Captivated

Stasi invites her son, author, and teacher, Blaine Eldredge, onto today’s podcast to talk about his new book The Paradise King. Blaine first shares a few stories of how he became a committed, passionate and “in process” follower of Jesus, and how his life’s journey led him to write this book. The Paradise King is a product of Blaine’s curiosity and quest to recover the story of God in the Bible, a...

Stasi is delighted to have Lisa Harper—speaker, author, scholar, and passionate follower of Jesus—on today’s podcast. With humor and honesty, Lisa shares her journey with Christ and the gracious unfolding of learning to be delighted in by God. God is a “with” God; he loves us so much that he chooses to be close to us no matter where we find ourselves and invites us to lean into him with confidence...

Stasi welcomes Nancy Carmichael back for an engaging conversation on the power of Christ in us. Through the pressures of life and outward circumstances, Nancy noticed herself shrinking back and losing focus on God’s deeper truths. God began to strip things away, bringing Nancy to a very vulnerable place, and it was there that she saw Christ in her. Friends, Christ dwells in us and remains with us....

Stasi welcomes Karen Christakis and Stacey Burton of the Wild at Heart team into the studio for a candid conversation that quickly leads to how intentionally God is moving on our behalf—even when we aren’t able to see it. What matters most to Jesus is always our hearts, even more than rescuing us from the hard things we plead with him to change. As you listen to this podcast, you will hear the imp...

"Surrender," in Hebrew, means "to align or arrange oneself under the command of a divine viewpoint." You literally turn away from the offerings of the world, the opinions of others, and your own strategies for achieving life and instead choose to stand under God’s divine viewpoint. When we cling to other things, believing they will satisfy our souls, we put something between us and God—actually, w...

We are meant to live from a place of rest. Today, Stasi talks about the book Sacred Rest with the author Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. Dr. Saundra shares practical steps to find rest amongst the constant demands of life, saying “Staying busy is easy. Staying well rested, now there is the challenge.” She unpacks the 7 types of rest we need — not with another list that we have to master, but with the in...

Stasi welcomes her dear friend Becky Allender on today’s podcast to discuss story work and the healing that can come through it. Story work is a way of honoring our life’s story and the ways it has shaped us and engaging the places we need care, compassion, and mercy. If this feels new to you, Becky also offers a simple place to start. Friends, each of us desires to be seen and known, and giving a...

Unanswered prayer or the perceived silence of God in the midst of suffering is one of the most difficult things to endure, yet it is something that every believer has experienced. There is a way forward in these hard times. Join Stasi today as she talks about this subject head-on and leads us to the truth that though we are not promised a life free from sorrow, we are promised that our God will be...

In this episode, Stasi and guest Lisa Bevere – author and co-founder of Messenger International – share about the transformative power of Jesus' love. The conversation explores how we are each uniquely loved and reframes what it means to live a surrendered life. When we step into our identity as the daughters and sons of God, we are able to embrace the truth that who we are to God matters more tha...

Join Stasi for this delightful conversation with her friend Yolanda Weinberger. Yolanda is a wise and passionate woman who loves Jesus deeply, and it is an honor to listen as she shares her story. Yolanda tells of how she has fallen more in love with Jesus through her daily rhythms, her parenting of adult children, and as she battled cancer. In all of it, Jesus has pursued her with his faithful lo...

One of the ways we experience God is through the beauty of his creation. Beauty heals. Beauty refreshes. Beauty puts our souls at rest. Beauty speaks hope. In today’s podcast, Stasi, along with Polly Dodge and Jamie Goudie of the Wild at Heart team, share the ways they cultivate beauty, and why choosing to look for beauty is so important. Jesus is Divine Beauty, perfect, alluring, and glorious. Wh...

Friends, have you ever felt distant and disconnected from God? Of course, you have. You are not alone in that. But what then? In today’s podcast, Stasi reminds us of the good news: while our feelings may fluctuate, God remains constant and unchanging. Even when we feel like God is hiding from us, we can know that He will never turn His face away. It is in the hard seasons that we come to know God’...

Join Stasi and her guest Melissa Johnson – therapist, teacher and author – as they discuss soul-deep beauty. Most of us have been sold a shame-based view of beauty which can rob us from resting in our true authentic beauty. Melissa defines authenic beauty as the life of God at work in us and among us. Friends, we are at our most lovely when we are living in union with God, embracing the fullness o...

Stasi welcomes back Stacey Burton on today’s podcast for a conversation that dives deep into the epicenter of God's heart. Stacey shares how she has always known in her mind that God loves her, and how He recently broke barriers within her to believe it in her inmost being. Stasi then walks us through the truth of Jesus being the beloved Son and how our identity is indistinguishably linked to His....

Join Stasi and Karen Christakis on today’s podcast for an inspiring conversation on the beauty and the power of the Bible. A deep lover of scripture, Karen shares how she doesn’t just read it; she lets it “read her.” Through her years of digging into His Word, God has used it to enlighten her to both Jesus’ heart and her own. Studying the Bible has been a doorway to growth, stretching, healing, ex...

Join us for today’s podcast with Stasi’s dear friend Ann Marie Farren of Scotland. Jesus captured Ann Marie’s heart at an early age, then invited her to remain single for him. It’s a decision Ann Marie has never regretted in the 40 years of her daily Romance with the Resurrected One. An integral member of her church community, Ann Marie’s mission is to invite others to know our great God, who fore...

“So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion. And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.” Hosea 2:19 God invites us to know him and know him well—by heart. The natural response to truly knowing him is loving him above all else. Join Stasi today as she highlights this marvelous truth, then leads us...

In today’s podcast, Stasi enjoys a conversation with best-selling author Lysa TerKeurst as they discuss Lysa's new devotional, You’re Going to Make It , and her desire to offer others a healing rhythm of receiving from God and releasing to God when in a season of suffering. Friends, God is after our true hearts, and we are safe to be honest with him. He will meet us in our tears and ache, offering...

Join us as Stasi invites author Kia Stephens for another engaging and honest conversation about her new book, Overcoming Father Wounds . Kia’s desire is to help us identify our father wounds and to share practical tools to step towards deeper healing, while offering compassion, grace, and encouragement for our ongoing restoration. We serve a God who is not afraid of our tears, and we are never too...

As we grow in knowing Jesus more truly, others benefit from our walk with him. In this week’s podcast, Stasi and her good friend Sue Eitemiller enjoy a conversation about what it looks like to invite God into all the changing seasons of our lives. Sue describes the transition from believing in God out of duty and living out of her own strength to discovering a faithful friend in Jesus and choosing...

In this final part of our series on the Power of Testimony, Cherie Snyder sits down with Stasi to share the journey of her faith. For many years, Cherie wrestled with a deep feeling that something was inherently wrong with her, that it was up to her to earn her worth, and that God's love was one of obligation. Yet just as our God pursues each one of us uniquely and personally, Cherie tells how He...

As this series continues, Stasi’s friend Elaine Supple shares her heart's journey. Because of her story, Elaine struggled with a sense of not belonging for many years. In today’s podcast, she shares ways God has invited her into his comforting love – finding his steadfast heart to be her true Home. Friends, God is calling each one of us deeper into His heart to find the love we long for, the secur...

There is power and encouragement in sharing, listening to, and remembering the testimonies of the saving grace and love of God. In this first episode of a series, Stasi shares her story of God’s rescue and ongoing intervention in her life with awe and deep thanksgiving. Friends, Jesus has come for us and he is coming still. No one is out of reach of his amazing love. SHOW NOTES: Verses: Matthew 11...

In today's podcast, Stasi and author, speaker, and podcaster Annie Downs invite you into their delightful conversation on experiencing joy even in the hard and practicing friendship with Jesus as he invites us into a beautiful story with him. There is a deep joy in knowing that he sits with us in everything. We are not alone. With Jesus, we have a guide and a friend. Show Notes: VERSES:   Luke 17:...

Our desire for memorable and beautiful moments during the Christmas season can lead us to put incredible pressure on ourselves to make it amazing. In today’s podcast, Stasi sits down with Stacey Burton to talk about the desires and demands of the holidays and the goodness we can experience when we rest in God being the Amazing One. When we trust in him, the pressure is off.