Unhurried Living | Helping Christians Rest Deeper & Lead Better

In his book, "The Sacred Enneagram", Chris Heuertz states, “Real transformation takes place when we pair the self-awareness that the Enneagram stimulates with the silence of contemplative practice. Then our unique path to spiritual growth emerges, and we will never be the same.” I could not be more thrilled to have Chris Heuertz as my guest today. What he is bringing to the Enneagram con...

Much of our lives are lived by habits. Some of them are bad ones and tend to be life-draining. Some of them are good and help us really live. In today’s episode, Alan will share a recent conversation with Justin Whitmel Earley, author of the recently-released InterVarsity Press book, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction . A rule of life provides a structure of practices tha...

I enter today’s conversation with great anticipation. I’ve recently read Mindful Silence by Phileena Heuertz and cannot wait for you all to learn from her. She’s such a wealth of wisdom and heart. In addition to Mindful Silence , Phileena is the author of Pilgrimage of a Soul and a founding partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism . For nearly twenty years she and her husband, Chris...

Have you noticed that there is a lot of anxiety out there these days? Whether explicit and obvious, or implicit and underlying, many of us are feeling anxious or stressed. But we follow Someone who is called the Prince of Peace. Maybe that could make a difference in how we deal with challenges, troubles, hardships that cross our path. Maybe peace could actually become our operating system. When we...

We can’t help ourselves. We are going to join the conversation on Tidying Up by Marie Kondo . If you haven’t seen the Netflix show or read the book, that’s ok. We’re going pass through the subject on our way to a deeper dive into why we’re tempted to cling to things and how letting go can help our souls. Marie isn’t teaching this directly, but I’m seeing people sink down further into these two que...

Living more faithfully into our following of Jesus involves saying the right “Yeses” and the right “Noes.” In a little less than a month, Christians around the world will be saying “No” in some particular way as they practice Lent. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about observing An Unhurried Lent together. Today, we’re talking about something that Gem and I are going to be doing together b...

A few years ago we spent a long weekend in a beautiful home on a vineyard. While visiting the Napa region of CA, we had the treat of being hosted by a master gardener. We ate beautiful food and drank amazing wine while seated at a picnic table overlooking the rolling hills and fruit-laden vines. We talked, laughed and shared all the way up to sunset. As you can imagine, it was one of the most beau...

A new year full of plenty of new opportunities. However, with opportunities also come some common obstacles that can get in the way of making real, productive progress. That’s where we are headed today on the Unhurried Living Podcast. In this episode, we’re talking about four common barriers to leadership effectiveness. These aren’t the only four barriers to leading well, but they are four big one...

A few months ago we were in Germany leading a conference for Navy Chaplains. And as I pondered and prayed about our time together a phrase came floating up from my memory banks: “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” I had heard that phrase one time as I listened to a movie star talk about training for his role in an upcoming blockbuster. But what does “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast” have to do...

Alan and I take walks a few times a week. And most of the time we have these amazing conversations that lead to me saying, “We should have been recording this! This could have been a podcast!” We’ve never recorded a walk talk, but in this episode we are sharing from a couple of those conversations about contentment and anxiety. And we frame all this in the practice of a year-end-examen. As you lis...

A common approach to living the Christian life is to focus on our own faith, our own practices, our own faithfulness. The emphasis in the story of scripture always begins with God—God’s great faithfulness, God’s mighty works, God’s generous grace. Today, we’ll talk about a key question Jesus asks in the gospels that captures this inviting dynamic. One of my favorite words lately has been the word...

Welcome to today's podcast on rest, a conversation with author and theologian, A.J. Swoboda. Our conversation stems around the idea of rest and how it is built into the very fabric of God's beautiful creation. Without giving too much away, here are four of of the nine questions A.J. and I discuss in this podcast. A.J.'s book is entitled “Subversive Sabbath.” In what ways is Sabbath a subversive pr...

Have you ever felt embarrassed, humiliated or ashamed? That’s a silly question. We have all felt that way at one time or another. Today, we’re looking at the vulnerability that accompanies those dynamics and how Jesus himself can meet us there. When we think about this question of identity, we envision a simple dot in the center of a dotted circle going around it’s periphery. The dot at the center...

In this episode we look at community and what it means to be mentored within the communities in which we engage, live, work, and play. How does the posture of that community impact our spiritual growth as a leader. Today we are offering details and insight into the Unhurried Collective, a two year mentored community group learning how to Rest Deeper, Live Fuller, and Lead Better. We've had many qu...

In this episode we look at grace. One of our mentors, Wayne Anderson, often reminded us that we are not only saved by grace, but we serve by grace, lead by grace, live by grace. In other words, the generous grace of God is not merely a doorway through which we enter this Christian life, but it is the pathway on which we live it. In this podcast we introduce you to our newest resource, Inhaling Gra...

Today we are visiting with Rick Miller, author of Be Chief: It's a Choice, Not a Title and discussing the difference between being in a POSITION of influence versus being a PERSON of influence. We’re very aware that key leaders in organizational setting have titles that begin with the word “chief”—chief financial officer, chief operating officer, chief executive officer and such. Rick’s point is t...

Are you hungry to hear from God? Do you long for a closer, more conversational relationship with him? Today we are talking about how Jesus offers a personal invitation to listen to his voice and live in a remembered companionship of Christ. God’s Spirit gives God’s people real, workable, useful knowledge—if they will listen. He desires to teach us how to live—really live—and to live well. God is s...

Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary circumstance we can find ourselves at odds with what is occurring, even when there is nothing to be at odds with. This podcast is about prayer and presence. Not prayers . But prayer . Openness to God in any and every circumstance is prayer. Because, as we’ve said before, prayer is not something you do so much as it is someone you are with. Presence is key in...

One of the great hungers of the human heart is belonging. We want to be part of something. We want to be wanted by someone. “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35) The context of the passage is that Jesus is speaking to a crowd gathered in a house somewhere in the neighborhood of Galilee. The passage just before it is one in which the crowds who gathered were so...

We talk about how Jesus trained his inner circle, and how they came to know him better through times alone with him. We also talk a bit about the strategic importance of Jesus being alone with his Father daily in the week leading to his crucifixion. Be sure you listen to parts 1 and 2 (episodes #52 and #53) for the full experience of this content. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com...

This is the second episode in a three-part series on Paving the Way for Ministry Expansion in which I unpack Seven Key Moments in the Life of Jesus. If you missed Part 1, be sure to go back and listen to get up to speed. Today I’ll talk about Jesus’ pattern of stepping back to be with the Father then stepping out into more fruitful ministry. In today’s episode, which continues where I left off las...

Recently, Gem and I led a training for a group of leaders. On the final morning, I talked Paving the Way for Ministry Expansion: Seven Key Moments in the Life of Jesus. Today I’m teaching on how prayer and leadership relate to each other and what this looks like in the life of Jesus. We’ve often said that one of our favorite parts of the work of Unhurried Living is consulting, training, or leading...

Alan and I recently celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. About three weeks ago, I wrote a beautiful tribute to our long time love and sent it out to our email community. A week and a half later, we went on a celebratory trip that ended with us not speaking to each other on the plane all the way home. We’ll share the whole story with you today on the Unhurried Living Podcast! Discover more Chri...

In today’s episode, we're sharing a recent conversation between Alan and Tim Timmons. If you listen to Christian radio, you may already be enjoying his music. Alan enjoyed catching up with Tim, as it had been a while since they'd last spoken. Recently, Tim was nominated for a Grammy for writing the Mercy Me song, “Even If.” (Here's a YouTube music video of it). It’s a powerful vision of trusting G...

We are continuing our conversation on An Unhurried Life. We'll talk about the signs of hurry in every day life, the dynamics that accelerate our inner life and what good gets squeezed out when we are hurried inside. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us .