rooted (IN).ten.tionally

In this first episode of Season 4, podcast favorite, author and theologian Paul Young returns to talk about the sequel to his global best-seller The Shack. We talk about the impact of The Shack and the inspiration for this sequel, Return to the Shack: A Journey into Redemption, releasing October 6th. No spoilers here as we talk about themes in this beautiful new book, including forgiveness and the...

Welcome to a bonus episode of the rooted (IN)tentionaly podcast. In this special unedited conversation, Bradley Jersak and I talk about the themes of my new book, A Kenotic Way of Contemplative Healing. Bradley is a theologian, author and principal of St. Stephen's University. He was also supervisor for my thesis research which forms the heart and substance of this book. Together we explore the co...

I'm thrilled to welcome Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw to this bonus episode as we talk about their new book Landscapes of the Soul . Bridging spirituality and relational neurobiology, they help us consider what it means to live a life of joy in relationship. Geoff and Cyd help us identify our attachment strategies, how they developed and how we heal. These attachment strategies, the ways we connect with...

I'm thrilled to welcome author, speaker and friend Felicia Murrell back to the podcast as we talk about her new book,  And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World . You'll feel the power of love as you listen. Weaving together poetry, prose, prayers and practices, Felicia shares vulnerably, guiding us from her own story to encourage, challenge, confront and call us to love. This beaut...

In this episode, my guest is author, professor and theologian James Bryan Smith. Jim is a prolific author with a brand new book in The Good and Beautiful Series, The Good and Beautiful You . The first book in this series, The Good and Beautiful God, released about ten years ago, was a milestone marker in healing my image of God. Today, we're talking about how our toxic self-narratives shape our vi...

What a joy to welcome Gem Fadling back to our series! I spoke with Gem just before her latest book, Hold that Thought: Sorting through the Voices in Our Heads, released in the fall of 2022. In this conversation, Gem shares her own journey in healing as she learned to identify the unaddressed voices in her head. We all have them right? The voices that drive us to live from our false selves, wreakin...

In this episode I'm sharing a prayer I pray almost daily these days. When my spiritual director first pointed me to this practice, honestly, I didn't like it at all. But I knew I needed it. With time, it's shaping, healing and deeply challenging me in all the best (but not comfortable) ways. This prayer invites us to a giant trust fall, inviting us to fall into the arms of Love working all things...

In this episode of rooted (IN).ten.tionally, I'm bringing you Bradley Jersak and Felicia Murrell (two of my favorites!). Together we talk about Bradley's new book, Out of the Embers: Faith After the Great Deconstruction, available now. This conversation is deep, rich and real as we consider how we're invited to heal from and through our deconstruction. What new life might be waiting to emerge? Lis...

In this imaginative prayer experience, we engage with Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan. As you watch the story unfold, you'll consider the question, Who is your neighbor? Who, in your life today, is the outsider, the one religious leaders might pass by on the road? Jesus makes the outsider the hero of this story, the one who shows mercy. How are you being invited to show mercy, to move to the ma...

This conversation with pastor, leader, podcaster and author Matt Tebbe is deep and wide, funny and true. We talk about the new book he's co-authored with Ben Sternke, Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith, and we cover lots of good ground--from the evolution of Matt's image of God; to how we see and re-see God; to the centrality of love; to God present with us; to the...

In this prayerful, peaceful space, you're invited to release your burdens. What burden or weight are you carrying? What might you gain in releasing this to God? As we meditate on these verses from The Message version of Matthew 11, we'll consider with Jesus how we might learn to live more freely and lightly, even today. "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me...

What an honor to talk with pastor, speaker, author and truly such a nice guy, Rich Villodas! This conversation is rich (pun unintended) as we talk about his new book and his own journey into knowing God as good, beautiful and kind. In Good and Beautiful and Kind: Becoming Whole in a Fractured World, Rich speaks directly to the things that fragment us and our relationships; then leads us wisely thr...

This listening prayer practice, called The Meeting Place, comes to us from theologian, author and friend Bradley Jersak. Together, we're opening safe, imaginative space for you to meet with Jesus. No matter how close or far you feel from God today, no matter where you are in your life right now, Jesus has promised he never leaves you and you can hear his voice. This practice reminds us that Christ...

In this episode, I have the joy of bringing you author and theologian Paul Young. Paul's books, including The Shack, The Pastor (co-authored with Bradley Jersak), and Lies We Believe about God (to name a few), have impacted millions, inviting us to see God and ourselves through the lens of love. In this rich and vulnerable conversation, Paul shares how his image of God was formed, his own deconstr...

In this episode, you'll practice lectio divina (or sacred reading) meditating on John 15:9-12.  These are some of Jesus' words at his last meal with his friends. He knows he's about to leave them. He knows they'll be confused, lost, grieving. And his message to them is simple and central: Abide in my love. Remain in love. In these days, we're confused, lost, grieving, too. We've never needed these...

This episode, I'm joined by Brian Zahnd, pastor, prolific writer and speaker. He's also full of energy, humility and practical insight. His new book, When Everything's on Fire: Faith Forged from the Ashes, is a helpful guide for all of us engaged in the renovation of our faith. Brian shares how and why his image of God has evolved through the years, and how practices and people have helped him nav...

In this first episode of Season 3, you'll pray imaginatively through Psalm 23 as we journey together through the shadows. Shadowy times are familiar to all of us. These are times when, perhaps, we feel death is near. Times of loss, lament, sickness. Perhaps, like me, you or a loved one have encountered the shadow of cancer. In the shadows we find we are never, ever alone.  Today, we'll pray imagin...

How we see God is how we see everything. In this episode, we wrap Season 2 with Gem and Alan Fadling, and a conversation on the way of unhurried living. This episode feels a little bit like a spa to me, an invitation to an internal slowing that restores your soul. How does your view of God affect your ability to live in an unhurried rhythm rooted in grace and rest? A beautiful guided meditation on...

In this second half of Season 2, I'm bringing you a series on healing our image of God. Because how we see God is how we see everything. In this episode, I'm joined by the delightful Jonathan Puddle, author of You Are Enough and host of the Puddcast (one of my faves). In this very honest (and fun) conversation, we share our journeys of deconstructing and reforming our images of God. Then I get to...

In this second half of Season 2, I'm bringing you a series on healing our image of God. How we see God is how we see everything. In this episode, I'm joined by Felicia Murrell, author of Truth Encounters . She shares how a broken image of God hindered her ability to fully receive God's love. Spoiler alert, both Felicia and I had help reimaging God from Paul Young's novel The Shack . Plus she leads...

How we see God is how we see everything. In this second half of Season 2, I'm bringing you a series on healing our image of God. In this episode, theologian and author Bradley Jersak joins me to talk about how you form a more Christlike image of God through Scripture and encounter. With lightness and humor, Bradley encourages you to see the connection between theology and experience. Then, he walk...

How we see God is how we see everything. Does that sound like an overstatement? Maybe. But I've come to believe it's true.  We're changing things up in the second half of Season 2 to bring you a series on healing our image of God. In this episode, spiritual directors (and super awesome people!) Dave and Beth Booram of fallcreekabbey.org . join me to talk about how your image of God is formed and w...

Shame lies to you about who you are. It is a relentless abuser, telling you you're not fully loved by God. In this imaginative prayer experience from John 21, you'll engage all your senses to meet Jesus and Peter at the beach. As Jesus walks with Peter back to the scene of his betrayal, shame dissolves as love and grace break in. With Peter, you'll experience the healing work of love and the remin...

Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." St. Ignatius of Loyola agreed, but probably for different reasons. Today's exercise is a Prayer of Examen, one of the pillars of Ignatian spirituality. Examen invites you to intentionally notice the moments when you are living in love and when you are not. (Every day is full of both for me.) When you take silent time each day to reflect on...

As you go through life, you are constantly getting messages that more, bigger and faster are better. Perhaps even signs of God's love and approval. Jesus shows us another way. In this episode, Susan leads you in a practice centered on the self-emptying way of Jesus. As you contemplate the cross of Christ and meditate on the words of Philippians 2: 5-11 during this season of Lent, you'll encounter...