Faithfully Creative

Episode 37 is based on a message given at Prairie Presbyterian Church on Dec 17, 2017.

Visit www.spiritualityfornormalpeople.com/sixstories to view the artwork referenced in this episode.

Episode 36 of the podcast features an interview with Rodrigo de la Sotta. Rodrigo is the director of spiritual formation for Cyclical LA, an organization that develops leaders toward sustainability in a church-starting ecosystem. As a Coach and Spiritual Director, his passion is to help others explore how theological reflection and psychological development can have a meaningful conversation and how sacred space can be discovered in all things. He considers Chico his hometown, though his roots will always be found in his native land of Chile.

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  Church planting and spiritual health
  


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  Matters of spirituality are so often assumed.
  


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  Much of our effort is in telling people how important prayer is, rather than helping them learn to pray.
  


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  How can sacred space be discovered in all things?
  


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  Beginning with the assumption that God is present everywhere.
  


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  The challenge of teaching people to pray
  


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  Using a prayer of Recollection (see this video) 
  


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  Understanding prayer through a relational lens
  


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  Are you hearing from God vs. are you simply with God
  


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  Finding a different starting place in prayer.
  


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  How do we feel a deep sense of safety and honesty in prayer?
  


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  How do you deal with a spiritual practice feeling dry or empty?
  


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  Being process driven rather than praxis driven
  


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  Understanding spirituality using attachment theory
  


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  What does it mean for God to be parent and us to be child?
  


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  God’s posture of responsibility and our posture of trust and receptivity
  


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  How adoption is a powerful way of understanding the saving relationship we have with God.
  


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  Having simple anchors throughout the day to remind yourself that you are loved.
  

• "Our capacities to love others well is never going to exceed our experienced of being loved well by God and by others.”


• “We lead with our body in order to open the heart to the spirit of God."

• Cyclical LA


• Video on the Prayer of Recollection 


• Theresa of Avila

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Episode 35 of the podcast features an interview with Ben McFarland. Ben teaches biochemistry and chemistry at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington. He is also connected with BioLogos, an organization that invites the church and the world to see the harmony between science and biblical faith.

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  How can there be a harmony between science and faith
  


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  Where does the perceived conflict between faith and science come from?
  


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  The philosophy of scientism
  


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  How interpretation is present in both science and theology
  


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  Understanding the "book of God" and the "book of nature.”
  


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  What to say to people who believe that science is all there is
  


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  What to say to Christians who reject certain scientific ideas (e.g. Big Bang theory, evolution)
  


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  How is it that we read Genesis 1-3
  


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  J.R.R. Tolkien leading C.S. Lewis to Christ
  


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  Listening to various theological voices
  


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  The importance of order, sabbath, being part of your community
  


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  Reminding yourself to pray, and how God brings you back from a “default deism"
  


• The origins of the title for Ben's book, "A World from Dust"

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  Ben McFarland’s Website
  


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  A World From Dust: How the Periodic Table Shaped Life by Ben McFarland
  


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  BioLogos
  


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  Francis Collins
  


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  The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis Collins
  


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  John Walton - BioLogos - Ancient Near East Scholar
  The Lost World of Genesis 1 by John Walton 
  


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  The Spirit of Creation by Amos Yong
  


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  Del Ryder and the Crystal Seed by Matthew Brough
  

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Episode 34 of the podcast is the third part of a 3 part series where I read from my book, Let God Be Present.

Part two is called "After the Storm: A Reflection On Mark 4:36-41 And What Follows"

You can buy a copy of Let God Be Present on Amazon or get a paperback copy sent to you when you support the podcast on Patreon at the $4 per month level.

A little more about Let God Be Present...

What does it really mean to connect with God? We search for meaning, connection, or guidance, but rarely let go of our pre-conceived notions of what we want to hear. This book asks you to trust God to be present and speak on His terms, rather than insisting that God fit in with your own idea of what He should be doing in your life. 

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This bonus episode features a sermon preached by Matthew Brough at Prairie Presbyterian Church on November 19, 2017. It walks through the first two chapters of the Book of Ruth, and discovers that it has a lot to say about how we treat "foreigners." Ruth was a Moabite who came to live in Bethlehem as an outsider. How was she treated and how was it different than the usual way she might have been treated? 

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Episode 33 of the podcast is the second part of a 3 part series where I read from my book, Let God Be Present. 

Part two is called "Tuning in and Trusting God: A Reflection on 1 Samuel 3"

You can buy a copy of Let God Be Present on Amazon or get a paperback copy sent to you when you support the podcast on Patreon at the $4 per month level.

A little more about Let God Be Present...

What does it really mean to connect with God? We search for meaning, connection, or guidance, but rarely let go of our pre-conceived notions of what we want to hear. This book asks you to trust God to be present and speak on His terms, rather than insisting that God fit in with your own idea of what He should be doing in your life. 

Join others in contributing financially to help pay for hosting and equipment costs. 

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Episode 31 of the podcast is the first part of a 3 part series where I read from my book, Let God Be Present. In this first part, I do a brief introduction about how I have always struggled with the word "spirituality" and why this particular book fits with the idea of this podcast. After the intro, I read the introduction to the book itself and then move into the longer section, which is Part 1 of the book, titled "God's Presence Even When You Might Not Want It: A Reflection on Exodus 31-33."

You can buy a copy of Let God Be Present on Amazon or get a paperback copy sent to you when you support the podcast on Patreon at the $4 per month level.

A little more about Let God Be Present...

What does it really mean to connect with God? We search for meaning, connection, or guidance, but rarely let go of our pre-conceived notions of what we want to hear. This book asks you to trust God to be present and speak on His terms, rather than insisting that God fit in with your own idea of what He should be doing in your life. 

Join others in contributing financially to help pay for hosting and equipment costs. 

Follow Matthew Brough on Social Media:

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Episode 31 of the podcast is the first part of a 3 part series where I read from my book, Let God Be Present. In this first part, I do a brief introduction about how I have always struggled with the word "spirituality" and why this particular book fits with the idea of this podcast. After the intro, I read the introduction to the book itself and then move into the longer section, which is Part 1 of the book, titled "God's Presence Even When You Might Not Want It: A Reflection on Exodus 31-33."

You can buy a copy of Let God Be Present on Amazon or get a paperback copy sent to you when you support the podcast on Patreon at the $4 per month level.

A little more about Let God Be Present...

What does it really mean to connect with God? We search for meaning, connection, or guidance, but rarely let go of our pre-conceived notions of what we want to hear. This book asks you to trust God to be present and speak on His terms, rather than insisting that God fit in with your own idea of what He should be doing in your life. 

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Join others in contributing financially to help pay for hosting and equipment costs. 

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