I'm delighted to welcome back author Shawn Smucker to the podcast today. Shawn has written and published several books, and his latest novel 'Light from Distant Stars' has just been released. 

Today we discuss the novel, the message of the book and the creative process of writing a novel. We also explore the challenges and the experience of writing a novel, as opposed to a non-fiction book, how our creativity and stories we tell there often reflect parts of our own journey, and how the process of writing and creating can change us. 

Shawn always speaks with such incredible wisdom and experience on writing and the creative process, and there's lessons here for all of us involved in the act of creating art.

'Lights From Distant Stars' is available now wherever books are sold.

I'm delighted to welcome back my beloved friend Brandan Robertson this week. Brandan is a pastor, author and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in culture and spiritual communities, and today we talk about his most recent book,  'The Gospel Of Inclusion'. 

We discuss his examination and interpretation of Biblical passages often used to condemn homosexuality, and how these have been misunderstood and taken out of context - and what their original meaning probably was. We also explore how we can build more inclusive spiritual communities, what true inclusion really means, and why it's at the heart of the message of Jesus. 

Brandan has so much wisdom and insight, and is doing such great work. His book, 'The Gospel Of Inclusion' is available now!

My friend Felicity Morse returns to the show today. She's an author, life coach and former journalist. Today she shares a bit of her own story, and how she found freedom and a healthier life more in tune with who she really was.

She talks about some of the common issues she encounters in life coaching and how we can overcome them - issues of fear, shame, identity, relationships and vocation, and shares some experiences, practices and lessons she's learned about how we can engage with these issues in a healthy way, and have better mental and emotional health. 

Felicity has great insight, wisdom and compassion, and is such fun to talk to, I know you're gonna love this episode. 

Today my friend Sarah Heath returns to the show, in an episode recorded live in her home. In this episode we talk about what it means to live a truly authentic life, and how that impacts our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with God.

Sarah shares some lessons and challenges she's explored which have helped her connect better with her trueset self, and live a life more true to who she is. These included giving up social media for a full week (or more), looking at yourself in the mirror and loving who you are, practicing mindfulness and reminding yourself of those who love you, who you know you can trust and will be there when you need them.

Sarah shares how these challenges impacted he and what he life looks like having explored these challenges. And finds she is living a more honest life, more herself than ever before. And she believes these challenges can do the same for all of us.

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You can explore more of these in Sarah's latest book - 'The Authenticity Challenge: 21 Days To A More Content Life', available wherever books are sold.

Author Alia Joy joins me on the podcast today, to share her powerful story. It's a story of grief, loss, illness, mental health and weakness - but also a story of love, joy and transformation.

It's a story of how things don't always work out how we want, they don't always end well, and life isn't always easy - but of how these experiences and stories don't take us away from the divine, but actually draw us closer. 

Alia shares her story with great courage and honesty, and it's truly inspirational. It's a story of glorious weakness. 

Today I'm joined by Maria Francesca French, teacher of things Christian and post Christian and faith futurist. Maria is director of Hatchery LA and runs the No More Circles project. 

In this episode we explore how what spiritual community looks like needs to change and evolve in the 21st century, the problems with the very concept of belief, as well as the issue of fundamentalism in both conservative and progressive Christianity. We discuss how we can find healthy spiritual community and how we need to not just change the how of belief, but ditch the idea of belief itself, and adopt what Maria calls a 'transcendent' approach. 

Maria has so much wisdom, insight, knowledge and personal experience of these topics, and hers is a voice worth paying attention to. Take a listen!

Today I'm joined by author and pastor Marc Alan Schelske, to discuss the purpose and and power of our emotions. 

We discuss how emotions are a God given gift, a source of wisdom and guidance - not something to be avoided. We explore examples of Jesus demonstrating emotions, both positive and negative, and what they can teach us about leaning into our emotions.

We also explore what recent research into our how brains work tells us about our emotions, and their purpose and meaning.

And finally we examine how we can pay more attention to our emotions, our behaviour and our bodies to understand what's really going in inside of us, and take practical action. 

Becky Castle Miller returns to the show today, and we discuss, in essence, the basic humanity of Jesus. We explore the journey of Jesus through the lens of his own emotional and mental health. 

Becky and I explore several stories of Jesus where he experiences grief, loss, trauma, doubt and fear. The loss of Lazarus, the loss of his earthly father, the social stigma he likely faced growing up, even from members of his own family - and how this impacted Jesus. We look at the human side of familiar stories, and find that as we do, it completely switches them on their head and brings them alive.

As Becky and I explore discuss the human Jesus, we find that it's his essential humanity which makes him divine.

Last weekend author, speaker, advocate, and prophet Rachel Held Evans, passed away. Rachel's life had an immense impact on so many lives, in so many ways, and her passing has left a hole in so many of our lives. 

Today, Becky Castle Miller, whose own journey into writing and pastoral ministry was directly down to Rachel, and who became one of my friends indirectly because of Rachel, joins me on the show. We each reflect on our own memories of Rachel, how she impacted our journey, and consider her wider impact on the world and her legacy.

We also explore the process of grieving, the hopeful and encouraging messages which have come in this process, how we can grieve in a healthy way - and we end on sharing our own #becauseofRHE stories - talking about how Rachel's life and legacy will impact our own lives and work going forward. 

This episode is intended as a tribute, to honour Rachel's life and work, to celebrate her accomplishments, and reflect on what we can learn from her tragically short life, as we go forward with our own, and move through grief.

Today I'm joined by pastor and author Charles Stone, and we discuss the practice of mindfulness, from both a neurological and a spiritual perspective - a practice Charles calls 'Holy Noticing'. 

Charles shares his own story into exploring the neuroscience of mindfulness and it's benefits both to our daily lives and our spiritual journey, and how the practice of 'Holy noticing' can make us more compassionate, Jesus-like people, as well as aid our physical and mental health.

Finally, he shares with us an example of his 'Breathe' technique for more helpful mindfulness meditation, and what the real practical and spiritual benefits of 'Holy Noticing' can be.