Poema Podcast

Kent Sanders - author, coach, teacher, blogger, joins me today. Kent shares his own creative journey and about strategies he has discovered which can help artists overcome fear, take action in their creative path, and be more productive in their creative life, which he calls his 'Artists Suitcase'.  Kent shares honestly and vulnerably about his own creative struggles, and how he overcame them to b...

My friend Luke Strickland of 'The Potting Shed Podcast' (& others) joins me today. Luke is a podcaster, creator, blogger and author, and a great guy. Here he shares his creative journey and how it intertwined with his own faith journey. We talk writing, creating, podcasting & vision for our lives, and how this connects with a life of faith. Luke and I also explore how to find your authentic voice,...

My friend Jim Woods, an author, writing coach, and blogger, joins me today. We discuss his own creative journey, and the challenge of leaving a stable job behind to risk it all on a creative career, in his case, as a writer. Today we talk about how to maintain authenticity in our work, how to keep our artistic integrity and find our true voice as artists. Jim shares about the challenges he's faced...

Christine Sine of Mustard Seed Associates, blogger, author, missionary & gardener joins me today. Christine shares her fascinating journey which took her from Australia all over the world, led her to found Mustard Seed Associates, a Christian charity, create and grow a blog and co-create several books. You'll also hear about how she discovered a deeper spirituality in the routines of every day liv...

Today it's the final part of our series with Alexander Shaia on the gospel journey of Quadratos. Today, we examine the book of Luke, and how we mature in service, and take the lessons we've learned, and the good news of the Christ out into the world.  Alexander & I talk about the background the book of Luke, why and when it was written and what this means for us. We discuss how even in the face of...

Alexander Shaia returns in the second of our three part journey through the gospel(s). Today we focus on John, and how we discover joy, even in the midst of the most terrible suffering, and then enter into a resurrection path into a new tomorrow.

Alexander Shaia returns to James Talks today, for the first of a new series over the next three weeks, walking us through the Gospel Journey of Quadratos in much more depth. In our previous discussion, in Episode 43, we briefly covered all four stages of our journey of identity through the gospels - or as Alexander prefers, the four stages of the one gospel of Christ. In this series we'll be spend...

It's the 50th episode of James Talks! Today I share some updates on my latest work, including my upcoming book, blog posts, the podcast, and mostly, a personal reflection on my recent journey. I talk about what I've been facing & what it's taught me about the importance of going back to confront the pain & struggles from our past we might have buried, in order to move forward, no matter how painfu...

We've all been shocked & deeply moved by events in Orlando this week. Today I posted a blog post about Orlando itself, and in this podcast I discuss the issue of guns, gun crime, and the myth of redemptive violence. From the perspective of a UK citizen living in London, a culture where there is little gun crime & no gun ownership, I share my reflections on the lessons we must learn from Orlando......

Author, speaker & radio host Matt Ham shares his powerful story today. It's a story of how he nearly lost everything, but instead discovered a life and a faith richer than anything he had known, and learned how to redefine what it means to be rich. It's a story of brokenness, restoration, purpose, healing and grace.  Matt has such a heart to serve others and is a born storyteller with incredible w...

Brandan Robertson joins me today to share his powerful, moving and often painful story of reconciling an emerging faith in Jesus as a teenager, with his own sexuality. His is a powerful story of being in, then suddenly finding himself out, again and again - and through it all, discovering a deeper, more inclusive spirituality which brings hope to all those who feel excluded by the church, whether...

Dr Don Beck, who joins me today, is a leading authority on Spiral Dynamics. This is a theory about the development of human consciousness, and the human journey. It divides the human journey up into 2 levels of consciousness, and within those two levels are different stages, all of which are part of both our individual journeys, and the journey of humanity as a whole.  Don and I outline these diff...

Jory Micah joins me today to share her own story, and discuss the important issue of gender inequality in the church today. We discuss her own vision, and what gender equality looks like for Jory in her day to day life, marriage and church.  Jory then shares some practical steps we can take against patriarchy in our own churches or Christian communities, understanding the different perspectives on...

John Williamson and Adam Narloch, AKA The Deconstructionists join me today. John & Adam are two friends with a nerdy passion for discovery, deconstruction, grace, acceptance, authenticity and humble wrestling. They run a hugely successful podcast, 'The Deconstructionists' where they discuss this themselves & with guests.  Today they share their story, and in the process we talk about faith, doubt,...

Alexander Shaia joins me today to explore a revolutionary way of reading & understanding the gospels which he calls 'Quadratos' - a four fold journey of identity & transformation.  We explore how this journey takes us back to Jesus as 'the' Christ, and opens us to read the gospels in the ancient & now restored sequence for Sunday worship - and as we do, to understand what these books really meant...

Lisa Delay from the Spark My Muse podcast returns to James Talks today to talk about spiritual practices from what's called 'ignatian spirituality'. Lisa shares how these can help give us spiritual discernment and make wiser decisions about what we're going to do with our lives.  You can find out more about this work in Lisa's book, 'Forked', which is available on Amazon now. Connect with Lisa at...

Mike McHargue, from the 'Science Mike' & 'Liturgists' podcasts, joins me today and shares his powerful and deeply moving testimony, of how he lost his faith, became an atheist, and then rediscovered the way of Jesus in a whole new way - grounded in reason, science, logic...and wonder.  We also talk about the fascinating interconnections between science and spirituality, and, the idea that how we w...

Dr Kate Hendricks Thomas & Dr Theresa Larson both return to the podcast today, as we discuss in more detail the three scientifically proven principles for a healthy balanced life, as Kate outlines in her book, 'Brave Strong True'. Kate, Theresa and I discuss the three principles of social support, self-care and spirituality/religiosity, how they are key to our individual thriving, and how science...

Chasing Lovely, the musical/creative duo of Chloe & Taylor Turner, return to James Talks today. They were my first ever guests, and appropriately enough, are my first returning guests.  Today I catch up with the Taylor sisters, talk about their latest work, seasons of life both in work & creativity, why they are stopping touring for a while, and what lies ahead for them creatively. We also talk ab...

Dr Theresa Larson joins me today. Dr Larson is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the founder of  Movement Rx , a physical therapy and wellness company that offers support to wounded warriors and individuals with health and movement issues. She has just released her first book, a memoir called 'Warrior' Today Theresa shares her own powerful story of overcoming grief and bulimia nervosa, how she over...

Nish Weiseth, author, speaker, mom & fan of Dr Pepper, joins me today. With great vulnerability, Nish shares her own powerful story, including her struggles with depression, and how this shaped both her faith & her creative life.  Nish also shares how she discovered the incredible power of story to shape lives, and began a website as an expression of this. A site which took her on the path to a wr...

Rob Bell, NYT Bestselling Author of Love Wins & several other books, international speaker, podcaster & former Pastor, joins me today.  We discuss major events in Rob's spiritual journey (including a Midnight Oil concert), what hope is, and where he sees both culture and the church progressing in the coming years.  We discuss in depth his new book 'How To Be Here' and what it means to be fully pre...

Anita Wing Lee, Periscoper, communicator & writer, joins me today to talk about a really important cause. The Soul Of Humanity is a book of stories, photos and creative work surrounding the story of refugee crisis, with all profits going to aid awareness and give direct support to the refugees themselves.  Their project is on Kickstarter, and today Anita shares about the genesis of the project, it...

Shane Blackshear of the 'Seminary Dropout' podcast joins me today, to share his own powerful story of being a seminary dropout, then pastor & planting a church. He shares lessons he's learned about faith, and what led him to start his 'Seminary Dropout' podcast.  We talk about what it really means to be a 'minister', the role of church & what 'church' really means, as well as the creative process...

Today philosopher, poet & theologian Pete Rollins & I discuss the problem of certainty in our spirituality & daily lives, why we need to critique our faith and how important it is to confront the truth of who we are to have true spiritual growth.  We discuss Pete's 'Atheism For Lent' project and how it critiques Christianity, the idea of our faith as a magic trick with a pledge, a turn and prestig...