Open Doors: Conversations with Heart of the Father

We're excited about today's podcast with Rachel and Fr. Steven Borello, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Joliet, IL, host of the Rooted in the Really Real podcast, and all-around amazing priest. 

"I found that the keys have been a gift to be able to use and walk with, even in my own story... I began in 2015 with (Unbound) training, and then little by little using it and practicing it, to where it's become not only an ordinary part of my own daily life, but also an ordinary part of my spiritual direction, and at times confession and other (priestly) things for the people that I'm with.

It's been a great joy for me to see people get set free!"

Don't miss Fr. Steven and Rachel Lozano and they take a deep look at the human heart and the power the gospel brings to set hearts free in Christ!

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Release: March 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

Most of us know the importance of forgiveness,  for peace of mind, for an improved sense of self, and even for physical health.

As Christians, we know that we are called to forgive, as God has forgiven us through His Son Jesus.

But why is it so hard to forgive?

Often people want to forgive or know they should forgive but end up failing to forgive from the heart.

What are those things that keep you from doing the very thing you really want to do?

Join Neal, Janet, and Jacqueline as they touch on some of the major obstacles to forgiveness.

For many people, this message of the power of forgiveness has been life-changing.  Listen and share it with a friend!

Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one is deprived of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness may spring up and cause trouble, resulting in the defilement of many.

Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Luke 6:27
But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you...

Watch The Power of Forgiveness from the Freedom in Christ series
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Release: March 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

What exactly is forgiveness?

Why is it even important?

Where does it come from?

How can we truly forgive if someone has really wronged us?

Why does it matter that we forgive from the heart?

If I forgive someone, do I have to be reconciled to them?

Join Matt and Jenn (married couple and parents of FIVE great kids) as they talk about forgiveness. Hear about the great mercy and love that the Father displayed when He sent His Son Jesus to pour out His life for us to extend God's mercy towards us, even when we were still sinners.

Join these two as they speak of softened hearts and available grace that's so present for us to forgive, even when it's really, really hard!

Watch The Power of Forgiveness from the Freedom in Christ series
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Release: March 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

Have you ever experienced something that was so amazing that you just found yourself repeating a word over and over, as this something was so astounding, so beautiful, so overwhelming that you simply couldn’t really find the words to describe it?

When we're faced with the holiness of God, it's truly indescribable.

So how do we describe it? 

How do we approach this HOLY God? 

How could we ever even attempt to be holy ourselves?

The centerpiece of holiness is that we make ourselves available to God and we contemplate Him, as seeing Him transforms us into His own.

Matt’s talk today teaches us that seeing God as He is knowing Him as He is, and as we KNOW Him, He is going to transform us.

Join us. Let God transform you. 

Let’s be all be more available to God and grow in holiness this Lent.

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Release: March 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

Don't miss Rachel Lozano and Gosia Wójcik as Gosia shares an incredible testimony about how the Lord called her to forgive, even in a most difficult circumstance. 

" Just saying, 'Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they're doing.' It was a real choice for me because I felt completely justified in saying they should be punished for this. Yet I knew I had to choose this. I knew I wanted to choose this, to forgive them. When I did, everything changed completely."

Gosia and her husband, Robert, married for 25 years, have five beautiful daughters. They lead worship in their faith community and were founding members of the now 22 Houses of Mercy in Poland. Gosia has been Neal and Janet’s translator and friend since 1996. She personally took the initiative to translate UNBOUND and through much prayer and perseverance found a publisher. This book has now sold more than 40,000 copies in Poland. Amazing!

You will be blessed by this conversation!

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Release: February 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

In today's episode, Matt and Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB will be discussing Unbound Ministry and the Sacrament of Confession. How do these two powerful ministries fit together? This episode will be of great interest to Catholic priests, or any Catholic, and really anyone at all who's interested in conversion.

Fr. Boniface Hicks is a Benedictine monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey and a Catholic priest. He's also the Director of Spiritual Formation and leads the Institute of Spiritual Formation at St. Vincent Seminary. He's co-authored two books, Spiritual Direction: A Guide for Sharing the Father's Love and Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Father's Love.

A tremendous brother in Christ, he's a student of the human heart. He is both fascinated and drawn to the ways in which God's presence brings us healing in our hearts. 

A glimpse at some of his wisdom from this powerful interview:

When we recognize the infinite dignity and the mystery of the person, when we make room in our own hearts and allow ourselves to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice, as Saint Paul says, when I make room in my heart to be moved- then when I find ways to express that ... just these little expressions of our presence to the person really helps them to receive... all of that provides the kind of framework in which a lot of healing can take place.

(Unbound Ministry) is such a beautiful opportunity to reverence the person, to hold them in their vulnerability, and hold them as the Father does, and then help them to see this is how they are eternally loved. This is the eternal love from which they were made.

Find more about Fr Boniface at http://www.fatherboniface.org/wordpresshome/

Enjoy his talk on Listening given at Sacred Heart Seminary for a general audience in 2019.

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Release: February 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

Are you excited today?  Well, we are. Today  Matt and Jenn are going to continue with the theme for the month: repentance.

Learn how repentance is a gift as Matt and Jenn share personal stories of their lifelong processes of going deeper with repentance and faith as well as highlight an incredibly insightful reflection and the connection between grief and repentance through Neal's TIp #6 on Repentance and Faith in his Ministry Tips series (found on Youtube or our blog).

Matt: " So I was thinking about my conversion. And so, you know, the story, honey.  I was at a swimming pool before my senior year in high school. I was talking to a friend who knew the Lord, and I just made that decision in that moment that I wanted to surrender. So I asked her to lead me in a prayer to surrender and give my life to the Lord.

I don't remember what she led me to pray, but I can tell you what was in my heart. What I was thinking as I was praying was, ' God, I don't know if you're real. I don't know if this is going to have any impact on my life. I don't really know anything except that I see your love in my friends who are following you. It gives me hope that it could happen for me, too.'

So I wanted something that they had, and I was willing to take the faith that I did have and give it to the Lord. As I prayed that prayer of surrender, I had all those doubts and unbelief, and yet by the end of the prayer, it was like, 'I truly believe, and I'm convinced in God's love and that He's real. '

It really made me think that we surrender with what we have. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be this extravagant fat faith, but if we give Him the incomplete faith that we have, it actually multiplies it. I think of that father of the demon possessed boy and how,  at first he's saying,  'Jesus, if you can do anything, heal my son',  and Jesus kind of confronts him about his lack of faith.

So the father cries out, 'Lord, I do believe; help my unbelief.'  So just in the awareness of his need and his lack, he brought what he had to Jesus and it was enough. The boy was healed!  So repentance is not about a perfect performance or running from our doubts or our fears. Rather it is taking what's there, taking responsibility for our lives in the moment, and wanting to come to Jesus and ask Him for more.

And when we do that, He brings His kingdom and the results can be real transformation."

Repentance is a GIFT! Join us for this and so much more in this episode.

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Release: February 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

Invitations are great, whether an invitation to dinner,  a birthday party,  or even a wedding. But did you know that God is always inviting us to go deeper, to know His love more fully, to enjoy a richer feast with Him? He longs to bless us beyond our expectations!

In Mark 1:15, when Jesus leaves the desert, he begins His public ministry with this proclamation, "The time has come. The kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe the Good News!"

What do you think about when you think about repentance? What did Jesus want us to know when He said, "repent and believe the Good News? "

When Jesus said those words,  He tied together repentance and faith as one act of conversion. Repentance is a change of mind that is not focused on going back, but it's focused on going forward.

Jesus was presenting the Good News of the Kingdom.  Jesus is offering us this opportunity, this invitation,  to change our minds based on the reality of the Kingdom of God.

But what if we've already the Lord? What if we've already "believed the Good News?"

Did you know Jesus is always calling us to a deeper conversion, an interior repentance, and a continual returning to Him where he takes our pain and sorrow and the hardness of our hearts and gives us NEW HEARTS!

Come take a fresh look at repentance & faith with us and encounter Jesus in a new way today. Do you hear His voice calling you?

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Release: February 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

Meet Miriam Wright. You will never forget her!

If you have ever doubted the power of the gospel, listen to this podcast.

If you have ever felt that Jesus came to save sinners, but you are not blind, lame, or broken, listen to this podcast.

Listen to this podcast. Jesus has something just for you today!

"Because I found for me, Unbound was the way to access the power of the gospel in a way that I had just not understood was possible. What I came to realize was that the gospel isn't just news good news in the sense of, 'Oh, that's nice information like, oh, it's going to be a sunny day.'  It was good news in a way that transforms.

I had no idea what the Lord had in store for me. I think we often make the mistake that we think in particular in the west that our self-sufficiency is enough and that we don't need the more that the Lord has for us. So we miss the opportunities. We miss the opportunities, and it was really Unbound that for me, for the first time, opened my understanding. "

Then stay tuned for an incredibly powerful moment of healing for Miriam.

God longs to heal all of our hearts.

Allow Him to touch yours today!

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Release: January 2022
Music by Christian Harper.
Artwork by Rosemary Strohm at Command-S.

Join Neal and Jacqueline as they welcome Donna Drennen, LCSW  and mother of six who runs a busy private practice in Philadelphia. Listen as she shares her experience of how Unbound and therapeutic counseling often go hand in hand. 

"The more I continue to explore therapy and practices, it's more and more clear to me how psychologically sound the Five Keys are. They fit well into therapy in terms of listening and really hearing and honoring a person's dignity and their story.

The power of forgiveness is so essential and is being talked about more and more in therapeutic settings.  'Negative thought patterns' might be the way we as therapists would refer to lies and making vows.  Then identity issues, which are so central, again as I shared, if I saw myself as an orphan-that was going to affect my entire perception of myself, my relationships... if you're believing something about yourself that's so wrong and untrue, it's obviously going to affect your whole life."

Be blessed as you hear personal and clinical testimonies of God's incredible healing power- you won't want to miss this episode!