Life with God: A Renovaré Podcast

Most Christians practice spiritual disciplines long before they know what a spiritual discipline is. For Jean Nevills, spiritual director and Renovaré Ministry Team member, celebration was a normal part of her upbringing and is part of everyday life now. In this conversation with Nathan Foster, she makes celebration practical.

Written by an anonymous author in the 14th century, The Cloud of Unknowing serves as a guide to Christian contemplation. For guest James Catford, Renovaré board member and former British Bible Society Chief Executive, it's a "lifetime book." Nathan Foster draws out James's insights on the book.

A good translation of Philippians 4:4 is, "Celebrate in the Lord, always." But what does that mean in practical terms? Author and teacher Jan Johnson joins Nathan Foster again to discuss being glad with God in the present moment.

Is learning to discern God's voice a fundamental spiritual discipline? Evan Howard believes so and joins Nathan Foster to share how God leads us. Evan's Ph. D. is in the area of Christian Discernment, and he teaches at institutions including Fuller Theological Seminary.

"There's a difference between someone's words and someone's voice." Spiritual director and author Fil Anderson talks with Nathan Foster about learning to love and discern the sound of God's voice.

Dallas Willard once said, "If you don't come away for a while, you will come apart after a while." Ruth Haley Barton, author of Invitation to Retreat, joins Nathan to talk about the gift and necessity of retreat where we rest, unplug, and relinquish ourselves to God.

Losing someone close opens up new perspectives and a deep gratitude for that person's life. Songwriter, worship leader, and Renovaré Director of Communications Brian Morykon reflects on worship in the light of the loss of his mentor and friend Scott Baker.

Vices are bad habits we can rely upon to make our lives not work. So why do we do them? How do we get to the bottom of our sin-symptoms and allow The Master Physician to heal the root causes? Rebecca DeYoung, author of Glittering Vices and Vainglory, talks with Nathan Foster about ordering our loves. The Renovaré Bookclub is reading Glittering Vices together—learn more at renovare.org/bookclub.

Sometimes the voice, message, and volume of our secrets can dominate us. Enter confession, a spiritual practice that helps us receive forgiveness and healing. To explore this liberating spiritual discipline, Nathan Foster welcomes back Paul Patton, author, playwright, former pastor, and now artist in residence at Spring Arbor University.

"There's a lot of times people romanticize service work. It's not like that...It breaks my heart… it unravels me… People ask, 'do you have to always feel it?' I don't know how'd you'd love without feeling it." Sarah Bowling, founder of humanitarian organization Saving Moses, joins Nathan Foster again to talk about the spiritual discipline of service.

At a 2018 Renovaré Pastoral Leadership Conference, workshops were given on spiritual disciplines. Directed at pastors but applicable to all, James Catford, Renovaré board member and former British Bible Society Chief Executive, presented on the heart of service.

Nathan and Richard Foster bring us along for a hike on a Colorado trail as they have a heart to heart chat about solitude, silence, leadership, and special rocks.

Zane Creamer is a graduate of the Renovaré Institute and the Women's Ministries Director at Crossroads Church in Raleigh, NC. Nathan Foster chats with Zane—an extrovert—about how solitude transformed the way she spends time with God.

Listen in as Director of Education Carolyn Arends and President Chris Hall discuss how we choose Book Club books, why it's important to read substantive books that we might not agree with, and how to read empathetically.

"There's nothing I ever read or heard him say that he didn't live." Rebecca Willard Heatley carries on the work of her father Dallas Willard by compiling and editing his unpublished works. She joins Nathan Foster in this interview to talk candidly about life growing up as Dallas's daughter.

Simplicity is a matter first of the heart, so the external expression of it will look different for different people. For authors and professors Mark and Lisa McMinn, it looks like running Fern Creek, an organic farm in Oregon.

Damon Seacott can fit everything he owns into a car—but he's not a college student. Damon, a Quaker and former Chief of Staff at Spring Arbor University, simply prefers to make people more important than things. Nathan Foster talks with him about Simplicity.

Christian Simplicity is first a matter of the heart—practicing the presence of Jesus. Only then can external simplicity and frugality be truly life-giving. Nathan and Richard Foster explain why in this brief conversation.

Simplicity doesn't mean we don't have anything. It's viewing ourselves as stewards of what God has given us to provide for ourselves and share with others. Mimi Dixon joins Nathan Foster again to remind us that in God there is always enough.

Simplicity is a gentle call to tear back the clutter of life, relationships, possessions, and schedule—anything that keeps us from the abundant life God invites us into. Nathan Foster unpacks simplicity with Jan Johnson, author of Abundant Simplicity: Discovering the Unhurried Rhythms of Grace.

Spiritual director and author Fil Anderson and lawyer Justin Campbell talk with Nathan Foster about how to study for transformation instead of just information.

Renovaré President Chris Hall has spent his life studying the ancient Christians known as the desert fathers and mothers. From a recent Westmont University academic conference, Chris talks about the desert as a "learning space"—a place where the Spirit can put to death in us that which destroys our ability to love.

Author and Renovaré Institute instructor Trevor Hudson delivers a passionate message on Romans 8 at First Baptist Church in Vancouver, BC.

"It's a way to clean the engine... it hones... It's a rich adventure." That's how Sarah Bowling, founder of a global humanitarian organization called Saving Moses, talks about fasting in this interview with Nathan Foster.

Sometimes when you meet a person later in life it's hard to imagine them any other way. But like all of us, Dallas Willard had a formation. It's told in the new biography Becoming Dallas Willard. Nathan talks with Dallas' daughter Rebecca (Becky), and the book's author Gary Moon.