The Puddcast

Carlos A. Rodríguez is the editor of HappySonship.com and founder of TheHappyGivers, an NPO dedicated to alleviating poverty, supporting prisoners and feeding children. Carlos and I discussed how to earn the right to be heard and how being on mission unifies us and helps us move past divisive political or theological debates. He also provided an inside look at ongoing disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico, and gave us some clues about his next book.

Resources:

Drop the Stones, by Carlos A. Rodriguez
Simply Sonship, by Carlos A. Rodriguez
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Michelle Wuesthoff is a life coach, author and mother of 5, of whom 4 came through international adoption. Michelle and I discussed our children’s stories, those narratives that help them fit into the world; reliance on God in the face of our inability to raise children in our own strength; and the God who stands outside our hearts waiting for the slightest crack to open up, to let his love in.

Resources:

Grafted In: Leading your Orphan Heart to the Spirit of Adoption, by Michelle Wuesthoff
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Will Graham is an internationally renowned evangelist, he’s the Executive Director of the Billy Graham Training Center, and is the grandson of Billy Graham. Will and I connected recently to talk about Jesus as the hope of the world, evangelism methods and follow-up discipleship, as well as the movie Unbroken: Path to Redemption, in which Will portrays Billy Graham. I also asked him if he watches The Crown, because… you know, I couldn’t resist.

Resources:

Redeemed: Devotions for the Longing Soul, by Will Graham
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God does not need Christianity nor any other world religion. In fact, I believe that the building of organized Christian religion is steadily burning down, and while I know that terrifies many people I for one am thrilled because I don’t dream of a day when everyone is a Christian, or goes to church, or reads the Bible; I dream of a new world entirely. The God who is endlessly good and who holds everything together has created all of existence as a celebration of life itself and he doesn’t need us to do anything for him, to impress him, to please him, or even to worship him. Rather he invites us to make him the Lord & King of our lives so that we may live in freedom and enjoy all of the benefits of living in his new world, right now.

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Carol Howard Merritt is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church (USA) in Spring City, Tennessee, and author of Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with a Loving God after Experiencing a Hurtful Church. In this broad ranging discussion, Carol and I looked at how the church has often held up patriarchy and shamed victims of abuse, how forgiveness is a process that takes time, what love looks like amid rampant economic injustice, and how God offers rivers of healing and restoration to each one of us.

Resources:

Healing Spiritual Wounds, by Carol Howard Merritt
Support the show at patreon.com/jonathanpuddle