Alan Fadling talks with James Bryan Smith about his latest book, The Magnificent Story. We unpack what it means that the gospel of Jesus is good, beautiful and true here and now, not just someday.

James Bryan Smith is the author of the trilogy: The Good and Beautiful God, The Good and Beautiful Life, and The Good and Beautiful Community. He is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. He also serves as the director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian...

How can we step off the treadmill of busyness and make real progress toward true productivity? Where can we find space for our souls to breathe? We try filling our lives with achievements, possessions and recognition but can end up feeling emptier than ever. Where can we find real fullness? Many of us are hurried, and hurry is costing us more than we realize.

We’re here to help you become more present to God, to yourself and others, and to live from fullness rather than running on...

Alan shares a guided prayer from Psalm 16. It’s a practice that has been key in his ongoing recovery from his addiction to hurry.

In this mini-sode, Alan shares a way of praying scripture that has become an important part of his spiritual rhythm. In a sense, it’s not just about “me praying scripture.” It’s also about God’s Spirit praying scripture into me.

It’s a way of not only thinking about and studying scripture, but also letting scripture soak...

Your first tooth…your first day of kindergarten…your first car…your first kiss…your first home. Life is full of firsts. We spend our lifetime taking first steps that lead to growing up and maturing into functioning adults.

Along the way, our souls are taking first steps as well. The first time we heard about God. The first time we heard the name of Jesus. The first time we saw an answer to prayer. The first time we acted on His behalf, in the care of another. And,...

BREATHE is a practice you can engage, for about 6 minutes, at any point in your day. It’s a helpful process of re-focusing and re-engaging. It is similar to another practice I introduced a while back, SLOW.

You can take a moment to breathe and to find some inner stillness in God’s presence. You can quiet your mind and heart for a moment and emerge refreshed and ready to move into your next task or conversation.

It’s very difficult to be truly productive when you feel...

Today, I talk with Suanne Camfield, author of The Sound of Million Dreams: Awakening to Who You are Becoming. You'll enjoy our engaging conversation on the themes of:

Being
Presence
Comparison
Becoming
Truth

This is the passage from Suanne's book that made me want to talk with her:

"...the stirring was a moment: an awareness of the holy in the midst of the every day that simultaneously brought clarity and chaos to my space in the world. A feeling: of perpetual pressing, pushing, and pulling...

Today we are talking about Solitude and Silence or what we call Unhurried Time with God. But this is not just a “you should do it” talk. We are going to share stories from our own lives. From early on in our own experience and one from within the last month.

We share these with you so you can see how we started out. We were in our late 20s and were just beginning our process of solitude and silence.

Many of us unconsciously resist solitude because we don’t actually want to...

Curiosity is one of the most important qualities in a good leader. We’ve seen the fruit of that counsel in our life and work. Today we share a conversation that Alan enjoyed with Casey Tygrett about his new book, Becoming Curious: A Spiritual Practice of Asking Questions.

As a spiritual director, I (Alan) have a bias for asking good questions. I love what Casey has written here, and it was a pleasure to interact with him about the journey that led to this book. We need to learn to...

“As a holy listener …. I have to put myself out of the way, to become humble in the true sense of knowing my place in the order of God’s creation …. above, all, I must be reverent, for I am entrusted with something precious and tender.” (Margaret Guenther)

This is the essence of spiritual direction. Enjoy a conversation between Gem Fadling and Beth Booram, who is a seasoned spiritual director. Here are the questions discussed:

• How do you meet with God? What...

We’ve said before that at the heart of all we do is people. Where are the people? What do they need? How can we help them take their next step? One model we’ve used over the course of our lives is The Critical Journey by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich.

Listen in as we describe the six stages in a life of faith. It is so helpful to see where you are in your journey. It can help you feel validated and understood. It can also help you to see where others are in their journey and...