Unhurried Living | Helping Christians Rest Deeper & Lead Better

If we were to only believe the 24-hour news cycle, we would think there is very little peace in the world. Yes, there are dramatic and traumatic things going on around the planet. But right in the middle of all that, many people are simply living their lives--loving their families, working hard and serving others. We can choose to be people of peace right in the middle of a contentious, distracted and overwhelmed culture. And I would argue this is absolutely necessary. Today we’re looking at a scripture passage that gives us beautiful counsel for extending peace to everyone, no matter the circumstance. And there’s a surprising twist that generously benefits us as we do.  I’m Gem Fadling and it’s time for ICDT.________________________________________________Follow Gem on Instagram and grab a copy of her new book Hold That Thought. You can also join her in the Replenish Community. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We’re living at a time in which our capacity attention may be our most valuable asset. If this is true, than our great liability is distraction, and the ways in which we are training ourselves in distraction. Paying attention to the purpose of our lives, and to where God may be inviting us to give of our energy and time is a beautiful opportunity.The world around us is happy to provide us with lots of attractive options for surrendering our attention to mostly meaningless amusements. But God’s purpose for you is gentler, quieter, less flashy and more substantial. God’s Spirit would love to train you how to pay attention to his presence in your every moment. My guest today, Paul Angone, has written a book to help us with all this, Listen to Your Day. He wants to help us stop drifting, stop worrying, and stop living distracted. I’m looking forward to sharing our recent conversation with you in a minute. Paul Angone is a trusted and sought-after voice to college students, young professionals, and those going through career change. The bestselling author  of 101 Secrets for Your Twenties, 101 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Twenties, and 25 Lies Twentysomethings Need to Stop Believing, Paul is a dynamic keynote speaker at universities, corporations, and churches nationwide. He is also the creator of AllGroanUp.com and the All Groan Up podcast. He lives just outside Denver, Colorado, with his wife, Naomi, and their four children. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Here at Unhurried Living, we care about the souls of leaders. We are interested in spiritual leadership that attends to the souls of others. This is at the heart of the calling of Jesus in our lives to follow him, to let him shepherd us well, and to learn how to join him in the care of others around us. Cultivating the spiritual growth of others has been at the heart of our work for more than 30 years. And this Fall, we’ll be launching a new training in leadership and soul care called PACE. PACE is for you if you want to engage your leadership with more intention & presence, but:You haven’t found a mentor to help guide the way, You don’t have the skills to lead formationally,You feel distracted by all your current demands. Maybe you are well aware of your need to prioritize the care of your own soul, but:You're feeling unfocused  or overwhelmedYou don't believe you have the time to devote to these practicesYou struggle to experience the connection between your soul and your leadership. You know you could be leading with more focus and heart…but you don’t know where to begin.You know you could be leading from overflow...but you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and distracted by all the options.Learn more about PACE here. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We begin with a reading from 1 Thes 5:14:“And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” (1 Thes. 5:14) It would be easy to simply gloss over this, ignoring the relational nuances or to turn it into some rigid formula for the control freak within. Rather than either of those, I like to think of this as wise counsel for truly seeing others and responding in ways that might actually help them make their way. We’ll simply take each phrase on its face as we move through the verse. Connect with Gem on Instagram or visit her at the Unhurried Living website. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In the first two chapters of An Unhurried Life, I share a bit about my first experience with solitude and silence in a group retreat setting. That was in January 1990. It’s hard to believe that was 33 years ago. I have often shared how transformative the regular rhythm of retreat has been in my life, my marriage, and my leadership over the years. Today, I’m so happy to be talking with Ruth Haley Barton about her book Invitation to Retreat. It’s such a wise, practical resource to help us cultivate the regular practice of spiritual retreat. I can highly recommend it! Ruth Haley Barton (Doctor of Divinity, Northern Seminary) is founding president and CEO of the Transforming Center, a ministry dedicated to strengthening the souls of pastors and Christian leaders, and the congregations and organizations they serve. For over twenty years, she has ministered to the soul care needs of pastors and leaders based upon her conviction that the best thing we bring to leadership is our own transforming selves.Ruth is the author of numerous books and resources on the spiritual life, including Invitation to Solitude and Silence, and Pursuing God's Will Together.  Connect with Alan on LinkedIn. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

There is one place in the gospels where Jesus specifically describes himself. Remember this passage from Matthew 11? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”Jesus describes himself as gentle and humble in heart. I wonder to what degree we imagine these as primary aspirations in our own discipleship to Jesus. Harshness and pride seem to be reigning nearly everywhere in our world today, and too often even among those who would call themselves followers of Christ. That’s why I’m so glad to be talking today with Brenda Quinn and Richard Foster about his latest book, “Learning Humility: A Year of Searching for a Vanishing Virtue.” Humility is more than a virtue that we should practice. It is actually the pathway to the abundant life Jesus has come to lead us into!  Brenda Quinn is a pastor of spiritual formation in the Foursquare church and a writer of many years. She is also the author of the character profiles in the Life with God Bible.Richard Foster is founder, past president and current team member of Renovaré. Having studied at George Fox and Fuller Theological Seminary, Foster has served as a pastor and taught worldwide on spiritual formation. Author of dozens of articles and six books, including Celebration of Discipline, Richard continues to write on the spiritual life. He and his wife, Carolynn, have two grown children, Joel and Nathan, nine grandchildren, and live near Denver, Colorado. Connect with Alan on LinkedIn. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Awhile back, during an overnight retreat, I chose to peruse the notes from my first spiritual direction training. I had two folders with worksheets, practices, and handwritten notes from multiple lectures. My plan was to read through everything, so I could remember and glean from the spiritual wisdom contained in those pages. I made it through only half of one handwritten notebook. I barely scratched the surface. Reading through my notes in a soulful way turned out to be a much slower process than I had anticipated. That time was so rich. I was able to soak in the goodness of God and reflect on how he had used those teachings to carry me through the next ten years. The lessons I reflected on were like a rototiller, cultivating the soil of my soul’s garden. I was ready to receive what was offered, and it truly prepared me for all of the work that followed over the decade since then. I thought I would share with you ten seeds of wisdom from my notes. My hope is that one or two of these ideas will connect with you right where you are. Connect with Gem on Instagram or visit her at the Unhurried Living website. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

The second most listened to episodes in the nearly five years of this podcast is titled “Working for God or Working with God,” episode #205. A key insight there is that our work or our ministry is not so much something we do for God, and then hope for his blessing after the fact. Our work is a gracious collaboration with the God who initiates and is already at work. Today, I’m talking with Dr. Roger Parrott about his book Opportunity Leadership. In it, he makes what some leaders will consider a radical proposal: Many of our assumptions in long-range organizational planning are misguided. He wants to argue for a way of leading that is paying attention to opportunities God’s Spirit is bringing across our paths now rather than projecting futures we can’t possibly predict. Certainly Covid-19 showed us that long-range plans don’t predict the future for any of our lives or our organizations. Dr. Roger Parrott is one of America’s most experienced college presidents and was named among the 10 Most Visionary Education Leaders of 2021 by The Education Magazine. Dr. Parrott is a third-generation College president and was one of America's youngest college presidents first elected at age 34. He has served on various boards and was Chair of the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization hosted by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. In addition to his book Opportunity Leadership, Dr. Parrott is also the author of The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders. His wife, MaryLou, earned her Ph.D. in English and is a Professor at Belhaven. They have two adult children who graduated from Belhaven. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We’ve talked often here about the continual challenge of how our devices tend to train us in hurry and distraction. In episode 103, “Managing our Omnipresent Smartphones,” I shared the story of an eight-day retreat where I found myself wrestling with how attached to my smartphone I’d become. You might enjoy going back to that episode after you’ve finished listening to this one. Today, I’m talking with a new friend, Heath Wilson, who is the co-founder of a company called Aro. They’ve developed a resource and app that will help you manage how you engage as a family with your smartphones. It’s designed to help us reduce screen time by making it easy and fun to put down our phones.Aro is built on the principles and science of habit formation, and gamifies the experience of being off your phone. The Aro smart-box is beautiful, tech-packed, and acts as the visual cue for you to put down your phone. I hope you’ll take time to explore this resource further.  Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We live in a world where limits are seen as curses, but maybe good limits are God-given gifts. Only God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere. It’s good news that I don’t have to try to be any of these things because I simply can’t. Today's Unhurried Living Podcast episode is an interview with Kelly Kapic, author of "You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News." I love how Kelly and I are able to talk about and share the intersection of his message on limitations the Unhurried Living message of unhurry. Kelly M. Kapic is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He is the award-winning author or editor of more than 15 books, including Embodied Hope , The God Who Gives , and Becoming Whole with Brian Fikkert. Kapic is also part of a John Templeton Foundation grant studying “Christian Meaning-Making, Suffering, and the Flourishing Life.” Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.