This cool breeze by the river bank.

A great blue heron feeding in the shallows.

The pilated woodpecker serenading the forest with its haunting song.

I think I need one hundred days like this!

 

Slowly, ever so slowly. Here. Now. This!

Bit by bit and little by little, I feel a twinge of what may be life.

A steady erosion has happened in me.

It’s taken time to do this damage.

It will take more time to regain what’s been lost.  

 

The locust have ravaged much I feel now.

Sad stories, and far too many of them, have layered my heart with deep grief.

I think I need one hundred days like this.

But today, I just may have felt my heart again.

 

As I let this breeze wash over me, is this a baptism of love?

And as silence does what only the deep quiet does,

I sit here and stay here for a while this beautiful morn.

Soaking. Marinating. Feasting . Healing.

Discernment is the process of gaining clarity on finding direction for the next step of our journey.   SHOW NOTES

Today’s podcast is part two of a discussion between Steve and Spiritual Director Martie McMane. Martie is a retired minister, artist, and spiritual director who used a collage process with Steve & Gwen to help them make some crucial life decisions during a period of repositioning. They continue the conversation today about how the collage process can work in each of our own lives

Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!

 

ABOUT MARTIE MCMANE

Rev. Martie McMane, MA, M.Div, is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and was the Senior Minister of First Congregational Church in Boulder from 2000-2016.  As a certified Enneagram teacher for 25 years, Martie has reached well over 1,000 people with her in-depth knowledge of the Enneagram and how its understanding can be transformative for our lives. In retirement, she enjoys creating pastels and mixed media, using it as a way to express the connection with the Divine as witnessed in nature and what it means to be human.

• Martie’s Website

 

Mentioned in the Podcast

• SoulCollage Evolving: An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery and Community by Seena B. Frost

• Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life by Henri Nouwen

• Merton’s Prayer: Finding God’s Will

This is the Soul Collage that Steve did in the retreat with Marty.

 

MUSIC USED IN PODCAST

• Music Break at 23:13 - A Gaelic Blessing: Meditation by John Rutter
• Music Break at 39:50 - There will be Rest by Frank Ticheli - performed by Kantorei

 

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you:

• Use our Donation Page on our Website

• Donate using our new App

• Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)

 

FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM

Facebook

• Soul Care Conversations Group Page

• Potter’s Inn Main FB Page

Instagram

CONTACT US

[email protected]

INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES?

Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Discernment is the process of gaining clarity on finding direction for the next step of our journey.   SHOW NOTES

Last year Steve and Gwen went through a period of repositioning: changes were on the horizon but any clarity about what to do next was clouded by the realization that they were not on the same page. They reached out to a trusted Spiritual Director for help and the result was what they called a “Discernment Retreat.”  They needed clarity. They needed discernment.

Today’s podcast is a discussion between Steve and the Spiritual Director they called on for help, Martie McMane. A retired minister, artist, and spiritual director, Martie used a collage process that helped Steve & Gwen in making those crucial, life decisions. Today they dive deep into the process.

Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!

 

ABOUT MARTIE MCMANE

Rev. Martie McMane, MA, M.Div, is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and was the Senior Minister of First Congregational Church in Boulder from 2000-2016.  As a certified Enneagram teacher for 25 years, Martie has reached well over 1,000 people with her in-depth knowledge of the Enneagram and how its understanding can be transformative for our lives. In retirement, she enjoys creating pastels and mixed media, using it as a way to express the connection with the Divine as witnessed in nature and what it means to be human.

• Martie’s Website

 

Mentioned in the Podcast

• SoulCollage Evolving: An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery and Community by Seena B. Frost

• Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life by Henri Nouwen

• Merton’s Prayer: Finding God’s Will

 

This is the Soul Collage that Steve did in the retreat with Marty.     MUSIC USED IN PODCAST

• Music Break at 33:22 & 36:32 - Waltz for the Broken Hearted Written and performed by Jeff Wahl.

   

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you:

• Use our Donation Page on our Website

• Donate using our new App

• Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)

 

FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM

Facebook

• Soul Care Conversations Group Page

• Potter’s Inn Main FB Page

Instagram

CONTACT US

[email protected]

INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES?

Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

I am simply humbled at this stage in my career, to have the privilege to tell Walter’s story and to help amplify his amazingly relevant voice. Getting to know Walter has been a healing and restorative experience for me as a former pastor and a professor deeply committed to social justice when so much of the church and society has forgotten what the biblical text says about God’s care for the marginalized. — Conrad L. Kanagy   SHOW NOTES

Steve’s chats with Conrad Kanagy, the author of coming soon book Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography. (releases Oct 24, 2023) Steve and Conrad focus on the book and how it reveals the most complete portrait to date of this remarkable prophet, pastor, preacher, teacher, and friend.

Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!

 

ABOUT CONRAD L. KANAGY

Conrad L. Kanagy is professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania. He holds an undergraduate degree from Wheaton College (Illinois) and a PhD from Penn State. He is the author of eight books and numerous scholarly articles. His primary area of expertise is American and global Christianity. He hosts the podcast A Church Dismantled--A Kingdom Restored.

• Books by Conrad

 

MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST

• Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography (Releases Oct 24, 2023)

• Conrad’s Podcast A Church Dismantled--A Kingdom Restored.

 

MUSIC USED IN PODCAST

• Music Break at 33:00 - The Feast of St Augustine

• Music Break at 47:28 - Kyrie Eleison with Audrey Snyder

   

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you:

• Use our Donation Page on our Website

• Donate using our new App

• Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)

 

FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM

Facebook

• Soul Care Conversations Group Page

• Potter’s Inn Main FB Page

Instagram

CONTACT US

[email protected]

INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES?

Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

I came to the conclusion that I could not stay in that role and be healthy. So I chose to be a healthy person over a megachurch pastor, and it was an incredibly hard choice. — Pete Briscoe   SHOW NOTES

In today’s conversation, Steve talks with Pete Briscoe about why Pete no longer calls himself an “evangelical.”

You’ll hear Pete’s story, filled with pain and struggles, as he discovers more beautiful ways to live the Christian life. While you may not agree with his path, we think there’s something here to learn in his story.

Thank you for joining us in today’s conversation!

 

ABOUT PETE BRISCOE

After leading Bent Tree Bible Fellowship church for nearly three decades and preaching for Telling the Truth ministry for more than a decade, God led Pete to a new season of life.

With his wife Libby, they sold their home, donated most of their stuff, and bought an RV. They drove west into the sunset, took a couple of months to catch their breath, and then started to work from the road.

Pete now coaches pastors and business owners/leaders in communications and self-care. He is also the host of the podcast Kindavangelical, a podcast for folks who have spent time in the evangelical culture but it isn’t working for them anymore.

Learn more about Pete on his website: www.petebriscoe.org

 

MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST

• Kindavangelical Podcast

• The Christian Journey

 

MUSIC USED IN PODCAST

• Music Break at 31:40 - Gratitude by Scott Lamlein.

• Music Break at 56:05 - Luminous Night of the Soul by Ola Gjeilo. Performed by Central Washington University Chamber Choir.

   

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you:

• Use our Donation Page on our Website

• Donate using our new App

• Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)

 

FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM

Facebook

• Soul Care Conversations Group Page

• Potter’s Inn Main FB Page

Instagram

CONTACT US

[email protected]

INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES?

Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

I have learned to prize holy ignorance more highly than religious certainty and to seek companions who have arrived at the same place. We are a motley crew, distinguished not only by our inability to explain ourselves to those who are more certain of their beliefs than we are but in many cases by our distance from the centers of our faith communities as well. Like campers who have bonded over cook fires far from home, we remain grateful for the provisions that we have brought with us from those cupboards, but we also find them more delicious when we share them with one another under the stars.  

—Barbara Brown Taylor

_____________________________________________________

“Bible-believing religious people often miss the gospel. Just because you believe in the Bible doesn't mean you understand it. Over and over the tax collectors, prostitutes, and the amoral come to Jesus, while the religious miss who he is.”

These are the words of well known and lived Tim Keller. Steve and Brandon Cook explore how our view and opinions about the Bible ought to grow and deepen as we grow and deepen!

About Brandon Cook

Brandon is a husband and father and passionate about family and relationships. He is also a writer, trainer, and business/personal coach. 

Originally from Alabama, he attended Wheaton College (IL) and studied in Jerusalem, Israel before graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University near Boston. He also received a Master’s degree in ancient Judaism from Oxford University in the UK.

After graduate school, he moved to Long Beach, California and had an incredibly rich and transformative experience for over 14 years working as a pastor, coach, and trainer. Brandon and his wife Rebecca have three amazing children and now live in Brevard, North Carolina. 

Brandon's Website

 

MUSIC

1. Native Tongue by David Wilcox (from Into the Mystery, 2003)
   • Lyrics
2. Ancient Words by Michael W. Smith (from Worship Again, 2002)
   • Lyrics

 

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Please consider a gift to support our ministry. We have a few ways to make it easy for you:

• Use our Donation Page on our Website

• Donate using our new App

• Send by mail (Potter’s Inn, PO Box 35, Divide, Colorado 80814 - make sure you make note that your gift is for the podcast)

 

FIND US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM

Facebook

• Soul Care Conversations Group Page

• Potter’s Inn Main FB Page

Instagram

CONTACT US

[email protected]

INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES?

Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats. 

Note From Steve: We are living in a day and age of distractions. We are bombarded with choices, options and desires. This podcast lays out the way to to cultivate peace and contentment. It's about practicing the daily Examen. This is an ancient practice developed by Ignatius of Loyola. He said this ONE spiritual practice would change your life for the good. It's true. My life has thoroughly changed by learning to incorporate this one spiritual practice. It's my final recommendation for the summer.

 

SHOW NOTES

The art of reflecting on our day is almost a lost art in our busy and over-committed life. However, in this week’s podcast, Steve explores an ancient spiritual exercise called The Daily Examen. In this podcast, Steve walks us through five easy steps used to reflect back upon our day, to see where God was in our midst that we might have missed because of our busyness, and to foster a heart of gratitude.

 

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST

• Five Steps to the Daily Examen

• Moment to Breathe: Matthew 11: 28-30 (MSG)

 

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

We have two ways to make it easy for you:

• Use our Donation Page on our Website

• Donate using our new App

   

CONTACT US

[email protected]

INTERESTED IN MORE SOUL CARE RESOURCES?

Check out our recommended reading, books on spiritual growth, and our soul care blog. Want to experience soul care in person? Learn more about our soul care intensives and retreats.