The Formation Space

What happens when you do all the right things and life still falls apart? Author, professor, and Anglican priest Alex Sosler joins us to explore suffering, surrender, and encountering God in the seasons we would never choose.

We talk about:

• How we encounter God in suffering without needing to explain why it happened
• Why spiritual formation is more than a formula for a better life
• The freedom of being a nobody in a culture obsessed with being known
• How surrender loosens our grip on control and the need to perform
• Why our churches need stories of unanswered prayer alongside stories of breakthrough
• What it means for our lives to be hidden with Christ in God

Along the way, we also discuss hip-hop theology, food and faith in Appalachia, a Desert Father’s unusual lesson in handling praise and criticism, and why being beyond our own ability to fix things might make us God’s “cup of tea.”

Resources from Alex Sosler

🌐 Website
https://www.alexsosler.com/

📖 A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation: Finding Life in Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and Community
https://bakeracademic.com/products/9781540966612_a-short-guide-to-spiritual-formation

📚 Pre-order Tasting God: A Spirituality of Food, Place, and the Everyday Sacred
https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802885883/tasting-god/

✍️ Alex’s Substack
https://alexsosler.substack.com/

📄 The Glories of Being a Nobody
https://mbird.com/everyday/celebrity/the-glories-of-being-a-nobody/

What if spiritual formation isn’t only about changing us, but preparing us to participate in what God is doing in the world?Dr. Keas Keasler joins us to explore the theology of Dallas Willard and the vision behind his book, Kingdom Apprenticeship.

We talk about:

• Why formation and mission were never meant to be separated

• How divine friendship transforms us from the inside out

• What it means to hear God’s voice with “intelligent mysticism”

• Why grace is opposed to earning, not effort• How apprenticeship to Jesus prepares us to join God’s work

• Why eternity—and life in God’s kingdom—begins now

Along the way, we also discuss munching on restaurant menus, developing the discernment of a master chocolatier, talking to squirrels in the desert, and why every church should ask, “What’s our plan for making disciples and how’s that going?”

Resources from Keas Keasler

📖 Kingdom Apprenticeship: Dallas Willard's Formational Theology and Missional Vision

📄 Free Kingdom Apprenticeship Book Symposium (PDF) Read Keas’s introduction to the book, five thoughtful responses to its ideas, and his concluding reply.

📔Tracing the Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement: A Social-Historical Analysis

What is actually shaping your life?

In this episode of The Formation Space, we're joined by Michael Robb, writer, filmmaker, and Director of the Sanctus Institute in Germany. Together we explore what the Church in Europe can teach us about spiritual formation, why information alone isn't enough to produce transformation, and how the ordinary rhythms of life quietly shape the people we're becoming.

We also discuss consumerism, rules of life, retreats, Dallas Willard, and practical ways to build a deeper life with God in the midst of an increasingly distracted world.

Resources from Michael Robb

📖 Dallas Willard on God: An Introductionhttps://www.amazon.com/Dallas-Willard-Michael-Stewart-Robb/dp/B0GM7XWNHR🎥 Letters to Young Pastors (YouTube Series)https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3ukzbDEoqBm1zjRLPdZt5MS7hQfQdwbn🌍 Sanctus Institutehttps://sanctus.institute▶️ Sanctus Institute YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@SanctusInstitute

After years of ministry, study, and serving in the church, we all arrived at a similar realization: information alone wasn't producing transformation.

In this episode, we pull back the curtain and share our stories. From pastoral burnout and church hurt to addiction, disappointment, and the search for a deeper life with God, we talk about the experiences that led us to a deeper vision of discipleship, apprenticeship to Jesus, and life in God's Kingdom, here and now.

We also share how we met through the Dallas Willard School of Kingdom Living, the conversations that sparked this podcast, and our hope for creating a space where people can explore spiritual formation, practical discipleship, and the with-God life together.

If you're new to The Formation Space, this is a great place to start.

What if peace isn’t something we find when life finally calms down, but a way of living we’re invited into right now?In this episode, we explore shalom—the biblical vision of wholeness, harmony, and the full life God intended from the very beginning. Drawing from Dallas Willard’s profound definition of peace, we look at why peace is not the absence of conflict, but a resting of the will rooted in divine assurance.If you’re longing for a deeper, steadier, more grounded way of living with God, this episode offers a gentle but transformative invitation into the peace you were created for.

What are the spiritual disciplines really for?

In this episode, we explore practices like prayer, fasting, silence, solitude, Sabbath, and simplicity and how they shape us over time into people marked by love, joy, peace, and Christlikeness.

Rather than treating the disciplines like religious obligations, we discuss them as ways of opening ourselves to the grace and presence of God in everyday life.

We also reflect on why silence feels so difficult, how habits form our character, and why the question “What’s bothering you?” may reveal more about our spiritual formation than we realize.

Featuring reflections inspired by Dallas Willard and Richard Foster.

What if Sabbath isn’t about slowing down for a day, but about remembering what it means to be human?

In this episode, we explore Shabbat—the ancient invitation to cease, stop, and rest in the rhythm God built into creation. A simple, honest look at why rest is essential and how Sabbath reorients our lives back to God.

🕊May this invite you to breathe, stop, and rest today.

If the church is meant to form people into the likeness of Jesus, why does it feel like we have to bring formation back?

In this conversation with Dr. Steve Porter, we explore what the church is actually meant to do and how that vision has become obscured over time. We talk about the purpose of the church, the subtle ways formation gets replaced by activity, and how our understanding of salvation shapes the life of transformation.

We also discuss the role of community and how formation unfolds in everyday life beyond Sunday gatherings.

This conversation looks at how we got here, makes sense of where we are now, and invites us to rediscover what the church is meant to be.

What if repentance isn’t about guilt at all, but about coming home?

In this episode, we explore teshuvah—the ancient invitation to turn, return, and live on God’s terms instead of our own. A simple, honest look at the lies we’ve believed and the truth Jesus reveals.

🕊 May this shape the way you turn toward God today.

What if God feeling distant isn’t a problem to solve, but part of how He forms us?

In this episode, we sit down with Kyle Strobel to explore what is actually happening in seasons where God feels far away. Drawing from his new book, "When God Seems Distant," Kyle helps reframe the desert not as failure, but as formation.

We talk about why early spiritual passion fades, the difference between passion and affection, and how God uses dryness to expose what is in our hearts and deepen our love for Him.

In this episode:
• Why God often feels close early in faith and distant later

• Passion vs. affection• How the desert exposes what is in us

• Why formation is about love

• Praying honestly in seasons of dryness

Also: a drive by jelly bean incident, an unexpected run in with law enforcement, and at least one moment of fighting for the right to party 🎉