The Being Formed Podcast

Do you ever reach the end of a day and measure your worth by what you accomplished? Even when we believe in grace, we often find ourselves working hard to earn the acceptance God has already offered us in Christ.

In this episode of The Being Formed Podcast, Adam Ormord explores the cycle of grace: acceptance, sustenance, significance, and fruitfulness. Drawing on the work of Trevor Hudson and Jerry Haas, he considers how this pattern illuminates Jesus’ life and offers a way to recognize the cycle of works we so easily return to.

What might change if we lived within the healthy rhythms of inflow and outflow of grace, rather than living from a place of proving and earning and grasping for our sense of belonging?

Recorded in Málaga, Spain, this episode also includes reflections on his recent Camino Portugués pilgrimage and two upcoming opportunities to journey with LifePoint Resources.

In this episode:

A question to return to again and again:

What freedom is God cultivating in me for the sake of love?

LifePoint Resources is planning a group pilgrimage in June 2027. Following his recent seven-day walk from Valença, Portugal, into Santiago, Adam shares an invitation to express interest in joining this future journey.

To connect with Adam about the pilgrimage, visit LifePoint Resources and use the website’s contact information.

The Sacred Way Community: An 18-Month Journey of Relational Spiritual Formation begins in September 2027. Through retreats, shared practices, and relationships, participants will explore a sustainable life with God that shapes how they love and serve others.

The first cohort will welcome 20 participants. Visit the webpage to complete an interest form or apply when applications open.

Explore The Sacred Way Community

Explore spiritual direction, formational mentoring, retreats, and other opportunities for soul care at lifepointresources.org.

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What does it look like to remain deeply committed to Jesus when so much of what we see in contemporary Christianity leaves us disillusioned?

In this episode of The Being Formed Podcast, Adam Ormord welcomes pastor, author, and worship leader Aaron Niequist for an honest conversation about faith, disappointment, deconstruction, and the enduring beauty of the Way of Jesus.

Aaron shares his journey from leading worship in large churches to helping create spaces for contemplative prayer, spiritual formation, and authentic community. Together, Adam and Aaron explore the tension between seeing the problems within the Church with fearless clarity and refusing to surrender to cynicism or give up on Jesus.

They also discuss Aaron's work with Pastors, Priests, and Guides, a growing community offering retreats and ongoing opportunities for rest, healing, solidarity, and re-imagination for ministry leaders.

Throughout the conversation, Aaron returns to what he calls "the peacemaking, neighbor-serving, enemy-loving way of Jesus," a way of life that remains as compelling and necessary as ever.

This conversation is an invitation to move beyond simply believing things about Jesus toward actually following him, together, for the sake of the world.

Finding hope amid disillusionment with the Church

The difference between the gospel about Jesus and the gospel of Jesus

Deconstruction and what comes next

Rediscovering the Beatitudes as a way of life

Why pastors and ministry leaders need rest, healing, and meaningful community

The vision behind Pastors, Priests, and Guides and its Between Retreats community

Pastors, Priests, and Guides

Between Retreats — Substack

Aaron Niequist

The Sacred Way Community — LifePoint Resources

An 18-month journey of relational spiritual formation beginning September 2027. Learn more and complete an interest form:

https://www.lifepointresources.org/sacred-way-community

LifePoint Resources

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What does it mean to become a person of love in a culture that rewards appearance and performance?

In this episode, Adam talks with pastor, therapist, professor, and author Chuck DeGroat about his forthcoming book, Who You’re Becoming: The Slow and Courageous Work of Cultivating Character in a Narcissistic Age. Chuck begins by sharing honestly about a season of pruning and questions in his own life. Together, they explore the pressure to appear formed, the ache beneath our search for attention, and the difference between being seen by an audience and being known by people who love us.

Their conversation turns toward the slow, relational work of character formation. With so much language and content about spiritual growth available to us, Chuck offers a question to consider in this episode: Are we becoming more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and kind?

Links mentioned:

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What do you imagine God feels when you come to mind?

Many of us believe that God loves us, yet our hearts live from the assumption that he is disappointed in us. We trust that we have been forgiven while continuing to perform for God’s approval. We know that God welcomes us, but struggle to imagine that he genuinely enjoys our company.

In this episode, Adam welcomes back Brian Fisher, founder of Soil & Roots, host of the Soil & Roots Podcast, and author of Soil & Roots: Cultivating Deep Discipleship.

Together, they explore the difference between the beliefs we affirm with our minds and the deeper ideas from which our hearts actually live. Brian introduces “Heartview,” a practice of noticing how our thoughts, emotions, words, behaviors, relationships, health, time, and money reveal what we truly believe about God, ourselves, and the world.

Brian also shares what Soil & Roots learned from its recent spiritual formation survey, including the widespread desire to hear from God more clearly, become more loving, and experience a more secure attachment to God. The conversation then turns toward Greenhouses, two-year guided communities designed to accompany people through the inward journey with Jesus and trusted friends.

This is an honest conversation about suffering, transformation, spiritual community, and learning to recognize God’s delight in the ordinary experiences of our lives.

In this conversation:

About Brian Fisher

Brian Fisher is the founder of Soil & Roots, host of the Soil & Roots Podcast, and author of Soil & Roots: Cultivating Deep Discipleship. His work helps Christians explore the hidden ideas, desires, wounds, and stories that shape their hearts so they can become more like Jesus from the inside out.

Learn more:

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

Originally released on September 4, 2024, as “Deep Listening Might Save Us,” this conversation returns to The Being Formed Podcast exactly two years later. Once again, on Adam’s birthday.

Coincidence? We don't think so...

Bringing this episode out of the archives feels like a birthday gift because its message reflects the heart of LifePoint Resources: every soul deserves to be heard.

Stephen W. Smith has been a friend and mentor to Adam Ormord as he has found his way more deeply into spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and the care of the soul. In this powerful conversation, Steve and Adam explore our fundamental need to be heard and the healing that can happen when another person offers us their attentive presence.

Deep listening is more than a communication skill. It is a way of loving. When we listen without rushing to fix, advise, interrupt, or prepare our response, we create space for another person to feel seen, known, and received.

The conversation was inspired by Steve’s article, “Deep Listening Might Save Us,” published in July 2024. Steve later returned for Episode 41 to discuss his book of poetry, Greening: Poems in the Unfolding of Our Lives. Including this "remixed" episode, Steve has now appeared on The Being Formed Podcast more often than any other guest.

Near the end of the conversation, Steve invites listeners to create an acrostic using the word LISTEN. Allow each letter to represent a posture or skill that helps you become more present to another person.

Consider:

Read “Deep Listening Might Save Us” by Stephen W. Smith

Listen to Episode 41: “Greening (with Stephen W. Smith)”

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What happens when the ministry you have poured your life into is suddenly no longer yours?

After more than three decades of ministry together, Mike and Lori McDaniel found themselves facing an unexpected and painful ending. What followed was a season of grief, disorientation, and the difficult work of discovering who they were apart from the roles and ministry that had shaped so much of their lives.

In this episode of The Being Formed Podcast, Adam Ormord (host) invites Mike and Lori into a heartfelt conversation about the subtle ways identity can become entangled with what we do for God, learning the language of grief and lament, slowing down enough to pay attention to our souls, and redefining what success looks like when much of what once made it visible has been stripped away.

At the heart of Mike and Lori's journey is what they now call The Great Invitation, the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11 to come to him, learn from him, and discover a sustainable way of life with God. Before the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, perhaps we first need to hear again the Great Invitation: Come to me.

Mike and Lori are co-founders and Directors of The Great Invitation, a ministry providing soul care to pastors, church leaders, and missionaries through retreats, individual coaching and spiritual direction, and onsite coaching for ministry teams. They have spent 36 years in ministry together, leading in pastoral ministry, church planting, soul care, and spiritual direction. They founded Grace Point Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2001, where Mike served as Lead Pastor for 23 years while Lori built and led ministries in children's, missions, and women's ministry. They have also lived overseas as missionaries, training leaders and planting churches. Their shared love for the nations has taken them to over 30 countries, strengthening indigenous leaders and cross-cultural workers.

Mike is first and foremost a pastor at heart, having shepherded congregations for over two decades and mentored other pastors and church leaders along the way. He holds his Doctorate in Ministry from Dallas Theological Seminary and is a certified Spiritual Director through Denver Seminary. He is also an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and completed the Flourishing in Ministry Life Coach certification at BIOLA University. He is the author of The Resurgent Church.

Lori is an experienced ministry leader, author, mentor, and Bible teacher who speaks at conferences globally. Lori holds a BS in education and psychology, an MA in theology and intercultural studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care at Talbot School of Theology (BIOLA University). She completed the Flourishing in Ministry certification at BIOLA and is completing both her International Coaching Federation credentials and Narrative-Focused Trauma training at the Allender Center (Seattle School of Psychology and Theology). She is the author of The Mission of God and You.

Mike and Lori were high school sweethearts and have been married for 35 years. They have three married adult children and seven grandchildren.

To learn more about Mike and Lori and their soul care ministry, visit https://greatinvitation.org.

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What if the greatest obstacle to the life God is inviting you into isn't a lack of ability, but the stories you've come to believe about yourself?

In this episode of The Being Formed Podcast, Adam sits down with transformational coach, author, and founder of We Train Coaches, Jeff Caliguire. In 2021, Adam entered Jeff's coach training program with a dream that had been sitting on the back burner for years. During that season, God rekindled the vision that would eventually become LifePoint Resources.

Rather than focusing on strategies for success, this conversation dives beneath the surface, to the places where limiting beliefs, fear, and transition often keep us from becoming who God created us to be. Together, Adam and Jeff explore why transformation is always relational, why listening for God's voice matters more than simply changing behaviors, and how coaching, spiritual direction, and authentic community can help us recover the dreams we've stopped believing are possible.

Whether you're standing at the beginning of a new chapter, wrestling through a season of transition, or wondering what God may still have for you, this conversation offers both hope and an invitation to take the next step.

"The transition is often harder than the change."

"A great coach doesn't allow you to stay where you are."

"When we're connected to the Vine, transformation becomes possible."

"Young men see visions. Old men dream dreams."

"What's the downside of not taking the next step?"

As you finish listening, consider taking these two questions into prayer:

In Part Two of this special dual-release conversation, Adam Ormord continues his dialogue with Jessica Vangsnes, host of the Transforming Us Podcast.

While Part One explored some of Adam's story, this episode turns toward Jessica and her journey of ever-increasing friendship with Jesus. Together, Adam and Jessica explore how attachment, friendship, and the healing presence of Christ have shaped her own process of becoming.

Throughout the conversation, they reflect on what it means to move beyond performance and self-protection into deeper trust, greater relational wholeness, and the freedom of walking with Jesus as a faithful Friend. They also discuss the importance of spiritual companionship, the gift of being known, and why transformation is rarely a solo endeavor.

The episode concludes with an Ignatian-inspired prayer practice and a conversation about LifePoint Resources' upcoming Sacred Way Community—a journey of relational spiritual formation designed for those longing to grow in community with fellow pilgrims.

In this episode:

Connect with Jessica Vangsnes and Transforming Us

Learn more about LifePoint Resources and the Sacred Way Community

If these conversations have encouraged you, consider sharing both episodes with someone who longs for a deeper, more relational journey with Christ.

Thank you for listening to The Being Formed Podcast. Wherever you find yourself on the path today, may you discover that Jesus is already walking beside you, and that His invitation is not simply to arrive somewhere, but to be formed into a person of love.

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

In this special dual-release episode, The Being Formed Podcast welcomes Jessica Vangsnes, host of the Transforming Us podcast, for the first of a two-part conversation exploring pilgrimage, attachment, and the slow work of spiritual formation.

Jessica is a certified trauma-informed relationship coach, group facilitator, and the visionary behind Transforming Us. Integrating a rich background in ministry, soul care, Gottman 7 principles facilitation, and the Enneagram in relationships, Jess guides individuals and couples away from internal division and toward sacred wholeness with Christ.

Her work is forged in the fire of her own need for wholeness. For 18 years, she and her husband, Travis, have navigated the beautiful, complex terrain of marriage, foster care, adoption, and caregiving. It was through her own profound seasons of pain and personal healing that Jess discovered her calling: helping others tend to the shadowy places of their souls.

Today, Jess lives in South Carolina with Travis and their five children, ages 7 to 20. Jess views every person as a unique reflection of God’s image. Believing that true healing is a collaborative process with Jesus, she helps people unearth subconscious patterns and name attachment wounds, bridging practical psychological tools with spiritual formation.

Part One of our two-part conversation focuses a bit more on Adam's story - from discovering spiritual direction and walking the Camino de Santiago to the lessons learned about trust, embodiment, and the transforming love of God. Along the way, Adam and Jessica explore how the Enneagram, attachment theory, and the ministry of presence can help us move from striving to abiding, from performing for God to walking with Him as a beloved friend.

In this episode:

Part Two continues the conversation by exploring more of Jessica's story, her journey into attachment work and relational transformation, and the ways God has shaped her through coaching and the Enneagram.

Connect with Jessica Vangsnes and Transforming Us:

If this conversation encourages you, consider subscribing to The Being Formed Podcast, leaving a review, and sharing the episode with someone who could use a fellow pilgrim on the journey.

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

Adam Ormord (LifePoint Resources) sits down with author, worship leader, coach, and spiritual director Becky Ykema to discuss her new book.

After more than two decades serving in churches ranging from church plants to one of the largest churches in the country, Becky began noticing subtle patterns shaping ministry culture. Those observations became her new book, Composing Church: Considerations for the Modern Creative Leader.

While written with worship leaders and creative teams in mind, this conversation reaches much further, exploring the formation of ministry leaders, the culture of our churches, and the invitation to become people who lead from authenticity rather than performance.

Whether you're a pastor, worship leader, volunteer, elder, or someone who simply longs for a healthy ministry culture, we believe you'll find encouragement and hope in this conversation.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What it means to "compose" a church culture.

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Becky:

Thanks for listening to The Being Formed Podcast. If this conversation encouraged you, consider sharing it with someone who loves the Church and longs to see her become more like Christ.

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.