In the Summer of 2008 I was sitting in my inlaw's home office working on their computer. My wife, 1 year old daughter and I had just moved from Los Angeles to Dallas to live a more compelling story, but we knew very few people except for some family we had in the DFW area. So there I was online looking for some way to connect with people in Dallas. At the time I was pretty involved in the online intersection of faith and technology, and so it was with great interest that I saw that a brand new conference was taking place in Dallas a couple of weeks after our move. The conference was the ECHO Conference, and it was there that I met so many great people...many who have come to be some of my closest friends today. One of those great people was Scott McClellan, who at the time was a part of the organization who was putting on the conference. To this day, I look back at that conference as really helping me get connected in a new city.
The ECHO Conference may no longer exist, but my relationships from them exist. And Scott has been one of my close friends who I have learned a great deal from. Scott is currently the Communications Pastor at Irving Bible Church in Irving, TX. Scott and his wife Annie have been a part of this church community for about 14 years, and have been instrumental in the leadership of the Tapestry Adoption and Foster Care Ministry at the church. Over the last 9 to 10 years I have been really interested in the concept of story as a framework for living a compelling life, and Scott is someone who has taught me a lot about this concept. I have not only learned from him through our many conversations, but he and his wife have modeled this concept in their personal lives through their adoption process and the participation in the lives of those around them who seek out their wisdom in the area of adoption. Scott chronicles much of this journey in his book, Tell Me a Story: Finding God (and Ourselves) Through Narrative.
In this episode we explore:
Resources and Links Mentioned in the Episode
Donald Miller's sermon Story at Mars Hill in Michigan
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Blood Water Mission and Jena Lee Nardella
Tell Me a Story: Finding God (and Ourselves) Through Narrative
I first met John Dyer online somewhere in the summer of 2008. I was engaged online quite a bit at the intersection of faith and technology. I am definitely not an expert in technology, but there was a period of about 4-5 years where I spent a lot of time at social media and technology conferences, workshops, meetups, etc. And during that time I spoke quite a bit on how technology shapes our relationships. But it was when I met John in person in the Fall of 2008 and we started hanging out, that I really began to understand truly how technology shapes us.
Some of John's work that really shaped me early on you can find in his presentation Technology is not Neutral: How Bible Technology Shapes our Faith. This presentation is a good introduction into John's thoughts on technology. And these thoughts powerfully shaped how I understood the role of technology in my life, especially understanding that it is not neutral, but is always shaping us in some way. The question is, how is the technology we are using shape us? If this is a question that you are curious about, I recommend you read John's book, From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology.
I have had the privilege over the last 6 years to have a friendship with John, and I've also really enjoyed our time together team teaching/presenting at some church workshops and conferences on the role of technology in our relationships. John is a very thoughtful, intelligent, and humble guy, and as you listen to the podcast you will begin to understand what I mean. In this podcast we talk about:
Resources and Links Mentioned in the Episode
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life by Albert Borgmann
The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects by Marshall McLuhan
From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology
Other Links
Website:. John Dyer
Twitter:. John Dyer
Using Technology Without Technology Using You: Technology in the Kingdom, Society, and Your Life
I first got to connect with Adam McLane when we were driving through the Dominican Republic, and across the border into Haiti. It was only about a month after the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, and we were part of a youth ministry team that went down there (though as Adam points out, it was more like a bunch of youth pastors and me -- a therapist). Over the course of those last five years I have had the opportunity to really connect and get to know Adam better, as well as speaking at his initial Youth Cartel in 2012, on the topic of, The Anxiety of Teenagers.
But in the last 5 years Adam has become one of the leading experts on youth and technology. In August of 2013, Adam's expertise really gained attention when his blog post, "Why You Should Delete SnapChat" went viral, eventually taking shutting down his blog with all the traffic. But don't mistake Adam for some kind of anti-tech Luddite, rather he is a very thoughtful, thinker on technology and how it shapes our lives. And one of the things I really like about Adam when talking to him about technology, is that he's not one to just lay down rules and put tech tools into action, rather he really encourages the consumer of tech to think about how they use their technology, and how they can create "sacred spaces" and practice sabbaths in their lives.
In this episode Adam and I dive deep into the work of Danah Boyd, and more specifically her latest book, It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. It's a great book, and Adam recommends that all parents buy the book, if only to read the first chapter. We also explore bullying and cyberbullying and how what takes place online is most often modeled offline.
We also explore the issue of trust between parents and kids, and talk about why Adam doesn't recommend filtering or monitoring devices on computers. One of Adam's concerns that he addresses is that too often parent's turn over their parenting responsibilities to devices, rather than to help their kids think critically about how they engage technology.
This was a fun conversation, and ultimately, I think both Adam and I mourned a little bit the loss of a lot of the freedoms that we had as kids (taking off on our bikes and being gone all day; cruising; loitering, etc.), but that kids today don't/can't experience (Danah Boyd's work explores this cultural shift).
This episode is for any of you who use technology (which is you if you are reading this). So whether you are a parent, or not, I highly recommend listening and discovering how you can more thoughtfully consume technology in your own life.
One of the issues that almost always comes up in my work with clients is the issue of forgiveness. It is the issue that often is not addressed, but the one that is most needed. So a few months ago when a pastor friend of mine asked me to come speak at his church's marriage conference he gave me the freedom to choose what I wanted to talk about. The obvious stuff came to mind instantly, communication....intimacy....sex....etc.
So I thought about what I wanted to talk about for a few days and finally settled on the topic of forgiveness.
Why did I settle on this topic?
Because not only is it the one issue that I see in every counseling session (whether forgiveness is taking place or being withheld), but it's something I need to work on more in my own life. So it's not surprising I chose a topic that I most need to grow in.
I ended up giving this talk 2x in the course of 8 days. One time at the church marriage conference mentioned above, which took place at Preston Trail church in Frisco, TX. But I also gave the talk to the young adult/young married's group at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, TX.
It's a topic I loved researching, talking about...and learning more about how much it's needed as an essential discipline in my own life.
I ended up doing this podcast by myself (which I plan to do every 4-6 podcasts that I record with guests). So I hope you enjoy.
As I say in the introduction of this podcast, Wess Daniels is one of the smartest guys that I know. I first met Wess about ten years ago or more when I was a student at Fuller Theological Seminary and pastoring at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. I started hanging out with Wess when he was teaching me some tech hacks in creating my Apple HTML email signature (I know, sounds pretty exciting). But over the years as my friendship with Wess has deepened, I've always been impressed with not only his intellect, and the topics is spans, but his sense of humility.
Wess received his Ph.D from Fuller Seminary's School of Intercultural Studies. Wess is especially interested in Quaker renewal and participatory culture. At the time of this interview he was a Quaker pastor at Camas Friends church in Washington....but last week he was named the Director of Friends Center and Quaker Studies at Guilford College.
Wess is also the author of A Convergent Model of Renewal: Remixing the Quaker Tradition in a Participatory Culture. Besides publishing this theological work, Wess has also contributed to the Sketchnote Workbook and written about "learning the art of sketchnote preaching."
In this podcast we discuss a lot of different things such as:
--leadership in the Quaker tradition (flattened leadership)
--what participatory culture looks like
--developing weekly rhythms of self-care
--harnessing creativity in our work (i.e. sketchnotes)
Please listen and subscribe to my podcast in the following places, and then leave a comment letting me know what you liked about the show, or what guest you would like to hear from. Thank you so much for your support.
--iTunes
--Stitcher
--Player FM
--Libsyn
This was a really fun podcast episode to record. I drove down to Dallas a couple of weeks ago to spend a couple of hours with Innovation 360's Executive Director Kevin Gilliland, and Director of Marketing Lauren Barnett. I first came across the work of Innovation 360 when I met up with Lauren and another colleague over coffee one morning. And in the last 3 years I have been continually impressed not only with Lauren and Kevin, but the whole team at Innovation 360. I love their all encompassing approach to mental health, which involves caring for the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual lives of those they come alongside of.
Not only our Kevin and Lauren involved in mental health, but they are avid triathletes. And when I say avid, I mean Lauren is professionally sponsored, and not only won first place in her first , but she has been on the podium ever since. And Kevin competes regularly in triathlons, completing two races. These two are people who strive to take care of themselves physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and because of that, not only do they thrive as a person, but their relationships and work thrive as well.
In this podcast we had a great time talking about a lot of things, but some of the main conversations center around:
--turning insight into change
--striving for balance in our lives
--the importance of relationships to help us grow
--their personal stories of how they got involved in triathlons and how it has helped challenge them to grow
--what to do if you find yourself "stuck" in life
About two years ago I came across Sarah Stanley online which led to a few email exchanges about running and health. And over the course of the last two years I have been both continually impressed and encouraged as I have watched her explore the outer limits of her abilities (physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually) through her ulta-running, all the while being fueled on a plant based diet. And her running resume is impressive: 26 marathons, Boston qualifying, 7 50 mile races, and 4 100 mile races...and on and on and on. The intersection of running and food has been resonating with me the last couple of years and is the reason why I wanted to sit down with Sarah and interview her on my podcast.
As you will be able to tell from this interview, Sarah is full of life, and is passionate about so many things. I love that excitement and I love the message she brings at the intersection of our fitness, food and faith.
My dad is an amazing guy. Besides being my father he has taken on many roles over the course of his life such as church planter, pastor, professor, prison chaplain, hospice chaplain, writer, teacher, speaker, spiritual director, radio show host...and co-founder of Water from Rock which is a non-profit ministry based in Scottsdale, AZ, and which provides weekly classes, workshops, retreats, Lenten and Advent devotionals and much, much more. So all that to say, my dad is incredibly wise and has a lot of important insight into some of the issues that we all at times find ourselves struggling with.
In this episode, my dad sits down with a couple of weeks after my 40th birthday as we explore the importance of how we navigate significant life transitions; what it means to discover our passion and how we can go about exploring that; as well as looking at the role of "letting go" in our journey through life so that we may more fully embrace the work of God in our lives.
We talk about and cover all kinds of topics in this episode, but a few of the key themes are:
--some of the keys to transitioning through various stages of life
--ways in which we can discover what we are passionate about
--different spiritual exercises to help you connect with God
--what it looks like to let go so you can open yourself up to embrace God's work in your life
Check out the blog post for this podcast
What can I say about Marc Payan? He is someone who is hard to sum up in just a few words. I first came across Marc in the online marriage and relationship space. Though we first met online I began to occasionally see Marc in person and I have really been inspired by him.
Marc is probably best known now as the founder of Payan X which began with him helping a few people get in shape in his garage, and which now is a "movement" of thousands of people. Though it primarily involves fitness, it is more than that. It's about life transformation in many areas such as leadership, relationships and community....and fitness is just one aspect of that.
But all of this began with Marc's own personal transformation of losing close to 110lbs, becoming physically fit, and then leading a "tribe" of "warriors" that began with a few in his garage...and who are now helping transform the communities around them.
Marc has some great insight into about the importance of "working it out", rather than working out. And about "what's eating you", rather than what you eat. And not about losing your weight, but about gaining health.
This interview is full of all kinds of great insight on how your health and fitness can transform not only you, but also your relationships. Marc has a great story of transformation that will inspire you.
--change driven by guilt and shame versus sustainable transformation
--looking at how some family of origin issues fuel our unhealthy behaviors around food
--the importance of leadership and how to share that vision with others ("dreams are birthed in relationships with others)
--creating space to allow others to collaborate and lead with you
--the importance of the 3 R's in transformation (relate, repeat, reframe)
--essential keys to help you get unstuck
--"fat dad vs. fit dad"
I have been dreaming and thinking about starting a podcast for about two years, but just never got around to it. As much as I wanted to start it, life just got in the way. Work has been busy in my private practice, as well as speaking and writing. And then there is family life and all the things that come with that as well. Trying to balance out work, family life, as well as my own personal stuff has become a huge challenge over the years...and so the podcast just took a backseat.
So that's why I thought it so important to start my podcast journey off talking about the intersection of self-care and relationships. What I have learned over the years is that when I'm not taking care of myself, I'm just not any good to the relationships around me. My ability to take care of myself directly impacts the relationships that I'm in.
My desire is to be someone who is life-giving, and to breathe life into the relationships around me, rather than suck the life out of them.
So in this episode I explore:
--what self-care is
--the four core areas of self-care (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual)
--ways to implement self-care into your life in a sustainable way
--some baby steps to take towards self-care
--the impact of self-care on our relationships
So I hope you enjoy this first ever Rhett Smith podcast, and that you tune in for more.
Check out the blog post for this podcast