In the first episode of Poema for 2019, regular guest, author, speaker and podcaster Mike McHargue - AKA Science Mike - returns to the show. In this episode he shares in more detail the story behind is recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He shares the challenges he faces, and how it's impacted his coming to terms with major trauma.

We also talk about the difficulty and importance of getting a diagnosis, and the importance of ending stigma in both the church and wider culture about both ASD and mental illness. 

Mike then answers several listener questions, including: 

- What is the cultural difference between a geek and a nerd?

- Do his faith and scientific/rational thinking always compliment each other, and when do they come into conflict?

- How he would change his life if he was a woman?

- How do you truly love yourself?

And much more! 

Today I welcome Nora Speakman to the show. Nora hosts the 'Liminality Life' podcast on the spiritual journey, living in the liminal space, and growing and discovering more about yourself and the divine.

Nora shares her story and the spiritual and creative journey which led to her beginning the podcast, and the lessons she's been learning. We talk about mystery, doubt, deconstruction, and non-dualistic spirituality.

We explore how our path and fight for what has always been ours, the purpose of our spiritual journeys, is not simply to impact our own lives - but are for the countless lives around us and those who will come after us. We discover the deeper truth that our spiritual journeys are both a gift and a mission. 

This week my beloved friend Abi Lloyd joins me on the show. Today we discuss what it means to be successful, what our measures for success are, and how those measures of success can impact our lives. 

Abi and I discuss healthy and unhealthy metrics for success we see in our culture and how they manifest themselves in our lives - how we can tie our value to our "success" and so if and when we have failures, those failures can be deeper and more damaging. We talk about how a healthy view of success shouldn't be dependent on our circumstances, but instead be about our personal growth and development.

Abi shares what success means for her in her life right now, and how our measures of success can change - with her ultimate philosophy of discovering joy in her every day. 

Whatever field you work in, I hope this conversation can really help you find healthier measure for success.

Chris Morris returns to the show today to talk about the new book, "Whispers In The Pews: Voices on Mental Illness In The Church", a collection of true stories from 18 Christians with mental illness, sharing their experiences of mental illness in the church, which he compiled and edited. 

Chris and I talk about his own experiences of mental illness and good and bad experiences of this within the church. We discuss what the church has done badly with mental illness, and how it can do better. Chris also shares how all of us - even those with mental illness - always have more to learn about mental illness, and the importance of hearing and validating each others stories, and ending stigma, especially within the church. 

Chris has so much wisdom and experience surrounding both mental illness, chronic illness and faith, and this was a really inspiring conversation. 

You can get "Whispers In The Pews" (which includes a contribution by yours truly) on Amazon now. 

Musician Mr Ekow, is my guest today. We hear his story, including the challenges of being an LGBT Christian, coming out to non-affirming Christians and his pastor, and how this impacted his relationships and own creative journey as a musician. He talks about being stuck in no mans land - wanting to be faithful to God, but also wanting to be true to his own identity. 

Mr Ekow shows how he has faced both racial and LGBT prejudice and how this had an impact on his emotional and mental health. He then talks about the freedom he has found since coming out and how his story has impacted his music.

His story is one of struggle, courage, creativity and freedom. It's a story of hope, and the power of owning your story and the freedom which comes from being true to who you really are. 

Father Nadim Nassar, the Church of England’s only Syrian priest, and an outspoken advocate for western Christians to recognise their Middle-Eastern heritage, is my guest today

Father Nadim shares his own journey, and then he and I discuss his first book, 'The Culture of God', and explore how there are three cultures Christians need to understand when they read the Bible: the culture of the Bible itself, their own culture, and finally ‘the culture of God’.

In our conversation, we see that ultimately it was Jesus who had direct access to the culture of God; and so we need to begin by understanding Jesus in his own first-century Middle Eastern culture - which, although he was a Jew, was under the rule of Syria. We unpack a few examples from Jesus life, where an understanding of his own culture opens up an entirely different meaning to familiar gospel stories.

Talking to Father Nadim was an enlightening experience for me, and I know he will really inspire, challenge and encourage you as he has me, and many others. 

Pastor, author & activist Brandan Robertson returns to the podcast today, to talk about his new book 'True Inclusion', and what it means - and doesn't mean - to be a truly inclusive church. 

Brandan shares from his own experience of pastoring a church, the lessons he has learned about what it means to make a church truly inclusive, both of the LGBTQ community, and those at different stages of their spiritual or even theological journey. He shares the changes he believes the church may have change as more and more people embrace the spiritual deconstruction and reconstruction journey so many are on right now - even so far as changing how we do church, and what the role of church is. 

Brandan then discusses with me how churches need to become more prophetic, the challenges which lie ahead. To conclude, he shares his hopes for the church, and how he envisions we can have healthy spiritual community for all, whoever they are, wherever they are in their spiritual journey.