What does it mean to experience healing, whether from physical, emotional, or spiritual pain? Is it possible to live with pain and experience peace? Writer Amy Julia Becker shares the challenges she’s faced on her personal health journey and how she learned to connect her spirit, body, and mind to encounter holistic healing through God’s shalom.

Quotes

“That's been my experience with Jesus, one who does not want me to simply feel better and then go away and not be a bother, but in fact wants to see me face to face and say, ‘Let me speak a blessing over you and send you out in peace and with purpose.’” - Amy Julia Becker

“What does it mean for us to actually live in what I think God's dream for healing would be, a state of shalom or of mutual giving and receiving of love and peace to one another?” - Amy Julia Becker 

“That's a pattern we see throughout Scripture, that we have to acknowledge pain and be honest about it, and then we have to ask for help and be humble about it. And then healing is possible for us, and that's true for our minds, our bodies, our spirits, and our communities.” - Amy Julia Becker 

Guest’s Links Website

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Resources Mentioned in This Episode To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope by Amy Julia Becker

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

“Reading brain” is a phenomenon discussed by psychologists, pastor Claude Atcho, where reading good stories expands your perspective—and your empathy. Claude shares why reading is an important tool in loving our neighbors as ourselves, because we can enter their lives through story.

Quotes

“I realized I had a unique angle from my literary background and then also my pastoral experience: those two things could really come together and help people process art and the beauty of art and stories.” - Claude Atcho

“We can't really understand American Christianity without thinking about African-American Christianity and how Black people were central and vital to preserving and upholding the faith, both in its doctrinal truth and also its lived truth, its ethical truth.” - Claude Atcho 

“Literature is obviously story, right? It’s human experience. And what story does is preserve our deep longings, our deep fears, our questions and our hopes, and kind of our wandering and exploring through life. So we're trying to think about human experience as told through stories with all of its pain, all of its joy, all of its hope, all of its struggle. And then we're trying to think in the sense of God's kingdom and God's word as we consider those stories.” - Claude Atcho

“Sometimes I'm not brave like David. I don't have this sort of faith. I can be discouraged, I can be weak, I can be cynical and skeptical. And when I'm like that, God still saves and acts for His people through the real hero, which is Jesus.” - Claude Atcho

Guest’s Links Website

Claude’s Twitter

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Resources Mentioned in This Episode Church of the Resurrection

Reading Black Books: How African American Literature Can Make Our Faith More Whole and Just

Frederick Douglass

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

Over and over, dancer and speaker Kennith Thomas has seen that when you change your mindset, you can change your life—even in the midst of trying times. Kennith shares how shifting the atmosphere in his son’s hospital room during his leukemia battle helped the whole family, and how the story of Samson’s last days shows us the pillars we can push when we reach for God’s strength.

Quotes

“Negative things come into our life all the time. I don't believe that one person or any person really is positive all the time, but you can have a positive mindset to different things.” - Kennith Thomas

“You and God together means there's a collective here. So when we change the mind and you allow Him to come in, you can change the game.” - Kennith Thomas 

“Are you making your environment comfortable in your life? Are you making the environment comfortable inside your home, inside your workplace? What are some of the things that you can do?” - Kennith Thomas

“Are you optimistic that God can go ahead and change things at the blink of an eye if it's according to His will? Do you believe that much? Are you willing to fight and ask for His strength at the end of the day?” - Kennith Thomas

“If you continue to move in impact today and live today to the fullest, effort plus commitment will equal success.” - Kennith Thomas

Guest’s Links Website

Kennith’s Facebook

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Resources Mentioned in This Episode Romans 12:2 NIV

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

To celebrate the hope and joy of Easter, Sally is reading three stories from The Jesus Storybook Bible that remind us in the end, love gets the last word. He is Risen! 

*Don’t forget to download our FREE "Countdown to Easter" Activity kit! https://bit.ly/3II97Rc 

Quotes

“Jesus said, ‘Anyone who believes in me will live even after dying.’ That's the hope we can hold onto.” – Sally Lloyd-Jones

“Death is not the end of you and me. Sickness and pain and suffering and tears don't get the last word. Love does. That's the great hope of Easter.” – Sally Lloyd-Jones

Resources Mentioned in This Episode The Jesus Storybook Bible

Charles Spurgeon

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

As you prepare for Easter, Sally Lloyd-Jones invites you to listen as she reads two stories from The Jesus Storybook Bible: “Washed With Tears” and “The Servant King.” They remind us that even as we walk through a broken world, love gets the final word.

*Don’t forget to download our FREE "Countdown to Easter" Activity kit! https://bit.ly/3II97Rc 

Quotes

“‘Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying’ (John 11:25). That is a truth we can hang on to: that even as we walk through pain and suffering, even as we see all the brokenness in the world. It’s the truth at the center of the Easter story.” – Sally Lloyd-Jones 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode The Jesus Storybook Bible

Wit by Margaret Edson

Wit special on HBO featuring Emma Thompson Charles Spurgeon

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

A picture book is a story told in words and illustrations. And when it comes to The Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally’s storytelling partner is the talented artist, Jago! In this special episode, Jago shares his unlikely journey to illustrating for picture books, the movie-worthy story of how he came to be the illustrator for The Jesus Storybook Bible, and the awe-inspiring impact his work has had on generations of children.

*Looking forward to Easter? Don't forget to download our FREE "Countdown to Easter" Activity kit now! https://bit.ly/3II97Rc 

Quotes

“I've always enjoyed the idea that illustrations—good illustrations, if you look at the picture on its own, they should kind of make you wonder what's going on and what's going to happen next.” – Jago 

“When I'm doing my illustrations, I try to remember what it was like as a child to look at the pictures.” – Jago 

“I do find it quite kind of overwhelming, when you sort of step back and think that there's a whole generation—multiple generations, I guess—of children who've grown up with [The Jesus Storybook Bible] as their version of all of these stories. It's quite a strange feeling, really, as an illustrator to realize that somebody's whole idea of what Jonah and the giant fish looks like is based on a picture that I drew fifteen years ago.” – Jago 

Guest’s Links Website

Jago’s Twitter

Jago’s Facebook

Resources Mentioned in This Episode Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kirkegaard once mused, “Busyness tends to prevent people from forming a heart.” Theologian Kelly Kapic agrees. Kelly shares his struggle to shed the unrealistic expectations we place on ourselves and the solution he found to “the busy problem” — embracing our limitations, which connects us to God and to others.

*Are you celebrating Lent with your family? Download our FREE Lent + "Countdown to Easter" Activity kit now! https://bit.ly/3II97Rc 

Quotes

“In our busyness, our ability to form a heart, to be kind and loving to others, gets harder and harder.” 

– Kelly Kapic

“Theology is not so much for just pastors and scholars. It's for all of God's people.” 

– Kelly Kapic

“What I found so often was that wave of shame that would come over me when I put my head on the pillow, it was so often this: I should have gotten more done today. I should have done more. And so the question is, did God actually think I needed to do more?” 

– Kelly Kapic

“It would be beautiful for us to revisit and understand the rhythms of work and rest and laughter and delight in gratitude, not just busyness.” 

– Kelly Kapic

“Really embracing our limitations brings freedom and joy because at its base, it connects us to God and others.” 

– Kelly Kapic

“Humility at its best is a recognition that to be a human creature is to be dependent on God, to be dependent on neighbor, and to be dependent on the Earth.” – Kelly Kapic

“I think it takes a tremendous amount of courage to believe not just that God loves you, but He likes you. And He is faithful to slowly, truly be working in your life.” – Kelly Kapic

Resources Mentioned in This Episode Covenant College

Ben Franklin

Netflix

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

As a teen in Dubai, Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan experienced God’s love, ironically, through heartbreak. This experience gave him a new lens that launched him into a career in sociology. And eventually, Dr. Vaidyanathan realized that maybe the forces he thought were at odds—science and religion, truth and wonder—could actually work together for good.  

*Are you celebrating Lent with your family? Download our FREE Lent + "Countdown to Easter" Activity kit now! https://bit.ly/3II97Rc 

Quotes

“I think science is a place where you can learn to be open to something that challenges you and it doesn't threaten you. It can help you to more deeply appreciate a truth that is beyond your current imagination.” 

– Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan

“There's this profound truth about the gospel: to save your life, you must lose it.” – Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan

“We can talk about how we ought to live, but how are we actually living?” – Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan

“It's one of the most appealing and sort of scary things about Christianity: the call to give everything away, which is beautiful and noble.” – Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan

Find Our Guest Online Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan’s website

Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan’s Twitter

Resources Mentioned in This Episode Catholic University of America

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

Michael Wear believes politics doesn’t have to be a cage match; it can be a forum for loving your neighbor. As a leading strategist, Michael shares how faith communities can participate in the public sphere as a form of service, shifting their focus from effecting policy to helping people flourish.

*Are you celebrating Lent with your family? Download our FREE Lent + "Countdown to Easter" Activity kit now! https://bit.ly/3II97Rc 

Quotes

“Our God is a God of possibilities. We open up more possibilities when we're willing to take that step of humbly, hopefully, joyfully stewarding our influence in a healthy way, in a way that views politics as just one form of loving our neighbor.” – Michael Wear

“When it comes to politics, and for Christians, when it comes to all of life, it’s how do you steward the responsibility you have to love and honor and bring glory to God and love your neighbor?” – Michael Wear

“We don't need to be completely comfortable to participate in politics. That's why we're to be in the world, but not of the world.” – Michael Wear

“If we view politics as one forum in which we can love our neighbor, then we can let go and just try to be faithful in the situation that God has placed us.” – Michael Wear

Guest’s Links Michael Wear’s website

Michael Wear’s Facebook

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Resources Mentioned in This Episode Center for Christianity and Public Life

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

God’s greatest work, says author and speaker Kechi Okwuchi, is a kind of alchemy: He can transform pain into purpose. As one of two survivors of a commercial airline plane crash, Kechi shares her miraculous yet harrowing struggle to survive her trauma, and how she’s learned to draw strength from a story she never asked for.

Quotes 

“What sets you apart as a Christian, as a believer, is that when those bad things happen, it gives you a place to go to, to run to when they happen.” - Kechi Okwuchi

“I learned that I need to learn about God for myself, know about Him for myself, so that I can understand how to pray for myself and how to access that feeling and that peaceful feeling like everything's going to be okay.” - Kechi Okwuchi

“[I was] seeing God as this transactional figure, where you pray and He gives you results. And so when I didn't get the results I expected after praying, I got very frustrated and I had to deal with that.” - Kechi Okwuchi

“Being a Christian does not exempt you from bad things happening to you in this world. That is not what Christianity or the faith is supposed to represent. It doesn't mean that you're suddenly shielded from life. Good and bad things happen to good and bad people.” - Kechi Okwuchi

“I pray that anyone who has gone through any kind of trauma, whether it's as visible as mine or invisible, that they somehow are able to grasp the truth: that there is life after trauma to look forward to. Not only life where you survive, but one where you can actually thrive.” - Kechi Okwuchi

Guest’s Links Kechi Okwuchi’s website

Kechi Okwuchi’s Facebook

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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*