In this episode of "Being Human with Steve Cuss," Steve talks with Zach Windahl, author of The Bible Simplified. They discuss making the Bible more approachable, overcoming common misconceptions, and the emotional challenges of engaging with scripture. Zach shares his journey of faith and unique Bible reading practices. Steve and Zach offer practical encouragement for anyone feeling intimidated by Bible reading, highlighting the importance of authenticity, patience, and fresh approaches to scripture. Zach’s passion for simplifying complex topics and empowering readers shines throughout the episode.

Episode Resources:

Zach Windahl’s The Bible Simplified: Learn the Story, Live the Story

Zach Windahl’s The Bible, Simplified Study Guide plus Streaming Video

Zach Windahl’s Bible reading plan

Zach Windahl’s 21 day Bible reading plan

Nathan Finochio’s website

J.R. Briggs’ at Missio Alliance

Infographic: How long does each Book of the Bible tale to read?

More From Zach Windahl:

Zach Windahl’s website

How to Study the Bible (and Actually Enjoy It)

Zach Windahl’s The Bible Study: A One-Year Study of the Entire Bible and How It Relates to You

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Capable Life Newsletter

Get the Communication Styles Guide:

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Capable Life Intensives

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In this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss and guest Clarissa Moll explore how different communication and listening styles shape our relationships. They discuss the impact of mental and emotional load, the importance of listening to learn rather than to fix or defend, and offer practical strategies for fostering empathy and connection. Steve shares personal experiences about self-awareness and emotional honesty, especially as a pastor, while both emphasize the transformative power of compassionate listening for individuals, families, and faith communities. 

Biblical Passages

James 1:19-20 (ESV)

Psalm 139 (ESV)

Episode Resources:

Past Episode: Steve Cuss & Clarissa Moll: How Your Communication Style Fuels Reactivity—and How to Change It

More From Clarissa Moll:

Clarissa Moll’s The Bulletin podcast

Explore Clarissa Moll’s website

Read Clarissa Moll’s substack

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Get the Communication Styles Guide:

https://capablelife.com/pages/podcast

Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

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In this episode of Being Human with Steve Cuss, Steve and Lisa explore how communication styles—rigid vs. fluid, internal vs. external processing, and rapid vs. deliberative thinking—shape relationships, well-being, and spiritual growth. They share personal experiences, unpack how trauma and certainty can impact faith, and revisit recent conversations with Cheryl McKissick (a fifth-generation Black business leader) on family legacy and authenticity in predominantly white spaces; Adam Young on self-awareness, empathy, and spiritual disciplines for healthier connection with others and God; and Clarissa Moll (The Bulletin) in a thoughtful back-and-forth.

Biblical Passages

Psalm 139 (ESV)

Episode Resources:

Learn more about the McKissack firm

Check out Cheryl Mc Kissack Daniel’s website

Cheryl McKissack Daniel’s The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers

Adam Young’s Make Sense of Your Story: Why Engaging Your Past with Kindness Changes Everything

Adam Young’s website

Adam Young’s The Places We Find Ourselves podcast

More From Clarissa Moll:

Clarissa Moll’s The Bulletin podcast

Explore Clarissa Moll’s website

Read Clarissa Moll’s substack

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Get the Communication Styles Guide:

https://capablelife.com/pages/podcast

Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive: 
Capable Life Intensives

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In this episode of Being Human with Steve Cuss, Steve interviews Cheryl McKissack Daniel, a trailblazing African American architect and business leader. Cheryl shares her family’s remarkable 230-year legacy, beginning with her enslaved ancestor Moses McKissick. She discusses the challenges of leading a multi-generational Black-owned business, the importance of resilience, succession planning, and corporate culture, and her experiences navigating race and gender in the industry. 

Episode Resources:

Cheryl McKissack Daniel’s The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers

More From Cheryl McKissack Daniel:

Learn more about the McKissack firm

Check out Cheryl Mc Kissack Daniel’s website

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Get the Communication Styles Guide:

https://capablelife.com/pages/podcast

Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

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In this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss interviews trauma counselor and author Adam Young about his book, Make Sense of Your Story. Together, they explore how personal stories and trauma shape relationships with ourselves, others, and God. Adam shares his own journey of understanding childhood wounds, the importance of self-kindness, and how faith can become entangled with coping mechanisms. They discuss the body’s role in healing, the impact of certainty in theology, and practical steps toward emotional freedom. The conversation offers hope, insight, and tools for listeners seeking healing and deeper connection.

Biblical Passages

Genesis 37-50 (ESV) -The Joseph Story

Episode Resources:

Nervous System Regulation

What is Polyvagal Theory?

Understanding the Window of Tolerance

More From Adam Young:

Adam Young’s Make Sense of Your Story: Why Engaging Your Past with Kindness Changes Everything

Adam Young’s website

Adam Young’s The Places We Find Ourselves podcast

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Get the Communication Styles Guide:

https://capablelife.com/pages/podcast

Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

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In this season-opening episode of Being Human, Steve Cuss and Clarissa Moll explore how communication styles can either fuel anxiety and reactivity—or reduce it through deeper connection. Instead of focusing on what we say, they examine how we say it: the hidden subtext, assumptions, and “static” that cause people (especially leaders, couples, and teams) to mishear one another. Steve shares a practical framework for identifying three key communication patterns—rigid vs. fluid, rapid vs. deliberate, and external vs. internal processing—and explains how these differences show up in marriages, workplaces, and conflict. The goal isn’t to label anyone as “right” or “wrong,” but to build awareness that leads to humility, curiosity, and spiritually grounded connection.

Biblical Passages

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (ESV)

Ephesians 4:26 (ESV) 

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

Get the Communication Styles Guide:

https://capablelife.com/pages/podcast

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Find out what the “Six White Boomers” means for Australians during the holidays in this special Christmas week episode of Being Human with Steve Cuss. Steve gets cozy alongside The Bulletin co-hosts Russell Moore and Clarissa Moll for a candid, funny, and deeply comforting conversation about Advent, Christmas carols, and the “mental and emotional load” many people carry this season. Together they explore joy and grief at the manger, the hope of Emmanuel (God with us), and how the nativity story—through figures like Joseph, the shepherds, and the light in John 1—invites us to bring our whole selves to Jesus and be “human-sized” again. 

Episode Resources:

Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God

How A Charlie Brown Christmas Almost Wasn’t (The New Yorker)

Bing Crosby - Christmas Classics

“In the Bleak Midwinter” (Christina Rossetti poem + Gustav Holst tune)

Boney M’s Mary’s Boy Child

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/just-drop-the-blanket/

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Linus reciting Luke 2:8-20

Russell Moore’s Always Festivus and Never Christmas (article)

White Christmas (movie trailer)

The Bells of St. Mary’s (movie trailer)

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (trailer)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (“What’s This?” clip)

Six White Boomers (Australian Christmas song about kangaroos)

Wombat Divine (Australian children’s Christmas story)

Biblical Passages

Luke 2:8-10 (ESV)

Matthew 2 (ESV)

John 1 (ESV)

Romans 8 (ESV)

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

Get Your Copy:

The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host Steve Cuss explores the mental and emotional burdens we carry, drawing on Jesus’ teaching about a light yoke. Reflecting on the Christmas story from Luke 2, Steve shares personal traditions and discusses how God enters our struggles. He connects the nativity’s humble setting to themes of power, history, and care for the marginalized. The episode blends spiritual insight, personal anecdotes, and cultural commentary, inviting listeners to find hope and rest during the Christmas season.

Episode Resources:

The Long and Winding Road moment from the Get Back documentary

More about Augustus (63 BC - AD 14)

Oh Holy Night performed by Vince Gill

O Come, O Come Emmanuel performed by Shane & Shane

Books & Biblical Passages

Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV) - Jesus’ teaching about burden & yoke

Luke 2:1–20  (ESV) - The birth of Jesus and its surrounding circumstances

Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV) - Jesus took the form of a servant

Luke 15:3–7 (ESV) - The parable of the lost sheep

John 10:1–18 - The Good Shepherd

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV) - The Good Samaritan Story

Luke 2:41–52 (ESV) - the “lost boy Jesus” 

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

Get Your Copy:

The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

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Hosts Steve and Lisa Cuss share five practical tips for maintaining emotional and mental well-being during the Christmas season. They discuss handling family tensions, grief, and the pressures of holiday preparations, emphasizing self-awareness, emotional preparation, and setting boundaries. Blending personal stories and spiritual reflections, they encourage listeners to notice their emotional states, manage reactions, and make space for both joy and sadness. The episode offers compassionate, human-sized advice to help listeners create a peaceful, connected, and meaningful holiday experience, even amid challenges. 

Episode Resources:

Secure your copy of The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF

Listen: Anxiety, the Nervous System, and Your Window of Tolerance: Lisa Cuss & Clarissa Moll

John Chapter 1 (ESV) 

Revelation 21:3-4 (Eugene Peterson’s The Message)

AA Meeting Guidelines

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Join Steve at an upcoming intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

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In this episode of Being Human, Lisa Cuss explores how anxiety and stress push us outside our God-given window of tolerance. With monthly co-host Clarissa Moll, Lisa unpacks how the nervous system reacts to overwhelm, the difference between hyperarousal and hypoarousal, and practical tools for grounding, breath prayers, embodied faith, and reconnecting with God’s presence. This conversation on emotional health, trauma, and Christian spiritual formation can help you stay rooted in God’s presence, reduce reactivity, and remain human-sized in stressful situations.

Episode Resources:

Learn about Dr. Daniel Siegel’s work

Learn more about the Window of Tolerance 

How to recognize Hyper arousal and Hypo arousal 

30 30 Grounding Techniques to Quiet Distressing Thoughts

Book recommendations on the Apostle Paul and His work as community Builder

Read John 1:14 (ESV)

Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)

More From Clarissa Moll:

Clarissa Moll’s The Bulletin podcast

Explore Clarissa Moll’s website

Read Clarissa Moll’s substack

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Join Steve at an upcoming intensive: 

Capable Life Intensives

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices