Faithfully Creative

"There's something about naming God's goodness in a thing that softens your heart toward it."—John van Sloten.

Episode 55 of Spirituality for Ordinary People features an interview with John van Sloten. In it, we focus on three areas: 1) God's presence in popular culture 2) Our jobs as parables for understanding God

The interview is a deep dive into understanding the revelation of God. How is God speaking / or revealing himself.

There is always an opportunity to learn about or know God.

We are made in the image of a God who works, therefore our jobs are imaging of God.

Reflect on your work. How is your job a parable for understanding God?

This whole episode is about seeing God everywhere!

• John van Sloten's Website - includes the sermons referenced in the interview


• The Day Metallica Came to Church: Searching for the Everywhere God in Everything


• Every Job a Parable: What Walmart Greeters, Nurses, and Astronauts Tell Us about God

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"There's something about naming God's goodness in a thing that softens your heart toward it."—John van Sloten.

Episode 55 of Spirituality for Ordinary People features an interview with John van Sloten. In it, we focus on three areas: 1) God's presence in popular culture 2) Our jobs as parables for understanding God

The interview is a deep dive into understanding the revelation of God. How is God speaking / or revealing himself.

There is always an opportunity to learn about or know God.

We are made in the image of a God who works, therefore our jobs are imaging of God.

Reflect on your work. How is your job a parable for understanding God?

This whole episode is about seeing God everywhere!

• John van Sloten's Website - includes the sermons referenced in the interview

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"God isn't just some outside force looking at me or some infinite force that created the universe but God is actually in me...and I can take these inner nudges and actions into my daily life."—Rich Lewis

How can you actually get closer to God in such a way that you are really experiencing God's presence on a regular basis?

Episode 54 of Spirituality for Ordinary People features an interview Rich Lewis. In it, we focus very specifically on the practice of centering prayer. We go over what it is, how it works, and the four steps you can follow to try centering prayer.

Centering prayer is a tool or practice that assists you with entering into contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer is purely sitting with God with no agenda - simply being in God's presence.

If you are new to the practice of centering prayer, it is best to try and do it every day for a month before deciding whether it is for you. (This is likely true of any new spiritual practice).

Trusting that if you hear something from God it will return to you. It is better to let the thought go in your time of centering prayer.

If you were to try Centering Prayer, at what time of the day and where would you plan to try the practice?

Can you try it, even if it is just 1 to 5 minutes, twice a day.

4 Steps of Centering Prayer

• Silence Teaches

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"Silence is radical...Getting away from technology, getting away from everything, is radical."—Paul Angone

Twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings continue to long for something more or have a sense that life or the world is not as it should be. How can we do better self-examination, especially when failure, disappointment, tragedy, or struggle is close?

Episode 53 of Spirituality for Ordinary People features an interview with Paul Angone, author of 101 Secrets For Your Twenties and 101 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Twenties. Paul helps people in their twenties and thirties grapple with life in ways that are practical, helpful, and deeply spiritual.

Knowing your soul values is so important. One must figure out how they interact with God and with the truth of Scripture. It is also important to understand the difference between your strengths and the values that you hold in your heart.

We absolutely need time away, particularly time away from technology, whether it is physically going on a hike or retreat, or whether it is keeping our phones in our pockets in line at the grocery store and allowing a "chance" encounter to happen or just experiencing a few moments of quiet in the midst of everyday life.

What are the 5 values that are guiding your life on a daily basis?

Are you open to the not so random encounters that God brings into your life?

When are you "getting away" and allowing God to speak into your life?

Paul discusses getting away for times of stillness and also talks about bringing a sense of stillness into everyday life. He also speaks about the authenticity found in the Psalms.

• Paul Angone's website


• All Groan Up: Your Guide Through 'What Now?'


• 101 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Twenties: (And Let's Be Honest, Your Thirties Too)


• 101 Secrets For Your Twenties

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"You don't have to have an 'S' on your chest if you have a savior in your heart."—Dan Stanford

North American culture is saturated with the superhero motif. Why is that, and what hopes and needs is the pop culture superhero tapping into? Why do we flock to superhero stories, and what does it mean to embrace ordinary-ness as a better way to life?

Episode 52 of Spirituality for Ordinary people features an interview with Dan Stanford, author, and pastor of The Well Church in Kenosha, WI. Dan's latest book is Losing the Cape: The Power of Ordinary in a World of Superheroes

The discussion in this episode is wide-ranging. Dan doesn't advocate for simply a safe life, claiming we are made for adventure. He believes that God calls ordinary people to serve others in big and small ways. We aren't waiting for a super-hero to save the day, nor are we superheroes with the burden of saving others.

The people who are willing to do the little things that make the greatest difference over a period of time.

God's got people all over the planet, so begin by making a difference where you are trusting that God has placed you where you are and placed others where they are. Comparison to others can be crippling. We must realize that we are stewards of what God has given us, so being where you are and with the resources you have.

What are some of the ordinary ways of serving others that you might be called to?

Dan journals on a regular basis, usually starting with Scripture and spending time outside near Lake Michigan.

Their family usually asks a "strategic question" (e.g. what was the best thing that happened today?) for discussion over dinner and they spend time helping each other see God in their every day lives. He also actively looks for opportunities in everyday life to have conversations with his kids about God presence and activity.

Dan also spoke about the freedom to experiment with different ways of approaching his devotional life.

• Dan Stanford's Website


• Losing the Cape: The Power of Ordinary in a World of Superheroes


• The Well Church

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 "Good questions can change the trajectory of peoples' futures."—J.R. Briggs

People are asking deep and difficult questions in their lives and there is an inclination in our culture to fixate on easy or quick-fix answers. What does it look like to sit with questions, ask better questions, and how can a focus on questions help us in our walk with Christ?

Episode 51 of Spirituality for Ordinary people features an interview with J.R. Briggs, author, pastor, and founder of Kairos Partnerships. J.R. brings thoughtful reflection, study, wisdom, and encouragement in the area of question asking.

We often seek guidance and direction from God just wanting "the answer." But God's invitation to us is full of delight, wonder, and the unknown.

Curiosity and wonder can be central to journeying with Jesus. We engage in wonder with a mindset of questions rather than only wanting answers.

We study the parables of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, but rarely do we study Jesus' questions. The gospels record Jesus as asking 325 questions. People asked him 183 questions and he only answered 5-8 of them directly.

What big question are you living with right now?

What question is God asking you right now?

J.R. uses the Moravian Daily Text  followed by a simple prayer. He journals every day and records five things he is grateful for. He focuses on simple things, giving examples like warmer weather, the taste of the coffee, etc. He also practices Sabbath and finds it helps to guardrail against burnout, reminding him that God doesn't need him.

• Kairos Partnerships


• J.R. Briggs' Books


• Support the Why Ask Questions Book on Kickstarter and get a copy of the book! (Until May 16, 2018)

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Episode 50 celebrates the one year anniversary of the Spirituality for Ordinary People Podcast. Ashley Boychuk joins our host, Matthew Brough, and she interviews him. 

MARCH 27 - LAST DAY TO ENTER THE BIG GOD BOOK GIVEAWAY WITH 24 BOOKS!

ENTER HERE: https://spiritualityforordinarypeople.com/giveaway

Episode 49 features an interview with Rev. Peter Bush. Peter is serving a one year term as the moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. He is the minister at Westwood Presbyterian Church in Winnipeg and the author of several books. He is passionate about congregations and individuals living the love of Jesus in action and telling the story of Jesus in words.

Peter has a heart for small congregations, having led workshops, coached leadership teams and offered training events to help small congregations thrive in remote, rural, suburban and urban contexts. To this end he has authored two books, In Dying we are Born (Alban, 2008) and with Christine O’Reilly, Where Twenty or Thirty are Gathered (Alban, 2006).

• How interactions on social media have been among the most surprising things about his year as moderator.


• Why his prayers as the moderator have struck such a chord across the Presbyterian Church in Canada.


• The value of prayers that are timely and responsive to the actual realities of our world and lives.


• What is it that drives his passion for the number of things he is passionate about.


• How we need to remember the 1994 confession of the Presbyterian Church to Indigenous People.


• The importance of having conversation and real relationship with Indigenous Peoples in our neighbourhoods and communities, as congregations and individuals.


• Why is history so important (including a fun anecdote about James Robertson!) and how it can teach us humility.


• Loving the Bible and whether there can be connections between devotional life and sermon preparation.


• Being spiritual fed through reading.


• The intentionality of writing prayers and having set times to pray.


• The importance of a diversity of ways to pray.

• The Moderator Page of the Presbyterian Church in Canada


• Visit Peter on Facebook


• In Dying we are Born (Alban, 2008)


• Where Twenty or Thirty are Gathered (Alban, 2006).


• Preaching by Fred Craddock


• Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen - systematic theologian at Fuller


• Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris

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Episode 48 features an interview with Lacey Buchanan. Lacey and her family are truly amazing. Her oldest son, Christian, was born with a rare form of cleft lip and palate called Tessier cleft lip and palate, classifications 3, 4, 5. Christian is completely blind. He is medically complex, but rocking this thing called life! Christian and his mom, Lacey, are on a mission to spread hope to others, share truths about having a disability and raising a child with one, and showing the world how to overcome life's toughest obstacles!

Lacey's book is also part of this MASSIVE giveaway that is open until March 28th, 2018. click here to view the main giveaway page and see the other books being featured! 

• Seeing God in the midst of life's roller coasters


• The difficulty and the heaviness of their


• What it really means to have a relationship with God and to really trust in God.


• How we often miss the beauty in difficult circumstances


• Making a decision to stick with God when life is falling apart


• Struggling with the question of why we face tragedy or challenges


• The gift of her children


• We are all going to have the worst day of our life. Do we respond with blame? How else can we respond?


• "No matter how hard our days might be the truths about God are still the truth?"


• Finding joy in small things, including the fun of being around children.


• Allowing joy to come in letting go of what is not in your own control.


• Resting in how loved you are by God.


• Why Lacey felt she needed to share her story.


• The importance of a Church Community.


• The importance of reading the Bible, even if it is just for a few minutes a day.

• Christian and Lacey's facebook page


• Through the Eyes of Hope: Love More, Worry Less, and See God in the Midst of Your Adversity by Lacey Buchanan with Bethany Jett


• Blessings by Laura Story


• Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley

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• Pilgrimage and journey


• How do we understand or define pilgrimage


• Connections between walking, wandering, traveling, slowing down, and connecting with God.


• The biblical roots of pilgrimage and wandering


• "the seeker is at the heart of each one of us."


• How we are invited into journies every day.


• How "going to Church" can be seen as a pilgrimage.


• How does someone live out being on a sacred journey in their everyday life.


• 7 principles for pilgrims: a rule of life.


• Why curiosity in daily life is important.


• Why Spiritual direction is important and who it is for.

• Lacy's website, A Sacred Journey. (At her website, you can sign up to get a PDF of her rule of life for pilgrims, called Pilgrim Principles)


• The Upsides of Wanderlust


• Glory Happening by Kaitlin Curtis

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