This Good Word With Steve Wiens

Episode 205 | Committed to Misunderstanding

Have you ever felt like someone was committed to misunderstanding you? What do you with that? Most of us stay in those kinds of conversations for far longer than we should. In this episode, I share what I think is happening with the person who is committed to misunderstanding you, and what you can do about it. 

Episode 204 | Impossible Beauty with Melissa Louise Johnson

Melissa Louise Johnson is a writer, a Marriage and Family Therapist, and a gifted Spiritual Director. She advocates for embracing authentic beauty in the world through her podcast and her blog, both called Impossible Beauty. We talked about her journey with body image and food issues, as well as how she's writing and revealing a counter-narrative about beauty in a world that still praises thinness at all costs. 

Check out Melissa's podcast and blog, and follow her on Instagram and Facebook. 

Resources mentioned on the episode:

The Illusionist (documentary) 

The Emily Program

Melrose Center

Hillary McBride 

Episode 203 | The Church of Us vs Them with David Fitch

I have David Fitch on the podcast today, talking about post-structuralism, the Matrix, why Chicago has the best weather on the planet, why you were duped into believing it was your idea to vote for your favorite candidate in 2016 - and 2020, and his new book, The Church of Us vs. Them: Freedom From a Faith that Feeds on Making Enemies.

You can follow David on Twitter and Facebook. 

Episode 202 | Evolving Faith, Part 3

I attended the Evolving Faith Conference in Denver last week, and I loved it. Evolving Faith is "a gathering for wanderers, wonderers, and spiritual refugees to help you discover...you are not alone." 

I took some time at the end of each day to record my thoughts about what I experienced that day and how I'm processing it. In Part 1, I talked about how I felt sitting in a room on the first day of the conference, where about 120 faith leaders gathered to listen and learn about what it means to lead our congregations through significant change. It was such a beautiful gift for me to be in a space that was created for me to work through my own questions, fears, and hopes as it relates to the church (Big C), but also the church (little c) that I pastor.

In Part 2, I talked about how genuine faith will always evolve.

In this episode, part 3, I talk about three final thoughts about evolving faith in general, wrapping it up with some genuine love for my new favorite homiletical hero, Cece Jones Davis. 

Here are the speakers and curators from Evolving Faith I'd encourage you to follow (sorry I don't have time to link all of these folks, but if you google them, you'll find their websites, or you can go to the Evolving Faith website to find out more. There will also be an Evolving Faith Podcast coming out soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that. 

Sarah Bessey

Jeff Chu

Dr. Eric Barreto 

Barbara Brown Taylor 

Danielle Shroyer

Dr. Peter Enns

Jasper Peters 

Tanya Marlow

B.T. Harman

Cece Jones Davis 

William Matthews

Kaitlin Curtice 

Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes 

Jennifer Knapp

Jen Hatmaker

Lisa Sharon Harper 

Episode 201 | Evolving Faith, Part 2

I'm in Denver, attending the Evolving Faith Conference, which is "a gathering for wanderers, wonderers, and spiritual refugees to help you discover...you are not alone." 

I'm taking some time at the end of every day to record my thoughts about what I experienced that day and how I'm processing it. In Part 1, I talked about how I felt sitting in a room on the first day of the conference, where about 120 faith leaders gathered to listen and learn about what it means to lead our congregations through significant change. It was such a beautiful gift for me to be in a space that was created for me to work through my own questions, fears, and hopes as it relates to the church (Big C), but also the church (little c) that I pastor.

This episode is Part 2, where I talked about how genuine faith will always evolve.

I'll wrap it up with my final thoughts in part 3 early next week. 

 

Episode 200 | Evolving Faith, Part 1

I'm in Denver, attending the Evolving Faith Conference, which is "a gathering for wanderers, wonderers, and spiritual refugees to help you discover...you are not alone." 

I'm taking some time at the end of every day to record my thoughts about what I experienced that day and how I'm processing it. This episode is part 1, where I discuss how I felt sitting in a room today where about 120 faith leaders gathered to listen and learn about what it means to lead our congregations through significant change. It was such a beautiful gift for me to be in a space that was created for me to work through my own questions, fears, and hopes as it relates to the church (Big C), but also the church (little c) that I pastor. I'll be posting more thoughts tomorrow night (part 2) and then I'll wrap it up with my final thoughts in part 3 early next week. 

Episode 199 | Making Space for Loss

In this episode, I share the five things I learned this summer about making space for loss after my father in law died. If you're dealing with loss, or if someone you love is experiencing loss, I hope this is a helpful resource. 

Episode 198 | Letting Go and Grabbing Hold Again

We're always in the process of letting things go - we take breaks from social media, vacations from work, we get injured and can't work out anymore... but how can we be mindful about how we let go of those things, so we really let them go? And when it's time to pick them back up again, how can we grab hold of those things - when it's time to do so - mindfully, instead of trying to hold it the same way we used to hold it? Whether you're taking a vacation, scheduling a day off, or taking time off of a creative project, it's helpful to think through what you are letting go of and how you are letting it go. Enjoy. 

Episode 197 | You're Building Something, Part 2 (Encore)

This is Part 2! If you missed part 1, check it out here.

You're working on something, and you're not done yet, and you don't quite know how it's going to turn out, and you kind of want to quit but you are also oddly thrilled about this project. How do you stay in it? What do you need to keep going? Enjoy. 

Episode 196 | You're Building Something, Part 1 (Encore)

You're working on something, and you're not done yet, and you don't quite know how it's going to turn out, and you kind of want to quit but you are also oddly thrilled about this project. How do you stay in it? What do you need to keep going? Enjoy.