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Grammy-nominated jazz musician and Hattiesburg native Steve Wiest joins Susan for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, creativity, mentorship, and making the most of the one life we’ve been given.

Steve reflects on his formative years in the church, the mentors who “saved his life” during a difficult season, and how those roots shaped both his faith and his wildly creative career. This episode is honest, eclectic, and full of hope — a reminder of the power of people who pour into us and the importance of living fully, right now.

Website: https://steve-wiest.com/

ABOUT STEVE: Steve Wiest is a Grammy-nominated trombonist, composer, author, and cartoonist with multiple albums to his name as both a leader and sideman.

As a young soloist and composer for Maynard Ferguson, he later toured with Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Orchestra, performing alongside numerous renowned artists.

Steve is also a distinguished figure in jazz education, best known for his tenure as director of the One O’Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas. Under his leadership, the ensemble earned two Grammy nominations—one for Best Large Jazz Ensemble and another for Best Instrumental Composition for his original work, Ice-Nine. He also received a Grammy nomination for his arrangement of Bésame Mucho, featured on Maynard Ferguson’s final album, The One and Only.

After UNT, Wiest served as Co-Chair of Jazz Studies at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. Before that, he was Director of Jazz and Trombone at UW-Whitewater and began his teaching career as Assistant Director of Jazz at the University of Texas at Arlington.

A sought-after guest artist, clinician, composer, and conductor, Wiest has led numerous all-state ensembles and continues to perform and teach worldwide. Wiest is an artist for Edwards Instruments playing his custom “Excalibur” version of the Edwards T302 and the Griego-Steve Wiest Mouthpiece exclusively. 

Steve makes his home in Chicago, Illinois with his wonderful wife Deborah and their golden retriever Phoebe, where Wiest can often be heard remarking “Ain’t life grand?!”

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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Conversations around addiction and recovery are too often avoided, even in the church. In this episode, Matt Johnson, National Director of Faith-Based Initiatives for the Fletcher Group, discusses why recovery and substance use disorder are something churches and Christians should care deeply about. Whether you’re walking your own recovery journey, loving someone who is, or wondering how your church can become a safer place for healing, this episode is what you need.

MATT JOHNSON works to help faith-based organizations grow their impact within the recovery ecosystems in their communities. Previously, he worked as a pastor, empowering his congregation to engage in recovery work in their West Virginia community. Matt founded the Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network, a non-profit recovery residence organization in West Virginia. As an experienced founder and operator of recovery housing, Matt is a sought-after public speaker.

Contact Matt Johnson: [email protected]

A Spiritual Kindergarten: Christian Perspectives on the Twelve Steps

Breathing Underwater

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast. We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website.

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In 1982, at the age of 19, Lonny Schrader was struck with a change in his storyline he did not see coming. His testimony of choosing forgiveness and thriving after tragedy is one we all need to hear and learn from. I hope you enjoy getting to know Lonny as much as I have. 

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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Welcome to Season 8! How do I know when it's God speaking to me? In this episode, Susan and Cliff share their personal experiences of hearing and discerning the voice of God, recommend books that have helped them grow in hearing God, and offer encouragement for your own journey to hearing and knowing God's voice. 

Resources Mentioned:

Hearing God, by Dallas Willard

How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People, by Pete Grieg

Widows of the Soul: Hearing God in the Everyday Moments of Your Life, by Ken Gire

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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In this episode, Susan and Cliff sit down with spiritual director Anne-Russell Bradley for a rich conversation about the practice of spiritual direction. Together, they explore what spiritual direction is (and isn’t), how it creates sacred space for listening to God, and why this ancient practice can be such a life-giving companion on our faith journey. If you’ve ever wondered what spiritual direction looks like or how it might support your own formation, this conversation is a beautiful place to start.

Rev. Anne-Russell Bradley contact information: [email protected]

Finding a Spiritual Director:

https://www.sdicompanions.org/find-a-spiritual-director-companion/

https://directory.transformingcenter.org

Suggested reading:

Soul Feast by Marjorie Thompson

Right Here, Right Now by Amy G. Oden

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scezzero

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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How do we faithfully weave our life with God into the work we do every day? In this episode, Susan and co-host Rev. Smith Lilley talk with authors and businessmen Al Erisman and Randy Pope about what it means to view our work as a calling to serve the Lord. Together, they explore how the hours we spend in offices, classrooms, homes, and communities can become places of formation, worship, and witness. 

AL ERISMAN is currently a writer, speaker, and board member, including serving as chair of the board for the Theology of Work Project and as a founding board member for KIROS. He is a senior Fellow for both the Center for Faithful Business at Seattle Pacific University and the Institute for Marketplace Transformation. Since 2015, he has authored or co-authored numerous books on theology, business, and mathematics. After earning his PhD in applied mathematics at Iowa State University, Al spent 32 years at The Boeing Company, starting as a research mathematician. In his last decade there, he was Director of Technology, where he led a 250-person research staff exploring innovation paths for the company. He participated in committees on science and mathematics through the National Science Foundation, National Research Council, and National Institute for Standards and Technology. He is the co-founder of Ethix magazine, exploring business ethics in a technological age. After retiring from Boeing in 2001, he taught in the Business School at Seattle Pacific University until 2017. 

RANDY POPE has practiced law for 45 years in his hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Since 2017, he has served as City Attorney for the City of Hattiesburg. He has tried numerous cases in state and federal courts in Mississippi and has successfully handled appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He is also admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Mississippi School of Law, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the founding President of the C. S. Lewis Society of South Mississippi, and he served on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA from 1973-1976.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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Spiritual warfare can be confusing, even intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In this conversation, Susan Eaton, Cliff Burris, and Dr. Stephen Seamands discuss what spiritual warfare is, why it shows up in our lives, and how we can discern when it’s happening. Dr. Seamands offers practical wisdom from years of ministry, emphasizing the importance of helping people heal instead of getting preoccupied with the oppression itself. It’s a grounded, hope-filled exploration you won’t want to miss.

Book Recommendation: The Believer's Guide to Spiritual Warfare, by Tom White

ABOUT: Dr. Stephen Seamands currently serves as Professor Emeritus at Asbury Theological Seminary, having retired in May 2018 from
his position as Professor of Christian Doctrine, in which he had served for thirty-five years. Prior to assuming a teaching position at the seminary in 1983, he pastored United Methodist churches in southern New Jersey for eleven years.
Steve has continued to teach courses for the seminary as an affiliate professor. He is known for gracefully merging the classical and the practical. His courses on doctrine and practical theology are taught with a scholar’s mind and a pastor’s heart.

He is the author of eight books including Holiness of Heart and Life (Abingdon Press, 1990), Wounds that Heal: Bringing Our Hurts to the Cross (InterVarsity Press, 2003), which is available in six languages and Ministry in the Image of God: The  Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service (InterVarsity Press, 2005), which received the 2006 Christianity Today “Award of Merit” for books in the area of Church and pastoral leadership; The Unseen Real: Living in the Light of the Ascension of Jesus (Seedbed, 2016). His most recent book is Follow the Healer: Biblical and Theological Foundations for Healing Ministry (Zondervan Reflective/Seedbed, 2023). He has also written articles for various journals and magazines

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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Have you ever wished you had superpowers? Maybe we actually do! We may not be able to fly or shoot lasers out of our eyes, but what if we were made for more than that? In this episode, Susan talks with Rev. Smith Lilley about what it means to be human and how the life of Christ within us empowers us to live supernaturally in our everyday lives. 

ABOUT SMITH: Smith Lilley is an ordained elder in the Mississippi Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and the pastor of Fulton UMC and Verona UMC. He previously served churches in Tupelo and Tremont in northeast Mississippi and in Nashville, Tennessee. Smith’s passions in ministry are preaching and teaching, worship, and small group discipleship.

Originally from Clinton, Smith is a graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School, the University of Limerick in Ireland, and Mississippi State University. He is currently a student in the Doctor of Theology program at United Theological Seminary. Prior to ministry he was an officer in the U.S. Air Force.

His wife Jessica is a pediatric endocrinologist and native of Belmont. They have three daughters—Emelyn, Abigail, and Alexis. 

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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In this episode, Rev. Chad Bowen joins us to unpack a big question from one of our church kids: “How are we made in God’s image when we can’t see God?” Together, we explore what it means to “image” God in the world—not by what we look like, but by how we live. From creativity and innovation to stewardship and community, we discover the many ways God’s character is reflected through us as we care, create, and connect with one another.

ABOUT CHAD: Rev. Chad Bowen serves as pastor of First United Methodist Church in West Point, Mississippi, and is a graduate of Millsaps College and Duke Divinity School. He and his wife, Katie, live in West Point with their two young children.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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If you’ve ever wrestled with questions about purpose—why you’re here, what you’re made for, or how to uncover it—you won’t want to miss this episode with the always dynamic Dr. Bev Smallwood. Learn how God can use even seasons of adversity to reveal your unique purpose and calling.

Contact Beverly: [email protected]

ABOUT BEV: Dr. Bev Smallwood is a licensed psychologist who, for the past 40-plus years, has been spreading her message of hope to individuals, families, and organizations across the U.S. and around the world. She’s the Founder and CEO of The Hope Center, a psychological clinic she established in 1984. Since the early 80s, Bev’s high-content, high-fun, live, in-person programs have enabled organizations to accomplish successful transitions, develop more skillful leaders, intensify employee engagement, reduce turnover, and create fiercely loyal customers. Dr.Bev also creates high-engagement learning in her virtual programs and courses.

Bev received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1981. Since that time, she has regularly received advanced professional training in such areas as stress and anger management, trauma treatment, forensic psychology, organizational assessment and intervention, and leadership development.

Dr. Bev is well-known as a resource to the national media. She’s been interviewed and quoted in such media outlets as MSNBC, CNN, FOX News, Maury Povich, New York Times, USA Today Weekend, Focus on the Family, Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Enquirer, Self Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, Entrepreneur, and numerous major radio stations and networks. 

Bev is the author of This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen to Me: 10 Make-or-Break Choices When Life Steals Your Dreams and Rocks Your World, (Thomas Nelson, Publishers). She also co-authored KidSpiration: Out of the Mouths of Babes. Currently, she is working on a new book on anger called All The Rage. 

Dr. Bev Smallwood lives in Hattiesburg, MS. She’s the Mom of Greg and Amy, and the grandmother of Joseph, Ethan, Scarlett, and Eli.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website.