Anita Lustrea

We talk about time away with God, then often never get around to it. Ruth Haley Barton joins me on the podcast to focus in on her latest offering, Invitation to Retreat. If you are like me, in this new year, you want to make it happen and not just talk about it.

This is a relevant and real topic not to mention greatly needed. Ruth says it's a necessity of the spiritual life yet doesn't get much press from our pulpits. I hope you'll check out this week's podcast with Transforming Center founder and seasoned spiritual director, Ruth Haley Barton.

Phileena Heuertz is a spiritual director, yoga instructor, public speaker, retreat guide, and author. She is also a founding partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism. On this week's podcast, we focus on her latest offering, Mindful Silence: The Heart of Christian Contemplation.

One thing most of us can agree on is the crazy pace with which most of us live. Phileena was no different. After a point where she experienced the deconstruction of her worldview, faith, and identity, Centering Prayer was a significant remedy. We talk through the importance of solitude and silence and stillness.

Kathy Khang joins me on the podcast this week and she admits it can be hard to speak up, especially due to the ugly climate on social media. But it's important to speak up and to have our voice rooted in the image of God. We talk about the importance of finding and speaking our own voice, but also using our voice to speak up on behalf of others.

Rick McKinley is the founder and lead pastor of Imago Dei Community and a prolific author. He is a nationally known conference speaker at conferences including Q, Catalyst, and The Justice Conference. He has been putting one foot in front of the other in Portland, Oregon, for many years and was even voted one of Portland's 50 Most Influential People in 2012. On the podcast, we take a look at issues of faith, culture and the Church. Rick guides us through the question, "What does it mean to be the people of God now?" This is a question he answers in even more depth in his latest book, Faith for This Moment. You'll hear an enlightening conversation and Rick's book will develop it even further.

Shawn Smucker joins me to tell a story of friendship. It's a story of unlikely friendship, actually, and one that is beautiful and hard and inconvenient at times. I highly recommend Shawn's book, Once We Were Strangers: What Friendship with a Syrian Refugee Taught Me about Loving My Neighbor.

As Shawn struggles to make a living as a writer, into his life comes Mohammad, struggling to make a new life with his family in a strange new place.  The story is riveting and the struggles real.

This is a podcast that will make you think and ponder a bit.

Melinda Schmidt joins me on Faith Conversations this week. It's been months since we've talked on the podcast and it was a wonderful reunion. You know what it's like to not talk to a friend for a while—one of those really good soul friends—and when you see them you pick right up where you left off? It was exactly like that. We talked about life and grief and maybe about writing a book together.

Heath Adamson is a speaker at conferences, seminars, universities, and churches. He has an amazing backstory coming out of drug abuse and the occult. The focus of our conversation on the podcast is his book, Grace in the Valley. Heath walks us through Psalm 23 in a unique way.

Karen Swallow Prior is an award-winning professor of English at Liberty University and she is an acclaimed author. If you follow her on social media you know that she not only posts thought-provoking articles but also possesses a quick wit.

While we talk extensively about her latest book, we begin by talking about the serious accident that sidelined her for half of this year, the current stories circulating about plagiarism in Christian circles, and how she is one of the Evangelical women who reject Donald Trump.

Grace Kim joins me on the podcast this week as we talk about Healing Our Broken Humanity. Grace and her co-author Graham Hill have written about practices for revitalizing the church and renewing the world. We touch on only some of those practices. Lament and repentance as well as relinquishing power and reinforcing agency definitely enter our dialog. If you don't think we need the healing and hope of Christ, then your head has been in the sand. I hope this conversation spurs you on to prayer and action.

Natasha Robinson joins me on the podcast this week to talk about what it could look like to choose freedom and courage in a divided world. Natasha is an international speaker, leadership consultant, mentoring coach, and the founder of Leadership LINKS, Inc. She is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps officer. On the podcast, we focus on her latest book A Sojourner's Truth.