Crystal Cheatham

Today I sit down with Micky Scotbey Jones. Micky is a justice doula, a writer, speaker and social justice advocate.  Recently named one of the Black Christian leaders changing the world in the Huffington Post, Micky encourages others to join her in moments of holy disruption and self-care in community. If you love Micky (and I’m sure you will after this convo) you can support her endeavor to become a certified Enneagram Accredited Professional. She is so close and just needs your help to make her $4,000 goal. Find out more here.

Miriam Samuelson-Roberts is a co-host of the podcast Alter Guild and the author of our featured OBA devotional, New Year, Healed You. In this episode we discuss her amazing devotional which does away with the usual “new year, new you” traps. We also talk about what it’s like to be a bisexual pastor in a heterosexual (and monogamous) marriage. It was such a pleasure to chat with Miriam. I hope you feel the warmth too.

Have you ever felt entitled to rest? Can taking a Sabbath be an act of social justice? Lyndsey Medford thinks so! And she penned those words in her devotional series, “The Burnouts Guide to Being Human” now available in Our Bible App. I don’t know about you but a discussion about burnout feels quite timely right about now! Tune in as Lyndsey and I take this conversation to whole new and surprising places.

Today’s guest is OBA author Rev. Jacob Breeze. He is the pastor of the Holy Family Church in Houston. He wrote a devotional for the app about the Liturgical calendar and the importance of following it all the way through and not just at special holidays like Christmas. I gotta say I loved talking to this man and let’s hope he decides to contribute more to the app.

Laura Jean Truman is an Atlanta based writer, and the author of Our Bible App’s newest devotional series, Imagination: The Most Underrated Spiritual Discipline. In this episode I get to fangirl all over the place about Laura Jean’s amazing work, her activism and finally about the devotional she wrote for us.

Jamie Lee Finch is a musician, poet and a Relationship Guide between humans and their bodies. She works with individuals of all genders who consistently find within themselves an inability to connect with, communicate with, and successfully relate to their own bodies. Many of these individuals are survivors of fundamentalist religion who now experience a range of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual conditions. I hope you enjoy the show!

Chris Stroop is an ex-Evangelical seeking to create space for other ex-Evangelicals and exiles from other forms of religious fundamentalism. He writes, “Reclaiming and sharing our ex-Evangelical stories will serve both to foster healing and to raise awareness of the threat to democracy and human rights posed by theocratic views, and of the real human harm caused all too often by conservative Evangelicalism.” Follow Chris on Twitter @C_Stroop and read more of is writing here!

Today I bring you a conversation I had with a very special old life friend of mine, Jessie Standafer. You know those conversations where you pick up where you left off after 6 years and don’t realize how much you missed the person? This is that convo! Jessie Standafer is a musician a doula and all around artist. She is figuring the divide between lesbian and Christian and is probably doing it better than most of us! All that to say Jessie is glowing with wisdom and I hope you enjoy both their words and their music. Watch the videos we discuss here and visit iTunes to get ahold of her music. 

I'm so excited to be back with another season of Lord Have Mercy and this episode is all about having the kind of sex we WANT to have and loving the bodies we inhabit. This wasn't my idea, it was all Emily Joy. Emily Joy is so RAD guys! This episode I got to sit and chat with her about all of the intimate and scary things. If you are a fan like me you should download her music, join her newsletter and send her all the love. You can start by dropping by her website at EmilyJoyPoetry.com.

Join me, Crystal Cheatham as I chat with Sarah Ngu about Church Clarity and a few other projects she's involved in. As a fellow podcaster Sarah has taken charge of Religious Socialism and works as a deacon in her church. Sarah and I talk about scripture, church and some of the things we have in common like being kids of immigrants who happened to also be missionaries. Finally we get to chat about Church Clarity which is an online database that is rating churches one-by-one on policies and personnel as a means of bringing clarity to their stances on some of todays most important public and, often divisive, issues. Find out more at ChurchClarity.org.