This Good Word With Steve Wiens

Seth Haines is one of those friends that makes me want to pursue things that really matter. His new book is vintage Seth Haines: poignant, at times snarky, and pure gold throughout, The Book of Waking Up: Experiencing the Divine Love That Reorders a Life is a beautiful call to attach yourself to a love that satisfies deep down. This is how Seth describes his new work:  I wrote The Book of Waking Up: Experiencing the Divine Love That Reorders a Life for those who want to wake from their coping mechanisms, attachments, and addiction and wake to the Divine Love that brings true, inner sobriety. Grab a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookish (my favorite independent book seller)*. Then, as you read, come back here to check out the library of books that influenced The Book of Waking Up. (And don’t forget to check out my award-winning book, Coming Clean: A Story of Faith.) *Reminder: Consider supporting your indie booksellers. You can follow Seth on Twitter, Instagram, and on his website. 

I met Aundi Kolber at the Festival for Faith and Writing in 2018, and she’s been a friend ever since. This is Aundi’s second time on the podcast, and this is how she describes herself: I am a deep thinker and deep feeler. Sometimes I get bored with small talk. I love stories, people, counseling, theology and my precious family. I find myself constantly amazed by God’s faithfulness in my life. I write, think, and chew on this often. I believe that Jesus is my ultimate hope and healer. I am a licensed professional counselor in Castle Rock, CO and attended Denver Seminary for my graduate education. I am married to the love of my life and have a daughter and son who are the joy of my heart. My hope for this blog is to create a space to dig into hard, funny, and imperfect things. My work has been featured on Relevant, CT Women, The Huffington Post, The Mudroom, Happy Sonship and Circling the Story. If you enjoyed my conversation with Aundi, check out her website, follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, a

For Stephanie Tait, pain has never existed on a spectrum opposite of joy. Pain, with the way it weaves into our lives, families, and work habits, has been the connecting point of grace and struggle that defines her career. As an author, speaker, disability advocate, and trauma survivor, Stephanie aims to do what she believes is sorely lacking in our trending conversations around Christianity – to partner sound theology and practice with the unashamed acceptance of struggle in the present tense. She aims to create space for the reality of suffering, as well as practical tools and experience for its management, in the center of our faith ethic, our communities, and our joy. Our conversation centered around the themes of her new book, The View From Rock Bottom, and also about the subtle ways most of us buy into a kind of prosperity gospel, even though we may not realize it. Visit Stephanie’s website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Buy The View from Rock Bottom here. Click here to sign up f

So many of us begin thinking about resolutions or "words for the year" as we wrap up one year and head into the next. One of the things that I'm going to be especially intentional about in 2020 is being rigorously honest about what I say I believe. You may not believe this, but there are many times when I simply nod along, agreeing with what I should agree with, while internally I am feeling angsty. So, I'm committing to doing the work of being kind and compassionate, while also refusing to simply go along with something I don't really believe in.  For some reason, when I get a bee in my bonnet like this, it actually helps me to create something related to what I'm wanting in my own life so that other people can be on the journey with me. So, I'm creating a new weekly resource called Finding God After Losing Faith. Like I described on this episode, this weekly email will be designed to help people to keep searching for God even after a certain belief system - or religious system - has stopped working for the

The season of Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar, and it's a season of naming our deepest longings, those places in our lives where everything feels shrouded in darkness and hopelessness. It's a season to ask for light to come into those places, for Christ to come into those places. It's a season to practice waiting for the impossible to become possible.  My conversation is with Ruth Haley Barton, a dear friend and the Director of the Transforming Center in Chicago, Illinois.  The music on this episode is by Page CXVI (used by permission) from their album Advent to Christmas. 

The season of Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar, and it's a season of naming our deepest longings, those places in our lives where everything feels shrouded in darkness and hopelessness. It's a season to ask for light to come into those places, for Christ to come into those places. It's a season to practice waiting for the impossible to become possible.  My conversation is with Ruth Haley Barton, a dear friend and the Director of the Transforming Center in Chicago, Illinois.  The music on this episode is by Page CXVI (used by permission) from their album Advent to Christmas. 

The season of Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar, and it's a season of naming our deepest longings, those places in our lives where everything feels shrouded in darkness and hopelessness. It's a season to ask for light to come into those places, for Christ to come into those places. It's a season to practice waiting for the impossible to become possible.  My conversation is with Ruth Haley Barton, a dear friend and the Director of the Transforming Center in Chicago, Illinois.  The music on this episode is by Page CXVI (used by permission) from their album Advent to Christmas. 

The season of Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar, and it's a season of naming our deepest longings, those places in our lives where everything feels shrouded in darkness and hopelessness. It's a season to ask for light to come into those places, for Christ to come into those places. It's a season to practice waiting for the impossible to become possible.  My conversation is with Ruth Haley Barton, a dear friend and the Director of the Transforming Center in Chicago, Illinois.  The music on this episode is by Page CXVI (used by permission) from their album Advent to Christmas. 

Last week (episode 206), I had such a great conversation with Jennifer Dawn Watts that we immediately scheduled a time for her to interview me. I found myself reflecting on some of the things she asked me - and some of the surprising ways I answered - days after we talked. I hope you enjoy our conversation. 

Jennifer Dawn Watts is the Founder and CEO of Living Well Counselling Services, with two locations in Calgary Alberta offering services in person and worldwide via telephone and online AND she's one of my favorite new friends. We could have talked for hours!!!! For more about Jenn, make sure to check out the Show Notes!     

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. 

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 

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. 

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

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.   

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.