Oftentimes when we are serving in ministry, we brainstorm outreach and growth. But what does growth look like when you live in a rural setting? What does growth look like when things remain small? This conversation goes deeper than just location of ministry, and is an opportunity to step back and consider: what are we, as the church, here for, and what is that supposed to look like?

Gretchen's Book "Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted" is now available.

1517 event in Fergus Falls

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What is it mean to be blessed? What does it mean to bless others? In this episode, we talk about the power of words, and the power of the gospel given through words. The term "blessed" can take on many meanings in our culture, but the Bible uses that term to remind us of the works of God.

Katie references:

Pastoring by Blessing by John Kleinig

Gretchen's book comes out in a few days! Order here:

"Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted"

Join us in Minnesota for the "Life Lived in Christ" one day event.

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We all pray for love. We all desire peace. We all want to have joy.

It's that patience that looks suspicious.

We all know the joke about how praying for patience is dangerous, because God answers that prayer with lots of opportunities to develop it.

Is that what the Bible says about patience, though?

In this episode Gretchen and Katie go deep as they talk about how hope and patience are linked together, how we are given patience, and how the 3 persons of the Trinity fit into all of this.

What if patience was not about working our muscles, and more about God?

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How does one share the gospel on social media? Is there a way to communicate the love of God in a medium that thrives on uproar and misinformation? In this episode, Gretchen and Katie talk about the lives touched, and the opportunities for speaking truth and making relationships with others online.

This is the ending to the conversation in the last episode: "Loving Your Neighbor Online."

Katie's Article, "What Do I Have to Give?"

Our Freely Given FB group

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As believers, we have the freedom to write off social media completely, or interact with others online. A lot of that decision has to do with vocation (or calling), and loving your neighbor well. In this episode Katie and Gretchen talk about the benefits and limitations of being a Christian who is online, and strategies they consider when, why, and how they interact with others.

Here We Still Stand Conference

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Women's Bible studies...men's Bible studies, mixed Bible studies.

While some avoid women's Bible studies because they think that they're too flowery and shallow, others feel more comfortable sharing and speaking up when it's only one gender there.

In this episode Katie and Gretchen talk about the pros and cons of each, and why men and women need fellowship within the church, and we also have to provide safe and comfortable spaces for people to ask the hard questions.

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Do you feel bad when you're not very joyful? What do you do with grief that lingers? Can anger be righteous?

Gretchen and Katie talk about the guilt and shame that often gets put on our emotions, and discusses if how we feel makes us more or less righteous.

We often lie about our emotions so they appear more holy, or we use our emotions as an excuse to sin against our neighbor. The question then becomes, what do we do when our emotions aren't what we want them to be? We can easily turn the state of our emotions into a balancing act, instead of something that we bring to God. When it comes down to it, it's about embracing both truth and love.

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Pre-Order Gretchen's book:

Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted

What does it mean to do everything for the glory of God? Oftentimes we take this verse out of context, and use it to pressure ourselves to be the best at something, or to dedicate our whole lives to something. This gets very difficult when we start talking about vocation, rest, or wrestling through failures.

Putting this verse in context, Gretchen and Katie talk about understanding our inheritance, and how once again, God gets all the glory.

Links mentioned:

Thinking Fellows episode

1517 Podcasts

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What do you do when you doubt? What happens when people or churches who have lead you to faith have betrayed you? What is deconstruction anyway?

In this episode, Gretchen and Katie talk about this buzz word "deconstruction" and the various definitions it has. They also talk about how our faith is constantly being "detangled" from ideals in this world, whether it be politics, faith in people or systems, which all disappoint.

They discuss how to minister to someone who is doubting, as well as speak comfort those who might be going through this.

This packed episode is a bit longer than usual, but worth the time.

Resources mentioned:

Christianity in America

Pre-order Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted

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The heaviness of being lonely and weary has fallen on the church collectively in the last year. But for many people, this isn't anything new. Many go through seasons, or even huge chunks of their lives living on the outskirts, and told to try harder.

Katie and Gretchen talk about bad church basement coffee, the strength that comes from being together, and ponder where we go from here.

Pre-order Gretchen's new book:

Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted

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