Restless Hearts

If you have ever said: "I know God loves me, but...", this episode is for you. In this episode, we talk about how we can actually live out of God’s love and grace. We share the ways we feel like God’s love is contingent upon other people and circumstances and it does get a little vulnerable. We hope this episode is helpful for you.

A lot of us wonder if it is even possible to have deep friendships with people that we disagree with on central, important, high-stakes issues. How do you have dialogue with those you love who have changed over time, or when you’ve changed and you no longer feel aligned with what the other person believes? And is it even worth it? We hope this episode is helpful for you as you navigate relationships in a highly polarized cultural climate.

Do you ever wonder where God is when disasters happen? Did God cause the pandemic as a punishment for evil in the world? In this episode, we explore the difference between human evil and natural evil, whether God intervenes when we pray, and how to find rest in the face of inevitable suffering.

Influential Christians have undoubtedly had some pretty public moral failings and it can be extremely restless because it brings up questions and doubts about our own faith. In this episode, we talk through questions like "What even is a pastor?" and "Are pastors allowed to make mistakes?". We hope it is helpful, especially if you find yourself navigating the pain of church wounds or being hurt by someone in a position of spiritual leadership.

In this episode, the team talks about unhealthy thought patterns and what it looks like to discipline your mind to find freedom from the ways we hold ourselves back and keep ourselves stuck in painful stories and untrue narratives about ourselves and others. We hope this episode is helpful for you.

In this episode, the team talks about the big H-E-double hockey sticks. Amongst others, we answer the question: “How can a good God send people to a place of torture?” and we walk through some new ways of thinking about what hell is. We hope this episode is interesting, helpful, and provides some new ways to find rest in an age old restless topic.

The existential question we have all asked at some point: What really happens after I die? The team dives headfirst into talking about death, the afterlife, and heaven and explore what Jesus reveals to us about these things. Disclaimer... we don't quite tackle the big idea of hell, but we are saving that for the next episode.

We are bombarded with many different opinions about what gender roles are supposed to look like in marriage and in church. The team shares their heart and a glimpse at how they interpret Scripture around gender roles, at least as much as they can in one episode...

One theme that has run through this season of Restless Hearts is finding resources to help us process the seemingly endless barrage of "stuff" that can happen in our world more broadly and in our particular lives. So... Garret called up a few old friends of his to have a conversation about how art and music open up space to process everything life can throw at you. Today he talks with Latifah Alattas (Page CXVI, Moda Spira, Porters Gate, Common Hymnal) and David Wilton (Loud Harp, A Boy and His Kite) as they encourage us to create practices and spaces that allow our emotions to catch up with our reality, intentionally fail in the security of a loving friendship, and make space for the Holy Spirit to help metabolize grief.

People are experiencing a tension of being all-in on the vision of Jesus, but having reservations about the Church. In this episode, the team addresses this head on by talking through questions like what the church is, the purpose of the church and how we can be a part of an institution that is harmful to marginalized groups.