This 1-day event will give you practical tools so that by the end of the day you'll be better able to navigate your own emotions and the emotions of other people. It's gonna cost $90 and will be well worth it, but if you register quick you can get the early-bird registration rate of $65.00!More info or to register: Go here!Get the The Wisdom Of Your Heart Audiobook now!On Audible.com.On Amazon.com.On iTunes.If you've never had an Audible.com account, you can get The Wisdom of Your Heart for FREE, by following this special link and creating a new paid account. If you love audiobooks this is the very best way to get them. Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship? Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do. I don't have a Patreon or other means for donations, so signing up for a membership is a great way to support my work in an ongoing way.

Episode 017 - Emotional Growth is Not a Niche! - (And Audiobook Launch!) Today is the day!  Today is the day when you can pick up the Audio Book for The Wisdom of Your Heart! I am so excited about this, and to celebrate we're having a short bonus podcast episode. I've got a quick story to tell you.  Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Growing in our emotional maturity is crucial for becoming the best we can be, and experiencing the life God has for us.Today is the launch of the Audiobook for The Wisdom Of Your Heart.Whether you read the book or not, make sure you are taking intentional steps to invest in your own inner life. That's where God is waiting to meet you. My Links Get the Audiobook now!On Audible.com.On Amazon.com.On iTunes.If you've never had an Audible.com account, you can get The Wisdom of Your Heart for FREE, by following this special link and creating a new paid account. If you love audiobooks this is the very best way to get them. Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship? Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do. I don't have a Patreon or other means for donations, so signing up for a membership is a great way to support my work in an ongoing way.

Episode 016 - The Inner Work Imperative I wrecked my church. I'm not proud of it, and it's still painful to talk about. But I want to tell you the story because maybe I can change the course of your life. You need to know about the inner work imperative. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. We are made in God's image. One thing that means is that we are also makers, and like God, we also make things in our image.In spite of our conscious intentions, the state of our inner life will shape what we make in the world.The Inner Work Imperative:1. What you make will be made in your image.2. The most important thing to focus on is learning how to nurture a healthy inner life.3. The most effective way to impact the quality of what you're making is to invest in your inner life.4. If you ignore your inner life, your inner life will still shape what you make.The Inner Life: The authentic you deep within that contains your story, your sense of identity, your connection to God, and is expressed in your deepest thoughts, your emotional responses, and your intuition. My Links Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship? Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do. I don't have a Patreon or other means for donations, so signing up for a membership is a great way to support my work in an ongoing way.

Episode 015 - Are you doing the hidden inner work? I like trophies. Credits. Accomplishments. Stuff that I can point to, Stuff that shows my hard work is paying off. Maybe you like that stuff too? But today I want to tell you about something that matters far more. And its something you'll never get an award for. I hate that… but it's true. Whatever experience other people have of us will not be rooted in our accomplishments but in the hidden inner work. So, are you doing it? Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. We put most of our effort into outwardly visible aspects of our life: our accomplishments, our image, our career. But the thing that will most impact how others experience us will be something nobody else can see: the hidden inner work.The hidden inner work is the work we do to nurture and cultivate our inner life. It includes:Our spiritual life.Work we do toward healing and emotional maturity.Facing our grief and loss.Understanding the source of our anger.Learning how to be present in the moment. Read the book that impacted me so deeply:Emotional Healthy Spirituality, by Pete Scazerro My Links Subscribe to my Email List. Get a couple of emails each month with links to my latest blogs and podcast episode, along with other things that will be helpful to your journey. Also, this is the best way to get a notification when the audiobook goes live!Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practrical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship?Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do. I don't have a Patreon or other means for donations, so signing up for a membership is a great way to support my work in an ongoing way.

Episode 014 - God Wants You Emotional There is a crucial element of our lives that many of us are ignoring. The wreckage of our denial is visible all around us. Our inner life, and particularly our emotional life, is a crucial part of our spiritual growth. Time we started paying attention! Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Many people are content with a life (and spiritual journey) that is "mostly working," unaware that their failure to pay attention to their inner life is causing major damage.When asked what matters most, Jesus told us that we love God with all we are and all we have. We love God through our relationships, with our mind, with our ability and with our heart, our inner life. That includes our emotions. (Matthew 22:34-40)Many churches and Christian teachers avoid talking about emotions or only talk about them in negative terms. This is a failure of discipleship.Our emotions are a part of how God created us.They are created in God's image.They have an important role in our lives.Scripture shows God having emotional experiences. Just a few examples of hundreds available:Psalms 78:40. Grief.Deuteronomy 1:34. Anger.Exodus 34:14. Jealousy.1st Kings 3:10. Pleasure.Zephaniah 3:17. Rejoicing and delight.Isaiah 54:7. Compassion.Scripture also shows Jesus living with the full range of human emotion. A few examples:John 11:35. Weeping in grief for Lazarus' death.Luke 19:41. Weeping with compassion over Jerusalem.Luke 10:17-21. Celebration and joy at God working in the disciples' lives and ministry.Mark 10:14. Indignant with the disciples.Matthew 26. Sorrow, distress, loneliness, perhaps even fear in the Garden of Gethsemane.Scripture tells us that Jesus is the "image of the invisible God," (Col. 1:15) and that anyone who has seen Jesus "has seen the Father." (John 14:9) That means what we see in Jesus' emotions, tells us something important about God.If we believe that spiritual maturity means becoming "more like God," then what we believe about God's emotions matters enormously.Our emotions are not a flaw in the design, a weakness, or a sin. Emotions are a God-given gift, meant to move us and give us important information about what is happening in our inner world and outer circumstances. Will you join my Audiobook Launch Team?I am so excited to announce that the audiobook for The Wisdom of Your Heart is finally done. The plan is to launch at the end of March. If you live online--Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram--I would LOVE to have your help getting the word out. The commitment is short -- just 6 weeks through March and the first two weeks of April. I'll provide lots of content -- memes, images, videos, text -- that you can share. I can't do this alone! If The Wisdom of Your Heart has been meaningful to you, and you're comfy online, would you be willing to help? Email me at marc@marcalanschelske.com and you're in. My Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. When you do please leave a review. Those magically help other listeners find there way here.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practrical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship?Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Subscribe to my Email List.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do.

Episode 013 - The Spiritual Discipline of Minding Your Own Damn Business There's an important spiritual practice you might be overlooking. Lots of people are. But this one little thing can bring you a lot of peace. And I know you and me both could use more inner peace. That practice? Minding your own damn business. This is a key that opens the door of spiritual growth. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. One of the most destructive things we do for our spiritual growth is to compare ourselves to other people.Comparison feels like an accomplishment, since it allows us to highlight how we're doing well in comparison to other people, but it distracts us from our own inner life and spiritual journey.So much of our frustration and unhappiness comes from our tendency to compare.Jesus restores Peter on the beach and forgives him, then he tells Peter something about his future. Peter's first response is to point at someone else and ask, "Well, what about him?"In John 21:17-22 we see Peter and Jesus interacting, and Peter's first instinct is to compare himself to someone else's spiritual journey.Jesus' response: "What is that to you? As for you, follow me."This is the key to opening the door to spiritual growth. The Spiritual Practice of Minding Your Own Business When I'm focused on the journey of other people, I don't have to do anything toward my own growth.Comparing my choices with other people feels like an accomplishment, but it keeps you from growing.You are responsible for your own journey and that is where your energy and attention should be focused Matthew Henry, an 18th century preacher commented: "If we will closely attend to the duty of following Christ, we shall find neither heart nor time to meddle with that which does not belong to us." - Commentary on John 21:22 Will you join my Audiobook Launch Team?I am so excited to announce that the audiobook for The Wisdom of Your Heart is finally done. The plan is to launch at the end of March. If you live online--Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram--I would LOVE to have your help getting the word out. The commitment is short -- just 6 weeks through March and the first two weeks of April. I'll provide lots of content -- memes, images, videos, text -- that you can share. I can't do this alone! If The Wisdom of Your Heart has been meaningful to you, and you're comfy online, would you be willing to help? Email me at marc@marcalanschelske.com and you're in. My Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. When you do please leave a review. Those magically help other listeners find there way here.Want to bring me to speak to your community about this topic, practrical spiritual growth, or emotional discipleship?Check out my speaking page and let's talk about possibilities.Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Subscribe to my Email List.Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community. It's $8/month. You get to participate in a small, private, positive community of people committed to spiritual growth as well as getting access to a growing library of resources for spiritual growth including 30 short videos for daily inspiration to kick off your year, and access to several online courses. This is also just a great way to help support the work I do. I don't have a Patreon or other means for donations, so signing up for a membership is a great way to support my work in an ongoing way.

Episode 012 - Don't Run Aimlessly. (Prepare for Where You Want to Go) The new year is underway. 2019 is going to happen to us. Will our experience be good? Will it be bad? It's hard to say because, honestly, most of this new year is going to be outside of your control. But I can tell you one thing with certainty. Whatever your life will look like a year from now, it will look that way because of the time you've invested in preparation. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. The new year is upon us. Whatever your life is going to look like a year from now, it will largely be that shape because of preparation you put in.Every great experience you had over the holidays, all those moments you loved best, relied on preparation from you or someone.Preparation is a spiritual practice. Not only are we setting up for what is to come, but we ourselves are changed in the process.Isaiah 40, the famous passage often taken as a messianic prophecy is really an instruction to prepare (Isaiah 40:1-5). Valleys need to be lifted up. That's filling in the low places.Mountains and hills need to be leveled. That's getting obstacles out of the way.This prepares the way for the "glory of the Lord" to be revealed.In your life, what valleys need to be lifted up? What hills need to be leveled? What obstacles are keeping you from experiencing God's presence and glory in your life? John the Baptist preached to prepare people to experience Jesus. His message came with three ways people could prepare: Repent - Simply put, this means take responsibility for your choices and actions. Admit when you've blown it. Acknowledge the dark stuff in your heart.Be Baptized - Baptism, both in the Jewish and Christian tradition, is a marker of inclusion in the community. In the Jewish tradition, it was about turning away from those things that make you impure and would keep you out of the community. In the Christian tradition, it was about dying to the old life, and being raised to the new life which takes place in a new community. Life change happens best in a community committed to growth.Bear Fruit in Keeping with Repentance - Our lives bear fruit automatically. Fruit is the natural result of our intention, motivation and choices. Warning: the life you have now is the fruit of your intentions, motivations and choices from the past. Good new: your life in the future is the fruit of the choices you are making now. You can prepare for growth by applying these three instructions to your own life:Take responsibility for your choices and actions. Don't blame others. Don't play the victim card.Become a committed member of a positive community that is focused on life change.Practice making choices in keeping with the new life you are moving towards. This will bear fruit. Don't Run Aimlessly. Paul compares our spiritual life to running a race. (Ist Cor. 9)His best advice for us: "I do not run like one who runs aimlessly."Know where you want to head, and then begin practicing life in that direction. A Contest? A Give-Away?To celebrate our first 3500 downloads of the podcast, I'm giving away books to the first ten people who share this podcast on Social Media. Here's how it works:Share on FACEBOOK or TWITTER.Share a link to any episode (Like this one), or to the main Podcast page index.In your post, briefly explain WHY you think this podcast is worth listening to.Tag me so I can see your post. On Twitter, I'm @Schelske. On Facebook, you can find me as MarcAlanSchelske or Schelske.The first 10 shares that I see, I'll reach out to. I'll need your physical address and I'll send you sighed copies of my two books, Discovering Your Authentic Core Values, and The Wisdom of Your Heart.If you're international and postage would make it silly to send you physical books, I'll work something else out with you!

Episode 011 - Gratitude Can Save Your Life! A new year has just begun, and that means we're all thinking about goals and hopes and resolutions. Honestly, most of that is useless. Most resolutions fail. But if you really wanted to change your life for the better this year, there is one thing you could do that would have a massive impact. A simple little practice called gratitude. And I'm not joking when I say it can save your life. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. The new year is the time when we think about making life changes. Well, most resolutions don't work. Try this instead. Don't leave gratitude behind with the holidays.Gratitude is increasingly being found to have a tangible impact on our lives by clinicians. Some examples:"The Grateful Disposition: A Conceptual and Empirical Topography," 2002, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology."The Role of Gratitude in Spiritual Well-Being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure," 2015, American Psychological Association"Do Gratitude and Spirituality Predict Psychological Distress?" Department of Psychology, Bowling Green University.A brief introduction to Robert Emmon's work on Gratitude.Gratitude can impact your life in amazing ways:"We found that compared to their less grateful counterparts, grateful people are higher in positive emotions and life satisfaction, and lower in negative emotions…They appear to be more socially oriented, more empathetic, forgiving, helpful and supportive than their less grateful counterparts. They appear to be more socially oriented, more empathetic, forgiving, helpful and supportive than their less grateful counterparts." - The Grateful Disposition, Linked Above.People who regularly practice gratitude exercises are less likely to develop anxiety and depression.“Gratitude and spiritual well-being are key positive factors to consider in this population. We documented that…gratitude is related to better mood and sleep, less fatigue, more self-efficacy [in treatment] and a lower cellular inflammatory index.” - The Role of Gratitude in Spiritual Well-Being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure, Linked AboveGratitude is a major theme in scripture.Appears in hundreds of verses."Be thankful" appears 37 times total, which is 1 more than the instruction to "Be holy."Gratitude is counter-culturalOur culture aspires to be a meritocracy, but this is directly opposed to gratitude. If we earned or are worthy of everything we have, then we have nothing to be grateful for.In a meritocracy, we begin to lose touch with the reality that everything in our life is a gift. All of life, ultimately, is grace.This is why gratitude and the practice of gratitude is a fundamental marker of spiritual maturity. A Contest? A Give-Away?To celebrate our first 3500 downloads of the podcast, I'm giving away books to the first ten people who share this podcast on Social Media. Here's how it works:Share on FACEBOOK or TWITTER.Share a link to any episode (Like this one), or to the main Podcast page index.In your post, briefly explain WHY you think this podcast is worth listening to.Tag me so I can see your post. On Twitter, I'm @Schelske. On Facebook, you can find me as MarcAlanSchelske or Schelske.The first 10 shares that I see, I'll reach out to. I'll need your physical address and I'll send you sighed copies of my two books, Discovering Your Authentic Core Values, and The Wisdom of Your Heart.If you're international and postage would make it silly to send you physical books, I'll work something else out with you! My LinksSubscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. When you do please leave a review. Those magically help other listeners find there way here.Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!Find a video version on my Youtube Channel.Subscribe to my Email List.

Episode 010 - Don't Mistake the Trellis for the Grape Spiritual practices are crucial for intentional spiritual growth. They are so important that it's easy to start thinking that they really are what matters most. But that would be a dreadful mistake. N0 matter how helpful our various spiritual practices are, we can never confuse them with what matters most.  Essentially, we have to be careful not to mistake the trellis for the grape. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. We find the most important thing in a strange story in Acts.  Acts 2. This portrays the quintessential "church growth" event that every church dreams of. But what caused the growth? You can have people in a room, but that doesn't make a church. You can have people who like the message of Jesus and want to talk about it, but that doesn't make a church. You can sing Christian songs and preach Christian messages, but that doesn't make the church, either. The thing that makes the church is the Holy Spirit. This is also the source of all of our spiritual growth. Consider the trellis and it's role in growing grapes. Grape vines cannot hold themselves up when they are young. They require a trellis to help them grow in a healthy and most productive way. Different farmers use different styles of trellises, depending on their goals. The trellis isn't the point of growing grapes. The point is the grape and the wine it produces. Grape farmers need trellises, but they don't get confused about what matters most.  All spiritual practices are trellises. They have specific purposes to help us grow in healthy and productive ways. BUT they are not the point of our spiritual lives. Fighting about them is silly. Focusing on them is useless. They only matter if they are leading to healthy and productive growth. Other Links I am scheduling speaking engagements through 2019. Whether it's to help your people find motivation and encouragement for practical spiritual growth or to bring the message of The Wisdom of Your Heart, I'd love to join you. Get the conversation started here. My Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now! Find a video version on my Youtube Channel. Subscribe to my Email List. Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community.

Episode 009 - How to Spot Poisonous Friends. We all have friends, and we all know what it's like when friendship goes wrong.  Today, in a bonus episode, we're doing our first ever Apprenticeship Way interview with Mary DeMuth who has just written a book called The Seven Deadly Friendships. I want to introduce you to Mary because I think she's someone you should know, and her book may prove helpful to you. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Tech Notes: Our interview happened during a terrible storm in Texas, where Mary lives, and her internet was down, so we did the interview over her phone cellular service, which means the video and audio isn't the best quality on her end. But I've edited for your enjoyment, and it should be good enough for you to find something helpful here.   Keys points from Mary: There are books about divorce recovery, but no books about recovering from broken friendship. Why don't we talk about this more? Mary suggests that Christians are particularly susceptible to toxic relationships because we are taught to automatically confer trust on other people labeled Christian. The modern social media culture trains us to create an image of who we are, and so we've become more skilled at deceiving each other. We are getting worse at knowing how to determine if people are healthy or safe to be friends with. “Reliable friends love your no as well as your yes. They understand you are an autonomous person loved by Jesus who get to say what you do and don't want. You may not always make your friends happy by saying no, but to the degree in which a friend pushes against your no is the possible degree that they may become a problematic relationship in the future.” - Mary DeMuth, inspired by Dr. Henry Cloud. If we wounded in toxic community, we are most likely going to find healing in healthy community. Examining our past is key to understanding why we connect with certain kinds of toxic people. “We are inside our Salad Dressing Bottle. We cannot read the ingredients label. Someone else on the outside can.” Mary, quoting friend Jim Rubart. “We don't grow in isolation.” - Mary's husband. Other Links Find The Seven Deadly Friendships & the quiz Mary mentioned here. Find Mary's books on most online book distributors and many local bookstores. Her Amazon bookshelf here. Find Mary at www.MaryDeMuth.com Mary also consults and mentors writers at www.BookLaunchMentor.com My Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now! Find a video version on my Youtube Channel. Subscribe to my Email List. Interested in having Marc speak to your group? Start here. Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community.

Episode 008 - How to Grab Yourself Some Peace. You want peace. I want peace. We need to quiet those shrieking monkeys we talked about last episode. But how do we do it? Will God give us peace if we ask? What if the obstacle to peace isn't outside of us, or even in better prayers or spiritual practices. What if the obstacle is inside our own hearts and minds? Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Psalms 131. I have calmed and quieted my soul. What images come to mind? Is it an image of God comforting us? But is that really what the passage is saying? "I have calmed and quieted myself!" So peace (at least some of the time) in scripture isn't a divine gift, deposited on us from above. It's something we are responsible for in our selves. Examples of scripture where peace is in inside job that we are responsible for: Hebrews 12:14. Make every effort to live in peace. Make the effort. That's work. 1st Peter 3:11. They must seek peace and pursue it. Apparently, peace isn't something we passively receive. 1st Peter 5:7. "Cast all your cares." Casting is an action. An intentional choice and behavior. Colossians 3:15.  "Let the peace of Christ rule. Looks like Christ's peace doesn't just happen to us. It's something we have to allow. So peace is something God offers, even promises. And at the same time, there is something we have to do to take hold of peace. Three principles for peace of heart and mind:  Principle 1: Your thoughts are not you. "Many people go through life so completely identified with their thoughts, feelings, and urges that they are essentially slaves to them. We don't make the distinction between 'this particular thought' and 'me,' so we just ride the wave of whatever is happening to be affecting us in the moment."  (Greg Boyd, Present Perfect, p. 93) That wave of thoughts and feelings isn't you. Some thoughts and emotions you initiate. Others are reactions to something going on outside of you. Some are triggered by something in the past (a memory or regret). Some are triggered by something that hasn't happened yet (a plan, worry) Some are triggered by the Holy Spirit. Your thoughts and emotions are an experience you are having, but they are not your identity. That means you have the freedom to decide whether you want to go where your thoughts and feelings are taking you. Principle 2: Many of your thoughts and emotions are simply mental habits. Habits are formed by repetition and positive neuro-chemical feedback. This is true for life habits like biting your nails or always being late to meetings, but it's also true for habits of mind, like certain thoughts and emotions. When we have a certain pattern of thought and emotion in reaction to something in our lives, and that pattern seems "to work," that is, it seems to solve the immediate discomfort, then we get positive neuro-chemical feedback, and that same pattern of thought and emotion will be easier to trigger the next time we face a similar situation. Some of the patterns of thought and emotion you are used to having are simply habits that have been built over time. Which means they can be replaced. Principle 3: Stillness of heart and mind is a habit. Jesus told us that our main work is to abide. (John 15) Abiding is not about having simple or peaceful outward circumstances. Jesus may want to give us peace, but are we in a place to receive it? We can practice abiding, and build the habit of mental and emotional peace. Other Links Pick up a copy of Greg Boyd's book, Present Perfect. I highly recommend it. (That's an Amazon Affiliate link. If you buy the book, I'll get an infinitesimal kick-back which I was horde until I can afford more books.) My Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now!

Episode 007 - Tell Your Monkeys to be Quiet! If you're like me, you've got a busy mind, always rushing on to the next thing; full of ideas, plans, questions, fears, and irritations. Or maybe your thoughts are constantly caught up in worry about the future, or maybe regrets from the past? Or do you find swirling anxiety cluttering your head?  Well, all that noise is an obstacle in your life and your pursuit of Jesus. It's time to tell your monkeys to be quiet. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. The noise in our minds can be compared to computer viruses that have gotten installed in a computer, and are now taking up precious processing power working for someone else's agenda. For the computer to serve you well, those viruses need to be removed. The way we think about God contributes to our problem: Jesus word to the Samaritan woman (John 4:23) tell us that we don't have to go to a special sacred place in order to access God. That's good news! In the upper room, Jesus told the disciples that they would know that they had an ongoing intimate connection with him. (John 14:20) This means we don't have to wait for a special time to connect with God. God is right where we are, whatever we are doing. God is with us, and the whole of life is God's temple. That's great news! One of our chief obstacles to experiencing the reality of God's presence is the noise in our heads. The Buddhist tradition has a clever name for all this mental noise: The Monkey Mind. A perfect mental image of the chittering distraction we carry around with us. We need silence! Psalms 46:10: Be still and know that I am God. Jesus affirmed Mary's desire to sit quietly at his feet. Stillness is hard. It's a mental habit that we build Stillness comes in a variety of forms. Full-focus stillness. Awareness of presence in the midst of life is also a form of stillness. Sometimes we need full-focus stillness where we carve out times of solitude to be present to God. Many times we just need to practice "carried stillness," the ongoing awareness of God's presence in the midst of our day. Greg Boyd: "Whatever is going on in our environment we must remain aware that one other thing is also going on--and it's the single most important thing in any given moment: namely, we are submerged in God's loving presence." (Present Perfect, p.89-90) Psalms 131:2. I have calmed and quieted my soul. Other Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now! Find a video version on my Youtube Channel. Subscribe to my Email List. Interested in having Marc speak to your group? Start here. Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community.

Episode 006 - Your To-Do List Is Numinous Do you find yourself longing for those big, goose-bumpy, glowy moments of spiritual connection? Those mountain-top experiences are so great. They fill us up, and motivate us, and often leave us feeling connected with God. But you need to know something. If you're looking for that kind of moment, you may be missing something even more important. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Compare how you feel about the last "mountain-top moment" you had and your daily to-do list. How do those things feel different to you? There's a lesson for us in the original "mountain-top" experience, found in Luke 9:28-36. Peter and the disciples had a transcendent experience. In response, Peter wanted to capture it. God's response was simple: "Listen to my Son." The disciples had become blind to the glory of being with Jesus on a day to day basis. Our whole life is God's temple, and we are never not in God's presence. Over and over scripture tells us that God is with us. Some examples include: Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 41:10, Psalms 23:4, Romans 8:35-39, Matthew 28:19-20 and 1st Corinthians 3:16. Isaiah gave the name Immanuel to the coming messiah, and the Gospel writers applied that name to Jesus. It literally means "God with us." Immanuel means God has come among us, in the incarnation. But this can seem like the distant past. Immanuel can mean that God is with us, with humanity, for us. But this can feel like an abstraction. Immanuel also means God is presently with us, now. John 14:20. "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you." Knowing that through the Holy Spirit, God is with us at all times, can change the way we see the day-to-day moments of our lives.   Other Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now! Find a video version on my Youtube Channel. Subscribe to my Email List. Interested in having Marc speak to your group? Start here. Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community.

Episode 005 - Making Friends With Your Limits Do you feel like you have to do ALL THE THINGS! Is FOMO a real fear for you? Do you struggle with anxiety or frustration because you can't seem to manage all the commitments you've made? Our culture is allergic to the idea of limits. We're told that effective people can do it all. But this is a lie. A good life, a peaceful and healthy life-even the Abundant life--is marked by a clear awareness of limits. You may be surprised to hear this, but limits are a part of God's good creation. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. Trying to do everything is a fast track to wrecking your inner life, your relationships and ending up dissatisfied. Limits are a gift of grace. God created limits as a part of a well-functioning world. Genesis 1:6-10 "Then God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.' So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse 'sky.' Evening came and then morning: the second day. Then God said, 'Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so. God called the dry land 'earth,' and He called the gathering of the water 'seas.' And God saw that it was good." The creation poem shows limits as a part of God's design. For example, land and water are separate, and the water is meant to stay in its appointed place. A healthy well-functioning world exists when each part is living within its limits. You and I are the same. A good life that reflects how God made us, a life with freedom and wholeness, will be lived within limits. We'll discuss four limits that effect all of us: Time - We live like we are in charge of our time, but that's not true. There are many people, like our partners and children, who have a legitimate claim on part of our time. We also live like time is an unlimited resource, but that's also not true. We have a limited number of days left to us. How many of those days are you going to waste? Physical Energy - We live like our bodies limitations are an obstacle to be gotten around. We push ourselves to the point that we need stimulants in order to feel OK. We buy into this lie because we believe our accomplishment determines our value. Our body is a gift and burning it out honors no one. Emotional Energy - Relationships, creativity, problem solving, parenting and grieving all take emotional energy. We don't have an infinite supply. If we aren't taking time to recharge, we will find ourselves living in an emotionally tapped-out state that is destructive to us and those around us. Season & Calling - The season you live in may be a limitation. Seasons such as parenting, caring for an ailing parent, focused times of intense work, etc all require special focus. Some seasons require your focus, which means you won't be able to do some of the other things you want to do. This is a limit. But this limit is just for a time. When we acknowledge these limits and live within them, we have a higher level of peace and satisfaction. We also show that we are trusting God's work in our lives.   Other Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now! Find a video version on my Youtube Channel. Subscribe to my Email List. Interested in having Marc speak to your group? Start here. Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community.

Episode 004 - The Freedom To Not Get Your Way In our culture we bear an awful burden: The profound need to get our own way. This burden gets in the way of our relationships undermines our spiritual growth. It can even impede our sense of connection to God. Not getting our way is often painful, and we are hardwired to avoid pain! And yet there are times when not getting our way, even when it's painful, is the best possible thing. And of course, Jesus modeled this for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. Show Notes Show notes will not be a transcript. At least not now. You'll find a few key bullet points, any scriptures references, as well as any other books or resources referenced. One of the terrible burdens we bear in our modern, individual, performance-driven culture is the need to get our way. Scripture provides no support for this. In fact, just the opposite. A few examples: 1st Peter 2:1 "Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good." Hebrews 13:17  "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord...” Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right." 1st Peter 5:5 "In the same way, you younger men, be subject to the elders." These passages have baggage. What about leaders or people in authority who don't deserve to be respected? Who abuse? Who manipulate? Real care has to be taken that these verses are not used to justify getting our way, when we are the people with power! Jesus presented the chief example of submission. Read the story in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:36-46) Many of these passages find their proper framing when we consider a larger picture. Paul offers this context leading into the Household Codes of Ephesians: Ephesians 5:21 "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 5:1 "Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children." We have the choice to not get our way! We have the choice to let other people get their way. When we do this we may be respecting that Jesus is up to something that might be impeded by us getting our way. Try this: In the moment when you are struggling with the urge to fight to get your way, consider this question: Right now, is MY WAY getting in JESUS' WAY? Consider if it's possible that there is something Jesus is doing in you, or in the people around you, or in this situation, where you getting your way would get in the way of what Jesus is up to? Other Links Subscribe to The Apprenticeship Way on iTunes and all other podcasting apps. Find it here on my website--this page that you're on right now! Find a video version on my Youtube Channel. Subscribe to my Email List. Check out the Apprenticeship Lab Member Community.