Why Certainty Feels Good (And Might Be Shutting Down the Conversation)
Practicing Hope Podcast
When tension rises, certainty can feel like safety. We’ve all been in a room where strong conviction takes over and starts to sound like control, self-protection, and avoidance. In leadership, certainty is often rewarded. It feels decisive and strong. But what if discernment asks us to listen instead? In this episode, Tanner Smith, Chase Rashad Stancle, and Sarah Johnson explore what to do with your own certainty (and someone else’s), how to respond when someone says, “God told me…,” and how to stay grounded without closing the process. Drawing on Scripture and stories...
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What to Do When Your Community Makes a Decision You Disagree With
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you ever wished there were a simple formula for knowing when it’s time to move on, especially after your community makes a decision you wouldn’t have chosen? Sometimes the hardest decisions aren’t about starting something new — they’re about what to do after a decision has already been made. Maybe your church changed direction. Maybe your organization chose a path you wouldn’t have chosen. Now you’re left holding the question: Do I stay, or is it time to go? In this episode, Tanner Smith, Chase Rashad Stancle, and Sarah Johnson explore what faithful discernment looks...
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Don't Let Fear Drive Your Decisions
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you ever carried a decision that felt heavy? Leadership often puts us in moments where there’s no obvious right answer — just responsibility, consequence, and the hope that we don’t cause harm. What if discernment isn’t about finding certainty, but about becoming the kind of person who can choose love when the stakes are high? In this episode, Tanner Smith is joined by Chase Stancle and Sarah Johnson to explore what it means to discern well under pressure. They talk about fear, fatigue, and responsibility, and the practices that form leaders who can listen deeply, act with...
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You Don't Have to Fix It: Loving People in Pain
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you ever had someone trust you with something heavy, and suddenly you’re not sure what to say? A friend tells you their marriage is falling apart. A volunteer quietly admits they’re exhausted and thinking about stepping away. You want to respond well, but your mind races. What if trust isn’t about having the perfect words, but about showing up with steadiness, humility, and care? In this episode, hosts Tanner Smith and Sarah Johnson are joined by Holly Wilson from Safe Haven Ministries to talk about what trustworthiness looks like in real relationships, especially when someone...
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The Cost of Doing Everything Yourself
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you ever gone days without needing to ask anyone for help? Groceries arrive at your door. Coffee is ordered ahead. Work, worship, and errands can all happen without a single face-to-face conversation. Life runs efficiently, but often at the cost of shared life. What if a fuller life comes not from convenience, but from shared life with others? Tanner Smith and Chase Rashad Stancle examine the value of self-sufficiency and how it shapes our neighborhoods, churches, and relationships. They talk about proximity, hospitality, and why growth often comes through inconvenience, disagreement, and...
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How to Stay Human (And Hopeful) When Scrolling
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you ever opened your phone “just for a minute” and ended up angry at strangers on the internet? So many of us pick up our phones to relax, but instead feel restless, stressed, and less present to the people right in front of us. What if your online life could actually become a place to practice hope and love? In this episode of our Beholding series, Tanner Smith, Chase Rashad Stancle, and Sarah Johnson talk about how phones and social media shape our brains, our bodies, and our relationships — and how small, practical practices can help us stay human, grounded, and open to God, even...
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How Small Acts of Curiosity Can Save the Friendship
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you ever felt a friendship grow tense or distant and weren’t sure why? In a world marked by polarization and quick assumptions, even strong friendships can feel fragile. A single comment, a post, or a difference in perspective can suddenly amplify the distance between us. But what if the gap you feel isn’t the end of the relationship — just an invitation to truly see each other again? In this episode, Tanner, Chase, and Sarah explore why division makes friendships harder to navigate, why we sometimes turn friends into “categories,” and how small acts of curiosity can soften what...
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What Hurry is Doing to Your Relationships
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you noticed hurry shrinking your capacity to love the people right in front of you? The pace of life makes us reactive — rushing kids out the door, skimming conversations, and missing moments that matter. What if slowing down wasn’t about doing less, but about learning to see as God sees? In this kickoff to our Beholding series, Tanner, Chase, and Sarah explore how hurry distorts our relationships and how attention, presence, and prayer can restore them. Warm, practical, and honest—this conversation helps you trade frantic for faithful with the people you love most. In this episode,...
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When Powerlessness Becomes a Habit and How to Break It
Practicing Hope Podcast
Have you ever felt powerless in a situation you care deeply about? When things feel out of control, it’s easy to slip into the story that says, “There’s nothing I can do.” But what if helplessness isn’t the whole story? In this episode, Tanner Smith, Chase Rashad Stancle, and Sarah Johnson wrap up their Relational Triangles series by exploring the Victim role — what it really is, what it isn’t, and how to move from stuckness to agency. Through Scripture, humor, and real-life examples, they unpack how empathy and small choices can restore hope and courage in the midst of...
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Why the Blame Game Keeps Us Stuck
Practicing Hope Podcast
Can we be honest? Blame feels good — at least for a moment. It’s quick, easy, and even a little satisfying to find someone else to fault. But before we know it, that “warm blanket” of blame can leave us isolated and stuck. In this next installment of the Relational Triangles series on the Practicing Hope Podcast, Sarah Johnson joins Tanner Smith and Chase Rashad Stancle to explore the role of the Accuser and how to move from calling people out to calling people in. Together, they unpack how fear, blame, and even our brains can keep us reactive and how curiosity, confession, and prayer...
info_outlineWhat do you do when the people you lead hold competing values? Whether it’s politics, sexuality, or the color of the sanctuary carpet, leaders are often stuck in the middle. They find themselves caught between people who love Jesus but can’t see eye to eye.
In this episode, Jess and Jeff draw from real-life examples and Scripture to unpack how non-anxious leadership can change the tone of an entire community. You’ll hear stories of the power of curiosity, and how laughter, shared meals, and guiding values can help us reconnect when division threatens to pull us apart.
With wisdom, humor, and even an illustration from a Ted Lasso scene, they offer hopeful next steps for leaders facing division.
You’ll hear:
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Why surface issues are rarely the real issues.
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How systems thinking can help leaders stay grounded when anxiety spikes.
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Why curiosity (not judgment) is the key to building connection in divided communities.
If you liked this episode, check out these resources:
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The Darts Scene in Ted Lasso
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“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom” (Viktor Frankl).
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“Telling Stories in the Dark” by Jeffrey Munroe
If you're interested in learning more about The Colossian Forum, visit our website colossianforum.org, and follow us on social media @colossianforum.