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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

Release Date: 01/14/2020

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

There is going to be a very good chance that you think you know what I'm going to say on this podcast, but you don't. I can promise you that, because up until about 12 hours ago, I didn't even know what I was going to be saying on this podcast. I actually had an interview scheduled this week, but aren't we living in a time when we never know what's coming? This podcast wasn't in the cards for me either, so please keep listening until the end. David Radke will be joining me on today's show. In order to earn a living, I create content. I write books. I travel and I speak. I write online courses...

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

I'm excited about today, because my guest is ordinary. She is ordinary, the topic is ordinary, and you all know how I feel about ordinary. We talk about a mundane event that lots of people go through, but she is handling it in extraordinary ways. I haven't done a podcast on this subject, yet it's so prevalent. I'm talking about divorce. Last fall, I met Kelly Mathews, and I thought she was so kind and so beautiful, but her story was painful. It was the story of a loss of a relationship and the loss of a marriage. When I met her, I was wondering how she was still standing and still smiling. I...

Dream Life

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

Over the next two weeks, we will be talking to women who were suddenly faced with a decision. Maybe the decision came after years of being at a dead-end job, and they simply had had enough. Maybe, it came after a divorce. We will be talking to these women who found themselves having to make a choice about what will be next. What will they do? Will they live? Will they die? Will they get stuck? Will they continue waking up every day putting one foot in front of the other? There are some really powerful and relatable stories coming your way over the next couple of weeks. Our Guest today had no...

Miss Connection

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

Dr. Justin Coulson is an honorary fellow at the Center for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne. He has three best-selling books about family life and parenting. He writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, family, and well-being. He's a TEDx speaker and a regular TV expert guest. He's a contributor to major Australian media outlets. He's also contributed to the New York Times. He had a successful radio career and then returned to school in his late 20's where he earned his psychology degree and his PhD in psychology. Since then he has written...

Nurse Katherine Answers Your Questions

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

Katherine is a nurse practitioner who worked for many years at a very good OBGYN practice here in town. She left this practice to go work at the health clinic. A month later, she said it was one of the most fulfilling things ever. She's working with people and especially teenagers on the issues that are the most near and dear to her heart. Her work is about sex and our bodies.

ReRelease of 3.15 This Christmas

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

This is the first time I've rereleased an episode. I'm interupting our season on teens, social media and sex to rerelease an episode that came out around Christmas time with my friend Billie Jean Johnson. This was a powerful episode. I heard from so many of you that this episode moved you, challenged you, and made you think that you might want something more or different from your life. Billie Jean was facing one of the hardest challenges of her life, and she lost. At least, here on Earth. On Thursday February 13th, Billie Jean took her last breath. Now she is probably healthier and happier...

Net Navigation

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

There's a running list of things I don't understand and one of them is the internet. The internet is constantly changing. It goes deep and wide. Another thing I don't understand is teenagers. We may just use the internet for the things that we normally do like podcasts, shopping Facebook, and the rest. But teenagers, what do they do on the internet? Do they feel the same as we do and just use the internet for Amazon Prime orders, social posts, and reading safe blogs? I may not understand teens and I may not understand the vastness of the internet, but I've come to my senses when it comes to...

Rhythms of Renewal

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

About 10 years ago, I wasn't doing any of the things I'm doing now. I wasn't writing books. I wasn't hosting podcasts. I was sitting at home and watching other women go first. A lot of us find someone who is doing what we want to do and we follow them and root for them and listen closely when they speak. I was at home watching Rebekah Lyons. I've loved her from the moment I heard her speak. This might surprise some of you, after hearing this interview, because we couldn't be more different. She is all love, light, kindness and gracefulness. I've watched her long enough to know that what...

Melissa & David Q&A

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

Melissa and David are here today to answer listener questions. Melissa loves it when people ask questions. We appreciate you trusting us with all of the things we'll be talking about today and on future episodes. The last couple of weeks have been dedicated to something that Melissa just can't wrap her mind around. We've been talking about being still, organizing, and decluttering our homes and our hearts, space, and putting your phone away. If someone would have told me that in the year 1994 when David and I got married that someday David would be checking his phone while we were having...

Uncluttered

Ordinary People. Ordinary Things. with Melissa Radke

A few months ago I got a book in the mail titled . Imagine that frozen moment in time, when I was holding this book while standing in my kitchen surrounded by, you guessed it, clutter! In spite of the stuff that creates clutter, today's podcast isn't about removing physical clutter. It's about removing noise, stress, and over commitments. This show is for anyone who wakes up from a nap and says, "I wish I could do that again." It's for people who buy books and find them later dusty and unread. It's for those who meet God on vacation or in quiet moments and wish they had more times like...

More Episodes

I was sent a copy of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by author John Mark Comer. This book and topic were so wonderful and so needed in my life, that I found myself a bit nervous to interview John on this show. He turned out to be as smart, kind, well-spoken, and humble as his book. He's done his research, and he's lived what he writes about. You'll enjoy every moment of this wonderful interview. John lives, works, and writes in the urban core of Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Tammy, and their three children, Jude, Moses, and Sunday.

He is the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church. A church built around the very simple idea of practicing the way of Jesus, together, in Portland. As for education, John Mark holds a master’s degree in biblical and theological studies from Western Seminary, and is currently at work on a doctorate in spiritual formation through Fuller Seminary and the Dallas Willard Center. I love everything about John’s book, and I think you will too.

Show Notes:

[06:52] John dedicated this book to Dallas Willard. I first heard of Dallas Willard in John Ortberg's book Soul Keeping.
[07:23] John reads Soul Keeping every summer.
[08:05] John Ortberg was mentored by Dallas Willard.
[09:02] As Dallas Willard was dying he narrated the event. His last words were thank you.
[11:08] John had three or four aha moments before writing this book.
[11:47] John had emotional, relational, and spiritual symptoms. He was burnt out. He wasn't enjoying his work.
[12:52] When he came across the concept of hurry that Willard called the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. He realized this was the naming of one of the key issues under all of his symptoms. This was all her moment number one.
[13:17] Aha moment number two was when he realized that people are just too busy to live emotionally healthy and spiritually rich lives.
[15:02] His third aha moment was when he put his thoughts together on hurry and it resonated and connected with the community.
[16:32] He decided to put all these thoughts together and write a book.
[19:32] By the time you're in your twenties or thirties, you can take a guess at who you're becoming. This feeling eventually goes away and is replaced with this is who I became.
[22:37] The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry was from a quote by Dallas Willard, who was a philosopher at the University of Southern California. He is best known as a writer and a teacher of the way of Jesus.
[24:05] John Ortberg was mentored by Willard who told him he must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from life. Hurry is the great spiritual enemy of life today.
[24:37] His entire book was built around this story.
[25:37] A physician in the 50s was the first to connect the dots between stress and heart disease.
[27:48] The 1950's were the beginning of hurry disease.
[28:42] 2007 and 2010 was the release of the smartphone. It's easy to think that this pace of life is normal.
[30:32] The badge of honor that we wear for our business makes us seem important.
[31:05] The problem is when we have too much to do and have to hurry.
[31:42] Healthy business is that you are giving your life away.
[32:09] Pathological busyness is where you have too much to do but not enough time to do it.
[32:30] The frenetic fast pace can kill off love, deep relationships, longevity, soul care, and awareness.
[33:56] What we feed we call forth. Your life is no more than the sum of what you devote your attention too.
[35:03] What we give our time to is what we will become.
[36:08] The end of the book is practical with a step-by-step method.
[37:22] Life is complex. Slowing down can be hard. There are practices from the ways of Jesus that are incredibly effective at slowing down and tapping into what Jesus called live's that are full.
[39:07] Followers of Jesus are usually referred to as disciples or family. A better translation for disciple might be the word apprentice.
[41:01] To apprentice under Jesus is to organize your life around three basic goals. Be with Jesus. Become like Jesus. Do what he would do if he were you.
[43:03] This practice has been life-changing for John and his family. They have a full day together every week with the phones off.
[45:28] It's created a space for his family to be together and be happier.
[47:53] John loves potato hash at Proud Mary.
[49:40] Friendship is the mix of vulnerability and accountability.
[50:36] John shares who could play him in a movie.

Thanks for joining us on Ordinary People Ordinary Things. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. Just like your mother taught you.

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