What is the Lord doing for you in prayer?

As many of us know, life comes with suffering. Our daily struggles can so easily rattle us and disrupt our peace. This, then, creeps into the way we interact with God.

Today, I bring you the story of Jill Ruskamp. She has built a personal manifesto around her prayer, collecting moments of inspiration, scripture passages, words from God, and key memories. Not only does it bring her peace in the middle of suffering, but it has also become a great tool for evangelization. As we learn our own stories more deeply, we develop a more profound respect for the stories of others.

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The culture is changing around us, and the things that used to grow the parish community no longer do. If we want to continue drawing others to Jesus, we must change the way we walk with people in the secular world. For most of us (dare I say ALL of us), this means venturing into the unknown.

We are in uncharted territory and must figure out our way forward. Making this shift towards becoming a missional community means opening ourselves to the newness that God desires for us. It involves changing our habits, our processes, and even our expectations of what is possible.

Many of us are good at leading others to places that we've already been. But, how do you lead when you've never been to that place yourself? I'm going to walk you through five principles for leading into the unknown.

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I know…I know! Talking about Lent in August feels like it should be in one of those “It’s too early for Christmas” memes. You guys know, I get really excited about the impact small groups can have on a parish, so I just couldn’t wait to share this story with you! Sacred Heart, a parish in Omaha, was able to use their Live Lent Together initiative to both bring parish leaders together and to reach the peripheries. After listening, I hope you consider growing Live Lent Together at your parish.

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The buzz phrase "Meet people where they are!" has been around for a while now. Pope Francis often concretizes this in a call to go out and be with those who are suffering. While many of us are no stranger to caring for the physical needs of others, we know that the spiritual poverty of the United States is where the greatest need lies. So, how do we meet people where they are when the need is intangible?

One tool that my team, The Parish Support Team, has found to be very useful is the Thresholds of Conversion and Discipleship. These Thresholds give us a common language for evangelization and help us to identify where people are at on their spiritual journey.

Join me for the conversation!

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This week I talk to a friend in the Diocese of Houma Thibodaux. If you couldn't tell by the hard to pronounce spelling, that's in Louisiana. There, they also have a Parish Support Team tasked with helping pastors and parishes become missional communities. I've looked to them for more than a year now as an example for my team. One of the most surprising things we've learned? How to pray more intentionally about the work that we do.

Tune in to hear some really practical advice for hearing the voice of the Lord.

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As much as I would like them to, our episodes on stewardship do not do as well as our episodes on evangelization. We are so used to thinking about stewardship as just giving money to keep the lights of our parish on. While this kind of generosity is good, a cultivating a Culture of Generosity takes so much more.

In fact, we know, through parables such as the rich man and Lazarus, that generosity is one of the keys to sanctity.

So, I encourage you to give today's episode a chance. Dave Baranowski from the Archdiocese of St. Louis talks about how to gather and form leaders for generosity, and I promise, it's more than a pitch for money!

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The end to abortion is here! ...Legally...at the federal level.

While we should celebrate a major victory in the fight against abortion, the work has really just begun. If we want to end abortion, not just make it illegal, then we have to change minds and hearts. Today's guest, Katherine Burow, tells us "A lot of people are pro-choice because they've never heard a compelling secular argument."

Katherines work as the Executive Director of the Abortion Dialogue Academy is to end abortion by changing the culture. They spend much of their time on Nebraska college campuses changing hearts on the topic of abortion through the use of a 7 minute argument.

She shares some of her wisdom with us today.

Want to hear more from Katherine? Check out her podcast Pro-Life in 7 Minutes.

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Let's talk about productivity. There is this lie that is a two-edged sword in the Christian world. For some, getting tasks done does not come naturally, and so it can rob them of the peace that comes with a relationship with God. On the other hand, we often deeply feel the urgency that comes with a call from God causing us to "over produce" or to work ourselves to the bone in order to "achieve" His will.

Neither is good.

Growing in skills of execution can help us be productive without falling into either lie. Thus, I want to offer you an 8-minute skill demo. Nothing too deep, just some tips from one of the executors on my team.

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The Archdiocese's Big Goal, each parish in the Archdiocese of Omaha will be a missional community, has three characteristics: collaborative leadership, a clear path to discipleship, and a culture of generosity. I believe we can't talk about these enough.

So today, I have another episode on the clear path to discipleship for you. In many ways, the clear path isn't a new idea; it's just a new expression of something that is as old as the Church. Thus, people don't respond negatively to it, but I have encountered quite a few misconceptions that seem to trip people up. They think the clear path is just the newest buzzword, a quick fix that puts people on an assembly line and cuts all ministries out of a parish. 

If you've thought these things (or if you know someone else who has), let me mythbust for you!

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With the Journey of Faith underway, the words “flourishing” and “missional community” have become buzzwords in our diocese. Many good people have been asking, “Wait…ARE we a missional community? What does it even mean for an entire parish to be missional?”

We have a definition: an outward looking group of disciples, under the care of a pastor, sent by Jesus to make disciples.

However, a definition is only a starting point for understanding, so today, I bring you You Might Be a Missional Community If… Calvin Mueller and I discuss some indicators of a missional community so that you might know if you are or not.

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