Restoring the Soul with Michael John Cusick

“ If women have the same value and worth as men in the eyes of Jesus, then they need to have the same value and worth as men in our culture. ” - Ruth Everhart Rev. Ruth Everhart is Michael’s guest for this episode of Restoring the Soul. She is an author, speaker, and Presbyterian pastor. Her writing explores the hidden ways religious belief shapes how we think about life, especially the lives of w...

“How will we engage our body which cyclically bleeds most of our life and can build and birth a human soul?” - Dr. Christy Bauman Dr. Christy Bauman is Michael’s guest for this episode of Restoring the Soul. She is a Licensed Mental Health Therapist who is committed to helping women come into their true voice. She offers meaning-making and storywork consulting. She is the author and producer of th...

“ Sometimes to get your life back, you have to face the death of what you thought your life would look like. ” - Lysa TerKeurst Lysa TerKeurst is Michael’s guest for this episode of Restoring the Soul. She is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the New York Times best-selling author of Uninvited, The Best Yes, Unglued, Made to Crave, and 16 other books. As president of Proverbs 31 Ministries,...

“In spite of a hundred disadvantages, the world will always return to monogamy. Covenantal sex remembers us. ” - Carolyn Weber On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes Carolyn Weber to the podcast. The title of today’s podcast is Sex and the City of God and even though the word “sex” is in the title, you will find out in today’s spirited conversation, Carolyn’s book of the same name...

“ Masculine power is intended to be good when it’s wholehearted and in the service of love. ” - Morgan Snyder On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes Morgan Snyder to the podcast. Morgan is a grateful husband of over 20 years and a proud father of a wildly creative and witty daughter and a joyful and passionate son. He serves as a strategist, entrepreneur, teacher, writer, and spea...

“The invitation is participation.” - Aaron Niequist On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes Liturgist, Writer, and Pastor Aaron Niequist. Currently living in NYC, Aaron’s career has taken him from leading worship at Mars Hill Church alongside Rob Bell and Willow Creek just outside of Chicago. He has also created A New Liturgy - a collection of modern liturgical worship recordings....

“ When we see God’s heart, our own heart becomes free. ” - Michael John Cusick On this edition of Restoring the Soul, we’re featuring a talk Michael gave to Denver Seminary students titled, “Less Is More”. The essence of the message is about our need to be still and rest in what God has done for us in Christ. And that the depth of our relationship with God is going to be directly related to the de...

“ The number one cause of leadership failure is never a skill let down. It’s isolation. ” - Bill Thrall On this edition of Restoring the Soul, we’re featuring a conversation Michael had with Bill Thrall. If you’re a leader - in any capacity in your life - you’re going to find great connection and value in this discussion. Bill is a co-founder of Trueface , an organization committed to helping peop...

“There’s something about shame you can’t heal on your own.” - Michael John Cusick On this edition of Restoring the Soul, we’re concluding a 5-part series on the way shame fuels addiction. Longtime friend to Restoring the Soul, Peter Zaremba, joins Michael for this all-important conversation that shows that the foundation of shame is connected to the false self and the belief that you need to be so...

“The Enneagram takes into account that the human personality is fluid, not static.” - Ian Morgan Cron On this episode of Restoring the Soul, we’re featuring a conversation between Michael John Cusick and Ian Morgan Cron that took place just before the release of his third book, “The Road Back to You” . They discussed Ian’s introduction to the Enneagram and how it has impacted him over the years. T...

“ Our deepest desire is for connection. ” - Michael John Cusick What do you long for? How about thirst? And what are your desires? God has uniquely wired us for connection; it is the essence of our being. To know and be known. Welcome to Restoring the Soul, a podcast dedicated to helping you close the gap from what you’re meant to be and what keeps you from being all that. On this edition, Michael...

“ In being known, I can simply rest...and be. ” - Michael John Cusick On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael continues a 5-part series of podcasts on how shame fuels addiction. We encourage you to catch up on previous episodes that also include conversations with Michael’s colleague, Kelley Gray. The statement Michael will address today in part 3 of the series is centered around where sham...

On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael concludes his conversation with composer, arranger, producer, singer, songwriter, and musician Rob Mathes. Rob is a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated artist who won an Emmy award for his musical direction of the Kennedy Center Honors. In Part 2, a few of the topics Rob and Michael discuss include: How Rob’s song, “Although It Is the Night” was inspired...

On this edition of Restoring the Soul, we are please to bring you an encore conversation with Rob Mathes. Rob is Emmy an award-winning, Grammy nominated, Tony nominated music producer, composer, arranger, singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and guitarist. The list of names that Rob has worked with is extraordinary--including production and songwriting collaborations with Sting on his last three album...

“ Shame is the experience of not being with God in His love. ” - Michael John Cusick On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael and Kelley Gray continue their conversation on how shame fuels addiction, concluding that shame is embodied (in the body, with the body) and making the important point that, “As we experience shame, it’s not just an emotion...it plays out in our nervous and cardiovasc...

“Shame is not just an emotion, it’s a physical experience.” - Michael John Cusick On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael picks up where we left off a few weeks ago - delving into the debilitating emotion of shame in hopes to chart a restorative path to health. This is Part 1 of 5, in addition to the introduction, that sets the stage for this informative series designed to help you live lov...

“ I think it is naive to ignore the journey of people who have been on the margins in our society. ” - Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards of Chicago’s North Park University to discuss race and Christianity in modern America as it relates to current events. Michael was deeply impacted by Dr. Edwards article in Christianity Today f...

“ Fair exchange equals no robbery. ” - Dr. Reggie Moore Today’s podcast is a response to the murder of Mr. George Floyd last week in Minnesota and the swell of lament, protest, and division that has resulted from his tragic death. What you will hear is like none of our previous episodes. Michael spoke with his friend and colleague from Denver Seminary, Dr. Reggie Moore, a professor and specialist...

“ Artists are gardeners who are called to till the soil of culture. ” - Mako Fujimura On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael spends an hour with Mako Fujimura, visual artist, author, thought leader, and cultural-shaper who was recently appointed Director of The Brehm Center at Fuller Seminary. His paintings have been exhibited around the world and he is one of the first artists to paint li...

On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael kicks off a 6-part series (including this episode as the Introduction) on the debilitating effects of shame and what the path to true freedom looks like. Shame is a judgement upon ourselves that is an experience within but is also put upon us from the outside. Shame also says, “I am not good.” But we need to remember the promise from Paul in Galatians...

“ The trajectory of spiritual growth is in the direction of simplicity rather than in the direction of complexity. ” - Alan Fadling On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael and his guest Alan Fadling ponder the questions that not many people want to - or have the courage to ask, “Do you want a Jesus who is relaxed? When you think of Jesus, is He relaxed?” Living an Unhurried Life is central...

“ I think the gift of limits is one of the critical issues of rebelling against God. ” - Pete Scazzero On this edition of Restoring the Soul, we’re taking a deep dive into our archives for the first ever interview produced for the podcast. We kicked off Restoring the Soul on July 21, 2016 and we are now celebrating 126 more episodes with nearly 800,000 downloads! The interview you will hear today...

“ Our deepest identity does not lie in our gender, our sexual orientation, our wounds. Our identity lies in Christ. ” - Heather King Heather King has always described herself as “an ex-lawyer, a former barfly, and a Catholic convert.” Her previous life as a functioning alcoholic led her to numerous illicit relationships that resulted in three abortions and a long-term, but failed, marriage. She is...

“ God meets people in their moments of vulnerability and suffering and transforms them. And what they get is friendship with God .” - Jason Gaboury What would happen if we met God in the midst of our isolation, loneliness, grief, and vulnerability? What if our loneliness became the context for a deeper life with God and greater compassion for others? As the global pandemic is affecting millions th...

“ All spirituality is about what we do with the unrest in our soul. ” - Ronald Rolheiser How are you caring for your soul? Are you in touch with the Father on a deep and intimate level? Today you will be introduced to iCARE. iCARE is a way for you to be still, guard your heart and the treasure inside, in a way that you can become more aware of it and be connected to that reality and live out of it...